Saturday 28 June 2014

Tempest Clothing Fashion Show at the Mercure Holland House Hotel

I love a fashion show but they're rarely held outside of London, so I was most excited to receive an invitation to the Tempest fashion show at Cardiff's Mercure Holland House Hotel and Spa.

Tempest markets itself as a brand of  'sexy, sultry and sophisticated' clothing for women with a range of figure-hugging dresses, that are loved by celebrities such as Holly Willoughby.  Currently, Miss Wales, Alice Ford, and West End star Sophie Evans, are faces of the brand.

Arriving at the Mercure, I was directed to the penthouse suite, where I had the pleasure of meeting fellow blogger Sophie from Twisted Individual for the first time, and we were joined soon after by the lovely Liz from Bambi the Style Hunter.  The suite was as ostentatious as a penthouse suite should be, with animal print soft furnishings and lashings of purple.  Even the walls on one side had leopard print wallpaper!  After a few glasses of champagne, and lots of admiration of the outfits that were arriving, it was time to head downstairs for the main event.  By this point I was feeling woefully underdressed having turned up straight from work, relieved that I was wearing a skirt and heels and had put more make-up on.  The invitation didn't say it was black tie!

Tempest Fashion Show
Sophie and Liz

Friday 27 June 2014

Buying At a Car Boot Sale: My Top 10 Tips

Car boot sale season is in full swing!  Hurrah!  During the summer months this is my full-time weekend hobby.  I love hunting for vintage treasure, furnishings for our new house, and things I never knew I wanted or needed!

Bessemer Road
Bessemer Road, Cardiff

Attending a car boot sale can be a bit of an investment in terms of time, travel and budget (depending on what you find!), so here are my top tips for getting the most out of attending a car boot sale as a buyer.


Tuesday 24 June 2014

Book Review: Resistance

I've done a few new releases in my book reviews recently, but I wanted to focus on a vintage related book that you all might have missed, and one that is particularly relevant given that we have just marked the anniversary of D-Day.  'Resistance' by Owen Sheers was published back in 2007, but it has maintained a resurgence in interest since a film version, starring Angela Riseborough was made in 2011, and is often found on Welsh library reading group lists (which is how I came across it).

Resistance

Sunday 22 June 2014

Flower Tiara

The warm weather and my recent trips to festivals have left me in a hippy state of mind, and I just had to have one of the flower 'crowns' that I've seen in all the magazines.  Mine isn't a crown, it's actually more of a tiara, with the flowers being set on an alice band.  I picked it up in Primark for £4, and they had lots of other colours and styles.

Flower Tiara

Friday 20 June 2014

Vintage Film Watchlist: Platinum Blonde

I had never seen a Jean Harlow film, and wondered what all the fuss was about, and so I ended up ordering her 1931 film, 'Platinum Blonde', off Amazon.

platinum blonde 

Tuesday 17 June 2014

The June Shopping Hunt

I have shopped rather a lot recently, and have found some great bargains from the high street, Ebay and car boot sales, some of which are vintage inspired but you'll have to excuse the odd meander through time with some of them!  Allow me to share my shopping experience with you, along with some of the things that I didn't buy, but might be of interest to you.  The fashionistas might call this a 'haul'.  Excuse some of the mobile pics, but this is meant to be more show and tell than a photography post!

First of all, I know you're all dying to hear about my trip to the huge new Primark concept store in Cardiff.  I got there at 9am on Friday morning, thinking that I would have a good hour of peace and quiet before the hordes arrived.  In reality, I had about 10 minutes of being able to walk around without people bumping into me and ramming their pushchairs into my ankles.  Everybody else had the same idea apparently.  Sigh.

June shopping

Sunday 15 June 2014

Festival Fashion

Last weekend was full of music, with my Baby playing 2 festivals, one locally on the Saturday, and then a trip to Builth Wells in Mid Wales on the Sunday for the Heart of Rock and Blues Festival.  Situated on a farm in a stunning location, this fab little festival was weather-proof, with the stages being indoors in huge barns.  Not that we needed the protection, it was glorious!

I always think a festival is an excuse to go a bit hippy and channel a '60s or '70s vibe, or 'boho' as they call it in fashion magazine these days.  I left my hair to dry naturally, put on some glitter eyeliner and '70s style shades, and with this gorgeous psychedelic print top I was good to go!  I did pack pink wellies, but didn't need them so stayed in my neon trainers.

Festival Fashion

Thursday 12 June 2014

Cardiff's New Primark Concept Store

Listening to a male voice choir at 8 o'clock in the morning isn't your usual start to the day, but that's just what I did earlier this week at the opening of Cardiff's new Primark store.  Opposite the site of the old store on Queen Street (where BHS used to be), the new store is twice the size and ten times as fancy.  It opened on Tuesday morning, and myself and some other bloggers were lucky enough to have a quick tour in the relative calm before the shoppers were let in (and before I had to go to the dentists, instead of joining the other bloggers on a shopping spree!).

Primark Cardiff

Tuesday 10 June 2014

1950's Champion Book For Girls

Not everybody 'gets' vintage treasure.  To many, it's just tat!  This book is a good example.

Champion Book for Girls

Sunday 8 June 2014

That Seventies Feeling

The evening light is magical at this time of year, time to get the camera out and play.  Even though the trousers are 1940's reproduction swing trousers, this whole look feels a bit more '70s to me.  Sometimes that happens unintentionally.  I didn't style my hair in a 1940's way, leaving it loose and uncurled, and the pussybow blouse I wore lacks the shoulder pads of a '40's look.  Amazing how small things really help make an era.

That Seventies Feeling

Friday 6 June 2014

New Sainsbury's Accessories

A few sunny accessories, new purchases from TU at Sainsbury's.  I'm hoping that they will influence the weather and that we have a heatwave!

TU SS14 accessories
 Necklace, £12
Trainers, £12
Straw Fedora, £8 (I think!)

Polkadots always lend a retro feel to things, that's why I went straight for those blue polkadot trainers - a more casual alternative to brogues.  I had been after a fedora for a while but couldn't find one that suited - I like the striped band and bow on this one, and it's very summery also. I wore the hat out on Sunday with a friend, but nearly lost it to the wind on the top of the blustery viewpoint!

To see more of Sainsbury's accessories range for summer, head over to their website here to preview, but as always, their items are only available to purchase in store and not online.

Linkups:

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Exploration

Dry days mean more time to explore these mountains, and the view never disappoints.

Rhigos mountain road

Sunday 1 June 2014

Rainy Day: Navy Trench & Red Umbrella

What to wear on a rainy, grey day?  I try and brighten things up, and reach for cheery red accessories to go with my navy trench.  Boots are essential on a wet day, I can't abide soggy socks!  I love these Victorian inspired lace up ankle boots, but with a handy modern zip to make them quicker to put on.  I also need to tell you, that my tights aren't bobbly.  Those are sparkly bits, that you can't quite see in this lighting.


DSCF0702

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...