In the corner of the morning in the past

Hello! The photos for this post were taken absolutely ages ago (ok well only a  couple of weeks but that's long enough) but for some reason have just been floating around on my laptop for a long time while I posted other (more pressing) things. I'm having quite a relaxing day today though and so thought it was high time to get them up on the blog - especially as it's grey outside at the moment and the summery outfit I wore might hopefully encourage the sun to come out again...you never know.

It was quite a nice saturday and we had some fancy dress shopping to do before my Auntie's birthday the following week, so we went down to Camden Market for the morning to try and pick up the things we needed. Camden is just so great in the summer - full of interesting people and tourists, quirky goods spilling out from the myriad of stalls and shops all packed closely together. Fresh orange juice and icy lemonade is available on most street corners, and the smell of a hundred different food stalls is enough to give anybody an appetite. The market itself is the best place to get purposefully lost in, but I've begun to really appreciate the quality of the nearby shops and cafés that line the surrounding streets. There are a lot of nice cafés like the kind you'd find in Shoreditch, and a few smart little craft shops selling cute bits and pieces. 

 

We opted for lunch from Tower 47, a music-themed café which sold the most amazing hot bagels with cream cheese and tomatoes as well as a really good green smoothie (I can't remember it's contents exactly but am sure it had spinach and kiwi in it and tasted amazing). I love discovering cute places to eat - you feel like you are on holiday, and have somehow earned the meal as you've 'found' it...or maybe that's just me! I also have found that they always have so many more choices and nicer things on offer than the regular Starbucks or Costa Coffee...the food just tastes so much fresher and lighter. Writing this has made me really crave a hot cream cheese bagel now...

Anyway, we then went on to Islington for a stroll around Camden Passage. I just love the market as it's so small but full of so many interesting pieces.

  

 

 

  

 

  

 

  

  

 

Camden Passage really is the home of authentic antiques and vintage. Although expensive, the shops are so beautiful and definitely worth a visit, even though a lot of saving up would be needed if you wanted to purchase anything. The stalls themselves are much cheaper though, with all sorts of brooches, necklaces and earrings all at much more reasonable prices. There is also the best 50's milkshake parlour (Issy's Milky Way), some restaurants and a place for Bubble Tea...it really is the cutest place to spend an afternoon at.

  

 

  

 

 

My outfit was quite summery, and let me embrace my inner love of pastels. I wore my shirt from a car boot sale, dungarees from Beyond Retro, socks and shoes from Topshop and a bag from Rokit. The pigtails were a spontaneous decision - I am getting a little too obsessed with tying my hair with ribbons, and would love to use exclusively ribbon for all future hair styles. 

  

 

 

  

  

I wore a few of my current favourite pieces of jewellery - my pin and sandwich brooch was my Mum's when she was a teenager, and the locket was given to me by my cousin. I felt a little weird wearing an empty locket, and so it now holds a picture of my hero David Bowie. The best part being that I of course had the right size photo to hand (my room is something of a Bowie shrine). It makes for a good comeback when people ask what I have in there.

  

   

 

Anyway, I hope you all have a good weekend...I'm pleased I've finally posted these (and will be even more pleased once I've posted the rest of the pictures I have from things like Prom etc). I've been quite busy with exciting things like shooting with the wonderful Kitty Gallannaugh (her facebook / blog) in Hyde Park and doing a shoot for Company Magazine, so hopefully will have lots to post on here over the coming weeks. I am also going to be on the judging panel for this moth's Shopcade Style Battle, which you can find out more about here. 

Love

So Loves Vintage Giveaway

I'm not sure if it's just me, but there seems to be a major vintage resurgence going on lately. Almost every magazine, blog, website and book is boasting to give you the best tips on the 'perfect' 60's hairstyle, or the 'ultimate' vintage recipe to make your dinner party as eloquent as those held by the upstairs residents in Downton Abbey. 'Vintage' has become classy, 'Retro' has become cool - even those who have never stepped foot in a secondhand clothes store or have any knowledge on past eras seem to be adopting a vintage style, whether they are aware of it or not.
I am beginning to wonder whether we have reached an evolutionary point where we can't actually progress any further. We had the 1900's where each decade promised a whole host of new ideas, inventions and intelligence, but now seem to have reached a peak and have slowed if not completely stopped growing and developing in the same way. Take the 00's for instance. In all honesty, what actually happened between 2000 and 2010? What influential music was released? What mind-changing book was written? What new fashion trend changed the face of style?
Again, it could just be me, but I struggle to find an answer to any of those questions. The 40s, 50s, 60s and so on were such separate, standalone eras, while I don't feel as if I am in an any different world as I would be if I was writing this in 2006.
I wonder if maybe this is the reason for this sudden interest in vintage. I, and probably others too, crave the idea that the life I am living is a part of something historical and meaningful...and maybe that is why I love past eras so much. Maybe, we as a population are beginning to crave those times when new things were happening, people were (or we think were) happy and free and without the stress of things like technology and social networking. I'm sure I'm not the only one who lies on my bedroom floor listening to old LP's on my record player, pretending I am in the sixties and without a care in the world. The necessity of achieving this nostalgic happiness reminds me of the phrase 'the golden years.' I wonder, maybe, if everyone thinks of the past as 'golden' because the majority of people alive now who experienced those times would have been young, meaning their memory of the eras are much happier and rose-tinted that if they were remembering a time later on. Maybe we are getting a slightly skewed image of the past, from parents who remember one penny sweets, may poles and playing out in the streets without any cars. Our perception is that of a childhood memory, something comforting like a soft blanket keeping you warm in a cold bed - not the real, gritty truth of what the times were really like. The sixties probably felt no better than the 00's - they weren't the sixties back then, they were simply the 'now', just like right this second is the 'now', but may in years to come be known as something more significant due to greater factors that never involved us. Maybe we are so interested in the past as it's not scary...it's less intimidating than the great unknown that is the future, and instead seems like a nice piece of comforting nostalgia, without the threat of new technology or uncomfortable exposure to the media. It definitely fascinates me...I'm interested in what will happen in the years to come, and whether we will start developing new things, fashion and ideas again, or whether we will instead stay at this 'peak' and not change very much more. Who knows.

On the subject of vintage, and it's sudden central role in current fashion, here is another outfit featuring the pieces I was sent by So Loves Vintage. This is the Hilary dress, worn with Topshop socks, Topshop earrings, Beyond Retro shoes and a Rokit bag. I thought the dress had a lovely sixties feel to it, which is perfectly in line with the current resurgence in sixties style taking place at the moment (see here). I loved it's classic shape, and liked the drop-waist...I am slowly getting over my fear of them and now actually quite like the shape. The bow is a gorgeous detail and has made me want to adorn all of my shirts with ribbons and bows. Kitten heels are perfect to match with similar dresses, and there are just so, so many vintage ones out there. Absolute Vintage in Brick Lane has hundreds in all different colours, grouped into shelves of different shoe sizes, meaning you could easily find a pair to match any outfit.

  

So, now I can announce the giveaway! To enter, all you have to do is follow So Loves Vintage on Twitter, then choose a piece from their 'Accessories' page, leave the link in the comments on this blog and maybe how you would style it, and then Sofia (the founder of So) will choose the winner! Good luck!

Well, she dances around in a circle

I have come to the conclusion that I absolutely adore markets. Ever since I was little I used to want a little woven basket to go and collect fresh groceries in, so I could take it all home and attempt to recreate 'The Good Life' in my bedroom. This never got much further than a plastic hold-all and wooden pieces of cake and pizza that could be stuck together with velcro, however the love of busy markets and homemade goods has been something that has never really left me. I love seeing people selling things they have made and are passionate about, and like the thought of my money fuelling creativity and enjoyment instead of just contributing towards the never-ending cycle of consumerism the human race seems to have fallen into. That could explain my love of antique markets especially, as, like the clothes I wear, they have not used up any new materials to be made, and on the whole have been hand-crafted or produced by smaller companies instead of huge manufacturers using cheap labour to churn out as many products as possible in the shortest amount of time. Each item is also more unique and unusual, and has more of a story to it that something you just bought in your local superstore. 

I tend to hover around the markets on Camden Passage on wednesdays, the Sunday Up market at Brick Lane, Spitalfield's market, occasionally Columbia Road flower market or Borough market, and always annual affairs like the Amwell Street Festival. A mix of street-party and bric-a-brac, it always provides me with enough pretty china and vintage finds to see me through until it's return the next year, and I love the whole village-y, community feel it brings to a small part of reasonably central London. 

I went this year in the Maya dress from So Loves Vintage. I loved the bright colour and pattern, and the frilly, scalloped detail around the top makes it so pretty and summery. I had to of course weird it up and so wore it over my shirt from Pop Boutique in Covent Garden, with a bag from Camden Passage, socks that were once tights from H&M, shoes from Office and a cardigan from Spitalfield's market.
I enjoyed putting the outfit together as I just pulled out certain colours from the dress and bag and used them to find all of the pieces I needed. I chose the shirt because of the green (that matched the dress) and the orange (that matched the bag and cardigan) and was happily surprised that my nails (still icy blue from last Wednesday) matched the light blue of the bag. I love matching way too much.

 

 

So Loves Vintage is an online vintage shop selling high-quality, handpicked vintage pieces. The clothes are so beautiful and there is lots of information on each piece, making the whole online shopping experience easier, and the event of getting the wrong size or buying something damaged much less frequent. I have been lucky enough to have been sent some gorgeous dresses to style for this blog (including this one) and then Sofia (the founder of the site) and I are going to run a giveaway of some So Loves Vintage goodies for you guys. I will post about it via twitter as well once it is up and running so you won't miss out!

Anyway, here are some photos from the Amwell Street Festival:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything was so pretty and vintage-y, so I was of course in my element. I bought a few books for my holiday, three mini china plates that I just couldn't leave without, and a Frida Kahlo brooch from AndSmile which I want to pin on everything. 

I hope you have a great weekend!