My lovely friend Mistress Chrissy of  The Lindy Charm School for Girls was interviewed by ABC radio in Brisbane over the wekend to talk about vintage fashion and the upcoming heritage calendar.  I had to share this one with you.

Thank you to ABC Radio and Peter Scott for this piece.

“Remember the clothes you, your mum or grandmother wore in the fifties and sixties? What was worn on the Gold Coast?

It’s becoming more and more popular for people to collect or wear vintage fashions. The old clothes will be a feature this weekend at a fashion parade and next weekend at a fashion fair.

Christine Keepence (pictured) talked about what was so good about these fashions. Looking very striking in her forties maternity wear, she says one of the most important features of these fashions was that they were made to last.  Listen to Chrissie here, especially for the story she tells about the blue and white denim full-piece swim suit that can be seen hanging over the rail in the picture.

You can see the parade of vintage fashions at this weekend’s “The Way We Wear Fashion Fair” will be at the Greek Community Centre, Bundall on Saturday 15th May (12 noon – 6pm) and  Sunday 16th (10am – 3pm).”

Listen

chrissie-keepence-vintage-fashion

After a month of illnesses at our place, everyone seems finally to be back on deck. A little tired and worse for wear in some respects, but all the better for the unexpected time together. So with the previously house bound in mind, we headed out the other weekend for Anzac Day on a family picnic.  The weather is just holding off, with sunny days, but chilly winds reminding you to make the most of it while you can.

We packed the basket, filled the thermos with hot tea, grabbed some extra layers to keep warm and a bottle or two of cider to keep the chill at bay. Way back in the day, family picnics were the norm when it came to weekend entertainment. When I was growing up, the whole extended family would meet in a park with baskets and bikes in tow, while Nana filled the blankets with all manner of home made slices, cakes and tea.  I have very strong memories of my Grandmother standing in the middle of the park in her apron, handing out golden Anzac Biscuits from a large tin. Some even had that soft, squishy texture of goodies baked that morning and hastily packed away for the day. I would then spend the day eating egg salad sandwiches under the shade of a large tree, reading with only ants for company until I was compelled to risk the safety of my knees on a little blue bicycle.

These are the sorts of things I’d like for my girls to remember. Not childhood memories filled only with Saturday morning cartoons, but the sorts of adventures they had themselves, exploring, eating, experiencing.

Miss Five in her Tram Conductor’s best

My lovely friend Mistress C.

Outfit Details

Pink Angora Cardigan – Made by Mum circa 1980

Pink knit top – Retrospect’d clothing

High waisted plaid pants – Retrospect’d clothing

Shoes – Keds

Snood – eBay

Flowers – by me

Cherry hairclip worn as brooch – My Little Rockabilly

Bag and scarf – Vintage

When it rains; when the cold bites at you and the wind turns your hair into something that rivals Worzel Gummage’s style; Autumn can get you down. Fashion turns to its regular rotation of burgundy’s, plums and browns; while our living room becomes a hibernation zone.  My Northern hemisphere friends are all presently extolling the virtues of Spring, yet here at home a lot of faces are making a sour move southward.  As for me, I’m taking steps to stop any seasonal jealousy before it begins, heading it off at the pass with a fabulous outfit and a good dose of colour – but not, this time, on me.

My back veranda is rather a shambles most of the time. Covered in toys, sand, puppies and whatever other detritus has collected over the week.  I do try to control it, but in my head this veranda has the makings of a beautiful conservatory area; if only I tried a little harder.  Given that I look out from my kitchen and living room onto this space, I’m trying to make it both better to look at and better to be in. That way on those grey days there is always colour at the window, and on those evenings when an escape is needed I have a ready made place to run to.

As I improve the space and tart her up a bit more I’ll show you the whole area. As for these pansies and planters, they are only a small thing really, but the feeling is so much greater.

Without fail I find myself answering questions about red lipstick every day. Whether that is emails about shades or formulas, or simply people stopping me to ask about brands. So to save myself developing RSI I’m going to show you each and every red lipstick I wear including the lip pencil, and why I like or dislike each one.

So to kick things off today’s lipstick is a brand new one that has only recently hit the shelves here and I had to trial to see if it lives up to the advertising hype.  I was watching television one evening when the lovely Linda Evangelista came on screen to tell us all about the new Loreal Age Perfect lipstick that contains some sort of miraculous formula that gives you the lips of an 18 year old again (allegedly).  The part that caught my eye about the spiel was that it is described as anti- feathering.  Now generally, feathering is not something I have much of a problem with as I use formulas that are matt and don’t apply lip gloss over the top.  I find that doing so “melts” the lipstick and increases its tendency to bleed.  However, whenever I’ve just been to the beauty salon for a lip tidy (aka cruel waxing to ensure no extraneous fluff), I find that my lipstick bleeds for the remainder of the week. grrr..

So to test this one’s promises out after such a procedure, I applied it the evening of said waxing and headed out to a party to put it through its paces.  I didn’t use the complimentary lip pencil, but instead I used the Raspberry colour pencil from Max Factor. (Yes, I always use pencil. Always.)

The packaging is a nice gold tone with a colour indicator band that makes it easy to find in a hurry. I would prefer a more high class looking gold package, but this one still passes muster beside my compact.

The colour I chose was the one that also features on their advertising posters, True Red.  And it is a very good true red, bright, not too blue and not too yellow; which means it should be quite versatile depending on your skin tone.

The formula was silky smooth and applied very well. I should mention that I don’t use a lip brush on myself, just straight from the tube, and contrary to popular opinion I don’t find that it makes any difference to the longevity of colour.

The finish is a tad more glossy than I prefer, but not so glossy it has that whole oil slick, hair sticking to your lips effect.  It didn’t dry out or crack, in fact it was more like a lip balm in feeling.

The transferance onto glasswear did happen, but not with any significant strength.  That is to say it didn’t look like I’d gashed my lip open on the glass when I drank!

The overall wear was excellent, and after an evening of talking, drinking and a good four hours of general party activity, I took the following photo.

This photo was taken under flash to show the colour and detail best. I haven’t adjusted or edited it in any way.

So overall, I’m giving the Loreal Age Perfect True Red the thumbs up and it makes the grade to be added into my regular collection of Reds.

Next time on The Best Red Lipstick….. My favorite sheer red.

* NOTE* These product reviews are not sponsored and I will not accept cash for favorable comment.  Yes, you can buy my opinion, you cannot however, buy my good opinion – that is earnt. *

The other week I received my first pair of shoe clips.  I’ve tried my hand at (dodgy) DIY versions before as I loved the idea of these versatile accessories, but had never looked into finding some specifically built for the job. And let me tell you, this is a VERY exciting style moment! *Disclosure* – Yes, Emmersen sent me these as they thought I would love what they create and boy were they right!

Being a vintage collector I’ve seen my fair share of dress clips and fur clips, (not always still in matching pairs) but hadn’t seen anything new until I came across Emmersen. Exclusive and made by hand here in Australia, Emmersen is producing a stunning range of shoe clips along with matching gloves (yay!) and even limited edition pieces like their tulle bustle – also a brilliant style add on. So I spent quite a bit of time the other week browsing through the site trying to decide on two different styles of clips that best worked with my look and would be the most versatile.  The first of these you will have noticed in the previous outfit post – the stunning red AVA clips that I added to the back of my shoes.

Given that I was already plotting the myriad of ways I could wear these, the decision to choose the vintage diamonte ones ( On the Rocks – what a name!) was a foregone conclusion. I am imagining them on capes, collars, bags, hats, furs, hair slides…. and I’m sure I’ll come up with even more options as time goes on.

Anyway, when my little package arrived I was equally impressed by the beautiful boxed packaging. They’ve obviously thought about the type of women who will wear these and the best way to keep the pieces in tip top condition.  The box is a lovely heavy weight card with a matt laminate finish and a cello window so you can always see which pair you are looking for. The clips themselves are a quality french mechanism with tiny little barbs to stop them slipping or disappearing off your shoes.  I put my AVA clips through their paces on Thursday night and not once did I have to readjust or go looking for a rogue bow. The more I played with these the bigger fan I have become.

The Ava shoe clips that I wore on my black patent shoes in the last post. They are so lovely! The finish is satin and the backs are a super soft felt to that there is no danger of scratching and it also helps them grip a little better to the slippery patent leather.

The On The Rocks shoe clips in all their sparkly, swanky glory. I really, really love these but to be honest I’ll probably wear them more as dress clips or on hats as I want to see them all the time, and if I always wear them on my shoes I’ll likely trip for always looking at them!

I started experimenting with a few different ways of wearing these and decided to try them both out on one of my structured vintage bags, and the diamontes were just the thing to add night time glamour to my new vintage hat.

They clipped on very easily and didn’t damage, leave dints or holes in anything which is always a concern when you pin things in to vintage garments.  Here is a close up of how they work.

Each time I wear these differently in an outfit I’ll show you how I’ved used them and try and give you even more creative ideas, but this morning after pin curling my hair  and popping on the scarf to keep them warm, I had a brain wave.

Thanks to Emmersen I’m having my very own Aunty Mame moment!