Vintage style with a Hell Bunny dress from Tiger Milly

 Hello everyone!

Today I want to tell you about a gorgeous dress I was sent c/o Tiger Milly, an online shop that specialises in vintage style and rockabilly clothing.

In particular, they have a lot of Hell Bunny dresses. Now Hell Bunny are a brand I have come across before and worn on a few occasions so I was very excited to work with Tiger Milly to style up a dress of my choice *lucky*.

After a lot of deliberation I decided to go with the Francine dress in green. Now I know that red and green should 'never been seen' but I truly believe this dress is the exception to that rule, there is something about the colour combination on this dress that is just so visually striking. AND it reminded me of Snow White - what's not to love.

I should mention that while I was on my jaunt about town, I received no less that FOUR compliments on my outfit from complete strangers. I am definitely not used to that and I attempted to be gracious, but I think I probably just came across as a bit embarrassed. None-the-less it was a rather lovely way to debut a new dress!

When I left the house I was also wearing a red cardigan but that was quickly removed as the sun came out. I continued the red and green them with red sunglasses, my vintage moonglow necklace and some red ballet pumps.

The dress itself was actually a much lighter colour than I expected, somehow really floaty and light which was absolutely perfect for a warm summer day. 

Then there was the skirt. This dress well and truly passed the swish test with loads of fabric to give a great twirl.

Since it was hot I sort of piled all of my hair on top of my head in a sort of rolley way. I'm so sick of my semi-grown-out-fringe now, I feel like it's limiting my choice of styles at this point. But oh well, I suppose if you can't do the time, don't do the crime (never let me get a fringe again!).

 

Dress: Hell Bunny c/o Tiger Milly

Beads: Vintage via charity shop

Shoes: M&S

Cardigan: M&S via charity shop

What do you think to red and green?

Spring to Summer Florals: A One Pound Vintage Dress and a 99p Vintage Hat

A few weeks ago I was trawling my favourite charity shops and I came across this dress. Now, I'm usually quite against 100% polyester clothing as a rule, but I really lived the vibrant print on this dress and I thought the button across neckline was something different to the style I usually go for. The thing is though, the dress had a couple of split seams so the lady in the shop decided she would sell it for £1!

How could I not get it?!

Even better than the £1 dress was this hat that I got off eBay. For 99p. It is hard to find a good black vintage hat, especially a summer one, but this on was able to tick my boxes. 

I don't know if you've noticed but it seems that jelly shoes are the latest in thing but I'm not sure that any of those clunky 90s style ones that are so ubiquitous at the moment were for me.

What I do have, however, are these Vivien Westwood/Melissa flats that I got for my Princess Daisy costume back in October. They are soooo comfy and water proof so they are a perfect alternative to the clunky jelly shoes. Mine came from eBay and because they were second hand and from an auction ending at a really silly time, I managed to get them for a steal at £15!!

I thought with the bright floral look I was doing a pretty good job at blending in with the flowers around the park... sort of...

And finally:

How much grey hair do I have?! It is simply not right that someone under 30 should have this much... How long before I start to look like a badger?

Dress: Hospice in the Weald

Vintage Hat: eBay

Bag: Sue Ryder

Shoes: eBay

What do you think, a whole outfit for under £25!

What's your best thrifty outfit?

A Summer Princess Daisy Cosplay Costume

I went to the Street Pass Brighton event a few weeks ago and I decided to dress for the occasion (you can read more about the event here). Since they were playing Mario Kart 8, I thought it would be a great change to get out my Princess Daisy costume again. The only thing is, that dress is big, it has poofy sleeves, its long and its all round too warm.

So I decided to make a summer version of my Daisy dress, a somewhat toned down version that I would be able to wear without dying of heat exhaustion.

I took inspiration from two of Daisy's looks. Mainly this fan picture showing her shorter dress and the top and shorts combo from all the Mario sports games.

I took the pattern I made for the other Daisy dress and widened the neckline and added binding to the arm holes instead of adding sleeves. I also did a flared gathered skirt rather than one with knife pleats to give it a bit more of a swishy fullness. I tried to make the orange trim a little more subtle as well by using a ribbon rather than making a full ruffle.

I used the same earrings, gloves and crown from the previous costume.

It was such a beautiful day, just windy enough to not be unbearable, and swishy enough to get some nice photos showing how swishy the skirt is. The band stand on the sea front is a lovely regal backdrop too!!

We also tok a few photos on the beach itself. We had to wait for it to be quiet enough, but eventually...

I have to say, walking around Brighton dressed as a princess was pretty fun! I think I want to have a go at a Disney princess costume too soon. Until then...

A Visit to the StreetPass Brighton for some Mario Kart Action

Nintendo Street Pass is network for those playing DS, you can share bits of game information, play mini-games with friends and collecting characters you meet across the world.

Around two weeks ago I went to the StreetPass Brighton meet up at the Fortune of War. To celebrate the release of Mario Kart 8 the organiser of the meet brought a WiiU so that they could hold the Brighton Mario Kart 8 championship. There were 32 entrants (one of which was me) who all raced against each other in a knockout competition.

Naturally I took this as an opportunity to cosplay (more on that later).

I had my DS, Nintendo Mag, their guide to Mario Kart 8 and a pint of lime and soda. I was ready to rock.

I didn't think I had much of a shot at the trophy, but I would have loved that special cup...

When it came down to it, I had a whole host of problems, having never played the game before (although I have played Mario Kart), being unfamiliar with the tracks, not knowing which kart to pick, but mostly... I just kept falling off the edge.

So I was out of the competition pretty early on. The eventual winner turned out to be a guy called Jon shown here with Wes who runs the event.

But while I wasn't playing, there were lots of people to StreetPass with and plenty of gaming to be had on the hand held devices. 

I also wasn't the only person who cosplayed. There was also Kerri who dressed as a femme Mario. She made the costume herself and it was her first go at making a costume. I think she was really brave using a stretch fabric for her first go!

And finally, this was the only picture I managed to get of me and the husband. Sadly it is was in a really dirty mirror, but you get the idea. I was so proud of him as he got a story published on the Argus website about the event :)

Do you StreetPass?

A Visit to Penhurst Place

On a bright sunny day I went on a visit to Penhurst Place. A lovely tudor house with pretty gardens, a toy museum and beautiful rooms to look at. The gardens were absolutely beautiful and it was such a glorious day it was a perfect combination.

Sadly photography wasn't allowed in any of the buildings but one of my favourite things they had on display was some of the costumes from The Other Boleyn Girl that was filmed there.

My husband took some pictures of me in the gardens which made the best backdrop!

This outfit features something I'm absolutely loving at the moment - the midi skirt! I love the fact that these skirts sit just below the knee so they are really flattering, I've just found it hard to find a midi with the right kind of fullness that wasn't a box pleat.

This one is blue,1980s C&A and even better than that - that this skirt comes with a 'belt' as part of the skirt which is awesome as I am terrible at belts...

The cardigan and blouse are from M&S and I have always loved the red white and blue combination! These glasses are from Accessorize from a few years back when vintage inspired things weren't so popular as now. I got them in a bargain bin for about £2 which was brilliant as I think they really work with my features, they are not prescription however which left me with a bit of a banging headache at the end of the day. I need to shop around for some proper sunglasses...

One thing I've not mentioned is that I'm currently obsessed with vintage compacts. Especially Stratton ones. This one is one of my favourites and its  convertible meaning that it can hold loose powder and pressed powder. I would completely recommend a compact for a slightly prettier look than your average hand mirror.

Skirt: Vintage C&A

Blouse: M&S

Cardigan: M&S via eBay

Sunglasses: Accessorize

Shoes: Clarks

A Monsoon Dress in London Town

I went on a visit to London a few weeks ago as my parents were visiting for the long weekend. Since we've been getting the first batches of warmer weather I chose to wear one of my favourite dresses.

This blue and white number of from Monsoon, and the blue and white print has always made me think of those china patterns on plates (which my mum had some of when I was young so there is probably a nostalgia thing going on there). The dress is a 50s style prom shape that was really in circa 2012. My favourite thing is that it has pockets too which is the best place to put your phone.

The scarf came as a sort of 'gift wrap' from Lush and the cardigan is Laura Ashley, its not quite the right colour for this dress, but you know occasionally too much matchy matchy is not a good thing.

The shoes are my old lady Hotter shoes. 

I think these are my favourite glasses at the moment, I love the slight cat-eye shape and I adore browline in pretty much any form. I have them in blue and pink but I think the blue is a bit more versatile, maybe...

Having a little fun with some perspective shots... not all shots worked...

We also went on the Emirates Air Line cable car across the river. It was an amazing view! Please note my hand clutching the side of the car. I don't do so well with heights...  

Dress: Monsoon

Cardigan: Laura Ashley

Scarf: Vintage via Lush

Shoes: Hotter

Have you been on the Air Line? Its definitely worth a go!