Sunday in Melbourne was the perfect day for High Tea. It was cold, wet and windy outside, so it made perfect sense to be inside eating cakes, sipping tea and talking vintage with friends. It was also the perfect place to wear this fabulous vintage cashmere embellished sweater I recently picked up. (It didn’t have magical properties that made me shrink Alice style – the flowers were just that big!)It has cord and bead detail with three dimensional white plastic flowers too! The skirt is also an original 1950′s atomic star burst skirt that I’m wearing with a yellow silk blouse and that great vintage style framed handbag from yesterday’s post.

An afternoon at the Langham Hotel is all about the ambience. I’d like to pretend this is my home for just a little while… That sweeping staircase, the amber light, the glitter from the chandelier… le sigh..  It forces you to slow down and enjoy the finer things, like these delightful little cakes.

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The arrangement of the chocolate table was beyond belief. There was a swell of gasps and giggles when we reached the table, but it was all so stunning and delicious that to tease you with images on a screen just wouldn’t be fair. You know that expression “good enough to eat”? Well these were all really far too pretty to eat; and yet somehow we managed it.

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Of course, everyone had frocked up for the occasion, not that this is any big surprise with a group like this; but it makes all the difference when you have an appreciative audience and can break out the ‘fine china’.

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No matter how polite we all are, there are definitely thoughts of mugging each other crossing our minds at this stage.

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With my lovely friends Anne Marie from Melbourne store The Button Tree, Dolores Daiquiri Australia’s tease queen and Abbie Cardwell songstress extordinare.

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We were very tempted to start singing show tunes right about now…

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It doesn’t matter how ‘vintage’ you are, there is no escaping the latest apps to capture the day!

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The only thing I think that is still sorely missing from the High Tea menu of everywhere I’ve been is a bit of sneaky ‘Irish’ in the tea!

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Putting together a great vintage look isn’t the sole territory of those with extensive authentic vintage collections.  I know there are many purists out there who abhor the idea of vintage inspired or vintage reproduction, but bare with me. Good vintage is a finite resource, and as our love for it and the resulting community grows, two things happen.  The pool of quality, wareable garments gets smaller and smaller; and the price points for those items continue to rise.  I will never give up  on vintage, and having a collection that now spans 23 years, I realise that I am in a minority that has such a range to choose from; and I’m asked all the time how ‘newbies’ can create their own comprehensive vintage look without breaking the bank.

Thanks to fashions uptake of vintage looks as current inspiration, there are now so many great reproduction and vintage inspired pieces on the market. I say this with caution however, as the term “vintage” has become completely bastardised by the marketing department as a simple slogan to get us to part with our hard earned cash for what is, for the most mass marketed part, entirely rubbish. However, being the canny shopper that I am, with a dedication to ‘research’ …eehem.. I’m debuting a new blog segment today – Vintage Style Find of the Month!

Everything featured here needs to fit the following criteria-

*New and currently available in store or online. That’s the instant gratification factor ticked off.
* Good value for money – that doesn’t mean cheap and nasty, but it does mean a good price for the quality point and not overly inflated due to branding.
*Something that I’ve tried, tested and used myself so I know that it meets my tough standards.
*Under a $120 price tag, preferably well under, but that gives us a bit of room to move for those super special items.* Of course I reserve the right to have more than one find of the month in order to discover which one comes out triumphant as the best over all.

Now this by no means will replace my evangelical love of true vintage, but see it as a supplement if you will. Pieces that are beautiful but not irreplaceable, pieces that need not be treated with kid gloves or pieces that can finish off a look when finding an authentic vintage piece is not an option. Ever tried find an original 1950′s iPhone case to match your outfit? I think not. But such are our lives that we need to think about how we work these gadgets into our carefully crafted ensembles.

And so it is that I give you this Vintage Style Find of the Month to kick off July – The framed, applique handbag!

The Primrose Box Bag & Lee Lee Framed brocade purse.

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From: Forever New – Winter 2011 – Melbourne Central flagship store

Price: $59.99 for the Primrose framed handbag and $12.95 for the brocade purse.

Features:

Bag- Soft pink applique detailing, solid framed shape with single clip top, handles long enough to carry the bag neatly over the shoulder, two internal sections, feet at bag bottom. All man made materials.

Purse – Pink and gold brocade fabric (so 60′s!), kiss clip coin section, wallet section with space for several cards and photo holder. Large enough for every day use or small enough to be a tiny evening clutch, using the coin section for lipstick instead.

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If there is something you’ve been dying to find to fix your vintage wardrobe, but just haven’t found; add your request and let’s see if we can find you your own Vintage Style Find o’ the Month.

Okay, I’ll start by saying that it isn’t often that I go out and purchase a new handbag.  Although I can’t count how many handbags I actually own (I’m currently cataloguing all my collections), The majority of them are vintage.  But for a long time now I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect day bag. Simple, chic, elegant and able to fit all the basic necessities as well as my camera.  Finding a piece that fits that bill and doesn’t have to be the size of ruckasack isn’t easy.  But the other week, I was shopping in David Jones (hunting for scarves in their sale), when this beauty literally stopped me in my tracks.

La Box Bag from Estilo Emporio – yes this is pure indulgent handbag heaven.

Midnight black suede and camel leather trim, with serious gold hardware. It is just the right size to hold my SLR, phone, wallet, key and makeup. It keeps its shape and hangs perfectly in the crook of your arm.  It isn’t so unwieldy that you knock things over in store, and it balances perfectly on the bench while you find your keys.  The only thing missing from this bag to make it 100% perfect, is feet. I wish more manufacturers would include them on their bags, especially the suede ones.  So I’m having the cobbler attached some for me, just to keep it lovely and fresh on the bottom as everywhere else.

The bags come in a variety of finishes, including a chocolate alligator box bag and there is even one with leopard print sides I’m told! They are currently available as part of the Autumn Winter range, and for me these fit beautifully into the category of Future Vintage. (More on this coming up soon….)

It’s a funny feeling finding a bag that is so super, it makes you feel very clever and pleased with yourself; as if it has never been done before in history and you’re a total genius for uncovering it. (I wonder how the designers feel when they makes these?) And while that is a bit silly, it is still rather nice.