Fashion on the Ration Exhibiton and Cahoots

My week started off with a trip to the Imperial War Museum to see the Fashion on the Ration exhibition. It was really interesting focusing on the importance of make do and mend and the way materials where rationed with coupons and swaps. Unfortunately, you weren't allowed to take pictures of the exhibition so I don't have any to show you but I do recommend a visit if you're in London.

After a visit to the Imperial War Museum we made are way back across London to visit my favourite area of London....Soho. After browsing the shops for a while and introducing my friend Katie to Beyond Retro. (Her new favourite shop) We headed towards Cahoots a new bar situated in an old underground tube station.

 

Cahoots is unlike any other bar I have ever visit in the past year since reaching adulthood. Neither, Katie or I really knew what it was going to be like but that's half the fun of it. We went quite early in the evening so we were lucky to get a table. I recommend booking a table as it's a really popular venue.

 

 

To get to the bar area you go down these stairs that lead you into a cloakroom/lost and found area where you are greeted by this man who is dressed in an old fashion ticket inspectors uniform and then he lets you go through into the main bar area.

 

 

 

The waiters and waitresses where dressed to match the time period. I loved the menus, printed on newspaper. It really added to the uniqueness of the bar. I went for  the Apple and Pears drink, Russian Standard Original vodka, blackberries, lime juice, cloudy apple juice and ginger ale. Divine. I genuinely can not wait to go back there to try more of their drinks. After ordering my drinks, I found the section of drinks named after famous celebrities of the 1940s, so next time I will be ordering a Lauren Bacall.

 

Star Rating

Venue:9/10

Drinks:9/10

Food:Unfortunately, they didn't serve proper meals by this time in the evening I was starving. However, they had a basic selection of snacks. As I didn't try any of their food, I can't give a rating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In five years time you might just prove me wrong..

It's been well over five years since Noah and the Whales song Five years time hit the charts. But the future is something that has been on my mind a lot recently. The tag 'Ten years time' has been going around a lot on social media sites by a lot of young bloggers and vloggers and I'm so relieved  to see that I'm not the only one who doesn't really know what I want to do or where I see myself being in five years or even ten years time.

I'm 19 year old and less than 14 weeks I will have sat my exams and left college. I'll be heading out into the big wide world and frankly I'm scared. I'm excited too but mainly scared. I don't feel like school has prepared me for living away from home. I can't cook very well and I haven't had a home economics lesson since year nine. My maths lessons never taught me how to pay my bills and put my money into decent savings accounts or open an ISA or deal with tax. Knowing the theorems of Pythagoras and PI seem pretty useless for what I need to be able to do in real life.

I know what I want out of life, I want a good job that pays me well so that I can do the things I want to do and have a family and be surrounded by good friends. These are all typical aspirations. I'm sure that for anyone reading this, that they must want these things.

When, I was six I wanted to be a writer, I was always writing stories or making little books. As I grew older I wanted to become a journalist, write about people's stories that I felt needed to be told. But a lot of that has changed. Secretly, I still want those things but people around me tell me that they're not possible. That being a writer is a huge risk and that I should find a job in another field as a lot of the time in freelance journalism the money isn't always there and I'd be better with a solid 9-5 office job that I know I'm always going to get paid for. I guess that's part of the reason I write this blog to keep up with my writing and not lose sight of something I love.

I'm worried that people will drift in and out of my life and won't stay around. I started college almost two years ago and half the people I would've said were my best friends in secondary school just aren't in my life anymore. Not because we've fallen out but because of distance. Our lives are so different, some are at uni and others are in full time jobs and don't have time to come home and visit. Going to see friends and planning days out together can get really expensive for me because I live in the middle of nowhere and public transport isn't cheap. I am constantly meeting new people but I like the idea of having solidarity, friends who I can always rely on. I have one best friend who I am always there for and she is always there for  me no matter if it's 3am in the morning or she's on holiday in the Alps. She will always be there for me. I hope to meet more people like that and form new lasting friendships.

I hope to be able to afford my own place to live. House prices today as astronomical. But I hate the idea that I might still be living in rented accommodation up until my early 30s. The idea of having a home that you fully own when you're older is something that I'm sure loads of other people my age aren't even considering right now. But the majority of people I know that have just put a down payment on their starters homes are in the late 20's and have been saving since there early 20s.

Maybe, I am spending too much time looking to the future. Let me know you're worries and hopes for the future in the comments below.  This is the sort of post where I feel it would've been easier to film and talk about than actually trying to make sense of my thoughts by writing them down.

Lindy Bop Lovin

So as the vintage reproduction brand Lindy Bop reached 1 million likes on facebook they have given all their customers a 10% discount til midnight on Friday. Therefore, I have spent a whole afternoon scrolling through all their dresses trying to decide which dress I really want. I have managed to narrow it down to five, so I thought that I would share with you guys my top five.

 So this first dress makes it on to the list because I asked my boyfriend to choose a dress that he thought would suit me. Basically, if I purchase this dress I will be fishing for an evening out! Wined and Dined at our favourite vintage inns pub in Marholm. #Hinthint

This dress I'm in love with. I think it would be perfect to wear to the beach over the Summer. The stripes remind me of rock candy that I used to buy at the beach when I was a kid and my mom always told me off for because it was terrible for my teeth. I think this would look really cute with some white block wedge sandals.

 This dress, was the dress that I thought that my boyfriend might have chosen. He once told me that he thought that girls in red dresses looked really classy, so I'm always on the look out for a new red dress to add to my collection. I think that this would be really cute to wear out over the Summer when we go out for picnics in park and for walks in the woods.

 I adore the floral print of this dress. I think it's gorgeous. The cut of the dress is just so classy. It's the sort of dress that I would wear out to an important business event over the summer. Definitely, not a dress that I would consider wearing everyday.

Tartan has been in fashion recently which I think explains my attraction to this dress. The bow detailing on the waist is beautiful and I'm a huge fan of the sweet heart neckline.

Favourite dates

Picnics are my number one date during the Summer months. I don't want to be cooped up in a cinema or a coffee house whilst the sun is shining!

Picnics also come with a very small price tag and can take very little preparation. You can just pick up some sandwiches on the way to the place you're visiting or make your own at home before you go. I find making your own normally works out cheapest unless you can get a meal deal. It all depends on how many people are coming whether you're going as a group of on a date.

Picnics are great for getting old friends back together but also awesome for a romantic date. Last summer, my boyfriend took me for a picnic and a man saw us and came out of his house with a bottle of white wine and some glasses. It was such a perfect date. We were able to spend time talking and let go of all the little stresses in our lives for a few blissful hours.

My local area is quite a built up city and people seem to forget that there are all these beautiful places to be explore. Going for walks in the countryside is not only good for your health but they're relatively cost free days out with family and friends.

And remember just because you're only going out for a picnic doesn't mean you can't get all dolled up.

Feel free to comment below love to hear from you guys!

Suzy x

World Book Day

I loved reading as a child. I constantly had my nose in a book, I was that kid walking down the road still reading. I loved being able to escape into someone else's story, as a kid I wasn't real popular in all honesty I was a bit of a geek and to be truthful I still am. I was always found carrying a book around with me it was the best way to look busy when I had no one that wanted to talk to or hang out with me at break times. Fortunately, when I reached high school I made loads of awesome friends but these days I barely seem to have time to read as there's always something else or some event that I'm at.

Anyways today is World Book Day. I used to look forward to this day every year, free book vouchers!! I could afford the latest book I wanted that wasn't available from my local library.

I have a few very old copies of my favourite childhood books. My favourite series of books as a child was The Naughtiest Little Girl in School by Enid Blyton. On World Book Day in Year 3 I went as the main character Elizabeth Allen, which meant I went in my school uniform on a non uniform day with some homemade badges from my mom that said lacrosse team and prefect. Needless to say I didn't win one prize for an inventive costume. I just didn't want to wear my home clothes in case I got picked on or laughed at, I'm a huge advocate of school uniform everyone's the same!

So by day I would escape to the world of Elizabeth Allen, a mischievous school girl who learnt from her mistakes and made good friends and was popular amongst her peers most of the time. By night I was hidden under the covers reading C S Lewis's The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Dreaming of being like Lucy and Susan or on really bad days even the White Witch so I could turn to stone all the kids who had picked on me and do as I pleased.

I loved these books, the covers are so beautiful and unique. The thing that I find most surprising about them is there price, on the back of my copy of the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, the selling price is 20p.  I find it crazy how much the value of money has changed since my copy was printed in 1971.

These are two of my favourite childhood stories that I cherish as holding real meaning to me. I think reading is very important amongst young children and that they should be encouraged to read the books not just watch the films. I also really believe in giving children books instead of kindles and tablets to read off. I love my old copies of these children's classics. They're a little battered but they're so well loved and I hope one day to be able to give them to my little girl or boy to read like my Mom gave them to me. Maybe a few generations down the line they'll be family heirlooms and worth millions of pounds as books will have become so rare in the technological age. Who knows what they future holds!

Hope you guys approve, let me know your thoughts in the comments below and share any of your childhood favourites. Happy World Book Day Everyone :)

Vintage Reproduction Dress Wishlist

I love buying dresses. My mom is always saying how impractical they are but I love them. I feel so feminine and ladylike when I'm wearing a dress. I have certain go to labels and brands these days when I'm shopping for a vintage style dress.

I adore Cath Kidston however, for an everyday dress her £50-75 price tag is pretty steep. I own only a few Cath Kidston dresses favouring her accessories over clothes.

I know the title of this post is about dresses but it's actually a skirt designed by Cath Kidston that's on my wishlist. You can buy a dress with this print and you can even buy shorts too but I personally, prefer the skirt version. I just adore the floral print and it makes me so excited for summer. Skirts with funky prints like this are so versatile you can wear them with blouses or maybe a  black  or white top. My only annoyance with Cath Kidston dresses is their sizes across the chest. I always find that I have to buy the next size up to what I would normally wear from say Topshop or Dorothy Perkins. So I normally wear a size 8-10 but in Cath Kidston's dresses I wear a size 12.

 

My number one brand for vintage reproduction dress had to be Lindy Bop dresses. I bought my first Lindy Bop dress last year after starting my first ever job, I felt I deserved to be treated. The dress I purchased was the

'Audrey' Classy Vintage 1950's Turquoise Floral Rockabilly Pinup Swing Dress
  

It's quite a popular dress and the delivery was so quick! Lindy Bop tend to design and sell dresses that are more special event wear than everyday wear however, I feel that this one was suitable for everyday wear during the Summer. It was nice to wear on sunny days out for picnics as the material was light. There are too many dresses off Lindy Bop that I want for me to list them here. So here's the one that I'm most desperate to add to my dress collection!

I have some parties and events going on this Summer and I'm in love with it. So, I'll have to order it sometime in the near future. The name of the dress is the 'Ophelia' Vintage 1950's Red Polka Dot Picnic Party Dress. The other awesome thing that I've found out about Lindy Bop recently is that they now how a kids range which you can check out here;

 http://www.lindybop.co.uk/kids-c17


They have some super cute little dresses for kids. I love Lindy Bop dresses they're so affordable and they're such good quality.

Heyday Vintage possibly isn't as well known as Cath Kidston and Lindy Bop but they have some really cool dresses. In 2014 they won the National Vintage Award for best reproduction. So they're definitely worth checking out although they have a similar price tag to Cath Kidston's designs.
I really love this 1940 style black mary dress. But it is definitely something I would only wear to a posh event, perhaps a charity ball.

All the photos except for the one of me wearing my Lindy Bop dress are taken from the respective brands websites.

D.I.Y. ~ journal project

So I've always had a journal, diary whatever you want to call it. Somewhere special for me to write down all my secrets and ideas. I've never been good at religiously writing in my diary, in fact part of my new years resolution was to start writing a diary for 2015 we're almost in March.

I decided it was time I made a start on that part of my New Year's resolution. I wanted  this year's journal to be really personal and creative. Something that not only held my secrets and ideas but was part of me. So I decided to make my own journal.

I went for a wander round the charity shops and found this little red bound copy of a book published in the 1950s. It had to be an old fashioned vintage looking book as vintage fashion is very much part of who I am as a person and one of my main interests. I also looked at the different titles, the title of the book I choose to upcycle was A Many Splendoured Thing by Han Suyin. I feel like I probably should've read the book first before I began my project. I now feel a little sacrilegious for the way I've edited and updated the purpose of the book. In 1955, the novel was actually made into a film starring Jennifer Jones and William Holden. So, I'll have to add that to my old vintage classics movies list.

My next stop was Rymans for white acrylic paint and a reasonably wide paintbrush so that I could begin painting the pages white so that I could write over them again for my journal. This bit was the hard bit because it took so long to wait for everything to dry. Currently, I've only whitewashed enough pages to last me for the next few weeks but I paint another few pages and leave them to dry overnight or in the morning before college. For the first few pages I just blow dried them with a hairdryer because I was so desperate to be able to start writing in it.

To write in it I purchased some thin tipped black sharpie pens also from Rymans. Rymans is great for students as they offer a 10% discount also Hobbycraft offer a 10% discount if you're a student in need of art supplies.

I love this sort of thing because of how personal and special my journal now feels to me. I don't know anyone who has the same type of journal as me because it's unique and hasn't been bought from my local Tesco as they have been in the past which is possibly what I love the most about it.

I always try to keep train tickets or collect postcards to stick in and give my memories some colour and life. I love taking pictures on disposable cameras when I'm out and about. I find it weird that I have so many pictures on my ipod and other media platforms that I will never print out and put in a photo album.

Anyway, I'm beginning to ramble so I hope you liked this post. I've never really done a D.I.Y. blog post before still all new to this. Hope you liked my project.

Fitzwilliam Musuem Cambridge

A day out in Cambridge with my cousin Richard was definitely the highlight of my weekend.
First we went to the Fitzwilliam museum for lunch it's always so busy in there and the food is great! I used to go there loads with my parents for lunch as a kid so it felt so nostalgic to be back there.

The Fitzwilliam museum has an art gallery but we bypassed that bit as I've seen it a hundred times and I love the Ancient Egyptian and Greek displays in the basement. I've always been mesmerized by the detail on the sarcophaguses of the old pharaohs and people that must have been wealthy and of great importance in Ancient Egypt. The job of restoring some of those artefacts must be amazing.The Fitzwilliam Musuem is a great day out for everyone especially, for families over the holidays as they usually have an something going on to keep the kids entertained and even better the entrance to the museum is free and charitable donations are optional.

Unfortunately, the weather today was atrocious, it rained constantly. So after leaving the Fitzwilliam  we found ourselves ducking into the Fudge Kitchen lured in by a sign for free samples and an escape from the rain. We bought ourselves some fudge and stayed to watch the making of Belgian chocolate fudge whilst being plied with more free samples.

I love going to places like this because they're free and you can talk and catch up as you're going around and talk to everyone in your group. Where as in the movies or going out as a big group for a meal together I never really feel that I've had the opportunity to socialise with everyone.

Vintage Shopping Haul

So on Friday, I missed my train to get me to Chris King Robinson's gig in Spalding where he was playing as part of the celebration for the unveiling of the blue Hendrix plaque. If you haven't heard Chris's music check him out here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkAtEI_ei1E

So, I did what I know best and went on a shopping trip to kill time. I found myself wandering through the charity shops of Peterborough. As I've said before charity shops are full of gems. They are gold mines of past eras and forgotten memories.

This summer I'm hoping to get a lookbook together or various vintage styles and how to wear them. So I'm saving Friday's purchases for another day. But I am so excited to share them with you. Summer is my favourite time of the year for vintage fashion...summer dresses and high-waisted shorts are the staples of my wardrobe. Charity shops are amazing places to find cheap jeans that you can cut up into shorts without having to worry about the £££ price tag.

Yesterday I popped over to Cambridge and had a little rummage around to find some bargains and picked up some vintage books that I'm planning on doing a little project with so I'm so excited to share that with you all.

So lots of little projects going on that I'm super excited about and can't wait to finish them so that I can share them!!

Vintage Valentines

Okay so I'm not saying that I don't agree with the view that Valentines day has become over commercialised over the decades and I'm not saying that you should only treat your partner once a year because you should always show them love and respect and treat them whatever day of the year it is. But just because something has become over commercialised that doesn't mean that we should stop celebrating Valentines Day or start hating on it just because we're single. (okay so I'm not single this year but I'm 19 and this was my first Valentines day EVER so I've had a few single valentines and it hasn't made me bitter) So, perhaps we just need to remind ourselves of the reason we celebrate Valentines day, the history behind it. 

So, long story short, Saint Valentine was a priest who performed weddings that were illegal in the eyes of the Roman Empire and he was sentence to death for it. That doesn't sound so romantic when you think about the whole dying in the name of love part it's a little tragic don't you think? Saint Valentines story was romanticised by the poet and writer Geoffrey Chaucer during the middle ages and by the 19th century in Britain Valentines Day had become a commercial day where lovers sent each other cards and gifts of chocolate or flowers.

Valentines Vintage;
I love vintage as any of you who follow me on instagram will know. I have an obsession with vintage and dream of setting up my own business selling on vintage finds at a profit and making reproductions of vintage styles and cuts.

 

The main part of my outfit was a white dress from the 80s made by the design brand Hamells Petites. I found it in the Sue Ryder Charity shop in Queensgate, Peterborough for an amazing bargain of just £5. Charity shops are my favourite places full of hidden gems.

 

 

It was obviously a dress that had been used for some sort of important function, most likely a wedding as it was rather elaborate. But I wanted to wear a classy dress that also showed off my personality and my interests.

Therefore, the most important part of my outfit was accessories. In the evening we went out for a meal so I dressed it up with red heels and a vintage Levi denim jacket that I'd picked up at a little vintage shop in Leicester. The heels cost me ten pounds in a sale at New Look and the denim jacket was about £30. During the day I dressed it  down by swapping my heels for my blue All Star  Converse for comfort.

My weekend was amazing and I couldn't have asked for more. We tried not to be lavish as we just wanted a nice weekend together without lots of extravagance. The majority of our weekend was cost free but as always the cost of food and little extras does eventually add up for my poor boyfriends wallet.
We went for some nice walks around a local nature reserve. The nature reserve was beautiful and a really good date as it didn't cost us anything to walk round it. We weren't cooped up inside sat on our phones but outdoors enjoying the fresh air and each others company.  At the end of the day we hopped on an old steam train to take us back to the city centre and away from paradise. The steam train although a really short journey really was worth it! It ended the weekend on a perfect note as the retro interior really embraced my love of all things historical.

 

 

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