Wildest cats in towns Bettina's style

I know this post is rather a bit late now as the Wildest cats in Town weekend is longgg gone but as promised in my last post I said I'd show outfits I wore to that weekend. The Wildest Cats, is well known for it's strong Teddy Boy following so you will see Drape after drape at this weekend, I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb because even though it is a Ted weekend you get a lot of other characters there that I must say had the strangest dress sense with ankle boots and circle skirts as just one combination!
I tend to go to weekenders with at least one pair of jeans packed away in my case but this time I made sure I hid them away and packed skirts and Capri pants because I remember once stating in a post that I was going to try and stop wearing jeans as much, I haven't really done that since said  post, until the Wildest Cats!

The first outfit of Friday, very summery I think, a yellow 50s sun top and atomic circle skirt with a yellow thermoset jewellery set, excuse the tatty headscarf, my hair was all pin curled up! With my dearest daddy outside the bar.

Friday night outfit!

  I love everything Hawaiian and I really think this dress brought the sun out for the weekend, well maybe not but it certainly brightened up my day (oh so cheesy!) The colours and patterns are so gorgeous, soft pastel blues and greens! I bought it at the Rhythm Riot last November and it is vintage, I'm not sure of what era I think quite possibly 60s or 70s but I think it looks perfect for a 50s weekend, it has changeable straps so it can be halterneck or spaghetti straps!
I teamed this with a vintage 50s white jewellery set and white wedge heels from New look.

Another view of my dress with my lovely mother in her Outerlimitz flamingo dress! (I really hate my posture in this picture I look huge!)

 The next day I noticed I managed to get lipstick marks on it, woops!

Day two - day time

Now don't I look attractive with my curlers in! This is a reproduction 40s leopard print beach set from Cal Noir of Hollywood! I was really nervous about wearing this but it was lovely weather for it so I thought I'd get my milk bottle legs out! I teamed it with black espadrilles and my wooden Enid Collins bag. This outfit is ideal for the beach (hence the name!) But I've worn it for shoots as well as at this weekend, I'd love to wear it to the High Rockabilly! 

Day two night time - Saturday night dress!

Saturday night of a weekender is the night to glam up so I thought I'd dust off my blue lurex dress I bought from Outerlimitz last year, I love this dress so much but it does scratch me something chronic! This dress can be worn to any event I think because I don't think it screams 50s too much so it could get away with being a dress bought out of a high street store, I love it and I love outerlimitz!
Because it is so low cut I put a cute vintage broach on the bust to stop my boobs making an appearance!
Once again teamed with my white jewellery set but this time I wore my vintage 50s Lucite heels and Lucite handbag, both very easy to find on eBay if you've got a lot of money and tiny feet (unfortunately I have clown feet but managed to get my shoes at a bargain price of seven quid!)

Another shot of my dress and my handbag with my daddy dearest, doesn't he look smart in his drape?

Day 3! Eek I had four changes on this day, how dramatic right? Well when a girl doesn't feel comfy she just doesn't feel comfy, I started off wearing my vintage 50s aqua cigarette pants but soon changed into my gorrrrgeous Bernie Dexter dress named after yours truly, yes the Scarlett dress!

I am well and truly in love with this dress, it is so comfy and the print is so cute! I teamed it with (my mothers) patent belt and my Vintage Aqua wicker handbag and cork heel wedges.
My dad said it was an evening dress but I thought it was perfect to wear on a gorgeous sunny day!

Evening Attire

I hadn't worn this dress since the Rockabilly Rave two whole years ago and I was so happy that I did again, I bought this dress at Hemsby a while ago and it is a vintage 50s yellow lace pencil dress and I have to say fits me like a glove (which makes it the more difficult to take off!) I was always too scared to wear it again because I love to jive and unfortunately in this dress I can't because of how tight it is under the arms, which most dresses were during the 50s!
But I kept it on for long enough to get an effect and I wore it with my gold Lucite handbag, Lucite heels and yellow thermoset earrings, this was definitely my favourite dress of the weekend, so simple but so stunning!

My dance outfit, yes I could breathe again! I made sure I wore comfy clothes so I could dance, a simple cream 50s blouse and a beautiful school themed 50s circle skirt I got at the Rockabilly Rave car boot this year! Oh and of course I teamed it with my Vivienne Westwood flats hehe!

I must admit even though it is not one of my most favourite weekenders going I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself for my outfit choices this time around, lets hope I can keep it up for Twinwood and Hemsby!  I still can't get over that I had nine outfit changes over three days, pretty mental huh? I'm a girl so it makes it OK!
Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

What a Hurly burly Time

Last Tuesday evening a friend and I took a trip up to London to our first "official" burlesque show, I have always seen little snippets of some burlesque shows at weekenders such as Hemsby and the Rhythm Riot however never stuck around to see the whole shbang generally because I always thought that five minutes of  boobs is enough for me, but I was in need of a night out as Chatham does fairly grind me down ,so with tickets at a bargain price of a mere £10 I couldn't really turn down a night out for that kind of money. So off we went to see Miss Polly Rae's Hurly Burly Show at the Garrack Theatre in Charing Cross.

Directed by William Baker this was a magnificent modern take on the kitsch kooky performance of Burlesque, helping it hit the mainstream that little bit more it  was open to women and men of all ages and looking at the crowd there was just as many women as men so this wasn't your average strip show. At first I have to admit I did feel slightly uncomfortable because I hadn't really seen this many women in so little before and it was all slightly crude but it was all fits and giggles and I realised I was being silly and soon got into it! I loved the fact that all the women were slightly different and weren't your average "pin up" so they weren't all with pin curls and cats eyes but just a gaggle of girls that knew how to dance.

What was I to expect, was it just girls taking their kit off through the show or would there be Shakespeare with extra twirling tassels. Well I'd have to say a bit of both! Of course all the ladies were rather good at slowly stripping the stockings off but there was humour and stylishly thought out themes such as western, police women and school girl... Sounds like a perverts dream come true but no it had class if a school girl can have class?

Each routine had a cleverly put together dance with songs to match such as Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, The Pet Shop Boy's it's a sin and their own self written tunes! And if those women were too much for you then there was a swooning crooner Spencer Day who certainly lightened my evening up, how he managed to control himself with all those beauts is beyond me, He worked his magic while the girls were changing for the next sketch and we girls were more than happy to sit there and drool.

Miss Polly Rae oozed confidence and sophistication and completely stole the show (and so she should as it was her show!) A petite scarlet vixen with a dazzling voice which was a little bit nice but a lot of Naughtiness. She had charm, she had class and she had the crowd in the palm of her hand as well as her Hurly Burly Girls .

With rhinestone encrusted outfits that if you blink you'll miss it, it was a show Dita Von Teese would be proud of, using companies such as Agent Provocateur and What Katie Did to name but a couple, for how scantily dressed the girls were it could have been easily misinterpreted for sleazy but no, thanks to the amount of teasing there was very little time to think about the strip!

This performance made me think that women are using this as a way of empowerment, something that makes them feel good and glamorous about themselves and damn right with burlesque work shops popping up all over the country this show made all the women in the audience think Yes I can do that,I can add a bit of bump and grind into my everyday life! Because that's what it got me thinking but as I have as much class as a plant pot and have two left feet I don't think I'll be stripping my draws off anytime soon, only  when it's time to put my pajamas on. A fab night out that made me proud to be a woman!

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

Photos by Chris Jackson curtesey of Google ;)

Introducing ... The Vanity Box

We all know us girls love a bit of pampering, whether it be make up or hair and here's a company that certainly gives you that pamering we all need once in a while. Yes you've got it, I'm doing a bit of advertisement on my blog, it's got to be done every now and again you know.

Ladies I present to you the Vanity Box, a company that specialises in a love for the glitzy and glamorous hair and make up of days gone by.

The Vanity Box can do hair and make up styling for your special event

Of course you may have heard of other companies that focus on vintage hair styling (naming no names) but what makes the Vanity Box different is their own personal love for times that once were, with living and breathing the vintage life on a daily basis, so with this you know that you will be getting something that truly is something that is a true tribute to the glamour age.

As well as having a love for vintage they also have the experience to back it up so you know you can put your hair in their hands and not come away with something that looks like a poodle on your head (not unless that is the look you're going for, then if it is you're on your own my friend) with over 12 years experience between the lady hereself, the fabulous Verity Waite and her team have worked with Dianne Von Furstenburg for Claridges, Saint Hill Couture catwalk shows and none other than Hairspray the musical  as well as offering private appointments for clients at rock n roll & rockabilly weekends such as the Rockabilly Rave and the Rhythm Riot to name but a few which couldn't be better because what's more important for a woman at a weekender than looking her very best on the dance floor?

Whether you are looking for a fantastic forties up do or a set of fifties pin curls you name it, Verity and her girls can create it and make it specific to your needs with a range of hair eras from the 1920s flowing through to the 1970s (don't worry you won't come away with a seventies afro unless you really really want one)

 The company are constantly growing and I can see big things for the girls because being honest, who wouldn't want to look as glamorous as they do? I've still yet to have my hair done by them but I'm definately planning on grabbing one of them when I have a hair crisis at the Rockabilly Rave! 

With their first weekend booking at Ruby Slippers Retro Romp these girls will soon be taking over England at vintage fairs and gatherings so make sure  you snap up an appointment quick because it looks to me their going to be taking the vintage scene by storm!
Check out their website http://www.thevanitybox.co.uk/  to find out if they're coming to an event near you, I know I'm going to!

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

My pick of the pops!

This is something completely off topic and something I haven't really wrote about before however I think it is something I may keep up with if I find people are interested in it (please let me know!)
I've decided to mention a few songs that I am somewhat obsessed with at the moment and I'd like to see if I can get a few of you liking them too, there will be a mixture of music as I am rather eclectic in what I listen to! So here goes...

The first one is by a guy who goes by the name of J.D McPherson and the song is North Side gal, my friend sent me the link to this on YouTube a few weeks back and then I heard it played at a Rockabilly club one night too! Jimmy Sutton is involved with the band playing bass I do believe (those who don't know of him, he is an amazing double bass player and singer from America! check him out!) and to be honest I wouldn't say the song is straight out rockabilly but I do like it, he has got one hell of a voice and I'm hoping to get his album soon!

Next track up is by another up and coming singer that everyone must have heard of by now, yes it's that love to hate fella Si Cranstoun, I'm not going to put up his song dynamo because it has been played so much in the last few months and I imagine everyone is tired of hearing it now, even though it is a brilliant dance track! I am going to mention another song off his album, alternative dance floor fillers, 50s pin up girl (how coincidental I know) but this is another great dancer and it has been stuck in my head ever since the Rhythm Riot, I do have a soft spot for Si because of his and his brothers ska band the Dualers, yes when I was around 15 I was a little Ska chick so when I heard them I knew I'd like them! But yes here is Si Cranstoun's 50s pin up girl, it is a live video I found on YouTube! 

.

Now going back to the time where the first two songs were inspired by here are a couple of originals that I am still obsessing over even though I have heard them time and time again.

The first one is Jackie Wilson, I'll be satisfied, I completely blame my fella for getting me obsessed with Mr Wilson (not that it's a bad thing of course) but I've come to hear a lot more of his tracks since being with him and this is one of them, definitely one of my favourites I think and I was so happy to hear the Cleftones sing it at the Rhythm Riot in November! Jackie Wilson was amazing during the fifties and went on to do some great stuff in the sixties and seventies too which I love just as much!

The second one is Wynona Carr, til the wells run dry, I'd always known of Wynona Carr but never had heard this song until recently, I must have been living in a dream land honestly!, I had heard her most famous of course which are ding dong daddy and touch and go but this had slipped on by without me realising, another dance floor filler and is always one to get me in a good mood! So play this out and you'll have me dancing!

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I hope you enjoy these songs I've put up for you lovely lot, any requests and I'll put them up as and when I can. 

Keep an eye out for my new set of pin up pictures that are doing the rounds at the moment!
Until next time

Toodle Pip

xxx

The Rhythm Riot 2010

It seems a life time ago now but it's only been a couple of weeks! Yes ladies and gents the Rhythm Riot has come and gone again for this year and what a blast it was, even if a tad on the chilly side!

This year it was my first ever Rhythm Riot, can you believe it?! I certainly can't! I was always a bit hesitant about going because being a bit of a  rockabilly/rock n roll girl, I thought there wouldn't be much for me to dance to! How wrong could someone be?

I saw the line up a few months ago and thought I'd best get my bum in gear and book up! I even managed to convince my parents to go as so it was their first one too!

I don't know what I was expecting, I suppose I thought I wouldn't enjoy it because I expected it to be heavily 1940s influenced with Lindy hoppers everywhere, the only thing I knew was that it would be blooming cold! I Certainly got that right, so I packed my sweaters and away I went. I turned up with my folks on the Friday afternoon and noticed straight away how different it was from other weekenders, probably because I'm so used to turning up on the Thursday! I booked in, dropped my stuff off to the ever so ever so cold chalet which seemed a million miles away, further than my one in the summer at the Rockabilly Rave, was that possible???

First port of call, well of course the vintage clothes stalls! Unfortunately though I couldn't have a proper look around because it seemed that everyone else had the same idea and also headed for them, however I did manage to pick up a vintage yellow checked 49er jacket!!

As the day went by, the sun was going down which meant we better start getting ready so back to the chalet we went. I decided the night before to pin curl my hair, which was my first ever attempt and you know it didn't turn out half bad! I decided to wear my blue Hawaiian dress made for me by Di from Outerlimitz.

Me and my girls Laura and Clare

Now I'm going to be honest here, I can't quite remember some of the bands that played Friday night as I imagine I was slightly intoxicated, my excuse was I was keeping the cold out with all that vodka! I do remember one band and that was Lil Linn and the Lookout boys, I didn't see much of them unfortunately as I forgot my pass when I went back the chalet (I'm sorry but this is where wrist bands come in mighty handy!) But of what I did see they were a fabulous band with a mix of western swing, hillbilly and early rockabilly with a beautiful lady belting out some tunes! I got a text from my friend who I was sharing my chalet with telling me I must go back to the chalet right away, so I did and how sweet of them, they had blown up balloons and got me a very early birthday cake!(Chocolate of course) what a brilliant start to the weekend!! so after having lots of hugs and cake I went back to do some dancing!

I woke up the next day without a hangover which is always good! I had another wander around the stalls and as the day was going on I headed to the queen Vic(no puns please) to watch a band known as the Ladykillers, now I'd heard a lot about these because they were young and up and coming, so I was looking forward to seeing them. I wasn't disappointed, young and full of energy they were very modern  rockabilly and definitely got the crowd going who seemed more then happy with their performance! I am hoping to see them in December when I am back home at the Star fighter Rock n roll club.
The evening came by again, mum and dad headed out early and I spent what seemed like forever deciding what to wear, eventually choosing a vintage aqua wiggle dress.

A image that photographer Ophelia Wynne took of me showing off my dress i wore that night and my lovely vintage 60s wicker handbag

Me and my man scrub up nice don't you think?

 First band I saw, and the only band that I wanted to see was the Cleftones, a doo wop band from the 50s &60s singing songs like their classics Heart & Soul and Can't we be sweethearts, amazing, that's all I can describe them as, since being with my fella I've become a little bit Doo wop obsessed so we both really enjoyed them even though he'd seen then at previous riots.

The Cleftones!!

Next band up was Si Cranstoun, now everyone must have heard of him and his dance floor filler Dynamo? Once again I wasn't quite sure what to expect because he was one half of the Ska band the Dualers, which to me was fine because I am partial to a bit of ska every now and then but I was wondering whether he'd be able to do a full set of rock n roll tracks, but yes wrong again he did tracks such as Don't be angry by Nappy Brown and also got Bobby Brooks Hamilton on stage with him to sing Sam Cook's twisting the night away! I would keep on about the bands of Saturday night but I fear this blog may turn into a bit of a essay! However I will say other top bands of the night were Big Sandy, Lil Gizelle and Dollar Bill!

Big Sandy!

Dollar Bill

The final day of course was Sunday, I told myself that I would go to the car boot, but why lie? I never manage to drag myself out of bed even for a bargain,but what I eventually did drag myself out for was my parents buying me a fab gab (oo bit of rhyming there) jacket as an early birthday present and my fella getting me a beautiful vintage green day dress for Christmas, how spoilt can a girl be? Now on a Sunday night at the Riot was Hawaiian night, fortunately I knew this in advanced so I came prepared with my vintage red Hawaiian dress that I Purchased at Hemsby.

Me in my hawaiian and my man in his vintage pegs and shirt

Now there were only a couple of bands I payed attention to Sunday night and these were Bobby Brooks Hamilton (who is allegedly Jackie Wilson's son but I am very unsure!) and Mike Sanchez, Bobby Brooks looked and sounded like Jackie Wilson so was very entertaining however I thought he could of sung a lot more of Wilson's more popular tracks than some covers he did. Mike Sanchez was awesome as ever, you always know what you're getting from Mike!

The highlights of that night was Big Sandy recognising me (yes not the other way round!) and having a lovely chat with him and just having a brilliant end to the weekend with great Dj's playing some fab floor fillers!
I couldn't get enough of this weekend, it was right up my street because it was mainly 50s RnB which is what I love! it was relaxed and a lot of my good friends were there the only thing I didn't like was the fact it was only Friday- Sunday instead of Thursday-Sunday, it seemed like a lot was squeezed into such a short weekend! And also the fact it was so cold, but hey you can't change the weather can you? 

Any one of you out there who are thinking about trying out the Riot I highly recommend it!!

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx