Fashion Friday Get’s White Hot With Unique Vintage

Bonjour! How are you all doing? Thankfully it hasn’t been as long since we’ve spoken last, I really am going to try and keep with my posting schedule, but I can’t make any promises 😉

This week I am featuring Unique Vintage yet again… Yes I know I do a lot of features of UV clothes but I haven’t heard any complaints, and if I do…well I can’t say I’d care. I adore my UV Darlings!

Just casually doing The Can Can during my shoot.

Hair Flower: A lovely handmade gift from Miss Amy May

Dress: Unique Vintage God bless the person who constructed this white cotton masterpiece. I can’t recall the last time I wore a dress that has made me as happy as this one. I can honestly say that I would be more than happy to get married in this dress (of course that’s not happening anytime soon haha) but seriously that’s just how beautiful I feel in this number. The bodice is slightly structured so no weird lumps and bumps from floppy fabric, and of course since its haltered you can adjust to your specification, The fit is so spot on, it basically feels like I custom fit. I think this might be one of the most flattering silhouettes I’ve ever worn, even with my less than average proportions the size chart was incredibly accurate. Now talking about sizing here comes the sad news, I snagged this number during a sale and as everyone knows dresses that go on sale always run out of sizes so right now they only have medium 😦 but the good news is its still on sale for $50 so if medium is your size by all means snatch this dress while you still can! Also you ladies who are not medium don’t think for one second I’m neglecting you, I think this dress could make an excellent substitution.

Shoes: Miz Mooz/Similar

I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you check out Unique Vintage. Happy Friday my loves!

The Brit and The Belle: Hawaiian Hideaway

Sarah Forshaw (@Forshawsarah) and Miss Amy May  (@miss_amy_may) are southern belle and southern brit pinups, respectively, who found one another on Instagram part way through their pinup transformations in mid 2013, at which point they tentatively, then all of a sudden, become devoted and divine friends. Bonding over their urge to bring full on glamour to their every day lives, their shared opinions on cake, and their fierce nerd hearts, the two quickly began to look upon one another as fabulous sisters–who simply hadn’t met yet outside the confines of the interwebs. Due to finally meet IRL to share many squishy hugs and swing-skirted spins in fall 2015, they’re opening up their friendship and their closets to you in this shared blog post while they eagerly await their meeting. It’s been quite a while since my darling Sarah and I have been able to join forces for another installment in our The Brit & The Belle series, but finally we’re ready to share another joint post with you. Sarah and I are alike on many different levels, too many to list. Two of the easiest to focus on is our shared belief that a good dress is a terrible thing to waste by waiting for a good excuse to wear it, and our love for Pinup Girl Clothing. The combination of those two things means we both happen to own the same fabulous dress in the same colourway, the orange and purple Pinup Girl Clothing Hawaiian Hideaway dress. We don’t want to taunt you too much with this dress because unfortunately it’s now out of stock after going on super sale at $60 down from $160–yeah, no wonder that bad girl sold out, and fast. (Such a sale is part of the Pinup Girl Clothing Online Yard Sale, where no item is over $60 and the sale section is updated regularly.) So while we’d like to focus a little on the dress and it’s fit to give you PUG newbies an idea of the brand’s quality, we want to focus as well on the parts of us that aren’t so similar; our differing sizes, shapes, colouring and styles. I, Amy, am pale and red-headed compared to Sarah’s olive skin and rich brown hair. I’m an L/XL in most reproduction style clothing, curvy, modest of bust and generally quite soft around all my edges, while Sarah is, despite being my same height and curvy herself, much more slender, toned, and a touch broader of shoulder, a dainty size S-M. We admire each other’s styles but don’t often find our wardrobes overlap–in part, though, possibly due more to Sarah’s admirable shopping restraint and my lack thereof. To us, this dress is fun, classic, summery and stylish. In the L it fits me snugly without being uncomfortable, the pockets are handy (no pun intended,) and I feel a bit like a tropical princess despite the fact that where I live in England we have probably never had even a second’s worth of weather that can be deemed tropical. As my lovely counterpart stated it is not often she and I have the same pieces, because I tend to be more restrained in my spending (buyer’s remorse is a beast) and Amy is far bolder than me and is more likely to snap up what she wants. I feel the same could be said of our styling, I tend to be a bit more reserved and Amy lives by the motto “Go Big or Go Home…and then relax in your curlers and yoga pants.” To be completely honest she’s my hero. Despite these difference in our style and shopping habits neither one of us could resist the charms of the Hawaiian Hideaway.  I found the fit of this gem to be comparable to the fit of PUG’s Ella, decent room for the girls but not baggy, cinched waist but not suffocating, and the skirt is what dreams are made of. The Hawaiian Hideaway made me feel as lovely and as exotic as Dorothy Lamour. The cut of this dress is not only flattering on both of us, but the bold colouring works on both of us and our differing colourings; the bolero can be used as a safety blanket for ladies who are perhaps less happy with their arms, like Amy is, or simply for the killer style bonus that it is, while I’m happy to rock the dress bolero free and bare shouldered. In our differing sizes of S and L it looks just as lovely, and can be worn with petticoat and without. It’s an easy dress to save for vacations and tropical themed events, parties or restaurants, but we think it’s important that no woman stares at a dress in her closet and repeatedly pushes it aside because she doesn’t want people to stare, to think she’s tried too hard, to ponder where she’s going or to scoff and deign it ‘too much.’ None of that matters. If we give in to the notion that clothes are nothing more than a way to cover up our socially-deemed-unviewable body parts then we lose a rich, fun and wonderful way to express ourselves, not only our personalities but also our views on life. Wearing a dress you like when you like for no reason other than wanting to express that you like it is a tiny, unimportant, joyful act of rebellion, of stylish stubbornness, of expression and chicness and certainty. And we Brit and Belle both fully support all of those things.

Fashion Friday Featuring Unique Vintage

Hello my dears I’m so happy its Friday aren’t you? This week I am sharing all about my gorgeous Jane Doe dress I got on sale from the always darling Unique Vintage.

As you probably know Unique Vintage is of my favorite companies, the variety of stock they carry is unbelievable, their customer service is extraordinary, and there is always some sort of sale happening. But more than that this company has a beautiful soul, I’ve never seen a company so invested in their customers, they’re always posting incredibly sweet comments and promoting diversity and body positivity. Honestly it makes me a little bit teary eyed when I think about how much love and support there is in the UV Darling community. So many brands feel so absent from their work, too much corporate and not enough kindness, that is a statement you could never make about UV. So if you’re looking to buy from a company you can believe in Unique Vintage is it.

Now enough gushing lets get to this dress 😉Really feeling those Peter Pan vibes!

Because twirling and pretend ballerina-ing is part of the breaking in process 😉

Dress: Unique Vintage  this dress is on sale on their site so unfortunately most of the sizes are gone, so if your size isn’t available you can get this dress from  Queen of Heartz. I have been on the hunt for a super cute peter pan collared dress ever since I got my bangs (Ya I want to channel Clara Oswald) and like manna from heaven this dress appeared in my online searches and I immediately knew I had to have it. The material of this dress is mostly cotton so its sturdy but still has gorgeous movement, the keyhole detailing adds just the right amount of subtle sexiness, the wide waist band provides definition and glorifies that hourglass silhouette I love so much, and the skirt is oh so fabulously full, taking this bad boy for a spin on the dance floor is going to be a blast let me tell ya! To put it simply I am thrilled with my new purchase.

Shoes: Restricted Shoes

I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you check out Unique Vintage and Queen of Heartz the best companies around! Happy Friday!

If I Could Do Prom Over

Well its that time of year again, when all the department stores start busting out their formal dresses for prom, and in turn make me feel old and wish I had done my proms a little differently. Now my prom experiences are probably slightly different than most, because I was homeschooled. But being that I lived in the DFW metroplex I was able to go to the Texas Christian Homeschool Prom. It was a surprisingly large event, there were about 1000 kids there and the decorations and everything were quite beautiful, so if you’re a homeschooled kid who lives close to Dallas and want to experience a fairly traditional prom this is definitely something to look into (be warned though the music choices aren’t brilliant and the rules are very strict).

I have to admit I still have a few prom regrets, no not like those kinds of regrets, get your minds out of the gutter 😉 Mainly I regret going the super TRADITIONAL route in my attire, I went with a floor length black dress from Davids Bridal and whereas yes its not the kind of dress I’m ever going to think eeew what was I thinking, its definitely not what I would pic for myself now. I should’ve bought a dress from Unique Vintage  and I should have done my own hair, $60 only to have my hair fall was quite the rip off just sayin.

So if I could do prom over again what kind of dress would I choose you might ask? Well here are just a few ideas

The Brenda $122 I actually own this dress in the red colorway and the skirt on this dress is nothing short of heavenly, so to wear it in navy paired with some pearls would make the perfectly timeless and highly elegant prom look.The Two Heartz Dress $158 Hot cha cha! This dress definitely makes a statement and the statement is pure sass! I love this dress so much I’m tempted to make a grown ups only prom!

The Nataya $224 Positively Flaptastic! Wearing this 1920’s style beauty with some t-strap heels, a dramatic smokey eye, and a faux bob is one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd if you ask me.The First Date Dress $102 This dress is beyond sweet but never childish! I’d love to see this dress paired with a fabulous poodle do!

Bergman Maxi Dress $148 For those of you who want to embody the glamour of Old Hollywood! All this dress needs is some veronica lake waves and little bit of smolder to really create the affect.

Polka Dot Garden State Dress $138 Oh this dress though, is there any color more quintessentially spring than mint? Maybe mint paired with a hot pink hair flower and some gorgeous pincurls?

Ya I would really love to do prom over and pick a statement dress from UV. So if you’re about to go to your prom pick that stellar dress you love and don’t give two cents of care if it breaks tradition. There’s a time and a place for traditional, but when you’re in your teens and about to leave highschool it is not the time to cower into the sea of sameness! Besides how many proms do you get anyway? Have fun, be young, and most importantly be your darling self! Happy dress hunting and Happy Wednesday!

#iamunique

Hello my dears its been a while since I’ve posted anything that wasn’t a strictly fashion post. Yes this one will have to do with fashion but I promise it will be so much more than that.

One of my favorite companies in the world: Unique Vintage has started a campaign I could not be more pleased with. The #iamunique  campaign encourages people to really love themselves for who they are. Basically you use the hashtag and talk about what makes you different and why you love yourself for it…Sure it sounds simple enough but openly stating your truest self and your rawest emotions can be a little scary especially on the interwebs, where kindness, understanding, and acceptance aren’t exactly a common theme. But I felt called to take the plunge and put myself out there.

Basically I used to wear what was “in” and pretend to enjoy the things that “everyone else” did and in turn was miserable, truly miserable. By wearing what was “in” I felt ugly because #iamunique I have a less than common figure and most clothes aren’t designed to flatter someone with short yogi legs, a ridiculously long torso, and line backer shoulders. I only wish I could go back in time and talk to little Sarah who was crying in dressing rooms wishing to be like everybody else and tell her how happy she would become the moment she embraced her truest self.

I have loved the pinup style for most of my life, even at the age of 4 I worshiped Audrey Hepburn and her flawless glamour. But since pinup was considered over the top by so many I had resigned myself to boring socially acceptable clothes for far too many years. I was denying who I really was everytime I bought myself a pair of skinny jeans and a graphic t-shirt. But all of the denial stopped the very moment I slipped on my Unique Vintage wiggle dress “just for kicks”. Needless to say I bought the dress, but honestly it was so much more than that, it felt like I had bought myself the freedom to be ME.
My first real pinup dress changed everything for me.

By realizing how right I was about my fashion choices I carried that same confidence into other areas of my life. I no longer pretended to enjoy the music that everyone else was listening to, I would unashamedly tell people my big plans for the weekend consisted of  of staying home baking, marathoning Doctor Who, and and snuggling my dog, and if I found something funny I would laugh my witchy cackle and maybe snort a little too. I was no longer ashamed of who I was. I loved me and I didn’t have to fit societies rules to do so.

 Going steady dress

Brenda Dress.

I’m not like everybody else and that’s okay, in fact its more than okay, Its fan-freaking-tastic! By being my truest self I have had so many opportunities open up to me, I’ve become bolder, braver, happier and the people who have chosen to love me for the real me are absolutely irreplaceable. In all honesty I probably wouldn’t have half the friends I do now if I hadn’t started dressing pinup. I discovered myself, and a community of so many beautiful hearts and minds. I just want to extend a huge thank you to Unique Vintage for starting this campaign of self love as well as to my wonderful pinup community that inspires me daily and reaffirms me. Like I said in my #iamunique insta post “yes I am unique but that doesn’t mean I don’t belong”.

Fashion Friday Featuring Lady V London

Well Happy Halloween everyone. Today’s post is not the least bit scary or spooky unless you happen to get the creeps from fabulous dresses at fabulous prices haha.

This week I am featuring the lovely company Lady V London. Lady V is run by husband and wife team Sergio and Victoria whose commitment to their customers, community, and workers is outstanding. From the very start of their company Victoria and Sergio were determined to create beautiful vintage inspired pieces at affordable prices, this means all the products are designed in house, and up until 2013 all of their dresses were made in EU. As of June 2013 Lady V moved their production to London ensuring excellent working conditions, higher standards of construction, and a quicker turn around time producing new designs and stocking old favorites. Beautiful clothes that you can feel good about wearing? It doesn’t get better than that! This shoot was 90% giggles.Gotta do the twirl test, the Isabella passed with flying colors.Earrings: Sam Moon/Similar

Necklace: Sam Moon/Similar

Dress: Lady V London To me this dress is a prime example of why the pinup style is so fun and more practical than you might imagine. The versatility of this dress has got to be one of my favorite features. The bow detailing can be removed in order to change the feel of the dress. Plus the timeless design can easily transition from a casual day out by pairing it with a cardigan, ballet flats, and fun 50’s style pony tail, to an elegant night on the town by ditching the cardigan adding some heels, an updo, and some glitzy jewelry. Also in case you’re wondering the fit of this dress is superb, my measurements are 36″ 27.5″ 36″ so I went with a US size 6 (UK size 10) the dress has ample room for the simple things like moving and breathing 😉 but it doesn’t look the least bit sloppy, oh and my favorite part, it actually has sleeves that can handle my shoulders! Lady V London thank you for making such wonderful dresses ❤

Petticoat: Malco Modes

Gloves: Gift/Similar

Shoes: DSW/Similar

I hope you all enjoyed this post, that you have a very happy Halloween, and that you check out Lady V London.

Fashion Friday Featuring Parisxox

Phew I didn’t know if I was actually going to be able to keep my promise for continued fashion posts this week, things got a little hectic, but I made time for a shoot yesterday, and might I just say how thrilled I am to be sharing it with you all. This week’s post is featuring the classically beautiful shoes from Parisxox! Shoes really are the icing on the cake when it comes to any outfit, and when these shoes just so happen to be “made for” one of your most favorite dresses you know the shoe gods are smiling down on you 😉

Oh goodness gracious these heavenly heels make me happy enough to dance…they’re also comfortable enough to do so in. Score! Parisxox deals mainly in wedding shoes but that doesn’t mean you have to wait til you are tying the knot to get in on the fun. Whether it be a prom, a performance, a formal, or a “I just want some gorgeous shoes day” you cannot go wrong with ordering a pair of lovely shoes from Arbie Goodfellow. Finding the right shoe in the right color is no easy task but thankfully Parisxox changes all that, there are over 100 different shades to choose from, different heel heights and shoe structure, and great add ons and customization to ensure you will be getting everything you wanted and more!
One silly picture for good measure 😉

Earrings: Gift you can get a similar pair from Claires for cheap or if you prefer you can spring for cultured pearls from Macys.

“Fur wrap”: Its actually a faux fur throw blanket haha but RetroVintageWeddings actually has a rather lovely vintage faux fur wrap

Gloves: Gift but you can get a pair from Ebay

Dress: Time Machine Vintage

Heels: Parisxox I am through the roof happy with my heels, I love their classic old Hollywood shape, vibrant Riviera Turquoise blue color, and that they just so happen to have the perfect amount of sparkle to them as well. I’m not into big and flashy but that doesn’t mean I want boring either. Arbie completely understand the fine line between festive and over the top, she has such an amazing eye for detail and is such a joy to talk to. You can really see all the passion and creativity that go into Parisxox pieces and I HIGHLY recommend you consider them for your next shoe purchase.

I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you have a wonderful weekend. Happy Friday!

Fashion Friday Heads to PUG

Happy Friday my lovelies! Words cannot express how excited I am to share this week’s post with you all. Last month I had the great fortune to take a trip to the Los Angeles area, I got to check out Hollywood, Venice, Santa Monica, a few other surrounding areas and best of all I got to visit Burbank! Now what is so special about Burbank you may ask? Well it just so happens to be where Pinup Girl Boutique is located! I did it, I lived the dream of every girl who loves pinup style, I actually got to walk through those magical doors that transport you back to days gone by simply by surrounding you in all things beautiful. I can only compare the experience to that of being a small child who just got their allowance and walked into a candy store. When I first arrived I hardly knew where to look first, there was something I “needed” everywhere my eyes landed, dress after beautiful dress, separates that were so beautiful they could make you cry, and accessories so fantastic you finally understood what it would be like to be an actual Barbie Doll.

   I was in my element you guys!

Seriously Pinup Girl Clothing has something no other stores have nowadays, not only are there clothes like that of days gone by, but there window displays are witty and beautiful, and they give you the individual attention that used to be the norm in our grandparents day and age. True customer service to go along with perfect products? Yes please! As soon as I walked in I was greeted with warm smiles and hello’s, while I was going through picking out dresses to try on, one of the lovely ladies of the store said she could go ahead and put them in the dressing room that way I didn’t have to carry them around while shopping, and while trying on the dresses I was praised with the sweetest of compliments, that truly made me feel beautiful and special. The girls of PUG are beautiful, sweet, and incredibly friendly and helpful if you ever have the chance to go to the boutique BY ALL MEANS GO! Oh also they’re having a yardsale this Sunday so if you’re in the area you certainly don’t want to miss it. If however you do not live in the area you can at least buy the clothes on line, and let me tell ya never in your life are you going to be able to buy ready made clothes that will flatter and fit this well! Yes PUG is a little on the higher end but in this case you’re not paying for a brand you are paying for true quality!

Now on to the dresses. I already knew what I wanted when I walked into the boutique. I am a planner shopper 😉 but I did try on a few things just for kicks, just a few things mind you. I knew if I tried on everything I would inadvertently want everything.

Now I knew that I wanted the Ella Dress but I wasn’t entirely sure what color I wanted. It was nearly impossible to choose they were all so beautiful, and never in my life was I more tempted to blow the budget and buy a second dress when I tried on the ever so sexy Vamp dress! I mean wowie wow wow! This dress does magical things for ones curves…I feel a future purchase coming on you guys. After lots of giggling, going back and forth with which dress I wanted, and conversing with the girls in shop over which Ella I should get I finally picked a color.

The Blue Ella! It was difficult to decide as all the Ellas were just delightfully beautiful, but there was just something about the blue I couldn’t pass up!Needless to say this dress made me feel like a star!I just cannot get over the skirt of this dress! So much glorious fabric, honestly this is why I didn’t feel the least bit sorry about buying this dress, not only is it beautiful, but when you think about how much the fabric would cost you if you were to make this garment yourself it would be well over the cost of this already constructed perfect masterpiece. Plus all of PUG’s pieces are made in the USA, now talk about feeling good about your purchase.Oh ya did I forget to mention? This dress has pocket!!!

Clearly happy about my purchase

Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters

Dress: Pinup Girl Clothing How can words even do this dress justice? The colors are spectacular, the fabric quality is out of this world, the fit is superb and very much true to size, plus its just so pretty! The moment I walked out of the dressing room I couldn’t help but say “I feel like a princess” which is what every girl wants right? This dress is all about detail the gathered peasant bodice, grosgrain bow under the bust, wide waist band, and pockets make for such a glorious combination. I heard all sorts of incredible reviews on PUG pieces and I felt like maybe they were too good to be true. But it is absolutely true. PUG is quality and beauty wrapped up into the most perfect garments you will ever have the pleasure of wearing. Its easy to waste money on cheap pieces of clothing and make do, but wouldn’t you rather buy something that will last through trends as well as wear and tear? I say yes to investing in ourselves, our closets, and in a business that really listens to its customers, and caters to women of all shapes and sizes.

Petticoat: Malco Modes

Shoes: Payless not the exact pair I am wearing. The ones I bought were on clearance so they’re no longer available.

I really hope you all enjoyed this post and that you check out Pinup Girl Clothing. Happy Friday!

Fashion Friday Featuring Kenley Collins

This week’s Fashion Friday will be featuring the incredible Kenley Collins.

Kenley Collins love of fashion started at the young age of 16 when she would reconstruct vintage pieces for herself and her friends to wear. Then after graduating from Florida State University with a marketing degree, Kenley moved on to New York and started working in a sales position at a clothing company. Well less than a year later Kenley was promoted to a position in design where she continued her craft and developed her own fashion niche.

It wasn’t long before the rest of the world to take notice of Kenley’s distinctive vintage inspired pieces and fall in love with her talent. Ms Collins has appeared on Bravo’s Project Runway, Lifetime’s Project Runway Allstars,  Live with Regis and Kelly, The Biography Channel, and E’s Oscar 2011 pre-show. Kenley’s pieces are sold throughout various boutiques, available on her site kenleycollins.com, and can quite often be seen on pop music sensation Ariana Grande. If that isn’t enough to entice you to check her clothes out let the following masses of pictures do so. I was having way too much fun during this shoot 😉

You didn’t very well expect me not to play on the merry-go-round did you?

Flower Clip: Claires

Gentlemen Prefer Dress: Kenley Collins This piece is literally everything I look for in a dress. Beautiful print, versatility of wear, and incredible construction! The royal blue stenciling is absolutely out of this world, believe it or not its even more beautiful in person!The fact that this dress is made out of a slight stretch cotton means its casual enough for everyday wear, but the obvious beauty of it means you won’t have to try hard to dress it up for an elegant evening out, and the construction is positively flawless, there is a bit of boning in the bodice that keep’s the lines of this dress very clean, and the size chart is so spot on! All of the attention to detail make this dress feel custom-made, which is what every woman wants, right? If you’re currently looking for the perfect spring/summer dress I cannot recommend The Gentlemen Prefer Dress highly enough.

Shoes: DSW I wear these shoes so much I think I should invest in different colors 😉

I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you check Kenley Collins out! She is such a true talent, her eye for detail makes her pieces timeless but her playful sense of style makes all of her designs seem new and fresh! Oh and speaking of new be sure to keep tabs on this lady cause her new line drops May 1st, so exciting! I love you guys Happy Friday!

Fashion Friday featuring Heart of Haute pt 2

Hooray we’re finally getting around to part 2 of the Heart of Haute feature. The model for this week is my beautiful younger sister.

Heart of Haute was founded in the home of the mother daughter team Teresa and Amanda Becker in 2005, eventually the business grew to more employees and made its way into an office/warehouse in San Dimas California in 2008, then the very next year the demand grew so much the ladies had to double their warehouse space. The fact that this business started by supplying two local Los Angeles boutiques to over 300 businesses both local and international has got to say something…and it says that their clothing and customer service are positively fantastic. Find out more about this incredible company at http://heartofhaute.com/

Flower Clip: Claires

Dress: Heart of Haute Can we all talk about how adorable this swing dress is? The sweetheart neckline, belted waist, and the precious polka dot print make it the perfect pinup piece. My sister’s measurements are 30″ 25″ and hips don’t matter in a swing dress 😉 my sister should technically be wearing an extra small but she’s very tall (6ft) and has extremely broad shoulders, so the medium fits her everywhere but the bust, its a little too loose in that area. So keep height and broad shoulder in mind when it comes to sizing and if you have any question on sizing you can always ask the incredibly helpful ladies of Heart of Haute.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post and that you check Heart of Haute out, their products are so beautiful and very affordably priced for the high quality you’re getting. Happy Friday guys I love you!