Prada’s Spring 2012 Collection

Remember those amazing flame shoes from last weeks post on the best flats to wear? They are part of this incredible new collection from Prada this season.  I’ve always wanted a beautiful Prada bag and now, it looks like I can’t hold off any longer. If I miss out on one of these beauties that could have been tailor made for me I’ll kick myself!

Check out some more of the beautiful images from this collection over at the gorgeous Debutante Clothing’s blog.

Marie Claire February  2012 Issue

This gorgeous shoot for Marie Claire is called The Last Days of Summer and captures that softening sunlight of the end of a season. I adore the  looks which as somewhat of a mash up between 1930′s sportswear and 1940′s hair and makeup.

Vogue Girl Korea Winter 2011

You know when shoots give you tingles? This is that! I LOVE these shots so much. The hair, the outfits, the lux fabrics and textures, the fire works display of colour. Hell yeah Vogue Girl!

Vogue UK Feburary 2012

This image by Demarchelier has such a wonderful tone to it. The coral jacket with the coral lip all against the iconic mid century blue piped upholstery. The model’s updated curled faux-hawk is the icing on the cake making this entirely edgy retro chic.

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This is only a sample of the numerous stunning and thoroughly vintage inspired shoots out there at the moment to capture your imagination. It’s enough to make you take a match to those t-shirts and jeans hiding in the wardrobe isn’t it?! If, by the way, you’d like to learn how to put your own looks together as amazingly as these; make sure to hold some dates in your diaries for the next series of vintage styling workshops I have coming up right across the country! I’ll announce all the nitty gritty details as soon as I can, so keep an eye on this page.

To celebrate the launch of my new side project Some Fancy Ladies™ and our 2012 Calendar, we’re giving YOU the opportunity to win the prize pack of the year!

You could win your very own exclusive photo shoot with the Some Fancy Ladies Team!

Valued at $3000 this brilliant prize pack includes;

Flights (within Australia) to Melbourne

Vintage wardrobe for the day provided by Bonnie Rose Vintage Clothing

Hair, Makeup & Styling by Candice DeVille

Photography and prints by Helen McLean Photography

Step into the glamourous world of Some Fancy Ladies™ and live the dream for a day!

How can you win this amazing prize?

Simply by spreading the word about Some Fancy Ladies and the new 2012 calendar!  You can share wherever and however you like, be it newsletters, forums, your blog, Facebook, Twitter, you name it. Anywhere you can link your unique URL counts. All you need to do is leave me a comment with your email address to register, and you will be sent your own unique URL.  The URL with the most shares will win this great prize!

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Terms & Conditions - 

URL sharing must be genuine click throughs. Auto generated clicks and excessive click throughs from the same IP address will not be eligible for the final tally.

You must be over 18 years of age and able to fly within Australia or get to Australia to accept this prize.

Entry is open to men and women alike.

Should you not be able to accept this prize, it is fully transferrable to an individual of your choosing provided they meet the other terms and conditions.

The prize pack must be redeemed within the 2012 calendar year.

Prize is not redeemable for cash.

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So What Are You Waiting For? Get creative, get talking and get fancy! Register in the comments now and you could be flying to Melbourne to shoot with Some Fancy Ladies™! 

Entries close on DECEMBER 30th 2011 and the winner will be announced the following week.

When I had the opportunity to go and see Dita Von Teese launch her new vintage inspired fashion label, I knew I wanted to wear something pretty but not too over the top. Of course an occasion like that feels as though it calls for the christening of a new outfit as well, so it was the perfect opportunity to take my new ‘Honey’ dress out for a spin.

The ‘Honey’ dress by Trashy Diva, is available through my wonderful sponsor who carries all manner of beautiful vintage reproduction dresses, Miskonduckt Klothing.  I have a real fondness for their pieces, not only for their retro sensibilities but also for their quality fabrics and construction.  This dress is a gorgeous scarlet polished cottoning a heavy weight, with some stretch and a side zip. It allows for a very figure hugging fit without the danger of splitting a seam in a moment of haste.  The skirt is super full and perfect for a spin round the dance floor, but my favourite hidden feature? Pockets!  There is something so wonderful about these 1950′s style dresses with pockets on both sides of the full skirts; it just makes you want to start posing around like a movie star on her day off.  And thanks to my lovely friend Helen McLean Photography, that’s exactly what I did.

Outfit Details

Dress – ‘Honey’ dress in red by Trashy Diva of New Orleans, available from Miskonduct Klothing

Shoes – Red faux suede wedges – Spendless shoes ($40!- a great find and super comfortable)

Stockings –  Voodoo “Bombshell” seamed stockings

Suspenders – (unseen) Kiss Me Deadly Vargas roll on girdle in blue.

For my all my new readers, thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you find things here to delight, inspire and help you on your glamorous journey. Make sure to follow me on my official Facebook Fan Page and Twitter to keep up with all the events and news hot of the press. You can also subscribe to my Super Kawaii Mama You Tube Chanel to be the first to see all the new interviews and tutorials.

Happy Melbourne Cup Day all!

For the last few months, things have been a tad quite here on these pages.  And that isn’t just because I’ve been travelling or gadding about, (which I have, but then this was on top of all that); it is because I’ve been working on a super secret new venture.  There is a bit of a backstory to this too.

You all know I love my vintage, I adore the fashion, the architecture, the designs and the music of times gone by.  My influences are many and varied, and I’m not a vintage purist by any means.  I like to take different inspirations quite often and mix them up to create my own brand of fun. But when it comes to pinup art and advertising, I always tend to prefer the truly classic, the romantic and the thoroughly glamorous.  It is the emotion is evokes. The tease, the tantalisation, the cheeky looks and the playfulness of it. So much modern vintage inspired pinup is stunningly beautiful, edgy and wonderful, but there are few that capture the spirit of what authentic vintage pinup art is all about. And that is where this idea was born.

Combining the talents our four very vintage and very talented ladies to create a timeless, high end, classic vintage pinup experience and share it with the world! Together with renowned pinup photographer Helen McLean, August 2011 Penthouse pinup and vintage boutique owner Bonnie Rose and Australia’s tassel twirling burlesque darling, Foxtrot India; we’ve put our money where our mouth is and bring to you the very best in classic vintage pinup art – Some Fancy Ladies™

To launch this auspicious event, Some Fancy Ladies ™ have just opened their website and are giving you the very first chance to pre-order your very fancy wall candy – the Sugar ‘n Spice & all things Nice 2012 Calendar! ( Yes, that means Your’s Truly is a fully fledged Calendar Girl!)

Come on over and visit the Some Fancy Ladies™website where you’ll see a sneak peek of my January image!

We are currently making these places a little bit fancier and you can follow us for all sorts of exciting updates.

I can hardly contain my excitement that we are finally able to reveal this project, and the 2012 calendar is just the tip of the iceberg! Make sure to get your pre-Christmas orders in now for delivery in late October, and yes we do ship internationally too. This is one for the boys, the girls, the girlfriends and yes, even the grandfather’s. Look out world; you’re about to get a whole lot fancier!

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Image of Imogen Hubber shot by Janie Barrett – for The Age

Built between 1948-1950, the Rose Seidler house was built by Architect Harry Seidler fas a home for his mother.   Harry had had it with the bland monotony of suburbia, the little boxy houses with their small enclosed rooms; and he set out to create something entirely different. Something that celebrated the amazing Australian environment, something that brought the outside in and brought the occupants together. There is much that has been written and said about the Rose Seidler House, but in a nutshell it is the purest example of Mid Century Modernist architecture in Australia and still by some considered ‘stark’ even by todays’ modern standards.

The house is now owned by the Historic Houses Trust and each year, faithful fans of the Fifties gather there to dress up in their classiest threads, do some dancing, some shopping and generally all have a rip roaring time.

This year I was thrilled to be  invited to celebrate the Sweet 16th Fifties Fair at the house, and come and present on Fifties Fashion & Styling as well as judging the coveted Best Dressed Awards.  Of course, being the busy bee I was, I didn’t have a spare moment to even break out my camera, so thankfully there were other who did.

Image by Louise Whelan

It was quite a cold morning, so the cardigan didn’t come off till much later. Louise stopped me in the green room just as the morning light bounced up from the slate floor and created this beautiful soft feature.

Thank you to my kind reader Susan for taking these pics on the day and sending them to me to use here.   The first pic is me talking all about the fun of fifties fashion, flanked by my two lovely girlfriends Kesenya from Alice Jean and Brooke. (Thanks for being such great models ladies!)

This pic is of the amazing watercolour sketch that  Illustrator Sadami Konchi created of me as I spoke – how cool is that!

The Fifties Fair has been running now for 16 years and attracts around 5000 people on this one day to indulge in a bit of retro nostalgia. I’m told that the Fair is evolving into bigger and better things in the next year and can’t wait to see what is in store. It is such a highlight of the year here and a wonderful opportunity for all of us crazy 50′s lovers to get together and live a day in imaginary blissful world.

Check out The Age for a fantastic, colourful slideshow of pics from the Fifties Fair here.

But firstly….. Thank you for all the input on the last post. I have a HUGE follow up coming for you in a few days when I’ve finished putting it all together. You’ll love it!

Extra … Extra… Read all about it!

Vintage Pinup Photography just got better!

I can hardly contain my excitement when I tell you this…. I’ve just joined forces with the amazing Helen McLean – Pinup Photographer, in our quest to give you the fanciest pinup photos you could wish for!

Remember when I spent the day with Helen and she shot these of me?

You may already be aware that I’m a specialist vintage stylist, tackling weddings, workshops, and private clientele; but teaming up with a talent like Helen means so much more! Now, when you want to capture your very best pinup self, be it classic or cheesecake; you’ll have me as your very own personalist stylist for the session. It’s all very exciting really!

My wonderful friend, the internationally renowned burlesque performer, Foxtrot India went under my brushes last week as she posed for these glamorous shots… what a beauty!

Read all about our dream team and all the dates and rates for booking your own pinup photography heaven.

You just know there’s going to be some amazing blog shots coming out of all this work!

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Todays post has been quite a while in the making. Something extra special indeed.

I was recently honoured to have my work included on the calendar of events for the National Trust’s Mannequin Exhibition at Como House & Gardens. The exhibition focused on the work of Australia’s top models from the 1950′s and 60′s, showcasing their commercial images, behind the scenes stories and snaps, wonderful garments and presentations by some of the women themselves.

Bringing the feel of a 1950′s fashion salon show to life in all its elegance and glamour, my wonderful team of models were simply divine as they floated through the grand ballroom. And yes, this time you get to share in a piece of the magic… So please, pour yourself a glass of champagne and sit back and enjoy the ambience of the 1950′s Vintage Salon Show at Como House & Gardens 2011.

( I recommend clicking the little arrows to expand this and watch in full screen if you can)

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Many thanks to my wonderful models; Miss Marianne, Miss Geeves, Miss Kesenya, Dolores Daiqueri, Miss Sharon, Foxtrot India and Bonnie Rose.

As well as my right hand ladies backstage; Catherine Phillips and Heather Walters

All of the garments and accessories featured are from the private collections of Candice DeVille, Bonnie Rose Vintage and Madam Virtue & Co.

All images and video footage was splendidly shot by Finessence photography. (Please note – all images are copyright to Finessence and Candice DeVille P/L and may not be used without prior permission)

And a big thank you to the wonderful staff at Como House & Gardens for all their assistance.

One of my lovely models Hannah comes to visit at the fair.

Left to Right – Emma from Fleurage who has created a stunning range of vintage bridal perfumes that we featured together at the fair. Me in the middle and Karen from Finessence on the right.

A sneak peak at the final images…. all will be revealed shortly!

Thanks to Emma and her exquisite high class, soliflore perfumes, we made an intoxicating impression!

The beautiful Miss Chrissy from The Lindy Charm School for Girls.

With everything on my plate that weekend I didn’t have time to take any outfit pics, but thanks to visiting friends and fans I’ve managed to collect a few to show you what I wore each day.

Thank you Tina for this great shot of the two of us on Sunday.

Saturday’s outfit photo thanks to Rina at Take 2 Markets.

Want to see more? Well we’re just putting the finishing touches to our gallery and can show you the whole beautiful creation shortly!

It has been the most full on couple of weeks and shows no sign of letting up yet as I prep up to head off to Wintersun next week too!  That will be a whole ten days of Fifties frolicking, parties, fashion, cars, shopping and workshops – if you haven’t booked your tickets yet, you can check out all the events, including my styling workshops, here.

*Please note – all images are copyright to Finessence photography and are used here with permission.*

The gorgeous contestants await their moment on stage; what a gaggle of vintage goodness!

The chaps were very impressive this year, breaking out quite a variety of looks from the Mad Men inspired 60′s looks…

Something a bit ‘flash”!

..to Victorian brocade frock coats and monocles..

..and the Teddy Boy in burgundy velvet with his mini tie and amazing hair!

Not to be out done, the ladies brought out their best and shone in an array of colours and eras.

1st Runner up for Best Dressed was the incredible Alison Waters and her Fontana Sisters 1950′s dress from Rome.

The Winner in her beautifully crafted and coordinated 1920′s ensemble.

I’d like to believe that this is just a small window into what heaven looks like, and that was only the start of the fair!  I have much, much more to show you and a secret to reveal next time!

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