OOTD Five Decades Five days 1930's Monday

Whilst I am drawn to the fashion of the 40's and 50's for the most part I do love other era's like the 60's and 70's (not so much anything after that unless it's an era throwback) and I decided to put myself to a little challenge and see what I could come up with for a week in vintage style workwear through the decades.

I am taking things from my own wardrobe to achieve all these looks.

1930's Monday

This dress was a £3.00 charity shop find. It's a thin floaty fabric with a silky underlay to it. I have seen duplicates of it in other charity shops but it is seemingly homemade. I wonder if it was a project kit at some point. The draped bust is a lovely feature to this dress and felt very 1930's to me.

I love the subtle shell pattern and the colours are good for spring. I teamed it with a simple black shrug for warmth and my black ballet pump shoes

I got this long art deco style long necklace from a facebook selling site which are in-keeping with a 1930's style.

Crochet gloves and cloche hats were staples of the 1930's women, they almost always wore hats, I went for this summer style, I love the bow detail on the back. The black bag was a gift from my stepmum and is actually from Next, she's always picking up vintage appropriate things for me and has a really good eye!

Hair:

I have never attempted a 30's style before so this was a new experience. I tried and failed at mastering finger waves on the first try last night, I think 30's styles might take a lot more practice. I rolled my hair under and pinned with bobby pins to give the illusion of a short bob and let the front fall forward into a curve around my eye.

Make up:

I went very natural for my 1930's daytime look with taupe eyeshadow with a tiny bit of pencil eyeliner, a very light blush and pink lips, I focused more lip colour on the middle of the lip to give a been stung appearance but it's very subtle.

I have to admit this is far more dressy than I would usually go to the office, and obviously I didn't wear my gloves and hat inside but I felt super smart and feminine. I rarely wear necklaces but I loved what the long strand necklaces added to the outfit.

I felt a little out of my comfort zone but on my way to work a young man held a door for me and told me I looked lovely which I must admit made my day!

To follow along with my challenge you can follow the hashtag #5decades5days on Instagram.

Until Next Time
Love
Lucy
xx

OOTD Lindy Bop Bletchley Book Dress Review

After receiving some birthday spends I decided to treat myself to a dress I had be coverting for a while.

Lindy Bop Bletchley Book Print Turquoise Shirt Swing Dress 

I had searched everywhere for this dress, it was sold out on the Lindy Bop website when I came to buy it. I can see why it was so popular but I put a call out to the Vintage community and got some suggestions on where I might find it.

Low and behold I found one remaining size 18 on the Little Wings Factory website, too big for me in truth, but I decided I could always have it taken in so in terms of the fit I'd say it's true to size and I have it pinned here for photos till I can get to the seamstress. I paid £35.99 plus £3.95 postage.

As a book worm this is the perfect print for me and when you look closely there are so many oddities within the print like gumballs, spiderwebs and teacups. It's just adorable, There is nothing dorky about this book shelf and it will certainly grab attention!

 


The dress is a 1950s shirt dress style with what I would call a 2/4 length sleeve, they are short but not too short. It's a another thing I love about this style from Lindy Bop since I am, not crazy about my arms.

The dress comes with a coordinating belt as many of the Lindy Bop dresses do which is definitely a selling point.

It's made of Lindy Bop's matt finish poly fabric which is very soft and comfortable. I'd definitely look out for more dresses in this fabric especially for button fronts as I always struggle with cottons in the bust area but this dress moulds so nicely to more shapely areas.

It's lined on the top half in a dark blue fabric which is super soft but the bottom is unlined, it doesn't really need a lined skirt since the fabric and pattern mean it won't go see through in daylight.

The dress falls to my knee which always makes me happy as I am fairly tall and some reproduction dresses are more like skater dresses on me so I was glad of the length of this one. I'm wearing it with a petticoat here.

A fantastic feature of this dress and so many of the Lindy bop styles is that it has pockets, vintage lovers appreciate a dress with pockets that's for sure. I am not sure when the fashion industry decided that we didn't need them!

Another thing I love about this dress is that with such a colourful pattern there are loads of options for colour combining. I'm still mad about contrasting and combining tights for cute additions to outfits. I would combine teal or orange tights with a contrasting cardigan if I wanted to go all out on colour.

The delivery time for this dress from Little Wings Factory was 4 working days, I ordered on Sunday and it arrived on Thursday.

I wore these red Hotter Boutique shoes with this dress which I'll be blogging about soon.

I added a simple pair of orange bakelite earrings and these deadstock bangles that were originally made for Woolworths with my bakelite apple juice spacers. For my day in the park I decided to use my blue plastic 50's style shopping bag which I love to take out with me on dry days.

I hope you enjoyed this review. I know I'll be looking at many more Lindy Bop dresses in future, they have so many colour ways in their styles that there is something for everyone!

Until next time
Love
Lucy
XX

Top 5 Alternative Summer Dresses For Vintage Fans

I can't wait for sunnier days to be here but I sometimes find it hard to buy dresses that aren't the typical summer brights when I am looking for something a little different. So here are my top 5 alternative summer dresses for those of us looking for something alternative.

1. Bethany Lilac Swing Dress, £30, Lindy Bop

What drew me to this dress was the colour, I prefer more muted tones and I think this dress would really stand out in the summer crowds because it's something a little different from the usual brights.
It's got a nod to the nautical trend that comes around every summer but it's subtle with the rope detailing on the neckline and lovely black trims. It would also carry very well through to autumn and winter later in the year.

2. Collectif vintage Simona Banana Swing Dress, £57.00, Collectif 

I absolutely love the print of this dress, A lot of summer dresses go a bit crazy for novelties but this print is just enough for me. The bananas add enough colour to make it bright and cheerful enough for the summer months. It's busy enough to look great all on it's own but it could be dressed up or down for daytime and evening.

3. Brenda Dress, £79.00, Seamstress of Bloomsbury 

I have recently become a first time SOB customer but I had fallen in love with their fabrics a long time before, I love how they use very traditional fabrics and in the summer their crepes will be so light and cool to wear. If you are not one for flashing the flesh this dress would be gorgeous in summer because it is made of 100% natural fibre which is much more comfy even on warmer days. 

4. 1940's print Lana Pineapple Brown, Coming soon £99.00, Vivien Of Holloway 

I have been obsessed with the Lana dresses for a while and when watching a VOH live video on Instagram I spied this beauty. It's got a tropical quality about it with the gorgeous print but I love the colour combination too. It's nothing too garish or obvious, it's more a traditional and classic reproduction style which the market has been crying out for. 

5. 1950's "Charlene" Shirtwaister Dress, £49.00, Rock N Romance 

This is another great print because of it's traditional quality, shirtwaister dresses are great wardrobe staples for any time of year because they look great on their own or layered up with a cardigan when the weather is not so sunny. It's made of rayon which will make it so comfortable and would look great with espadrille wedges in the day, heels in the evening or barefoot at the end of a summer party! 

(Images property of 1. Lindy bop, 2. Collectif, 3. Little Wings Factory, 4. Vivien of Holloway and 5. Rock N Romance) 

I hope this gave you some ideas for alternative summer styles. Lets just hope the sun follows... 

Until Next Time 

Love 

Lucy 

OOTD - True Vintage 1950's Floral Nylon Dress

This Saturday it was my birthday and one of the vintage Facebook forums I belong to had arranged a meet up at Kew Gardens, I couldn't think of a more lovely way to spend the day!

Kew Gardens, for those overseas readers who may not know, is a famous botanical gardens in South West London. It's quite the tourist attraction attracting approximately 1 million visitors per year.

Florals simply had to be the order of the day for Kew. I bought this dress at Judy's Vintage Fair in Spitalfield's a good few years ago. It was £40 and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, I've only worn it a handful of times and usually reserve it for more special occasions because I love it so much.

It is made from a thick nylon, you'll sometimes see it described as sheer or textured nylon but I think different sellers use different terms (I saw one on ebay described as a plastic vintage dress once!) It's not exactly stiff but it does keep it's shape and these dresses are pretty hardy.

I love the dress's bustline which is very typical of the 50's and gives a great shape. The waist is pinched in to maximise the skirts flare, but I prefer it without a petticoat.

The floral pattern is the most vibrant pinks, purples and greens, another great thing about these types of dresses is that they retain their colour really well if they are looked after.

What I also love about this dress is that it can be worn as a day dress or in the evening, I have worn it to both.

As this was a daytime event I wore my black ballet flats for comfort (I'd be warned about Kew and the need for appropriate footwear)

I topped this outfit off with my pink silk coat which I bought on ebay for £11.00 a couple of years ago. it has the most beautiful embroidered collar.

To tie in with the greens in the dress I wore this faux jade necklace.

It was so windy that I didn't worry too much about having perfectly set hair, I threw some bobby pins in my bag and just went with it! Wearing this fascinator helped in the windy weather. It's a green velvet with a birdcage veil, I've had it for years.

All in all I had a fantastic birthday!!!

Until next time
Love
Lucy

OOTD - Budget Vintage Look Using Modern Pieces

Todays outfit is a collection of charity shop finds and vintage accessories to get a vintage style using modern pieces that don't cost the earth! I love hunting out vintage inspired items of clothing at charity shops and thrift stores. I tend to spend a little more on accessories that are good quality vintage to offset the outfit.

This 80's skirt is one of my favourites. It's a pencil skirt but midi length so it falls a few inches below my knee, I am always on the look out for skirts of this length.

I bought this for £3 at the Caberet vs Cancer sale in Bethnal Green late last year. It's a great shade of brown because it can work as a staple for so much in my wardrobe.

This shirt I picked up in one of the North London Hospice shops for £3.75 and it's perfect for a vintage look. It's from the 80's and it didn't look like much on the hanger but I loved the pattern and colours so much and I knew it would work with the right skirt.

As it is short sleeved I wore a modern red cardigan over the top of it to keep me cosy. Again this came from a charity shop.

I am obsessed with these vintage style hotter shoes and was so happy when I found a coordinating yellow belt in the Finsbury Park branch of the RSPCA shop for £2.50 as it brings everything in this outfit together.

As a birthday treat to myself I bought this Waldybag which came complete with tags, the original purse and mirror! This was from a charity seller on ebay and was £25.00. it's in perfect condition and is simple gorgeous.

On work days it can be hard to use my vintage handbags if I have a lot to carry. I found this vintage crochet bag in a charity shop and snapped it up. It's great for extra storage and when I am not using it I can stow it away ready to whip it out when needed.

I wet set my hair last night and wore this lovely felt vintage hat. I decided it was a big red lips day as I am going out for birthday drinks tonight.

I am so looking forward to my proper birthday tomorrow when I'll be running around Kew gardens with fellow vintage lovelies. I'll be posting about that special outfit over the weekend!

Until next time
Love
Lucy
xx

Vintage OOTD - Beautiful Silks ft London Car Boot Co

I'm getting very much into the swing of taking outfit photos on a more regular basis so I can blog about them, I must say it's hard work getting photos done without a helper but I'm sure in time I'll get there.

Today's outfit is another vintage dress in my favourite colours! I picked up this silk dress at one of the London car Boot Companies sales (Princess may Stoke Newington)

There was a vintage seller who is fairly regular and this dress was only £1.00, a complete bargain in my eyes!

The colour of this dress is quite hard to photograph because it's actually sort of two tone between mustard and red.

I adore the pattern on this dress, it reminds me of wallpaper but in the best possible way. I'm not one to shy away from patterns and bright prints! It doesn't have a label but I am guessing it is early 60's.

One of the reasons I love silk is that it actually keeps you remarkably warm despite how thin it is, as it is a natural fabric. I find anything man made feels colder. I layered up with a modern cardigan from M&S which I tied at the waist. 


As I was literally on my way to work I wore my trust ballet flats and changed my shoes at the office. I love how ballet flats can go with just about anything and prefer wearing them to the trainers I used to run around the city in.

I teamed this dress up with this huge gold brooch and some gold floral shaped earrings. For bangles I stacked my corn bakelite spacers with some modern wooden bangles. I love the contrast of natural materials against plastics.

I wore my faux beehive again because the weather is so shocking at the moment. I have have this done in a few minutes so it's just really useful for work days. I'll save my more ambitious hair styles for dryer weekends for now!

I hope you enjoyed this post, if you are a Londoner (or visiting) the London Car Boot Co's are definitely worth seeking out, there are still vintage bargains out there!

Until next time

Love

Lucy
xx

Vintage OOTD - The Swinging Sixties ft Painted Black Vintage

Whilst I am so fond of the 40's and 50's recently I have been wearing a few of the 60's numbers in my wardrobe and remembering how fun and versatile this era can be.

Todays outfit is this nylon dress which I picked up at Painted Black Vintage in Crouch End. (Visit their Easy shop here) They have a sale in store at the moment - a rail of dresses all for £15.00 each and a bargain bin of items at £5.00 each.

Unbelievably this dress came out of the £5 bin (I dug all the way to the bottom!)

I love vintage shirt dresses as they are just so easy to wear and the nylon material usually means they don't need ironing, they are perfect to throw on and run around town in.

The pattern was really what caught my eye - greens, burnt orange and yellows are colours I always go for and this dress has all three in a really beautiful pattern.

Some might say this is autumnal but I don't believe in that and wear 'seasonal' colours all year round.

The label is Hillora of Great Britain.

I have such a thing for contrasting tights with these kinds of dresses and I love how these olive green tights coordinated with the dress.

I wore some bright yellow earrings courtesy of Naomi Thompson many of the bakelite bangles came from her also! You can find her Etsy shop here

I wore my hair in a faux beehive. I achieve this without any backcombing by taking a cheap hair doughnut, cutting it to make a rainbow type shape and pinning it in my hair like a rat. I wrapped this scarf around my head to give it the 60's vibe and also cover the more noticeable roots!

It's so woefully windy at the moment that these 60's styles are really coming in handy, the circle skirts of the 50's are beautiful but have caused many a blush on a blowy day!

I hope you enjoyed this post, If you are ever in the area pop in to Painted Black Vintage and take a look!

Until next time

Love

Lucy
xx