Forties Fashion

Hello Strangers,

I've been AWOL for a long long while now, my word is a whirlwind at the moment.

I'm starting a new job next week not to mention my beaus world being turned upside down so we're both

busying away trying to get ourselves sorted.

More on these things later.

Today I thought I'd review this wonderful book I've had sitting on my shelf for

a good few months now.

'Forties Fashion' by Jonathan Walford is an absolute joy!

the pictures are undoubtedly beautiful but it's also really easy to read and very informative,

tracking the wonderful fashion of the forties from the outbreak of war,

through rationing and finishing with the Christian Dior's Fabulous new look.

Below I have chosen a few of my favourite pages.

wonderful work wear! overalls,pendletons and hair scarves!oh my!

On reading this page about souvenir shoes, I couldn't believe how similar the ones

pictured were to my Lucky Lou's!

Who can resist a military novelty print and hello blouse made from a silk map!!

One of my favourite section is the one about 'victory' fashion! the things I'd give for a victory print

two piece and pin!

silk flower tilt hats to die for!

I left my absolute favourite page until last, utterly dream worthy 1940s wedding outfits!

parachute silk wedding dress? be still my beating heart!!

Again I was reminded of something from my own collection that I thought Id share with you.

I acquired this sad little 40's wedding dress a few years ago, she was at the bottom of a pile at a vintage kilo sale and fit me like a glove. I snapped her up!

she is in a bit of a sorry state but has the loveliest train and sweetheart neck.

Overall this is a beautiful book full of both, interesting facts and stunning pictures of the thing we 

all love most of all, gorgeous dresses from the past!

I really cant recommend it highly enough!

I hope you've enjoyed this, my first review!

let me know what you think!

Bye for now!

Love Hollie xx

Miss Dior

Hello lovelies,

as some of you may be aware, something magical is currently happening at Harrod's!

The Dior at Harrods exhibition, which I had no idea about until I stumbled upon it yesterday

whilst there with my mum and sister.

please be warned this is a VERY picture heavy post, everything was to beautiful for my poor heart(and camera) to bare!

ps. my phone was dying fast so I wasn't able to use my flash, I did the best I could with what I had!

Dear Mr Dior, 

How I love you and your utterly perfect designs!

  

truly magical Dior dolls house facade

Original muslin mock up suit!

Be still my beating heart! The Dior 'New Look' suit in the flesh!

 I was completely awe-struck at the sight of it.

Our beautiful Queen and equally beautiful outfits!

Oh hi there Duchess of Windsor shoes, How I wish I had your namesakes wardrobe!

Tiny Dior Dolls!

Close up of the 'Pinks' just look at that bustle and bow neck swing coat!

Considering my terrible photo skills and lack of flash I was so pleased when I caught the moment

Grace Kelly was projected over this incredible dress! Favourite picture of the day

for sure!

I sure could get used to Dior back lighting!

I was totally unprepared for having my picture taken having been rained on

 and dressed in a cosy but faily drab outfit of black cardigan,tights, pumps and thick belt.

The only redeeming features are my atomic print 1950's skirt and beloved box bag.

and finally original footage of the man himself being ingeniously projected onto

this giant chair. Magical!

If you are in and around London, I cannot possible recommend visiting this enough!

It totally took me by surprise and completely took my breath away!

I'm already planning on going back as soon as I get chance!

Has anyone already visited?

Love Hollie xx

seaside & heart shaped glasses

Yesterday,with the sun shining and shockingly cheap train tickets on our side,

 my beau and I decided to take a day trip to Brighton. 

 The sun was shining but it was freezing cold so we made a bee-line for the pier, to have a go on the arcade games, dolphin derby (my boy) and hook a duck(me)

 we couldn't resist this photo op!

 After the pier we had a stroll round the shops then had fish and chips on the beach for lunch!

the old pier is such a sorry sight.

I thought it was the ideal place to do some posing, I'm so sick of big coats and layers at the moment

so I decided to rebel against the wind (i paid for it later) and wear my favourite skirt, 1940s jacket and shock horror one pair of stockings!

I just had to include a close up of my skirt, its the cutest novelty pirate print

and was one of my very first real vintage buys! 

A firm wardrobe favourite, it never fails to cheer me up.

I teamed my skirt and jacket with faux fur scarf, 1950s cream case bag and red heart shaped sunglasses.

These are another of my favourite things as my best friend and I both bought a pair

from our very first Marilyn Manson concert a few years ago.

After a long stroll along the sea front we headed back to the big smoke for a huge mexican feast

and films.

I've been feeling abit off again recently regarding both style and general life stuff, I don't know what the trigger has been and as nice as this weekend has been, I've still not been feeling right today.

maybe it's just a little trip in the road, oh well,

heres to hopin', heres to copin' as the saying goes!

hope everyone else has been having a wonderful weekend!

Love Hollie xx

A Passionate Woman

listen to this whilst reading

Well, the wind is howling outside, the rain is battering at my windows and my housemates

are all out leaving me home alone so I thought I'd do a little post about my new favourite dress.

A few of my dresses including my first Horrockses, eek!

This beautiful little buttercup coloured 50s cotton shirt dress was bought on a complete whim in the last seconds from ebay, in fact I bid on impulse not even really being sure what I was bidding on but gee am I glad I got it! it fits like a glove and was,as ever, a pure steal! and best of all,as soon as I put it on I was reminded of beautiful Betty from A Passionate Woman!

If you haven't seen this amazing program I absolutely insist you instantly stream it, Billie Piper is  perfection!

Please can I be Betty dancing with my beautiful boy to Johnny Mathis! I have a Certain Smile on 78" and have been listening to it on repeat since this dress arrived.

*sigh!*

Despite the insanely bad weather at the moment, I was actually really happy with my very messy curls yesterday. I've recently hacked about 4 inches from the bottom of my hair and I'm really pleased with the way it takes curl now. It feels a bit more of a soft 50s set now which I love. 

I'm going to settle down into bed now with a cup of tea and re watch this dream and swoon over all of the costumes.....and Betty's squeeze, Craze! such a dreamboat!

Hope you're all staying cosy on this dreary Friday night!

Love Hollie xx

Jour trois

So here it is, my final installment and boy, is it  big'un!

as I said before we finally got into our photo stride on day 3, this is a greatly edited whistle stop tour of our last day!

So after our trip back to the 50's we headed for the Louvre, once again passing the lock bridge. My soldier suggested we take another look as it had been a bit rushed the first time round, then possibly the most romantic thing that's ever happened to me,happened.My extremely unemotional and unsentimental hard nosed military boy produced a small engraved padlock from the depths of his bag. I was so overcome that my eyes got a bit teary and I assured him post-lock he can never pretend to hate romance again!

panaramic Louvre

cupid&psyche

caught unawares, I'm wearing my 1950s Dorris Day dress from this post and a beautiful heavily beaded cardigan.My little case was a birthday present and I'm so in love with it, I had a brown one exactly the same that broke, I was so happy to find a replacement exactly the same!

It wasn't until we had been inside the gallery for a while that i had a funny sense of deja vu, i had seen this stair case someplace before. Then it dawned on me! FUNNY FACE! my favourite Audrey film had of course used the Louvre as a back drop! I couldn't resist a quick photo in the same spot!

Its difficult to channel Audrey at the best of times 

let alone on a Sunday afternoon with crowds all around!

favourite pose all over Paris!

After the Louvre we took this funny little thing to continue cramming as many tourist attractions into

2 hours as possible!the driver was so funny and if you look closely hes doing

a secret double thumbs up through the window! I did feel a bit like I might die though!

death wagon!

But finally we made it to the piesta resistance.

The Eiffel Tower! how can anyone resist it! every time I caught sight of it I felt

Like Carrie from SATC letting out a little gasp!

stuffing crepes in!

The wall of the Trocadero was made for posing!

last but not least another photo caught unawares but maybe of my favourites of the whole trip.

So there you have it, 3 long very photo heavy posts and that was my trip to Paris!

we had the most wonderful time,how I wish I was there again! more than anything

it was just lovely to have my boy all to myself ! I really

could get used to that!

Now back to reality but not for long I have a trip to Amsterdam planned at the end of April with my

BFF! if anyone has any suggestions please do let me know!

thats all from me for now!

Love Hollie xx

Jour Deux: (Not quite) An American in Paris!

Jour Deux.

Via

I'm not an American but I was in Paris and as Gene will always be the one for me I thought I'd start in ode to him!

Day two of my Paris trip is a bit of a miss match really.

Due to the weather neither of us wanted to hang around posing for long!

we started the morning with a birthday breakfast then headed south to a famed flea market, unfortunatly nothing came home with me but a french lady told me I was fabulous which really made my birthday!

Birthday girl! sporting my'awkward photo face' as my beau calls it!

After being sufficiently chilled by the market we warmed up over mulled wine(for me) and hot choc(for my boy). We wanted to make our way towards Notre Dame in doing so walked through the natural history museum park, it was so pretty and snowy but alas I got know pictures!

Paris 1953-Palais de Tokyo photobooth

As it was My birthday evening our original plan was to find a typical french bisto then hunt out some drinks, but  after a day walking in the snow neither of us fancied more walking and when we located a hard rock cafe 5 minutes away we took no convincing!

Giant/potent but yummy cocktails! we even got to keep the glasses!

Birthday dress and cocktails!
We only seemed to get into out photo taking stride on the last day, I think this is when
we realised we have one day left and not many photos! Because of this, I decided to include a few pictures are from our last day, so's not to overwhelm with my final post!
on our final day we woke up early and headed over to the Louvre, deciding to find some breakfast on route, and what a breakfast it was! I spotted the 'Back to the 50s' diner tucked away down a side street and nearly pulled my poor boy over, as I unexpectedly darted off the main road!
My Soldier happily sipping his beloved mountain dew and my yummy cherry topped milkshake!
As you might imagine from a place called 'back to the 50's' the diner was an absolute delight for both tastebuds and eyes! all teal booths, checkered floor, pink tables and the most beautiful juke box full of doo-wop classic.
I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven!

She really was a beauty!

The food was delicious, rosemary fries and pesto burger!Yum! I also came away with their very own pin-up calendar as a memento.

With our tummies full we ventured back out into the freezing cold to find the Louvre!The final installment of my Paris adventure will be along shortly!
Love Hollie xx