Accessorize yourself (Part 1)

Accessorize yourself (Part 1)

Solene Percher by Stephen Plumb, hair bow by  Diablo Jo's

"You can't put a price tag on love, but you can on all its accessories" - Melanie Clark

         What do you look for when choosing accessories? Is it value for money, brand appeal, quality, design or a mixture of all four? 

I personally like to try and achieve a good balance of value for money, quality and design . I also like to try and buy locally and/or hand crafted items.

When I find something new and exciting (even if it's only new to me) I love to share it, and this is exactly what I'm going to do now. 

Obviously, there are many good accessories websites out there and that's without mentioning the abundance of creative and talented artists on Etsy but I want to concentrate on an incredibly talented lady, and her shop Diablo Jo's. This site is beautifully designed, so easy to navigate and has lots of lovely goodies for your perusal and buying pleasure.

I can't resist but to tote some on here (especially as my geographical location at the moment prevents me on buying any!).

Hawaiian Barkcloth Bow

This Hawaiian bow is first on my want list. I think it's so cute and would work well with any hairstyle and colour, I can't wait to get my hands on it and for only £3.50 it's a bargain!

Red and Gold Hawaii Fascinator

My next pick is the beautiful Red and Gold Hawaii Fascinator. How stunning would this look on luscious ebony locks or shimmering crimson tresses? Us redheads sometimes find it hard to match accessories to our hair that don't dull our colour or make it too coppery so this beaut is a definite must. At only £20 it's a worthy addition to your collection.





As you can tell I love Hawaii prints and hibiscus flowers but I promise not all of my recommendations are not based around this theme...instead the lovely Diablo Jo's also provides accessories to cover all tastes and obsessions...even my other one - cherries!

This headscarf is such a simple classic design, and by no means do
I mean this in a derogatory way. This is a perfect design and a necessary part of everyone's collection, whether it has cherries on it or not is up to you. The benefits of having a classic design like this is flexibility  you can match it with most outfits and it will definitely go well with any hair colour...literally any! Another steal at just £4.00


I'm going to now wrap up this article with one more precious piece from Diablo Jo's as I fear otherwise I will just end up adding the whole site here!

'Lil' Cherry' Scroll clip pack

So my last selection is to fit with the above headscarf, this lady has come up with a brilliant design of securing the item - matching hair clips! She has these for most of her headscarf designs so you don't have to have any boring or unsightly bobby pins popping out and ruining the whole ensemble. Just £10 to have this peace of mind.







I suggest you get your little fingers over to her site so you don't turn blue holding your breath from excitement!

Enjoy shopping ladies ;)

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Vintage Wedding Inspiration part 1

Vintage Wedding Inspiration part 1

A kiss is a lovely trick, designed by nature, to stop words when speech becomes superfluous.

Ingrid Bergmen 

          I thought that since I am in the throws of planning my own wedding (all set for 28th January!), and of course I've added some vintage touches to it, that I would offer some 'advice' if I may call it that on where to find some gorgeous vintage wedding inspiration for all different budgets.

Let's start with arguably the most important piece of the puzzle (for us girls anyway!) - the dress or gown or whatever terminology you feel like using.
I have found a gorgeous art deco inspired dress here in Tel Aviv, in an unknown shop called Los Angeles and the girls in there are lovely, my dress was also a very good price - around £250/₪1,500/$400. So if you're in Israel definitely go and look them up.
On the other hand, if you do live in Israel or don't mind paying postage and you have a bigger budget Erez Ovadia has some gorgeous gowns that are vintage inspired.

Erez Ovadia gown 

I personally enquired about the above dress' price when I was still looking for a dress, the quote I received back was £1,200/₪7,200.

Now, if you don't live in Israel (which I know many of you don't) there is a whole host of sites, designers and shops you can go to but I'll list some of my favourites to hopefully help you narrow the search down. Just to let you know, they don't become my favourites just on design alone, I've taken into consideration the price, customer service, fitting and alteration times etc.

In the U.K

Let's start with one of the most expensive - Circa Brides has some lovely wedding dresses with hints of vintage design, I enquired about their 'Kate' dress (shown below) and they said it was made to measure, from silk. They seemed nice and friendly and they responded to my questions the same day so I was impressed it's just a pity the dress was out of my budget and I couldn't go back to the U.K to fit it. 

'Kate' wedding gown - £2,300

Then, of course, you have The Vintage Wedding Dress Company You can browse by decade or original vintage dresses, I'm sure you'll fall in love with at least one dress on this site. They don't have prices on the gowns but they do give you direct links to the individual stockists for each dress so you can enquire there for prices etc.

Next is Abigail's Vintage Bridal which is just a gorgeous site with much to offer. They state on their site that prices start from a very reasonable £300 up to £2,000 but most fall between £500 - £800 which I think is a steal. They separate their wedding dresses into 3 sections - 1920's and 30's, 1940's and 50's and then 1970's and 80's.

Abigail's Vintage Bridal 1930's wedding gown

JenJen House is a great site to try and get a discount, I saw some beautiful dresses on here and the only reason I didn't go for them is the messing about sending them back all the way to the UK and the turn around time if they hadn't fit. Here's a very pretty example of one of their dresses -

A-Line/Princess Halter Floor-Length Chiffon Satin Wedding Dresses With Ruffle Lace Bead work £95. 

My last 3 UK links come in the way of non dedicated sites - 

ASOS Marketplace - always worth a look as they not only have vintage inspired new goods but also pre-loved items.

eCRATER UK - you can search this site for vintage wedding dresses and the most expensive I saw on here recently was just over £400! Such a bargain.

And last, of course, is Ebay - you all know all too well by now about the bargains that can be found on here, so why not try it for your wedding too? The Ebay link I've provided will take you straight to a selection of vintage wedding dresses showing price lowest to highest.

In the U.S.A

Obviously, you can give Ebay a go as well and you really should but below I'll give you some awesome links for lovely gowns straight from the U.S as well. The Ebay link above will take you straight to a search for vintage gowns again, but this one Ebay will give you the same search but in vintage, so then you can further narrow it down by the decade you desire :)

My first one is a site that looks lovely and seemed very good with replying to my enquiries - Dress Firm - they have some lovely dresses anyway but they also have a little link on the left hand side menu for vintage dresses, now, not all of these would I say have even the slightest hint of vintage inspiration but they are still worth a look for the odd one in there.

This dress reminds me of a mix of Greek goddess and 1930's art deco with the drop waist

Light in the box - I LOVE this site! I visited a lot in my search for the perfect dress and once again, one of my main reasons for not picking one from here was the postage to Israel, so if you're already there you're a OK ;) Very good prices with some cute dresses on there, although many have a big modern twist on them.

If you're looking for more of the 1950's style then look no further! Whirling Turban has the solution to your search. They have gorgeous dresses for a good price, their customer service is great and they also have some lovely other tidbits that might take your fancy, and hey, why pay twice for postage? ;)

No this next site is a bit more expensive so be forewarned! On the other hand, one look at the dresses and you can really see why - Mill Crest Vintage located in NJ is a beautiful, user friendly site. What's more, their dresses are actually vintage! Hence the price. They go all the way through the decades so you'll have a long and enjoyable time browsing their goods.

Vintage Style Dresses has a great collection, including plus sized dresses which is fab and unfortunately sometimes rare. They're well priced, with most being around $200 odd. I think they have this vintage feel we so desire but with a romantic floaty essence at the same time.

Vintage Style Dresses -  Nataya 40115 Ivory Wedding Dress

My last dedicated link for you guys is Outer Inner - a lovely site with a vintage section! Really good prices as well, dare I use the word cheap even? But you don't feel like you'll be getting some dodgy knock off. The link I've given above will take you directly to their vintage section.

Now, for my very last link (otherwise I'm sure all you girls will be having heart palpitations haha) is Yolan Cris - they have a little link down to the right bottom side for the English website. These dresses are like a dream come true, the one I fell in love with and enquired about (pictured below) is called 'Paris' but do check out all the website and gowns. Unfortunately 'Paris' was more than I could afford at £2,400 odd but just look how wonderful she is! 

Stay tuned for the next part of my vintage wedding inspiration where I tackle the men in our lives!

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Hello my lovelies!

Hello my lovelies!

"The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years." 

Audrey Hepburn 

I created this blog to share my passion of all things vintage, retro and kitsch and hopefully provide you, the readers and fellow lovers of mothballs, with some lovely websites and deals I come across.

As I am a avid baker, I will be highlighting vintage baking and cooking accessories and equipment too, along with telling you how to use some of the outdated bits and bobs. 

Of course, if you come across something not featured on here or you feel I missed out, please do drop me a line or post in the comments about your find - I'm all about sharing knowledge and credit of course.

So I hope you enjoy this blog and the journey we are embarking on, and remember to check back regularly for updates and new posts.

Au revoir, at least for now ;)

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