Has is really been that long?

Since I talked to you lovely people!!

So sorry, busy time of year for me but I am now officially on my holidays, well there may not be many advantages to being self-employed but one of them is that you decide when you finish for Christmas, which to be fair is decided on last posting day really!

It's unlikely I'll post again before Christmas as I'm driving up North to see my mum. Well I'm hoping to, if you're in the UK you know the problems, if you're not, we've been having some quite incredibly extreme weather for the UK this December and I know lots of other countries have worse but it's not usual for us and we really don't cope well with it, sadly.

Please keep your fingers crossed for my journey which I'm going to try for tomorrow.

I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year. It's been a joy to get to know you all this year and I hope we get to know each other even better next year!


And to end the year I'll have one of whatever he's having!!

I do love shoes!!

Don't we all? I have no idea where the obsession with shoes come from with women but I don't know many who don't love shoes - although I do know a few.

Anyway my loves of shoes knows no bounds, I have plenty of shoes and I have no money to spend on shoes yet when I see new arrivals from Rocket Originals, I spend my day trying to work out how to make some money to buy these beauties!!

Rocket Originals have not just one but two new arrivals, it's almost too much to bear!!

I was lucky enough to see pictures of both of these when they were getting samples made and I couldn't contain my excitement, but now they are here I can finally show you them. Get a hanky because you will drool!

First up a new sandal called Lana, so sexy and classy, I WANT!

http://www.rocketoriginals.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=LANA

Beautiful styling, tied ankle strap, cute bow on the front, a colour that will go with nearly everything, what more could a gal want?

Next up is Mitzi, I really really really love these.

http://www.rocketoriginals.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=MITZI

It's hard to find nice repro every day comfy shoes and these will be my go to shoes for being comfortable and stylish!

So there you have it more lovely things to spend your money on, I know where my money will be going!!

Just like buses.....

No blog posts for weeks then 2 come long at once!!

Actually I've wanted to do this since I found out about this new website at the Rhythm Riot.

I was talking to a lovely lady called Mary, who I've known for a long time but don't know her very well, something quite common on our scene, you get to know lots of people are you've all been around for years but you rarely have intimate conversations so you get to know people over many years!

Anyway Mary has an amazing knowledge about vintage jewellery, she really knows her stuff, in fact she told a friend - who I won't name unless she wants to name herself - that a brooch she was wearing was actually rare and worth about £400!! My friend was so shocked, mind you it's a lovely lovely brooch.

So let me get to the point, Mary has launched Vintage Inspirations a fabulous website selling vintage jewellery, she has lots on there and I know has more stock to list.  She's a lovely lady and as I said very knowledgeable so you know you are getting quality.

Here are a few of the most fabulous pieces on there at the moment!

Nice huh? Give them a visit, I'm sure you'll find something that you love, oh and did I say her prices are really reasonable too!

I'm Back!

Well I've been back a while but only feel in the land of living again this week. Sorry for extended time away. Mum got through her op ok but she's taking a while to recover so she's currently in rehab doing physio every day til she's strong enough to go home. I haven't seen her recently as the current weather conditions where she lives are atrocious so I probably wouldn't make it there but we text each other several times a day, thank goodness for a modern thinking mother of 74!!

The Rhythm Riot was fabulous as always but no photos as predicted, I worked worked worked, slept then worked. If you don't believe me ask Helen from Pin-Up Parade she witnessed me work from dawn til dusk no exaggeration!

So have I got any other news, well not really I've been rather busy but I have had a few good vintage finds even as busy as I am, and of course as always all super cheap!!

First up is the prettiest, well sparkly anyway!!

Yes those 5 sparkling lucite folding combs, aren't they lovely? Just the right size and style for corresponding lucite bags! Now I just need to get a green, red & orange lucite bag he he!

Next up a nice vintage compact.

With original powder puff that needs a bit of a wash!

And last but certainly not least, when I saw this I knew it was for us! I love picnic sets but we don't picnic really. It looks like a picnic set

Nice eh? But what is it really?

It's a portable cocktail cabinet, oh yes people, room for bottles, mixers and glasses!!

For £5, yes you heard £5, contents not included of course!!

So there you have it I'm back, I'll blog more now, hope you are all well and will see you all soon!!

I'm off!

Just a quick post to say I really will be missing in action for over a week.

First up, mum has her operation this week so we leave on Monday and drive home after her op on Wednesday. Then Thursday morning, I get in the van and drive to one of my favourite events of the year The Rhythm Riot.

It was all a bit scary this morning when we heard that the company that runs the site where it is held had gone into administration, but it turns out that things will operate as normal PHEW for all the people going to the Rhythm Riot, that would have been a disaster as both the bands and the customers travel from all over the world to get there!

So although I work 15 hour days there and don't get any chance for fun, I am looking forward to catching up with lots of old friends, I'll be meeting some people I've never met before but know really well online, which is weird! If you are going and we know each other online but not in person please tell me, I'm rubbish at recognising people from photos, I have the memory of a goldfish and I'll be tired, so shake me really hard by the shoulders and shout your name at me.... only kidding but please say hi. We have our stall at the back of the main hall in between the record stalls, this is great as we get to see ALL the bands from a great vantage point as we're up some steps, BUT it means we're open from 11am to 2pm yep people that long!!

I would promise you pictures and video but this is one event I know it won't happen at, I'm just working too hard, sorry!

Oh wow I have no pretty pictures for this post, boring huh?! Sorry! See you on the other side......

Vintage Regrets!

I know I've blogged about this before but this is slightly different as it's not about clothes I've parted with but clothes I can't even get my big toe in right now!

I'm overweight, it's true, I've always struggled to a degree with my weight all my life, in fact I was always known as voluptuous, curvy or whatever. So it was almost inevitable that when life slowed down a bit, I wasn't dancing as much, I wasn't out and about as I used to be that I would gain weight. I have to try SUPER hard to keep my weight under any type of control whatsoever. Though of course it IS within my control and so clearly I haven't been trying as hard as I could, in fact, drowning my sorrows in a wine bottle has certainly not helped!!!

ANYWAY, the one thing that does keep me focussed on trying to get control of my weight is that I do own some lovely clothes and I would love to get back into them. I did lose weight on Weightwatchers a few years ago and started wearing them again, but went through a super stressed time & sadly but it on and more, uuurgh. I keep these clothes because if I got rid of them all I would never try again!

So here are a couple of dresses I would LOVE to get back into. I think the first one is fantasy territory for me now, in fact I don't remember ever having that size waist!!

And here's a close up

Yeah fabulous huh? And no it's not even vintage! It was custom made for me for stagewear, it is STUNNING! And ok shoe ladies I didn't take a photo but I will at some point I have a pair of matching satin springolators with a rhinestone heel, oh yes you heard!! Loads of the rhinestones are missing and I need to replace them before they can be seen in public again!

I was going to sell it and took it to the doomed Twinwood, but people who had seen me onstage in it howled with horror at the thought of me selling it, with cries of 'but i have pictures of you in this & do you still have the shoes' so yes you can imagine the impression it made. But I honestly could fit my arm in it right now and that's it, the other problem though is there are not many people out there with a 26 inch waist and a 34G bust so not sure who it would fit anyway!!

Second up is this lovely thing, now I'm not sure it photographs well but take a look at the neckline close up, it is stunning!

So pretty!! I wanna wear it again.

I have many dresses I can't get into and just can't part with, am I kidding myself? Or will I do it in the new year? I'm not going to kid myself and start keeping an eye on my weight now, I could, but I know with the next few weeks I have and then with Christmas coming, the reality will be far from that!

New Year here I come and hopefully I'll be posting pictures of me in cute dresses next year!

Oh and by the way, sorry about absence, you know the situation, I'm working hard to catch up with everything so that it all goes smooth up with Mum and then at the Rhythm Riot next week.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Hello all, just wanted you to know that everything is ok! I'm ok, I'm all sorted about my mum and all that. Of course it still worries me and I am about to have the busiest month but I've got it all sorted in my head! Thank you all for all your lovely comments, it's so nice to have met such lovely people online, it warms the heart!

Anyway this past weekend was my birthday, it wasn't a particularly special one - I was 44 - and we're a bit broke so we decided on cocktails in the house, movies and something nice for dinner.

I had a lovely day, in fact I had a lovely weekend, we drank cocktails, we giggled a lot once we'd consumed cocktails, my lovely husband fell asleep late afternoon as I made strong cocktails a little early but he wasn't asleep long ;o)

Here's a couple of pics! The absolutely divine Cointreauteese cocktail, mmmmm

And this is a quick pic I took before I started, I didn't take one after I'd finished....!! Sorry a bit bad really I didn't get the glass in very well, I'm not used to taking pictures of myself!

Apart from having a nice birthday weekend, I also had a couple of other nice things happen this weekend, so I'm hoping that my luck might finally be turning round YAY! I'm the eternal optimist!!

I'll try to post as much as I can over the next month but I'll apologise now for patchy service.

Sorry for radio silence

It's been a funny old week I'm afraid to say.

I know I normally want to post pretty pics and talk about nice stuff but sometimes that's not what life is like!

I said I needed to find some work to help out financially, well I got 3 weeks worth and it was ok money and I was due to start Monday, sadly on Monday afternoon, they told me they didn't want me anymore. It was a bit disappointing cos not only did I need the money but I'd also worked my ass of all the hours god sent the week leading up to it, so that I could cope with running Notorious Kitsch and working for 3 weeks, hence no blog post, I was working ALL the hours!

Then today mum was told she has to have a tumour removed in November, they're not sure if it's cancerous or not, and it coincides with me taking Notorious Kitsch to the Rhythm Riot!! Now obviously Mum comes first, but as you know when you work for yourself, if you don't do it no one else can. So now I have a dilemma and I have to work out how to go all the way up to Mums for her op but then leave to do the Rhythm Riot. Did I mention I'm an only child so there is no one else to be with her apart from her friends.

So as you can imagine, blog posting isn't high on my agenda right now, sorry people!!

I'll be back soon!

A post about being idle!

Doesn't sound very interesting does it?

Well today I went upstairs to try to sort out my new sewing area, it needs a lot of re-organisation and shelves and boxes etc etc, is there a point to this, oh yes!

I was sorting through my patterns and trying to find one of the boxes that contained a lot of patterns when my eyes landed on an article I'd ripped from a magazine - my own I hasten to add! It was about idleness.

Here's a picture of a Vargas girl, idling and also wearing some drop dead gorgeous shoes!

Now, dear reader, idleness is something I appear to have lost the ability to do as I get older. I don't know if it's because I run my own business and so I think I have to be busy all the time, it might be as my lack of ability to relax does seem to have coincided with the onset of the recession!

However I ripped this article out for a reason, when I read it I thought, the man is right, we should all be idle at times. It was written by Tom Hodgkinson and you can read it online here.

I know my creative process and imaginative ideas grind to a halt if I don't relax, and I so rarely relax, if I'm honest the only time I relax is when I've had a couple of drinks,  not good huh?

So this weekend I have tried to be idle at times, I haven't succeeded fully, how ironic that I am writing a blog post about being idle ha ha ha! So even when I think about being idle I do things, however I have succeeded to a  degree this weekend.

I bought a couple of magazines to read, something I never do, I'm really not keen on women's magazines they're full of gossip, celebrities and general rubbish in my opinion, but I bought Vanity Fair, always good articles, and Psychologies as I'm always interested in reading about psychology.  I sat down this morning, turned all music and external noise off that was within my power and read. It felt good.

Why am I writing about this to you all? Well I suspect I'm not the only one who never finds time to just be, and so I thought this article might prompt you to take some time out. I particularly like his idea of having a special day to do nothing but stay home, eat chocolate and drink wine!! I don't have any chocolate in the house, but I am home and I do have wine, I may idle the rest of Sunday away!

Hendricks Gin Brunch!!

Well after days of being laid up feeling like death warmed up, I finally started feeling a little better on Tuesday, although if I'm honest now probably not as well as I should have been before embarking on Wednesday!

On Wednesday I was invited along to a brunch hosted by Hendricks Gin, along with lots of other wonderful ladies from the vintage website and blogging world! Sounds good, oh yes people I was there.

Sadly my camera broke the other night so I've had to steal pictures from several lovely ladies, namely Gemma from Retrochick, Natasha from Natasha BailieVintage and the very lovely Margaret from Pennydreadful. So the pictures are particularly good as I didn't take them!!

This is me, Katie from What Katie Did and Gemma from Retrochick, as the morning started, so we're all still sober!

It was an early start for gin, but hey I'm never put off having a gin cocktail just because my watch tells me it's 10.45am!! We started off with a Red Snapper, and the day slowly descended into Gin drinking debauchery, oh ok, we just talked a lot and perhaps too loud towards the end!

This was a great event as I not only got to catch up with some friends but met some new ones too, as I said in my previous post about meeting all sorts of vintage types from all walks of life, this was a great opportunity to do so!

Anyway first up, I love how Hendricks represent themselves, actually I love the gin too which is weird as I have NEVER been a gin drinker. It was Fleur mentioning it that first made me think, you know what I'm going to try that, I loved it, damn her! But I also love how Hendricks go about things, check out Hendrick's Horseless Carriage of Curiosities, how cool is that?!

Here's Gemma from Retrochick, Naomi from Vintage Secret, Me and Margaret from Pennydreadful.

Probably the best car boot in the world, who wouldn't love this ready made cocktail bar in your boot?

The lovely Fleur from Diary of a Vintage Girl and Katie.

And me with one of my favourite ladies, Natasha from Natasha Bailie Vintage!

And last but certainly not least the lovely chap who spent the day mixing cocktails for us ladies!

It was a really nice day and I felt very lucky to be invited, thanks Hendricks! It's not often you can spend the day drinking cocktails chatting with friends old and new and I'm happy to have had the opportunity to do so!

Vintage types & the internet!

This post was prompted by http://atomic-living.blogspot.com/2010/09/todays-future-yesterday.html where he got to wondering what life would be like without social networking or the internet.

I personally love technology and the internet. I'm a gadget lover, if I had money I'd probably have every gadget going, yet I love 1950s clothes, furniture and homewares, so where does it sit?

I know there are many different vintage types, this is something I've learnt far more so through the internet, I'm afraid I'm originally from quite a closeted scene which was all about 40s/50s music, clothes and everything else, I sat I'm afraid like it's a bad thing it isn't but it does make you think you're the only ones doing what you're doing! The internet has really opened my eyes and I'm thankful for it. There are people who know far more than anyone I know about different areas of 'vintage'. At first I was confused that people just liked the clothes but listened to modern music along with everyone else, then that some love the homewares but everything else about them looks 'normal' - this is not an insult may I add I just don't know how much better to describe it!

So for me the internet has been fabulous, I've met lots of people I wouldn't otherwise have 'met', I've discovered there are lots of people out there just as passionate about this stuff that are nothing to do with 'the scene' which I love!

However on the negative side I feel invaded by some of the social networking sites and recently I've been reassessing what is right for me. I guess this has nothing to do with the vintage network as such but I was wondering what you use?

Currently I love blogs the most, I get to read interesting stuff about interesting people, or just look at pretty things. I used twitter and have met some lovely people on there too, but Facebook, grrrrr! I don't know what it is about facebook, I feel like I'm missing out on contacting lots of lovely people by not being on there more but I find it sooooo invasive, you have little control over what pictures put up of you, I'm not a fan of all that gift giving, in fact I would quit if it wasn't an easy way to keep in touch with people.

Through blogs and twitter I've actually made friends, I met Fleur from Diary of a Vintage Girl on Twitter originally, along with Gemma from Retrochick and many others, I met Jenny from Yesterday Girl via blogging and I've made lovely friends who I haven't met who are too numerous to mention!

I know I must have bumped into other US bloggers at VLV cos we've both been there at the same time and some of them at the Rockabilly Rave and the Rhythm Riot and some of us appear to have mutual friends ha ha, so the internet has introduced me to like minded types!

So what do you currently use without it taking too much time? I'm blogs & twitter. Again would be interested to know your thoughts!!

Weird vintage obsessions

Come on then admit it what is yours? I have one, it's weird I know, oh dear I don't know whether I should admit it.... Ok here goes I love slippers!

I've always loved slippers, I used to collect vintage ones but got rid of most of them in the past couple of years, some didn't even fit.

Why do I love slippers? I don't know, maybe with vintage ones it's the glam aspect of lounging in that era, there really are some beautiful ones. I've never had a pair of these but I still want some of these one day.

Yep black, pink, red or even green would do thank you very much!

I think these are cute too.

My husband looked at me liked I'd finally lost it when I showed him the green ones, but I think they're fabulous he he!

Look how glamourous these adverts are from Daniel Green, can you see where I'm coming from now?

I love those red & black ones at the top of the first ad, soooo glamourous.

I was going to show you pics of my vintage slippers, I think I only have 2 left from my 'collection' but sadly my husband dropped our camera tonight and it broke eeeek! I wasn't a happy bunny, it's my work camera too, so I'm off to the specialist camera shop tomorrow to see if it can possibly be fixed.

So come on people, we've all got a weird vintage obsession that can't really be explained, what's yours?

Sewing & why don't I do it more often?!!

Yes you can tell I have a lot of time on my hands right now, still on sofa, still in PJs as I said nothing serious just a cold, but it means I have time for thinking and writing which is rare!!!

Anyway I got to thinking about sewing, I love sewing, I love having new things to wear - I can't buy much at the moment, we're pretty broke - I have lots of vintage patterns and vintage material sitting there waiting to be made up, so why don't I sew more often?

I know part of it is time, I so often have projects I start and don't finish as I run out of time. I know the best times I've had sewing are when I've had a holiday weekend totally free and have sewed all weekend, however of course those weekends don't come around very often.

I planned a weekend of sewing this weekend but of course as I'm not well I know I will make stupid mistakes, and just don't have the energy anyway.

Recently though I set up a sewing area in my office, I have a table to sew on, all my material is in there, it needs a bit of organisation but I'm hoping this will encourage me to get on with it. Once it's organised I'll take some pics, but don't hold your breathe!

A few months ago I got very organised and scanned all my patterns and saved them on my computer in categories, oh yeah actual categories!! I have plenty of patterns too, but never enough!

So in the next few months I'm hoping that I'm going to get going on my sewing.

I've been wanting to make this blouse up for ages, it's very much my style as it has a sweetheart neckline, always good for people with a large bust!

There are so many options with this blouse aren't there?

Then I would really like to get some skirts made up, I wear trousers far too often, I particularly like this pattern with the detail on the pockets of the middle option

Of course I'd also quite like to make up a dress, although I don't wear dresses very often as I don't go out as much as I'd used to but still a gal has to have a dressy option as well and I refuse to pay the price most people are asking for 50s cocktail type dresses nowadays! I have a beautiful organza with matching lining, it's just deciding quite what to make out of it! I want to make an illusion style cocktail dress, I tried in vain to find a photo of exactly what I meant but just couldn't so it's kinda like the dress below but instead of lace, imagine see through organza, does that make sense or is my cold addled brain far from the mark?

However finding a pattern with an illusion neckline is hard, I'm still looking, but I think I might just have to make it up myself, which - may I add before you think I'm some master seamstress - is not as hard as it sounds!!

Are you a proscrastinator when it comes to sewing? Or do you buy pattern & material and get on with it? If you do, advise please!!

I confess, I LOVE bracelets!

Yes I'm still on my sick bed so suddenly 2 blog posts one after another, if I'm still on my sick bed tomorrow, you might get another!!

Anyway onto the subject in hand, I LOVE bracelets, when it comes to jewellery, if I had a choice bracelets would win every time. When I look for sets I would rather have a bracelet with earrings than a necklace with earrings, of course ideally I'd have a necklace, earrings and bracelet but hey I can't usually afford such luxuries!

I have a lot of bracelets, some are standard wear everyday types, some are really flashy sparkly special occasion ones, I have vintage and repro ones.

So I thought I would share just a tiny selection with you.

First up is one of my favourites, although for some reason it's glory just is not coming over on camera! When it's on and you're all dressed up it is one of the most glamourous pieces of jewellery I own I think,  so why doesn't it look so glam on camera?!!

She's a beauty, really truly I feel special when I wear this!

Next up is another of my favourites, I used to wear this a lot on stage when I was a singer. In fact I used to wear turquoise a lot when I was younger, must get back to it, it's really one of my colours! I do have a lovely necklace and earrings that look great with this although not matching as a set, they match colourwise.

Another of my loves is thermoset jewellery, I know so many people love bakelite, but I love thermoset, I know I'm cheap. Don't get me wrong I love bakelite but I've never really been able to justify bakelite prices to myself, I know you can find cheaper options, but I like what I like and inevitably I like the expensive stuff, not because it's expensive but it seems to be what appeals to me. Anyway I digress - this cold is making me ramble!! - I love thermoset. I've got quite a few thermoset pieces, I lost a thermoset bracelet recently and was so upset as it was part of a set :o(

Anyway this one is also part of a set, of course it's a bracelet & earrings set. I especially like jewellery that has a story behind it in my mind, this one is special to me because I bought it - along with the bracelet I lost - in an antique store in Las Vegas when I was at VLV with some friends, I remember exactly the day, what we did, where we bought it etc etc!

My next bracelet has a story behind it but a much sadder one, it was given to me for my birthday years ago by a lovely family, the two 'boys' gave me it and sadly not much later one of those lovely young men died at the incredibly young age of 17.  I would never part with it for that reason alone, however it's still one of my favourite bracelets, especially at this time of year, isn't it a beauty!

Then last but not least is a bracelet that wasn't actually mine, in fact it's really not my style at all and I would probably never wear it but I would never part with it. It was given to my mum on her 13th birthday by her favourite Auntie. Judging by my calculations this would have been 1949, but from what mum has said it was her Aunties first so it wasn't new then. I have no idea how to date this as it's not something I would wear but it is stunning. I did see one go for a lot of money last year on ebay but it had lost all colouring whereas this one still retains it's colouring, however of course this is immaterial as I'm not parting with it!

As you can see it's stunning because it is carved all around very intricately. I also don't know what it's made of but it looks like an early type of plastic to me.

So what is your favourite style of jewellery? Are you a bracelet, earring, necklace or ring type of gal?

What exactly did women used to carry in their handbags?!!

I'm sickly today, it's nearly midday and I'm still in PJs on the sofa, surfing the internet and I think I'm off for a sleep soon, it's just a cold but why does that make you feel like death warmed up?

ANYWAY I told you this as the above question came to me as I was laying in bed this morning, trying to psych myself up to getting up, even if it was just to put PJs on to lay on the sofa!

I was looking at my lovely vintage handbags in my bedroom thinking what a shame it is that I don't use them often and that I really should use them more often

This one is one of my favourites it's a great shape and it's a Marks and Spencer one!

It's such a lovely shape isn't it? But what the heck can you get in it?

This is the dilemma of the modern woman who loves vintage, I'm not like some who carry the kitchen sink but I do carry keys which include a card size key for my car, Blackberry, a purse/wallet which I can't avoid as not only do you need cash in this day and age, I have credit cards, store loyalty cards, my drivers license is a card along with my organ donation credentials, make up but again don't carry more than I need so my make up back isn't big, a powder compact, and essentials like a pen! I think I'm pretty good but there is no way I would get all that in this cutie! Then of course if I'm going somewhere important I like to take a camera too, so forget it!

I have a couple more that I rarely use :o( I love the colour of this bag and would love to use it more, it's a solid nice shape and a nice colour but holds so little!

Now this next one I have used more and you can tell it's a little bashed but I used to have a couple of lovely green suits so I used this with those, but really as an evening bag, still not sure I could use it during the day

I also used this next one a lot but again as an evening bag, it's also a little 'worn' and sadly has one brass nobble missing - ok I'm sick I can't think of the name ha ha!

Now last but certainly not least is a bag that I CAN use in these modern times, I love it! It's stylish and big!!

So what do you think women used to carry? I imagine the following, their door key, cash, powder compact and lipstick! Ah life was much simpler wasn't it eh?!!