See This - Coco Avant Chanel

Last night, I escaped the wintry Melbourne weather with a trip to the cinema with some fellow bloggers including Fashion Hayley, Super Kawaii Mama and Sea of Ghosts to watch Audrey Tatou's portrayal of fashion icon Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel.

What This Movie Is About:

The movie gave a very in-depth look at the background of Coco before her career in couture in Paris. It charts her rise from tavern-singer to hat maker and the people who influenced her including her sister and various friends and lovers.

What This Movie Isn't About:

The clothes.

This is a story for devotees of Chanel the woman, rather than Chanel, the fashion house.

There was one scene where Chanel clad models drifted down a mirrored staircase like so many pieces of brightly coloured confetti (I literally held my breath during this gorgeous visual feast), but this movie is about Coco the non-conformist.

I still enjoyed this film and thought Tatou's Chanel was executed very well. There were many scenes where Coco had no dialogue, but her thoughts and moods leapt from Audrey Tatou's eyes, carriage and subtle facial expressions.

Thanks to Nuff Nang for generously providing the tickets and my fellow bloggers for a lovely night out.

Super Kawaii Mama, Fashion Hayley, Sea of Ghosts and yours truly.

Resting now...

Michael Jackson - The man who warned us about going around breaking young girls hearts, gave us the Moonwalk and THE best excuse ever (blame it on the boogie) has gone.


And Farrah. As a young girl I dreamed of having your smile and your hair. I still want your hair.




People who die are never truly gone as long as we remember them. RIP.

And The Bride Wore...

Non-Vintage (Quell Horror!)

Hello Kittens! It's been a whirlwind of a month for me - first getting married and then jetting off on honeymoon.

But now I am back in Melbourne and settling in to married life (and attempting to get back into work mode....).

I've had a few requests for me to do a post about my wedding as there has been quite a bit of speculation as to what a Vintage Clothing blogger would wear as a bride.

Sorry to disappoint, but I decided not to wear vintage. Now before you run for the smelling salts, let me explain why.

First and foremost, a wedding is about two people coming together to celebrate their marriage. You hear a great deal about how a wedding is "all about the bride" but that is just not true, kittens (and don't let anyone tell you otherwise). The groom is equally as important and I detest the multi-billion dollar industry that breeds the attitude that they are merely an appendage on the big day.

Mr VV supports my vintage obsession with good grace, but it is really my, not his thing, if you understand what I mean and I wanted our wedding day to be about us - not just me.

I chose instead to wear very special heirloom pieces. Or, they will become heirloom pieces now.

My very wonderful and talented Mother Verve (MV) made my gown and my new Mother-in-law made my Cathedral length veil. MV also made the dresses for my brides maids, the flower girl and also made our delicious wedding cake.

If you look closely, you may be able to spot my something blue (that after 6 hours had to be changed lest they cripple me during our dancing).


With my adorable niece flower girl


Father Verve walking me down the aisle.


Back view of my train and veil


Mr VV and I during our bridal dance.

Having the women in my family hand make my wedding gown and veil make them even more sentimentally valuable to me. All the fittings, discussions and sewing in the lead up to our wedding day were lovely bonding experiences that we will have to share forever.

And who knows.... perhaps one day one of my own children or a niece or even a great niece or grand daughter may want to wear an heirloom dress or veil, that will just so happen to be a carefully stored and pre-loved vintage item.

Bridal Belles

Hello Kittens

I'm off to be married tomorrow and then Mr VV is whisking me away overseas for our honeymoon, so I'll be gone for a couple of weeks.

In the mean time, here are some classic vintage brides for you to enjoy.



See you in a month!

xx

Channelling Mad Men - The Secretarial Pool

I have firmly caught the Mad Men bug, especially now that it is available on free to air TV in Australia (8.30pm Thursday nights, SBS).
Here is my homage to the secretarial pool:

Black pencil skirt - so old I can't remember where it came from. White polyester (I know... I know...) sheer blouse thrifted from Hunter Gatherer eons ago.

As always the devil (and charm) is in the details. The micro-pleat texture never needs pressing (purfect for this Kitten, who lacks any skill with an iron) and ruffles on each sleeve is mirrored in the high neckline too.

The decorative button and bow detail on the front ties in nicely with the functional buttons down the back.

All I need now is a note pad and pen.... take a letter Miss Verve....

Stop Staring! Ok, You Can Look!

As per my previous post, last Sunday I got together with some wonderful Australian bloggers to meet, share blogging tips and tricks and have just a jolly good afternoon.

I pulled out a dress that I have only worn once to the races a couple of years ago and decided it needed another outing. From the US label Stop Staring Clothing, this dress has a vintage 50's look, with modern fabric and detailing. The bengaline fabric has just the right amount of stretch to be both flattering and supremely comfortable.

Slightly over-exposed photo, but a good indication of the 'new look' shape of this dress.

I love the opportunity to wear my crinoline (petticoat). Click to make all my images larger Kittens.

Neckline and tie/button detail

Bright red lips were the order of the day!

I'm only posting this photo because if you look carefully, you'll see a butterfly flitted past just as the shot was taken. Can you see it?

Stop Staring make some really lovely vintage reproduction dresses, which is very handy if you, like me, are not strictly a vintage purist. As I am not a collector of museum pieces, I see nothing wrong with altering a vintage piece to suit or fit me better. Clothing is (IMHO), after all, meant to be worn.

Meet Me In Melbourne

Well Melbourne certainly turned on all its charm for the Meet Me in Melbourne Bloggerati get together at Federation Square yesterday afternoon.


It was a great opportunity to get together, talk fashion, blogging, inspiration and to generally just share the love!

It was, let me tell you Kittens, a very stylish turn out too. In attendance:

Lady Melbourne
Angela See Angela Blogg
The boys from NuffNang
Circa Vintage Clothing
Fashion Hayley
Ink and Leather (all the way from Canberra!)
Poppet Vintage
Lady Smaggle
AusStyle
Sea of Ghosts
Super Kawaii Mama

Yours truly with Super Kawaii Mama, sending our respects to Imelda (photo courtesy of Sea of Ghosts)

David from NuffNang and Fashion Hayley


SKM, Ink and Leather and gorgeous Lady Smaggle


AusStyle, Poppet, Sea of Ghosts and Angela See, Angela Blog.

Details of Jules, from Poppet Vintage's dress. Her dress was soooo cute (sigh, if only I had the legs for it.....). Good news for you Kittens - Jules will be making more of these divine little dresses for her shop very soon!

Unfortunately my camera battery died after only a couple of happy snaps, but I'll post more of my outfit shots shortly...stay tuned.