Hello lovely people! It’s been a while. Over two years since my last post, blimey. How have you been? We’ve got lots to catch up on (I’ve just had my first Christmas with a toddler and a newborn, which was not-even-organised chaos), and I’m hoping to blog more in the new year. My loves However, first things first, I’m after a bit of a favour. I know, I know – I disappear for an age and then have the nerve to ask for something. But here we are. I’ve entered the Face of Le Keux 2023 competition and if I win, I’d be representing a fab vintage brand for a year. To get through to the next round, I ..read more

With my part of the UK back in lockdown, I’ve been thinking about Christmas quite a lot – it’s nice to have something to look forward to. The chances of us getting together for our usual big family get together are looking very small indeed (at this point, even less likely than me selling my dresses and going back to my jeans-and-a-hoodie style of my university years), and as a result, I’m trying even harder to get thoughtful gifts that my family will love. As retailers are getting absolutely hammered by the restrictions currently in place, another thing I’m trying to do is to buy from the sma ..read more

This is something a bit different for me and the blog – a proper, full-on 1920s look. The dress Two years ago, I went along to the Vintage Pop Up Shop, to cover it for Vintage Life (which sadly doesn’t exist anymore). While I was there, I fell in love with a long, black 1920s-style dress from Gatsbylady, which was reduced from £159 to £49. I bought it, thinking I’d find somewhere to wear it, but alas – I haven’t been anywhere since, and it’s been languishing in my wardrobe ever since (occasionally coming out so I could admire it and stroke it, before putting it back). Last week, I told my hus ..read more

So, looking back on my recent posts, I don’t think I’ve actually properly spoken about my son, Teddy. He was born in November last year (a few weeks early), and had to spend a couple of scary weeks in hospital. One day, I will write more about the incredible people we met and the amazing NHS teams who looked after us, including our midwife. She will remain nameless as I don’t know if she’d be happy being named here, but she looked after us when I was pregnant with Dorothy and having her involved in our care again was one of the things that kept me on an even(ish) keel for months. Anyhoo ..read more

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my favourite places to buy plus size vintage. As well as original vintage, I wear a lot of reproduction vintage, especially dresses and skirts. If you’re just starting out with vintage dressing, it’s a fun way to incorporate some vintage touches into your wardrobe, and – for me, anyway – it’s more practical when running around than wearing delicate clothes that are at least 60 years old. As someone who has bought many, many, many vintage reproduction items (mostly dresses) in her time, I like to think I know a thing or two about the best brands out there. You’ll ..read more

In my last post, I wrote about wet sets and heat sets, and promised another post on pin curls and rollers/curlers. Here it is! A reminder that I am an enthusiastic amateur who has picked up a few things over the last 4-5 years of setting my own hair. My last post contained a list of people I consider vintage hair experts (the list is at the bottom of the post), and I’d definitely recommend checking out some (or all) of them. As before, I’ve written this post in the form of a Q&A, so please imagine me asking the questions in one voice, and answering them in another. What’s a pin curl ..read more

I set my hair a lot, and as my most popular blog post by far is about how to sleep in pin curls, I thought it was about time that I talked a bit about different types of sets. To stop this being a post of epic proportions, I’m going to break it into two parts – this post talks about wet sets and heat sets, and the next one will talk about using curlers and pin curls. Disclaimer: I’m not a hairdresser, these are just things I’ve learned over the past few years of setting my own hair. I’m still learning, and none of the below should be seen as expert advice! I can, however, recommend several exp ..read more

I’ve had my eye on the Miss Candyfloss Leontine dress for a while now, and was really annoyed with myself when I missed a 20% off promotion a few months ago. So when I saw Miss Candyfloss had an Easter promotion, I snapped it up. Initial impressions were good; the dress arrived speedily (despite me being in the UK), and I left it for a couple of days before opening just in case (with the current coronavirus crisis and my asthma, I’m trying to be careful about anything that comes into the house). According to the website, the dress is inspired by the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and it’s a go ..read more

I’ve always loved reading – when I was younger, I used to walk along with my nose stuck in a book (which is a generally unsafe way of walking and not one I would recommend). There was also an incident on the school bus where I was so busy reading I didn’t notice how quickly the driver was taking corners, so subsequently fell out of my seat. Twice. Our bookshelves are stuffed with an eclectic selection, and when I find a book I like, I tend to read it over and over again, but I’m also trying to branch out with new and new-to-me authors. With a teeny child to look after, getting enough time to m ..read more

*Disclaimer: I was gifted the bangles included in this post in exchange for writing about Splendette. I have bought things from the brand in the past* My first Splendette purchase was way back in 2016, for the festive pin up picnic. I hadn’t been dressing in original vintage for very long at this point (probably about a year) and was so incredibly proud of this outfit. All of it is still in my wardrobe – some vintage pieces pass through my hands like water for various reasons, but these aren’t going anywhere! Since then, I’ve bought a few sets for my annual dressing like it’s Christmas all De ..read more