Something for The Weekend… Monthly Vintage Mondays

It’s the weekend! And not just any old weekend, it’s a bank holiday weekend, woohoo! If you haven’t made any plans yet for how you’re going to spend your extra day off, you’d do worse than trekking to Bath for a night of retro and vintage entertainment.

Monthly Vintage Mondays are back, offering a bank holiday portion of vintage clothes and homewares, along with an old fashioned cinema experience. The Little Theatre Cinema is hosting a night of films (new releases) complete with usherettes, old fashioned uniforms and intermissions, and there will also be a vintage/reto night market next door in the St Michael’s Centre.

I picked up this flyer while I was at Private Vintage Club last week, so it’s all I have to go on, but there’s a Facebook page too that should tell you all you need to know!

Vintage Monday, 7th May, 5-9pm at the Little Theatre Cinema and St Michael’s Centre, St Michael’s Place, BA1 1SF.

Hello Topshop!

A couple of Saturdays ago I was in town for the Cabot Circus Fashion Show and I couldn’t resist taking a sneak peak at some of the sales. It wasn’t long before I found myself in Topshop, waddling towards the changing rooms with a ginat pile of sale goodies to try on.

I was restrained though, and came away with two practical purchases – a peach sleeveless tee and an oversized cream chunky knit jumper, which you can see below. It’s been far too wet to take any outfit posts outside – I think I have the mentality of a cat when it comes to wet weather – so apologies for the dodgy photos. I’m still getting used to our house and finding the best places to take snaps and, yes, those are net curtains you can see in the background!

Anywho, the t-shirt was a practical purchase, and the jumper was a slightly whimsical one. I’ve been searching for a the right jumper for ages, and I’ve got into my head a particular look that I want to emulate. If you didn’t catch The Edge of Love when it came out in 2008, then I highly recommend renting it out on DVD. Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller star in this bio about the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and spend the entire film looking gorgeous as they frolic around in their 1940s tea dresses.

I love this era and I’m looking forward to pairing my new jumper with some summer dresses when I go on an annual trip to the Welsh countryside later this year. There’s nothing quite like enjoying a day in the sun and warming up under a blanket or wearing a huge jumper to fend off the chill. Have you found any bargains in the sales recently? Or are there any movie looks you’d love to recreate? Let me know by commenting below.

Sleeveless peach tee from Topshop

Slouchy cream jumper with cable knit details from Topshop

The first rule of Private Vintage Club is…

…be prepared for a night of fun, glamour and one heck of a catwalk show. Last Thursday, S and I drove through the hideous wind and rain, navigating Bath’s roadworks and a minuscule car park to attend Private Vintage Club at OPA. As we entered the underground meze bar, we were unsure what to expect. What greeted us was an Aladdin’s cave of well dressed locals, glasses of champagne and the sweet smell of popcorn.

The event was an opportunity to promote local fashion talent, while bringing a healthy dash of glamour and excitement to the fasionistas of Bath – and us Bristol gatecrashers – too. Naturally I wore vintage, picking  the navy sailor-inspired dress from refoundreloved that I found at Vintage Sunday last month, plus an unruly hairdo that didn’t care very much for the wet weather!

After taking in the atmosphere and making a beeline for the champers, we took our seats by the bar with Amy of Annie by Amy and had a good gossip before the catwalk show started. Private Vintage Club began last year, put together by local vintage boutique Scarlet Vintage, and independent ligerie emporium, Hannah Dulcie along with Bath’s best make-up artists, hair stylists and models.

The catwalk show began with swimwear from Princesse tam.tam and IODUS, before moving on to day lingerie and day vintage looks. I’m a firm believer in the benefits of wearing fantastic underwear, and not just for your other half. I loved the vibrant pink and yellow Pina Colada set from Mimi Holliday, as well as fluoro yellow set by La Perla. The selection of vintage clothes was just as good, with some pretty cotton dresses, some of which you can see below.

The second half of the show was dedicated to vintage evening dresses and gorgeous, daring lingerie. The only way to describe the underwear (from La Perla, Lascivious and Princesse tam.tam) is decadent and sexy –  a parade of black lace and navy satin. The models looked stunning and walked with confidence, helped in part to their gravity-defying ‘dos from Artizan, and while most of the lingerie featured was out of my budget, if it came with a washboard stomach and curves in all the right places, I’d definitely be buying! : ) The vintage dresses included a mix of short 60s shift dresses and longer numbers, like the white 70s Grecian feather dress that floated down the catwalk.

The show closed with a cheeky sashay down the runway from a gorgeous burlesque dancer, and was followed by drinks, music and mini desserts served by retro usherettes. I wish we could have stayed longer as I had such a fun evening!

Did you make it to Private Vintage Club last week? What was your favourite look? Let me know by commenting below…

Princesse tam.tam swimsuit with wide stripe belt

OPA provided a unique and opulent underground venue

Champagne and popcorn

Underwear by Mimi Holiday

I love this gorgeous navy set from Princesse tam.tam – it would be even better if it came with a washboard stomach!

Gorgeous green dress from Scarlet Vintage

Dress from Scarlet Vintage, hair by Artizan

The grand finale...

Smiles as the show closes

Rock The Week

Fashion related (and totally non-fashion related) things that have made my world go round over the last seven days…

• Private Vintage Club. The first rule of Private Vintage Club? Well I couldn’t possibly say. You’ll just have to wait for my post next week, but in the meantime you can read what Annie by Amy thought of it here.
• Green fingers. I stepped gingerly into the adult world of gardening this weekend, pruning what is apparently a rose tree in our front garden, and other plants and shrubs that seem to be taking over. Mr Ship-Shape and I have successfully killed every house plant we’ve ever been given, but so far the plants in the garden are still alive – for now!

Sorry for the short post but the weekend isn’t over yet and there’s still lots to do! I’d love to know what’s been rocking your world, so tell me by commenting below….

Private Vintage Club

Calling all vintage lovers! Get yourself down to OPA in Bath tomorrow night for an evening of decadence, lingerie and vintages clothes, as Private Vintage Club returns for a second round of stockings, champagne and everything else in between.

This exclusive event was launched last year, and is the brainchild of Scarlet Vintage and Hannah Dulcie, along with a collection of Bath’s best independent hairdressers, models and make-up artists, and promises to be an evening to remember.

Private Vintage Club kicks of at 7.30pm tomorrow, Thursday 26th April, and tickets cost £10. For more info or for details on where to buy tickets, click here.

Rock The Week

Fashion related (and totally non-fashion related) things that have made my world go round over the last seven days…

• Cabot Circus Fashion Show. Cabot’s biannual fashion event, held under the striking glass roof, featuring a morning of music, models and Marigolds, what’s not to love? The morning also included a trip to Topshop and House of Fraser to get some…
• … free Origins moisturiser! Every year skincare brand Origins offer a recycling initiative to customers where they can trade in old cosmetics containers an receive a full-size Origins product for free. Last year I got a cleanser which lead to a spate of pre-wedding mini facials, and this year I was lucky, as by the time I rocked up at the counter on the ground floor of House of Faser at half past 10, there was only one gift left – hurrah!

• Board games and roast dinners. I braved heavy rain and hail storms to go for a Sunday roast with friends at the Prince of Wales on Gloucester Road today, and I’m so pleased I did has we had a wonderful afternoon, despite collective moans of how soaking wet we all were. The fact that there was a game of Triominoes to play made it even better.
• Vintage sewing patterns. The Oxfam Fashion Blog is a great source of inspiration, and I love this post on making clothes using vintage sewing patterns which includes tips on how to use the the patterns in modern day dressmaking.

What’s been rocking your world this week? Let me know by commenting below….

S/S12 Fashion Show at Cabot Circus

Yesterday I took a trip to Cabot Circus to see one of their S/S12 fashion shows, which is part of a weekend of catwalk shows, pampering treats and discounts. The show I watched was a good mix of current trends, featuring the likes of Oasis, American Apparel, above, LK Bennet and Next.

I managed to miss the rain showers and had the pleasure of sitting next to Christina from Just So Fashion for the show, and chatting to Dan from Last Style of Defence afterwards, before rushing back home – via the Topshop sale (more on that later) – to tackle more DIY and put our bathroom back together.

Anywho, enough of my domestic dramas, what about the show? While the usual S/S suspects were out in force, such Crew‘s nautical, preppy look, but there were also some fantastic takes on this season’s trends, most notably pastels from New Look, and a novel take on mid-century chic, mixed with vibrant prints, from River Island. The show combined some great choreography – an element of local catwalk shows that I’m not normally that keen on – such as the workwear scene by Next, which you can see below, and a fantastic scene from River Island, featuring the most glamourous 50s housewives I’ve ever seen, complete with yellow Marigolds and fluro washing baskets.

American Apparel and Bristol’s Garment Quarter provided lashings of nonchalant cool, while the later bought a touch of designer brilliance to the show with a show-stopping Vivienne Westwood Red Label dress and sophisticated menswear from Unconditional. After the finale of pastels from New Look, which included mint chiffon pleated skirts and lace dresses in the shade of Parma Violets, I poped behind the catwalk to the live blogging lounge, which you can read about here.

I had a lovely morning at the show, and it was great to see some familiar faces, too. Did you catch one of the shows yesterday? What ws your favourite trend? If you couldn’t make it yesterday then fear not, there are several more shows taking place underneath the glass roof of Cabot Circus today – click here for show times and more info.

Floral dresses at Oasis

Clashing textures at American Apparel

River Island offered an updated version of 50s housewives

Workwear by Next

Understated preppy from Garment Quarter

Christina from Just so Fashion captures the action

Bright whites at Mango

Pretty pastels from New Look