My Unplanned Hiatus Explained.

Hello Kittens!

Happy New Year. I hope your festive season was full of laughter, love and happiness.

Now I know I've been a very naughty girl by neglecting this blog. I am sorry if you thought I had abandoned you, but, to be honest, there has been quite a lot going on in my world and you all deserve an explanation.

I've been hiding a little secret:

I am going to be a mamma!

At present, I am 18 weeks along. It has been a bit of a bumpy ride as this is not my first pregnancy since my wedding back in May last year, but we are now all happy and healthy and looking forward to a little bundle's arrival in early June of 2010.

So now you understand my lack of outfit posts - nothing in my vintage wardrobe quite fits anymore and alas, it may be a while til I regain some semblance of a waistline! While I have always loved the glamour of vintage, I am finding that this unfortunately didn’t extend to maternity wear styles of yesteryear!

So I put it to you, darlings - what would you like to see here on Vintage Verve in 2010?

I don't want to bore you with baby or pregnancy related things (there are so many other wonderful blogs out there that cover these topics), unless you are interested in how I am going to try and translate my personal style around my ever-expanding.... well..... my ever-expanding everything!!

Your comments and suggestions will all be read and taken into consideration so please do leave your thoughts in the comments section of this post.

xx VV

Some helpful links:
Miscarriage Information
SANDS

Sunny Sunday

There are lots of classic designers of beautiful vintage clothing but there are a couple that I just love. One of those is Alfred Shaheen of Hawaii. Shaheen was famous for his stunning prints that were all made in his self built Oahu printing workshop and his designs of men's and woman's clothing were made by seamstress trained by his mother. From humble beginnings, Alfred became one of the most creative and prolific manufacturers in the post WW2 fashion boom.


Some of you may know of the gorgeous eBay store, Whirling Turban who base many of their reproduction styles on his designs from the 50's & 60's.

When I first saw this dress I knew I had to have it. The halter neck that buttons at the neck with three self covered buttons. The low back, the wrap around tie at the waist, the beautiful rose print (with famous "Shaheen" signature) and maxi style skirt it screamed "love me all summer long". I jumped at the chance to snap it up. Ok, so it was a little on the small side, but lately this Vintage Vixen has been a very good kitty kat and as a result it fits now (cue applause please).




I've tried to capture the low back that is attached to the belt that wraps around to the front:

I was so excited to see that it came with rare matching shawl, so rare that these two high quality pieces have not only survived beautifully, but have not been separated.

Taking it to the Max

There is one particular style that seems to be in all the stores at the moment, I for one am loving it:


The Maxi Dress.



It's good news for the bigger Vintage Vixens amongst us as there are lots of different styles in stretchy jersey that hug your curves in all the right places and natural cotton/linen to keep you cool during the glorious spring weather Melbourne is having at the moment.





The best thing about this style is that you can either dress it up or down with your accessories. As this dress is strapless, I chose to bling it up a little with a chunky necklace, brown belt and bronze flat sandals. The messy 'up do' was inspired in part by the Grecian goddess look. I might need to work on that one a bit methinks!


Dress, Necklace and belt from Instore, Carlisle St St Kilda
Shoes from boutique on Hayman Island