All Change! New Business Venture Ahoy....

Well, what a summer?!
Apologies for a little bit of a prolonged blog-absence this month, truth is I have a new business venture and have subsequently been a very busy bunny!

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As many of you know I adore empowerment in all it's forms and this new venture allows me to amalgamate my love of IT, empowerment, mentoring and training as I'm hooking up with an amazing company called Firefly to train school teachers in the use of their really very clever and easy to use VLE (Virtual Learning Environment)! It's an incredibly ingenious piece of software which enables teachers lives to be easier, integrates them more with the beautiful world of IT and the more beautiful world of their pupils by facilitating an intranet, website and learning platform. As an ex-secondary teacher this is quite probably a dream job for me and I get to stay self-employed and wear my vintage inspired wardrobe; talk about a win-win!!!

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Don't worry though- Redressing will still be up and running for you to buy quality pre-loved vintage inspired & contemporary dresses and if you'd like to host a Redressing event then just email me!
I will be continuing with this blog and my hints & tips on self-employment, body confidence and of course the incredibly popular re-script workshop so stay tuned!

Xx

Accessorizing old style: Bra Stays

After posting on dress clips, a very good friend of mine suggested I post on Bra Stays. Dutifully I obliged but must confess, I had no idea what bra stays were! Well, now I know and boy are they a clever piece of dress accessorizing which need to be re-established in modern society!

 These ingenius 'stays' or 'retainers'  pin into the shoulder seam of your dress or top and then you put your bra strap inbetween the two pices of ribbon and popper the ribbon together. Straps never peek out and the dress never drops from shoulder. The friend who put me on to them is infact a wedding dress designer and she says she 'would even use these if wearing a cotton vest. They are one of the best but mainly forgotten inventions we have for lady like dressing'.

Intrigued by all of this I nipped in to my local Hobbycraft and purchased my very own pair of bra stays for around £2. Out of the packet, they look like this

Popped closed

Unpopped

I then tried them on a halterneck top. It was a bit fiddly to saftey pin them into place, but once I had I was delighted with the results!

Safely attached around the strap

and pinned to my top

like so!

Here's before I attempted them...

Chavvy slapper straps

And after!....

Chavvy slapper straps BE GONE!

Yes, you can just see the saftey pin!

 I think I need to practise attaching them so you can't see the saftey pin quite so much, but otherwise a real old style accessory which could do with a modern following- no more chavvy slapper straps for us glamorous gels!

*My friend Sam's stunning designs can be seen at Unique Bridalwear and she also designs and creates bespoke vintage style dresses, prom dresses and pretty much anything else you could wish for under her couture label The House of Webb!

Mirror Mirror on the wall.... or floor. Vintage Finds

Just take a look at this gorgeous 1950s mirror I found at my local tip!!! She's a beauty. I'm thinking she really ought to go up in my hallway for that final outfit check. What do you think?

Shoes: Miss L Fire Cherry Bomb; Pencil Skirt: Kelly Brook for New Look

Oh I do love it that other peoples rubbish is long forgotten treasure! Can't help wondering who elses reflections she has revealed across the years?!
(Just need to ask Mr.Redressing very nicely to get the drill out now.....)

Have you been vintage hunting over the weekend too?
                                x

Adventures in retro hair styling! Speedy vintage curls

Well, that's it! In order to fully leave behind this modern world with its throwaway mentality and lack of values to embrace the vintage lifestyle I've gone and done it... I've sold my straighteners! Oh yes- it's curls, curls, curls instead for me  now!

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I have kept the rockabilly fringe however because a) I love it as it's pretty distinctive (which is so very me!) and b) because, quite honestly, my face is getting a  little bit old to have my hair scraped off it!
I've been experimenting with curls now the length has improved as I don't really like the Bettie fringe with straight hair on me (sorry Fleur!) and have been lifting one side either in a twist or a full on victory roll!

I have a huge variety of flower clips and always wear one, I mean always!

Here are a few shots. See what I mean!

Neater clip up & twist

First attempt at a Victory Roll

I'm still improving on my victory roll technique but am pleased with my efforts so far!

Better Victory Roll (but poor photo- sorry!)

Hubby's birthday and my vintage tea dress from Norwich Market!

I've found a host of Vlogs and Blogs which have helped me trim my own bangs and attempt the victory rolls. Thanks must go to Lynsey of LeKeux events though for inspiring me that it was possible back in November when we visited her in preparation for my 40th birthday forties themed vintage tea party! Thanks also must go to my eldest daughter who is a pretty dab hand at most hair styles, encourages me to keep on trying (even though she has now perfected Victory rolls!) and who has *lent* me her tongs!!!

With 3 children and my own business, I've had to develop a cheats method to quick curls. It starts with my fringe which requires some styling help! I use a small pair of barrel tongs for this job.

Bowl or Bangs?!

My hair is pretty straight naturally so to make sure the curls stay in I use a variety of 'kit' and try to wash it the night before rather than the morning. I'm also a huge fan of kirby grips and where better than In Grips We Trust on Etsy for a delightful matchbox full of perfectly colour matched pins?!

Essentials: Pin tail comb, barrel brush and regular brush. Batiste Dry shampoo, lacquer and heat spray.

 Next, I clip up both sides so I can tong the underneath first.

Red lippy: Glam by no7

I then tong both under sides and the back, then release parts of the clipped sides and tong these too. It often looks a bit bizarre at this stage!!

Wild thing!

I then pin up one side and add a flower to match my outfit!

Not forgetting to lacquer of course!

And voila!

Trousers: Heyday! Blouse: Thrifted Cardi: Primark Flower: Dotty P's

Not too shabby for a cheats guide to vintage curls! If I can do it, anyone can!!!
  Happy Monday Folks!
                  x

Accessorizing, old style! The Dress Clip

I bought a beautiful floral vintage inspired dress last week and I wanted to alter the shape of the neckline. I remembered a clever little vintage invention which seems to have gone out of fashion these days; the dress clip.

Art deco 'Duette' £47 BraceletstoBuckles. Etsy.com

The Dress clip was used to hold back gathers of fabric or to add interest and detail to a dress. They were usually sold in pairs and many, when fastened together, formed a brooch (Duette). Clever huh?!
I wanted to achieve this effect with my floral dress so I came up with a few inspired ideas.

The dress is what I would call an Audrey style and can be worn slightly off the shoulder. I was trying to get from this (above) to more of a sweetheart neckline. I tried some clip on earrings in one of my local vintage shops but they didn't have a long enough back and promptly fell off (which is why authentic dress clips had little grippers on the back), so in leiu of real dress clips I tried a brooch or two...

TaDa!

The brooch proved a really good idea as I could hold all of the spare fabric tightly together. The only problem was that I don't have two brooches the same so I tried a different one on the other side.

 

This worked well visually, but the size of the brooch meant it kept poking me under the arm! I really need to find some proper dress clips, but it's a start!

It always amazes me how many clever and beautiful things things from yesteryear have got lost over time. I love being able to bring them back. Here's some vintage inspiration for you and a few rather glamorous and gorgeous dress clips I've spied recently on Etsy.

Wallis Simpson in dress clips (source)

1940s clips £24.87 Etsy.com

Filigree clips £5.89 Etsy.com

Grapes Clips £6.54 Etsy.com

Rectangular clips £9.16 Etsy.com

Makes you wonder what else our fashion paced, fast fashion modern world has forgotten about? Have a great Wednesday folks!
            x

Fab Frock Friday!...

Today's Fab Frock is in fact not a frock at all...... but a Playsuit!

Be Beau Playsuit

I found this little beauty hiding away in Matalan and just love the retro feel of the neckline. I hadn't realised until I popped over to Lil Vintage Me blog just how popular the playsuit was in the 40s and 50s. Maxine has done some great research; thanks! At £18 I couldn't resist and with all the hot weather of late, I was really pleased I did!

Here's me out in this glorious weather wearing my playsuit.

Enjoying the sunshine

 I do hope you've had fun in the sun. Have a great long Jubilee weekend everyone!
X

Fab Frock Friday- Summer is here!!

Wow! What a turn around in the weather?! Well ladies, there's nothing for it but to don a dress....

and here are 5 good reasons why you should....

D- Don't think you have to be going out somewhere posh to don a fab dress- you are gorgeous inside and out so show it!
R- Rarely does the sun actually come out, so what are you waiting for?!
E- Everybody can wear a dress! Check out some of my previous posts on body shape and how to dress it well here.
S- Sunshine is good for you (with an appropriate sunscreen on of course!) Get some sun on your legs.
S- So you don't have a dress?! No problem.... check out Redressing today and grab yourself a gorgeous gown or fab frock today! P&P only £3 and we ship worldwide.

Don't forget to sign up for the new "Re-Script Workshops" here!

Enjoy the sunshine ladies! Happy Friday X

Outfit Post: Heartbreaker, Freddies of Pinewood & Miss L Fire!

Quick outfit post this fab frock Friday! (Poor photo taken inside but you get the idea!)
Dress: Heartbreaker 'Aimee' in black polka dot. Cardigan: Freddies of Pinewood. Shoes: Miss L Fire velvetta.

Happy Friday Folks! Don't forget, it's Pop-In-And-Shop today and next Monday here at Redressing House. All the Redressing collections will be out and available to try before you buy from 10am-2pm. Why not pop in? The coffee is already on!.....

Have a great weekend
          x

Vintage Mirror Makeover!

After the success of the Cath Kidston covered jam jars I'm feeling the PVA love so have set to on another decoupage project. This time an old, unloved Ikea mirror that's been moving around house to house with us for the last 10 years!

It needed a face-lift and I didn't want to buy a new mirror so the Vintage Mirror Makeover began last Saturday on a wet afternoon. One quick trip to Hobbycraft, a pair of uber sharp scissors, a stack of old Cath Kidston and Vintage Life Magazines and hey presto....

Mirror Mirror on the wall....

Magazine cut outs

We started with our collection of magazines.... cut out some images and attacked that glue pot!

More cutting out required

We began sticking down large images in all four corners and then worked our way in. A mixture of black & white photographs and images along with retro adverts, WW11 posters, favourite Cath Kidston goodies and plenty of Audrey Hepburn.

It begins to take shape

We then enjoyed filling the gaps and layering up the images until we had completely filled the frame.

We were pretty pleased with the final result!

......who's the most Retro of them all?

Not bad for a rainy afternoon's work.

What did you get up to in the rain?
                            x