Can you believe I'm wearing brown? No me neither, but it is a beautiful late 1950s St Michael dress...

Around 12 years ago there was a phase in fashion where brown was really, really in. I remember it vividly because I had this brown and blue skirt from Next that was the only concession I would make to the brown trend. About 10 years ago I decided I hated said skirt not only because of the colour, but also the stupid asymmetric hem. Ew.

So imagine my surprise when I came across a vintage dress that was most certainly brown, and I really, really liked it. WHAT?! I think the saviour of this dress was that it was not a chocolate brown, but also that it had a print design to it. I can best liken it to a cross between animal print and tree bark. Miaow.

The dress is 1950s St. Michael or Marks and Spencer as it's known now and still has the satin label that was used at the time. I love the fact that M&S changed their labels so frequently allowing their clothes to be dated so easily.

With the dress I wore a modern M&S cardigan, vintage beads and a vintage belt (that is dropping to bits and desperately needs replacing!).

My freshly trimmed hair was tucked into a nylon scarf bow that I tied around my head. I am so much happier with my hair now that I have had all the perm damage cut off. It is in so much better condition and I think I suit the darker colour so much more than the red.

And the back of my hair showing how I tucked it all in the nylon scarf.

The back drop for these photos was a super glamourous back alley in Alnwick, Northumberland. I felt the colours made a lovely combination to go with the dress.

Last think to mention is something else pretty cool. In Alnwick there is a huge second hand book store where the famous/infamous Keep Calm and Carry On poster was originally found. Since the keep calm thing is a huge now it was pretty nifty to see the original.

Outfit details:

Dress: Vintage St. Michaels

Cardigan: Modern M&S

Necklace and Belt: Vintage

Hair Scarf: From Natalie Vintageous

Shoes: Clarks

 How do you find brown clothes? Yey or Ney? 

1950s pincurl set and a polka dot dress

Ah... the pin curl... something I've often strived for but never really successfully managed.

I've curled my hair ever since I was in school. It was around the time that hair straighteners became a massive trend and rebelling agains all the girls in school with polka straight hair I started wearing my hair in curls. Ever the rebel.

Actually I just thought I wanted hair like Sailor Neptune:

Who wouldn't.

My method of choice, rags and the occasional bendy roller, but I stopped using these when I was introduced to the victory roll be a friend and I started using the standard up do day set, next day bouncy curls that so many vintage fans use. Somehow though, pin curls never really worked for me.

I don't know if it was because my hair was too long or I didn't have the right pins, but I just could not get them to work.

But then I tried again after I had my hair cut a couple of months ago and guess what, they worked! I'm going to blame seeing a scene on Masters of Sex where Virginia had curls around the hair line and I decided to give it a try.

If you aren't sure what I mean by pin curling then here is a picture of Marilyn Monroe curling her hair to demonstrate:

thisismarilyn.com

It is pretty much pinning little spirals of hair close to your hear so that they set over a period of time, in my case, over night. You then remove all the pins, unravel the curls and 'brush out'. Its the brishig out I'm really bad at generally, but with a bit of persistence it seems to work out okay.

So here is the results of my first really proper pin curl set:

Its pretty far from perfect, but its my best effort so far, and the curls brushed out really nicely!

Obligatory mirror #selfie I look like a total idiot with the most bemused expression I could manage:

(On a side note my phone case is a Megan Lara design from Red Bubble, her art work is bloody awesome!)

I'm not going to pretend that I know enough about setting the curls to discuss curl direction or how to plan to create a wave shape, but I am trying to learn, one day when I am amazing at this, and less lazy, I will try to post some kind of guide... maybe.

Last but not least, here's the rest of my outfit. Its a Laura Ashley dress with a poka dot print and my favourite M&S cardigan of the moment. What do you think?

Dress: Laura Ashley

Cardigan: M&S

Shoes: Clarks

What methods of curling have you used?

Vintage Find! 1950s Tailoring & My Grandmother's Vintage Wedding Suit

Hi there everyone, I know it has been a while, I've been taking a little bit of a break while I finish my writing my thesis and prepare for my wedding (which I have been taking pictures of every step of the way!).

However, something so fantastic happened I had to write a quick post.

I have been a fan of the classic 1950s suit for a long time. Modern suits just don't flater my shape and I have always imagined that a classic cut suit form the 50s was the answer to my woes. They are so feminine while being tailored.

My favourite colours are anything between the shades green and blue and I especially love teal so the iconic look of Marilyn Monroe in Niagara was something I would one day want to emulate. I've seen several patterns of vintage designes and I've spent some time contemplated getting one made when I finally have enough cash.

So imagine my intrigue when my Grandmother told me that she had her wedding suit from the 1950s?!
I went digging through old photos and found some lovely ones of her dressed casually but also some photos from her wedding in 1956.

Then I got a sneak peek at the suit that had been sat in the cupboard upstairs and asked if I could try it on.

Then lucky me! It fit! Here it is...

The suit was so beautiful, a gorgeous colour and fit almost perfectly that my Nanna said that I could have it. I couldn't be more excited about it. Luckily I also have an event in mind to which I can wear it, so I'm not adding too many pictures at the moment but watch this space.