The Populaire Review:

I promised a review of Populaire, and here it is:

Since I spent most of this film drooling and sighing over the incredible costumes, this review will be short and sweet. The story is relatively simple. A young Audrey Hepburn type in the form of Rose Pamphyle (played by Deborah Francois) lives in rural Normandy with her sister and father in a small general store which has a new typewriter on display in the window. Rose waits until her Father and sister have gone to bed before trying it out for herself and over the coming weeks, teaches herself to type.

Fast forward a few months later. A Don Draper type,  Romain Duris is trying, unsuccessfully to appoint a new secretary at his insurance offices in Paris. A gaggle of hopeful wannabes gathers, including Rose, who is scorned for her country style and demure ways. Duris, as Echard, begins to interview the hopefuls and during a call, discovers the Rose has a rather noisy talent for typing. Strangely enough, he hires her and invites her to work with him as a project to turn her into a typing champion. (My Fair Typist, perhaps?)

Rose agrees and moves into Chez Louis where she gradually falls in love with him. After failing at the first regional trial for typing incorrectly, Echard sets her to work with a new typewriter and teaches her to type properly. Rose paints her nails to match the keyboard and shortly after a rather awkward confrontation with Louis, she enters the regional trials again, succeeds and makes it to the National Championships, where the former champion, a fiancee of the heir to the Japy dynasty  is forced to admit defeat.

 "Don't mess with me!"

Rose strides to fame as the face of Japy typewriters with the aptly named Populaire model taking centre stage.

"I love my typewriter. Really, I do!"

Louis watches on helplessly as she learns independence and refuses her love when she declares it openly. Hurt and rejected, Rose retreats to New York to compete in the World Championships where she claims victory over her American opponent, Susan Hunter. Echard rushes up on stage and the credits roll as they share a sweet kiss and bow in front of the audience.


Populaire is truly a wonderful film, and I'd recommend any vintage fan to see it!
Now please excuse me whilst I go to source a pink typewriter...

Holly x

The Vintage Delights of Brighton

"Oh I do like to be beside the seaside..."

It's not often that I get the chance to visit Brighton, but when my friend invited me to this lovely seaside town for the day recently,  I couldn't resist.
With my lovely red case carefully loaded with an extra pair of vintage shoes and a roll of homemade sandwiches, I was ready.

I reached Brighton at lunchtime, having taken the train from London Bridge and we started our tour, beginning with The Laines and To Be Worn Again. I had heard a lot about this shop, and so spent about an hour selecting items from the rails and trying them on. Jonathan Logan, Kay Windsor, Lana Lobell...I was in my element!

I did like the Lana Lobell dress I tried on but it had suffered slightly with sun-damage. It was a pity really because the dress itself was quite unusual. Lilac with a lace bodice and ruffles. Having researched this label, this wasn't their strangest attribute:

Next we moved along to some of Brighton's best known vintage shops, where a gorgeous polka dot dress awaited. Made of handkerchief silk, I felt just like a character from a 1950s film! Falling in love with the print, I paid a deposit and we moved on to Snoopers Paradise. For those who don't know, this is Brighton's equivalent of a flea market. You can find ANYTHING here!
I managed to find a gorgeous Horrockses dress and bolero in powder blue with a white geometric pattern, but alas, it didn't fit. I even  tried on an Irish "Ascot Model" dress which was stunning, but far too long. The colour was a little strange as well. Dairy yellow, I would call it.

 Here's a similar dress:

  After snooping around Snooper's we began to make our way to the tea shop on the other side of the Laines. We were walking past a small and obscure vintage shop when I spotted a dress in the window. I recognised the style and immediately knew what it was. A California Cottons!

To anyone that knows me well, this is my equivalent of winning the vintage lottery. My eyes lit up and I dashed inside, desperate to prove that it was a California! I was soon greeted by the emergence of a familiar white label with the sombrero and tried it on. As with most of the California dresses, it fitted perfectly.
Don't ask why this is, I honestly don't know, but it cost my bank balance quite a considerable amount. (Sssh!)
 Isn't she a beauty?!

With the dress purchased, I resumed my tour of Brighton and we took the opportunity to have tea in a lovely traditional tea room, known as Blackbirds Tea Rooms. This adorable little place looks as though it was opened in the 1940s, and nobody changed the decor. I can only assume that it was like the much loved Lyons tea houses of yesteryear. The service was quick and efficient and the staff were very friendly. I had ham, tomato chutney and cheese sandwiches, which were absolutely delicious, and a full steaming teapot of English Breakfast tea. Perfect!

We had to hurry as we were also going to see the new film Populaire at Brighton's Komedia cinema. It was the best way to round off such a lovely day at this seaside attraction!

Holly
x

Afternoon Tea: The Tipsy Tea Cup Way!

It's a fact. We all love the idea of sitting around in nice plumped cushions on a glorious sunny day, drinking tea and sharing gossip whilst staring longingly at the Victoria sponge that looks so tempting, we might just skip the diet for another week.

 

Credit: Arthur Meehan.

"Mmm...Yummy!"

However with our unpredictable British weather it can be difficult to achieve this. Even so, there's no harm in trying. A few years ago we fell out of love with afternoon tea. It was seen as something that only people of more advanced years did, with a nice giftcard for tea at the Ritz, or the Savoy. A very elite event, it wasn't seen as something to recreate easily at home.

When Downton Abbey launched onto our screens in 2010, no one anticipated the cultural effects that it would have. Suddenly old fashioned pursuits were being touted as modern and trendy, we wanted to experience the elegance and refinery of the Edwardian era in our own homes, but how to get it without the fuss?

Take one vintage teacup, place a wine glass podium and matching plate below it and what do you get? 

 A TIPSY TEA CUP!

Elegant, quirky and a genius design, these are perfect for any occasion!


The creators of these lovely little items are the aptly named Tipsy Tea Cups, who aim to offer "A fusion of old and new, tea and cocktails." They have managed to combine the traditional afternoon tea with a twist quite literally, with vintage teacups atop wine glass podiums, with a matching plate for balance.

"The obvious use for your Tipsy Tea Cup is wine or cocktails, however there are other uses for these novel creations.  Perhaps place a tealight into the cup to provide subtle lighting or use it to serve your soup starter or Champagne jelly dessert to your guests or even just keep it as a decorative item. Whichever you choose we are sure it will become a talking point."

And they certainly have made their mark already, gaining a Royal stamp of approval as a supplier for the feature cocktail at the Queens Coronation Festival, Buckingham Palace.  The cocktail was designed by The Cocktail Lovers in association with The Kings Ginger Liqueur for this very special occasion.

Check out the link to The Cocktail Lovers article below:

http://www.thecocktaillovers.com/2013/06/making-a-kings-ginger-cocktail-fit-for-the-queen


If, like me you love afternoon tea, try hosting your own party with these quirky creations!

Visit their website at:
http://www.tipsyteacups.co.uk/

Or on Facebook and Twitter:
https://www.facebook.com/tipsy.teacups?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/TheTipsyTeaCups

I'm off now to enjoy tea and cake!

Holly x

Charity Shop Style!

I have to admit I love a good charity shop. Although it seems that they are the only flourishing business on our sad High Streets, there's recently been a resurgence in the trend of shopping thrifty and as a result, the stock in charity shops has become less about granny's clothes from the 1980s, and more fashionista's dream! They've become treasure troves, places where anything can be found, not just your usual array of puzzles, Mills and Boon tattered books, and 90s Marks and Spencer blouses!

Even Mary Portas is getting in on the act. Strangely enough, she helped to turn around the fortunes of one of the shops in Orpington, which has, unfortunately suffered a cruel blow and is now just an empty shell with a "To Let" sign propped above the windows, and a note on the door.
 For those who are interested, this is what the shop looked like:

 This was a vintage jewel in its prime. The stock was arranged so beautifully, with accessories pinned to the walls and racks of vintage clothes by era. I LOVED Save the Children, Orpington, the staff were really friendly and didn't mind if you wanted to try a lot of stock on! During my visits to this little gem I purchased a beautiful 1930s purse, a pair of 1960s wool/leather yellow gloves, and my very first vintage dress, which was, ashamedly, a 1960s crimplene dress. 

The actual shop has now relocated to further along the High Street, but unlike its smaller version, it does not stock the same high quality vintage garments which became its trademark USP. Mary's work is now, sadly, undone, and this was shown when I had to explain to the staff that the sizing on a 1960s dress does not correspond to modern day sizing. Do your research, please!

 I took a trip to my local town of Orpington, which is, like most towns currently filled with charity shops. There must be at least twelve on the (former) High Street, but only some of them have the really interesting stuff besides the usual collection of last year's Primark collections, which is annoying in itself!

As Orpington is a neighbour to Chislehurst, you can find some amazing expensive one off designer pieces, I even found a 1980s Radley dress!
 On my tour of the charity shops I discovered these gorgeous cases which were being used as part of a window display.

 When I asked the lady in the shop if they were for sale, she replied by saying £5 for the two. An absolute bargain! These cases can sell from between £25-£45 at vintage fairs. Further up on the High Street I found yet another one, for £3.75! So I bought that too!
Imagine my surprise when I got home to find that two of them were labelled inside! The red one is a St Michael creation, "Made in Great Britain", the white one is a Crown Co creation and the blue is actually from Boots the Chemist! I can only assume that Boots sold this type of item in their stores in a previous capacity!

There's a lovely retro inspired boutique called The Maypole which has a selection of 'vintage' clothing at the far back of the shop where I managed to find this 1980s C&A Clock House dress (doing the 50s style with a high waist and long skirt) for just £8!

 

 

I would recommend any savvy vintage shoppers to make the effort to visit their local towns and the charity shops as you never know what you might find!

After posting these on Twitter I also noted that someone else, @AmberButchart had also expressed her love of charity shops and suggested it would be great to get charity shops trending on Twitter!

So, what do you think? Charity shops, hit or miss?

Holly
x

How to Get the Look: Populaire

I was on a tube in London when I first saw the poster for this film, captioned:
 "Mad Men Meets the Artist".

Now that's my kind of film.

Perfectly filmed in a 1950s retro chic style by French director Regis Roinsard, Populaire captures the essence of the old Hollywood movie whilst maintaining its position as a piece of French culture. The story is relatively simple, boy meets girl (who is obsessed with a typewriter) he then discovers that she can type at such a speed that he may be able to present her as a competitor at the World Typing Championships.

Obviously the most important part for any vintage fashionista is, do they get the costumes right?

Absolutely.

Deborah Francois as Rose Pamphyle

Deborah Francois oozes vintage charm in an Audrey Hepburn style, combining delicately patterned 1950s dresses with demure court shoes and of course a matching bag. I LOVE this dress from the stills, a similar one can be found here:

Or for the gorgeous floral print, as seen in the earlier scenes of the trailer, try this one:

Or this one inspired by the typing scene:

You can check for screenings at: 

I'm looking to see Populaire! Will be reviewing the film so keep a look out!


Holly
x

On Holiday in Palma!

When you go to Spain, you don't really expect to find any vintage shops. It's hardly the vintage capital of the world and let's face it, what can you find apart from someone's abandoned 80s cast offs?
However on my recent trip to Palma in Mallorca, I discovered a veritable amount of treasures in a gorgeous little shop called Rita's House, located at C/ MONGES 8, 07001, PALMA DE MALLORCA.

Rita's House in Palma!

This shop is home to an Aladdin's cave of mismatched custom and vintage goodies, and the staff are really friendly. I spent ages looking through the rails and eventually found a lovely 1950s dress with black buttons on grey wool with red ribbing at the cuffs and a cute Peter Pan collar, labelled "Henley, Jnr." I'm assuming that this piece was imported from the USA or the UK, as there weren't many others like it. I also tried on a pair of jazzy Mallorcan capri pants with a 1950s 'Alcuqiuena' Islas de Mallorca label. They were gorgeous but were just slightly too small. I'm sure another British tourist will find them!

As well as Rita's House there are a few little 80s vintage shops, located in the side streets. Don't expect to find your pretty 50s and 60s dresses here, these are strictly for those who thrive on the 80s trends (bright red jumpsuit anyone?)
I wasn't disappointed at the offerings, after all, who thinks of Spain for any kind of vintage? I did purchase the Henley dress, and a beautiful silk Spanish skirt (probably 1950s or 60s) as well as a pretty green scarf. My other advice to vintage fans would be to visit the bars in  Spain, as in Palma there is a huge culture for pop up shops. It just so happened that on our night out we found a vintage stall at the back of the bar, and I purchased a 1960s pastel mint blouse with a little bow and lace trim, as well as an tagged jersey vest with the original label! Bargains at £18 for the two!

Vintage is INCREDIBLY cheap in Spain, they obviously have no concept of how much it is worth, the Henley dress I bought was barely 30 Euros, which is the equivalent to 26 pounds!
Either way, the stock is a bargain fest at Rita's House!
I must also note the obvious love of Audrey Hepburn by the Spanish. I visited El Corte Ingles (a HUGE department store) in the main City of Palma, and was browsing through the stationery department when I turned around and saw a huge poster of Audrey advertising a special edition pen and lighter set. The set is available from S.T Dupont, a Parisienne designer, but it looks as though it's only available outside the UK!

The lovely Audrey Hepburn poster as seen!

Then, as we were browsing through la musica, I found the Breakfast at Tiffany's soundtrack, this is DEFINITELY one for the iPod. Henry Mancini's music is beautiful! This tour around Palma was rounded off our shopping trip with a dinner in the evening on the seafront at Cafe Murada, a lovely Italian restaurant with very friendly staff and would you believe it, a whole wall of Audrey pictures! There was even a Breakfast at Tiffany's photo on the toilet door, probably not the most deserving place! Either way, the coinicidence was rather uncanny.
If you're shopping for a vintage fan in Palma, I recommend the La Caixa Forum gift shop Plaça Weyler, 3. 07001 PALMA. This has an array of Audrey and Marilyn merchandise, including bags, purses and phone cases. Don't forget Rita's House, oh, and for the BEST ICE CREAM IN THE WORLD, try Giovanni's Ice Cream Parlour or ICEBERG, both located on Calle de Jaime, Palma.
Greetings from this sunny Isle!
Holly
x

The Look I Love. It Could Only Be....California Cottons!

Every time I go on a vintage expedition I struggle to contain my eagerness in the hope that I might find a hidden gem in those many rails, that distinctive orange or white label with the jazzy font and stitched sombrero perched on the 'C'. I am talking of course about California Cottons.
This brand, in my opinion is equal to that of Horrockses.

Very little is known about the brand itself, and its origins are unknown. Some vintage sellers claim that the brand is American and was exported to the UK and some say that it is a British brand inspired by the bright and colourful designs of the USA. Either way the only information available can be found on a blog, where advertisements for the brand are featured. Here are some examples:

Courtesy of Miss Rayne at SheepandChick.blogspot.co.uk

Courtesy of Miss Rayne at SheepandChick.blogspot.co.uk

  I am pleased to say that I  have formed quite a collection of this brand, in various styles and patterns, although most are of the drop waist variety. It seems to be a trait although looking at the adverts, the dresses were available in the pencil skirt and circle skirt styles.

My First California Cottons Dress!

I bought my first California Cottons dress at the Vintage Festival 2011 on the first stall I visited and I am so glad I did. As soon as I saw it I loved the quirkiness of the colour and design, the patterns are generally very distinctive, this particular dress has daisy buttons on the bodice and a cute little bow at the back which pops up when the zip is pulled.

The Cute Bow!!!

 Most California Cottons dresses contain an orange label however some have a little white label instead. Whether this is an indicator of age or era is unknown, but I would assume so.


I also own two pink floral dresses (same pattern but different styles) navy with white stripe, blue and pink floral (from Mela Mela Vintage in Teddington) and my prize winning pink dress with the small collar (BEST DRESSED at Festival of Vintage Epsom 2012) which I bought a week before the event!

My Prize Winning Dress!!!

I would love to hear from anyone who owns a dress by this label or anyone with information on the label. I'm hoping to extend my collection so if you are interested in selling, please contact me!

Holly x