Aubrey the Great



The Peacock Skirt, 1884

Aubrey Beardsley is one of my favorite artists and I particualrly admire his series of illustrations for Oscar Wilde's Salome. Elongated, curved lines seem to be a running theme for me in terms of aesthetics which Beardsley perfectly captures for me in this particular collection, along with his penchant for dots.

I like to think that Beardsley and I are artistic kindred spirits as my tattoo of curved lines and dots was inked onto my ankle years before I'd ever heard of Beardsley. Alas, I wish I had waited a few more years as the tattoo turned out to be pitiful and I feel that with Beardsley to inspire me it could have been something quite beautiful.

I think Beardsley is sometimes overlooked as an artist but I'd have his illustrations hanging on my wall over other artists any day. Perhaps I should just have Salome's Peacock Skirt tattoo'd across my back and be done with it!

Let There be Light

I've just discovered Christine Kilger's handmade lampshades and am in love! She uses antique bases and vintage fabrics and embellishments collected from around the world to make her gorgeous one-off creations.

You can order one of her pieces from http://www.nightshades.com/, but be warned, they ain't cheap. Averaging at approximately $2000 per piece (+ $175 shipping) they're way over my budget so unfortunately I'll just have to admire them from afar for now.

New Favourite



This gorgeous little 1960's box-bag is one of my newest finds. Very Mad Men-esque!



Decorated in floral decoupage and lined internally with red felt. In perfect condition and seemingly unused.

Une Mémoire de Paris

A beautiful song which takes me right back to my time living in La Cité de Fleurs

Sitting Pretty

Look at my pretty new chairs!

They are made from 1950's Danish frames, upholstered with vintage Sanderson fabric. The muted pink and green flowers continue all down the back and are the most beautiful chairs I have ever seen.

I sourced these beauties with a client in mind and have selfishly kept one for myself which now lives in my reading corner at home. Keeping my stock is becoming a terrible habit which has got to stop!

Stevie Nicks Remixed

I'm not normally a huge fan of remixes, particularly when it comes to legends such as Stevie Nicks but this one's lovely...

Recently Sold

One of the hardest things about being a vintage trader is selling your favorite pieces. I often find myself hiding my best dresses at the back of the rack so nobody will buy them which obviously makes for excellent business practice! Well, two ladies recently discovered my prized pieces and I now find myself mourning the sale of my two favorite dresses.

My beautiful 1930's silk wedding gown was bought by a goddess who seemed to have time-travelled here from the 1940's. It fit her like a glove and couldn't have gone to a lovelier lady (1940's goddess if you're reading this I'd love to see a picture of you in it). And my favorite dress of all, my 1950's prom dress, was sold to a contemporary dancer who will be wearing it in an independent film production of Cinderella which I can't wait to see.

With the sale of these two beauties I've leant an important lesson - to hide my other favorites even deeper in the rack next time!

Clerkenwell Vintage Fashion Fair

Now that the days are getting colder and darker La Belle Poubelle is retreating indoors to the Clerkenwell Vintage Fashion Fair on Sunday November 14th.

The Old Finsbury Town Hall is jam-packed with the finest vintage wares in London to buy your Christmas party outfits, and the alterations booth allows you to get the perfect fit making it the one-stop shop for the perfect outfit.

And there's one more thing that makes this fair worth visiting....CAKE!  Miss Stephane Ware's Tea Room serves tea and cake whilst serenading you with songs on her ukelele. Shopping, cake and a ukelele, what more could you ask for!

The fair opening times are 11am-4pm. £4 entry

The Urdang

The Old Finsbury Town Hall

Rosebury Avenue

London

EC1R 4RP

New Favorite

This 1930's pink silk dress would make a perfect bridesmaid or even wedding dress.

It has a gorgeous diamanté clasp to the waist and matching detail to the shoulder. Would best fit approx UK size 8

The Ink Spots

If you're looking for some music to listen to whilst cosy at home during the winter period the lovely harmonies of The Ink Spots should do it.

If I Didn't Care is my favorite song of theirs which was also their first hit back in 1939. Incidentally Tennessee Williams played this song on repeat whilst writing A Streetcar Named Desire, so I like to think that if I play it over and over again during my creative endeavours it may help me produce some kind of masterpiece one day....I'll keep you posted on that!


 

New Favorites

Here's another three beautiful pieces from my recent NY haul.

Gorgeous hourglass silhouetted  floral print 50's dress

This lovely pink 60's dress is overlayed with white lace and finished wih its original bow belt. It would make a divine cocktail dress or wedding guest outfit. Approx UK size 16-18  

I love his litle 50's shift dress which comes with a maching jacket. It would make a chic office outfit. Approx UK size 10-12

The Super Talented Tomihiro

I recently worked with a hairstylist called Tomihiro Kono on a recent shoot. As he was making my hair look half decent we got talking about our mutual love for anything vintage and he told me of his hand made, one-of-a-kind head pieces he makes using all kinds of weird and wonderful vintage items he finds. It sounded lovely but I didn't realise just how unbelievably incredible his head pieces were until I checked out his blog. They are simply stunning works of art.

The headpiece pictured is one of my favorites, I can imagine seeing this on the models in a Galliano show. But this is one of Tomi's more tame creations, you really must see his blog to see the full extent of his creativity. http://tomihirokono.blogspot.com/

Miss Mac's Street Style

At last Friday's Portobello I had a visit from my best friend, the very talented singer and actress Miss Mac. Whilst she was rifling through my offerings of the day style snapper Mr Newton, whos pictures regularly feature in the street style sections of Vogue and Elle, practically tripped over himself running through the market to request a photograph of her in my 1920's confirmation dress she had just bought....Well it was probably 40% dress and 60% of her beauty which piqued his interest. Never-the-less here she is looking rather ethereal in the car park under the Westway, as you do!

Pick of the Week

This incredible 1960's Duster Style coat is one of my recent New York finds. I was so excited when I found it as I have never seen a vintage coat as beautiful as this before. It is encrusted with sequins throughout which sparkle as you move  and finished with silver beading to the collar and edges. It is in pristine condition and looks like it has never been worn.

This coat would look great teamed with jeans, a simple t-shit, flats and a slick of red lippy or would make a perfect finish to a wedding guest outfit. It fits a range of shapes and sizes due to the Duster style as there are no seams on the shoulders it hangs nicely irrelevant of your shoulder size. But I would say it would best flatter women who are around sizes UK 12-16. I wish it fitted me otherwise there's no way I would be selling it, it's a real show stopper and would effortlessly glam up any outfit.





New Favorite (for me!)

Look what turned up to cheer my day up this morning!

This dress is possibly one of the most beautiful 1920's gowns I've ever seen. The photo just doesn't do it justice. It has the most beautiful details, from the chantilly lace neckline which continues around the back to the delicate little flutter sleeves. The black crepe chiffon, lace and original belt are all in pristine condition throughout which is very rare for such an old delicate dress. And the way it drapes on the body is just amazing, dresses just aren't made this way anymore. Infact it's so perfect that I'm keeping it for myself. Sorry!

July Flame

I discovered this lovely lady a while ago on my favorite radio station Resonance fm. I can't reccomend this station enough to those Londoners who, like me aren't fans of modern mainstream fads and the never ending plethora of generic 'The......' bands. In between bizarre interviews and physics lectures weird and wonderful music discoveries can be made, which often ends up with me swerving the car to a dramatic halt in order to write down the name of the latest artist to give me goosebumps.

Every single song on the album July Flame is simply stunning so I couldn't narrow it down to one. Here's a couple of my favorites....

The Vintage Emporium

I was wandering down Brick Lane on Sunday afternoon when I stumbled across possibly the best vintage shop in London!

The Vintage Emporium is any vintage lovers paradise. The shop is jam-packed full of the most beautiful pre-50's clothing and collectables with not a single 80's monstrosity in sight! These people really know their vintage and have obviously painstakingly hand-picked only the finest pieces available. There's no rumaging through rubbish to find that one gem as everything you see makes you gasp.

But what makes this shop even more unique is the cosy tea room  upstairs which morph's into an events space at night. Open mic nights are very popular and Marques Toliver is known to make an occasional appearence which makes it even more worth a visit.

I can't reccomend this place enough. Even if you're not a vintage fan a visit to the tea room alone is a must. After a long day trawling Brick Lane and Spitalfields it's the perfect place to unwind with some tea and cake.

The Vintage Emporium

14 Bacon Street

London

E1 6CF

Floaty Delicates

I know it's raining cats and dogs here in the England and the sensible option would be to stock up on winter attire but I have personally never bought on season and I have an almost magnetic force propelling me towards anything delicate and floaty. So here are two of my favourite delicate dresses new in stock. I believe one would look rather fabulous flouncing around on a beach during your winter holidays in one of these!

My best friend actually has first dibs on this gorgeous slip.

The transparent lace panels would need to be layered with a nude coloured bandeau slip or just slip it on top of a bikini. Would fit between a UK size 6-12.

I just think this rare 1930's crochet and silk georgette slip is simply divine, it's so feminine and delicate. It would fit a range of sizes from a UK size 6 for a loose look to a size 14 for a more fitted look.

The waist can be cinched in with a changeable ribbon or belt





My Pick of the Week



This 1930's velvet, apricot dress was previously owned by an American showgirl.
It needs a lot of tlc as the velvet on the torso area is very thin and delicate and there are a number of tears around the neckline which need mending, but it doesn't detract from the beaty of the dress. Any vintage collector can appreciate how unique this dress is.



Just look at the gorgeous diamante back detail!



The dress would best fit a UK size 10.



My (not so) Secret NY Vintage Hotspots

Hell's Kitchen flea market

I've just returned from a quick trip accross the pond with a suitcase bursting at the seams full of amazing new pieces which I'll be posting on here soon.

Now, I NEVER give away my sourcing secrets, but as NY is almost 3000 miles away from me I suppose I'll let you in on a couple. So, for any of you vintage lovers heading to NY you should make sure to visit my favorite spot, the Hell's Kitchen flea market on 39th x 9th. This market is a vintage lovers delight. It's so great that I spent my entire budget here before I could go anywhere else! Not only do they have amazing clothing, they also have the most gorgeous homewares and bric-a-brac which thankfully I couldn't fit into my suitcase otherwise I would have spent a small fortune.

If you're slightly more restrained than me and manage to save money to go elsewhere, be sure to visit the plethora of flea markets throughout Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Flea http://www.brooklynflea.com/ is particularly notable. And if you stroll down Bedford Avenue, which is worth a visit in itself,  you'll see signs here and there directing you to various different fleas. There really are far too many others to mention throughout Brooklyn and I have to keep some of my secrets to myself! But if you have a wander you're bound to stumble accross a treasure trove along the way. Just be prepared to blow the budget though, the vintage delights in NY are far too good not to!