Weddings and Charity Shops: Match Made in Heaven

Can you wear something from a charity shop to a wedding? The answer is yes. As long as when people say ‘ooooh great dress, where’s it from’ (which they did, no modesty spared in this post) you say ‘oh it’s vintage’. Well, it is isn’t it? It’s not new, I know that much. So here’s what I wore to my beautiful friend’s wedding: a little number plucked from a humble Clapham High Street charity shop. Who said all the best charros are in Richmond?

Me… Earrings: Topshop // Dress: charity shop // Bracelet: Vintage // Shoes: Vintage. My pal Georgie… Hat: M&S // Dress: French Connection // Bag: Vintage // Wedge Sandals: All Saints

PS. It was November and an autumnal theme, so I managed to get away with the black.

It Was Acceptable In The 80s….

Eugh I make myself baulk at how much I’ve neglected my blog over the last 3 weeks! I wish I could say there’s some exciting reason as to why, but sadly not, just that a busy internship and a bout of the flu (which made me want to do nothing bar lie listlessly and catch up on missed Neighbours episodes) have prevented solid blogging.

But now I’m back and ready to tell you about this amazing find my friend picked up at a vintage fair. An Italian Harper’s Bazaar from the 80s!

Things I love about this magazine:

1)  It’s not a magazine, it’s a bloody text book. Not sure that the picture shows it very well, but this bad boy is AN INCH thick.

the welcome page...

2)  The hair!! I think somewhere deep within, after having seen so many comedic takes on the 80s, I didn’t really believe that women actually had hairstyles like that. But as this mag evidences, they really did. Jeez.

3)  The fact that some of the outfits are outrageously 80s (and quite revolting), but others actually parallel current trends.

4) The lack of airbrushing (see below). Those moles would never be allowed these days.

Also the whole thing is pretty much just adverts, and I thought modern day mags were bad! But in this case it was fine, because it’s not like I speak Italian anyway.

 

Vintage appeal: Atelier Mayer shows off its treasures

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend an Atelier Mayer event, hosted by AM director Carmen Haid, in the beautiful Notting Hill home of her close friend. This was one swanky town-house complete with grand piano [being played, I might add] chandeliers, a glass mezzanine overlooking an uber-modern kitchen… You’d think that the products would be in danger of being completely overshadowed [I for one, was pretty bowled over by all this before I even got to the clothes…]…. but then, you get to the clothes.

There’s the grand piano

The event was simply a way of showing items off, as you can’t always grasp their full allure via the website, and so here, everyone got to touch, try on and buy – except me, who just touched, tried on and put back on the rail. (With prices starting at around £400, I resigned myself to sticking with Topshop).

The ground floor housed rails of vintage clothing from an 80s Chloe blazer to a 50s Chanel skirt and sparkly 20s numbers in between. Some of the items were incredible!  Ma fave was the one bearing all white, bridal-esque dresses… It’s important to remember that this wasn’t long after the Royal Wedding and I was still, like, mourning it. I still am. (KM till I die!)

Downstairs housed a marble worktop strewn with what looked like the contents of a pirate’s treasure chest. Welcome to Atelier Mayer accessories.

Then there were the bags….

… And check out the cute little Atelier Mayer bags and roses adorning the front of the house! It’s the AM version of party balloons on the front door.