My Birthday - JD McPherson

Dear Readers,

It's my birthday tomorrow! It's very exciting, not because it's a particularly special birthday, but because I just like it. I don't mind getting older but it does freak me out a bit when I look back at how long ago it was since I left school. Since my birthday has fallen midweek I have done the only sensible thing and had celebrations on both the weekend before and the weekend after. Well to be precise I am doing a grand total of three things for my birthday this year, just because I can!

On Thursday I went to visit my sister, Jessica, in London as I tend not to get to see her for my birthday. We had arranged to goo and see JD McPherson too and my present from my Mum was my train fares so it was a nice little low cost trip. I have been wanting to see JD McPherson for over a year now, since the last time he toured England, so jumped at the chance of both visiting my sister and seeing him play at the same time. It was actually my Mum who first suggested his music to me and the rhythm and blues / rock and roll feel to his music does not disappoint. What I really love about it is the the kind of mutant blues under current there is to his music and I also feel that it is not too niche that it discourages a wide range of people from enjoying his style; in fact at the gig there was a really wide range of folks there.

Recently I have lost a little bit of weight, though I don't know why because I haven't been trying. But it's nice all the same as I am now able to wear some things in my wardrobe that haven't properly fitted me for a while. I was really pleased with my outfit which I wore both to travel down to London and also to see JD McPherson. The blouse was given to me by a friend and even though it didn't fit me very well I couldn't bear to let go of it as the print and style is so pretty. In fact I like it so much that when I saw a dress on ebay in the same print and style I had to snap it up! So I'm so happy to be able to wear it again and really pleased I didn't get rid of it when it didn't fit me. There are benefits to being such a hoarder!

Blouse - from a friend but originally H&M

Jeans - Freddies of Pinewood

Cardigan - New Look

Pumps - New Look

And finally I just had to include this picture because, you know, my milkshake brings all the cats to the yard, and they're like... "I'm lactose intolerant, why would you do this to me?"

ttfn

Woodhall Spa in the Winter Sun

Dear Readers,

We didn't really have much planned for this weekend and had thought we would get those jobs done that we have been putting off such as giving the car a little service and tidying the front of the house up. When we woke up this morning the sun was streaming in through the window and I knew I had to do more than odd jobs today or it would feel like such a waste. We decided to pop over to Woodhall Spa as is our go to option for Sunday outings and we visit regularly. It's such a pretty place to have a stroll around and even though it's a small town there's still a number of nice little shops and places to look around.

We decided to head over to the Petwood Hotel as we have it in mind as a venue for the wedding. There was a large marque erected to the side of the building which we assumed must have been put up for a wedding or other event. In the shade it was so cold yet when standing in the sun if felt almost like a spring day and the Petwood hotel looked beautiful in the bright, clear light.

If you follow my Twitter you may have noticed that I have been watching Father Brown lately on BBC1 and I think it has been influencing my style. My dress was recently bought from a company called Lady Vintage and at only £15 it pretty much had to be bought. The fabric is a little thin but it's better with a slip underneath and even though it is probably more of a summer dress I'm really enjoying wearing something more colourful than just black or grey. I wore it with some thicker tights and my little pumps to try and be a little warmer. My cardigan was a bargain too from British Hearts Foundation only yesterday.

From the Petwood we walked to the High Street and I particularly wanted to visit a book shop. It's called The Book Fayre and as you walk in you are greeted by the smell of printed paper and fresh coffee. There are large windows all along the front so thee place feels bright and spacious even though they have managed to get so much in there. It's a cafe as well as book shop and also stocks a lot of really nice gift items too. As you walk through there's a decent range of new books to browse and also tables dotted to sit with your coffee. Through the back is my favourite part though; a second hand book treasure trove. Every time I have been there I have found something I just had to buy like the collection of Marguerite Pattern war time cookery books and the vintage needlework book. This time I got my hot little hands on the Wartime Farm book in hardback and very good condition. I love the Wartime Farm series and last Christmas I even made the Mock Turkey recipe that was shown on the show only I adapted it to make it vegetarian.

From the Book Fayre we popped next door to have some lunch at the Lancaster Inn. We decided to sit in the front to eat as in there too it was bright and airy. Lunch was lovely and the service was really friendly too so I'm sure we will be heading back there at some point. After lunch we were too full for dessert which was a shame as there were some very tempting but we still needed something sweet so we stopped off at the sweet shop before heading home. What have you done with your Sunday? Was it action packed or nice and relaxed? Whatever you have done today I hope you had a lovely time.

ttfn

Rufford On The Home Front 2014

Dear Readers,

Way back in the last weekend of September last year Rufford Abbey in Nottinghamshire had their annual On The Home Front event. We went on the Sunday as the Saturday had two different vintage fairs on here in Lincoln which was too good of a shopping opportunity to miss. The weather was glorious for late September and it really turned into scorching hot day. We were really excited for this event as we have been to the Grand Historical Bazaar at Rufford Abbey for a few years now and always enjoy it but had yet to make it to the home front event. While there we had a lovely lunch sat out in the sunshine, met up with some lovely friends who we hadn't seen for far too long, and enjoyed the atmosphere and performances. I received a wonderful compliment from a group of singers who thought I was a performer too; I have no idea where they got that idea from but I thought it was kind all the same. We also met a lovely chap called Tony who some wonderful pictures of us just as the sun was beginning to turn golden and the day was drawing to a close. Tony recently sent me the link to his images and I just had to share them with you. Let me know what you think!

He must do something wizzy to the images when he edits them because there's something about them that feels quite authentic and I love the texture in the photographs. The rest of Tony's photography can be found here and I highly suggest you go check them out; he's really very talented.

ttfn!

New Years Resolution for 2015

Dear Readers,

How fast this year has flown by and it has been a year of contrasts for me with some extremely wonderful moments and down right horrid ones too. Last year I had resolved to move house, complete my OU course and get better with my money. My savings balance is exactly the same now as it was this time last year but Indi and I did move in together and I got a distinction in my OU course so I feel that two out of three ain't bad.

This year I want to expand my wardrobe further and feel happier with my clothing options; especially for work as I often feel bland and as though I wear the same "uniform" day in and day out. I used to have this thing where I bought one dress a month as a rule, however, money is still on my mind as we now have a wedding to save for. I have therefore decided that I will still have my one dress a month but I'll have to make t for myself. This might be a little ambitious but I hope that it will help me to improve my sewing skills as I go along. I'm not a total novice to sewing and for my first dress I think I am going to ease myself into this by doing a dress I have already made in a class with Rock, Paper, Scissors which is a wonder cafe and craft shop in town. I also hope to recreate some of my favourite outfits worn by the beautiful Dita Von Teese as I love some of her day wear outfits.

Photo credit: http://creativeloungestyle.tumblr.com/image/184300584

I can't wait to keep you posted on my progress with this. Have you got any plans for 2015?

ttfn!

The Lipstick Effect

Dear Readers,

If you are anything like myself Christmas has you all spent out which is something I think happens to the whole nation. I hate to think of people getting themselves into debt just for one day of the year but with all this austerity and gloomy winter nights sometimes you just want to throw caution to the wind and treat the ones you love. I have always tried to strike a balance with my financial affairs as I want to save as much as I can but I also would like to own the items I wish and have fun. Generally this means saying no to myself about 50% of the time but back in October when we got engaged my thoughts turned even more to money and that of saving as much as we can.

That said I still want to have little treats so I got thinking about ways I can add little touches of vintage glamour to my life for as little money as possible. During the war years there was a little something called The Lipstick Effect whereby even though money was tight and rationing was tighter still women still bought lipstick as this was a small luxury item which made a lot of difference to how they felt. So without buying a whole new outfit or a brand new fur coat they still had a little luxury in their lives.

Off then I toddled to the high street and when I want low cost make up I always make a bee line for Superdrug, and in particular their MUA range. Here you can buy a lipstick for just £1 and they have a great range of Velvetines dupes for those who are hankering after those Lime Crime products but could do without the price tag. I don't know about you ladies but a dash of red lipstick really brings out the vintage siren in me.

Left to right: Lip Liner in Red Drama, Lipstick in shade 13, Matte Lipstick in Scarlet Siren, and Luxe Lip Lacquer in Reckless

I bought the MUA Pro-Brow eyebrow kit, an eye shadow, and also their Matte Lipstick in Scarlet Siren (£1) but I also did swatches of their lip liner which I use in Red Drama (£1), their Lipstick in shade 13 (£1) and also their Luxe Lip Lacquer in Reckless (£3). Immediately after putting the Lip Lacquer on the back of my hand I regretted it because this stuff does not come off; not even when I scrubbed it with a nail brush and soap!

I love their lipstick in shade 13 because it has an orange based tone which gives it a great 1940s coral vibe; it's also quite highly pigmented for such a low cost product. With a slick of my favourite Lipcoat product this stays put surprisingly well. The Matte Lipstick in Scarlet Siren is more blue based and not as pigmented which I actually quite liked as that way you can build up to a colour that suits you. It felt nice and moisturising on my lips without being greasy and I was impressed with the longevity of the colour. I think I will use this as my workday week lipstick as it was soft on my lips and did not bleed. The Lip Lacquer, like I said, wins hands down for staying power. It's a great dupe of the Velvetines range made by Lime Crime and similar to Velvetines it is liquid but dries to be very matte. I wear this as more of a going out colour because I don't need to worry about touching it up and it's a slightly more dramatic blue based red. I do find though the doe foot applicator is difficult to get great precision with so suggest using a brush to apply.

A little bit of glamour does not have to cost the earth and with such great low cost lippys out there you can experiment with what colours suit you without feeling guilty. Have you tried these lipsticks at all? What do you do to add a little glamour to your day? I'd love to hear from you!

ttfn!

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Boxing Day Sales Wishlist

Dear Readers,

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas which was filled with all the things you love. Something which is getting a bigger deal these days is the boxing day sales which I hear some people began queueing for at 10pm on Christmas Day. That's a little extreme for me and I much more prefer to do a spot of online shopping. For a start there's much more online that interests me and I think that the postage fee is a small price to pay for the luxury of not having to bother with the high street. We all have a few things that we had hoped to receive for Christmas or that we are particularly looking out for in the sales so here's my little wishlist of what I would like from the Boxing Day sales. I have been very good and only bought one thing, which was terribly difficult.

Vivien of Holloway has an amazing sale on at the moment and most of the things I found seem to come from this shop. I do not own anything from Vivien of Holloway which is something I would love to correct. This dress immediately jumped out at me and is their 1940's dress in Meadow Navy. I love the detailing in the design down the side and it looks like it would give you a good nip in at the waist which is something that is very important to me. I find that I don't feel as attractive if my waist is all covered up and it avoids that dreaded granny vibe that I sometimes feel with wearing vintage. This dress is a bargain £49.00 at the moment.

The next item that my heart instantly desired as soon as I saw it was these lovely swing trousers in a smart brown herringbone tweed. So stylish and practical in the current weather we are experiencing. I find these look incredibly flattering and they don't look to have the masses of fabric in the leg which most swing trousers have. While I know the large amount of fabric is a part of the style I do find it gets a little flappy and annoying. Having a side closure on trousers is also very flattering to the old tum as the fabric skims right over instead of accentuating anything. These are are bargainous £35.00 of your English pounds!

Next I tootled over to Collectif and even though their sale started before Christmas and it was so popular that it crashed their site there was still a few items to peruse. My eye was caught by this, the charming Betty Lou polka dot chiffon dress, and as I am nautical theme mad I just had to have it in navy. It looks so floaty and light for summer wear so I may have to wait until the summer before I get to wear it. While the model seems to be wearing a white slip beneath I would probably experiment with a black one as this will make the dots pop out more without being too noticeable beneath. This was only £29.75.

Freddies of Pinewood has to be one of my all time favourite reproduction brands. I own two pairs of their jeans and they are such good quality. I could wear my 1940's work jeans all of the time which is why I suppose I was drawn to this lovely little 1940s work blouse. I just loved it in peach though it is not in the sales it is still only £35.00. It's compadre in ice blue is in the sale at £25.00.

I then popped over to Lady K Loves and it's crazy but I have never even looked at this site before. It's crazy because they have so many lovely clothes that look so stunning and flattering. Now I realise I seem to have gone for mainly 1940s things and I thought this Rodeo Queen Top would be just the thing to shake it up and end on a high note. The bright red, the stars, the fringing! All of it is just so much it's amazing. Can you imagine me marching down Lincoln high street in this? I can! And for only £11.00, you heard right folks, I could cry that this is not available in my size.

Anyway folks I hope you find something lovely to treat yourselves with this boxing day. Even if you're all spent out with Christmas there's some real bargains out there for nearly any purse. While I did buy one dress I had to be very strict with myself because of my New Year's Resolution, though it could be argued that it's not the New Year yet, hhmmm how very tempting!

ttfn!