Fair Time!

The bi-annual Love Vintage Fair is over again for another year and as per usual it was overwhelmingly awesome. So much gorgeous vintage in one place, and so many special and lovely sellers!

This year I went along on the opening Friday night with my mate Erin (who looked lovely in this vintage midi dress bought on Etsy) and got to enjoy first dibs on all the good stuff. Despite that, I was very restrained in my purchasing, not least because I actually ran out of time to try things on!

I did, however, pick up some lovely plastic hair-clips from the ladies at Sugared Accessories (see their lovingly laid-out stall above), as well as some new earrings that might get a run at my mate Liana's wedding next Saturday (so exciting). I was tempted to visit again over the weekend, but I restrained myself. Besides, the six months will surely go by in a flash (oh, and the Fair is now coming to Melbourne!).

Beautiful Things

I spent the Queen's birthday long weekend up north at my parents place. Whenever I head up there I always make plans to catch-up on work, blogging, writing and such but once I arrive I'm struck down by a malaise that sees me barely leave the couch.

Luckily this time I did manage to leave the house for the annual Port Macquarie quilt show and I wore my recently purchased green cashmere sweater, which suits my most treasured brooch - a 1940s reverse carved Lucite creation and a gift from the hubby - to a tee.

Isn't my beautiful little birdy sweet?

My Mum had a quilt in the show for the first time; although it was hard to get a decent photo, it is the green, red and gold wall hanging with the geisha's.

The whole show was really impressive, so for the crafty types and lovers of beautiful things generally, here are a few more quilts that caught my fancy. The one at the bottom won the people's choice prize.

The Wedding Photos Are In: The Details

The hubby and I collected our wedding photos from Sebastian T Photography yesterday. Such a happy occasion ... it almost makes up for the fact that I am battling a horrible cold.

I have the opportunity now to plug all the wonderful people/organisations that helped to create the bridal party outfits. It was so much fun pulling everything together that I can't help continuing the search for beautiful pieces. I hope I'm not driving my engaged friends mad!

Rebecca's bejewelled purse was discovered by my mother-in-law at the Rozelle markets.

And mine was discovered at the Sydney Antique Centre. It is 1970s, but in my eyes it is timeless.

The floral arrangements Naomi Jones created for the bridal part were divine. I provided her with a colour chart and asked her to stick to the "vintage Hawaiian" theme and then gave her free reign. The results were spectacular.

The hair clips, earrings and brooch that Rebecca and I wore were found at this fabulous site called Accessories of Old. Based out of Maryland in the US, they have a huge collection of new old costume jewellery, and all the items I bought were from the Czech Republic circa 1950s. They all arrived on their original cards, and my wedding was their first ever outing.

Rebecca's dress is a vintage reproduction we picked up at Sandie Bizy's in Annandale. She looks utterly gorgeous in peach and she wore a crinoline underneath the frock to give it that beautiful volume.

My dress was an Etsy purchase from Timeless Vixen Vintage's store. I've just noticed that they've uploaded another 1950s Ceil Chapman, and for fans of the designer, I can assure you I was completely happy with mine. I also think I got it for a pretty reasonable price. I've seen some Ceil's for sale at $1,500 ... my dress cost less than the hubby's suit! And I've yet to see another one like it.

A look at my hair clip, earrings and brooch. I tried my best to stick with a pastel theme for my whole outfit, and chose colours that complemented the silvery blue of my frock's sash.

I bought my delicate baby blue gloves the week before the wedding from Sandie Bizy's. I think they gave my outfit that final element of ladylike polish, plus made me feel special.

Rebecca and I wore the same fabric covered shoes from Wittner. The bows provided a nice synergy with the bow on my dress.

A big thanks again to Sebastian and Lee for the photos. What a tremendous wedding gift. I will never forget the generosity of our friends.

A little black vintage dress

I know every woman is meant to own at least one little black dress, but since my rejection of black around 10 years ago - after wearing it to death in the late 90s, when it was almost the only colour you could buy - I have not had a go to little black dress in my closet. Despite my admiration for Audrey, I've never particularly followed her style tenets; there is no crisp white shirt or ballet flats lurking in my wardrobe either.
But yesterday as I ran around the city frantically finishing off wedding errands, I stopped into the monthly Vanity Fair Vintage Market for half an hour, and I was dared to try on this rather flash LBD. Lo and behold it fit and I loved it and when I got home I found it looked rather nifty with my wedding shoes.

Dress: vintage from Coco Repose
Purse: thrifted, gift from my almost mother-in-law
Shoes: Wittner
Bracelets: Sugared Vintage

Sugared Vintage is a brand new jewellery business started by a couple of Sydney lasses who were proudly displaying their wares at the market yesterday. They are importing some gorgeous new jewellery lines from the US, but their collection of new/old vintage Lucite bangles, earrings and more are simply gorgeous. The perfect way to add a pop of colour to any outfit, here are a few of the lovelies I found on their website.

A vintage cocktail party and a new purchase

The Sydney Antique Centre's vintage clothing concession threw a lovely little Valentines Day soiree for their loyal customers today. Apparently staff were up until 2am creating the luscious treats on offer, including shortbread with berries and cream and delicious chocolate brownies.

The vintage clothing section at the Centre was launched only a few months ago and provides retro living guys and gals with a whole little "street" of vintage wares from a number of collectors. I've been very restrained this summer and have bought little new (old) clothes or new (new) clothes, come to think of it. But bolstered by yummy treats and egged on by fellow frock lovers, I tried on a few pieces and eventually bought this 1960s shift. It features a very pale pastel print, a low V-neck back and pretty bow features on the sleeves. It is also in great nick and comes with its original belt. I think it's the perfect little frock for the office.

Concession holder Lou Murray Vintage offers wonderful cocktail and evening frocks, including the ones shown here, + a great selection of coats for the coming winter. The lovely Amanda from Coco Repose tried on a to die for 60s swing coat that would be perfect for jumping in and out a convertible.

Grant from Libertine Jewels has an impressive selection of sparkly bits and one-of-a-kind bags,

including a highly collectible Enid Collins wooden box purse.

And the Coco Repose girls keep a concession in the Centre that is delightfully colour coordinated and packed with feminine and frilly goodies. They have a fantastic 1950s Mexican circle skirt on their rack at the moment, but alas it didn't quite fit and my pile of "to be altered" items almost needs its own wardrobe.

If you are feeling low between Vintage Fair fixes, the Sydney Antiques Centre offers a mini version that can easily tide you over. Perhaps just leave the credit card at home.

So much vintage, my head is spinning ...

This past weekend was the bi-annual Love Vintage Fair at Canterbury Racecourse; by far and away the largest and most eagerly anticipated event on the vintage clothing calendar. In the past I've rocked up on a Saturday morning, when the Fair resembles Tokyo's Shinjuku Station on a busy Monday morning, but this time around I decided to make the journey on Friday evening. The opening night crowd was far more manageable and many of the keen shoppers were suitably attired in their best vintage gear; ladies, men and children all looked wonderful . My dear friend Cath and I got an early look at many of the amazing vintage finds that were no doubt snapped up by the time Sunday afternoon rolled around.

A vintage clothing fair is a little bit like a mall for vintage lovers, except unlike a mall your chances of seeing the same thing twice are almost nil. There is usually something for every taste and every style of collector; from those who love antique hand-made lingerie, to crafty types who collect vintage fabrics and ephemera to sculpt into lovely new things to ladies like me who are suckers for pretty 50's, 60's and 70's dresses. There is so much to tempt. I love meeting new vintage vendors I haven't encountered before and bonding over our passion for beautiful bits and pieces from the past. The whole evening really did have my head spinning and my wallet yawning as money spontaneously ran-out.

Truth be told, I didn't go too crazy, as my recent move has already had my bank account shedding tears. I bought a Christmas gift for my Mum (who is one of those crafty types, clever thing) and the cute pink plastic brooch I'm wearing above.

What really impressed me at this year's Fair though, was the quality of the vintage hats on display, perfect for the current Spring Racing season. I met this wonderful mother and daughter from Adelaide - Briony Nottage - who create one-of-a-kind hats from vintage fabrics (they also create teddy bears!). There were several I was sorely tempted by. I also met Jacinta Sanders, an enthusiastic collector and vendor devoted to the art of millinery. I had come across her great E-bay store shop circa 239 before, but the hats she had available in the flesh were even more gorgeous. And in her case I couldn't resist. I purchased a very glam hat from the late 1940's which I'm keeping under wraps as I may decide to wear it for my wedding. Meanwhile I keep trying it on when the betrothed is out of the house.

Here are just a couple of the hats you can bid for at Jacinta's e-bay store right now ...

A wonderful coincidence for the evening was meeting new author Charlotte Smith, owner of the Darnell Collection, on the same day I received my advance copy of the book from the publisher. Dreaming of Dior, which arrived gift-wrapped in fashion illustrations, is being published by HarperCollins on the 1st November. The gift-wrap - for media and select retailers - is an inspired marketing move and I love the cover treatment, which features a classic New Look Dior dress overlaid with black felt.

Charlotte and I posed with our books by her stall, which featured some of her priceless vintage clothing collection, inherited from her American quaker godmother Doris Darnell. The collection is too precious to be for sale and Charlotte told me she is now continually adding to it. It includes more than three thousand pieces dating from 1790 to 1995, many of which are designer couture made available to fashion design students to draw inspiration from.

The Darnell Collection is apparently well-known to vintage afficiandos in the US, but they may not know that it is now residing in Australia with Doris' god-daughter. When Charlotte inherited the gorgeous gowns they arrived with catalogue notes which told the story of each dress and it's original owner. It is these stories which form the basis of this delightfully illustrated book.

I know I've said this a thousand times before in press releases, but this book really would make the perfect gift for a fashion loving friend. The stories and dresses I've dipped into thus far have seriously warmed my heart. Love, love, love it.

More on another new book I purchased at the Fair later ...

Favourite Fixations

The lovely Greetz from Greetz from Tiz posted the other day about her current obsession for berets, and it got me thinking about my current obsessions. I've talked about Hawaiian dresses in a previous post (and how sunny and fresh is this lovely one from Vintage Kitten?) but some other fixations that are occupying my waking moments between bed and work include:

1950's fashion models like the ridiculously elegant Jean Patchett

And 1990's supermodels, whom I grew up idolising and are now making a delightful comeback.
Hurrah for models with personality!

Vintage hats, perfect for Spring racing, like this royal blue feather concoction from Circa Vintage Hats.

My obsession with vintage costume jewellery endures. The brighter they sparkle and shine the better.

Holidays. Half the fun is dreaming of your destination and the beautiful memories then comfort you for weeks. One of my colleagues just spent the long weekend at beautiful Seal Rocks on the North Coast, and I quite fancy staying in this very house, next to the lighthouse there. Summer is coming - yippee!

Karl Lagerfeld's stand-alone ready-to-wear collection was understated and eminently wearable perfection but his collection for Chanel was truly squeal inducing. It included another one of my fixations; floral prints. Love, love this print and this dress. And I love that he had Lily Allen performing on a runway which resembled a barn-yard.

Robert Pattinson.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The feminine and elegant Governor-General Quentin Bryce (obviously the foxy lady in co-ordinated green) plus

sartorial risk-taker and international trendsetter, the lovely US First Lady Michelle Obama.

And last but not least ... cardboard boxes. Because I am in the midst of moving house and I'm completely surrounded by them. Who knew I had so much stuff.