Hair and make up by Pretty Me Vintage

Just wanted to share a few pics of my LOVELY hair and make-up done yesterday for a photoshoot by Natasha Hall of pretty me vintage (more details on this photshoot coming shortly, lets just say I got to wear some SENSATIONAL dresses!). I love the slightly Spanish Senorita look of the make up and the deep red which is a colour I would never normally wear, but may now contemplate experimenting with.  This hair and make-up has withstood 6 hours of shooting and then a trip back across London too! I was very impressed.

You can find Natasha here: pretty me vintage


(p.s. an update after three people already asked me about my dress. It's a late 50s Horrockses!)

40s Platform shoes- two of my best EVER purchases

This week I bought two of the most sensational pairs of shoes that I have possibly ever owned.

They are both amazing pairs of platform shoes, so I’ll start off with a little background about the platform shoe…

Platform shoes aren’t a fashion trend restricted to the 20^th century, with examples existing of chopines (the forerunner of the platform) right back to the renaissance period, originally used as an overshoe or patten. Due to the fact that the “platform” was often made of wood or cork original examples do still survive.

Into the 20^th century it was the 30s when the platform came back into fashion.

Vogue October 1938 “ It’s no sin to call a shoe clumsy, these days It’s a compliment. If you haven’t already worn a platform or wedge sole, do have a pair of two for autumn with this new thick look”.

Carmen Miranda was also a big influence on the popularity, she wore the shoes due to the fact she was a very diminutive 5ft and apparently she commissioned a pair from Ferragamo in 1936 and this was when the craze for platform really set in!

Ferragamo was an innovator with the variety of materials he used and his often art inspired designs.

Platforms remained popular throughout the 30s and 40s worn for day and evening wear. Especially during the war the style was popular due to the materials that could be used to make platforms (materials that were cheap and in supply like wood  and cork). Ferregamo was using cork from wine bottles for his shoes!

The cork wedge was particularly popular in America, supposedly by 1938 86% of all shoes had wedge soles in America.

Now onto my two pairs of shoes which are not only beautiful but also fit me like a dream.

First off this gorgeous red pair which date to 1949, these came with a pair of matching nylons to go with them, I adore these shoes so much,,such a chic colour! I spoke to my Grandmother about these yesterday and she remembers having a pair almost identical but in white in the late forties, if only she had kept them.

I know these date to 1949 because I have the original provenance for them, but a good way of dating shoes is peep toes. As, during the war it was rare to see shoes with peep toes as they were considered “dangerous”. Of course there are exceptions to this rule- but generally this is the case!. Meaning if you have a pair of CC41 peep-toe shoes they will probably be post-war examples.

This pair though are my super special “holy grail” pair and date to 1948. They were worn as the original owners wedding shoes, purchased with her post-war ration coupons (I’m such a sucker for a good story!). They are also by iconic brand Lotus, who regularly advertised in the pages of Vogue (pick up any 40s or 50s copy and you'll probably see their gorgeous and quite expensive shoes gracing the pages!)

Why though are they a holy grail purchase?

 Years ago I saw another pair of these shoes in Hope and Harlequin in Brighton, but they weren’t for sale. My mum and I have spent over four years asking Louise the owner of the shop if she would sell them to no avail. Not only that but this very pair of shoes appear in the dictionary of fashion and fashion designers. So, I cant believe that I now have a pair of the very shoes that I always dreamed would be mine!

Hope you enjoyed my lovely new shoes. They certainly made me happy!

Lovely Pat Albeck curtains

Just had to share a v quick post about something up for auction on ebay! I have been conversing with a lovely lady who is selling a set of iconic Pat Albeck daisy chain curtains so just wanted to share the link with you all.

I’ve written about the legendary Pat Albeck extensively. See my posts here . But the daisy chain design was one of the most commercial, and spent more than 15 years as a John Lewis best seller!!! The example this lady is selling date from the 1970s andwere purchased from John Lewis in Oxford street.

I absolutely love the colourway of this example and if I a) had any money and b) they would match the decor in any of my bedrooms I would be snapping them straight up!

So, grab a chance to own some textiles design by one of the most iconic female textile designers of the mid-twentieth century.

Link to the ebay auction.

A trip into my collection: 5 new Horrockses purchases

Today is an opportunity for a sneaky peek into my personal collection. In the last few months I’ve gone a bit mad on Horrockses dresses, my collection has been pretty large for a while now, but within a short while I have added five more to my collection, all which add something a little different I feel.

This is Horrockses number one, and is probably the latest of all the Horrockses I bought. With this label it is most likely it dates to post 1958. I don’t normally buy Horrockses in this style although I thought a corduroy Horrockses was a must as dresses such as they often appeared in Vogue during the winter months.

Here is Horrockses number two and one I was particularly excited by. This little number is actually earlier than I ever normally buy Horrockses wise and predates the launch of Horrockses fashions in 1946. This dress infact combines two things I collect as it is also a CC41 dress. What is good about this dress therefore is it can be dates quite easily between 1942-1946. Although it predates Horrockses fashions it still has an iconic Horrockses print which makes it a great addition to my collection.

This is Horrockses number three and is so typical of my Horrockses collection in a wonderful biadere stripe design. This is almost certainly a mid 50s example. What I like about this is that it also has a Richard shops label demonstrating how Horrockses primarily sold through concessions in department stores.

                                                          (it has pockets yayyyyyy!!!!)

Horrockses number four and is probably the most show stopping of all I recently purchased. This is more of an evening dress, and what this really reminded me of was Matisse’s cut out designs.

This lovely dress was purchased from Scarlet vintage. Check out the website or visit the shop in Bath, AMAZING stock.

And finally Horrockses number five. At first this appears the most unremarkable of all the Horrockses I have purchased, but is infact probably the most important. This amazing example can be EXACTLY dated to 1953 as the dress was produced as a special souvenir for the coronation. If you look closely you can see “Elizabeth Regina 1953” printed all over this lovely dress. So not only is it a Horrockses, but with the Queen’s diamond jubilee coming up it is a highly relevant dress too.

I hope you all enjoyed a little outing into my collection!

Marks and Spencer archive opening

Today was quite an exciting day in Leeds. It was the launch of the M and S archive, which as I had been involved in a styling project for my course I got to go along to.

The archive is great, if anyone went to the Marks in Time exhibition when it was held in the Parkinson court a few years back it is basically an extension of that. A great mix of clothes, homey nick nacks and food based ephemera are all on display. I have to say the exhibition design is very good and the new building it is housed is a great addition to the Leeds university campus.

Here are a few cheeky snaps inside at the opening

And here is me in a bit of vintage 50s M and S which I thought was rather fitting for the occasion!

It is free to go and have a look round the “exhibition” part of the archive, so I highly recommend a little wander if you are local to Leeds.

Prancing around in vintage

Today was a welcome relief from the stress that currently is my dissertation (1 week until hand in and counting!) One of my modules is styling and photography, so today i took part in two photoshoots, one for my own project, and one for someone elses. I had lots of fun doing them despite the fact it meant posing in swimwear in the freezing cold Leeds March time air!

So here I am in outfit number one. First off i was playing around in vintage (quel suprise) My dress here is one of my all time favourite Blanes dresses that I have blogged about before. It is a gorgeous late fifties example, and interesting Blanes did this dress in a range of colours and fabrics (ive seen another silk one in black and purple and a cotton one in white and pink). I teamed the dress with my (new to me) 40s gold platform sandals which I adore!

In this pic there is an extra accessory, one of my all time favourite pieces of jewellery i own from Tatty Devine. The whole idea behind this shoot was it was meant to be a little bit humourous and fun, hence the inclusion of the glasses necklace here!

Then i went onto my next outfit. This one combined vintage and (shock horror) swimwear. My jacket is part of a 40s suit (which i have blogged about before) the shorts are 50s deadstock and my bikini is an ANCIENT one from debenhams (im suprised it hadn't gone completely see-through it is that old!)

The pictures were shot outside some of the Leeds uni buildings (Roger Stevens lecture theatre...oh yeah!) As the theme for this was an alternative "beach" theme (yep...Roger Stevens water fountation...a beach). Needless to say i had a crowd of boys staring at me from the walkway up above where we were taking the photographs!

I'd also like to make a note about my hair. This was my first ever attempt at pincurls. and whilst they aren't great (they had to cope with my 15 minute walk to uni and then being outside). I think they are mildly passable!

Thanks to my fellow group members Georgia, Amy, Harriet and Allan for the pics!