I've got the blues

The good sort.

Lady Carol Petite of New York Dress, Manly Markets

Leather belt, bought in Newtown Sydney

Red Earrings, vintage bought on etsy

Shoes, Zoe Wittner

I bought this dress of a girl at Manly markets. First I thought it might be quite 'vintage' i.e. 50s or 60s, but since finding out that my flower dress is most likely from the 80s, I am guessing this one might be too?

Whilst uploading pics, I did a quick search and found that there are a few other Lady Carol dresses for sale, quoted being from the 70s. Yay!!

Opshopping: Retro City, Barcelona

Tucked away in one of the little tunnel-like paths of central Barcelona is Retro City. It is one of a handful of vintage stores in Barcelona. Surprisingly, it seems vintage isn't 'all the rage' that it is in other corners of the world.

Retro City is a small outlet chocker-block with second-hand and vintage items. The racks are crammed wall-to-wall. Typical of such stores it hosts all types of items; dresses, skirts, tops, jackets, pants, shorts and so on. Rows and rows of shoes layer the floor; boots, brogues, clogs, to name a few.

The prices are pretty standard for a vintage outlet (20E for skirts, 30-50E for dresses, 30E+ for shoes), but I would say this store sits a little lower on the price point than some of the other stores nearby. However, the difference in Retro City is they don't price the items. I tried to bargain down a gorge green and white print skirt from 20 Euro to 15 Euro but my plight was unsuccessful. Booo.... I really need to do something with this skint life I am leading, bring on the money so I can buy heaps of cool shit.

Located: C/ Tallers, 51 (off La Rambla)

Trading Hours: 10am-2pm / 4pm-9pm

No website available

We Heart Frankie Magazine

Fashion Magazines. Now: I have to say many of them are not my friend. Gossip and high street fashion are just not inspiring and don’t make me long for more. There are very few magazines I actually wait for – checking the news stand just to make sure I don’t miss out, if you know what I’m talking about.

But one - one really does tickle my fancy: Frankie Magazine. It’s just lovely. A great mix of fashion, craft, current affairs, illustration and music.

Frankie Magazine is a lot less commercial than most magazines, many of the contributors are ‘random people from next door’, for example the girl who collects the ‘Little Golden Books’, the guy who promised his childhood friend to marry her by 30 if they hadn’t found anyone else (and now thinks he may wait a little longer) or young entrepreneurs who have turned ‘green’ into a business such as a Micro Brewery, rebinding old book cover into notebooks and a vintage bike rental business.

Personally, I love sifting through the first pages ‘frank bits’ to discover new designers and creatives. I usually quickly grab the poster/paper which is designed by a different person each month – it’s so handy for moodboards, wrapping paper, making things... Oh yeah and lining my dresser too :)

The people or political features are almost always interesting or funny, the craft ideas cute, fashion pages pretty and oh I even read the ads!!

Did I mention? Frankie is private owned and 100% Australian. So people – get into it!

What magazines do you dig?

The Way We Wear Fair

Hey there vintage chicas, we have this saying in German which goes something like 'Small but beautiful / powerful' ("Klein aber oho")... And this is true for the 'Way We Wear' vintage fashion fair I went to on the weekend in Adelaide.

Watch out! It's coming to Brisbane, Melbourne and the Gold Coast soon too!

I thought this fair has a good amount of stalls, but not too many to be overwhelming. Unfortunately (or fortunately?!) I was just in one of these moods not wanting to spend any money...  But you could have picked up lots of dresses and vintage accessories for quite reasonable prices.

Here are a few pics: 

If you want to go check out the dates at their website:

http://web.mac.com/vintagecelebrity/The_Way_We_Wear/2010_dates.html

Off to do more blog reading!!
xx

Red stripey pants Vol.1 & 2

You may remember that I bought these red and white stripey pants the other week in Adelaide. I know that some of you may have thought: "What was she thinking"... At least some of my friend silence about the pants, made me question my choice.

So I decided to go through my wardrobe to find two different options for wearing these pants.

Version 1:

Blue knit top, Vinnies

Scarf, Sportsgirl

Stripe Pants, Salvos (originally MNG)

Bangle, Tree for Life

Sandels, Steve Madden

Version 2:

Headscarf, Portmans

Singlet, Sportsgirl

Vest, Sportsgirl

Necklace, my mum ;)

Stripey Pants, Salvos (originally MNG)

Shoes, from a cheap German shoe shop

Voila!

So now I am happy and confident I made the right choice :)

Thou shalt endeavour to always wear red lipstick

... is how it all began. The Lindy Charm School For Girls Vintage Beauty & Make Up workshop that is.

I attended the Adelaide session yesterday, held by head mistress Chrissy and lady Kim. These ladies looked like they have just stepped out from the 30s or 40s - perfect make up, hair, dress, matching shoes and accessories, which beautifully set the mood for the day - being more lady like and caring for yourself.

The course began with a talk about undergarments. Would you believe it - Chrissy and Kim wear corsets most days a week! Kim hand-makes two types of corsets which we tried on. There is the 40s/50s "Hourglass", which is not so uncomfortable, and the 50s "Dior Wasp, this one is a little less comfortable - letme put it in the words of another attendant - "well you won't die". Thefirst one took one inch of my waist - the second one 3.5!! So it can definitely be worth it. While I am not rushing to buy in, I did consider it, as one of the side benefits is great posture and you just feel a lot more lady like! Check out Kim's website.

One of the workshops attendees with Kim, photo by me

Then the ladies talked about hair and make up and did a few demonstrations. I enjoyed the hair session the most as I am always struggling to do something interesting with my hair. Did you know that ladies used to stuff the hair that came out from brushing in a old nylon sock was used to make hair fillers or round buns to put in your hairroll?

Anyway, here is one of the girls that got a make over done:

Before &After of one of the workshop attendees, photo by me

Don't you love the result?

The Lindy Charm School For Girls is holding this workshop across Australia, with a couple coming up in Sydney, Gold Coast, Canberra and Melbourne. Check the website if you are interesting in attending: http://www.thelindycharmschoolforgirls.com/

And here am I on the day:

Dress, Vintage from Irving Baby Adelaide

Wedge Shoes, Shoes Shop Melbourne

Belt, MNG Melbourne

Bracelet, Sportsgirl

I wore the flower dress I bought on my recent Opshopping trip. I am really not sure what shoes go with this style, I tried about 5 different pair which I thought might go, but no luck. So if you have any suggestions please let me know.

Before I go, I need to tell you one more thing: the Lindy Charm School of Girls oath (which all the girls take at the beginning of the workshop) contains one line that particularly struck a chord with me: "thou shalt never wear socks with sandals" - Alexa Chung do you hear me??

Off to put on some lipstick...

Style Icon: Twiggy

Twiggy in all her mod, huge-lashed, androgyny and gawky glory, was (and still is) a prominent style icon from the swingin' 60's. Whether you think she is attractive or just plain odd looking doesn't matter, the impact her look had on the fashion industry and on people's everyday style was huge. Her look disintegrated the barrier between what women wanted to wear and how men viewed them. In the early sixties women certainly did not wear pants, they did not have boyish haircuts nor did their dress emulate any possibility of masculinity. It was prim, it was proper, it was immaculate, and certainly feminine. Then along came Twiggy....

The more photos I see of Twiggy, the more I love what she did for fashion. Obviously it was not a single handed effort from the woman herself, helped along by stylists, brands, photographers and the like, but her meek appearance and soft demeanour created the visual appeal. She looks fun, carefree, awkward, vulnerable, child like, boyish and delicious in all her photos. I see so much of today's influence in Twiggy, makes me wish I lived the era, then again I am sure I see the 60's far more glamourously than what truly existed.

New Shopping Sometimes Feels Like Opshopping

Opshopping for me is often about finding quirky pieces from the past. Sometimes though, I get the same thrill from new clothes - this is the case with the collection of online store OldgOld Boutique.

I posted one of their rings on our tumblr site a little while ago, but not until now did I actually look through the rest of the store.

They have some seriously "out there" clothes and what I like most is that they are all comfy clothes! So if you feel like bumming around - you can still look funky:

Romantic Summer Wedding

Well ok, not MY wedding, but I attended a wedding a few weekends ago and finally managed to get my pictures sorted!

You might be surprised by this look, after seeing me in super casuals in my AC/DC outfit. But I always love switching between girly pretty, hippy and alternative...

The wedding was definitely flat shoe territory as both the ceremony and the reception were held on grass. I used a gold theme for the accessories, just to keep it simple.

I had the thongs from my friend Erin's wedding last year, so all I had to do was to find a gold belt. Well! That was a mission. In the end I found it in the most unexpected place - in a recycled boutique in Goolwa, South Australia! I already had the armband from years ago and bless my dear god mother, who sewed me a black underslip while I was sick on the sofa!

My hair was done using Strawberry Koi Vintage' tutorials on pin curls. Can't wait to attend the vintage fair this weekend in Adelaide. I am attending a vintage hair and beauty session with the Lindy Charm School for Girls!

Dress: Vintage, Salvos Sydney

 Black Underslip: Handmade

Belt: Second-hand, Recycled Boutique Goolwa

Sandels: Steve Madden

PS! Would love to know your guesses on the rough period of this dress. (No label)...

An Education: Young & Old Alike

I have had the film An Education and it's fabulous wardrobe swirling around in my head ever since I saw it. I so admire the way folk of the late 50's and early 60's managed to prepare, primp, manicure, and refine their looks with such precision. The type of care taken in everyday grooming is enviable: the hair, make up, layers, changing of outfits. It's something that has definitely fallen by the wayside in recent years. Albeit a conformist way of dressing and not overly fun or unique, there is something very attractive about one who takes care of their style with such delicacy. I think the term I am looking for is: Appropriately Dressed. Something interesting I thought was there doesn't appear to be a huge difference between young women and older ladies in this film, they dress very similar, as do the men.

I love the way Jenny's outfits throughout the film depict how she is feeling and the different experiences she is having. She is so believable in both her school uniform and dressed up to the nines ready for a classical concert, the wonder of style through clothes.

On that note, I will leave you with my favourite quote from the film:

“It’s funny, though, isn’t it… All that poetry and all those songs about something that lasts no time at all.” - Jenny

GUEST POST: The Hidden Button

I thought it was funny when my friend Erin sent me this post about vintage buttons as I had just bought two rings made from buttons as described in my Adelaide Opshopping post. So here it goes:

GUEST POST: Erin, currently living in Long Beach, CA.

Inheriting both a vintage Mexican dress and jars of crazy, beautiful buttons from decades passed made me wonder just where the button has gone.

They seem to have fallen by the wayside going from decadent decoration to practical application, quietly securing our garments without drawing much attention. That said vintage over the last few years seem to be making a big comeback in all different styles of unique jewelry, from cuff bracelets to rings to pendants on necklaces.

These vintage buttons have been re-incarnated into one of kind jewelry:

You can find these at Vintage Soul located at Pangaea Outpost in San Diego, California.

You can find this in my closet:

As if this dress isn’t glorious enough just in color and embroidery - the buttons take the cake…

Oh yes…I inherited my grandmother’s sewing machine and a boatload of old buttons with it:

I’m really interested in trying to use these as replacements for some of the buttons on my current clothing or to embellish along a sleeve of a shirt or the waistline of some pants or skirts for a different look.

If anybody has some great ideas for bringing the button back to modern clothing, I would love to know about them.

Check out your own home for lost caches of long forgotten button collections or search online, there are plenty of collectors keeping the passion alive and numerous sellers on ebay and other independent websites. Your local flea markets and antique fairs are no doubt holding some treasures as well.

If you’re interested in a quick and easy read on the history of the button, check out “A History of the Button” by Roy Earnshaw.

Watch out for other posts by Erin, she might become a regular guest author! Erin can be contacted at erin.ash.motter@gmail.com

Etsy Gets Me

It's official, my Etsy obsession is now an addiction! I could peruse the online treasure pages of Etsy for days without even looking up from my screen. My room mates have 'grave concerns for my health and wellbeing' when I'm with Etsy! Now, the only minor (major really, but I'm trying to stay calm) issue at present is that moving abroad is an expensive venture so as a result my indulgences are forcibly being placed on hold (momentarily). But I refuse to stop looking, browsing and checking all my fave items in the hope that maybe they won't sell, go on sale and I'll snap them up cleanly with no worries at all, wishful thinking! But in all seriousness, not only is Etsy a fantastic hub of vintage and handmade items, it's set pricing so there's no rigmarole of bidding and waiting. You find, you buy, it's yours!!! Fortunately for you guys today I found too many goodies not to share.....

Navy Blazer: Pretty Birdie by Stephanie Teague

Black Oxford Heels: Eaten by Owls

Coral 40's Dress: Prance & Swagger

Lace/Silver Necklace: Hilary Koster Jewellery Design

Tan Pouch: Bayan Hippo

Tasmanian Wood Ring: that vintage

The coral dress reminds of something Jenny would've worn during her time with David (from the film An Education). It has that conformity to it with the high neck, but the shape and colour seem a little rebellious. I just love it, boo to my lack of funding!!!

At the moment, we are collecting items for our very own Etsy shop, so watch this space. Like all of our projects, it becomes our baby, so it will take some time for this to come to fruition but look forward to more little treasures to browse over during your Etsy stays!

Opshopping: Irving Baby, Adelaide (AUS)

In the hope that my shopping rambelings aren’t boring you yet, I will sneak in one more shop review from my recent Adelaide trip, while it is still fresh in my memory: Irving Baby, Hindley Street Adelaide.

Originally I had planned to visit Irving Baby on Twin Street, but when I couldn’t find a car park, I’d decided to check it out another time. Then, wandering along on Hindley Street after going into Goodwill store, minding my own business, I thought I was bananas! There is Irving Baby. Where am I? Did I get lost??

Of course I upon enquiry I found out that there are two Irving Baby shops in Adelaide!

Original photos - by me

Well and what can I say. This is a fun shop, you just wanted to spend hours in there! Unlike the previous shop I wrote about, Hero, Irving Baby has a mix of wares – half vintage clothes, half handmade stuff with a few new clothes thrown in. Vintage clothes include dresses, shirts, shoes, bags and belts. And prices are very reasonable – after all I bought the flowery dress for about $30.

The funnest part are all the handmade things they sell. I mean, who are these creative people making purses, rings, necklaces, paintings, cards and even knitted pictures?! Really, it is disgusting seeing so much talent in one spot. Ok, I’m just bitter I don’t have the talent and time haha!!

Original photos - by me

Anyway. Irving Baby really is a shop with something for everyone. So go and check it out if you are in Adelaide.

Where: 83 Hindley Street, Adelaide SA
Contact: check their facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adelaide-Australia/Irving-Baby/25117458751

Alrighty - until the weekend! Over to Kerry :)

When does second-hand clothing become vintage fashion?

This is a question I constantly ask myself when friends comment:

"Oh, vintage is just a posh word for second-hand"....

Wikipedia tells me: "Generally speaking, clothing which was produced before the 1920s is referred to as antique clothing and clothing from the 1920s to 1980 is considered vintage. Retro, short for retrospective, usually refers to clothing that imitates the style of a previous era. Clothing produced more recently is usually called modern or contemporary fashion.”

Mh... What do you think?

Original photos by me and Erin (watch for an upcoming post by her)

What really is vintage fashion? Is it just a bourgeois word for second-hand? A graceful way of saying ‘old’ clothes? Or a term used by serious fashion enthusiasts to differentiate themselves?

Opshopping: Hero, Adelaide (AUS)

Hero is one of the first vintage shops I visited in Adelaide and I think one of the best!

It is a classic vintage clothing shop – where the owner has done thehard yards for you (digging through mountains of clothes to find a fewgems). It offers lots of vintage dresses from the 1940s-1980 and greataccessories. All the clothes are beautifully looked after, Shirley(hope I spelt your name right!) the owner obviously knows her stuff!

Surprise items for me were the amount of gloves and vintage hats Hero sells! Girl heaven.

The prices were surprisingly manageable – dresses ranged from $50-$180, accessories from $10-$100. Pretty good considering the excellent condition everything is in!

I didn’t buy anything this time, but will definitely be back when I need a dress!

Address: 5 Ebenezer Place, Adelaide, SA
Phone: (08) 8223 1626

Oh and by the way: I got chatting with the Shirley and she told me that a few months ago The Satorialist came in – who can beat that?!

Adelaide Opshops – The Beginning of a Love Affair

So, today was my first day exploring Opshopping-land in my temporary home town of Adelaide, South Australia (ok, I’m in Victor Harbor, but let’s be generous here...).

And what can I say? I’m in love!

My day began driving up to Adelaide listening to Fleetwood Mac, so I should have known that it was going to be a bright, successful day! I had so much fun – all the store owners were super lovely and I took lots of pictures with my new camera – an excitement in itself.

Today, I visited:

• Salvos on 422 Morphett Street, Adelaide
• Hero Vintage on 5 Ebenezer Place, Adelaide
• Red Ruby Vintage on 14 Peel Street, Adelaide
• Goodwill on 97 Hindley Street, Adelaide
• Irving Baby on 83 Hindley Street, Adelaide

I will post on each of these stores separately because we’ve decided to attempt building a database of opshops / vintage shops (each listing needs to link to a short review) - more on that another time.

Here is what I found today:

Clockwise:
New blue polka dot dress from Salvos (Target Brand)
Vintage flower Dress from Irving Baby (“The Dress Company, by Stitches”)
Two rings made from vintage buttons from Irving Baby (Handmade)
Vintage cookbooks from Salvos (sorry! I couldn’t help myself, I know it’s not fashion, but food inspires me too!)
Second-hand red and white stripe pants from Salvos (MNG Brand)

Until in a minute :)

Opshopping: Manly Village Public School Markets, Sydney (AUS)

Northern Beaches, Sydney, Australia. 

You may be forgiven for thinking that Manly Markets has only random nic nacs, food and a few cheap designer imitations - after all it is located in a beach suburb I wouldn't consider very creative...

But we were quite surprised!

Manly markets has lots of second-hand clothing stands and bric a brac! Seventy percent of it is pretty much young people clearing out their wardrobes - so there are many bargains to be found!

I was particularly taken back by some of the more professional second-hand clothing dealers because we made some great finds including the two tops Kez is wearing in the last two pictures - $5 each!

Go and check it out for yourselves or even grab a stand yourself to make some space in your wardrobe!

Where: Cnr of Darley Road and Wentworth St, Manly Village Public School, Manly (Sydney), Australia
When: Every third Saturday of the month
http://www.manlyvill-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/welcome/markets.html