Costume and Textiles Association New Members Tea

On Saturday I ventured into Norwich Castle to a room that is not normally open to the public for the new members tea for The Costume and Textile Association - an independent charity which was set up to promote the unique costume and textile collection of the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service.

Established in 1989 with a current membership of around 500. They put on events throughout the year - talk. exhibitions and tours around normally unseen areas of the museums in Norfolk.  This year they are planning Great War Fashion (think Mr Selfridge) - a history wardrobe presentation, and as they are celebrating the 80's with an afternoon of nostalgia of there 25 year history.

Until I went along I had no idea that such treasures were tucked away including original Horrocks Dresses along side books, and a wealth of information on the clothes we wore and the textile industry in Norwich.

Two of the stunning dresses they had on display.

 

 

And the cupcakes were good too!!

 

 

I am really excited that I will be working with some of the members to create a window display in the reception of The Maids Head for http://norwichfashion.co.uk/ so make sure that you pop along and check out the display.

 

If you want to find out more information or become a member yourself - and I thoroughly recommend it to get a chance to see all the fabulous costumes and textiles that have - www.ctacostume.org.uk

 



 

 

Fashion Galore - Isabella Blow Exhibtion

My hubby and I had an early start on Saturday as we headed to London to Somerset House to see the Isabella Blow exhibition - it was a collection of her clothes, shoes, and hats.

As a fashion stylist working for Vogue, Tatler and Sunday Times Style Magazine she discovered Alexander McQueen, Philip Treacy - extensive collections from these designers were on show along with many pairs of Manolo Blahniks - fashion heaven!! Many of the other people must have thought me slightly mad when I uncontrollably squealed numerous times on walking around!!

Mannequin after mannequin dressed in the most divine fashions, hats and shoes along side a few of her personal items - her note book with her contacts and ideas in pink ink - my hubby reminded me that when we first met I used to sign everything with pink ink - I'd forgotten that - note to self - buy pink ink!!

 

 

Suitable headwear had to be worn in honour of Issie!!

 

 

We headed to the gift shop and drooled over limited edition fashion books and treated myself to the book to go with the exhibition and the cutest little badges with cartoon images of Issie.

 

 

 

 

After a spot of lunch we made our way to Harvey Nicks - I haven't been there for ages and it used to be my old haunt - hubby and I used to sit and chat all afternoon in the 5th floor bar sipping champagne so we thought we had to visit again for old times sake.  One of the barmen that we knew from our first visit was still there and recognised us which was amazing with the amount of people that go through the door everyday!! It mad us feel quite special.

 

My favourite barman!!

 

 

Tired but inspired we left for home - ideas for NFW 2015 running around in my brain!!!!

 

 

 

 



Style Icons - Stylish Couples

I met my lovely hubby 20 years ago, and this year we celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary so in this day and age we are doing OK!!

With both of us being into vintage and love dressing up we can make a stylish couple when we go out and about so for Valentines Day I thought that I would put together a few of my favourite couples that looked fabulous.

Clarke Cable and Carole Lombard

 

Yves Montard and Simone Signoret

 

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardener

 

Laurence Olivier and Viviene Leigh

 

 

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall

 

 

These are just some of my favourite couple style icons - I just love the time one men looked like men and women were so glamorous. Have I missed one of yours - let me know??





 

 

 

 

How to guide - lunch with the girls!!

One of the things I love to do is have lunch with my vintage gals so when we meet up for lunch it is a great excuse to dress up and go glam.

We are spoilt in Norwich with so many fabulous places to eat and it is great to sit, sip bubbly and catch up on all the gossip.

 

Having a few go to outfits is always a great idea so you can mix and match - add accessories to dress up and down.

 

 

A simple suit will always work.

 

In this weather a faux (or real depending on your principals) coat is chic and warm!!

 

Or how about a bright winter coat to add some colour to dull days?

 

 

What's your favourite outfit for lunch out with the girls??

 

 



Miss K goes to Court!!

Not for anything I did you understand but I was called for jury duty - not the most convenient timing as I am in the throws of organising Norwich Fashion Week Vintage show as well as re-launching my styling services (more of that to come) but I was interested to see what happens so I went along hoping that I wouldn't get a long drawn out case that lasted for weeks!!

The first few days were spent frustratingly sitting around waiting to be called to a case in bad 70's style room with no daylight but on the Thursday I finally got to see inside the court room to be part of a jury.

The court room again was a bad version of 70's décor - I was hoping for dark wood with a judge sitting high up in  grand room - but at least the judge and the lawyers both wore robes and wigs so I wasn't totally disappointed.

 

 

Of course lots of outfits had to be worn all with a legal, murder mystery theme were in order!! So this is what I wore for my week in court.

 

 

Day One.

Vintage 40's suit, blouse and beret Lulu Vintage.

 

Day two.

Vintage 40's suit - Retreat Vintage, hat 1930's trilby,

Blouse H&M and my hubby's 40's tie.

 

Day three.

Vintage 1940's dress Lulu Vintage and bow tie Retreat Vintage.

 

 

Day four.

Vintage 70's suit from charity shop, vintage Richard Allen scarf and hat from Aladdin's Cave.

 

 

 

The week was very interesting and I enjoyed seeing how the system worked but I am glad that it only lasted a week sitting in one place for hours on end is not my idea of fun and it did make me see how lucky I am to have a job I love that is varied, exciting and was itching to get back too!!

 

 

 



Style Icon - Bette Davis

Anyone that follows this blog will know that I love a good suit and have a very slight weakness for hats too!! So one of my style icons has to be Bette Davis who knows how to rock both!!

She had a long career in Hollywood earning 2 Oscars and was the first women to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Film Institute.

Bette was a feisty lady and often antagonised directors and fellow actors but she always looked so stylish and chic I can forgive her!!

One of her most iconic and to die for outfits is from Now Voyager and one of my favourites too.

 

 

Early in her career 1930's Hollywood.

 

Love this look from Dark Victory.

 

This colour combo is fabulous!!

 

 





 You can't beat a good suit for making you feel you can take on the world so I will often don a sharp cut suit when I need a little confidence in the day!!

 

 

Looking forward to Spring

Although it's a bit chilly the sun is shining and my thoughts turn to the outfits I can wear when the weather gets warmer and I can leave the winter coat at home.

I am feeling a whole 1930's vibe at the moment and with my "big" birthday celebrations this year there will be some fabulous occasions to try them out.

Finding original 1930's suits is pretty difficult so I will be adapting some of my 40's ones - the style didn't change that much until later when Dior's New Look came in 1947 so I think that I can get away with it.  Last week I had a couple of good charity shop finds though - a cute 70's jacket and cream beret that will look very 30's when styled with the right hair and accessories.

Along with that I think that I may have to invest in a 1930's suit pattern to create some of my own suits as I have lots of ideas of colour combinations and styles I want to recreate. Being a designer I love searching fabrics, looking at trims, buttons and seeing how I can put patterns and styles together.

On my travels I am going to be on the look out for ribbon, feathers and scarves to tie around hats to tone in with my neutral basics.

So here is "look book" for Spring and I am looking forward to finding similar pieces to create the outfits for the warmer days.

 

 

 

 

 

The elegance and chicness of these outfits are so amazing I would die to get my hands on the originals but alas I will have to get the sewing machine out to create my own I think.

 

Watch out for Spring outfit posts to see how I get on. In the meantime what is on your wish list for this Spring??