History of Shopping Exhibition - Melbourne

I am in vintage heaven! The State Library of Victoria is currently holding an exhibition of the history of shopping in Melbourne. It is called 'Til you Drop' - History of Shopping in Melbourne and looks absolutely divine. This is one of the images from the exhibition . . .

The Block Arcade (circa 1960's). This is one of my favourite buildings in Melbourne.

I hope to visit the exhibition next Saturday after I attend an event at Fashion Week.

Details are:
The ’til you drop: shopping – a Melbourne history
This free exhibition celebrates Melbourne’s passion for shopping, from the Paris end of Collins Street to the local corner store. It explores Melbourne’s social history through changes in our shopping habits, from early settlement and the Marvellous Melbourne of the 1880s to today. Items on display range from wartime ration cards to a 1950s evening gown worn by Lady Ansett, as well as many classic photographs that evoke Melbourne’s changing style.

Time: 10am–5pm daily (to 9pm Thursdays)

Venue: Keith Murdoch Gallery, State Library of Victoria

Price: Free

Happy shopping!

A Three-day Frock Fest . . . (be careful how you say that!)

Given that I am not able to post every day (I am doing a PhD - ouch!) I thought I would roll three days of blog posts into one - three days and two decades for the price of one!

Dress 1 is a lovely 1950's atomic blue, pink and green (my favourite colours!) dress with a shawl-type collar (I think that is how you would describe it?) and a matching belt. The only drawback is that it has some type of synthetic in the material so its not very breathable (gets a bit wiffy at the end of a hot day - dear me!) Lucky I am only around my two little kids at the end of the day! 

  

 

Outfit details: 1950's dress Ebay USA (I LOVE buying from the US - great quality)

Pearls - 'borrowed' from Vintage Suburbia's mum!

Bag (see close up below) - Frocks and Slacks, St Kilda 

This bag is so cute - I think it is from the 1960's (?)

It has a lucite handle (gasp - I love lucite!) and is made up of small leather pieces which are woven into each other - divine! I don't wear it enough though, I keep it for 'special occasions' (which I perhaps shouldn't)  

 

 Pink 60's dress Ebay Australia

Shoes - Myer

Dress 2 is a pink 60's number with a lovely decorative panel down the centre. I don't normally buy 60's dresses as I find they don't suit my figure (which is distinctly pear-shaped!) but I find this one is OK. I have to confess to wearing thigh-reducing 'shapewear' under this dress though!

Close up of cute decorative panel

I don't normally put labels in my posts but I thought this one was was quite cute (says 'Marcia June Sydney SSW'). Although the fabric is synthetic (I am guessing 'Prestalene is not man made?!), it is actually very nice to wear - surprisingly breathable.

And, last but not least, Dress 3 is a lovely 1950's teal floral dress. Teal is one of my favourite colours as it seems to suit my pale, freckly skin.

Vintage Suburbia wearing her favourite pink hat (I wear hats every day)

Vintage Suburbia standing in her son's sandpit with her favourite parasol (Oroton).

Teal floral 50's dress Ebay USA

Pale pink cardigan Portmans (from a few yrs ago!)

Hat - Cancer Council Australia online

(their hats are adjustable and don't blow away in Melbourne's terrible wind)

Parasol Oroton (bought on sale for around $35)

   

I find that Melbourne is so windy in summer (don't you hate that!) that I have to have a very sturdy umbrella. Many of my past purchases have broken in the wind, but I can recommend Oroton ones - they are lined for extra sun protection and seem more resilent than cheaper alternatives (but buy them on special - they are not cheap!)

And finally, a few photos of my Little Mr Moppet, age 2, who decided to get in on the act. His blog is called 'A Two-year old tornado' (he wreaks havoc in my house). He is cute, but he is Trouble with a capital T!

Terrible Two Tornado wears Green Dinosaur shirt sent from Ireland by his Nonny

Ripped jeans (sooo last season!) from our favourite kids clothing store, Target

"I'm off to wreak havoc and cause trouble!"

Red Door Burlesque - Vintage Style

Hubby wears 1960's dinner suit, Circa Vintage, Fitroy

Vintage Suburbia wears Black 50's cocktail dress, Frocks and Slacks, St Kilda

(for full details of VS's outfit - see end of post*)

My hubby and I went to the Red Door Burlesque at the Order of Melbourne last night. It was a great evening. The MC Andrew McClelland was very funny (if you like corny jokes!) and the burlesque dancers and trapeze artist (who is called Anna the Pocket Rocket!) were amazing.

One of the lovely Burlesque dancers doing her fan dance - very classy

Anna the Pocket Rocket . Yes, she is on a trapeze!

I wasn't sure what to expect from the evening as I have never been to burlesque before. It was a very tasteful show, the dancers wear fabulous vintage-look lingerie. At the end the dancers do take off their tops, but they have very cute tassells on, its all great fun and tongue-in-cheek. Needless to say, my husband was in seventh heaven! Anna the Pocket Rocket did a wonderful hula-hoop routine, followed by an amazing trapeze act (with no safety net I must add - quite stupendous).

I also met up with the lovely Sophie of Piroska and the Wolf who looked gorgeous in a red and white polka-dot wiggle dress from 'Stop Staring' (I should have thought to take a photo - damn!).  She really seemed to enjoy the evening too, as did the other members of the audience.

All in all a wonderful evening!

Event details:

Red Door Burlesque is held on the last Sunday of every month at The Order of Melbourne, Level 2/401 Swanston St, Melbourne. Doors open 6pm, $20 entry

For bookings, phone 9663 6707 or email reddoorburlesque@theorder.com.au
The show is perfect for people with children, as it ended at around 9.15, so enough time to get back to the babysitter (there was a DJ coming on later which we could have stayed for though).

*Outfit details

The black 50's cocktail dress I am wearing is one of my favourite outfits. It is one of the first really nice vintage dresses I ever bought and it is one of the reasons I started collecting. It is made of rayon and falls beautifully. It is very flattering. It is also my favourite colour - black, which seems to suit my pale, freckly skin. The only problem is that (a) being made of rayon (which I didn't know until recently is a man-made fibre), it seems to attract moths and so it has quite a few moth holes in it, despite all my preventative measures against this (b) the waist is tiny, so I have to wear a waist cincher which can be a bit uncomfortable - but hey who ever wears vintage for comfort?!

Waist cincher - ebay (they come from Singapore I think, only around AUS$45)

Diamonte brooch - from the lovely Callie at Camberwell Markets (she is usually in the undercover walkway section) - she has fabulous stuff and her prices are reasonable

(she also has an online shop with more exclusive items, at http://www.huntedandcollected.com.au/)

Fake fur wrap - Salvos, Oakleigh

Glomesh bag - ebay Australia

Gloves - Temcare Op Shop, Station St, Oakleigh

A Vintage James Bond Husband

My hubby was, until recently, a vintage sceptic. My daily vintage outfit would usually be greeted with 'where did you get that??' (said in an incredulous tone) and 'how much did that cost?'. He still queries some of my fashion sense, saying the other day that my lovely pink 60's shift dress looked like 'something my Aunty Marge wore' (not exactly the look I was going for, but I take it as a compliment anyway!).

But I am happy to say he is no longer a sceptic (although he still questions some of my ouftits) thanks to his purchase of two vintage tuxedos from Nicole at Circa. My hubby wanted to buy one for his upcoming university graduation, but he liked them so much he bought two!

Hubby wears early 60's vintage tux, Circa Vintage, Fitroy

Vintage Suburbia wears navy and pink 50's dress, Ebay UK

My Little Moppet is also making herself seen!

It looks like he is not the only one, as ultra sharp, superbly tailored vintage-look mens suits featured prominently in the Hardy Amies Autumn/Winter Collection shown recently at the 2010 London Fashion Week. . .

Hardy Amies Collection 2010

I should note that it is difficult to find men's vintage suits in good condition - Circa has some lovely ones, and also Tracy at Fancy Pants/Frocks and Slacks in St Kilda. The tuxes we bought at Circa were only around $200 each, which my hubby and I thought was a complete bargain - the quality is amazing. The only thing I would note is that vintage sizing being what it is, if the suit does not quite fit in some areas, you may have to factor in quite a bit in alterations (as vintage suits are quite complex in structure). We recently paid about $100 to get a vintage suit altered, but as the suits are so reasonably priced and of such superior quality compared to contemporary versions, we didn't mind that at all.

When my hubby wore the suit to his graduation I told him he looked like James Bond - he was over the moon! So there you are ladies - convert your vintage-sceptic husbands (or partners/lovers!) by buying him a fabulous vintage tux!

1950's blue polished cotton frock

I bought this very cute blue 'atomic' polished cotton frock from the lovely Nicole at Circa in Fitroy (Melbourne) a few months ago. I had to shed a few pounds to fit into it properly (!) but my many hours of Body Jam (that's a dance aerobics workout for those not in 'the know!) and breathless laps of the 50 metre pool paid off. I am actually only a size 8-10 in 'normal' clothes, but as you will all know, that means nothing in the vintage world where clothes are tiny!

It is a very wearable dress - because it is cotton it breathes beautifully - perfect for a summer's day. I also love the colour - with my pale colouring and hint of red in my hair (which is not natural I should confess!) a deep blue is very flattering.

Dress: Circa Vintage, Gertrude St, Fitzroy $165 (in mint condition)

Gloves: Op shop/thrifted (Salvos Oakleigh I think) $3

Bag: Ebay $80 (lucite clasp)

Shoes: from Myer a few years ago, on sale for about $80 from memory (Myer has great shoe sales)(just be prepared for lousy service!)

Earrings: white vintage flower clip ons from Clara Fox Vintage, Brunswick St, Fitzroy (only $10!)

Another vintage favourite - Blue floral

It has been very unusual and unpredictable weather in Melbourne over the past week. It was quite hot and steamy on Thursday and I chose this lovely vintage blue floral dress that I bought a few years ago on Ebay from the US. I think US Ebay and US sellers on Etsy are absolutely fabulous.

Blue and white floral dress - Ebay USA (around $US 45 from memory)

White belt - thrifted

Parasol - Oroton, Glen Waverley (on special for $35)

White shoes - bought for my deb ball in 1989!

I have only really been able to wear it again this summer as I have almost finally lost all my 'baby weight' (!). I just have a few more stubborn kilos to go before I can fit into all my vintage clothes!

Battered and torn Vintage Penguins - Show them off!

I collect vintage Penguins and other old books. I particularly love the old orange and white Penguins . . .

I know that Penguin have released new versions of these classic orange and white books, but I love the 'real' vintage ones! The more battered around the better!

I usually pick these up from fetes and book fairs (the kind of ones run by Rotary/Lions Clubs etc). They are usually only 60c - $1. Even if I don't get around to reading them all (!) I love to look at them. Some of them have great designs and art work on the covers.

I also like the art work on the Penguin 'Modern Classics' which have a light green and white cover. Below is a great example from a collection of short stories from the great Ernest Hemingway.

I like to display my favourites on these book holders that I bought from Howards Storage World (there is one at Chadstone)(they are actually called Plate Holders, but they are also great for books). They come in various sizes and are not that expensive. There are very cheap plastic ones available but I prefer the wooden ones - as well as looking much nicer, the plastic ones are too flimsy for books.

I would love to see your collection of vintage books - please leave a comment if you have any photos you would like to show me or any rare finds you want to share!

Vintage Suburbia x