Why I love the Lily of the Valley Kitty dress from Vivien of Holloway

If you follow my instagram you will have certainly seen me in a Vivien of Holloway dress. They are one of my favourite vintage reproduction brands (although I must confess there are plenty of brands I haven't tried yet!) which is why I decided to get their Kitty dress for my graduation last summer.

Good ol' Viv then decided to remake the Kitty dress in a new, and I believe limited addition, range of fabric and I knew I had to have another Kitty. I decided to go with the gorgeous green Lily of the Valley print and I think I managed to snag the last one in my size as they are now out of stock in most of the sizes. Mind you there are plenty of other bloomin' gorgeous print dresses in the same style.
Trust me if I had all the monies I would have one in every colour!!

I ADORE this dress. Here are all the reasons why...

Pockets: It has huge roomy pockets for your gloves, trinkets, money and (in the winter) handkerchiefs. Meaning there is no need for a handbag. I love the freedom of a dress with pockets and when the print blends perfectly with the dress you simple can't go wrong.

Skirt: It has a super full gathered skirt with a length of 30 inches so it is perfect for dancing as the skirt won't swish up and for dressing with that mid-century modesty.

The fit: As with all Vivien of Holloway dresses, the fit is based on vintage patterns so the bust/waist/hip ratios are a better for someone with a 'vintage figure' (someone with more than 10 inches difference between their waist and hips). The 16 is perfect for my 30 inch waist and frankly enormous hips and I found that the bust was ample enough for my bust without gaping at the buttons.

Being a bigger girl (size 12/14/16 ish depending on the brand) I find Vivien of Holloway a magnificent way of getting vintage style clothing as I find to difficult to find genuine 40s/50s vintage in my size (just means I have to try extra hard).

The Print: Come on. It's beautiful. 'nuff said.

So yes I absolutely love this dress...

I also think my hair ended up looking pretty good this day. I bought some nylon scarves from Vintageous on youtube and they are a great vintage style hair addition. I'm so pleased that my hair is finally long enough at the front to roll. I much prefer my hair this way than with the fringe. Would you agree?

Dress: Vivien of Holloway

Necklace: Vintage

Shoes: Doc Martens

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 trip to Betty's and a 50s dress

While I had a little bit of time off work I took a trip back home to the north east. It was also my Mum's birthday so it was a good excuse to take a trip out to somewhere special.

That special place ended up being Betty's tea rooms at Northallerton. Betty's have a few tea rooms, in York, Northallerton and Harrogate and I have been to them all. They are all bloomin' wonderful. In fact so wonderful that I insisted that the Betty's bakery make the cutting cake for me wedding.

This time we went for lunch and tea. I love the early 20th century decor of all of Betty's tea rooms, but I love their tea even more! They serve proper tea, you can have it blended with milk, or pure source tea with lemon, milk or on its own and they have around 20 varieties. Even more than the choice, I love the fact that you are served your tea loose leaf in a teapot with a strainer and a pot of water as standard.

All tea should be served with a pot of hot water in my book. Here is me with an array of teapots:

(I was so pleased to get that cartoon swirl in may hair where the bleached portion hasn't quite grown out yet1)

Food wise I had a steak and ale pie with seasonal veg and for dessert I had a chocolate cherry layered cake. It was all divine!

For this day out I decided to wear a gorgeous vintage dress that I found in Age UK in Sunderland (BEST CHARITY SHOP EVER!) and it looks like it dates from the 50s based on the print and fabric. It is however home made so it is hard to give an exact age. It was an utter steal at £8 though.

The cardigan was from Salvation Army and the hat came from an ex-theatre sale on eBay.

While in Northallerton I did have a rummage through some of the charity shops. I have been desperate for a camel coat ever since a friend mentioned one to me back in January and I felt that surely at least one of the charity shops would have one.

Well I was right, the last shop right next to the car park - good ol' Sue Ryder had an amazing wool cashmere blend coat in long camel colour in my size! AND it was discounted from £12 to £6!!!

I almost screamed in the shop when I found it. It reminded me a lot of David Tennant's Doctor Who coat too with its long swishyness - I had to get it!

I really have a problem with coats. I love, Love, LOVE a good coat. In fact I've had to ban myself from buying them now because I simply have too many. I am now only allowed to get one if I give another one away :(

Do you have any types of clothing items that you keep buying in all shapes and colours?

Winter is coming: a red autumn leaves print dress

Oh how the weather is changing, longer nights are coming in, the temperature has dropped and as Eddard Stark would say, Winter is coming.

So what does that mean for me? Well it means breaking out the opaque tights, the cardigans, coats and bringing out the winter hats and gloves. I felt I really had the perfect dress for this.

 

I found this 1050s dress on eBay and I absolutely fell in love with it. I thought it was the perfect dress for the autumn but was a little expensive for my budget. I did my best haggling with the seller and managed to get a reduction by £10! Meaning at £35 it is the most expensive vintage dress I own, but I don't think that is a bad price for a 1950s dress.

It is always a bit of a risk when buying anything online when you aren't sure of the fit. I have a fairly good idea of my measurements and I know what style suits my shape so I think I can usually get a fair idea of what should fit. This dress worked out better than I ever hoped, it fit like a dream! I'm not sure it could have been any better - as you can tell from my face, I felt like a million bucks in this dress.

The dress also passes the twirl test as the skirt is huge.

Now because I was wearing such a nice dress, I had to do something nice with my hair. I used a bit of Batiste dry shampoo to clean up my fringe and give the top a bit more texture, but because I hadn't washed in over 2 days it meant it was much easier to work with. I split my hair into sections and had flowing swirls down from above my right ear to the nape of my neck. I added a little flower to the other side to even out the style but I thought it worked out pretty well, its the first time I've managed to do one of those shorter flat curl styles. I need to work on trying to get the look a little more sleek and hair grip placement but I was pretty pleased with the results.

There is, however, a reason that these pictures were taken inside. Outside the weather was rainy and miserable. I only have one coat here as I didn't really expect the weather to turn so quickly. I really need to head home to pick up the others, but luckily the coat I did bring was a black rain coat. Its not the best style to go with this dress, but it kept me dry!

Dress: Vintage

Shoes: Clarks

Coat: M&S

Hair Flower: Accessorize 

If you are eagle eyed you might spot the M&S bag in the above picture? Well in that bag is something I've been after for some time. As part of the Percy Pig anniversary event M&S produced a few styles of piggy banks, my favourite was the matching Percy and Penny set that I thought would be great for my husband and I to get saving!

Naturally I had to have Penny Pig since I had a flower in my hair.

Anywho, that's it for today.