Pink and white stripe pleats

I have been home all this week after I had a little knee procedure done last Friday (so sorry for delay in posting!).

I do jazz ballet (or should I say 'did' - that may have to be in past tense now!) - hence my bad knees. After asking how old I was (I will admit to being 'late 30's' to you all!) my doctor 'tsked tsked', shaking his head and said 'no more ballet!' so Natalie Portman can feel safe and secure - there will be no menacing 'Black Swan' pirouettes from me!

But I digress, although it has been fun to stay at home and catch up on some great films and read good books, it has been soooo depressing not to be able to go out in my fab vintage outfits. So it was great today to go out for a latte and get dressed up for a change. Unfortunately I had to go out with crutches, which did not really go with my outfit - but at least I was in a dress!

I looked at my wardrobe last week and thought 'I really need to have a big cleanout and sell some of these dresses on ebay' (I really do have too many clothes). From time to time I have these brilliant bursts of thought and then I try some of the said dresses on and think 'no! I can't possibly part with this!'. This is one of the dresses I was going to cull - it is actually not great to wear on a hot day as it is polyester and totally un-breathable (is that a word?). To be honest, the pleats also make my already generous butt look seriously huge (!), but it is very cute, so its staying put. Also, I just can't be bothered selling anything on ebay (I am a buyer through and through!)

I am not sure who I am trying to channel with my pose here - I look like I've swallowed a lemon! I would be terrible as a model! (don't worry, I am not going to give up my day job!)

Outfit details:

60's dress (I think?) ebay Australia about 5 years ago

white cotton cardigan David Lawrence - again many years ago

handbag vintage store in Northcote (Old Hat I think its called?)

earrings Sydney Vintage Clothing fair (they are great, but they hurt like hell!)

My wedding dress (vintage peachy pink)

This is the peachy pink vintage dress that I wore to my wedding in 2003 (that is my hubby on the right!). Now wearing it again in 2011!

I am pleased to say that I still fit into after 8 years which is nice (thank you Pilates). I have not had the occasion to wear it again since my wedding so I took it for a much awaited outing to a 'Debutantes Dinner' in Melbourne last night, organised by the lovely ladies at the Lindy Charm School. 

I searched for a vintage wedding dress for ages before I found this dress (in a little French-style shop in South Melbourne). This was before shopping online was as easy as it is today - there are now lots of vintage wedding dresses to be found on etsy. I actually don't think the colour of the dress does much for my skin tone - a deeper, mauvy pink probably would have suited me better, but it was such a lovely style, I couldn't resist it.

This is a close up of the embroidery/flowers on the dress:

 The flowers have a little diamonte/rhinestone in the middle of them so I wore a pair of vintage diamonte earrings to set that off. The fabric in the dress is a sort of stiff, papery-type material which drapes beautifully, but is quite delicate and prone to tearing, so I am always careful when putting it on. I probably should have ironed the flowers to make them sit down a little flatter on the bodice but I was a bit scared to given the delicacy of the fabric. I will have to do that when I have some time and space to concentrate on such a task (which is usually never!)

I hope you liked looking at my wedding dress!

Outfit details:

Vintage (1950's?) wedding dress Little French-themed shop opposite South Melbourne markets

diamonte earrings Callie, Camberwell markets

fake fur stole and vintage purse ebay

gloves modern - Myer

handsome husband from Dublin, Ireland (picked up for a song in a little hostel in Rome, 1998!)

A pretty purple floral and lucite purse

I love pink . .  and I love purple so I was very happy in my outfit today. This is one of those dresses I have had in my wardrobe for ages, waiting for (a) being slim enough to wear it (my excuse: I have had two children!) and (b) having the right accessories to pull the look off. I wore it to Chadstone, one of our big shopping malls in Melbourne, where I took my 7 year old daughter to see 'Yogi Bear' and have lunch. I had to have a stiff red wine when I got back home . . .! (I am not a fan of modern children's movies, give me Disney's Snow White anytime)

 I bought this dress last year on ebay and at first did not like it (sometimes things look a lot different from what they appear online!). The texture of the fabric is shiny, so it looks and feels like a bridesmaid dress (perhaps it was?!). I was going to give it away, but in fact, I have found that with some hot pink shoes and a pink cardigan it looks quite nice (excuse the non-ironed cardigan by the way, as usual I had to get dressed in rather a hurry).

 Of course, an outfit always looks good with a matching hat and earrings. I got this hat from etsy for a song (as the netting has deteriorated). I bought these earrings from the Sydney Vintage Clothing show - one of my batch of $10 pairs - I love these chunky clip on style earrings - really fab (although I can only wear them for 3-4 hours before they start to hurt!)

I am only 5 foot and a half feet tall (note the half, very important!) so I find I the 'teen' vintage outfits fit me the best (and I think this was made for a teenager). Otherwise I have to pay my tailor to adjust everything and that can prove a bit costly if shoulders need to be adjusted etc. Still, I do find it is worth it to have something fit really well.

Last but not least, one of my two vintage lucite bags. This is not a 'designer' lucite bag from the 50's (not a Wilardy or Rialto which are highly collectable) but it is still very cute. As you would know, some lucite bags can cost $200-300 dollars, but if you look around and don't care too much about whether the purse is signed or not, you can get one much cheaper (this was $59 on sale on etsy). The only thing I would say is careful of flaws such as cracks and odours with lucite - those things are hard to fix (always ask about any chemical odours with lucite as this is a sign the lucite has started to break down).

Oufit details:

dress vintage of uncertain age (handmade) - ebay Australia

cardigan Cue

shoes etsy

hat etsy

earrings Sydney Vintage Clothing Show Oct 2010

lucite bag etsy

A pretty pink and silver grey floral

This is one of my favourite skirts - a lovely pink and silver grey floral that I picked up for a song in St Kilda.  I am not exactly sure what era it is from - it looks home-sewn and has no label. I have always loved the colour combination of pink and grey - it was hugely popular in the 80s - and I am a child of the 80s - so that may explain things!

I have teamed it with a silver grey tshirt from Myer (Basque label) and a little bolero (Jacqui E)(middle of the road cheapish fashion stores for my overseas readers!). I don't really go shopping at 'normal' shops anymore, but I have a collection of little cotton and wool cardigans and boleros that I have picked up at various sales at department stores over the years and I do admit they come in very handy.

And I do have to say that the tshirt material does wonders for my bust (which after two children is a shadow of its former self I can tell you!)

 And of course,  great way to end is to show a close up of the cute 50s earrings I bought at the Sydney Vintage Fair in October last year. Many of the things there were quite overpriced (in my humble opinion)($350 for a 50s dress is waaay too much in my book!)(etsy has spoiled me I know). Anyway, I did manage to pick up some cheap little 50s earrings - one was this set - for only $12 each pair. Now that's better!

Outfit details
vintage skirt vintage store in St Kilda - no longer there unfortunately

t-shirt Basque label, Myer Department store

bolero Jacqui E women's clothing store

shoes rather ugly but comfortable flats from Myer

earrings Sydney Vintage Clothing Fair

Pink Polka Dots and Hairspray

Hello everyone and sorry for my extended 'holiday' from blogging! Happy New Year!

Now on to more exciting things . . . vintage dresses!

This is a little number I have had for years. I bought it off ebay when vintage dresses were still cheap, so I got it for a song! If you take a good look you might be able to see that the buttons are little ceramic roses - very cute (but they are not the original buttons and so don't 100% fit into the buttonholes, they therefore do have a tendency to open of their own accord - as a result I am always looking down at my bosom)(possibly not a good look!)

I wear it with a little cotton cardigan/bolero that I got from an Australian department store called 'Myer'. I hardly go into stores these days, as I can get everything I want online (yaay!). However, little cardigans like these are good to get from modern 'real' stores and they are very handy for when it is cold in the morning and warm during the day (that is Melbourne weather for you)

I am wearing the dress with $10 vintage earrings from Clara Fox vintage in Fitzroy (another 'yaay'!)

This dress is actually a 'junior' dress I think as the waist is quite high and bust is very small. However, as I am only a little over 5 foot it is perfect for me! The dress has a lovely cotton petticoat inlay - a very nice touch.

I wore the dress to see the Melbourne production of 'Hairspray' on the weekend which I really enjoyed. The dancing was quite extraordinary. There were a few dancers from the Australian version of 'So you think you can Dance' (which is my favourite show!) and they were amazing - I have trouble doing one turn and they did about ten!

It is great to be back in blogging land and I am really looking forward to posting lots of photos up for you this year!

Vintage Suburbia xx

A little 'holiday'

You may (or may not!) have noticed that my posts have been a little far and few between of late. The demands of my two 'full time' jobs (mother and uni lecturer). Unfortunately due to some looming deadlines at work I am going to have to take a little 'holiday' from blogging for a while and will be back to 'normal' (as normal as I will ever be!) in January.

I have some great posts planned for next year, including a little homage to my very first (and favourite) vintage icon - Molly Ringwald (remember those great outfits she wore in Pretty in Pink? Fab!).

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and I will see you in the New Year.

Lots of vintage love
Vintage Suburbia x

Decorating Vintage Style

Like many of you, I not only collect vintage clothes, but love to collect other vintage treasures like old paintings, crockery and old books. So for this week's post I thought I would share some of my favourite pieces with you. I love this painting, mostly because I love books and it shows a very beautiful girl reading a lovely old book, but also because I got it for only $15 at my local St Vinnies op shop - yaay!

As you can see, I love a good doily. This Carltonware bowl was also purchased from my local St Vinnies. It has a slight chip at the back so I got it for a bargain. Carltonware in good condition is very collectable and worth quite a bit of money. I don't mind the odd chip in things like this though.

Next, is part of my fairly large collection of vintage children's books. I LOVE Enid Blyton - I grew up on The Famous Five and The Secret Seven. She writes so well too. My daughter has just started reading The Secret Seven series which is great. 

 This is another one of my favourite pieces of chinaware - a vintage cake/slice plate, again bought from my local St Vinnies op shop. It was a bit pricier, at $25, but it is gorgeous and the money goes to a very good cause, so its win-win for everyone! I bake a lot of cakes and slices at home, so this has gotten quite a bit of use. I love the handle, a little bit art-deco . . .

For a little bit of fun, I have a few 80's albums scattered around the house. I LOVE 80s music, like New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode etc and this Simple Minds album is just great - very unusual style (a little bit Russian)

Sometimes you can pick up old stockings and other lingerie at op shops for only $1 or $2. Even if you cannot wear the actual stockings, sometimes the boxes themselves are worth buying. I got this lingerie box for free at my local St Vinnies!

Vintage lingerie box (op shop) pictured with wooden jewellery case (homeware shop in St Kilda)

Last but not least, these are some of my vintage books. I love books and have hundreds of them around the house. I buy most of them from book sales and fetes that they have occasionally around Melbourne. They are usually only $1-3 so are a great, cheap way to decorate a home.

(the photo on the right is of myself on Graduation day and my lovely Mum)

I hope you enjoyed that look at some of my vintage bits and bobs around my house!