I'm back, with Shoes

Ohh I know, I have been away ages! It is one of those things that once you get out of the habit, it is hard to get back into, like exercise, and eating spinach, or doing your accounts. These last few months have been really busy at Heyday Central and I have been super head-down-locked-into-work mode. But, since you know a bit about me already, you will likely know that it will be SHOE NEWS that brings me back!

My birthday has been and gone (getting older is just one of the things I have been doing!) and Mr Wolf took the hint (written in big letters on his notepad) and bought me these for my birthday from Miss L Fire

He really does love me!

Sadly, by the time my birthday came around and I got them onto my feet I found they were a touch too small for me. I might have done it if they were leather, but raffia just wouldn't have given enough. And by then they had sold out of the size 6s.  Argghh! Shoe birthday anguish!

So, I ended up with these, which I am just as happy with! They are so comfy to walk in, and I had been lusting after them since I saw Yesterday Girl in them at the Chap Olympics.

Aren't they stunners? I confess I have taken the top flower off, so I am left with a tidy cute bow that is a bit more "me". Being a make do and mend girl I have saved the flower to put onto another pair of shoes when needed. I like doing stuff like that

So, now that I am back, I have to let you know that I have a wee give-away coming up, as well as lots of interesting bits of news.  In the meantime, if anyone has a pair of Honolulu Red size 6s to sell then I am buying!

New glasses from Dead Man's Spex

I know why the weather has been so wet recently here in London - it is because I have new Sunglasses!

These were received in the mail just the other day after been promptly fitted out with my prescription by Darren at Dead Mans Spex.

I meet Darren at Hemsby twice a year and once at Twinwood in August (I LOVE Twinwood).

I think I love the case even more than the glasses. Do I use it or keep it safe so it stays pristine forEVER?

Thanks for my new Glasses Darren
(Hoping for sun now)

Shona xx

PS: I won't leave it so long between posts next time - promise
PPS: I have a give away coming up so stay tuned! It's a good 'un

Daffodils and Dresses

A couple of weekends ago Wolf and I headed off to our local park for a quick walk. The blossoms were all in full regalia and we were thrilled to see that someone clever had planted a swirling scroll of Daffodils around one corner of it. These ones were out quite late compared to others but the combination of Daffs and Blossoms was a very happy one!

Thank you clever gardener person, you really made my day.

My outfit that day was a dress I had bought dead stock. It didn't have a label on it, but it did have a paper size tag sewn in the collar, so it was evident it had never been washed until it got to me! It fits me so well that people think I made it for myself. (Thank you little old lady who was a mad shopper but didn't wear everything)

Teamed with a hair flower pinned on as decoration for a bit of flippant-ness

and little square earrings that are a change from my usual flowery earlobes.

Cute buttons

Later the same night I struggled to sleep, so was flipping through my Sears catalog books for inspiration in the wee early hours... and what did I find?

Yes, that is MY dress on the bottom right! Whooo hooo!! Now if I ever have unlimited time and money I want to travel the US piecing together the whole catalog. Oh yes!

I hope you are finding some reasons to feel happy today wherever you are.

Shona xx

I fell off the treadmill

Hello again!!

I am sorry I have neglected you all for so long. I fell off the treadmill!  Nothing bad happened, no catastrophe to blame my slackness on. Not even anything exciting to whisk me away from you all.... nope...nothing but I the fact that I have been worn out, feeling poorly, not sleeping well, having appointments about my dodgy knees and completely full up from just keeping up. So without really intending to I fell off from Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and even REAL people for nearly 6 whole weeks! I haven't even done any sewing, or turned out my summer wardrobe, or watched the rest of the Mad Men series one (I am far behind!). I have barely called my mother. In fact, March? What March? I think I missed it.

What I have been doing is looking after myself, which is a very valuable thing to do. I had to get to 38 before I learnt how. Yet even when things feel at a standstill, life does slowly tick over, so this is a wee update:

I have nearly completed a 6 week beginners course at Burlesque Baby. 

So THAT is how you walk!? Who knew?  And I can tell you, it is a walk that will get you noticed and possibly (hopefully) given free things. I am thinking: Lamborghini, diamonds and champagne, though I will think myself lucky if I get a cuppa tea and a bus ride. Now, I am not planning on becoming a burlesque star, and not even sure I will get my puppies out even in the next block of classes, but my inner Dolly Parton is loving it. As the song goes..."well, hello, Dolly... It's so nice to have you back where you belong". A bit of strutting about goes a long way.

That delectable gymnast above is my teacher, the lovely and gorgeous Ruby Deshabille (pic shamelessly nicked from her facebook page). Ruby, when do we get that stockings off trick in class? (hmmm, on second thoughts, I might not survive the process, having suffocated myself with my own boobs. Maybe not then.)

I've been working away on various projects, one of which started to bear fruit yesterday on a photo shoot with Gordon Ayres. He is REALLY good. Here is a wee taster, including a neighbourhood cat, though it doesn't give nought away yet (heh heh). The model here is the lovely Gemma from Bake do and Mend. 

The rest of everything has been varied...knitting a 30s twinset, off to a masked ball, admiring the daffodils, lapping up Boardwalk Empire and trolling the Hammersmith vintage fair. Even just getting down to work with the doors open and the birds a-larking in the trees has been fab. With spring finally here I have got some bounce back, just like Dolly here.

Yeah HA!

Do you get it wrong sometimes?

I have just been inspired by a lovely new blog called Vintage Rose that I came across today. I love what she says in yesterday's post.  She talks about how she sees others looking at her and believes they are thinking negatively about her style, but in fact they are intrigued and  interested, but their face doesn't show a smile (yet).

It is something I have been wondering about too. Somedays I don't want to be a vintage girl when I am out and about in the normal-people world, just because the day is hard enough to get through without coping with funny stares. I am already a red-head, I am already big busted, I have a New Zealand accent, so even at 5'2" (and the all important 5/8"), I tend to stand out. I like dressing vintage, but I don't like feeling so very different - not all the time anyway. But maybe I, like Vintage Rose, get it wrong sometimes.  Maybe they are not funny stares, maybe they are just - "hey-you-look-interesting" stares. 

For when you need a good cute giggle, click here

It is only because we think that other humans are THINKING something that we assume it might be bad, especially if we are already a bit worried. We don't worry about what our cat thinks of our outfit do we? No, because we know they are just thinking about the next meal or, maybe, how to murder the next door dog.

When a stranger passes me and gives me a look, sometimes I have had the guts to break into a smile, even only a shy one, and I always get a really big smile back. It is kind of - "hey I see you looking at me" and "yes, I like your outfit" in silence.

Let me know about you. Are you really brave with your style regardless? Do you save the best bits for when your vintage friends are going to see you, so they understand and appreciate it? Do you have a mechanism to cope with extra attention, good or bad?

Just some bows on shoes

I thought I would talk about bows on shoes.

Who doesn't love them?

(Sorry, left pesky super stuck label on cos I was in a hurry)

But sometimes the shoemakers get it a bit wrong in trying to be funky.  These office shoes originally came with rags as laces:

I can see what they are trying to do, a distressed finish to modern up these lacy lovelies, but skinny cheap cotton rags tend to rip, in fact a bit ripped off when I even tried them on in the shop.  So now that they are safe at home with me they have their new grosgrain bows that are just the right amount of floppy to be lush and just the right amount of form to be ladylike. I love grosgrain ribbon.

I also have this pair from Hush Puppies (a year old now) and their original satin ribbons with false leather on the end comes undone all the time, and sits out too stiff and proud - making them look like witchy shoes to me. 

So now the navy ones have been grosgrained too, and they no longer come undone.

The 4 year old in me really liked the idea of contrasting ribbons, say melon or red or even cream. Or maybe some with spots on them (this might yet be re-visited). But then I remembered that I am closer to 40 than 4. Damn. They have enough girlish-ness to them already I think.

I am a funny one for finishing off the ends of bows.  They either need a diagonal line or a shape "V" cut into the ends.  For these bows I made a diagonal cut and then sealed the end by holding it really close to a candle flame. This melts the synthetic fibre and seals the edge so it won't fray. My dad used to do it with bits of nylon rope and things like webbing straps on backpacks, so that must be how I know about it. 

I feel the need to do a disclaimer now: it won't work on natural fibres, they will just catch fire. Don't do it if you are not an adult. Be careful of your clothing/hair/cat catching fire. Be sensible about it. A candle is manageable since you need to get close to the flame, bonfires: not so easy. Have a bucket of water, a loaded fire extinguisher or a topless fireman handy.  I recommend the fireman; they tend to be more effective, but he MUST be topless. Not advisable to melt ribbon while drinking. Definitely advisable to melt into fireman after drinking. Do not melt and drive. Wear a seatbelt. And finally, have a little practise first on a scrap piece of ribbon

Vintage adventures in the Isle of Wight

Hello and welcome to a new week. Mr Wolf worked out that we are 1/7th of our way through the year already. Sometimes you just want to smack him.
But... you can't... because you are away for your anniversary weekend and are supposed to be being nice to each other (which in truth we are really). I had a minor melt down yesterday (not a BAD one, just a TOO MUCH one) so this is Monday's post out on Tuesday - see, we are only 2 days into the week and I am already behind!


Anyhoo... We had a great time on the island and it turned into quite a vintage adventure weekend. I did as many Charity shops as I could muster then I did the knitting shops too. Surprisingly, we found there to be a decent vintage scene out there.
We met Tracy from Suze's Room in Ventnor:

And along the way we found Odds and Sods in Shanklin:

Who sent us on to Oh So...Vintage! in Newport:

(Now this is embarrasing, that style pattern was my ball dress in 1990. Back then it wasn't vintage)

We also walked out to The Needles, leaning into the wind the whole way and checked out the wartime gun battery out there.

(The "after" shot of my hair has been canned for fear that Darren Dead Man will tease me forever about it)

As a fitting end, on Sunday we went to the "Dairyman's Daughter" for lunch and happened across a wonderful swing band. Gosh they were fab!  

We worked off the roast by dancing the afternoon away on the cobblestone floor (tricky on my 193 yr old dodgy knees). From left; Rupert, Keith (also known as Arthur!?), Brian and Bob are amazing musicians with not a piece of sheet music between them. From what we can work out they have an impressive background; highly trained, quite famous really and are terribly nice and funny too. We think they make the most amazing live music we have heard for awhile. For reference, they are known as "Menage", being a bit of a play on the words "Men Age" and they play either at the Dairyman's Daughter or at the Glasshouse restaurant regularly.

What we DIDN'T get to is Cameos in East Cowes, and to check out Vintage Vacations (forgot they were based on the IoW until Tracy mentioned them). Oh and I needed another day on the charity shops! Does anyone else have vintage contacts in the IoW to add?

We hope to go again since the Island also reminds us of the NZ countryside. Perhaps in Summer though... and without the windy trip to the Needles.