Esz, Kesenya, Me & Marianne – Photo by Nada

Making things look easy is hard work! Yesterday I gave the first of two lunch time session workshops for Melbourne Spring Fashion Week, and I have to tell you, pulling something like this together is no easy task.

Given that this blog and pretty much everything I do is a one woman show, I have to be super organised and multi talented to make it work. The last few weeks have really put me to the test to see just how much I can do and has also taught me that without a good team, there are some things that just can’t be achieved.

I’m sure that over the course of this week, you’ll be reading all about the highlights of MSFW, the shows, the clothes, the models; so I want to give you a different view into what goes on behind the scenes.  Here’s what it takes for me to put on a one hour session, and keep in mind this isn’t a whole production with multitudes of garments and models – that would take an army!

Firstly, you have to come up with your concepts.  This is the bit that most people enjoy the most, things like mood boards, topics, the imagination part.  Then you have to work out how you’re going to turn that into something that entertains and informs for a whole hour.

There is a set to stage, making sure that things look pretty and that it all works. That your guests are warm and dry and that everyone can see and hear what is happening. There is a mood and ambience to set, all of which require props, lighting and people to make it happen.

Given that what I’m presenting isn’t really a catwalk show I needed to come up with ways to illustrate what I’m talking about and make the hour more than just me on stage like a bump on a branch. So I’ve been pulling together several outfits, beautiful models, doing fittings, repairing garments, writing booklets and doing all the graphic design, DVD presentations… all sorts of things!

The long and short of it all is that I’ve been working about 14 plus hours a day for the last three weeks just to pull together a one hour session. It sounds like an insurmountable task, which on some days it does feel like, but one of the most fabulous things to come out of all this has been the great team of people who have pulled together to make it happen.

Esz, Nada, Me & Marianne – Photo by Kesenya

We’re a small crew, but the marvellous Nada has been helping me prepare models backstage, Kesenya of Alice Jean’s has become my “Adrianna” (only you Australians of a certain age will know what that means), and the wonderful Marianne from Esme & The Laneway and Esz from Kitty’s Drawings, put up their hands to show how beautifully vintage can be worn.

So with all that prep time in mind make sure you get down to see Thursdays session at 3.30pm in City Square! Now that we are officially in Spring the weather is bound put on a good turn out for us… (positive thinking works).

It was such a super busy day yesterday that I didn’t even get a chance to take any proper outfit shots of what I was wearing! But you can get a fair idea from these pics at least. It was…

1940’s Silk Taffeta Blouse – via Etsy

French Navy Wide Leg Pants – Made by Me

Shoes – Black faux snake skin lace ups by Kumfs

White floral headpiece- by Samantha Sultana

I’m thinking after the last few weeks that it might be time to bite the bullet and hire an intern…. any takers?

There has been such an interest in retro lifestyle from mainstream media recently.  Just this weekend I was part of a feature in the regular News Ltd Sunday Magazine about those of us who choose to create our own vintage glam worlds. I’ve scanned the pages for you and uploaded them full sized, so if you click the images of each page you should be able to read the article.

Then, just the other week I was invited along into the studio at Radio Eastern to have a bit of a chat to Dee Copsey on her breakfast radio program, all about who I am and what I do.  I love chatting at the best of times, but it was such a relaxing interview that I could have gone on forever!

Anyway, most of you will know much of these things about me as regular readers of the blog, but if you feel like an excuse to kick back over a cup of coffee, have a little listen here, but I warn you.. I can talk!

Candice DeVille ECB intvw 24^7^10

I am so pleased to see a growing interest not only in vintage fashion, but also in people thinking about lifestyles outside of the mainstream. I hope this is only the beginning of people looking for more beautiful and interesting things in life!

Finally, I’ve finished creating the highlight reel of the big Wintersun 2010 Vintage Swimwear Parade!  This fantastic show, produced by Nicole Jenkins of Circa Vintage Clothing,was one of the biggest highlights of the Wintersun week.  Showcasing suits from the 1930s to the 1970s, this show was about more than scantily clad girls, but also about just how wonderful the designs of the past are. How flattering, how fun and how relevant they remain today.

I’ve condensed the whole show into ten minutes (not an easy job) and managed to highlight each and every swimsuit on display.  The models came from all over and did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of the eras.

P.S I really wanted to keep my leopard print cossi!

Enjoy!!

Parade Produced by Circa Vintage Clothing

Camera Work by Tim Hamilton

Still Photos by Andre Turner

Video Production by Candice Deville

This last week my life changed forever.

I believe that all the best stories have a sound track and without music, life is only a life half lived.  Yet, until now I’ve had to contend with playing my sound track in my head at most times as I moved from place to place, inside outside, in the car etc..  Then someone came home with a Sonos. I hadn’t even heard of these brand new fangled inventions, but I knew someone would get their act together and figure it out one of these days.  So what is it?  Without being a big promo for Sonos, (as I really don’t know or understand all the tech details) it is basically a wireless speaker system that I can move to any room in my house, my garden my porch.. etc.. and keep on adding speakers without having to wire anything in!

So now when I choose a soundtrack for my day it follows me everywhere! The whole thing is driven by my central music catalogue kept on my iPhone, so even if I leave the house and drive away I can still keep on listening and keep the same groove. Anyway, this means I am falling in love all over again with my favorite artists and getting goosebumps over new ones.

So what am I listening to this week?  Quite a lot of the amazing Johny Cash and his back catalogue.  His website actually has a radio station that is all Johnny all the time (which I’m listening to as I type this).  I’m also listening to the soundtrack to Walk The Line, which has become a staple for my drive time I just can’t get enough of that one.

I’m also getting goosebumps over the music (and moves) of Nick Willett who I was privileged to see perform live at Wintersun. I cannot tell you what an experience that was. Nick is one man that could have stepped directly out of your favorite 50’s rock ‘n roll movie – A voice that rolls over you in waves, moves that should be illegal and a first class gentleman.

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Ms Carly and I snapped having a word with Mr. Nick Willett

I’m also very eagerly awaiting the first full album release of our very own (that is Victorian) Scotty Baker, as his fantastic music and highly amusing lyrics have been stuck in my head for the last two weeks.  But until then I have to content myself with his singles..  Go here and listen to Scotty Baker - he’s full of awesome! (And he’s also seriously stylish!)

The Re Chords are also particularly fantastic and are Melbourne based too!

Check them out here.

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Anyway, what has become abundantly clear is that I need to update my music catalogue with a whole lot of new stuff , (particularly each and every band I saw perform at Wintersun and will link you to as soon as I can) so even though I’m no music reviewer I’ll be telling you about which sound track is playing in my life at any one time. A word of warning though, it may be classic Rock n Roll, it may be new local Rockabilly or just as likely, a little bit of mad J-Pop! Just like my wardrobe, my music is all about what moves me that day – so let’s see if we can give your day a new soundtrack too.

I’ve been asked many times how I tie my simple headscarf.  The one I wear when I’m setting my pin curls and still want to be able to go out on errands looking half way decent.  So today, I have a simple video tutorial for you, taking you through three simple and easy to achieve looks with a large square scarf.

There are so many I could show you, but don’t want to overload you by creating a whole two hour tutorial! So here are the first three ways that can be adapted to suit your own style.

This is in high definition, so remember you can click to make the image full screen for better detail.
Enjoy!

*For those of you viewing in IE, I’m experiencing a few technical glitches with the site at the moment. Please bare with me as we attempt to repair the damage.*