Mid Week Love

I'm trying to do a mid week love post every week as the internet is just full of fabulous stuff and although I always try to share via Twitter or FB sometimes it gets lost in the mix.

This week's Mid Week Love is reserved for only one person, LisaFreemontStreet. I confess to being pretty late in the game to her online tutorials and haven't seen too many more than the one below but this is so good I had to share it.

Many of you won't know yet but I know some of you do, as you get a little older your eyelids droop a little or you start to get lines around the eyes, this is a real problem if you have always worn 50s style liquid eyeliner! I noticed about a year ago - despite being pretty lucky in the lines department - that every time I started to do my eyeliner it just didn't come out right. At first I just could not work it out, there is a degree of denial at this point and you think you're just going through a phase ;o)

Anyway I actually happened upon this tutorial and I thought how great, Winged Eyeliner and False Lashes for Maturing Eyes, that's me I thought.





I have tried this technique and as you can imagine it works, it's very strange especially if you have been doing this for years and it used to be just a quick swish swish and you were done but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I confess I also tried false eyelashes too for the first time a couple of weeks ago, I love them!

I hope this helps some of you out there, and if you're not there yet, have a peek, remember the technique, you'll need it one day!!

A couple of great bargain buys!

Those of you who read this blog will know that I'm always on the look out for a bargain when it comes to my vintage buying. I don't have much cash to spare but that doesn't mean I can't buy nice things!

First up is my smaller of the two bargains, but nonetheless just gorgeous. I saw this bag on ebay and it was describe as 50's 60's shabby chic kooky handbag, well I sure am glad that was it's description cos I scored it for £1.04, oh yes this lovely yellow 50s bag. Isn't it a great shape? It's also perfect inside, it was a little grubby outside but I gave it a clean and now it's perfect on the outside!

But my real great bargain find last week was a sideboard - do you call them a credenza in the US? I've been looking for one as I'm only just starting to get my dining room back after it's been the storeroom for the business for years. The room needs stripping down, repapering and painting BUT it is finally a functional if rather unfinished dining room and is now complete with a fabulous new sideboard for the amazing price of £5.50, yes you heard me £5.50!!

Here it is!

As you can see from the first picture it now contains 2 whole dinner services, plus a few extras, it's really roomy and had empty a whole cupboard up in the kitchen. I've also got more access to my dinner services, I rarely use them as it used to entail emptying cabinets to get to them and I couldn't be bothered, but now...

I decided to put my lovely Oriental lamp on it, she hasn't had a permanent home for a while, so I'm glad she now had pride of place here.

We finally have got a permanent place for our beautiful lazy susan too.

And a place for our insulated coffee pot which we use every morning.

And last but not least our diner table finally has a proper space to fit in.

The decor will be up to scratch soon and I'll be sure to post when I'm done.

Some great bargains buys eh?

Book Launch at the Ric Rac Club

I know I'm behind the times a little with my posts and apologies for this. I went to the book launch of Naomi Thompson's Style Me Vintage: Clothes last weekend - not the one just gone!

But I spent all my time chatting and didn't even get my camera out so I had to wait until a couple of other bloggers got their photos up and asked if I could steal them, too much chat not enough picture taking.

We got ready for the night out at Shona's house, it was fun and the first picture is from Shona's In the Heyday  Blog, and also include myself and Charlotte from Tuppence Ha'penny. We did a silly Charlies Angels shot!

The party was fun. It's not the sort of thing I've been to a lot and although I'm a very sociable type I was slightly worried that it would be more networking than chat, my fears were unfounded!! I had so much fun meeting lots of people I'd only ever met online previously.

There were some very stylishy dressed people there with all decades represented! Naomi seemed to have fun but looked rather dazed and overwhelmed, I'm not surprised, a successful book in print and lots of friends to help her celebrate her success, it was rather overwhelming!!

The following photos are all courtesy of Charlotte from Tuppence Ha'penny, thanks Charlotte!!

This is one of my favourite pictures, these girls are all lovely, but when asked to pull a bitch face they do it to perfection, love it ha ha!

It had all got a bit much for Paul at this point but I was still standing!

Another of my favourites! I do love it when people are dressed up beautifully but pull faces! The lady on the left is from Naomi's publisher but in the middle is Gemma from Retrochick and the very fabulous Margaret from Penny Dreadful Vintage pulling her best gurning face he he!

It was a great great night and I hope to meet up with all these lovely ladies again soon!

A right old spectacle!

Well at the grand age of 45 it's finally come to me that I need reading glasses. I did get some standard ones last time I was at the optician, he basically said, you don't quite need them yet, but you will before you come and see me next time, so he gave me a prescription. The other day I got a splinter in my hand and I just couldn't get it out, so I thought, mmmm perhaps I'll try with those glasses I was given, wow the difference!

So I am now using them for reading and the computer as I remember, but right now I'm not wearing them eeek!

Anyway of course I really don't want standard Specsavers glasses, I didn't mind when I didn't have to wear them but now I do I'd like nice vintage ones. So I got on Etsy and Ebay for a look., however all the ones I liked were on Etsy!

I know I'm a 50s chick but I really don't suit true cats eye shape, they look crazy on me as I have quite a small face, I do like a bit of bling though!! However they are all rather pricey for my budget but I'll carry on looking you know me I always find a bargain.

I do love these though.

Gold Tinsel Glasses 1950s from THAYEREyewear on Etsy

1950's Black Lucite Spectacles from Veramode on Etsy

1950's Aluminium Glasses from Sorocco on Etsy

Chartreuse Green with Gold Confetti from ArtifactVintage on Etsy

As I said all rather pricey so I'll keep looking!

Also I would really like to thank you for such a great response to my hair setting invention, I hope it works for you as well as it worked for me!

My Hair Setting invention!

I've been setting my hair for many years now but one thing I've never been able to do is sleep in curlers. I have very thick hair and need a lot of curlers so it is just too darned uncomfortable for me to sleep in them, they just stick in my head and I don't get any sleep at all.

Of course I have options, I have heated rollers and if I want to set my hair without heated rollers I need to spend the day in curlers, however if I need my hair setting in the morning it would be really good if I could sleep in curlers. So what to do....

Well I was standing in the queue at Tesco the other day and I spotted some cheap sponge curlers 3 packs for £3, and I suddenly had a brainwave, so I'm sharing it with you!

These are the curlers.

I removed all the plastic bits and then cut up some fabric, and wound the piece of fabric round the middle plastic bit that originally went through the curler.

Then start to push the fabric through the curler.

All the way through until it looks like this

Eventually you'll end up with some looking like this

The advantage of them is that they are like curlers without the hard bit and have more substance that just using rags, which I have done in the past but again as I have thick hair it's harder to do, whereas with the curler it just makes it much easier.

Here are a couple of pictures of me with them in

I must confess I wasn't sure if they would work, I was perfectly comfortable in them and would have slept very soundly had my husband not snored like a walrus through the night!

So now the big reveal did they work? Well this is me having just removed them

And once brushed and styled, YES a success, I'll definitely be using them again, I don't need to set my hair every night I'm lucky that way but I now have a method that I can use overnight to sleep in. I'm pretty pleased with myself!

I'd love to know if anyone is interested in using this. It's really worked for me. Of course I set it dry as you can see, I've never been able to set my hair wet or even damp, it just doesn't dry, so dry set all the way for me.

Hollywood at Home

Hollywood at Home A Family Album 1950-1965 is another book that I've had forever and absolutely love.

This is a gorgeous book of apparently candid shots, but we all know that this type of thing is usually staged candid if you know what I mean! Despite this the photos are beautiful and you also get to have a nosy at a 50s Hollywood lifestyle and home, ah to live in that world.

Here's the cover of the book, how Stately Manor House do Bogey and Bacall look?

Here's a fabulous picture of them both outside their house, in their open top jag, ah that's the life eh?

I absolutely love this picture of Rock Hudson throwing a BBQ party, the photograph looks very staged, but hey that's old Hollywood. I love all the different styles of the women, I love his apron with 'A Wolf in Chef's Clothing' on it, just gorgeous!

This is a lovely shot of Glenn Ford and his dog, don't know why this one caught my eye but I think it's cute!

I do love this shot of Joe E Brown and his wife Kathryn taken in 1951

And last but not least this great over the fence chatting shot of Jimmy Durante and Rossano Brazzi.

It's a really great coffee table book. There are pictures of stars, parties, homes you name it, I guess it does what it says on the cover, definitely worth a look and lots more glamorous shots than I've put here I just prefer quirky sometimes!

Vintage Matching, do you?

I thought I'd tackle the issue of matching in clothes, shoes, jewellery and handbags. As a vintage gal who loves the 40s and 50s era matching is just natural for me. I'm not saying what is right or wrong, but for me, colours have got to be matching or complementary. Of course nowadays it's considered a faux pas to match your shoes and bag but I love it.

Only the other night, I went out with my lucite bag, which inside contained a matching powder compact and a matching comb, no one knew but I did and it gave me joy, perhaps weird but I love it!

Here is my bag and the picture after are the matching accessories, all bought separately of course. Perhaps one day I'll get some gorgeous shoes to match!

So I had a look online to see other matching items and I came up with a few.

This is just a gorgeous picture from Life!

These are just a beautiful pair of shoes with matching handbag.

And I've saved the best for last, oh my god if I could have this set, it actually makes my heart beat slightly quicker, the colour, the style *swoon*

So are you a matching type or do you hate it?

Vintage Obsessions!

Whether we know why or not we always have certain styles we particularly are drawn too. I know I have a few vintage obsessions, and so I thought I'd write about one of mine today. Linen dresses, usually straight with some type of embellishment at the neckline and if you are lucky elsewhere, usually sleeveless but not always.

I don't know why I am particularly drawn to these, I love them! I do own about 4, but don't have any close up photos of them sadly so I'll leave that for another day. So I thought I'd have a trawl on ebay and etsy to see if there are any that take my fancy at the moment, of course there are, none in my size or in my budget but it's nice to look anyway. Click on the desciption to go to the item in ebay or etsy!

The first is my favourite type of linen dress, nice neckline, good embellishment including on the skirt and a bit of sparkle! Shame it's not my colour, size or in my budget ha ha!

1950's Linen Dress from StutterinMama on Etsy

This is fairly similar to one of mine, they are so simple with their clean lines, so comfortable and look classy too!

1950s Linen Cocktail Dress from Red House Vintage on Ebay

This is a real stunner, you would feel so fabulous in this, ok you might not but I would!!

50s Lilli Diamond Wiggle dress on Etsy by Vintage Blue Moon

This obviously is not a dress but it's in the same style as the dresses and I do love it. One of my favourite colours too.

50s Aqua Embroidered Swing coat on ebay from MissBamboo52

Finally you can't see it very well but this is me posing in the Arizona desert, in the hideous heat, wearing one of mine!

And last but certainly not least I am loving these shoes on Etsy, they are super cheap, pale blue AND lurex but they could even be a squeeze for me, I'm so tempted but I don't have money to spend on things which don't fit, erm I don't have money to spend on things that do fit, but you know what I mean. They have been in the sale ages as they are tiny, should I, should I?!!

Rare Babydoll Lurex shoes on Etsy with Itchinfilth

So what are your vintage obsessions? I have many more I'll share with you but I thought I'd start with one of my favourites!

Life in Hollywood

This is a fabulous book that I've had for years. It's called Life in Hollywood, 1936 - 1952 Peter Stackpole.

Peter Stackpole was one of the four original 'Life' photographers. I don't know much about him but I think this statement alone kind of says it all!

This book pretty much does what it says on the tin, it is in fact Hollywood from 1936 - 1952 in pictures. It's absolutely fantastic, gorgeous pictures, unusual sometimes, intimate, ordinary, just as 'Life' was. Unfortuately the pictures have come out a little grainy, I scanned them but perhaps not at a good enough resolution, but they are still worth a look.

So if you get the opportunity to buy it, do you'll love it. I found it here on Amazon when I looked so I'm sure you'll find it in other places.

This is the gorgeous picture on the cover, it is Tennis Star Eleanor Cushingham using Raymond Loewy's Palms Springs solarium in 1947, I need to live this life and look like this!

I'm trying to think of other words apart from gorgeous, mmm, ok this is a beautiful shot of Starlets kicking their legs to stretch their backs at the Fox Drama School in 1937.

This lovely lady is a bored extra on the Paramount Set, I can relate to this as I did a lot of extra work when I was younger though I don't ever remember looking as glamorous as this whilst doing so!

This is really one of my favourites shots,well of the ones I've scanned now, there are so many favourites in this book. I love this dressing gown, her hair, the setting *sigh* it is Carole Landis by the way.

I love James Stewart and really think this picture of him after he returned from World War II on a visit to his hometown strolling down the street with his sister Mary, you've got to love James Stewart!

Then last but not least, for some reason I'm really drawn to this photo, it just labelled An Unknown Starlet, how intriguing!

I hope you enjoyed this little look at this book I'm going to have a look through my books and share some in the next few months, particularly ones I never really see mentioned anywhere else.

And finally and a totally unrelated plea! Word verification has just got waaaay more complicated, I removed mine ages ago and have had no problems with dodgy comments at all, it's certainly worth considering removing it if you have word verification on your blog as it's a right pain now. If you're reluctant just give it a go for a week and see if that works, honestly I've had no problems, but commenting on blogs yesterday just took forever. Thank you for listening to my plea ;o)