Just stumbled across the sweetest site of old photographs – Dear Photograph. Well worth a look.
Posts Tagged ‘Vintage’
Vintage mooching
Spring is finally in the air and the sun has peeked out from behind the grey clouds, so to celebrate we have had a weekend of lazy walking and slightly tipsy shopping.
On Friday, we decided to tale at peek at ‘Barboot’ as we have been wanting to go for a while. On the first Friday of each month from 7:30 to 10:30pm, a small part of Crouch End becomes a colourful, vintage slice of loveliness. 
The Canadian, the Handyman and myself knocked back a few whiskies before winding our slightly tipsy way along Middle Lane to The Haberdashery, a gorgeous little coffee house filled with vintage china and a cute little bunting strewn garden. I was dazzled by many things but in the end I picked up a couple of Babycham glasses at a bargain price, whilst the Canadian picked up a polka dot speckled necklace that she charmingly kept referring to as the ‘lady bow tie’. With the forthcoming summer evenings getting closer, I can’t wait to visit The Haberdashery again.
We then trooped off to ‘Sally Bourne Interiors’, a fantastically crafty shop filled with all kinds of gorgeous things. My favourite purchase was an iron on robot with a bluebottle iridescent sheen. I might have to look into some of their craft workshops as they offer some inventive classes and it would do me good to brush up on some of my needlecraft skills as they are shaky to say the least!
All in all, an enjoyable evening was had by all and it made a pleasant change to the usual Friday evenings where we are too tired to do much at all.
I am a little obsessed with barware at the moment. It is the Handyman’s birthday this month, so I am planning a little cocktail based soiree, hence my impulsive Babycham glass buying. I have also bought some Martini glasses and some tumblers from Habitat. Although they are not vintage, I think that they have a certain retro appeal and remind me childhood summers visiting elderly relatives and drinking orange squash whilst sitting on the garden step.
Next stop on my barware odyssey, swizzle sticks…. 
Rainy days
Between entertaining relatives and finding out the joys of queuing in London with young children (Over 1 1/2 hours to queue for the Natural History Museum – no thank you. Saw way too many toddlers with pained faces dying for a wee to subject my own pseudo nephews to such torture), there has been little time to post this half term.
However, this is just a quick one to point you towards some lovely things on Etsy. I decided to experiment and set up a treasury list. Spending the past couple of days with PlayStation obsessed boys got me thinking about my own childhood and so the theme of the treasury list was born. I had so much fun doing it but it was a dangerous activity for my bank balance. So much lovely stuff! If you fancy a peek, follow the link ‘Flashbacks of a Fool‘.
Am now going to try and knock up a quick cherry pie to make this rainy day a little brighter. Wish me luck as I have rubbish hands for pastry.
Halloween Horrors
All this talk of demons has got me in the mood for a bit of Halloween mischief. We have unwittingly spent the month building up to Halloween starting off with ‘Ghost Stories‘ at the Duke of York Theatre for my birthday treat followed with several enjoyable viewings of Mark Gatiss‘ ‘A History of Horror’ that reminded me of all the films that I loved as a child who was allowed to watch far too much late night tv. ‘Ghost Stories’ was fun but I did leave feeling a little disappointed. I think we just got so caught up in the hype of it that we were expecting it to be terrifying. We spent most of the evening thinking that the lone woman sitting next to my brother’s girlfriend was a plant so kept sneaking looks at her to see what she was doing. As it turns out, she was just a solitary woman visiting the theatre who we probably unnerved with all our staring…
To add to the sense of the macabre, yesterday we strolled along to Primrose Hill to visit Walter Potter‘s Museum of Curiosity, a bizarre Victorian recreation of different scenarios using stuffed animals at The Museum of Everything. The athletic toads are an absolute joy! The exhibition was curated by Peter Blake and really does have that distinct air of British eccentricity that one comes to expect. Photos are forbidden on pain of death but it really is worth a visit. From the moment you enter and see the tiny postcards showing carnival folk (I was particularly taken with the moss-haired girl as my hair was particularly unruly yesterday) you get caught up in a tide of the macabre. Highly recommended for a wet Autumn afternoon.
Why the girl loves Autumn
I know that it has been a while since my last post but such is the life of the educator. Summer is a gee whizz six week high of fun and frolics whilst September brings the back to school blues. However, October is the month it all starts to get better again. Birthdays and gifts (Charlatans tickets, a plethora of chocolates and a vintage dress for those who are interested), Halloween and half term wrapped in a hundred different shades of russet and a little bit of sunshine. Even the newfound chill in the air feels hopeful and alive as I crunch through the leaves in my beautiful new shiny patent Dr Martens Darcie boots and new military style Winter coat from Topshop. I look a little bit like a demented wartime housewife but I do have bit of a soft spot for that kind of thing. I am not very good at looking polished and glamorous so it a much more achievable target. Have spent too much money already this month. Going back to work really does make me spend like a demon as if new stuff can make the work disappear. It doesn’t but it does make me feel a little bit better.
A final little thing I stumbled upon to help keep you warm…
This lovely bright red poncho from Love Miss Daisy is the kind of knitwear I can imagine Ali MacGraw wearing in ‘Love Story’ as it conjures up the late 1960s, early 70s look and would look great with a pair of skinny jeans and some vintage boots. Sadly, no part of me suits anything skinny.
Vintage at Goodwood Aug. 13th-15th 2010
Finally the event of the Summer arrived. The Handyman and myself took ourselves off to not so sunny Sussex for ‘Vintage at Goodwood’.
I spent the entire journey stressing about our tent being too big for the 3 x 3 pitch allocation (I had only noticed this after the Handyman had bought a bargain massive tent) and whether or not the clothing stuffed in my holdall was weather appropriate as the clouds were looking a little bruised.
After a stressful arrival (poor signposting, nobody able to tell us wear to park/pitch our tent) we quickly set up the tent. The Handyman appears not to have put up a tent since the days of actual canvas so it was down to me to instruct him in the finer points of modern camping. Tent up just in time, we clambered in and cracked open a couple of celebratory Pimms-in-a-can (classy!) as the rain pounded on the tent.
With a few sunny respites, the rain was a constant visitor to Goodwood but I refused to let it hamper my enjoyment – although it did make me very reluctant to wear my prettiest vintage finery and I spent most of my time looking more wartime housewife in shirtdresses and cardigans rather than the burlesque glam of most of the other festival goers. As for my feet – they spent their whole time ensconced in ugly cheap boots as I didn’t want to spoil my nicer shoes or follow the barefoot route that many other women that I saw took!
To be honest though, I have been at much muddier venues than this and it didn’t really impinge on my enjoyment.
Festival Highlights
- The polished vocals of the Puppini Sisters and their excellent set
- Being able to have a hot shower – have never done this at a festival before!
- Combating my fear of beetroot at The Tanqueray Torch Club
- The fantastic array of vintage outfits.
- The Bad Art tent. The fuzzy felt recreation of Jaws was ace!
- The shopping! I spent the whole time drooling over dresses and managed to reign myself in and only buy a few small bits and pieces…
Festival Lows
- The rain. There is no getting away from the fact that a bit more sunshine would have made the weekend even better.
- The teenagers who arrived on the final day and seemed insistent on mocking us older folks for not being ‘festival appropriate’ (i.e. wasted) and walked around the campsite that night/morning making a fuss.
- The bizarre ladybird infestation in our part of the campsite. Kept finding them everywhere and now our tent is covered in ladybird secretions (they spew out a yellow fluid when they feel threatened).
It would take me to long to document everything that went on throughout the weekend as it was jam packed with stuff to see and do but ultimately, it was a really good first run for Vintage and am looking forward to seeing what future events hold.
“The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own.”
Am having the most fun taking photographs at the moment. Have just purchased the Hipstamatic iPhone App. Oh my God, it is the most inspiring photo app that I’ve used for a while. I bought the Handyman a Diana camera a few Christmases back and was incredibly jealous of the vintage style photographs that he was able to produce.
The colours were so vibrant and a welcome change from the usual lifelike digital shots that have their place but are sorely lacking in the fun department. Stumbling on Hipstamatic was a joy! You can buy lenses, compete in competitions…basically, it injects the most everyday shots with a dash of Steve McQueen cool. Love, love, love it. 
Who needs Vogue?!
I have recently subscribed to ‘Vintage Life’ – a new magazine for those who love the vintage lifestyle, so imagine my glee when I came home from work today to find this little beauty through the letterbox. Within the first couple pages, the advertisements alone had me hooked and the articles range from hints on how to date your vintage finds to a step by step guide on how to do victory rolls.
Take a peep online at www.vintagelifemagazine.com to subscribe either the old-fashioned way or for a more eco-friendly digital version (although you can’t take that into the bath with you which makes it instantly less appealing for a bubble addict like myself).
Summer nights
Have just bought my ticket for ‘Vintage at Goodwood’ this summer and am super excited. the prospect of a weekend in Sussex enjoying a whole weekend of vintage loveliness just fills me with joy- even if it does involve camping in the unpredictable British climate!
Vintage at Goodwood is the brainchild of designers Geraldine and Wayne Hemingway who co-founded ‘Red or Dead’ in the 1980s. In 1999, they set up Hemingway Design, with the focus being on affordable social design with projects as diverse as furniture to housing estates.
With its combination of fashion, music and comedy in a beautiful stately setting, it promises to be a great experience. For once, I am on track to getting my summer planned – yay to being organised! 
We can do it!
Found this little tutorial for those who want to go for a bit of tough girl vintage styling.
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To add a perfect 1940s scarf, take a look at Vixen Vintage for her wonderfully straightforward instructions on how to look more like a 1940s wartime lass and less like Princess Anne…Vixen Vintage is a true modern vintage icon – just check out her hat collection to see what I mean!
For those who prefer a more traditionally feminine approach, you could try this vintage inspired look instead.
To be honest, neither of the videos work on my hair as it is too curly, but both tutorials are a good starting point for you to use as a base for your own variations on a vintage theme. As for the scarf, I love it. Simple, inspired vintage accessorising at its best.
If anyone has any advice about vintage inspired afro/mixed race hairstyling, I would love to hear from you as, although I love my hair in all its natural fuzziness, sometimes, it would be nice to be able to ‘glam it up’!
Retro Geek Girl 
