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Marks and Spencer archive opening

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Today was quite an exciting day in Leeds. It was the launch of the M and S archive, which as I had been involved in a styling project for my course I got to go along to.
The archive is great, if anyone went to the Marks in Time exhibition when it was held in the Parkinson court a few years back it is basically an extension of that. A great mix of clothes, homey nick nacks and food based ephemera are all on display. I have to say the exhibition design is very good and the new building it is housed is a great addition to the Leeds university campus.
Here are a few cheeky snaps inside at the opening


And here is me in a bit of vintage 50s M and S which I thought was rather fitting for the occasion!

It is free to go and have a look round the “exhibition” part of the archive, so I highly recommend a little wander if you are local to Leeds.

Prancing around in vintage

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Today was a welcome relief from the stress that currently is my dissertation (1 week until hand in and counting!) One of my modules is styling and photography, so today i took part in two photoshoots, one for my own project, and one for someone elses. I had lots of fun doing them despite the fact it meant posing in swimwear in the freezing cold Leeds March time air!


So here I am in outfit number one. First off i was playing around in vintage (quel suprise) My dress here is one of my all time favourite Blanes dresses that I have blogged about before. It is a gorgeous late fifties example, and interesting Blanes did this dress in a range of colours and fabrics (ive seen another silk one in black and purple and a cotton one in white and pink). I teamed the dress with my (new to me) 40s gold platform sandals which I adore!

In this pic there is an extra accessory, one of my all time favourite pieces of jewellery i own from Tatty Devine. The whole idea behind this shoot was it was meant to be a little bit humourous and fun, hence the inclusion of the glasses necklace here!

Then i went onto my next outfit. This one combined vintage and (shock horror) swimwear. My jacket is part of a 40s suit (which i have blogged about before) the shorts are 50s deadstock and my bikini is an ANCIENT one from debenhams (im suprised it hadn’t gone completely see-through it is that old!)
The pictures were shot outside some of the Leeds uni buildings (Roger Stevens lecture theatre…oh yeah!) As the theme for this was an alternative “beach” theme (yep…Roger Stevens water fountation…a beach). Needless to say i had a crowd of boys staring at me from the walkway up above where we were taking the photographs!

I’d also like to make a note about my hair. This was my first ever attempt at pincurls. and whilst they aren’t great (they had to cope with my 15 minute walk to uni and then being outside). I think they are mildly passable!
Thanks to my fellow group members Georgia, Amy, Harriet and Allan for the pics!

Style me vintage clothes: A little review

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It is time for another book review today. The book in question is Style me Vintage by Naomi Thompson.
What can I say? This book fills me with an immense amount of happiness as I am privileged to know the author Naomi Thompson and I know how hard she worked on it. The book is beautiful in terms of the images and also its layout (well done to the publishers on this one!), well written and most importantly enjoyable.
Naomi really is the BEST person to have written this book. She has an amazing collection of vintage clothes and  incredible eye for it too. I’ll give you an amazing example of Naomi’s “eye”: A few months ago I was shopping in brick lane and happened to see Naomi. She showed me a wonderful suit in Hunky Dory vintage that she thought would fit me an what can I say? It was absolutely perfect and is one of my favourite items in my wardrobe.

This is the suit in question!
(terrible pic of me and my washing basket…i do apologise)

 I feel honoured that Naomi asked me to help her out with some of the research for this book (gahhhh my name in the book!!! Look!!!) and to see how all of her hard work came together really is fantastic.

The book offers tips on how to create vintage looks, how to look after vintage clothes and also a bit about fashion history. Although it is in essence a “vintage style” book it really does provide a huge amount of other information.

If you are just want to dabble in vintage the book gives great ideas on little ways of introducing vintage items to create interesting looks or if you’re a full blown vintage fashionista there is lots for you too!

I also have to say how fabulous the images are, these are beautifully shot and really make the book stand out, all of the models look fabulous and are really inspiring in how to create the looks.

My personal favourite is this image of Lisa who I think looks SENSATIONAL. (I actually have put this pic in my dissertation too. Random)

Although this book is quite short it really is packed full of useful and interesting information and is a book I will be looking back at time and time again (who knew neat vodka was good for removing smells!)
So if you want to get a bit more vintage in your life you can buy the book here
Naomi is also available for vintagepersonal shopping experiences, so if you want to meet the lovely lady herself and have some of the vintage secret experience you can!