Kalandra Jane - Millinery and Musings!

Birthdays, with beautiful things and added trepidation.

2012-01-22T03:10:00.021Z

So, in nine days I will turn 26. I'm not really looking forward to it... it will signify the beginning of my 'late' twenties, the end of youth. The horror!

I am looking forward to the actual day though, my friend Fiona has kindly booked the day off work so we can spend the whole afternoon trawling the local charity shops, then in the evening Aerospace Boyfriend and I have a table booked at Bistro 1847, Manchester's swanky vegetarian and vegan restaurant where I went for a delectable meal just before Christmas with Miss Matilda, her fiancé and Old Fashioned Susie.

I was also thinking about having a party at home, but whereas I imagine my parties to look like this...

...the reality is it'd probably end like this...

...so I will probably just organise a trip to the Chinese buffet with a few friends like I do every year when I invariably leave my birthday plans to the last minute.

Mmm, buffet.

I've already received my presents from Aerospace boyfriend, look at my gorgeous little birthday chaps!

On the right is Herschel, I haven't got a name for the green and white fella yet.

So, onto the birthday dreaming... there's no way I'm getting any of these things, and I can't afford them myself, so do feel free to buy these things for yourselves to remove the temptation of my etsy watch list.

This vintage plus-sized stretchy knit dress from that purveyor of all things enviable Butch Wax Vintage... if her stock is that good, her personal wardrobe must be absolutely phenomenal!

I would team it with these chic 1950s black velvet or these delicious black satin stilettos (I want them both so much!), a mini beret and my black catseye sunglasses, then I would pretend to be a glamourous French spy, conducting lascivious affairs in order to extract top secret microfilms from the Russians.

Next something more cutesy... this rare pink lucite adorable swan brooch, and this useful vintage seahorses sweater guard, for holding cardigans oh-so-frivolously round the shoulders.

This one is sort of a necessity... I've now been going swimming (almost) every Wednesday evening for a year, swimming a mile each time, and my swimsuit is shot. It's a plain black tankini I got when I was eighteen but never wore, I took the tags off it last January and this January it is full of saggy, see-through patches where the chlorine has broken down the fibres. What I really want to replace it is one of these gorgeous swimsuits from For Luna, endorsed by the legendary MGM aqua-spectacular star Esther Williams whose engrossing autobiography I recently read.

The 'All For Eve' lipstick by Daniel sandler, which is vegan and supports research into women's cancers.

Miss L Fire Tahiti sandals, perfect for Summer, with a practical low wedge heel and in colours I actually wear!

These amazing Irregular Choice Chinese satin wedges... because you can never have enough glittery red shoes! Plus they fit in perfectly with my current Oriental obsession... I'd wear them with a devastating cheongsam and swan about covered in lotus blossoms.

Oh how I wish these adorable bastards were vegan, curse you Irregular Choice and your continued use of dead cow skins! I NEED red shoes with little plastic bluebirds all over them! Especially seeing as my feet have shrunk for no apparent reason, so I'm now a size five-ish instead of a six-ish.

My other big wish is a proper musical saw, I'm finding that I can make a lot of very exciting spooky noises on my vintage woodsaw, but it's proving impossible to coax a real tune from it. Aerospace boyfriend has a video on his phone to prove this... it features me doing a very tortured double-chinned violin face, and he insists on showing it to everybody.

...and that's about it for the things I desire but can't afford... that and everything on my Amazon wishlist.

Birthday shenanigans will no doubt be documented here in a couple of weeks, until then I shall continue to live in dread. Toodle pip!

Review: Revlon 'Just Bitten' Lipstain

2012-01-21T02:23:00.009Z

I picked this up when it was first released in the UK, and have been using it ever since. Despite it being a felt-tip marker type thing, it has not dried out! I've been using it since about June, not every day but fairly regularly.

The first downside to this product is that the packaging colour isn't much like the actual colour of the product, so I'd recommend using a tester on the back of your hand instore before you buy. I'm guessing the majority of my readers will be users of vintage red lipcolours rather than plums or browns, and the packaging of the two red shades is almost exactly the same - 'Flame', an orangey-red which is the colour I use, and 'Gothic' which is a deep, blue-based vintage red and would be great for Winter, so read the label carefully!

To get the shade shown here, you'll need to apply about three coats of the stain. It is great for gaining a gradual change of shade depending on the occasion, time of day or how deep you like your colour. However, any dry bits on your lips will pick up way more colour if you just apply one coat, so either go for the full coverage of a few coats or make sure your lips are well buffed before applying.

The stain itself is alcohol based, so you draw it on, wait about thirty seconds for the alcohol to evaporate and the colour is stuck firmly to your lips. The other end of the applicator contains a clear balm which you layer over the top, this adds a subtle shine and stops the lips from feeling dry. Apply all the layers of colour you need before adding the balm, don't try to apply colour over the balm or you'll ruin the felt tip.

This is what the lipstain looks like on a drunk woman at a punk festival at 1am. Here I had been wearing the stain for around thirteen hours, had reapplied it maybe once, and added more balm a couple of times. I had been drinking pints of cider (that's the kind with alcohol, Americans), eaten a greasy dinner of chips (fries) with pickled onions and baked beans, and the heat in the venue was around 30C. All I lost was a bit of colour from the centre of my top lip so it looked a bit pinker, less orangey - no feathering, minimal reapplication and no dryness as long as I kept adding balm after eating. Since, this lipstain has survived nights out, trips to the Chinese buffet, three-hour swimming sessions and it's also totally kiss-proof! It's also pretty difficult to remove... not a problem if you wear lipcolour every day, but if you're planning to go bare-lipped after wearing it you may wish to try something like a waterproof makeup remover or isopropyl wipes to get rid of the last traces.

I would't be without this lipstain now... I'm only hoping that the obviously 'Twilight' inspired names ( Midnight, Gothic, Dawn, Twilight, Instinct etc.) don't mean that this is a flash-in-the-pan lipcolour that will be withdrawn as soon as the interest in glittery vampires wanes. They're now up to fifteen shades in the US, so hopefully it'll continue to flourish here in the UK too.

The other great thing - it's vegan! I'm not 100% that all the shades are, but the ones I examined the ingredients labels of certainly were. Revlon also do not perform any animal testing, highly unusual for an American firm where vivisection in the name of beauty is still commonplace (although they do use animal ingredients such as silk and cochineal in some of their other products).

Revlon 'Just Bitten' Lipstain is currently on offer in Boots for £5 instead of £7.99 (although their colour chart is way off - this set of swatches is fairly accurate, though obviously they'll look different depending on your skin/lip tone.)

Upcoming photoshoot, and a feline menace.

2012-01-21T01:40:00.006Z

This week my friend Berni and I went to Rose & Lee Vintage Living antiques showroom to scout a location for an upcoming Kalandra Jane Designs photoshoot, which will feature the fabulous burlesque performer and model Millie Dollar (also here) and the hairstyling and makeup skills of Bethany Jane Davies.

On the day, I hadn't washed my hair and we were only there to do some lighting tests, so Berni took a few shots of me and managed to make me look good despite me feeling less than glamourous!

Puss the cat was an absolute menace - as soon as I sat down she wanted cuddles and flopped all over me, but when I had to get up she was a fizzing, yowling ball of rage. Can't blame her though for being a bit temperamental, she was taken in by the owners of the antiques warehouse after being abandoned when a neighbour moved away.

This amazing golden Rococo boudoir set will feature heavily in the photoshoot, stay tuned for more glorious pictures from Berni Harris Photography!

Current loves

2012-01-15T20:05:00.008Z

This started off as a post about growing up and accepting the responsibilities of adulthood. I wasn't happy with my inability to articulate myself wittily enough whilst discussing such a tender subject, so have saved that diatribe for another day and decided to just show you all the stuff I am currently obsessed with, most of which are things that make me reflect on the aforementioned situation.

Pastel bubble hair. Having a quarter/third of life crisis as I approach my twenty-sixth birthday has given me a craving to dye my hair again, having been blonde for a few years now. Growing up, I always loved these ladies' hair, even though they are all wigs (and one of them isn't really a lady). In fact now I think about it these three are probably my ultimate style icons.

Tom Waits. Music for grown ups, definitely... a guy I was at uni with used to play his albums in our studio and I just didn't get it, at the time I was listening solely to hardcore European crust punk, willfully closing my ears to everything else - if it didn't have a strong ethical message, I didn't want to know. Here's a song which as well as being great and having a cool video, is apt for the subject at hand and was covered by the Ramones - a band that kind of get maligned by members of the modern punk scene as being too frivolous, which is utter bollocks.

Beat writers - William S. Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac. I always loved Hunter S. Thompson and Chuck Palahniuk, and these are the guys they learned their style from, they grew up during the great depression and WWII and made their mark during the cold war years - as such their writing is gritty, uncompromising and chaotic. I'm currently reading 'Post Office' by Bukowski and 'Junky', Burroughs' semi-autobiographical story of heroin addiction and life on the edge of society.

Here's William S. Burroughs doing vocals on a track from Tom Waits' 'Black Rider' conceptual play/LP which they collaborated on, his voice is haunting. He was 79.

Geisha fashion - not really anything to to with the others, I just really like this at the moment. Here's a hat I made recently using Japanese Kanzashi flowers, intricately folded from tiny squares of fabric. I'm currently working on some more styles, for a Harajuku-inspired photoshoot I'm helping to style on Wednesday for Chimp Magazine. Hat by Kalandra Jane Designs, photo by Berni Harris Photography.

Daria! I never got to watch this when it was originally on - I was probably a little young anyway, but my stepdad and I used to watch Beavis and Butthead which was on around the same time (and from which Daria was actually a spinoff), back when MTV was still clinging onto its last shreds of counterculture credibility. It's full of all the sardonic wit a young lady needs, and should be required viewing for every girl who can't (or couldn't) wait for high school to end. You can watch every episode of Daria for free here, apart from the two feature-length episodes.

Perhaps inspired by the grunge soundtrack of Daria - Riot Grrl. I always resisted angry girl music as a teenager, totally rejecting any music made by women and seeing it as aggressive feminism, passé in a world where I surpassed my male classmates academically and always felt equal to my male friends. However, I obsessed constantly about boys I fancied - maybe if I'd listened to a bit of Joan Jett or L7 I would have felt a bit more secure about myself, rather than wallowing in introspection and worrying about how I was seen by my peers.

Micheal Cera films. Superbad, Youth in Revolt, Juno, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - at first I hated this new brand of awkward alterna-teen angst comedy. I have now come to appreciate them despite the fact I still think they're a bit twee and formulaic, I like the departure from the plasticky teen movies of the late 90s-early 2000s. I'm sure there weren't sweet, goofy boys when I was growing up... they were all little bastards. Maybe I just scared off the nice ones with my forcefield of adolescent rage? Anyway... I like them.

New Guinea Pigs!

2012-01-11T00:47:00.003Z

Apologies to you all for not blogging for a few weeks, by the end of the year I was just feeling totally burnt out and rubbish, and really didn't have anything to write about. Sales in the run up to Christmas were terrible, I was feeling low and generally stagnant, so took a few weeks to just relax and spend some time with Aerospace boyfriend and not think too much about bills, business or anything else really. I'm happy to say that sales at Kalandra Jane Designs have now picked up and are going well, I've got some fabulous custom projects in the works and am also planning several events, stalls and photoshoots in the next couple of months.

Sadly on December 19th my guinea pig, Bela Lugosi passed away in my arms as we rushed him to the emergency vet at 6am. I'd had him over five years, so he was reasonably old, but his health suddenly took a dive and he started to lose weight rapidly one day, a few weeks after being separated from his friend, Mr. Sprout. Sprout had to have an operation to remove a facial tumour and Bela was doing more harm than good by trying to groom the stitched wound. We put the boys back in together once the stitches were removed, and they'd had a great evening bonding. I couldn't sleep that night, and when I checked the cage Bela was lying on his side gasping, with Sprout guarding him.

RIP, my lovely Bela Lugosi

I wasn't going to get another pig, but as soon as Bela was gone Sprout immediately began this pining behaviour too, losing weight through not eating and inactivity. A friend had some 11-week old baby males ready to go, and on Christmas day at my mum's they were waiting for me.

Here are my boys together, Victor, Mr. Sprout and Igor. We buried Bela in the garden and placed some bluebell bulbs on top. Sprout's weight has now gone back up, surpassing even his pre-op weight. The new boys are very timid, but they've all bonded well as a group.

Alternative Women's Institute Charity Tea Party

2011-12-05T16:01:00.002Z

A few weeks ago I went to Nelson in Lancashire for the Alternative Women's Institute annual tea party, which was raising funds for Derian House children's hospice. I had a stall there alongside some other lovely traders, including sparkly jewellery made by my friend's mum, and Bits from Ditz cute jewellery and pretty vintage teacup candles made by my friend Marianne in aid of B-eat eating disorder charity.

Here I am with my sister Ginny, take a look at her sewing blog Buttons and Bobbins! Her outfit is entirely self-sewn and features the 1950s draped top I've been working on, she lent me the pattern after making it for herself. She also crocheted her own snood! My hat and outfit are also self-made, apart from the sweater which was knitted by our mum.

Some of the spread! The AWI ladies worked very hard to create a massive selection of glorious cakes, sandwiches and finger foods, including some special vegan ones for me! Everyone got their own trio of vintage china to use on the day, and a little goodie bag with recipes. Over £1000 was raised for the hospice!

These photographs were taken by the incredibly talented Donna from ClickClickBang Photography, her work is beautiful and her wedding and model shots are something very special indeed.

Here I am with my friend Alison, we've known each other since we were eleven and I love being able to see her, even though it's only a couple of times a year. I can't wait for next year's tea party!

The decorations are up!

2011-12-05T01:25:00.004Z

Growing up, our decorations went up on Christmas eve, and came down on twelfth night, despite us all being atheists. They were also restricted to a tree in traditional colours, and strictly no tacky plastic things hanging off the ceiling. So nowadays, as far as I'm concerned, December is all about feeling festive in the traditional British, rather pagan sense - feasting, drinking, keeping warm, cuddling up together and decorating your hovel in the twinkliest, gaudiest decorations known to man in order to ring in the changing of the seasons.

These are the same decorations I blogged about last year, I just wish I could get a better picture of the tree - without the flash it's way too dark, and with it it looks matte pink with no baubles visible. In fact it looks lovely and has a warm glow from my vintage bubble lights and muliticoloured fairy lights, it's adorned with loads of tiny metallic baubles in a rainbow of colours, plus some lovely pink deer, shiny glass robots and a huge flamingo wearing a Santa hat.

Last weekend we went to the Christmas markets in town before going to see 'My week with Marilyn', here we are being cold and drinking mulled wine. You can also see Paul's glorious Moustache grown for Movember - you can still sponsor it here should you wish to!

One day, my Christmas house will look as beautiful as this!

Found on The Girl's Girl, originally from BoopsieDaisy's amazing Flickr stream.

Next year I'm also planning to scour ebay for out-of-season vintage Christmas decorations at bargain prices and make a beautiful bauble wreath like this, I think it's a lovely way to preserve them and show them off.

Autumn/Winter wardrobe plan - completed items!

2011-11-23T19:26:00.006Z

As promised, here are some pictures of the things I've already completed from my Autumn (and Winter) colour plan, which I designed to be a capsule wardrobe of things that match, which should also match stuff I already have and pull into regular use some pieces in my wardrobe that didn't really go with anything.

Pinafore skirt - made by me from a self-drafted pattern
Sweater - knitted by my mum from a 40s pattern
Shoes - Irregular Choice (gift from Aerospace Boyfriend)
Cherry Jewellery - Classic Hardware at Rockers England (gift from Aerospace Boyfriend)

Here's a better view of the skirt fabric and the buttons. It uses black, ruby and teal from my colour plan, along with a neutral brown.

I've now made three of these pinafore skirts - I really want to show you the yellow one I showed a sneak preview of in the post linked above, but the fabric is such a loose weave that I have now ripped the side seam twice, meaning I'm either going to have to wait until I drop a dress size to fix it, or make another one with a slightly larger hip measurement as it obviously can't cope with being pulled tight when I bend over. Curse you, ample derriere!

Everything as before, except boots from Alternative Footwear and skirt made in a black, ruby and white tartan.

Here is the jewellery I already have which fits in with the colour plan, and I can also include all my neutral diamanté and pearl pieces.

These are some lovely new bits which fit in with the scheme - two tropical hairclips made my Miss Tiki, who I met when we both had stalls at the Cheshire Go-Cats Rockabilly Meetup, which was great fun. You can find her trading on facebook here in the Ooh La La vintage swap and sell group, she doesn't have an online store yet but her things are definitely worth seeking out! We swapped for these, she took one of my teardrop shaped fascinators in teal with a cherry and cream orchid decoration.

My little octopus! His name is Osgood, I love him.

Clip - MissTiki
Sweater - Tesco, this is another A/W plan buy, I'll show it you properly when I've finished the skirt it's going to go with!
Red bandana - Rockers England
Navy swallows scarf - Primark, comes in a 2-pack with a cream and brown one with horses on it.

This is the fabric for the next pinafore skirt I'm making, teal with a tiny ticked cream stripe through it. It's more teal than in the picture, my camera/lighting gave it an orange cast for some reason. The butterscotch colour is the lining, another colour from my plan, and the buttons look like little waffles!

At last, I return!

2011-11-23T01:24:00.005Z

Hello people of blogland, I am delighted to say that I finally have my computer back, after three weeks of stone-age living while my laptop spent time at some enormous Tesco corporate repair centre, presumably partaking in electronic enemas and resting its shattered nerves. Apparently they had to replace the motherboard, I'm just glad it is still under warranty, I can do without having to shell out hundreds of pounds on basically the most expensive replacement part a computer could ever need.

I've got plenty of news and completed sewing projects to show you, but unfortunately since the government banned all light bulbs over 40 watts and I am now lit by the dingiest, cheapest bulbs available, my house is no longer suitable for photography after dusk and you will have to wait until grim, frosty daylight slithers over us for me to capture images of the aforementioned sewing projects.

In the meantime here is a picture of the fabric I'm using to make this year's Christmas dress, and the vintage pattern I'm using.

I think Americans call this type of fabric doublekint, I'm not sure if we have another name for it here - it's not something you see commonly in fabric shops in the UK. The houndstooth side will make up the body of the dress, and I'm going to flip it and use the plain black side for the collar. I'm also modifying it to have three-quarter length sleeves as this will be a Winter dress.

If you fancy this design and happen to be a vintage size 20 1/2 (41-35-45) or are able to resize patterns, there is another copy of the pattern available on etsy here. Mine has the cute 50s envelope too!

Teal dress plan - the mock up.

2011-11-08T19:58:00.005Z

After careful scrutiny of my knitted teal fabric and some unsatisfactory tummy-bulging when I recently tried on some knitted skirts in Primark, I have decided not to make a dress but to stick to the original pattern and have it as a top. I have a suspicion that there's not enough for a dress anyway, I have just over a metre and the pattern uses a lot of excess fabric to make the pleated sections and faux shrug section. It's also much more sensible with regard to my Autumn/Winter wardrobe plan to make a top which goes with many skirts rather than a dress which goes with nothing.

Here is the mock up of the top, cut from some crappy stretch t-shirt fabric. As you can see, I cut one piece out backwards due to the confusing nature of the pattern, and it makes me look really pear-shaped. This is because there are some serious bust issues going on - it's about four cup sizes too small, despite me adding inches to the pattern. It should be relatively easy to rectify now I've worked through the construction once.

The red line shows the underbust line of the top, the green line shows where it needs to be!

Also, I'm not convinced that a top made from a stretch fabric needs the four waist darts shown in the pattern, or that there is any need to cut the front of the top and the bust section as two sets of two mirror-image pieces and sew them together - it seems to me that it would be perfectly viable and much neater to cut each section as a single piece on the fold.

Giveaway winner!

2011-11-07T19:21:00.003Z

As promised, but later than planned due to computer issues, here is the winner of my 100 followers giveaway!

I used the random.org number generator, and included everyone who commented on the original post.

The winner is (I don't know how to put the graphic in so I just copied the text, argh!)...

Min: 1
Max: 18
Result: 8
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Cheri Pinktrix! Congratulations Cheri, please drop me a line at your_zombie_sweetheart (at) hotmail.co.uk to let me know your address and choice of trim colour and I will send your fascinator off on its journey to Canada!

A spanner in the works.

2011-11-03T03:03:00.002Z

Sorry to those waiting for the results of my giveaway, my laptop has died so unfortunately there will be a delay in drawing the winner! I'm writing this on my phone, hopefully all will be back to normal soon as the laptop is still under warranty. See you soon blog friends! x

Moustache Madness, and giveaway!

2011-11-01T18:57:00.003Z

Just a reminder that if you've not done it already, or fancy a couple of extra entries, my 100 followers giveaway will end at midnight tonight (GMT)! I think that's 1am for my European ladies and about 7-8pm for my US readers, depending on your location! If you've already entered but fancy another chance you just need to blog or tweet about it and leave me a separate comment on the original post. You can win a gorgeous Kalandra Jane Designs leopard satin fascinator!

Also... please support my boyfriend as he grows a moustache for charity in support of Movember! This month-long event advocates the sporting of fine facial fuzz in order to raise funds for The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research's testicular cancer initiative. They hold the event worldwide and support different men's health causes according to region.

He has started a very fine blog to document his follicular adventure, and unbeknown to me he appears to have some fine comedic writing skills going on. You too can follow the development of his upper lip from this...

...to this. (Source, copyright Paul Clarke Photography.)

You can donate to our Movember team here, every penny is appreciated!

Vintage finds - bumper edition!

2011-10-31T15:52:00.013Z

Today I realised I haven't done one of these posts for ages, I used to do them monthly. So here it is - a whole Summer's worth of vintage rooting. I've probably forgotten a few bits, and I'm going to do separate posts for a few select treasures!

1950s cabinet - £2! This was from a local antique shop, the owner told me he occasionally takes house clearance lots and so buys 'rubbish' in order to get the 'good' pieces - unfortunately he'd also broken one of the glass doors putting it outside, hopefully I'll be able to make a replacement one day. Frankly I think a person can probably make more money nowadays selling 50s furniture than unfashionable Victorian stuff, but obviously his distaste for it is to my benefit!

Sputnik legs! It also has glittery backing paper and curvy glass shelves. My friend Ciana helped me bring it home, and all I can say is that carrying two small children about must make you strong - she heaved it around with ease, I was a sweaty, wheezing heap after pushing it upstairs on my own!

1950s/60s shelving unit - £15. I love this, after getting rid of our massive hefty old CRT TV, I got the small new one and wanted something vintage to put it on, where I could also display some of my immense collection of trinkets. This came from a seller in Failsworth Mill, a large antiques and collectables centre where the prices are reasonable and the many stallholders are amenable to haggling!

1950s amoeba shaped mirrors, £3 each from a vintage jumble sale, held by a friend-of-a-friend who was selling her possessions in preparation for a move to France.

50s clock - £1. this was running when I got it from the same vintage jumble sale, stopped by the time I got home, started working again after I took out and oiled the workings, and promptly stopped again three days later. It's been going for so long that a hole inside that holds a moving part has become slightly oval instead of round, so it keeps going out of alignment.

1930s Lloyd Loom seat/basket - free! I got this by bargaining with the seller from whom I bought the shelving unit above, it was originally priced at £10, which is still fairly reasonable seeing as it is in completely original condition - most Lloyd loom furniture you find has been repainted, but this retains its factory paint job and deco foliage upholstery. It's strong enough to sit on and is currently hiding a small proportion of my laundry mountain.

Lustreware vase - £7, haggled down from £10 from the same seller as the shelves and basket. Another item for my fawn collection!

1920s-30s uranium glass bowl for my collection, £5, car boot sale.

Enormous glass cake dome, £5, car boot sale. Not vintage but still useful!

50s cats - £1.49 each, charity shop.

Vintage style metal memo board from Rose & Co., won in a raffle by my mum and stepdad. Aerospace boyfriend immediately drew a huge penis on it in dry-wipe marker, as he does with most things.

Beautiful 1950s diamanté necklaces - these belonged to my grandmother, were given by her to my sister when we were little, and my sister passed them to me recently as they are too glitzy for her and too likely to attract the small grasping hands of my niece!

Amazing vintage fully fashioned stockings, still in their original packaging and with spectacular pearl and rhinestone adornments at the heel! These will be saved as they are very special and were part of a swap I did with Miss Matilda. I sent her the framed 1920s prints I blogged about here, which came up very nicely with a bit of cleaning!

She was also generous enough to send me this beautiful jewellery as a gift - I squealed with delight when I opened the package, it used to belong to Lana Turner! Her daughter, Cheryl Crane, auctioned some of her belongings a few years after she died, and I remember drooling over the lovely things for sale at the time. Thanks again, Miss M! You are lovely! xxx

After I received the jewellery I spied this book for £1 at a car boot sale written by Crane, and decided to read a little more about Lana Turner's life. I've only just started it, but it is filled with scandal!

Movie monsters book with Christopher Lee on the cover, 20p, local church jumble sale.

Esther Williams biography, £2.99, Oxfam charity shop. I really enjoyed reading this, she's very frank and funny, and I'm glad she is still alive and lending her name to an amazing range of swimsuits! This one and this one are my favourites, they also do a black one with cherries which is beautiful but I can't find it anywhere in the UK. My only criticism of this book is that Esther's co-writer and editor, Digby Diehl, has a tendency to repeat things such as historical details and lists of names which have already been mentioned in previous chapters.

Max Factor biography, £1 from the pound shop in Burnley, a gift from my mum. This was really interesting as it gives a great insight into the man behind the company. I, like many people I expect, wasn't aware that Max Factor was an actual person, I had assumed it was just a brand name. He was a Hollywood makeup artist and cosmetics developer in the golden age of cinema, and this book is a great read for fans of films from the 20s-50s as well as those interested in the history of cosmetology.

The beginnings of another addiction!

2011-10-24T20:13:00.005+01:00

Two new vintage frames! Plus my current ones at the bottom. I'd ordered the red ones and was waiting for them to arrive when I saw the green lucite pair for sale, they're perfect for me! This means I now have glasses which will match most outfits in my wardrobe, though I doubt that will stop me from buying more in the future - I love having another excuse to accessorise. They also all fit in with my Autumn/Winter wardrobe colour plan.

I can't wait to get my prescription lenses put in them. I have a feeling I'll have to start wearing glasses more often anyway, I'm sure my eyes have gotten worse since I first got glasses six months ago so I'm having them re-tested on Wednesday.

Here's a lovely film from the 50s featuring some amazing glasses!

100 followers giveaway!

2011-10-18T16:12:00.003+01:00

As promised, I'm hosting a giveaway to celebrate reaching 100 followers - I'm now on 102 actually!

Here it is! I'm going to give away one of my gorgeous Kalandra Jane Designs leopard satin fascinators! The winner will be able to choose from black or red trim on the hat, and I will post worldwide.

To enter, you need to be a follower of the blog and leave a comment below. For additional entries, post about this on your own blog, mention it on facebook or twitter and leave me a separate comment with a link to it (that way we all get to cross-promote!)

Good luck everyone! I'll announce the winner in two weeks' time, on the first of November.

100 followers!

2011-10-13T00:40:00.003+01:00

What a surprise! My list of followers has crept up very slowly over the last year and a half, then all of a sudden about ten have appeared at once! Hello to all you new people, and thanks very much to all my followers for taking an interest in my ramblings and general self-indulgence.

It seems I must now do a giveaway, as is the custom in blogland upon reaching such a milestone! I'll come up with something in the next couple of days and let you all know.

New Hat Photos!

2011-10-06T23:58:00.005+01:00

WARNING: this post contains gratuitous pictures of my face, over and over. It's one huge vanity fest.

A couple of weeks back my friend Berni and I did a photoshoot with some of my hats, taking new headshots to use as product images on the Kalandra Jane Designs website. I'll have all these hats for sale there as soon as I've finished writing the stock pages for them.

Berni Harris is a fabulous photographer specialising in wedding, portrait and fashion photography, she also has a great gift for working with outdoor subjects. She has a cute blog which you can visit here!

Now for the facefest.

Autumn wardrobe: teal dress plan

2011-10-04T21:08:00.002+01:00

My sister has kindly lent me this draped top pattern from a French fashion magazine from 1957.

It's for a 37" bust and 29" waist, so will need sizing up quite considerably. I traced it onto parchment and graded it up, but stupidly I used my sister's notes for the measurements and not my own, and had already cut out the fabric mock-up before I realised! Thankfully it was just some cheap fabric I'd had ages and not my final project fabric. My sister is smaller than me, but the fabric I'm using is stretch and the mock-up pieces actually look like the size will be OK.

This is the fabric I will be using, a lovely teal knit. I'm planning to draft on a pencil skirt to transform the pattern from a top to a dress, and really hoping there is enough of it - the shop had less than two metres in stock but I might be able to squeeze the pieces I need out of it. I also got this silky polka dot fabric to match, but it doesn't fit in with my plan for this dress so I'll use it for something else.

There's no place like home...

2011-10-03T17:22:00.004+01:00

There's no place like home... there's no place like home... but who'd want to stay home when you could go out wearing these shoes and delight the eyes of everyone you meet?

These beauties are my latest purchase, an exclusive to Schuh by Red or Dead. They were sold out in their Manchester store, as I imagine they are up and down the country due to their squeal-inducing desirability, so I bought them online with free delivery after trying on the plain black leather version instore for fit. The glitter version is in manmade materials so suitable for discerning vegan tootsies, and is available in shimmering silver too.

I love the shape of the heel, which is quite reminiscent of curvy 1940s styles. I plan to get lots of wear from these as being ruby coloured they also fit in with my Autumn wardrobe plan, some pieces from which I have completed and will be showing you all soon!

This week I also picked up the cherry print duvet cover and pillowcases pictured above, they're lovely and from Tesco.

Kalandra Jane Designs on Alt Fashion!

2011-09-30T11:12:00.003+01:00

Following on from my earlier post about the Manchester Burlesque & Fetish Weekender, my business Kalandra Jane Designs has been featured on Alt Fashion's website! I'm not sure if the event review will be published in the paper version of the magazine, hopefully it will be and I'm sure there'll be promotion in it for the December event at which I will also be trading.

My stall is the main picture in the article! The fabulous Dolly Cool accessories also gets a well-deserved mention, along with Violaceous Latex who have some enviable designs.

Mid-century Geisha lamp restoration!

2011-09-29T23:49:00.005+01:00

Back in February I bought a fabulous lamp which I blogged about here, including how I had to repaint part of her eye where the paint had chipped off the chalkware. A bigger problem was the fact that she was missing a hand, which I finally got round to rectifying a few weeks ago!

Here she is with her missing hand, you can also see a chip to her sleeve which has been painted over black - I may remodel this at some point with some sort of filler and gold paint, but for now it's not noticeable.

To make a replacement hand I used plain white Fimo (polymer clay), painted with acrylics and covered in an antique effect varnish. I'm capable of sculpting a much finer hand, but obviously it had to match the existing one on the lamp which isn't that well modelled.

Here it is in place! It just slots into the hole in her wrist and twists slightly to hold it firmly in place.

I also picked up two 1950s spun fibreglass lampshades from a vintage rummage sale (£3 for the pair), and have added one to cover her bare bulb. I think she looks great!

Bath trip part two: Roman baths and outfit

2011-09-28T01:25:00.007+01:00

After visiting the Marilyn Monroe exhibition, we headed into the centre of Bath, to visit the Roman baths - after all, it'd be rude not to. The city is named for it and I have no doubt that many people were worked half to death to build it. There was way more to see than is depicted in these photos, some of my favourites being the ancient curses scratched into lead sheets and thrown into the waters, asking the gods for retribution against bathing suit thieves! Built to the godess Sulis Minerva, the baths are a world heritage site and one of the finest Roman historical sites outside Italy.

The first part of the Roman baths were built over 2000 years ago on the site of a natural hot spring (the water exits the ground at 46C (115F) at a rate of 15,624 gallons (18,764 US gallons) per day), with the ground level being built in the latter part of the first century AD. In the picture above you can see the bases of the pillars of the original Roman roof, which collapsed around the fourth century AD when the spread of Christianity forced ancient Pagan places of worship to fall into disrepair.

Here is the terrace around the great bath, built by the Victorians who added to the centuries-old Roman architecture to meet demand for access to the waters by those seeking to relax or soothe their ailments.

Statues of the great Roman emperors were added between 1894-97. Here I am touching Julius Caesar's bottom, like a naughty wee scamp. The Japanese tourists did not approve.

The Gorgon's head, entrance archway to the original Roman temple whose pieces were retrieved from the bottom of the hot spring.

This is what happens when you aren't meant to go into the water but also fail to equip your curators with one of those pool-scoops for fishing out leaves, sticking plasters, floating turds etc. not that any of those things are present in the baths, but this piece of paper was giving the man great cause for concern and he stood there willing it to come nearer to him for at least fifteen minutes. I thought he might explode from the concentration.

Little ceramic dog effigy found in the baths, it looks just like my dog, Scamp! Apart from the enormous cock, that is. Actually...

Manmade waterfall inside the baths building, channeling hot water from the source pool to the rest of the baths.

Outfit post! Fruit hat by me at Kalandra Jane Designs, sweater - TK Maxx, Skirt - made by me, one of my pieces for my Autumn wardrobe project, Bag - Lux De Ville at Rockers. I was also wearing brown low-heeled T-bar shoes from Peacocks.

Finally we ate before heading home. We had planned to go to Bath's only vegetarian restaurant, Demuth's, but found ourselves turned away. They advertise an 'earlybird special' starting at 5pm, we arrived a little after that only to be told that we could not be accommodated despite there being four people in the whole place, because they were holding all the tables for a large group coming in later. Don't offer a god damn earlybird special if you can't be bothered to honour it! Also, I don't particularly think £15.90 per person for two courses is good value, in Manchester two of you could eat for that price. In the end we went to The Real Italian Pizza Co., where I had a delectable pepper, artichoke and olive cheeseless pizza and Paul devoured an enormous pancetta salad bowl.

Bath trip part one: Marilyn Monroe and the American Museum

2011-09-25T22:18:00.007+01:00

This week we made the 400-mile round trip to Bath to see the Marilyn Monroe exhibition at The American Museum in Britain, and it was fantastic. There were amazing costumes from her films, the highlights for me being the Red sequinned gown from 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes', the highly embellished pink and white show costume from 'There's No Business Like Show Business' and the risqué sheer black beaded dress she wears whilst singing on the piano in 'Some Like it Hot'.

There were also original film posters, clothing and jewellery from her private collection, and personal effects from her childhood and film career, most of which were very interesting but some of which were a little upsetting, such as her prescription pill bottles.

Photography was not allowed in the exhibition, so Paul tried to sneak a picture for me on his phone, but as you can see the focus did not work at all! Considering we took some great pictures on the day with the same camera, it's a shame this one didn't come out.

I would highly recommend a visit to this exhibition for any Marilyn fan. It runs until the 30th October, after which all the items will return to Jersey where they reside in a private collection. I loved seeing the costumes in person, examining the details of their construction and getting to see a glimpse of Marilyn's personal life.

The rest of the American Museum is well worth a look too, with exhibits on early US folk art, Native American artefacts and beautifully recreated period rooms from various eras of American history.

Native American beaded waistcoat, showing clear influence of French and British design style.

The display of traditional patchwork quilts was lovely, many of them came with stories attached such as the rather sad one above. This was my favourite quilt of all the designs, the fans were made from such luxurious fabrics - a contrast from some of the cotton designs or Amish quilts in the museum's collection.

Heresy 'n' Heelz - Manchester Burlesque & Fetish Weekend

2011-09-23T15:10:00.005+01:00

The weekend before last was the Manchester Burlesque & Fetish weekend, run by the lovely people from Heresy 'n' Heelz, who put on some top-notch burlesque events up and down the country.

I had a stall on both days, at the Friday night burlesque event then on Saturday at the Alternative, burlesque and fetish market at Soundcontrol off Oxford Road. Unfortunately I didn't get to see any of the performers on Friday as my stall was in the bar area downstairs from the stage, but I got to hear the Graveyard Johnnys who are always great!

The market on Saturday was hugely successful, really well attended and I sold lots of hats! There were free goodie bags, a mix of stalls selling corsetry, latexwear, fully fashioned stockings, jewellery and accessories, cupcakes, fetish items and of course me with the Kalandra Jane Designs stall. The lovely Clare was there selling her cool Kustom accessories, and the day was broken up with hourly burlesque performances.

Glitter Explosion! Burlesque diva Marnie Scarlet.

My stall!

Pictures copyright 2011 Heresy 'n' Heelz, all taken by Kate Appleby, fabulous event photographer - you should hire her for yours because she is lovely and talented!

The organisers are planning another event in Manchester on the 10th of December, this time combining a fetish/alternative market in the basement with a burlesque themed boutique space upstairs featuring fabulous performances and glamourous vendors such as myself!

The negligent blogger's Autumn colour picks.

2011-09-13T20:28:00.005+01:00

It seems I have missed blogging for most of Summer. This is because aerospace boyfriend has been at mine most of the time while he was on his Summer break, so we have mainly been pottering about doing things at home and haven't really had much to report, though I do have a few interesting bits to catch up on.

I've really noticed Autumn closing in this week. I'm not fond of it... we're led to believe it's all apple pies, crunchy leaves and toasty mittens but for those of us living in cities the usual Autumnal experiences entail slipping over into a slurry of brake dust and decomposed vegetation, sweating because it's not quite cold enough for the coat we've put on, and being buffeted by various degrees of pollution-saturated rain and grit-carrying wind.

To distract myself from this depressing prospect, I've decided to delve into the world of fashion and colour. This week is New York Fashion Week, and every year Pantone consult leading designers to determine the colours of the season from their collections. These were their picks for Autumn/Winter 2011.

I can't profess to be too keen on their chosen palette - the last four on the chart are particularly insipid, reminding me of dreary Autumn skies. I much prefer the first section of bright jewel tones and warm, dark colours to fend off the encroaching chill of Winter. Here are my picks for my own wardrobe this season!

I think it's much more sensible to stick to a narrower palette for dressing on a budget, and I've chosen these colours because I've already started to edge towards them in my wardrobe. Here's a sneak preview!

As you can see I'm also favouring tartans at the moment... the yellow stuff is something I've actually already made, but then stupidly ripped, so I'll show you a proper picture as soon as I've redone the seam.

I promise to resume regular blogging now! The next post will be more interesting and less awkwardly written, obviously breaks are not good for me. Love to you all, my faithful readers. xxx

Tiki Dress - Progress

2011-08-14T18:11:00.005+01:00

Well, almost progress, especially considering this was supposed to be my Summer dress project and Summer is almost over.

I decided I didn't really want to draft my own pattern for this, as it contains techniques such as shirring and boning which I've not used before. Finally I had the funds and have bought this gorgeous sarong dress pattern from Scissorhappy after seeing it mentioned in a post on Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing. Hopefully it will arrive soon from the US and I can get on with making my dresses!

The first one will be in this tiki fabric, and I'll probably just use the pattern as is for it. I'll make a wearable muslin first I think, probably in plain black as I don't actually own a black dress! (Apart from a fully sequinned one I made for halloween a few years back, which cuts my underarms to shreds.) This way I can use cheap fabric and it won't show up badly if I have to rip and redo seams or tweak the pattern as I go.

The second one I want to make is in this retro cocktail fabric, and I think I'm going to make it full skirted rather than a sarong. I could even make it a sarong with a full overskirt so I can change the look by adding the overskirt and a petticoat, I think I have enough of the fabric.

I'd like to make one of the dresses with a winged bust like this beauty from WhirlingTurban, but that's definitely something to try only after I've made the pattern up in the version without alterations and gotten used to working with it.

July's Vintage Purchases

2011-08-13T17:19:00.004+01:00

A couple of weeks ago we ventured out to a car boot sale, I took £20 and bought a few vintage treasures!

Green dressing table set bits, £1. This is missing a tray, a powder dish and a lid from one of the trinket pots, and the little old lady seller told me that the rest of the set had been there but that an earlier customer was going to buy it and dropped half of it, breaking the other pieces! I have no idea why she didn't charge them for breaking her stock.

1950s sunburst wall clock, £4. Unfortunately we got this home and found it to be not working, hopefully Paul can fix it with his soldering and electrics skills.

Vintage Singer manually opeated sewing machine with case and key, £15. A man was trying to haggle the seller down, telling her he only wanted it for an ornament and trying to make her accept £5. He faked disinterest so we swooped in and gave her the £15, you should have seen his face when she then produced the case from under her table. I certainly didn't begrudge paying the asking price seeing as it's worth a lot more, and I didn't appreciate Mr. Cheapskate trying to con the nice girl selling it - there's haggling when something is overpriced, and then there's plain dishonesty.

I looked it up at Singer's serial number registry where you can check the serial number of almost every individual Singer sewing machine and find its year and place of manufacture. My machine was made in 1920 at Clydebank, Scotland, and is in perfect condition apart from the rubber ring on the bobbin winder, which has perished but is easily replaceable.

Amazing sandwich plates, £3 for both. These are missing their teacups, but I got them for a great price, and this is a rare pattern! Unfortunately these plates sparked off a need to collect more pieces in this pattern, and this week these pieces arrived in the post!

They cost considerably more than £3. Tureen and serving platter!

Rebellion Punk Festival 2011 - (drunken) Pictures!

2011-08-13T00:28:00.005+01:00

Last weekend we headed off to sunny Blackpool for our annual holiday to Rebellion Punk Festival (formerly Wasted... and before that it was Holidays in the Sun, I've been going for ten years but this was Paul's 3rd). First, let's get the shopping out of the way!

On the condition that I didn't get anything else all weekend, Paul bought me this Lux De Ville 'Sin City Motor Tote' handbag from my friend Kathy, whose shop Rockers had a stall at the festival. I may just love this thing more than life itself.

Plus it has a leopard satin lining, and room inside for all my gubbins.

We also got a record each, mine is an album of NOFX rarities and Paul's (his first vinyl, aww!) is a Tenpole Tudor album. Pure 80s punk cheese... the singer, Ed Tudor Pole, is a descendant of Henry VIII and used to present The Crystal Maze on TV, he took over from Richard O' Brien of Rocky Horror fame. Best game show ever? Quite possibly... plus they both had fabulous taste in frock coats.

We also found out a local artist has done a painting of us! Her name is Corrine Streetly, this picture of us at the 2009 festival is for sale for £1000... good lord.

A couple of band pics... punk rock Überlord Jello Biafra!!! He was amazing, and his band The Guantanamo School of Medicine were great.

Stza Crack, of Choking Victim and Leftöver Crack... bands I love from my past, definitely not vintage or one for those of you with delicate little ears.

Things got more drunken as the weekend progressed... Paul, Fiona, my Paul.

Me with the paintings of us! I also got the Mad Sin t-shirt, they played on the Friday night and my friend Sally is the bassist's girlfriend and runs the merch stand. This is the first year I've ever been able to squeeze into a girly fit t-shirt... go weight loss!

Here I am posing in our hotel room so you can see my hair (day 3, brushed out my curly set and backcombed it) and makeup.

Here I am with Gemma, she is one of my best friends but we only see each other every few months since she moved away. I miss her.

The Pauls enjoy a lunch break...

Ridiculous posing... our friends Ciana and Steve, Lee and Alessia, myself, and the Pauls.

This is what four days of late nights, cider (that's the fizzy kind with alcohol, America) and a diet of fried potato products will do to you.

1940s Turban Headpiece Tutorial

2011-07-30T00:29:00.005+01:00

This is a great vintage way to cover up a hairdo that's past its best or a head full of rollers or pincurls while they dry! I was inspired by the Carmen Miranda look while creating this turban.

My head full of rollers! You can of course just do this style on tied or pinned up hair, and it'll work with or without a fringe (bangs).

Take a large scarf or square of fabric, mine was about 30", and fold it diagonally into a triangle. Place it so the long side is at your neckline, scoop forward covering your hair and tie the long ends at the front of your head as pictured, over rather than behind the ears, tucking the sides in as you tie.

Fold the point to the back of your head, and push in a couple of bobby pins to secure it in position to your hair. Double knot the long ends over the top, or the turban will work loose over time.

Take a long scarf, fold it in half, then fold into an 's' shape as pictured. Grasp all layers of the 's' at the centre.

Place the folded second scarf on top of the knot of the first scarf, and knot again to secure it.

Fluff and fan out the folded looped sections of the second scarf.

Bring the back point and loose ends of the first scarf up, tucking them in wherever you think looks best, I used the black ends to create more loops to contrast with the green.

Arrange the loops however you like, and add a flower or fruit clip or jewelled brooch for extra 40s flair! For an authentic 40s look, contrasting plain coloured scarves or a plain one mixed with a wartime or floral print would look great.

Queen of Hearts

2011-07-26T01:25:00.006+01:00

I've been working on a couple of fabulous made-to-order hats for bridal customers recently. This design is for the bride to wear at her wedding reception, and is based on the scene in Disney's Alice in Wonderland where the cards are painting all the white roses in the Queen's garden with red paint, lest they lose their heads!

I popped it on to model the design, and was rather enamoured of it. It's a red satin heart-shaped pillbox style embellished with hand painted roses, foliage, playing cards and paintbrushes. By the way, this is what my hair looks like if it is allowed to dry naturally - a cross between Doc Brown from 'Back to the Future' and some outcast from A Flock of Seagulls.

Holiday Sale!

2011-07-23T17:26:00.004+01:00

I'm heading to Rebellion Punk Festival on the 4th of August, and need some extra funds. This is the only holiday we ever take, so support us on our trip to smelly old Blackpool by buying one of my glorious designs with 15% off! Sale starts at 6.30pm BST tonight.

Kalandra Jane Designs eBay Shop Here! All these beauties and many more are in the sale. You can also 'like' my business page on facebook!

Art Deco Beauties

2011-07-07T03:06:00.005+01:00

When I first moved into my flat, there were three framed prints in the hallway waiting to be thrown out. I saved them, of course, and they have languished in a corner ever since. During a cleaning frenzy the other day, I decided to take a closer look at them. One of the frames is coming apart a little, so I managed to take a peek beneath the backing paper.

The pictures are artwork prints given away by the Pompeian Beauty Company, and date from 1924! The glass needs a good clean, I think they'll look considerably brighter once they've had a good polish as I suspect the yellowish cast is nicotine staining on the surface - hopefully the paper itself has been protected by the sealed frames.

One of the prints sold on eBay this week for £34.49 (here), as you can see it has the Pompeian Beauty logo at the bottom with the artist's name, Gene Pressler. This part is cut off on my prints, obviously whoever framed them didn't like the branding on there so cut it off rather than folding it under, which is unfortunate.

Information on the company is fairly scarce online, but I came across this small article on Massage Magazine's website, about the history of Pompeian massage cream which has a little of the company's history. Though much of the available information relates to the brand's Canadian roots, it was in fact an international company, with its British headquarters in Leeds.

"The Pompeian Manufacturing Company began in a small drugstore on the outskirts of Cleveland, Ohio, in the late 19th century. Among its product line, the Pompeian Massage Cream was a favorite with barbers around the world - even though it was promoted to men and women alike.

Pharmacist Fred W. Stecher, the son of a German immigrant, created the soothing after-shave massage cream in the back room of his small drugstore on the west side of Cleveland. But it was Otto F. Leopold, who after Stecher's death would become president of the company, who led the creation of its famous "Pompeian Beauty of the Year" contest. Film star Mary Pickford was one of the first Pompeian beauties to grace the advertisements of the company, and helped Leopold to become one of America's early cosmetic tycoons.

In 1927 the Pompeian Manufacturing Company was sold to Colgate Palmolive Peet for $1 million. Six months later the entire Pompeian line of products was discontinued and the legacy of Pompeian Massage Cream and its "Pompeian Beauty" ended. But the legacy was the first great advertising campaign using the word massage in its product name. From the examples shown here you can get an idea of the broad approach the company took in marketing its Pompeian Massage Cream product.

Today the Pompeian Massage Cream jars, sample tins, ads and posters are considered collectable antiques."

-Robert Noah Calvert

There is also a more thorough history of the company and its products on the Collecting Vintage Compacts blog, which is full of interesting bits about vintage cosmetics and has some lovely Pompeian advertising pictures.

I had a chuckle at this inscription which is at the top on the back of the panel, hopefully he married her for more reasons than just her 'lasting youth and girlish loveliness'.

Brandy Basket Peach Melba!

2011-07-03T22:43:00.004+01:00

We have just enjoyed these for our dessert! Makes 2, but you can easily multiply the recipe.

Brandy Snap Baskets:

1tbsp. Golden syrup
25g / 1oz. vegan spread (or butter, if you eat dairy)
25g / 1oz. vanilla sugar (made by adding a split vanilla pod to a jar of sugar, or you can just use plain sugar and add 1/2tsp of vanilla extract)
2tsp. Brandy
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
25g / 1oz. plain flour, plus 1 heaped tsp.
Small pinch of salt

Melt the first three ingredients together over a medium heat and simmer for a few minutes to combine, then remove from the heat and stir in the brandy. Sift in the flour, ground ginger and salt, and mix. Leave to cool for about ten minutes, the mixture will be a thick golden liquid. Preheat the oven to 180C while you're waiting for the mixture to cool, and line a baking tray with baking parchment / greaseproof paper.

Drop two blobs of mixture onto the tray, dividing it equally between them. Leave about four inches between the blobs as they spread considerably during cooking. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, keep checking after the first 5-7 mins as they can burn and cooking time will depend on your oven. They are done when they're bubbly, spread out and chestnut brown.

After removing them from the oven, let them cool for a minute, and as soon as you can stand to pick them up, peel them off the baking paper and form the baskets. You can either press them over an upturned ramekin or push them into the bottom of a mug, and they will set firm within a minute. If they harden too quickly, pop them back into the oven to soften for a minute.

For the Peach Melba:

50g/2oz. Raspberries
1 heaped tbsp. icing (confectioner's) sugar
2 peaches, not over ripe or they will turn to mush when you skin them
2 scoops vanilla ice cream (I used Swedish Glace vegan ice cream)

To skin the peaches, place them in a pan or heatproof bowl, and cover with just-boiled water. Leave for one minute, then drain and rinse under a cold tap. Slice them in half, remove the stones and slip off the skins.

For the raspberry sauce, simply push the raspberries through a sieve to remove the seeds, and sift the icing sugar into the puréed berries. If there are any lumps, just leave it a few minutes and they will dissolve.

To assemble, place a brandy snap basket onto a plate, add two peach halves, a scoop of ice cream and drizzle with raspberry sauce. Sprinkle with toasted flaked almonds, if you like. Devour!

Hilda, Curvy Pinup Queen of the 1950s

2011-07-02T14:43:00.012+01:00

Some people on the vintage scene would have you believe that ladies in the 1950s were all tiny, that nobody fancied fat girls, and that Gil Elvgren or George Petty were the be-all and end-all when it came to pinup art. These people are wrong, and to them I would like to introduce Hilda.

Hilda was the creation of artist Duane Bryers, and was the subject of calendars produced by printers Brown & Bigelow from 1958 until about 1970, and apparently some of the paintings were re-used by the company on calendars for many years afterwards. It is unfortunate that Bryers' early work is something of a footnote when it comes to pinup history, as his talent was easily equal to that of the more well-known artists and his subject matter utterly endearing. However, he worked as a professional artist for many years, as his calendar paintings were always in demand and he has in later life gained excellent recognition for his Western paintings. To my knowledge he is still alive and painting to this day - if so, he is one hundred years old this year. One of his recent paintings, of an Apache on horseback, was sold in Texas just six weeks ago.

The best resource on the internet for Hilda images and information is Les Toil's Hilda Page, lovingly created by modern plus-size pinup artist Les as a tribute to Bryers' work and to Hilda herself (it is also where I have stolen most of these pictures from, so go take a look, maybe commission a painting!)

Hilda was the first mainstream plus-sized pinup. Vintage erotic photographs from the 1900s-era often features slightly larger-than-average girls, but in my view those girls were the norm for erotica of the time, just average, slightly plump women from a time when there was no real body prejudice in the fledgling photographic titillation industry, and when the practise of making pictures of semi-nude women was regarded as highly scandalous. By the 1950s however, the pinup was a part of the national consciousness of America, a cultural icon that hung in every garage, was used to advertise everything from soft drinks to plumbing supplies, and had accompanied airmen to war on the noses of WWII bombers. She was regarded as the ideal all-American girl and though still slightly risqué, pinup art was not considered rude.

Elvgren famously considered the ideal subject for a pinup painting to have the face of a fifteen year old on the body of a twenty-five year old, but Hilda was no girl - she was all woman. Whereas Elvgren's girls were beautiful, imaginary dolls with tiny waists, Hilda was a huge step away from the typical pinup art of the day, embodying the Botticellian ideal of a flame-haired, buxom sprite, at ease with her curves in full celebration of her soft, rounded womanhood.

My favourite thing about the Duane Bryers' work is that whereas occasionally Hilda would be seen doing something silly such as being chased by bees after her flower bikini or sweeping dirt under the rug, she was never portrayed in any situation which made fun of her full figure - she was always happy, frolicking and contented whilst getting into scrapes, relaxing by the fire in her red long-Johns, or enjoying the great outdoors with her little pup. Bryers loved his plus-sized pinup, just as many people do today. Here is my meagre Hilda collection - two playing cards, and the original first Hilda calendar, from 1958. Bryers considers the cover painting to be his Hilda masterpiece, and I'm proud to own a copy of it.

This is the picture for November and December - Hilda playing the saw. I bought a vintage saw for this purpose after having a go at playing my friend's here, but haven't gotten myself a violin bow yet. What's the betting I won't look as carefree as Hilda while I'm wailing away at it?

Hilda paved the way for decades of plus-sized erotica, and though some of it is distinctly unpalatable there are plenty of big, sassy girls out there doing what Hilda did best in a climate where images of stick-thin models or silicone-stuffed porn stars are the only things regarded by the media as attractive. My favourite buxom beauties are the beautiful April Flores and burlesque queen Eva Von Slut, who is also the singer in the all-girl psychobilly band Thee Merry Widows.

New vintage patterns!

2011-06-04T00:42:00.008+01:00

I haven't posted in a while so thought I should give you all something nice to look at! Here are some vintage patterns I've bought recently.

This 1950s Advance Pattern is from Mrs. Depew on etsy, and if you follow her lovely blog there are tips, discount codes and other sewing-related goodies to be found.

I think the double breasted style with the large collar would make a great sailor dress, similar to the Bettie Page 'Captain' dress. I plan to make it in navy (not sure which fabric yet) with white trim and gold anchor buttons. The housecoat is cute too!

This Vogue pattern is a 1940s style. The envelope and instructions aren't in great shape, so I'm going to keep the envelope bagged and photocopy the instructions to prevent any further damage. The collar piece is missing, but the collar facing is present so it shouldn't be difficult to re-draft the collar from that. This is also the first perforated pattern I've bought, it seems rather confusing now but I'm sure I'll get as used to them as I am to printed pattern pieces. It also calls for homemade shoulder pads, wedge shaped and 3/4" thick at the outside! They really liked 'em square in the forties.

I thought it would be great for making a dress similar to this one by Trashy Diva, the 'Sweetie', which I had lusted over while it was in stock.

They've now brought it out in a gorgeous new fabric, with parrots and toucans on it! It comes in larger sizes too... up to a US18 which is about a UK22, check the size chart though as it's cut for small waists and ample everything else (hoorahs!) Here.

This last one is an American mail order pattern, also an unprinted pattern. All my other vintage patterns are full skirted styles, so this pencil dress is a lovely addition to my collection. It's full of detail too, I love the tabs, buttons and large collar. The original owner was a Mrs. Lois Boner of Burlington Flats, NY... heh, heh, boner. I think that's what it says anyway... people are always going on about how handwriting was so much better in the past, I beg to differ!

Summer blouse project - Completed!

2011-05-16T20:27:00.004+01:00

I finally managed to finish something I started sewing for myself! Hurrahs... usually I end up cutting things out then leaving them for months while my attention is taken up with working on things for other people.

I posted previously about my Summer blouse plans here and here, and finally it's done!

Here are the buttons I used, vintage bakelite I got to replace the original ones which were sadly damaged in the post.

I used the bodice pattern from this vintage playsuit from newvintagelady's shop on etsy.

I had to make a few adjustments - I converted the pleats at the waist to darts, extended the bodice down from the waistline to make the blouse shape, and narrowed the shoulders by a couple of inches as the pattern turned out to be too broad for my frame. I also got rid of the notched collar and made it a smooth winged collar instead, as I think this is a more classically 1950s look.

I'm really glad I made a mock-up of this shirt from linen beforehand, it allowed me to make a lot of necessary tweaks to the fitting. (Note to self: take the picture of the garment before you've had it tucked into your jeans and made it all wrinkly.)

Yay!

Winning!

2011-05-14T02:23:00.006+01:00

I've recently been lucky enough to win two blog giveaways! The first was from Tasha at By gum, by golly! and was sponsored by BombshellShocked on etsy.

Vintage sewing and knitting books, plus a cute Barbie card from Tasha! These will prove really helpful with construction when I'm working with vintage sewing patterns, and I hope to learn to knit at some point. In the meantime, Mum, get your needles at the ready! Hehe!

The next giveaway was from the lovely LandGirl1980's film and literary blog, LandGirl's Library.

Fabulous wartime-themed goodies! I can't wait to get viewing and reading these.

Thank you so much to both ladies, I really appreciate the prizes and feel so lucky to have won two giveaways!

Plus... my fabrics have arrived from the USA! Thanks to some creative customs labelling I also managed to dodge any exorbitant charges, so keep a eye out for my dressmaking adventures over the next few weeks!

New hair - part 2.

2011-05-11T01:32:00.002+01:00

Here is the short hair as curled by me, not the hairdresser. I really didn't like that he rolled it upwards at the sides, it looked all feathery and 80s. Here I rolled it under but basically followed his pattern otherwise, and I'm a lot happier with it.

Shoemaking - carved tiki shoes revamp!

2011-05-09T19:28:00.005+01:00

A couple of months ago I bought some cheap vintage carved shoes on etsy. I don't think they're 1950s, maybe 70s? Anyway, despite being deadstock the leatherette uppers weren't in the best condition, they looked like they'd been stored somewhere damp. Then, to top it off, they were so tight I couldn't even get my feet in! So I decided to revamp them... here's what I did!

First I removed the uppers using pliers, and put the decorative tacks aside. I made a new paper pattern for the uppers, measuring against my foot as I went.

I cut out new uppers from tropical barkcloth, adding a quarter inch seam allowance. I also cut linings from red fake leather, with no seam allowance.

Next I used these Miss L Fire shoes to make an ankle strap pattern from paper, but as I knew the ends would not be sewn in I made them rounded, and big enough to acommodate a metal eyelet.

I used fabric adhesive to stick the seam allowances in on the uppers and ankle straps, then stitched together the barkcloth outer pieces and fake leather linings.

Next I used small nails to attach the uppers to the wooden soles, and added the decorative tacks to cover the small nail heads and make the uppers more secure.

The wooden soles already had holes drilled through them, so I used nylon cord to thread the ankle straps onto them, after hammering metal eyelets into the strap ends. I knotted the cord and melted it a little.

Next I threaded small buckles onto flat elastic, and firmly machine stitched them in place between the ankle strap outer and lining.

Holes were punched in the straps using a large needle...

...ta daaaa! Finished!

Fabric Love

2011-05-08T03:38:00.010+01:00

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of two lots of fabric, from which I plan to make fabulous dresses! First, this fabric by Michael Miller, 'Kitschy Cocktails'. I plan to make a circle dress and matching bolero, and probably some cocktails too from the recipes that are printed on it! (Click it so you don't have to squint, dear).

Next, this gorgeous print - it's by Alexander Henry and comes in turquoise, black or white - I'm not sure of the name as I have seen it labelled with at least four different ones. With this I plan to make a Hawaiian dress with a waterfall skirt.

I'm obsessed with making these dresses better than anything I've done before, and plan to employ boning and to teach myself how to make a winged bust! Maybe shirring, too... ambitious. This droolworthy dress is from the emporium of unattainable dress perfection that is WhirlingTurban.

Whilst rooting in the bargain bins at my local fabric shop I came across this, I'd had my eye on it on etsy so I snapped it up! 'Puppies and Kittens/Ruthe's Party' from Michael Miller - the fabric is divided into panels which I suppose are meant to be used for quiltmaking, it's ridiculously twee. I'm rather worried for the mouse on top of the jelly, I do hope he's made from icing and not some poor little cartoon soul about to be devoured by slavering kittens.

Look at this cute child's skirt made from it, by Polkadotjes on Flickr. How I wish it would fit me. I was thinking of adding panels of the fabric as a border round the bottom of a black or red circle skirt, what do we think? Or maybe kitsch pillows, I have six full panels and two which are usable but mummy cat has been cut off. (WHY cut through the picture when there are cutting lines marked on the fabric? I know it was a scrap from the bargain bin but it's annoying me!)

I love this fabric so much I have taken it to bed with me. It reminds me of the last supper, but y'know, with less of an air of solemn biblical foreboding (except maybe for the poor mouse).

New hair and vintage specs!

2011-05-06T13:40:00.004+01:00

I finally got my hair cut! I've been wearing it covered up under a scarf for months, as one side was shoulder length and the other side was slowly growing out from where I shaved it, so once it reached about three inches I decided to go for the chop for Summer. Here it is! It's so short, I'm really not used to it.

I also found out a while back I need glasses for reading and computer work. The 1950s frames are from a US etsy seller, and I had them reglazed at www.specs-by-post.com who were the cheapest I found for lenses which included the anti-reflection coating I needed.

This is the picture I took to the hairdresser, the lovely Claudette Colbert, I had admired her hair ever since I saw 'Let's Make it Legal'.

I think what I came out with is actually quite a bit shorter on top, something more like this but even shorter:

Also, as a rule I never roll upwards at the sides when setting my hair, but the hairdresser did. I'm worried it looks a bit too Pat Benatar!

I've not needed to do anything with it yet, but I'll have a go at a different curling pattern tomorrow.

Rhubarb, rhubarb.

2011-05-05T18:08:00.002+01:00

Last week we were taking care of Paul's mum's allotment while she was away, and we took some rhubarb home for pies! Here he is pretending to be hunter-gatherer man.

I was feeling rather unwell and decided it was best to camouflage myself and hide behind my sunglasses. Then I did a fan dance with some massive rhubarb leaves.

I forgot to photograph the pie, but we have another in the freezer.

Zzz...

2011-05-02T21:26:00.004+01:00

It may appear I have dropped off the face of the Earth... well, I haven't, I've been furiously hatting, doing stalls, having bank holiday seaside adventures, and experimenting with vegan ice cream making. I've got loads of things to blog about but for some reason I feel exhausted, even after three days of doing absolutely nothing. Normal service will be resumed shortly!

Zzz... sleepy baby African hedgehogs... one day, I will have one of these as a pet. We saw one in a pet shop today priced at £220! He's been there ages, I feel quite sorry for him. My dad tells me he can adopt one for about £70 from a reputable home breeder via his exotic pet club, which sounds a lot better to me as you know the parents and babies are well loved and cared for.

Fashion We Wore - Celebrating 70 Years of Everyday Style & Society in Britain

2011-04-12T02:49:00.006+01:00

I spied this publication while grocery shopping this weekend, and after the customary leaf through the one at the front, I nabbed one from the back to take home with me. 'Fashion We Wore' is a souvenir book priced at £4.99 and published by Yours Magazine, normally the preserve of bizarre household tips, short stories about duck ponds, and pictures of people's chocolate-smeared grandchildren.

The book however is an excellent record of real British fashion from WWII - now, although the focus is most definitely on the 1940s and 50s. A few pages are dedicated to a timeline charting fashion across the eras with a couple of truly awful 1970s - 80s oufits pictured, but the bulk of the book is made up of lovely old mid-century photographs submitted by the elderly readers of Yours Magazine. Because of this there are not many pictures from before 1940 as most of that generation has passed, but the few that are included from the 1910s - 1930s are real gems, especially the bridal ones.

Each picture includes a small reminiscence about the clothes and the setting of the picture, and it really is wonderful to gain a glimpse into the lives and wardrobes of everyday British women. I especially enjoyed the ones where the clothes were homemade to keep up with the latest fashions, and the pride conveyed in the contributors' stories.

The book also contains features on style icons from actresses to princesses, fashion advertising of the time, and has special sections devoted to vintage beachwear, wedding gowns, outerwear, children's clothing, accessories and make-do-and-mend! I think it'd be great inspiration for vintage sewers or those who like to replicate an authentic vintage look, and it really is fantastic to see precious family memories of the past brought to life through the marvellous pictures of people's outfits.

I got mine in Tesco, you should be able to find it in any good newsagent or supermarket!

Retro Fruit Jewellery!

2011-04-10T20:24:00.003+01:00

After posting about them here I decided to make more than shoe clips from my polymer clay fruits, so this week I made a necklace, bracelet and two brooches which can also be pinned to shoes. The post on my shoe-making adventures is coming soon! I also made another necklace for my friend Steff's birthday.

I formed the fruits from polymer clay in solid base colours, then hand painted and varnished them.

Here is a picture of my face, wearing the necklace and my Cramps t-shirt.

The red and black beads and the tiny yellow separator beads are glass, the little turquoise ones are plastic, and I added silver plated clasps.

Vintage finds, March - April!

2011-04-07T20:00:00.006+01:00

Here are my vintage finds for the last few weeks!

I though I'd already posted this, but it seems not...

Atomic print ice bucket, £14.99 from Roewood Collectables on eBay, they have some really nice things and have their own website too. I first saw this bucket on Fiona of Notorious Kitsch's blog, Straight Talking Mama, but nobody else bid on it so it is mine! Thanks for the recommendation, Fiona!

Another necklace for my uranium glass collection, £3.99, Oxfam. This must be very old as it is a pale green and fluoresces in sunlight, meaning the uranium content is high, indicating an early piece. It could do with restringing, as someone has threaded it on white household string at some point!

Cute vintage saucer, 75p, second hand shop.

Isn't the print sweet? I'd love to know more about it, unfortunately it is unmarked.

Dressing table tray, 99p, charity shop.

1950s cocktail print shot glasses, £6, Affleck's Palace.

I'd intended them to be a gift but couldn't part with them in the end!

Pink tureen, £4.50, charity shop.

Today, I took Scamp to the vet to get some antibiotics for a dental cyst. Here he is zonked out on painkillers, the cyst is visible as a lump under his eye, aww...

...and on the way home, I spied this beauty stuffed between some bits of wood and an old sofa waiting to be thrown out.

This Victorian antique mirror! According to our old friend Wikipedia, the rococo revival period was 1820-1870, so I can date my mirror to the mid 19th century. (Incidentally, what's the name of the period before Victorian? I always thought it was Georgian, but the monarch preceding Victoria was William IV. Confusing!)

It could do with that horrible white gloss paint being stripped off and restoring to gold (some of the original gilt is visible on the back), and at some point someone has pulled off the backboard so the silvering of the mirror glass has some visible scratches, but I don't think they're too detrimental to it. It's 26" high and original/restored pieces like it go for hundreds of pounds, so I think getting it for nothing from a rubbish heap is pretty lucky :)

What's for dinner?

2011-04-04T20:29:00.004+01:00

A massive vegan pizza!

Fresh dough and garlicky tomato sauce, olives, mushrooms, onions, capers, spicy tofu bits and Sunblush tomatoes, topped with Cheezly melting mozzarella style fake cheese and fresh basil. Mmm!

Outfit & Jumble Sale Goodies

2011-04-03T23:40:00.005+01:00

On Saturday morning I met my friend Ciana for a jumble sale at a local retirement home. Here is what I wore:

Jeans - Freddies of Pinewood
Red leopard cardigan - eBay
Red leopard belt - New Look
Red leopard pumps - Tesco
Cowboy print headscarf - Cath Kidston

Here's a closeup of my jewellery - 50s fruit necklace from my friend Steff, celluloid pink bunny brooch (40s?) from ebay.

Here are a couple of my finds from the jumble sale:

1930s vase/small planter, 30p.

1950s drinking glasses, 50p. (They're the same size, the photograph makes the front one look bigger!)

Manchester Deco

2011-03-28T00:49:00.006+01:00

This post is dedicated to Miss Matilda, as it features her combined loves of Manchester, art deco and Carole Lombard!

Some friends and I have been taking swimming lessons at a Bannatyne's health club, which is situated inside Sunlight House on Quay St. in Manchester, next door to the opera house. The basement pool is absolutely gorgeous - all original deco railings and tiles, an unusual shape, and a stunning domed stained glass ceiling looking up to daylight between the four sides of the building which provides much inspiration whilst practising my backstroke!

Unfortunately I can't find a picture anywhere of the pool, but here is a dramatic one of the building, taken by remote_release on flickr.

On the stairs by the pool there are pictures of its opening in 1933! It was 'Christened' with Champagne by Carole Lombard and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

My photos here are a bit rubbish as the glass created flare, and I have just noticed that there are reflections of Natalie and Katherine who were standing behind me on the stairs, but there are some great vintage swimsuits and shoes to be seen! I especially love the diving man's swimwear in the last picture, with the swallow appliqué.

Sunlight house was completed in 1932 and was Manchester's tallest building at fourteen floors, it was originally intended to be forty storeys high but the city council blocked the plans. I imagine that if it had been built to the original plans, with soaring white towers and glittering glass, it would be regarded as a UK Art Deco landmark, rather than just a building of local interest.

Fabulous Fruits!

2011-03-22T02:16:00.003Z

I wanted to make some shoe decorations for some wedges I've ordered, so a few evenings ago I got out the polymer clay and made some little fruits! After baking them I painted on some shade and highlights, then varnished them.

There are limes, oranges, bananas, cherries, mangoes, grapes, pineapples and peaches.

I love how they came out. I strung them on some thread to keep them safe until it's time to make the shoe clips, and have decided that I need a matching necklace, bracelet and hat to go with them, so more fruit making will ensue! I'll probably do a couple of hats with a little cluster of them to sell on Kalandra Jane Designs too!

Vintage Blouse Project: Bakelite Buttons Update

2011-03-18T05:09:00.005Z

After the disaster that was my first bakelite buttons purchase for this project, I was somewhat disheartened. However, I've cheered up a bit after the replacements I ordered from OritDotan on Etsy arrived safe and sound. Here they are (there are actually six):

Not as nice as the bamboo effect of the first lot, but these are the right size and colour, and the cut grooves in the bakelite are a nice touch.

As soon as I have some spare time I'm going to draft a pattern for the blouse from a vintage dress bodice, and I think that for the first time ever I might bother to make a muslin, I don't want to cut up my fabric only to find the blouse is too small in the bust or has weird armholes.

I'd better get to it soon, Spring is most definitely upon us here, the crocus have been out for weeks and the blossom is budding on the trees... here is where I planned to put a picture of myself being Spring-like, but it appears that there exist no outdoor photos of me, so instead here are some Spring rolls I made last week (and sushi and stuff). Yum.

Exfoliating: Part One

2011-03-10T23:15:00.005Z

My skin is annoying. I get spots around my chin, it's very sensitive, and I have dry patches on my cheeks and forehead that stop me from being able to wear foundation because they absorb it and show up the true flaky horror.

This week I picked up Boots No.7 'Total Renewal Micro-Dermabrasion Exfoliator'. Normally I would not pay £11 for a facial scrub, but at the moment Boots are running one of their spend £5, get a £5 No.7 voucher promotions so I got it for £6. I like to take as much advantage as possible of these offers, and can usually manage to stock up my makeup bag for a few months until they next run the promotion.

I used it for the first time tonight. I've never found an exfoliator I liked before - usually they've either not got enough bits so there's not enough scrubbing action, or the bits are made from crushed fruit stones which are just too big and scratchy. However, I like this product so far; a pea-sized amount did the whole face, and because the exfoliating particles are aluminium oxide crystals they are nice and fine, you can really work them over the skin. According to the box, 100% of testers saw an improvement after using it twice a week for two weeks, so we shall see how it goes.

My face was a bit pink and tingly afterwards, so I smoothed on some Full of Grace facial serum from Lush, I love this stuff. It's like a waxy bar which you melt by stroking it onto the face at night, and when you wake up your skin is beautifully soft and soothed. Flakes, be gone!

Vintage Sewing: Two New Patterns and Bakelite Horror

2011-03-09T21:47:00.004Z

Here are a couple of new vintage patterns I have purchased! One is a lovely dress with classically 1950s sleeve and collar styling, and the other is a rare playsuit and overskirt pattern. I'm hoping that as well as creating these gorgeous garments, I can also trace off and modify the bodice of one of them to create my planned Summer blouse.

From Miss Betty's Attic on etsy.

From NewVintageLady on etsy, you should also check out her marvellous blog!

Also in preparation for the blouse project, I ordered these gorgeous bakelite buttons from BecaliJewels on etsy, thinking the bamboo-like pattern would go wonderfully with the tiki-ish print of my fabric.

However, when I opened the package... BAKELITE HORROR!!!

I was so upset. The seller's packaging was faultless, each button wrapped in foam, taped up then placed in a padded bag, some callous bastard somewhere in the postal service must have literally stamped on the package to cause this damage. She was so lovely about it, gave me a refund right away and she is going to make a claim with the US postal service. Still, it's saddening that these vintage treasures did not survive. Three are still intact to use on another project, and I'm hoping to fix the least broken one with some epoxy. Unfortunately, my blouse is going to need at least five buttons. I've ordered some more, not quite as nice but hopefully they'll look good.

A Stash of 78s!

2011-03-03T14:12:00.005Z

On Monday I had to go to Burnley for a dental check-up. I hate going there by bus - the only reason I usually go back there is to visit my mum and stepdad, when we go by car and I don't have to be exposed to the rest of the town. But - there is one upside. If you know where to look, there are cheap vintage gems to be had.

I got these 78RPM records from the open market. The stallholder had lots of old books, antique and vintage tools and product packaging, DVDs including some great old movies, and a selection of records. I first spotted this Little Richard record below - my favourite rock 'n' roll musician. I asked the price expecting it to be close to the £10 mark, and was told "two or three pounds each". Well, being the cheeky chapette that I am, I took away six of these beauties for my £10.

Look at the great 1950s graphic on the sleeve of this one! The sleeve doesn't match the record, it's a Columbia one whereas the record inside was produced by Mercury - but these sleeves were usually added by the record shop anyway as the discs were delivered in plain packaging. Most of the sleeves are from local Lancashire record shops in the 1950s, and I was told that these are often bought by collectors of local history who frame them and don't care about the record inside - I wasn't having that, these are going to be played and enjoyed.

The tracks are:

Fats Domino: Blueberry Hill/I Can't Go On
The Platters: You'll Never Never Know/It Isn't Right
Bill Haley: Rock Around The Clock/Thirteen Women
Bill Haley: R-O-C-K/The Saints Rock 'n' Roll
Little Richard: Lucille/Send Me Some Lovin'
Everly Brothers: All I Have To Do Is Dream/Claudette

This is a lovely old deco safe that resides in my dentist's waiting room. I love the little painted square pattern around the door.

RIP Jane

2011-03-01T09:22:00.002Z

RIP Jane Russell, who died yesterday aged 89. Tonight I will be watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in which she arguably shone brighter than Marilyn - she was a wonderful actress who was never overshadowed in her roles.

Help Kalandra Jane Designs get to 1000 fans and win a hat!

2011-02-24T07:43:00.004Z

My business is currently up to 928 fans on facebook! Blog about my company or share my page on facebook and I will run a competition to win a fabulous hat. I'm not sure exactly how I'll work it yet but the prize will be gorgeous anyway!

Photographer: Emmelie Aslin
Model: Chesty Von Ellem

www.facebook.com/kalandrajanedesigns
www.kalandrajanedesigns.com
www.stores.ebay.co.uk/kalandrajaneburlesqueandretro

Sewing Plans - 50s Blouse

2011-02-23T09:50:00.005Z

A while back I got this printed cotton from the bargain bins at my usual fabric shop. It's a Robert Kaufman fabric, they make lots of retro inspired prints and I loved this atomic/tiki style. Unfortunately it was a one-off scrap which is only two metres long and has a one-way print, so not enough to make a dress from.

Instead I'm going to make a blouse - something lacking in my wardrobe and which I need to go with jeans and pencil skirts this Summer.

I love the winged collars and turn-back cuffs of these 1950s designs, and plan on making my design similar. Both of these pics are from Etsy, can't remember where.

If you fancy a cute retro blouse but don't want to make it yourself, Vivien of Holloway have a rather dashing design, as modelled here by the lovely Fleur De Guerre.

I shall be on the lookout for some cute (and cheap) vintage buttons too.

Tiki Time!

2011-02-20T23:39:00.006Z

Last night we went round to our friends Martin and Carla's place for Martin's tiki themed birthday party. I've stolen all these pictures from Carla. Here is what I wore:

Dress: the one I got for modelling in the CherryBomb fashion show which is now actually about four inches too big for me - I'm going to have to make some adjustments!
Cardigan: new tiki design from Collectif, birthday gift from my friend Kathy
Handbag: Christmas gift from Paul
Shoes and Belt: New Look

Here is Carla with Martin's birthday cake which she decorated. The tikis and cocktail bar weren't just for the party, their whole flat is decorated that way, it's marvellous.

My friend Natalie brought round her ukulele and saw. I was supposed to bring my theremin too, but alas Paul's mum had used up all the 9V batteries!

Here I am torturing everyone with my first go at playing the saw! I love it, and am planning on getting my own. Prepare your ears for caterwauling!

Paul's ukulele face.

Here is Nat showing us how music should actually sound, and birthday boy Martin having a go at accompanying her on the saw.

Free Atomic Fabric and Paper Samples!

2011-02-17T22:47:00.006Z

After seeing a post over at Atomic Tea Party about The Sanderson Company's reissue of several amazing 1950s atomic patterns, I decided to take advantage of their sample service and order some swatches. You can order up to four at a time, the samples and postage are free, and you can of course also sneakily order another four in your boyfriend's name. Here they are!

I want every single one of the reissued fabrics and wallpapers, they're amazing. Unfortunately Sanderson don't sell direct, only through very expensive department stores, where the fabric costs around £36/metre ($50/yard).

However, the sample pieces of fabric are 7.5" square - stitch four together, add a cotton backing and some kitsch pompom trim, and amazing atomic cushions will be yours! They're certainly going to be mine once my second batch of samples arrives and I have finished making them.

Here are the company's example rooms with atomic furniture and wallcoverings. Aren't they fabulous? I wish this was my house! (pictures (c) Sanderson).

This one has a Cmielow coffee pot like mine in the picture!

My First Blog Award!

2011-02-11T05:50:00.002Z

Thanks very much to the lovely Emily of Sass, Sin and Fashion Design for my very first blog award!

The rules for this award state that you should share 7 facts about yourself, and then pass it on to 10 other stylish bloggers.

1. I have three aquariums, two guinea pigs and a dog - in a one-bedroomed flat!

2. I really dislike modern bands which try to sound 'vintage' - stuff like Imelda May etc. which everyone seems to love but I just think are a weak pastiche of the real thing.

3. I'm just about to launch my first proper website for my business - www.kalandrajanedesigns.com

4. I really wish I had spent more time with my grandparents before they died. I have none left, and really wish I knew more about their lives. Unfortunately you don't think about these things as a teenager, and don't realise until the moment has passed.

5. I have been vegan for over five years, and was vegetarian for about nine years before that.

6. After partially moving away from the punk scene when it became all about ketamine, crust music and boring warehouse parties, I often feel that I have very few close friends that I have much in common with, and would love to find some new girlfriends to go shopping with or out for drinks.

7. I have been dieting since January 1st and so far have lost 4.5kg, which is nearly 10 pounds.

Here are my ten nominations for the stylish blogger award! I don't expect all of these to play along, but all are worth a good read!

http://retromodelsari.blogspot.com/
http://www.andibgoode.com/
http://atomicteaparty.blogspot.com/
http://helen-highwater.blogspot.com/
http://ivyandruby.blogspot.com/
http://missmatildadreams.blogspot.com/
http://temperamentalbroad.blogspot.com/
http://vintagelesbianproject.blogspot.com/
http://vavoomvintage.blogspot.com/
http://welcometodeluxeville.blogspot.com/

An Aquatic Adventure

2011-02-09T01:38:00.010Z

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire. Here are a few pictures!

Thai Moon Jellyfish

Tropical marine fish

Big starfish!

Lovely puffer fish!

I loved this fish so much, I did not want to leave him. He was so friendly.

Clownfish tending her anemone

Aerospace Boyfriend in the tunnel o' sharks.

A rather large crab!

Bitey caimans

Lovely tomato frog... I love his expression.

Fabulous Mid-Century Geisha Lamp!

2011-02-07T01:17:00.007Z

I received some money from my Dad and our friend Paul for my birthday, and after some thought this is what I bought! I'd seen her in a shop in town years ago but could never afford her... well this weekend I went down there and snapped her up! Managed to haggle some money off too, I am cheeky.

So, without further ado, I present Anna May!

I think she's supposed to be a geisha but I'm not sure, as she's not wearing a proper kimono and could actually be Chinese rather than Japanese. She's the mid-century Western idea of an Asian woman... hence, I named her after the fabulous Anna May Wong... a stunning silent actress who due to her 'exotic' look and a hefty dose of typecasting played just about every Asian girl of the 1920s - 30s.

I've actually done a bit of work on her here. If you look closely at the centre of her right eyelid, you might be able to detect a slight change in texture - this was a chip in the paint of her eyeshadow and eyelashes which I've restored. I just used acrylics and am happy with the result.

Here's her light fitting... it's working and I really want a spectacular fibreglass shade I've seen on eBay which would look just like a parasol for her, but alas it's too expensive... I might make a shade or maybe just put on a small red tasseled one.

She's also missing a hand, which apparently is extremely common with this lamp, but having never seen another I don't know if it's true. I'm going to make a replica which will just slide into the hand-hole rather than being permanently affixed, and make her look complete. If anyone knows what her other hand is supposed to look like, please let me know!

This is the mark on her back - any info on a maker or date would be appreciated!

Birthday Goodies!

2011-02-07T00:14:00.005Z

Here are the marvellous thing I got for my birthday this year! I have some lovely friends <3

The shoes from my imaginary wardrobe overhaul post! I've wanted these Irregular Choice beauties for months and the wonderful Aerospace Boyfriend got them for me! They're on sale at Schuh stores and online now if you want to snap up a pair.

He also got me the gorgeous matching handbag. It's enormous, plenty of room for millions of Post Office receipts and old tissues.

The cute anchor bag charm above and the owl pearl bracelet below are from his sister, my friend Steff got me these yellow vintage necklaces which I love, and Paul gained even more brownie points by getting me this cherry bracelet to match a necklace I have, by Classic Hardware at Rockers England.

Pink cake slice moneybox from my friends Ciana and Steve...

Lovely books from Paul's mum...

Ceramics book and Dia De Los Muertos fabric panel from Steff...

Cupcake washbag from my friend Fiona...

...and lots of Lush goodies too! Mmm, perfumey.

Birthday Buffet!

2011-02-06T23:56:00.006Z

On Sunday 30th me and about twenty friends went for a meal at our favourite Chinese buffet (Shang Hi, Whitworth St., Manchester) for my 25th birthday (which was actually January 31st). Mmm! I wore my newly completed green dress...

Much tofu and crispy seaweed was consumed...

Novelty in-joke T-shirts were given and appreciated...

Babies were generally well behaved and lovely...

A lot of horrible gelatin-based ice cream was devoured...

And then I was presented with a cake that could take your eyebrows off!

Hurrahs!

I made a new dress!

2011-01-22T06:02:00.004Z

Here it is! Please excuse the mirror photo and bad hair. I cut this dress out over a year ago and never made it up, but felt the urge to complete it last night. The pattern is basically Butterick 6582, a repro 'Mad Men' style from 1960, but I've modified it by dropping the neckline, and tapering and lengthening the skirt a little to give it a more 50s shape.

Here's the fabric. I have some left, it's a chartreuse atomic print cotton barkcloth.

I have already begun drafting a bolero pattern to go with it, it's going to be 50s style, black with the green fabric as a lining, which will be visible on the turn back cuffs and collar.

Quick giveaway at Heyday!

2011-01-18T08:07:00.003Z

Shona over at In the Heyday is running a quick competition to win a £25 voucher for her marvellous reproduction clothing store, Heyday!

Pop over and take a look, but be quick as the competition ends tomorrow!

Picture copyright Heyday Clothing/Fleur De Guerre

She will be mine...

2011-01-13T04:28:00.003Z

Oh yes, she will be mine.

I have just ordered this rather magnificent corselette from Girdlebound.com, having promised it to myself if I had enough money spare to buy it, including £30 I had from Christmas. I hope it arrives quickly from America!

I finally have a dressing table!

2011-01-10T22:47:00.004Z

I got this mirror for Christmas over two years ago, and it has been waiting to be put up ever since! It's a 1940s early plastic replica of a Rococo design. I finally decided that I couldn't wait any more for Aerospace boyfriend to mess about finding a stud detector, scanning the wall for wires and such, and generally putting it off, so eventually I just stuck a screw in the wall, which took two minutes and did not result in electrocution! I think I shall return to doing all my own DIY.

The dressing table is in fact the polished wood cabinet from my grandparents' first television set, probably purchased (as so many were) to watch the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It had the workings removed at a later date to leave a useful cupboard, but unfortunately has sustained some scratches from being moved from house to house. One day I will have it restored, but until then I think it looks great holding my hair flowers and trinkets.

Here is the transfer on top, with the HMV dog emblem and the inscription 'suppliers of gramophones, records, radio and television apparatus to the late King George VI'.

Lovely things!

2011-01-10T21:43:00.004Z

Here are a few things I got for Christmas!

EDIT: I am to emphasise that all these things, unless otherwise stated, were bought by my boyfriend. Yes, he deserves the plaudits, and isn't afraid to ask for them.

Kit-Cat Clock!!! I have wanted one of these for as long as I can remember, since I was a tiny child and I first saw one on Doc Brown's workshop wall in Back to the Future. I was so happy to receive one! Made since the 1930s by the California Clock Company, this lime green lady cat is part of their latest run of limited editions.

The other stuff on my kitchen wall:

Marilyn Painting - gift from my friend Martin of Stick 'em up Art, Affleck's Palace, Manchester.
Pufferfish bowl and tiki mugs - Rockers England
Repro wartime Ministry of Food signs - Imperial War Museum
Cake tins and sign - gift from Paul
Large cupcake - gift from our other friend Paul
Small cupcake - gift from my friend Fiona
Skyline retro utensils - Lakeland Limited

Now I just need this original 1950s beauty to keep my kitty company.

Speaking of poodles, here is the lovely new lucite bag which Aerospace boyfriend got for me - the lining is poodle print! I'd seen it on eBay ages ago and he surreptitiously purchased it.

My mum's side of the family decided that they weren't making a big thing of Christmas due to money and my sister and I both being at our partners' parents, and that any presents given would be handmade. My mum made me this fantastic cupcake-print apron and oven gloves (pot holders) set, which is nicer than something bought from a shop anyway!

A lovely DVD box set of Hollywood musicals, which I am working through!

I also got some Bela Lugosi DVDs, some lighing fixtures for my fish tanks, books and other bits and bobs.

New Year's Resolutions!

2011-01-02T01:51:00.003Z

This year, I am actually making some new year's resolutions, which will hopefully be achievable!

The first: lose weight. I don't own a scale so don't have a weight target, but I do have a size target. I'm currently a UK 20, I'm aiming to be a UK 16 by July which I think is pretty sensible. My diet started today! I did quite well with dieting last year, but put it all back on when Aerospace Boyfriend finished uni for the Summer and I couldn't control my meals as easily when cooking for two and eating at odd times. This time I hope to stick to it.

The second: Build a proper website for my business with an online store.

The third: Finish my sewing projects! Like many of you, I have a stash of garments which have been cut out or started and never finished. I plan on getting these finished, especially the green tiki barkcloth dress I cut out last Spring and never stitiched together.

The fourth: blog more! It's been almost a year since I began this blog, but I'd like to add more interest, more frequent posts and gain more followers. I'm planning a small giveaway soon, and more vintage fashion posts.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T18:33:00.003Z

Best wishes to you all for 2011! What plans do you have to celebrate tonight? We're going to a small party at my friends' house out in the sticks, and I'm taking cupcakes.

One of my resolutions is to blog more - so keep your eyes peeled for more frequent updates!

New Fish Babies!

2010-12-15T17:18:00.005Z

On Sunday, after a tip-off from my faithful geeky betta fish forum, we went to Leigh to have a look at some crowntail bettas (aka Siamese fighting fish, although of course they are kept apart so they can't get to each other or cause each other damage) they had in. I've had some bad luck with my fish in the last few months and lost a couple of very gorgeous and expensive males, so was happy to pick up these two pretty little fellows for less than £5 each.

The pink one is Clouseau and the orange one is Pumpkin! Both settled in well, eating and showing off to the other fish in the divided tank.

Notorious Kitsch Giveaway at Yesterday Girl!

2010-12-15T03:19:00.003Z

Jenny over at Yesterday Girl is having a fabulous giveaway sponsored by the marvellous Notorious Kitsch, in which you can win £50 to spend in their online store! Pop on over to enter and you could soon be lavishing fabulously retro gifts on your friends and family (or, you know, keeping them all for yourself).

'Cool for Cats' Christmas notecards, £5.50
'Bullitt' wall clock, £49
'Sew and Save' WWII notebook, £5.00

Oh, Kitschmas Tree!

2010-12-08T02:32:00.004Z

This weekend, I put up my Christmas tree. In our house growing up, despite being atheists and the tree actually being a totemic emblem of Europe's pagan past, oddly religious rules were adhered to in that the tree was never put up until Christmas eve, was to be decorated tastefully in red and gold, and was generally low-key.

The trees I remember most from my childhood however, were my paternal grandparents'. They always had a real fir tree which immediately started to turn brown and drop needles all over the carpet, and was covered in amazing 1950s decorations in bright jewel colours. Little glass birds with long tails, baubles like gleaming Fabergé eggs, crackers and nets of chocolate coins hidden inside the tree, and my favourite thing of all - bubble lights! These were apparently America's biggest selling Christmas lights from the 1930s - 1980s, but were and still are very rare in the UK. I was always amazed by the glowing tubes of colourful liquid, bubbling away dangerously among the branches like a mad scientist's test tubes.

So, seeing as my dad has lain claim to my grandparents' set, I purchased some from US eBay and bought a transformer so they wouldn't explode when exposed to UK voltages.

Atop my tree sit a small red flocked deer, and a bizarre long-legged elf from the 1940s. These were my nanna's on my mum's side.

The other decorations are a mixture of shiny blown glass B-movie style robots, this lovely crocodile which I bought at the German Christmas market a few years ago, multicoloured mini baubles and a generous sprinkling of glittery and metallic deer!

A Beautiful Box

2010-11-23T01:16:00.005Z

I went to my mum's this week, and came home with this lovely old trinket box which was my Nanna's, and was either made by her or a friend. It is made from postcards covered in acetate and crocheted together with faded pink thread, I remember there being one made from seaside postcards too. She would have been ninety this month, I like to keep a lot of her things out on display in my home.

It holds memories for me too because when I was little I always called her Nanna Roses, she had a garden full of them and had lots of Capodimonte style rose ornaments, she also used to give me bags of leftover sugarcraft roses to eat from the beautiful cakes she used to make.

My favourite thing about it is the gloves motif on the front, and when my mirror is finally put up I shall keep this box on my dressing table.

That's a bit better...

2010-11-15T22:17:00.001Z

What do we think of the new blog design? My grasp of programming can barely be described as 'basic', and I plan to make it better as soon as I learn how!

Help!

2010-11-15T02:41:00.002Z

Right... apparently Blogger has tricked me into upgrading to beta, and I now can't do anything with the coding because it's all in xml not html. If anyone has any knowledge of how to build your own layout using the new format, please let me know! Everything online is for the old format, and I hate every single one of the boring default templates available. I don't want to use someone else's, I want my own. Bah!

Please excuse the mess...

2010-11-15T00:44:00.002Z

I'm attempting to redesign my blog and am having trouble reconciling the design I am trying to create with the garbage that Blogger sees to wish to automatically apply and keeps copying over my self-designed layout. So, my blog will probably look a mess for a while! Bear with me.

October's Vintage Purchases!

2010-11-03T00:26:00.007Z

Only a small amount of vintage shopping has been done this month, because I am poor.

The first two things; more fawns for my collection! This one is a double bud vase from the 1940s - 50s.

I'm not sure about this one - it was made in Japan and from the paint and styling I'm guessing it's 1950s, but I think it might actually be a Christmas decoration or some sort of advertising display? The log is hollow as if you're meant to use it as a vase, but the way the ceramic was moulded leaves a big hole in the base so it's not watertight. It also has that flat bit on the log where I imagine a sticker or logo is meant to go. I love it anyway!

This was this month's only charity shop purchase. I love the charity shops near me, I can usually find something great whenever I go in! These plates are 1930s I think, and have a few paint chips, but at 99p for the four I couldn't let them stay there. They almost go with my Nanna's cake stand, perfect for if I ever get round to having anybody round for tea and sandwiches (or booze and cake, either way is fine).

These aren't vintage, but the simple T-bar dolly style means they can be worn with lots of outfits from just about any vintage era, and they're practical now the weather is getting colder and wetter. £12, Peacock's stores nationwide, also in charcoal.

I also got the Miss L. Fire 'Sylvie' shoes I mentioned in my Imaginary Wardrobe Overhaul post last week. They were £23.50 which is about half the price Miss L. Fire shoes usually are, so I snapped them up despite the fact I'm not going to be able to wear them for six months. They're really cute and comfortable, although the colours differ slightly from the picture, I suspect because of glare from the seller's insanely pink background. The straw which looks coral is actually a natural beige colour, and the soles are not white but a lovely eau-de-nil minty green. Still some available in a few sizes on ebay!

Last day to get your entires in!

2010-10-28T21:56:00.003+01:00

Don't forget ladies, it's your last chance to enter Shona's giveaway over at In The Heyday!

She is giving away one of her lovely 'Fleur' dresses, so it's well worth winning.

If you don't win, you can always pick one up from the Heyday online store, and don't forget to buy me some Navy Swing Trousers while you're there and the Olivia blouse in cherry print, when it's released!

Halloween Pumpkin Soup!

2010-10-26T19:26:00.007+01:00

At the weekend, we went to Unicorn Grocery in Chorlton, a workers' co-operative selling gorgeous produce, deli items and vegan foods. As well as a massive haul of tofu and faux meat treats, we picked up some lovely fresh vegetables including a big slice of bright orange pumpkin. The produce section is well stocked with seasonal fruits and vegetables, and they grow many items themselves including the squash, cabbages and some fantastic looking Romanesco cauliflowers that Fibonacci would be proud of.

I made this recipe up when we got home, and it was so easy and tasty I thought I would share it with you. This creamy, slightly smoky soup feeds four as a starter, or two as a hearty supper.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. sunflower or light olive oil
1 medium-sized onion
2 large shallots (or another onion)
3 cloves of garlic
2 medium-sized carrots
600g deseeded Pumpkin
Hot vegetable stock
2 tbsp. chopped fresh herbs (I used oregano and dill)
1 tsp. smoked paprika

Herb drizzle:

2 tbsp. Tofutti vegan cream cheese, or regular cream cheese if you eat dairy.
1 tbsp. chopped fresh herbs
1 tsp. lemon or lime juice
A small amount of soya milk

To serve:

Crusty bread or sliced pittas

The Recipe!

Cut the onion, shallot and carrot into small dice and sauté gently in a large pan with the oil until the onions become translucent. Meanwhile, crush the garlic, and peel and cut the pumpkin into one inch cubes. Add these to the pan and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.

Add the smoked paprika and enough hot stock to cover the vegetables, and simmer until a sharp knife can pass easily through the pumpkin cubes. Keep topping up the stock if the vegetables are above the surface, and stir occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.

Let it cool for a few minutes, then add in batches to a blender. Pulse a few times, the soup should still have some texture and shouldn't be totally smooth (unless you prefer it that way).

Pour back into the pan, stir in the fresh herbs and taste the soup before seasoning with salt and pepper if you think it needs it. If you think the soup is a little thick, you can add a little more stock, but mine didn't need it.

To make the creamy herb drizzle, place your cream cheese into a small bowl and mix in the lemon or lime juice. Add the soya milk a little at a time so no lumps are left, until you reach a pourable consistency. Stir in the fresh herbs with a pinch of salt, and add a little more liquid if necessary. Drizzle over your soup, or use as a dip for your bread! Add Some croutons if you like, and enjoy!

We also got some lovely olives from the deli counter... mmm, tasty olives.

The Bizarre Ball!

2010-10-26T18:44:00.006+01:00

On Saturday, Aerospace Boyfriend and I and lots of our friends went to the first Manchester Bizarre Winter Ball, a big 'alternative' event run by Bizarre Magazine. There was burlesque performance by the fabulous Lola Pops, compereing by the wickedly funny Desmond O'Connor and onstage grotesqueries from The Circus of Horrors.

Lola Pops!

There have been a few complaints that the ball did not measure up to the quality of the London event, but all in all I had a good time and have high hopes that future incarnations of the ball will be even better, as it was great to see an event like this being put on outside of the capital. The bands that were on were fairly dire, but I was pleasantly surprised that the music played by the DJs between and after bands was a good mix with no obnoxious metal, plenty of danceable stuff that the crowd enjoyed ranging from old punk, the B52s and Blondie to Lady Gaga and camp classics.

The Circus of Horrors

I was also really proud to see several of my hats being worn at the ball, so thank you to all my customers! If you fancy a hat for your next event, take a look at my eBay shop, my Facebook business page or drop me a line for custom orders!

Here is what I wore, with my lovely friend Steff. The outfit is tailored latex, and I made it myself, as well as Steff's gloves and hat!

Our Friends Chris and Katie - Mad Hatter hat by me!

Our friend Kitten - Latex hat by me!

Group shot!

Imaginary Wardrobe Overhaul.

2010-10-25T23:37:00.007+01:00

I am sick of my clothes. I find myself wearing the same two pencil skirts over and over again, have very few things that match each other, and I have no Winter clothing. My drawers are bulging with black cut-up band shirts which are only really any good for Summer, and I find myself at an awkward crux between my old punk wardrobe and the glamourous vintage wardrobe which I so desire - I've been uncomfortably stuck between the two for years now.

I have some fabulous dresses which are for special occasions, but not much for everyday wear, and I get a lot of compliments on the way I dress, but really I just feel unresolved about it which is a massive bugbear for someone as obsessed with aesthetics as I am.

So, here are some things that would help take my wardrobe in the right direction, if I had the money. Maybe I will save up and get a couple of them.

First, hot on the heels of the 'Mad Men' trend, the 'Rita' dress by Bettie Page clothing, coming soon to Pinup Parade, available soon or reserve yours by dropping an email to the lovely Helen. (Picture from Pinup Parade, hope this is OK Helen!)

I would pair this with these fabulous accessories from Irregular Choice, who have FINALLY released some shoes suitable for vegans, after years of me waiting and coveting - normally there's a partial leather upper or a leather lining, but these are all fabric uppers with a sumptuous velvet lining - great for stopping stockinged feet from slipping out as you walk. Plus they have perspex heels and a MONKEY! Squee. The shoes and the matching clutch bag are available from Schuh stores and online, and I think I am in love with them both. In fact, I almost accidentally bought the shoes a couple of weeks ago, but common sense prevailed and I paid my rent instead. Prying them from my feet was such a sad affair.

In Summer I would match the dress with these 1950s aqua - coloured beads I picked up at a fleamarket, one of my new coral raffia fruit pillbox hats (on sale soon or contact me if you'd like one!) and these cute Miss L Fire 'Sylvie' sandals, which I might actually have to buy before the week is out before they're snapped up by someone.

My next two choices for versatile dresses are also from the Bettie Page line at Pinup Parade, the 'Nataly' and the 'Charm' (this one's in the Sale section too!)

I love the '40s styling and cute cherry print on the Nataly, and the dark colour and sheer fabric make it suitable for a variety of occasions and seasons. I also already have lots of accessories in the right colours to match it. The Charm is a fantastic dress for Winter, and the stretch fabric would make it practical and comfortable as well as sexy!

My next coveted item is a pair of vintage 1950s carved rhinestone lucite heels in a UK6/US8/EU39. Yes, this post was supposed to be about my imaginary practical vintage wardrobe, but if you think about it, they are completely practical *ahem* they go with any colour outfit, the heels are never too high so they're practical for nights out for a girl such as myself whose evenings (and possibly her boyfriend's evenings) are usually ruined by complaints about sore feet, plus they'd match my lucite bag collection.

My next set of desirables all come from Trashy Diva and make me salivate wildly. Unfortunately, I'd have to drop a dress size to fit into any of these, as their largest size is a US 14/ UK 18. I do hope to achieve this again soon though, as I lost some weight recently then put it back on by eating carelessly, so a motivation such as this might help!

First, the 'Courtney' coat dress in leopard print, which you can see being worn to full effect here at the ever enviable Freelancer's Fashionblog.

Next, the short version of the 'Courtney' in the divinely retro 'Midcentury Kelly' colourway would look fantastic worn as a top with a black pencil skirt, or with its fluted peplum would be excellent as a short coat with a circle skirted dress where a longer coat would get in the way. The 'Sweetie' dress is just so cute, I love the print with splashes of cheery red and yellow, and the big buttons. It would be great for Summer, nice and light whilst keeping the tops of the arms covered.

My next major desire is an 'Olivia' blouse from Heyday reproduction clothing. They have a black one with a marvellous cherry print coming out soon, which is the one I want! I would also like a pair of their sailoresque Navy Swing Trousers.

Finally, something no vintage girl should be without; the ability to create a finished hair and makeup look to go with her outfits. I have a good grasp of wet setting and a few different styling techniques, but could do with learning a lot more. Lauren Rennells' "Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques" has become a bible for vintage hairstyling newcomers, and is now available in an updated and expanded second edition (pictured here). It's available for around £28 from all the usual sources but is often out of stock due to its enormous popularity!

Lauren runs the helpful and interesting Bobbypin Blog with lots of styling and beauty tips.

A possible contender for its crown (and considerably cheaper) might be the newly-published 'Style me Vintage' by Belinda Hay, brought to my attention by Queen of the Vintage Blogs Fleur De Guerre. I'll let you know - at that price I think I should be able to afford to purchase this book fairly soon and try out some styles!

My last wish is the book ' A Stitch in Time: Vintage Knitting & Crochet Patterns 1920-1949', again featuring the lovely Fleur, this time in a modelling role, along with sixty designs for vintage knitting and crochet projects. Whilst my crochet skills are basic and my knitting skills are nonexistent, I'm sure I could learn easily or get my mum (hello, mum) to make up a couple of the lovely sweaters for me. I've already dropped a massive clanging Christmas hint about this book to someone who isn't a reader of my blog, so I can but hope!

If you don't fancy knitting it yourself but do fancy a 1940s/50s styled sweater, there is a fine collection available at Greetz from Tiz, Dressing4Impressing, Rocket Originals or you can pick up not-too-expensive vintage originals on US ebay.

L-R: Greetz from Tiz, Dressing4Impressing, Rocket Originals.

Blog negligence and general stuff.

2010-10-11T21:41:00.005+01:00

I haven't updated this in ages, mainly because I have had no money and have been doing not much that would be of any interest to anybody reading about it.

A few highlights of the last few weeks:

Apple Pie!

It looks beautiful but its bottom was slightly soggy. Deceptive pie.

Had a stall with some hats and some cakes

Built a divided fish tank for my male Betta Splendens (Siamese fighting fish, hence the separators - they are very aggressive to other males and I don't want them ripping each other to shreds).

Citizen Fish

Boris Karloff

Klaus

Took on some extra work making lovely dresses for Outerlimitz Vintage Reproduction Clothing! Here is the dress I am currently making for them. They have some gorgeous designs, especially their Hawaiian range.

Some upcoming things in the life of Kally:

-Fruit hats!
-More dressmaking!
-Going to the Bizarre Winter Ball!

...and probably some other things too, hopefully some of which I will blog about.

Lovely new hat pictures!

2010-08-19T20:55:00.004+01:00

A while ago, I sent some of my hats over to Sweden to be photographed by the very talented pin-up photographer, Emmelie Åslin. When I finally get round to developing a proper website for my business, these will be some of the product shots. What do you think?

These hats are some of my retro and psychobilly designs; I plan to do a seperate post with some of my more authentically vintage-looking reproduction 1940s - 50s millinery.

Until then, I'm currently having a sale in my ebay shop,Kalandra Jane Burlesque and Retro, where most items are 15% off until next week!

Photographer: Emmelie Åslin - www.emmelieaslin.se
Model: Chesty von Ellem - www.thecore.nu/models/ellem

A trip to York, and Vivienne Westwood shoes!

2010-07-21T22:53:00.008+01:00

Once Aerospace Boyfriend had gotten over the shock of being thirty, we decided to go on a date to York, a wonderful city full of history and shopping opportunities!

Last time we went, we did the historical stuff - walking the Roman city walls, a tour of the Medieval Minster, viewing the wonky Tudor buildings of The Shambles, and discovering the Viking history of the city, so this time was all about the shopping and food!

Here is the Minster, well, the tiny bit of it that I could fit into the frame of the camera!

We arrived at lunchtime and headed straight for El Piano, a fantastic Spanish/South American vegan cafe where everything is so tasty! I had spicy kofta with turmeric coconut sauce and lentil and rice tabuleh, he had Mushroom and Basil salad with rice and chutney. It took me ages to decide what to have, everything looked so good and I'm not used to being able to eat more than one thing on a menu! Next time, I may pick up a copy of their cookbook from their little shop.

Following a recent eBay fiasco where some shoes I bought were listed as the wrong size and I ended up having to sell them on rather than return them to the unhelpful seller, I was promised a trip to Vivienne Westwood to 'try on' the Lady Dragon shoes to see what size I needed, the plan being to then buy some cheap-ish-ly on eBay. Well, Aerospace Boyfriend decided that he would buy me some there and then, and that instead of a previous season's style, they would be the amazing brand new ones with the cherries on the toe instead of hearts! Squeeeeeee!

Here they are! Available online here!

I also got this cute cowboys and wagons print handkerchief with a polka dot border from the Cath Kidston shop. I wore it today as a headscarf.

We had ice creams on the lawn outside the Minster, mine was vegan chocolate, then we went on a romantic boat trip along the river Ouse. This is a view from the boat, of the York Guildhall and one of the four bridges in the city centre.

Finally, we went for dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant where we sat outside. I had a tomato garlic bread and some spaghetti with grilled vegetables, then we walked back to the car along the riverbank, and got there just as it started pouring with rain!

Unfortunately we then got stuck in a traffic jam for three hours on the way home, but it was still a lovely day.

Here we are enjoying some incredibly sour lemonade:

And me with a big door knocker outside one of the city's famous 'haunted houses'.