Cath Kidston vintage fashion treats and the joy of swishing

Along with catching up with the papers I've been trying to catch up with my post.  Among the evil bills and boring circulars I have the latest edition of making magazine which comes out monthly and has some great things in it - everything from clothes patterns, how to make jam, things for the garden etc.  It's not too girly though and gives guides to buying drills and jigsaws depending on the projects in the magazine. Do check it out.  Things that caught my eye in it were this knicker making kit from Flo-Jo Boutique on http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/

There are are a few different materials to choose from to create your own pair of vintage style knickers.  In a sort of 'Valentine' theme, I saw this too. 

Who remembers making a cassette tape of songs for a friend or boyfriend/husband?  This handy little kit from http://www.teaandceremony.co.uk/ is called the Love Birds CD card and includes a one time recordable blank CD onto which you can record 80 minutes of your favourite (or slushiest) songs. It comes in linen card CD sleeve that features a folk bird design on the front and has room for you to write your chosen song titles on the reverse.  The CD has a plain white writeable surface onto which you can pen a message to your sweetheart.Another little treasure was a Cath Kidston booklet.  Now as per an earlier post I did on Cath Kidston I have mixed feelings on some of the things they do.  I can't really afford them either but I never realised how much of their inspiration comes from vintage patterns.  I was surprised and delighted to see that some gorgeous 1940s tea dresses are now in the new collection.  These are my 2 favourites which both have a sweetheart neckline - super flattering on everyone.

Folk Paisley Hazel Dress

Bright Bunch Hazel Dress

This one is so sweet and I love the collar, it's called Scarlet Brownie dress and I think it would be the perfect thing to wear to a summer Blitz party.

Last but not least is this darling little house dress that reminds me so much of my nan.  I think it is just as lovely as the ones that Vivien of Holloway are selling and I love the print.  This Wispy Floral tea dress however is a lot more practical than the VOH one as you can actually use the pockets!  It's such a shame that Christmas and my birthday have just gone!

I have to point out one last thing that caught my eye in the catalogue and that was this little apron.  It is so adorable but I think it would be very easy to make yourself with a machine.

There was an article in between all these tempting dresses on 'swishing' which is the craze for swapping clothes. The idea is simple, you bring at least one item that's in good condition to give away and in return you get to pick something in return to take away in its place. Venues for swishing can be anything from your house and garden to a club, pub or hotel. A well established swishing party is run by Jo Woolley in East London under the name 'Mrs Bear'. Her events seem to have a real vintage feel to them empathising on the 'make do and mend' slogan with live demos on making alterations to clothes, a bargain haberdashery and 'Knitty Gritty' a knitting workshop. Mrs Bear has a point system depending on what you bring and your clothes are exchanged for your own clothing ration book with your colour-stamped coupons for swapping. It sounds wonderful and right up my street so I'm planning to go to one of these very soon with an aim to hold my own swishing afternoon tea in March. If you want to join me please get in touch. I missed the January one but the next one is on Thursday 17th Feb 2011 at The Circuit Gym @ NLPAC, 76 St James’s Lane, Muswell Hill, London, N10 3RD. It will run from 7.15pm - 9pm and entrance is £4 or free to browse to get a feel for it the first time.

A modern take on dinner time

One of my lovely friends sent me this as a coaster, made me laugh and I wanted to share it.

Sunday papers and 'the wifely wardrobe'

This is one of many catch up posts and I think there will be a fair few more to come this week.  Like I said we are just back from holiday and now the chores are done and the last load of washing is in the dryer I can start to relax.  I have a lot to catch up on - one being the papers.  I never normally bother with the supplements but something caught my eye in last weekend's Telegraph magazine (I warned you I had some catching up to do!)  There was an article in there about Anne Fogarty's new book 'The Art of being a Well Dressed Wife'.  Anne Fogarty designed for Margot Inc., Saks Fifth Avenue and her own label, Anne Fogarty, Inc. She won numerous awards and her designs can be seen at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This is actually a reprint of a guide first published in America in 1959 so just because Mad Men has finished doesn't mean there's an excuse to not dress the part.  The original book was written as a guide to 'the fine art of being a well dressed wife with notes for the patient husband who pays the bills'.  Hmm....times have changed a lot (maybe not if you're a footballer's wife) and everything I buy is with my money that I earned from my job.  now anyone who knows me is aware that I have a fulltime job and fit in crafting on the side but at the same time I try and be a good wife.  I have been called a 1950s housewife on many an occasion and I don't take offence at all.  One thing, I can't be as I work, secondly I don't think there is anything wrong in taking pride in your house and making sure that all guests feel welcome and special by baking them something on the day.  Anyway I digress, as usual....I always try and make an effort with my appearance and always have, it's never been because of a man.  I never owned a pair of jeans until a few years ago as I thought it was just lazy and I would never EVER wear jogging bottoms if I wasn't going to the gym.  So this book may encourage women who have become a little too 'comfortable' to take another look in their wardrobe and a closer look in the mirror each morning.  Please please don't think I'm a brain washed house wife who just wants to look pretty, there are things in this book that even I will laugh as being narrow minded but even when I was single if I made an effort on the outside I felt good on the inside.  If I made an effort at work, I felt more confident and more efficient.
In any case there are some gems of advice in this book and with the new year being a popular time to declutter your wardrobe this little book may have some helpful hints.  In any case, it's darling little book.  It's released on the 14th February and you can pre-order it here on my dear friend amazon.co.uk  Its description is below:

In this gorgeous style guide from the 50s, American fashion designer Anne Fogarty reveals the secrets of 'wife-dressing' - the art of looking chic on all occasions, be it at a cocktail party, on the tennis pitch or in the boudoir. Illustrated with Fogarty's stylish drawings and 50s fashion photography from John French, this handbag-sized guide contains all the advice and inspiration you need to make you the happiest and hippest couple in town.


There are comments in here that will make you cringe but I think the photos and drawings will make up for it.

Whereabouts

Hi, just a quick one to apologise how quiet I've been lately but I'm just back from a glorious 2 week holiday.  I am desperate to do a proper post as have exciting news on upcoming stalls, collaborations and a top secret project that I'm working on.  I also have a few links to lovely things to buy on the internet but right now I need to unpack and get the washing on!  How glamorous, have to say though it is wonderful going away but I do love being home :-)

New year...new website

I forgot to say that I now have my own website - it is work in progress but has an online shop and all the links to this blog and my etsy shop.

http://www.vintagegarden.co.uk/

The main idea of the site is that it's an easy link for people to remember and direct them to the blog.  It will also have a calendar on there soon of upcoming events.

Cinderella Blitz and vintage sale buys

Hello again and hope you had a good Christmas and happy new year!

It's amazing how fast time goes when I'm not at work and I haven't done half the things I wanted to but it's still  been a lovely holiday from work.

One of the highlights was NYE itself which also happens to be my birthday.  Mr P and I managed to get some amazing seats at Matthew Bourne's 'Cinderella' which is playing at Sadler's Wells at the moment.  It's not on for long though and I would recommend going if you can get seats.  Try all the usual places online but there is normally always a cancellation on the day so call the theatre directly.  What made the production so special is that it is set in London during the Blitz, the production and artists' performances dedicated to family that was lost during that time.  It is always a perfect time for remembrance being the 70th anniversary of the Blitz.  The music was written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1941 and is very dark, the production suits this perfectly.  The story isn't the traditional one but the sets and costumes are perfectly wartime and so many uniforms! ;-) Here are a few photos but do try and see it if you can, it is a limited run!

As it is January all the sales have started and it's given me an excuse to 'research'the best buys out there which have a vintage feel.  There are some wonderful things are sale at Oasis, here are my favourites:

This sleeveless 50's style dress with the high neckline and bold colours. The mixture of red, black and grey is very chic.  There are lots of little sweaters to match this too :-)

How about this for a perfect tea dress:

...and finally, something that wouldn't look out of place on the Mad Men set.

There is so much out there in shops and online at the moment that has a lovely vintage feel and won't cost you an arm and a leg so have a browse and see what you can find.

A lot of my shoes I buy are Miss L Fire and there seem to be a lot of these on sale at the moment on asos.com. As I mentioned before I've just been lucky enough to have my birthday and got these amazing Miss L Fire Blyton shoes.  Not only do they look so cute on the inside is to die for.  Photos below (swoon):

What to wear under your new dresses?  Figleaves are having their sale at the moment and this caught my eye, with the matching bra it gives the glamour of a time gone by but under your stunning dress.

As an aside, I have done my hair tutorials but being the perfectionist I am they aren't quite right yet and I want to get the perfect music to go with them but please bear with me, I'll post them as soon.