(not my family, but a gorgeous picture of the Halvorsen family that represents just how Christmas looks in my head…)

Last week a friend sent me an email with this message, capturing what I been thinking in a very succinct way…

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1. Alice Jean’s Soda Pop Shop for locally made, beautiful soaps and vintage inspired children’s clothing. YUM!

2. Melbournalia is not only filled with wonderful Australian made wares, but these are even local to MELBOURNE! (Yes, that’s the city I live in). Lots of ephemera, postal goods and fancy wares.

3. Sukin - natural, organic hand and nail cream that smells heavenly and has been doing wonders for my hard working hands.

4. If you hadn’t already figured it out by the avalanche of blog posts  on Some Fancy Ladies™, we are all Australian grown, shot here, produced and printed here! So adorn the walls of those you love with some home grown pinup art.

5. If you’re looking for something truly magically for the children in your life this Christmas, I think I’ve discover the ultimate in one of a kind, love them forever gifts.  Handcrafted from local gumtree timber, Bentsticks creates these incredible fantasy mini tree houses and gnomes that have to be seen to be believed! They even now have a range of night lights. These are guaranteed to ignite the imagination.

6. For totally Australian made, stunning looks to get you through your Christmas parties or even for great gift vouchers, take a look at Peta Pledger, Powderpuff Boutique & Hot Couture – Gorgeous, locally made, vintage inspired apparel.

There’s loads and loads of great ideas out there. In fact, if you spend a few minutes on Facebook, you’re likely to uncover some fantastic local businesses with all sorts of gift vouchers on offer. How about portrait sittings with Finessence Photography or your own classic pinup shoot with Helen McLean. You could even treat yourself and a friend to Personal Shopping tours, Vintage Styling Sessions or Vintage Makeup lessons with me over the holidays. Want to learn how to be Charming? Book a gift voucher for the Lindy Charm School for Girls next workshop in your city.

It goes without saying that wherever you live in the world, this message applies. No doubt there will be some things on your wish list that you can’t get at home, but there are loads that you can. There are so many wonderful, creative, keen people out there that are more than happy to help fulfil your Christmas gift list. Your local economy and the tables of those at home will thank you for it!

December is proving to be far more busy and fun than I thought it would be this year. It’s always a busy time, what with the shopping, the school plays, the extra juggle of children on holidays and what not. But this December, although it has only just started, is shaping up to be the most fun and fancy time I’ve had in a while.

This month I’m helping Matchbox and Kitchen Aid with a really cool new contest they are running, in which you can win allkinds of cool prize including your favourite retro coloured Kitchen Aids! All you have to do is dress up in your retro best and take a photo with a Kitchen Aid to enter. I’m having real trouble picking my favourite with the glossy cherry red and hot pink vying for the lead.

Knowing that not everyone is as vintage obsessed with me, they’ve enlisted my help to teach the secrets to getting a vintage look and help you with your entries.  I spent last Sunday down at Chadstone to launch the contest, and will be appearing again in store at Westfield Doncaster between 11-2pm to do another demonstration and answer your questions.  If you have a free afternoon or would like to come down and play Kitchen Aid pretty up with me, make sure to head on down early as it gets very busy! You can find out more about the Kitchen Aid contest details here. (If you happen to be in Queensland, Mistress Chrissy of The Lindy Charm School for Girls will be at Westfield Chermside from 11-2pm this Sunday for you too!)

Listening closely!

The lovely Charlotte from Matchbox in KitchenAid pink!

With everyone’s thoughts suddenly turning to what to buy for Christmas, Some Fancy Ladies™ have been flat out doing store appearances for our 2012 pinup art calendar.  It’s proving to be a hit with young and old, both men and women.  Some of the delightful old dears we’ve run into have told us all kinds of stories from their youth, their wardrobes and even some secret saucy moments. I’m always honoured when we get to meet people and write personal messages on their calendars for them. We’ve had messages of birthday love, Sweet 16′s, Christmas stocking surprises and even something to give grandpa an extra “get well”! Friday night Bonnie Rose and I were in at Flowers of Canterbury on Mailing Road in amongst some of the most gorgeous flowers to meet and greet. Aren’t they just stunning?!

I can be a bit of a ham..

Our swanky calendars and cards

I just adore the colours in here!

If you haven’t ordered your copy of the calendar yet and want to see it in the flesh, you’ll find it locally now in store at Flowers of Canterbury, and Anton’s Clothing in Melbourne Central! Now, time for a bit of a sit down I think!

I’ve found my Christmas spirit early this year, but instead of the usual baubles and candy canes, I’m hard at work creating my own Kitsch-mas wonderland! If you’re a vintage collector like me, or even have a stash of cute and crazy toys around; you have the makings of your own kitsch’s decorating solution.  Here’s some of the inspiration I’ve been using to fancy up my pad for the season ahead.

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What are your tips for a Merry Kitsch-mas?

In the last instalment of Vintage Style Find of the Month, we found a great lady like framed handbag. And being a sucker for a good piece of arm candy, this month’s style find is also of the bag variety.  I spotted this through the doorway to the store when out shopping with a friend and quite nearly tripped over myself to get inside and add it to my collection. You see why.

Bag – Peter Alexander

Price – $99.90

Available – Instore and online

Features – Large woven tote bag size with hot pink cotton lining, cotton crochet bobble trim and pink flamingo for handle.

(I’ve just realised that the last Style find of the month was in July!  So I have some catch up shopping to do.   )

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.

Every time I head to the hairdressers of late, I’m tempted to cut my hair shorter and shorter.  It is so much easier to style and set, but if I go too short I won’t be able to do some of the amazing up do’s I love so much. So I’ve decided to take a leaf from those canny ladies of the 1960′s and build a wardrobe of hair pieces that are the perfect short cut to the perfect do.

The idea of using pieces or ‘falls’ is not a new one, but as it went out of vogue for a while, a whole new generation is discovering the joys of artifice once again.  It’s taken a while for the market to pick up on the hair extension trend outside of the salons, and the more people want them, the more cleaver the manufacturers are getting. Not long ago the only options we had was either to buy human hair extensions from dubious sources, or synthetics that couldn’t take any real styling or heat.  Hair extensions that come in at $800 for each section are also off the table for me given just how many I’d need to create my ideal ‘hair wardrobe’.

I’ve been using synthetic clip ins on occasion for a while now, and these are the only way I can get my hair to look even remotely decent when I’m in tropical countries. But now I’m looking at them more for options of creating styles that I can leave readily done and set for those moments when I need some ‘shazam’ but I only have a couple of minutes.  Of course that means I need pieces I can actually style.

I’d been shopping around for options when I was invited to try out the new pieces made by Lady Jayne; clip in’s that retail around about $40 for a full width, 30cm long and pre curled section. Very affordable and not a bad range of colours either.  What had caught my eye about these in store was that they are heat resistant up to 210 degrees celsius, so I can actually curl, blow-dry or straighten them with no ill effects! (Note – you can’t dye synthetics though, so if you’re hair is a very specific shade you may run into problems… or an opportunity for creativity!)

I wanted to show just how easy these are to put in as well, so given that I’m somewhat of a hair guru it wouldn’t be fair if I said it was easy. So I asked Mr. SKM, (who incidentally hasn’t had any hair on his head for 20 years) to put them in for me.  I used two of the Volume and Length pieces in 30cm long black to create this super fast, what can change in the space of one minute, look.

Okay, it is pretty simple and probably would have benefited from having a brush run through it, but it shows just what a massive difference two extensions can make. I kind of like this disheveled look too. All the fun and none of the frizz I’d usually get if I did this with my own hair.  Over the next few weeks, I’m going to do some experiments with these pieces to see what else I can do with them and how easy they are to keep in in various conditions. If you have any questions about this particular brand feel free to ask away and I’ll do my best to help you out.  They are currently available at Priceline, some pharmacies and also Big W, so they are pretty easy to get a hold of.

If you’ve used DIY extensions like this before, what are your favourite things about them and have you ever thought about building a hair wardrobe like I am?