There was a little girl, who had a little curl…

I’ve been meaning to write this blog for a while, about how to make linseed setting jelly, as it is an absolute godsend for my hair!

 

My hair is naturally curly, and when I first started dressing more in vintage style, I didn’t do much with my hair day-to-day. As I got more interested in all aspects of vintage fashion, I wanted to do things more authentically.  I found that natural waves are not always ideal for vintage styles, especially the brushed out hairstyles that I love, and I feel that having my hair more authentic makes a big difference to the vintage look.

When I first started wet-setting my hair, particularly after getting my hair cut by David of the fabulous House of Drewvid for the first time, I tried a few different setting lotions, all of which worked quite well, but they left my hair feeling dry and crunchy. My hair is bleached regularly, to get the pink or peach tones I like, but this means I have to really try to take care to look after it, and was worried about damaging it with setting.

I started to look for gentler alternatives, and found a few different people online mentioning using linseeds, so I thought I’d give it a try. After using it just once, my hair was lovely and soft, and I had lots of curls perfect for vintage hair!

So, this is how I make my setting gel…

I start with a tablespoon of Linseeds in a small saucepan. I buy mine from my local Holland and Barrett, but I’m pretty sure they are much the same from any health food store.

Then I add a cupful of hot water from the kettle. I measure using a large teacup, but a small mug should be fine.

I boil the ingredients together and simmer for 15 minutes. The mixture thickens up and starts to become jelly-like it darkens to a tea like colour. It’s definitely not the most appetising looking , but it’s worth it, I promise!

After 15 minutes, I strain the mixture through a sieve while it’s still hot, and pour it into the jar I’m planning to use. I have been reusing my Neal’s Yard Organics jars, as the glass copes well with the heat and can be rinsed with boiling water to make them more sterile.

To make the mixture smell lovely, I add about 6-8 drops of essential oil to the jar before I fill it, then put the lid on and give it a good shake to mix it in. I do all this while the mixture is still quite hot, as it thickens when it cools, so if you decide to give it a try, please be careful! The essential oil makes my hair smell lovely once it’s set!

And that’s it! Once it’s cooled, I keep it in the fridge and can last for me up to a few weeks this way. I usually discard it if it seems to have lost its elasticity, and the scent changes slightly when it’s on its way out.

I set my hair using pillow rollers, adding a little of the mixture to each section and brushing it through before rolling them up. Looks glam doesn’t it! 

 

After a good night’s sleep, I can brush out my lovely soft curls using House of Drewvid Marcel spray, Lustre spray and sometimes a bit of their shine pomade (which has sadly been disontinued) to smooth any curls. Their products are absolutely brilliant and the Lustre spray smells lovely!  I also sometimes use Vitapointe leave in conditioner to give my hair a bit of extra TLC whilst brushing out, on David’s recommendation.

The result I get is really good I think, and although it doesn’t always last as long as setting lotion, I’m happy to set my hair every few days, to avoid the crunch! 

A new start…

Hi there. I’ve not been writing for a while, I’m afraid my get up and go, got up and left…

Things have been a bit tricky over the last few months, with two very special members of my family passing away, one very unexpectedly and suddenly.

Sadness robbed me of my motivation and inspiration, but today I was listening to music, which brought me some lovely memories.

One of my favourites of my Nan is her singing along to Erin singing ‘Everything Stops for Tea’ in my blog, and that got me to thinking about how much I loved writing.

I remembered how fiercely my lovely aunt supported me and resolved to try again.

So, I thought that since songs were the things that got me back on track, perhaps I could share some of my playlist… Xxx

To, to start off, a bit of an obvious one for me! It was well known for being in the musical Pal Joey, and when Ella Fitzgerald recorded her version, she gave it a new, more human, spin, as previous versions had been in a slightly operatic style. Some of the lyrics are bit cheeky, but it’s a fab song.

One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer is my next choice to listen to. It’s got the same chilled out sound that I like, and I used to dance to it in class, so it holds good memories. I tore a tendon in my foot last year, so I’m still trying to talk myself into going back! In the meantime, I can listen to the song…

Because I’m a sentimental soul, another song that I love is Little Things Mean a Lot by Kitty Kallen. I came across this song when I was making my first website with my sister, who is one of my all time favourite people. We used to make little crafts and vintage style knick-knacks and this was the song that was on that page on our site. And they lyrics are so sweet!

I had a serious Doris Day obsession when I was a little girl. My Mum and I used to watch her films and so her voice has good memories for me. I rediscovered this song when it was in the soundtrack of ‘Strictly Ballroom’, one of the films that I watched on a loop when I was a teenager.

A list of my favourite songs wouldn’t be complete without Peggy Lee. Baubles, Bangles and Beads is a song that reminds me of the music in my tearoom. It’s not got the most feminist of lyrics, but I love her voice so much…

My next choice is a bit more uptempo. Straighten Up and Fly Right. I love the story to this song, which I think is based on a folk tale, and it never fails to make me smile, I love any version of this song, but you can’t beat Nat King Cole!

Another song that I love is from the film High Society. Basically any and all songs from this film make me stupidly happy, but one of my favourites was always the opening number, High Society Calypso. Louis Armstrong’s voice is so iconic, and full of charm, who could resist?

So, that’s my first blog post in a while, I’m off to watch High Society… again! And as Louis Armstrong says in the film, End of song… beginning of story!

Twinwood 2018

As you  might see from browsing my past posts, my family and I have been visiting Twinwood Music festival for the last few years, and it’s one of our favourite things!

This year, photos are a bit thin on the ground, as we were having far too much fun! Also, my daughter Erin was official photographer, but her photos are due to be used for her A-level coursework, so I can’t post them.

We did have a fab time, as always though, despite the weather, which was pretty dire, especially on the Sunday!

We still managed to get out between rain showers, however, and I did manage to pick up a new House of Foxy dress, and a Sarah’s do-wop-do’s turban, which are definitely at the top of my Twinwood wish list.

My mini obsession with hats continues, I bought 2 while we were away! One was the cute yellow one from the picture above, and another was a gorgeous white tulle confection, that I haven’t had a chance to wear yet.

As always, the highlight of our Twinwood evenings (and by that I mean early hours of the morning!) is the amazing Tom Carradine’s cockney sing-a-longs, which are made even better by Champagne Charlie and Dusty Limits joining in the fun!

The theme of Twinwood this year was definitely friends though! We met up with lots of people we knew, which was lovely, and we also made some new friends, which we are missing already!

Again, sorry for the lack of photos, but we are already planning next year’s trip to Twinwood, so, I promise lots more photos next time…

Pin up picnic

To continue my summer catch up, I thought I’d talk about another one of my favourites, the Pin Up Picnic in the Park.

It’s an event organised by the British Belles (@thebritishbelles) every summer. The weather last year was a bit soggy, so they set us up in a bar, which was lovely, but in the past they’ve always been set up in Hyde Park, and so this year they returned to their roots!

I was a bit nervous getting ready, because I was without my partner in crime – Erin had to work. I didn’t let it stop me though, and I just messaged my friend Anna to see if she if she was going to be there for some moral support.

I chose to wear my new Love ur Look dress, Vintage straw hat and trusty sun-jellies. I accessorised my hair with some Alternate Normality Hair Flowers and off I went to get the train – after asking my family if I looked OK about 20 times…

When I got to the meet up outside the station, I was lucky enough to see a few people I knew, especially gorgeous Michelle @ladyoram who was so welcoming, and we talked about our respective journeys until I got over my nerves.

She’s an amazing lady, I’ve only met her a few times, but she chatted away to me, introduced me to people, and basically acted like the star she is. There was another lady that I kept trying to build myself up to chatting to, because she looked a bit shy, like me, and Michelle completely scooped her up and included her in the conversation.

When everyone started to go towards Hyde park, we hung on for a few minutes to wait for her daughter Eva @missleighboudoir to arrive. While we were waiting, a few fabulous ladies stopped to say hello, including the very glam Lady Eccentrik, @ladyeccentrikb She made her own awesome outfit, which was based on a 1950’s gingham sun set she’d seen.

Photo by the amazing Jill. (Miss Ruby Roxwell) She stopped the police car to get them to pose with us, but there were so many of us, you can hardly see it!

Everyone not only looked like something out of a vintage issue of Vogue, they were also fun, friendly and down to earth. The conversation flowed, people wandered around visiting each other, and we all made a point of including anybody new. We invited Vicky @ms_vixen, who was new to the group, to join us, and we had some good chats.

As the afternoon went on, despite the heat and a few persistent wasps, I met up with a few of my favourite people, Anna, Ellen, Emmie Stef and Jill, and everyone got settled on the picnic blankets for the duration. I had a lovely talk with Eccentrik, I’d not really spoken to her at length before, and she was really friendly. She was videoing people during the day, but I skilfully avoided that, telling her I didn’t want to crack her camera lens!

Photo by @stephaniejay_uk

It was such a lovely day, our group actually ending up being the last ones at the park! A few of us went off to Trader Vic’s tiki bar to end the evening, before I made my way back home. Looking forward to the next British Belles event…

Photo – Trader Vic’s, we’re on the wall!

Thanks to Anna (@goldyloxxroxx), Stef (@stephaniejay_uk) and Ellen (@b_millinery) for the invite, Trader Vic’s was fab. Lovely to see you again @melodymae and @missteamoody and Emmie (@miss.dirtysideeye) you are all gorgeous and fabulous! Jill (Miss Ruby Roxwell) your idea for that group photo was epic! Xxx

Oh Sew Vintage

As you know from my previous post, Erin and I had a really rather fabulous time at The Chap Olympiad again this year.

To add to all the loveliness, I was feeling rather elegant in my vintage inspired gown made by Oh Sew Vintage. Quite a few people asked me if it was true vintage, which I was really pleased about! Erin was wearing a lovely dress too, a vintage one that we got from the Classic Car Boot Sale. We were a glam pair…

I’ve had a dress made by Oh Sew Vintage before, when I went to Comic-Con as Agent Carter.

Last time, she made me a perfect replica of Agent Carter’s Gold mission dress, just from a few photos, so I knew this dress was going to be a good one!

Emma asked me to send her some source photos, so I went searching on the internet. I really liked the idea of a long dress, so I searched for Garden party gowns.

I found this one in a google search, along with a few others, but I think this is closest to the final result. Emma then drafted her own pattern and design inspired by this.

I searched for a good while for a perfect fabric. I found lots of reproduction vintage fabrics, but they were a bit pricey, and there were lots of pretty fabrics in online shops, but they just weren’t what I was looking for. Finally, after I’d just about given up, I found the perfect fabric, light, flowy and covered in vintage bicycles, perfect for the Chap!

A short time later, Emma messaged me to come round to hers for a fitting, which I did, and she showed me the pretty tulip sleeves and measured the correct length for my shoes. She also let me choose from a selection of vintage buckles to add to the belt she was making.

So next thing I knew, there was a parcel containing a beautiful dress delivered!

I absolutely love it, and I’ve already worn it again, on my birthday, and I’m planning to take it to Twinwood with me. We’ve got another dress in the works, which fingers crossed might be ready in time to wear at the Colonial Club, so watch this space…

A Rainbow of Shoes!

I love Sunjellies! I first bought some jelly style shoes in the New Look sale a couple of years ago, and it started a bit of an obsession.

I think part of it is childhood nostalgia, because my Mum used to wear jellies when I was a little girl. Not the Sunjellies style, but more like sandals. Actually, JujuJellies make ones almost identical to my Mum’s ones, the style’s called Fergie.

I first bought real sunjellies after getting one of their Atomic totes as a subscription goody bag from Vintage Life Magazine at Twinwood.  I loved the bag so I looked up the website, and found a sale! I bought jellies in peach (to match my hair) and yellow (of course).

They are mega soft and comfy, colourful, and last ages, so what’s not to love!

I’ve since bought several other colours for myself and my littlest girl. We actually match now… We have pink, blue and yellow. I bought ours during a special offer sale, but even full price at £12 for adults, and £8 for children’s, they’re excellent value.

I’ve got my sister buying them too, and she and my tiny niece have matching red ones. They are super cute.

For me, its mostly about the colour and comfort, but vintage style-wise, the original design, which is pretty much unchanged, originated in 1946, so they’re authentic too.

I’ll definitely be wearing them at Twinwood this year. They’re perfect for walking around on the fields, and if they get dusty or muddy, they just rinse off.  I might have all the colours by then…

If You’d like to buy your own, you can find SunJellies here.  Or JujuJellies here.

Love Ur Look Dress

I have mentioned Love Ur Look dresses before, in my  ‘Petticoats and swishy skirts’ blog from last year. Strangely enough, even though I love their stuff and have bought some dresses from the Pin Up Pop Up shop, I’d not tried ordering from them online before.

The dress I had my eye on was their Tiki Keyhole dress. It comes in a few colourways and prints, but I especially liked the authentic vintage feel this faded style fabric gave.  

I initially ordered it in an XL according to the dresses I’d bought from them before, but it didn’t arrive, and I got an email to say that there had been a mistake and it was out of stock in my size. I was really disappointed.

A few weeks later, I was looking through the new season’s styles, when I noticed that the dress had been reduced. I decided to try again, and ordered the size L, in the hopes it might go around me.

I know they had just had loads of sales because of new stock, but I did have a bit of trouble getting it, again, and had to contact them after a week to find my dress, which was a bit of a shame, as I’d paid for next day delivery.  But when the dress arrived, all was forgiven!  

The dress fits like a glove, the fabric is lovely cool cotton, and it has the lovely true vintage feel I expected. One of the things I love about Love ur Look dresses are the unusual details, which are really authentic. The cutouts on this dress are great and the matching belt is a lovely touch. Very 1950’s.

I’ve already worn this dress loads of times. Despite the colours being muted, they go with loads. I’ve worn it with blue, coral and yellow cardigans, and my summer staple footwear, my SunJellies, match perfectly in yellow and blue. It’s a definite favourite, as was my black postcard shirt-dress I bought from them before.

So, despite some temporary disappointments, I’m really glad it all worked out, and I’m adding to my wishlist for next time, just keeping my fingers crossed!

The quality of the designs more than makes up for the delivery woes, and I’d still definitely recommend them on that alone, so all’s well that ends well!

House of Drewvid

Finding a good vintage hairdresser is a bit tricky. I used to go to a vintage salon near me, and she did some epic hairstyles, but since she closed her salon, I’ve had to rely on doing my own hair, which usually meant an updo. Not knowing where to go to get my haircut also meant that I had avoided going and my hair got mega long!

I did get my hair cut when we went to the Classic Car Boot sale, but I’ve been hankering for a proper vintage cut. especially as I’d like to learn how to set my hair properly.

Never fear though, because during my recent visit to the Enfield Pageant of Motoring, I found 2 superheroes of styling…

“The House of Drewvid is the brainchild of married couple David Dorling and Andrew Simonin.
Both David and Andrew wanted to bring their combined experience of over 20 years working with wigs and period hair within the British TV, filming industry and theatre land and combine that with their love of fabulous hair both vintage and modern to the rest of the world.” (House of Drewvid)

Not only are these 2 genius hairdressers, they are really lovely people, and they’ve got great stories to tell. Honestly, I don’t want to give spoilers, but they are the kings of my favourite things, vintage and geekery! Check out all the great things they’ve done on their website galleries here, and here

So not only did I get a great haircut, and pretty hairstyle, I got to chat to someone really cool and interesting…

Here’s my hair from that day. Sorry about the Snapchat filters, but it was a boiling hot day and I fell asleep on the sofa just before these pictures. Like a toddler. The hair held up well though, hey?

Since having my haircut, I’t’s made setting my hair so much easier, and while I’ve still got a long way to go, at least I know my cut is just what I wanted!

I’m very lucky, as The House of Drewvid is actually very close to me. They operate from home locally, while their adorable little girl grows up, and in a couple of years, they’re hoping to open a Salon. I can’t wait, but in the meantime, I know where I’m getting my haircut from now on!

A Vintage Project!

You might remember that I mentioned in my previous blog about my re-purposed Roberts radio.I bought it at the Classic Car Boot Sale from a lovely lady, who sold it to me for the bargainous price of £10, because as she was showing us, one of the knobs fell off!  It needed a bit of TLC, but this is the finished product. It looks pretty fab, if I do say so myself!

So, it looks like any other Vintage Roberts radio, a bit well-loved , but this one has superpowers… When you lift off the top layer, you get a surprise!

Hidden inside there is a decanter with four little glasses inside. Now the downside is it doesn’t play lovely music, but I’m sure I might be persuaded to serenade you after a sip or three…

Now, when I bought this amazing little feat of engineering, it wasn’t the best of condition. One of the radio knobs had fallen off, and it had been lined with foam and fabric that was making it all a bit tight for the glasses and decanter. The glue wasn’t holding properly, and it wouldn’t stay shut.

It was an excellent idea though, so with the help of my brother, who helped fix the box itself, I removed all the lining and started again. It was clear that it was actually a radio at one point, so when I relined the inside with navy felt, I carefully left a space to see the original radio license. I re-stuck the handle more securely and tidied the edges of the leather in the lid with red cord. My mum even found some red leather restorer which matched perfectly and helped to make it look as good as new on the outside.

So, with my little mini bar looking beautiful, the only thing left was to test it out! It’s currently filled with Disarrono, and it will definitely be joining us a various different events over the summer…  Cheers!

 

 

Classic Car Boot Sale

So, a few weeks ago, Erin and I decided to try out The Classic Car Boot Sale at Kings Cross. I hadn’t been before, but we love trying out new vintage events. For an extra bonus, the lovely Anna aka Goldy Loxx was running the Vivien of Holloway stall, a reason as good as any to pop along…

Photos with kind permission of Goldy Loxx

On the way in, they had some car cutouts with chairs behind for photo opportunities, so Erin took full advantage – aren’t they fab!

There were even some music performances going on as we arrived. I have to confess, we didn’t stop to listen for long, because we were focused on Vintage Shopping, but it sounded great as we walked along.

The stalls looked fab, and in line with the name of the event, all the cars were Classsic Cars. While we were walking around, Erin found the most fab dress for the Chap Olympiad this year, and I bought a re-purposed Roberts radio, which I’ll tell you about another time.

Erin and I fell in love with a stall full of very clever things, including a sofa, which when I am rich, I am definitely buying.

There were absolutely loads of stalls covered in pretty things, some inside undercover and some outside. The weather wasn’t the best, so we did have cold toes, but it was worth it.

On an absolute whim I had my hair cut in an amazing refurbished air-stream caravan. The haircut was really good, and the salon decor was amazing! I was hoping for a more exaggerated vintage middy style haircut, but I often find that because my hair is curly, hairdressers are a bit reluctant to cut it as much  as I ask for. I’m quite adventurous with my hair, but the hairdresser obviously wasn’t convinced!

Nevertheless, I was pleased with the cut, as my hair was desperately in need, and I’d definitely recommend trying them out! Catch up with where they are out and about on instagram @douceuk

After I’d had my hair done, we stopped for something lovely to eat, and had a drink at the bar, before one last walk round. So, as time was marching on, we gathered our purchases, and went on our way.

So, after our usual silliness on the train, we made our way home to put our feet up. we’ll definitely be looking out for the next one!