The gift of spring...a goofy title for a outfit post

I have a new favourite dress. Wait till you see the print!!

Yup, it actually has wrapped gifts all over it, with different initials on the tags. So now the title of this post makes more sense eh?

And it it has orange highlights. Orange is good

You may or may not know by now that when we are taking photos, I just goof around pretending to be a proper model. Posing is quite fun when you goof. 

We were thrilled to see that our local park did the same wiggly line of daffodils that they had last year. 

I'd do that too if I was a gardener at a park

Shona x

The info bit:

Dress, vintage bought at the jukebox show

Bolero, knitted by my mum-in-law

Shoes, second hand Rocket dog. Needed a good clean after walking in the damp grass!

Hair flower, made by me

Glasses, vintage by Dead men's Spex

jewellery bits and bobs - all vintage from various stalls

Don't forget to enter our best ever giveaway if you haven't already done so, the competition ends midnight BST Sunday http://intheheyday.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/its-competition-time-our-biggest-prize.html

It's Competition Time! Our biggest prize ever!

Whooppee! 

We have reached some milestones on both Twitter and the Blog this month. With over 1000 followers on Twitter and 'nearly' 500 here, we figured it was time for a giveaway. Great news for you of course!

What would you choose? One of our new Fleur dresses? So new that only Dolly has worn it!

Will you put the voucher towards our gorgeous suit?

Or do you fancy a complete outfit of trousers and cute blouse?

This is the giveaway to end all giveaways, as we are offering one lucky person a £100 Heyday voucher. A voucher seems most fair in that it is international and also unisex, so you can buy exactly what you want.

We are going to finish the competition at Midnight Sun 1st April BST. The code itself will be valid for a whole 3 months, so there is no rush.

We've made this competition just a wee bit different than before so please read our criteria below

The competition rules are straight forward and offer three chances to get involved, however you must state either here, on Twitter or a Blog entry what you will buy if you win. Please note, if you don't include what you would buy your entry won't be counted. 

• For one entry, leave me a comment below, remember to state what you would buy!
• For another entry, you can retweet my give away, including a comment about what you would buy
• For a third entry, post about the giveaway on your own blog, again stating what you would buy.  Three chances! Whooopee!

Please take careful note that each time you enter you must leave a separate comment here. Don't leave me one comment saying you've done all three things, as it will only be counted once! 

If you comment to say you've retweeted or blogged, please post the link.

The competition will close THIS Sunday 1st April at Midnight BST


Good Luck!

Make do and Mend: You're gonna want to copy this!

The Wolf and I were away when I lost one of my favourite earrings. I loved these ones so much.

So VERY much.

But what is one to do when you know the lost earring isn't in the house/handbag/car somewhere and that it can't ever find its way home?

Keeping the one that you do have is just a sad reminder of the pair you once had. *sigh*

Hey, unless you make it into a ring!

One ring back (available online and bead shops and the like), a spot of glue later...

...and I have a one-off, designer ring!

Please please please, if you spot a pair of earrings like this in your travels - please pick it up for me! I'd happily 

reimburse you!

Shona x

Can you wear Navy with Brown?

On Thursday night I had a dinner date with a friend who lives out of town. I had one of those nothing to wear days, until I decided navy CAN be worn with brown.

(slightly out of focus sorry I took this with the self timer, and clearly the camera was ignoring my posing feet)

Selection of charity shop bangles. 

This is my "exotic craft" collection. You know... instead of the bakelite or bamboo collection

(While I remember, go here to see Solanah's Bakelite Tutorial)

 Jewellery spanning many decades

Final outfit (before I remembered I had those cool socks).

I was doing a Wonder Woman pose for some reason - and getting teased for it too!

Shona x

Top (modern), bangles (not very old), ring (70s I think) - all charity shop
Trousers - my own design, some similar ones due in any day now
Brooch and earrings both 50s/60s - somewhere on my travels
Shoes - Hush puppies

Do you know how to take off a coat with elegance?

With Spring finally sprung here in the UK I've turned back to our "in search of charm" book for the advice of Mary Young for how to elegantly take our coats off. 

Did you even think there was a better way of doing it? 

Do you do it "like a schoolboy"?

I love the classiness of not having the arms "flying in all directions"

And look, we can improve on it even more with the advanced version!

I actually remember my mother practicing this advanced version when she got a fake fur jacket in the 80s. She did it with Liz Taylor style aplomb, and still does. 

Posh Mum.

Shona x

A Warm Spring

At least, we are hoping for a nice warm spring here in the UK, but what I really mean is "Warm Spring" is the name of my Colour-Me-Beautiful skin tone.
Some people scoff at it, but I believe that is because they have never had a consultation. Or because they happen to be people who are easily catered for in the shops...or because they suit black. For pale reds like me, getting my colours done was a REVELATION!!

from the Colour-Me-Beautiful website

To be honest, I got them done when I was 21, which was *mumble mumble* years ago now. My Mum shouted us both for our birthdays so it was a really neat ladies day together.

 They have changed the names of the skin tone groups now, but my colours are still applicable to me. There are other companies too, my Gal Pal Jenny got hers done through House of Colour and swears by that too.

After getting my colours done I was finally not confused about what colours suited me. Fashionable colours are not always the best for me.Vintage colours, when they used more greys, tans and greens do! (Happy result that!)

You can see from my colour swatches that I have a ton of greens, yellows, oranges and tans, but only a few blues - Navy, Medium blue, and Periwinkle (which is getting towards purple). In fact that shade of Medium blue looks so good on me that one might think I suit blue in general, but all other blues make me look quite ill.  Grey, purple and taupe are all fantastic on me, they, or rather I, come alive in them (Must. Buy. More.)

Teals and turquoises are easy for me to wear

Melon and peach tones were also new for me. I don't have any true pinks, as, like blue, it just drains me whereas the right shade of pale apricot makes me look quite tanned!

It helped that my colour consultant was really good. I happened to get Daphne James in Wellington (NZ) who is amazing. You want one that is really experienced as you will be basing your wardrobe around her advice. As she assured me at the time, I found that all the colours blend well together and build a co-ordinated wardrobe quite easily.
It is quite expensive (starting at £95 in the UK) but when I take it with me shopping, it keeps me grounded to what suits me and what doesn't. Meaning far less expensive mistakes cluttering up the wardrobe.
The rules don't have to be in concrete, for instance I still have some black items simply because they are easy to co-ordinate with. They tend to be trousers, skirts and shoes or undergarments. They were dead cheap to begin with and I have kept them for years as they are simply practical to finish off an outfit - like a black cardigan that I got at a car boot. I have a black dress that is great to travel with and it fits really well but I always accessorise to add some colour near the face and use lashings of mascara and make up.

I realised just the other day that Ange from Redressing is a colour consultant and she talks more about the spring colour palette on her blog of the 5th March (for some reason I can't link directly to that post)

What about you? Know any consultants you would recommend?

Shona x

Retro Interiors at Laura Ashley

I was sent the recent Laura Ashley catalog in the mail the other day. I don't think I've bought anything there in over two years, but I'm pleased they did because it is drop dead gorgeous. And in particular... I'm talking WALLPAPER. We are in So much trouble when we eventually get a place of our own because I struggle to choose just one of these.
I do apologise that I resorted to photographing the pages since I couldn't pick them up from the website

This wallpaper is clearly designed to bring a 50s/early 60s feel to a place, but in small doses it could lend itself to a bonkers 30s look as well

Isn't this one pretty, just enough colour to be interesting and I think could cover a multitude of eras depending on what colours you bring out of it

Clearly a streamlined 30s look, which is my favourite kind of interiors decoration. I am loving everything about this lay out, from the chandelier, the blue sofa, the single chair, the mirror, to the coffee table.

I'm in lust with this floor lamp, though I would love a chandelier hanging like sparkly droplets instead of the light shade. I think it would finish the striking arch off better. The upholstery on the chair is also lovely

A bit of lovely lavender in your bedroom? and one Mahoosive mirror on the right. Swoon.

Here's my lamp again in a different setting.

Yes please. Windows like THAT in my dining room!

And here is the best pic of my favourite wallpaper. Isn't that lovely?

Shona x

Highbrow Tutorial

Do you notice people brows? They are not really something that you immediately notice, even though they can have quite an impact on the face. A good brow really helps a vintage look

I don't have amazzzing brows. Nor are they completely natural... mine are quite made up. 

But you can see why...

 I let them go wild for as long as I could before I showed you this, my pale overgrown, natural woolly GRANDAD Brows. Complete with patchy bits, a couple of greys (my only ones mind you, for which I am thankful!), uneven, long-haired, fluffy and curly, and they are also a bit scant (ok, that might be my fault for over plucking in the 90s).  

I can hear my brother laughing from here. See how much I love you to share this with you??

To start getting these under control, I brush my hairs up, to get those long ones visible and see who is out of line

 Then I trim them where they stand outside of the rest. Before I learnt to trim, I would pluck these long babies, but that leads to more scant patches, and I don't have enough to start with

 Then I do the same combing them down, and trimming again

 Here we are, with my left eye trimmed, and my right eye untrimmed. You can see what a difference it makes before we even get into plucking

 Then I DYE them. Yip! Some people dye their hair, I dye my brows instead. I really recommend it for fair brow types. I do mine at home now with a pack from the chemist. I dye before plucking because then I can see what I have to work with!

 Follow the instructions on the pack. I've found it goes on better with a old clean mascara brush

 I dab up any dribbles with cleanser or cold cream

While I'm at it I do my lashes too, though they don't last as long and I tend to use mascara anyway. 

And then we wait. I leave mine on longer than the packet says, as I find it fades quite quickly in the first week.  15 mins seems right for me. (Please find out your own best times rather than relying on me, since all dye packs will be different!)

And we wait. This is clearly when Hubby got bored...*Sigh*

 A quick mop up ...

 ...and we are into plucking.   To help get an arched effect I pluck my line high up at the top. I also pluck above the line if necessary, as it is all about getting definition.

 And I taper it quite thinly on the downwards slope. With my grandad brows I also have to watch the pesky ones above my nose. You can see my left brow is already looking in great shape. I like my left brow

 So here we are all trimmed, dyed and plucked. Much more presentable! And yet, for a vintage brow we are not yet done...Now I get out the eyebrow pencil and start really defining it, and filling in the bits I don't grow well myself. I use an eyebrow crayon from MAC in a shade called "lingering".

 Starting with the inside corner, I round out and fatten this bit, especially on my right eyebrow which is shorter and less arched than my left. Some vintage looks are straight up and down at the nose but that doesn't suit me

Then I create the arch in a sweeping curve up to the high point of my brow. I define the edges on the top and the bottom and for me, I keep the bottom line right under the natural hairs, and let the top edge go slightly higher than the hairs to create more plumpness and shape.

 Once I reach the top of the arch I go straight out towards the temple. If you keep shaping the arch and curving on the way down, then you can look a little questionable because the brow comes too close to the eye.
This tail of the brow is so important to complete the look that I extend this line by about 5mm (1/5th of an inch)...or about 7mm if I feel like showing off! It seems strange do this at first, but believe me, know one will ever notice.

Now we have my right eye penciled, left one not. You can see I need to do more filling and fattening up at the nose edge of my right eye brow to match my left eyebrow.

 So here are my finished brows. They are quite a lot stronger than my natural ones eh? 

Once I have eye shadow on it is not nearly as pronounced.

So there you have it, what I do with my eyebrows. Once done they do last quite a while with just a bit of maintenance. I hope you found it useful. My lovely brother would have got his entertainment from it at least!!

I'm sure some of you have particular tricks that differ from mine. Do feel free to share them in the comments so that others can benefit!

Shona x