CHIC ON A SHOESTRING BOOK REVIEW...

 

Why throw out your old clothes when they can be transformed for very little money? With an eye for all things 'stylishly vintage', Mary Jane takes throw-away items and illustrates how they can be used to create a host of covetable clothes and accessories.
An old tie can be turned into a purse, knitting needle holder, cute corsage and a belt. Silk scarves can make a return as a sexy top or skirt, and T-shirts as funky 40s-style turbans. 'Chic on a Shoestring' will take you through - step-by-step - all you need to know to create fabulous clothes and accessories you actually want to wear, and provide you with lots of variations and inspiration to foster your own style.
And with advice on how to find useful treasures at markets, charity shops and vintage stores, you will be making your own creations in no time.
It's packed with brilliant ideas for sewing vintage-style accessories for virtually nothing.

HARDLY EVER WORN YOUR OUTFIT?...

How many outfits have you got in your wardrobe that you have hardly every worn? I bet you even have some that still have their tags on them. Well if you have some original designer outfits or accessories then a new website HARDLYEVERWORNIT is the one stop shop for you.
Sharon Wolter-Ferguson has spent the last two years developing this site which is a one stop shop for all those designer items you have hardly ever worn.
They call this' the crème de la crème' of designer clothing. So, if you're a shopaholic in remission, or a fashion magpie who just can't say no at the checkout, this is the place for you.
It works a bit like Ebay in that you upload and manage your own listings, and then the site just takes fifteen percent from your sale or Sharon and her team will sell it for you.
Its basically an online resource where you can find your designer clothes at a fraction of their retail price. http://www.hardlyeverwornit.com/
'A verified designer version of Ebay - Grazia'

WHERE TO SELL OR RECYCLE YOUR VINTAGE CLOTHES...

 

With such an awful summer, I'm sure many of us (myself included) have a wardrobe full of items we need to either sell or want but haven't been inspired to do anything about it.
Well, I've done a bit of research for you and you are sure to find one of the website below perfect for you to either sell, recycle or buy clothes.
www.bigwardrobe.com
www.fashionfayre.com
www.clothesagency.com
www.kerrytaylorauctions.com
www.auction-help.co.uk
www.stuffusell.co.uk
www.auctioning4u.co.uk
www.dropbuysell.com
www.gumtree.com
www.vivastreet.co.uk
www.priceminister.co.uk

VINTAGE FASHION...

                                     VINTAGE FASHION...

'We Heart Vintage Co', is a stunning blog on fashion and photography for the 1920's to the 70's and beyond.

The photographs are beautiful and the writer covers the different decades, fashion, cinema and tv, music and pin-up girls with flare.

You will want to spend all day slowly browsing her site to learn all there is to know about the vintage years, www.weheartvintage.co

GUCCI CELEBRATING ITS 90TH ANNIVERSARY...

In 1881 Guccio Gucci was born in Florence. He found some work at the Savoy Hotel, London in 1897 but returned to Florence to join the leather manufacturer Franzi in 1902.
Between 1905 to 1912 Gucci and his wife Aida have three sons, Aldo, Vasco and Rodolfo. He doesn't open his first store in Florence until 1921 when he was 40, and had his first successful suitcases made in 1936. In 1938, the Rome store opened on Via Condotti in 1938.
After World War 11 Gucci introduced the pigskin, which became a signature house material and the first bamboo-handled bag, inspired by the shape of a saddle was produced.
Rodolfo (one of his sons) opened the first Milan store in 1951 when the green-red-green web became a hallmark of the company. By 1953 Gucci became a pioneer of Italian design in the US where Aldo (another son) opened the first American store in the Savoy Plaza Hotel on East 59th Street in New York.
Guccio Gucci died at age 72, only 15 days after the New York store opens. Since then his sons have opened stores all over the world and the rest is history.

FASHION OF THE 60'S IN CARNABY STREET, LONDON...

Many fashion traditions were broken during the 1960s, especially those in the United Kingdom. But the most famous street of all in London which housed independent fashion boutiques and designers was 'Carnaby Street'.

According to wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnaby_Street by the 1960's, Carnaby Street proved for followers of both the Mod and hippie styles. Many independent fashion boutiques, and designers such as Mary Quant, Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin,[6] Lord John, Merc, Take Six, and Irvine Sellars were located in Carnaby Street as well as various underground music bars such as the Roaring Twenties in the surrounding streets. With bands such as Small Faces, The Who, and Rolling Stones appearing in the area to work (with the legendary Marquee Club located round the corner in Wardour Street), shop, and socialize, it became one of the coolest destinations associated with the Swinging London of the 1960's.Harry Fox and Henry Moss opened the first ladies boutique in Carnaby Street called "Lady Jane" in 1966.

The Carnaby Street contingent of Swinging London stormed into North American and international awareness with the April 15, 1966 publication of Time magazine's cover[7] and article that extolled this street's role:

It now has its own website http://www.carnaby.co.uk/
which has
Womenswear
Menswear
Children's Fashion
Hair, Health & Beauty
Home & Lifestyle
Accessories
Cafes
Bars
Restaurants
Nightlife
Fitness
Hotels
Newburgh Quarter
Kingly Court

DO YOU REMEMBER THE SPIROGRAPH...

Did you have a Spirograph?

It was developed by Denys Fisher a British engineer in 1965.

They called it a 'toy that kept children entertained hours on end', and was simply comprised of plastic circles and rings as well as different shapes with ridged edges that resembled gears. I bet you'd never see children today playing with this like we did.

You could make some amazing unique designs by using coloured pens and tracing the inside of the plastic ridged shapes.

Apparently it became so popular that it won the Educational Toy of the Year award for three years running from 1965 to 1967. Due to its popularity Spirograph designs started appearing in the world of fashion as well as in Op Art.