I’m sure it’ll be blazing sunshine after the total washout that was August, right?

This months big event is the 40s weekend on the Sheringham railway with a dance in the evening. It promises to be a great weekend. But the Norwich and Norfolk area also plays host to the No Strings Bursleque night at the Puppet Theatre, some Big Band, to be handily combined with Sunday lunch and afternoon tea and some collectors fairs to spend your pennies at.

03 September 2010

The Woolpack Inn 1940s Night
19:30 @ Woolpack Inn, Golden Ball St, Norwich
In aid of Help for Heroes
Wartime music & wartime buffet
Dress up in your wartime best and join the party
Tickets £6 per person (buy at the bar) 01603 627047

05 September 2010

Antique and collectors Fair
10:00 @ Simms Reeve Institute, Brancaster Norfolk
Small but friendly fair with about ten stalls, selling china, silver, linen, jewellery and much more.
Also home made refreshments.
50p Entry All proceeds towards the renovation of the hall.

18 September 2010

Sheringham 1940s Weekend
10:00 @ Poppy Line, Sheringham
Come and enjoy the 1940s weekend on the North Norfolk Railway, our most popular event for adults by far!
Come in uniform or 1940s civilian dress to add to the atmosphere. Don’t forget your gas mask and ration books!
More information �

SHERINGHAM VICTORY SWING DANCE
19:30 @ Sheringham High School and 6th Form Centre, Holt Road, Sheringham NR26 8ND
Admission £7 on the door.
Bring Your Own Drinks. Tea, Coffee and Donuts Provided.
Period Dress, Allied Uniforms welcome.
More details from Esther and David on 01473 635176 Or Email esthersew@tiscali.co.uk

19 September 2010

The Jonathan Wyatt Big Band, with special guest John Miller
14:30 @ Assembly House, Norwich
Remembering & celebrating 65 years since the end of World War 2
Also featured during the day will be a display of motor vehicles from the Norfolk Military Vehicle Group.
The Grand Assembly House restaurant will also be serving a 1940’s themed Great British Sunday Lunch
and after the concert a tempting traditional afternoon tea & cakes.
Ticket Prices: Concert Only £12.95 – from The Assembly House Box Office at the Theatre Royal – 01603 598688
Restaurant enquiries & table reservations 01603 627526
More information �

25 September 2010

No Strings – Burlesque and Cabaret Club
19:00
Hocus Pocus Theatre
will proudly present their next evening of Burlesque and Cabaret on 25th September after a summer break.
Tickets £15
More Details to Follow
More information �

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There are things that you really should have a selection of in your wardrobe. You might only have 2 dresses in the whole wide world, but a selection of belts, shoes, scarves and handbags will convince a casual observer that your wardrobe is far more extensive than it actually is.

Different hair, different belt, bag, necklace – same dress.

I do have some cheap plastic belts and bags, but generally they fall apart in 5 minutes. I’ve even bought belts that turn out to be made of cardboard and disintegrate totally. What a waste of £3. I once bought what I thought was a lovely vintage style snakeskin handbag from Primark, the metal clip detached itself from the handle on it’s first outing and unless I fancy having a go with a pretty heavy duty soldering iron it is unfixable, I tried superglue. Suddenly that £5 doesn’t seem like such a bargain.

So, how do you find good quality accessories on a budget. I have a few tips, some may be obvious, some less so, but this is how I get them! Everything apart from the necklaces in the top 2 pictures was bought in one of these ways (1 necklace was £3 at a craft fair, the other was a gift!)

• Charity Shops & Boot Fairs

Obvious, to me at least, but how many people wander round a charity shop looking at the clothes, proclaim they can never find anything in charity shops and then leave, completely ignoring the huge box of leather belts and silk scarves at the back, all priced at £1?

In the top 2 pictures I got the thin black belt, the brown leather bag and the sunglasses in Charity Shops, for a grand total of £2.50 for the lot and the fan was £1 from a Boot Fair, I also have a really cute vintage hart brooch bought for 50p at a Boot Fair. ALWAYS check the accessories section and keep your eyes peeled at Boot Fairs for accessories hidden on unexpected junk stands.

• Antique Markets

A lot of people don’t visit Antique Markets as they think they’re full of, well, antiques. It’s a common assumption that Antique=Expensive, but this isn’t always the case.

Antique markets will often have cases full of costume jewellery, sometimes you can get items cheaper because of things like missing stones that might not make a huge difference in wear. Try googling Antique market +your area . They can vary, so just because one is pricey don’t let that put you off visiting others. In Norwich I recommend heading down to Tombland and Magdalen Street where there are a few of these kind of shops. I bought a string of pearls in one for £5 because of some missing stones on the clasp and I’ve also picked up gloves, scarves and hats, all for under £10.

If you find any of these 1937 bags under £5 make sure you pick one up for me! by catchesthelight

• eBay

Another fairly obvious place to look, but amazing how many people focus on the clothes again. You can limit your searches by price now, meaning that a search like this for vintage hats can be limited to items that cost under £5 and help you find that bargain.

Scroll right to the bottom of the search page and you will see a small orange button labelled RSS. Clicking this means you can bookmark that search using your Google Reader, Mozilla Bookmarks, or however you choose to manage your RSS feeds and check on it often for new items.

Also don’t forget to check out eBay US. Some sellers charge outrageous postage to the UK, but not all of them, and it’s worth looking for the good ones to get some real vintage bargains.

Another tip here. Don’t be afraid of second hand shoes. They’re only feet…..

• Shop Your Families Wardrobes

Grandparents and parents wardrobes and jewellery boxes are worth raiding. Your Nan might have got rid of all her beautiful 50s frocks, but you might find she has a jewellery box full of vintage jewellery and a top shelf full of good quality leather bags and gloves. These things don’t consume much space so are more likely to be kept. The brooch in the top picture belonged to Mr Chicks Nan, for instance.

While you’re at it, why not shop your own wardrobe. Even the most thrifty girl will often find things like bracelets and handbags stuffed in unexpected places. The bracelet in the top picture, for instance, was bought at River Island in 2001, I forgot about it and found it stuffed in a box full of bits while having a clear out. If you’ve exhausted your own wardrobe then try others. Search for swishing events in your area or try Bigwardrobe.com (tip for the Norwich based. Check out my Events page. I know of at least one swish coming up in November)

• Get Crafty

I’ll be honest. I’m on shaky ground here. I’m not the worlds greatest crafter. I have, in the past, made a scarf from a T Shirt, top from a scarf and a necklace from a Christmas tree ornament, but these are isolated (and pretty easy) incidents. Making stuff doesn’t have to be complex, it might just be being imaginative, using scarves as belts, wearing skirts as dresses, or turning necklaces into bracelets. A step up from this might be replacing buttons with something prettier to revive a top, or if you have actual skills you could try crocheting a 40s style snood or some gloves, or knitting a beret.

by carbonated

• The High Street

I know, I kind of slagged off buying cheap accessories on the High Street earlier, but the key is to be selective.

Primark, for instance, makes excellent waist cinching elastic belts (the one in the top pic is from there) and they are a bargain at about £3. Poor quality elastic belts can roll and twist but I was really impressed with the Primark ones. New Look also make good shoes, they’re generally not leather (though some are) but if you’re planning on wearing stockings, tights or socks I generally find they are good value for the price, at least as good as some of the £50-60 end of the market.

Leather bags and belts I have a harder time with, and I’ve yet to buy a cheap bag or belt that hasn’t started peeling PVC all over the place or fallen apart, but remember that expensive high street stores do have sales, and whilst it might not be in the under £5 category you could still find a bargain on a good quality bag.

Remember, your wardrobe deserves better than poor quality accessories.

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For years I’d admired elaborate rolled hair dos, curls and fingerwaves, but remained totally convinced (with good reason after years of half hearted experimentation) that the most I could expect of my fine flat hair was a small bun. Then in December I met Flamingo Amy. She’s a vintage hair stylist, based in Norwich, and I attended a vintage hair demonstration at local salon Flint. Well, it changed my life (ok, so it really just changed my hair, but I’m allowed a little hyperbole, right?)

A good hair do really does finish off an outfit and Flamingo Amy is really enthusiastic about good hair do’s! She works at Flint on Saturdays creating gorgeous vintage hair creations for the lovely ladies of Norwich. You can see some of her creations on the Flamingo Amy Website, where you’ll also find all the details on how to book an appointment if you fancy treating yourself.

Last week I popped along to spend the day at a photo shoot she was styling for. The shoot was for photographer Bettina Bianculli, make-up artist Amii-Rose Steward and Flamingo Amy to work on their portfolios and took place in the beautiful surroundings of the bar of the Birdcage in Norwich, which is a gorgeous Art Deco building with an eclectic interior which you can see in the video at the bottom.

While I was there I filmed a little interview in which she shares how she got started, how to get the best out of an appointment with her and some top tips if you want to try out Victory Rolls on your own hair.

I hope you enjoy it! Sorry about the sound being a little out. I’ve recently got my mitts on a new camera, which I hope will improve future videos, but we’ll see!

Hair – Flamingo Amy

Make Up- Amii-Rose Steward

Photography – Betina Bianculli

Models – Solene & Katie

Location – The Birdcage

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by Ash Berlin

But I’m not here to talk about wine. I LIKE wine. But it’s just not the same as a pretty frock.

To me, vintage, as applied to clothing, is simply a term used to clarify the age of a garment. Just as antique should imply that something is over 100 years old, to me vintage means something is over 20 years old. It is no indicator of quality, desirability or price, that is something to be decided by the individual collector or retailer. Vintage isn’t an arbiter of taste and good quality. It’s just a word.

We’ve surely all all noticed a change in the perception of vintage over the last 10 years. What used to be, “ugh, second hand”, slowly became desirable. An indicator of individual taste, creativity and individuality. Starting with art students in granny knits and ending in Hollywood movie stars in vintage couture.

“Oh this old thing? It’s vintage”

With this increase in desirability came an increase in price. But that’s ok. When something is more desirable it costs more. Supply and demand and all that. It’s the capitalist way.

But recently I’ve noticed another change, and it comes in 2 parts.

Part One

The Vintage Snobs.

Modern Vintage Girl had a little rant about this recently.

If you hear any of these then you’re dealing with a vintage snob:

• Only designer vintage is worth looking at (as long as you don’t pay over the odds for it what’s wrong with High Street or handmade vintage?)
• If it’s from the 80s it can’t be vintage (generally the person saying this will be over 30 and thus remember the 80s)
• Oh I only ever wear vintage. Modern clothes just can’t compare to the quality (some of them can. You just can’t afford them)

Generally the vintage snob will be slightly older. When they started wearing vintage they were wearing the clothes discarded by their Mothers and Grandmothers. The thought that today’s younger generation are wearing clothes discarded by THEM. Well, that doesn’t bear thinking about. I have seen people define anything pre 1960s as vintage, and pre 1920s as Antique. Presumably in 2050 we will be defining all clothes made in the last 100 years as contemporary, and that’s just going to get confusing. Quite apart from being a terrible business move for vintage sellers who will find it significantly harder to find stock.

Vintage doesn’t define the quality of clothes.

In 1930 people were just as capable of producing shoddily made dresses from poor fabrics as we are today, they were just made by hand in their own homes rather than on sewing machines in India.

The Vintage Snob has come to believe their own hype, that the wearing of vintage clothing bestows an automatic veneer of creativity and difference. Yes, you are unlikely to bump into someone in the same frock if you buy vintage, however, the increasing availability of high quality vintage at (sometimes very) high quality prices means that a person with a good disposable income can buy themselves a little piece of that look without having to put in a great deal of effort. The dealer did it all for you. You didn’t dig that 50s day dress out of a pile of dirty sheets, lovingly restore it to it’s former glory and tailor it to fit you like a glove. You bought it off a mannequin, for £200, just like on the High Street.

Part Two

The Vintage Nob

Just because it rhymes with snob. See.

The following are indicators of the Vintage Nob

• I got this gawgeous vintage skirt at New Look. (No, you didn’t)
• Peaches Geldoff wore a vintage dress from Dolce & Gabbana’s Autumn Winter 2005 collection (no, that’s just 5 years old. Not vintage.)
• I love vintage clothes! (what, all of them? Every piece of clothing made between 1910 and 1990 you love?)

Ok, so the last ones a bit mean. You can say that without being a Vintage Nob, but this group are the ones that have been sold the “it’s vintage” line by High Street stores desperate to cash in on the increasingly fashionable “vintage look”

Vintage as an adjective like this means nothing to me. Something could be a 50s style dress, or an 80s style dress, but just calling it vintage style is nonsensical. In a High Street store it can mean anything from a whimsical floral print to a faded and worn band T Shirt.

Here are a few items that can be found by searching the word “vintage” in some popular High Street stores websites.

vintage by Retrochick

Equally as nonsensical is the belief that anything not from a current collection instantly becomes vintage. If you want to end up in the same position as Reese Witherspoon in “vintage” Chanel at the 2006 Golden Globes then by all means hang on to that idea, but you’re only fooling yourself. Or maybe being fooled by labels that think they’ve found a cunning way of getting rid of last seasons left over stock. It’s not an end of season sale, it’s vintage, it’s MORE expensive.

Buying clothes should be fun, fashion should be fun. But the people who are buying “vintage” from H&M are missing the half the fun of getting the look you want from unlikely items found in unlikely places. And while we’re at it

EBAY SELLERS ALERT: IF IT’S NOT VINTAGE, PUT IT IN THE WOMEN’S CLOTHING SECTION, NOT THE VINTAGE SECTION.

ALSO “50′S STYLE” 80′S FROCKS BELONG IN THE 80′S SECTION, NOT THE 50′S SECTION.

Thanks.

I wear vintage clothes because before I bought this dress I had never in my life owned a fitted dress that didn’t pull on my hips and go baggy round my waist.

I wear vintage because I can find better quality second hand and vintage clothes than I would ever be able to afford new.

I wear vintage because I like the visual aesthetic of the 30s, 40s and 50s, but I don’t care whether the dress I am wearing is a vintage repro made last week, a “40s style” dress made in the 80s or a vintage original.

I care about quality and fit. I love the feeling that someone else loved this dress before, and I get to wonder how it got to the place I found it. But then sometimes, just sometimes, I only care that it looks nice.

What does vintage mean to you?

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A little too much celebration after Englands win yesterday afternoon means I’m trying not to type too loud.

So, on a morning like this, one where I have to face the world while not feeling (or looking) my very best, I’m in need of a few props to convince the world I made an effort.

With any luck there will be another one of these mornings coming next Monday, and with a whole variety of Summer events conspiring to reduce us to haggard old wrecks I thought the time was ripe to share my tips on how to look like you made an effort when really you’ve barely managed to drag yourself out of the door:

• Wear a Dress

Any dress will do. Dresses are the easiest thing in the world, just sling it on and you’re done. No faffing with matching tops and bottoms, no worrying about trouser length and heel height or tops that ride up and show your pants. Yet, and here’s the special secret, for some reason the rest of the world views a dress as the most dressed up piece of clothing you can buy. Wear a dress and the world will assume that today is a special day and you have made a special effort.

I always remember the day I stayed at a friends after a big night out. I dragged myself down stairs the next morning wearing a black cotton summer dress with a 50s style full skirt and a pink belt and my astonished friend looked at me and said “Oooh, you’ve made an effort!”. I hadn’t.

• Wear Make Up

But don’t pile it on with a trowel, you’ll look worse. Steer clear of anything but the lightest concealer round your eyes and keep your foundation sheer and light.

Blusher is a wonder product for making you look healthy and glowing even if your head is pounding and your mouth is dry. A cream blush is particularly good, in a pinky shade, rubbed lightly into the apples of your cheeks. If you don’t have a cream blush a pinky lipstick is a good substitute in a pinch.  A delicate healthy flush is what you’re after, you don’t want to look horribly embarrased.

Mascara and eyeliner are also handy, but only on your top lashes to make you look bright eyes and busy tailed, curl your eyelashes too.

The other alternative to this is to work with your dark circles and pile on the dark eye make up. That way you can pretend you meant it.

• Big Sunglasses

Only really useful outside, sunglasses indoors does not make you look cool, it makes you look like an idiot with a hangover. Outdoors, however, big sunglasses are the magic accessory that turns you from hungover woman scuttling to the shop for asprin to Movie Star hiding from the paparazzi.

• Wear Accessories

You’ve flung on a dress, slapped on a bit of face rescuing make up and added a huge pair of sunglasses. Now we start with distraction techniques. Any accessory more complex than a handbag seems to dazzle. people into thinking you must have spent hours getting ready. Tie a scarf around your head and you won’t have to do your hair, wear a fabulous necklace or bring out the gloves and the hats. Use caution, however, with shoes. If you feel terrible already you really don’t want to spend the whole day worrying about your feet hurting too.

Et voila.

From Grumpy Frump to Glamor Gal in 4 easy steps.

It won’t make you feel any better though…..

image by Yuliya Libkina

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But first let me clarify my own personal stance on fur. My personal opinion is that the current trade in fur is abhorent. With such good quality fakes available I see no reason for the trade in animals pelts merely for fashion to continue. However, I am also of the opinion that vintage furs are not going to turn back into small fluffy bunnies just because they don’t get worn. I am anti waste and I beleive in recycling and reusing where possible, regardless of the material.

I think the modern fur trade should be regulated a lot like the Ivory trade. Where new products are illegal, but existing goods are able to be traded.

Ok, now we’ve got that out of the way, on with the story.

In my search for lovely goodies to sell on in my Shop I picked up a fur coat. I had sold faux fur before, and at the time initially assumed it was a fake. Further investigation, however, revealed the coat to be real, possibly rabbit fur.

It was a beautiful vintage coat, in amazing condition, and I listed it in my eBay store without the slightest thought that vintage fur could be contentious.

Then I promoted it on my Facebook Page and I was bought to task by a fan for selling fur. Very politely of course. Retro Chick people are NICE people….

So I asked around among some friends and on Twitter and it turns out opinions are very mixed. A lot of people also have no problem with vintage fur, others feel that wearing fur at all is promoting it as fashionable (though surely faux fur is the same?), and some were so incensed by the sale of fur that it turns out they would consider leaving my Fan Page because I was selling it.

Where do our ethics come from?

I was slightly taken aback by the depth of feeling and I started to think about where our ethics come from when we shop.

The sad fact is that pretty much every single purchase you make will impact someone, somewhere, negatively.

Cotton uses 6 litres of water to grow enough for one cotton bud and consumes massive amounts of pesticides, without even mentioning the exploitation of the workers involved in it’s growth. Silk is often made by boiling moth pupae alive so the cases can be unravelled. Hell, even “ethical” Bamboo fibres come with some serious considerations. So why do people feel so strongly about fur when they have wardrobes full of clothing that involved the boiling alive of moths and the exploitation of actual people? How did they decide that this was one ethical consideration on which they WILL NOT BEND.

Could it be this?

In 1994 the cult of the Super Model was a pretty huge thing, and so was this poster. People of around my age had this message pretty deeply ingrained into their shopper psyche, long before they were even in a position to be wearing any fur anyway.

PETA were, and still are, an animal liberation organisation. So this message comes not from a place of interest in ethics, but of protecting all animals. That means that if you buy their message you’ll stop wearing leather shoes, pearls and silk as well. Regardless of the environmental or human impact of the alternatives.

I strongly feel that we have a duty as consumers to educate ourselves, and be aware of the impact of our purchases. We can’t stop them having a negative effect, but can make sure we keep those effects as small as possible. We need to decide for ourselves if animal rights, environmental considerations, or ethical production considerations take priority in our shopping habits.

This isn’t about fur. No one NEEDS to wear a fur coat, whether it’s fake, vintage, or brand spanking new gopher loafers (please see The Simpsons if you don’t get that), but it might be worth thinking about why you feel SO strongly about it if you’re still tucking into battery farmed chicken.

(You should check out this interesting article on Dramatis Personae on animal vs environmental ethics.)

For the record I consider myself an ethical shopper.

But that doesn’t mean my wardrobe isn’t full of sweatshop produced clothing, leather and environmentally unfriendly plastics.

I buy mostly second hand, which I consider an ethical way to shop, and it suits my budget. If I need (or want) something new I have to consider my budget as well as the ethical alternatives. I’ll buy organic cotton if it’s available, but if it isn’t, or isn’t within my budget then I’ll buy it new. I buy very little new, so I feel I can do this without too much guilt. I’ll also shop at Primark, because despite it’s low cost, low ethics reputation it’s under a lot of scrutiny for this reason. Scrutiny that higher cost retailers escape to a certain extent.

Ethical shopping is a minefield that we all have to negotiate, whether we think about it or not, the issues are still there.

How do YOU make your ethical decisions when you shop?

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