A 1950s Red Vintage Check Dress

Today I want to share a lovely little shirt waisted dress that I got from Snoopers Paradise in Brighton a little while back. It was a touch snug so I've not really worn it often but that's all changed now :D I think the dark red it a perfect colour for autumn.

I got the dress for £20 which is very unusual for a vintage dress, especially one in a size 18 (roughly a modern 12-14) however it had a big hole in the under arm, no slip and some repair needed to the waist. I imagine it would have looked terrible to anyone who didn't sew, but it was super easy to fix up with my sewing machine. Took around 20 minutes including the time it took to dig the machine out of the cupboard.

I have no idea what the fabric is, it is that slightly shiny fabric that is a bit like taffeta but much thinner, I've seen quite a few dresses of this era made from it, and would love to know what it is, so if you have an idea, please put me out of my misery!

To complete the outfit I wore a black cardigan and belt (that actually came with a different skirt, but oh well!) a vintage hand bag and a pair of soft soled clogs from Lotta from Stockholm.

And with my pointy boob cup doreen bra to give it the perfect bust shape:

I also did something a little experimental with my hair. I found that lately I had been missing my blonde stripes so I took a leap and bought some clip in extensions. I got two from eBay and they were super duper cheap (about 99p each) so I thought I'd give one a spin. Quite literally in a hair roll. In hindsight I think I should have put two in there for symmetries sake but I think you get the idea.

Dress: Vintage

Belt: Vintage

Cardigan: M&S

Necklace: Vintage

Shoes: Lotta from Stockholm

Bag: Vintage

Have you ever snagged a bargain because it needed a little work to fix it?

A Red Sun Dress for the Durham Miners Gala 2013

And the heat goes on (haha, that was a pun... sorry).

The week before last I went to the Durham Miners Gala. It was a beautiful day for it, but I can't imaging how hot some of those people playing in the brass bands or carrying the banners must have been.

If you don't know the Miners Gala is a event that occurs every year in Durham, it is a chance for all the different workers unions to get together as a celebration of unity and a little bit of socialism I suppose. I don't really know enough about the history of the pits and the gala to give any in depth explanation of the event, but it seems to be something a lot of local communities get involved in (more info here).

It was super busy as you can see from these photos (taken by my Dad)!

 

 The different groups bring banners and bands through the roads in Durham and march towards the racecourse where I believe they have political speakers and a bit of a party. My family and I ventured into town to and looked at the banners and listened to lots of the bands.

I did manage to steal away from the crowds to have a moment of quiet and a photograph in a fairly desserted back street.

I decided to wear a red sun dress from Monsoon - one of this seasons anniversary collection that celebrates 40 years of the brand - and reminds me a lot of those boho dresses from the 1970s. Perfect for a hot summer.

Here's a closer shot of the dress too:

I'm just about finished work and packing for now until I move back to the south so I am very grateful to have a bit of time to relax in the sunshine...

Vintage Outfits: Da Doo Blog Blog - A 1960s Girls Night Out

Submitting my thesis was a huge ordeal for me (and I promise this is the last you'll hear on it for a while) - and the event needed to be marked with a proper celebration! Luckily for me my friend Miss Doherty had been plotting an evening out with some of her friends that I was invited to tag along to.

The night was Da Doo Ron Ron (named after the hit song of the same name). A night of 1960s girl pop and Mowtown that has usually been pretty popular to my knowledge - although somehow in 4 years in Brighton I'd never been.

The jokes, however, is really on me really as my first trip there, was also the last ever Da Doo.

Sad times indeed as it was really a fun night. I visited Miss Doherty's flat and met two of her friends Hayley and Katie from the southern vintage scene. We gathered for drinks and jokes as we listened to records and Miss D made sure my hair was in ship shape.

My hair was up in a sort of beehive inspired with a couple of curls on the top. Sadie made sure that it looked perfect from the back too. On a side note I know my roots are terrible! Please don't judge me, I'm getting it all sorted out later today.

Interestingly we all observed that dressed in a somewhat 1960s style we were all out of sorts with out usual attire. I thought that of us all my look was closest to my usual wardrobe but that is probably because my look is a little more... erm... eclectic (aka less polished) than others.

Any who, what did it wear.

Being the size and shape I am, I'm not really comfortable in the typical 60s shift mini dresses. In a panic I had a look around Primark and managed to lay my hands on two dresses that were okay, but in the end I found something better so they will be going back. During the day I went to a shop in Hove called Department where I browsed the rails. It is one of those mixed-up shops that houses all types of old things all together, china, furniture, clothes and it even has a cafe!

I found my dress tucked away in the basement and looking a little moth eaten. But it fit! Rather splendidly if I'm honest. It looks hand made to me from the way the sleeve cuffs are done, and there are no labels at all so it's hard to date. It's a sort of wool/felt fabric. It had a few holes that aren't too tricky to fix but all in all I think it was a pretty good buy.

The look ended up being a bit more inspired by the sort of Joan from Mad Men look, although I'm not sure I do it so well as Christina Hendricks - she is the queen of the wiggle dress!

Image is property of AMC and the creators of Mad Men

Happy Holidays! Christmas at the Fancy Dresscapade House

Hello everyone! I hope that you all had a good holiday season.

For me its been a bit of a quiet one, my first married Christmas (that I unfortunately had to spend away from my husband), my first Christmas with only two grandparents and my first proper working Christmas. I was lucky to get Christmas day itself off and decided to dress for the occasion.

I wore a red dress from Laura Ashley, I've had this a few years now and I'm glad that the diet finally needs I need a belt to pull it in around the waist :)

My hair was somewhat dirty, from three long shifts the days before, but dirty hair allows for some interesting hair sculpting. I tried my hand at doing three large hair rolls right on the top of my head - somewhat inspired by Angel Adoree of the Vintage Patisserie, but I'm not sure I got the placement of that middle roll quite right.

Ah well, more practice practice!

One of my gifts this year was a lovely faux fur hat and collar set, I was really pleased with this as it will add a snuggly vintage touch to all my coats! (Sadly my hair was too big to try the hat on...).

One of my favourite parts, along with I imagine everyone else, of Christmas day is the meal. My family are quite relaxed about such things as we all like to cook so our tactic is to assign a few tasks to each member and share the load. It generally works quite well, although there are the very occasional moments where too many cooks spoil the broth rings true.

One of my main jobs was to make the Yorkshire puddings. I use a family secret recipe from my Grandad and it works every time (and yes, my apron has cupcakes on it...).

One last thing i that I am very grateful to Mr Fancy for getting me a 3DSXL for Christmas (especially since it has Pikachu on it!) But one of the fun things about a 3DS is that you get to style a game avatar to look like you. Here is mine, and the one I made for Mr Fancy:

Its not really the most accurate representation of my I could have made, but you get the idea...

How way your Christmas?

Altering Vintage: A Pretty Red Vintage Laura Ashley Dress

I am quite a fan of the brand Laura Ashley. I suspect that it has something to do with the fact that my Mum used to wear these dresses when I was a little girl and to me they have always seemed warm and feminine. I adore their large skirts, floral prints, poofy sleeves but I sometimes wonder if they can look a little frumpy when compared to todays fashion?

Their dresses are iconic and the modern styles are not quite the same as those designed in the 1980s so some of the vintage dresses are quite sought after in second hand retailers.

I got this beautiful red dress from eBay for a pittance price of £7.50. It has a gorgeous red and green ditsy print and I love the sleeves however it was just a bit too long when it arrived.

This seemed ironic given that I usually winge about skirts being too short!

I decided to take it up by a few inches using my sewing machine (a lovely easy task thank goodness!) and I think it looks much better now. Sorry for the rare glimpse of me sans make up!

Let me know what you think.

Any who, what do you think of vintage Laura Ashley? Pretty and feminine or overrated?