December 2014 – Vintage Frills

vintagefrills / December 31, 2014

Winter Florals

I sometimes find dressing in vintage and vintage style clothes a little harder in the winter. As a big fan of bright floral 50s style dresses, the summer is the perfect time of year for me. In the winter I don’t wear nearly as much in the way of dresses and often go for jeans and a pretty top instead. If like me you’re a floral fan then some of the dresses I’ve picked out today might be what you’ve been looking for. Teamed with seamed stockings and a warm cardigan all of these would look great in the colder weather for both day and night time looks.

Items that are currently on sale include the sale price in pink. Some of these are temporary discounts.

Posie and polka dot Belina dress – Lindy Bop – £34.99 – £27.99

Tulle winter floral swing dress – Collective – £195

Selina green and blue dress – Boden – £129 – £25.80

Winter bird tea dress – Love ur Look – £50 – £38

Green floral wiggle dress – Love ur Look – £40 – £30

Dreamy daisy print Audrey dress – Lindy Bop – £34.99 – £27.99

1950s style peony print swing dress– 20th Century Foxy – £120

Floral print midi dress – New Look – £48

Which is your favourite of the dresses above. I recently bought one of them so look out for an outfit post very soon.

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vintagefrills / December 30, 2014

December Birchbox Review

I’m a little late to the party with this month’s Birchbox review. It’s been a busy month and I spent 10 days of it with a horrible cold and then I spent a lovely few days relaxing with my family over Christmas. I have had time to try my lovely treats from this months box though.

For those not familiar with Birchbox it’s a monthly beauty subscription box and every month you get sent a selection of mostly high-end beauty products to try. The box costs £10 a month plus postage and the value of the connects is usually much higher. You can also earn points to spend in the Birchbox shop. I recently managed to get my points up to £40 and got some lovely new beauty bits.

Back to this month’s box. The theme was ‘Put on your party shoes’ and was a collaboration with footwear designer Sophia Webster. This was one of my favourite boxes yet and I will be using every single product included.

First up is a moisturiser. I have used the Eslor Firming Collagen Day Cream every day since the box arrived and I love it. Although there are usually a few skin care products included in each Birchbox it’s rare to get a moisturiser so i was delighted with this one. It has a lovely smooth formula and absorbs into the skin quickly. My skin has felt great while using this product and I have absolutely no complaints. The pot provided was a really good size and has lasted me really well. The full-sized product costs £50.

Next up is the Electric Hair Electric Hydrate Shampoo. This is a hydrating and repairing shampoo. I’ve only used this once so I’m not sure how good it would be long term. My hair did look and feel really nice after using it and the smell is absolutely gorgeous. For hair product enthusiasts this is definitely one to try, although for myself I prefer to use cheaper products. The full-sized shampoo costs £17.50

I’ve tried a few Eyeko products before and out of all of them the Fat Eye Stick in Smoke is my favourite so far. This chunky eye crayon has a lovely dark pigmentation and a smooth easy to apply formula. I’ve only tested it so far, but I’d really like to use it to create a smokey 1920s eye make-up look. I have said I’d like to do some more make-up posts on the blog so if I ever get round to it this could be one of them. These cost £8 each.

I’ve been a bit spoilt in the year I’ve been subscribed to Birchbox with how many Benefit products have been included. Benefit is one of my very favourite make-up brands so I’m always keen to try new things from them. Despite it being a Benefit classic I’ve never tried Highbeam before so I was really pleased to get this cute sample size in a little cracker. I love using highlighting products so this lovely little illuminator will get lot’s of use from me. The full-sized product costs £19.50.

If you’ve been reading this blog a while you may have seen that I have quite a big collection of Model’s Own nail polishes. I don’t however own any of their glitters so I was really pleased to get an Absinth glitter nail polish in the box. I haven’t worn it yet but I have tested it on a nail and the coverage and colour is fantastic. It also wasn’t too hard to get off as some glitters can be a real pain to remove. I really like this colour and would definitely like to buy this in some of the other colours. This normally costs £5.

The last beauty product in the box was the Trilogy Certified Organic Hosehip Oil. This is a skin oil for use on patches of dry skin. I was surprised that the product had no scent at all, but I really liked how moisturising it was. I love using natural organic products so I was very happy to try this one. It left my skin feeling amazing and I only needed to use a tiny drop so it would definitely last well. The full-sized product costs £25.

Lastly the bonus gift in this month box was a Sophia Webster coin purse. This is just a really cute useful thing to own, I’m going to pop my lipstick and some spare hairgrips in there and keep it in my handbag.

What did you think of this months products?

Try it yourself…

If you’d like to sign up for Birchbox yourself I have a refer a friend link which will give you 50 points (£5) to spend in the Birchbox shop when you sign up. You can find out more or sign up for Birchbox here.

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vintagefrills / December 30, 2014

Green and Pleasant

My very favourite colour would have to be green. It reminds me of the great outdoors, it’s classically British and it suits all most anyone. Sadly it’s not as easy to find beautiful green dresses as some other colours. So I went on a little hunt for really green dresses, bold, bright and beautiful. I love these bright grass green dresses which would be perfect for all seasons.

Green and White Polka Dot Jezebel Dress – £89 – Vivien of Holloway

1950s Style Halterneck Circle Dress – £120 – 20th Century Foxy

1940s Style Green Shirt Dress – £99 – 20th Century Foxy

1950s Style Halterneck Myrtle Dress – £29.99 – Lindy Bop

1950s Style Lucille Party Dress – £34.99 – Lindy Bop

1950s Style Joan Wiggle Dress – £100 – Atypical Girl

1950s Inspired Lana Evening Dress – £29.99 – Lindy Bop

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vintagefrills / December 23, 2014

Festive Wrapping Masterclass with HBO

A couple of weeks ago Fay and I went to a gift wrapping workshop with a difference. Arona Khan a world renowned gift wrapping expert would be showing up different gift wrapping techniques based on HBO boxsets! I absolutely loved seeing all her methods for wrapping the perfect gift as well as the quirky ways she interpreted each boxset.

I’ve just been sent over some videos that were filmed with Arona on the day so if you’ve picked up a loved one a Game of Thrones boxset this year and have some faux fur handy then this is definitely the one for you…

I really love the idea of making the wrapping match the present and would love to receive a gift with such cool wrapping, plus I would be reusing that faux fur for something creative! If your loved one is more of a True Detective fan then here’s the perfect gift wrapping idea for you…

We were also shown this gift wrap for the series Girls which even included a condom as a witty reference to the series and some rather gorgeous New York themed wrapping paper. Arona showed up how this technique could be adapted with other trims to work with other gifts too.

If you haven’t already wrapped your Christmas gifts why not get creative and try something new. Here are a few more wrapping tips from Arona…

As for my own presents, I haven’t actually wrapped them yet but I’m hoping to do it this evening and will definitely be trying some of Arona’s techniques.

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vintagefrills / December 20, 2014

What I Bought at the Mid Century Market

Last weekend Rob and I headed to Camden for my favourite vintage shopping event The Mid Century Market. The Market is run by the lovely Bethan whose boutique PR and Events company Bettina Scarlet Presents specialises in 1950s and vintage themed events. This event was in a new venue – Cecil Sharpe House, which really was the perfect backdrop for all the gorgeous vintage on sale.

I am always so impressed with the high standard of stalls at the market as well as the wonderful atmosphere and the wealth of beautiful 1950s clothing and accessories. Here are some pictures I took at the event. I was on a mission to find new accessories so for some reason that’s all I took pictures of! There were plenty of beautiful clothes there too though!

Hats and Hair Flowers from Razzle Dazzle Vintage.

Gorgeous fifties handbags.

More pretty handbags.

A vintage style winter turban from Rosie Alia Designs and some pretty Christmas hair flowers.

Pretty hair flowers from Rosie Alia Designs.

Gorgeous shoes from Miss L Fire. I’m literally kicking myself for not buying a pair.

Usually when I go to vintage fairs I only find one or two pieces that I really love, that fit and are within my budget. At the Mid Century Market it’s always much harder to choose. Because Bethan is so strict about keeping all the stock within the 1940s-1960s or in the style of the mid-century era, there aren’t a lot of the later pieces you would normally see at vintage fairs. There really is so much choice for 1950s lovers that I found it really hard to choose what was coming home with me!

I’m trying to get out of my vintage comfort zone and buying sewing circle dresses and more separates, fitted dresses and accessories to broaden my wardrobe a little. After looking around for ages and having some tea and cake in the tea room here’s what I chose…

First up was hair flowers. I always find something I like from Rosie Alia who has a fantastic Etsy store and has sold at every Mid Century Market so far. My first choice was this gorgeous Autumnal hair flower.

I also had to get something a bit more wintery, so i got this gorgeous hair flower to wear in my hair on Christmas day.

I’m really into big statement clip-on earrings at the moment so I was on the lookout for a few more. This deadstock pair are a perfect match for a vintage brooch I’ve had for ages so I got them. I think they cost about £8. (I can’t remember the name of the stall I got these from but if it was your stall let me know and I’ll add your link)

I also got these simple green clip-ons to go with a green dress I have. These were from Hotties Vintage who always have an incredible array of vintage jewellery and accessories.

Now I had said I wasn’t going to buy any more dresses…

But then I tried this beauty on and it fit my perfectly. It’s also a more fitted style than I usually buy, so it’s totally allowed! I think it’s probably early 60s and it reminds me of the kind of dresses Joan from Madman wears.

This is a detail of the neckline. The dress is absolutely gorgeous on and I can’t wait to get some outfit pics to share with you. The dress cost £55, although the lovely couple running the stall let me have it for £50. It’s in perfect condition and is beautifully made. I bought this from Razzle Dazzle Vintage.