Vintage on the Web – June 2015

Vintage on the Web

Well, it’s been yet another really busy month and I have so many blog posts backed-up that I really want to write, it’s driving me crazy. I promise I will try and get them all done soon as I have got so much to tell you about. Anyway, this month I’ve been doing a lot of searching around for new blogs to read as I really want to see much more of what other vintage and sewing bloggers are up to. They always offer the best inspiration for my own wardrobe and interesting places to go and so many have the most fabulous tips and ideas we can all use in our vintage lives. So, here is the best of June’s Vintage on the Web.

Mode de Lis 1930s dress

Mode de Lis Blog

I first came across the Mode de Lis blog when I spotted the above photograph on Pinterest and completely fell in love with it. Everything about her outfit screams 1930s and, as it’s a period I’m getting more and more into, it was a great source of inspiration to me. Having then clicked through to her blog I was bowled over.

Mode de Lis is run by Lily, a seamstress who’s very much into making her own historical clothing and also loves anything vintage from the 1930s to the 1950s. The things she makes are just incredible from a 1770s working class women’s outfit to a Titanic inspired coat to a 1950s novelty print barbecue dress and everything in between. The authenticity and detailing in work are to die for and something I aspire to in my own sewing projects.

Fabulous Finger Waves – 1920s & 1930s finger wave tutorial

After many deliberations I’ve decided to get my hair cut into a bob so I can have a much more versatile hairstyle to things with. At the moment it’s just way too long and because it’s very thick the weight of it tends to pull my curls out quicker than it should. It takes forever to do anything with and I just cannot achieve a decent 1930s style with it.

As a result I’ve been searching for tutorials about doing finger waves, something I’m very doubtful I’ll ever be able to achieve mind you, and came across this fab one on YouTube by Scarlet Ladies. They make it look quite simple, albeit rather fiddly, and I maybe able to achieve something similar eventually with lots of practice. I think it’ll be more of a special occasion hair-do though if it takes too long. I just need to buy some of those finger wave clips.

Mini-Tutorial: Seam Stocking With Overlocker

Mini-Tutorial: Seam Stocking With Overlocker

Now this is a fantastic idea, adding seams to your seamless stockings using an overlocker! What a brilliantly clever idea. Why didn’t I think of that? For those non-sewing types an overlocker is a type of sewing machine that creates a three or four threaded stitch to secure edges. Just take a look at any of the hems of your modern clothes and you’ll see overlocking around the edge.

This brilliant tutorial is on the Couturette blog, a vintage and sewing blog from Germany. I love reading blogs from other countries, even if it is through Google’s dodgy translator, because it gives you such a great insight into how other people from different cultures approach the whole vintage thing.

Circa Vintage

Circa Vintage

Circa Vintage is an Australian online vintage store with an amazing array of stock from the 1800s up until the 1990s. They have some truly amazing pieces like this stunning summery yellow 1950s dress that I absolutely adore. The prices look scary when you first look at them but that’s because they’re in Australian dollars which convert to much less in terms of British pounds. This particular number is advertised at $220, which converts to about £100.

Circa post to the UK at just under £20 for an order so it may be worth purchasing a few pieces at a time to really make it worth your while. And if you’re worried about ordering from Australia don’t be. The first thing I ever ordered online way back in about 2000 was a 1950s style bowling shirt from an Australian company who managed to get it to me within a matter of a few days without any hassle and things have improved massively with ordering online since then.

WowHaus

WowHaus

This is one of my most favourite blogs and I’ve been following it for several years now. If, like me, you are obsessed with property porn then you’ll love it too. WowHaus searches all the estate agent websites and gets tip offs about amazing historical and noteworthy houses for sale across the world and collects them all together for people to enjoy.

My favourites have to be the Art Deco ones like the one in the photograph above. I love the ethos that went behind the whole Modernist movement of the 1930s where architects tried to create homes that helped you to live a better life both mentally and physically, such as the long ribbon windows that let a lot of light in.

Norton of Morton

One careful owner – In which G.M. Norton feels like a millionaire

In my quest to search out different and interesting blogs I have made an effort to read more male based vintage blogs and one of my favourites has to be Norton of Morton, run by a self-confessed Gentleman called G.M. Norton. Mr Norton has been featured several times in both Pretty Nostalgic and Vintage Life magazines and is now the editor for In Retrospect magazine, so he knows his stuff.

His latest blog post features something that always gets me excited (as you can see from my previous post), finding something inside a vintage item to identify its original owner. I won’t ruin the story by telling you here, you’ll have to go an find out for yourself on his blog. And while you’re there if you know any chaps who are thinking about dabbling in vintage wear why not point them in the direction of his fantastic post A beginner’s guide to vintage-style dressing for men?

Verity Vintage Studio

May Project Journal and Tutorial – Partial Shoe Make-Over with Leather Paints

I love shoes. I have a lot of shoes. I can’t stop buying shoes. But I have never thought of giving my shoes a make-over. Oh, I absolutely love this idea. I have a slight obsession with two-tone anything. Black or navy dresses with white collars and cuffs, brown and white brogues and black and white Chanel handbags are all iconic looks that come back time and time again. So, taking a pair of plain black or brown shoes and adding leather paint to create two-tone shoes, now that’s something I want to have a go at and the possibilities are endless.

This fantastic tutorial is available on the Verity Vintage Studio blog, one I have recently discovered and fallen in love with, run by the incredibly talented Kirsten from Pennsylvania, USA. Kirsten is a fantastic crafter with crocheting and sewing amongst her talents but what I really love about her blog are the Jazzing it Up, DIY Vintage Fashion and Repurposing Vintage posts which have so many excellent ideas about how to refashion your own clothes, shoes and accessories to get even more wear out of them.

Tutti Frutti Vintage

Tutti Frutti Vintage

Solenn, who runs the Tutti Frutti Vintage blog from Toulouse in France, probably buys just as much and if not more vintage bits and pieces than I do. But she has an excuse, Solenn runs her own vintage thrift shop in her home town and it’s great to see the big hauls of stuff she buys for it. Of course, being in France she manages to find some amazing stuff like anti-Hitler song sheets from the 1940s, really beautiful French fabrics that I’d love to get my hands on and to-die-for bakelite brooches.

But that’s not all she posts about, she has an incredible sense of style too, veering towards the 1940s era, and does some great outfit posts. I particularly love her choice of headgear, handbags and sunglasses, some of them are really quirky. But because it’s in French you’ll have to rely on Google’s dodgy translate tool once again to be able to read it. Unless, of course, you’re proficient in French (which I’m not in the slightest!).

Have you come across any interesting blogs, articles or online shops in June? I’d love to know what you’ve discovered, so leave a comment below.

Cate

Just a vintage gal suffering from the Golden Age syndrome. A lover of all things old, especially the 1930s, seamstress, crocheter, maker of hats and enjoys rummaging at flea markets.

7 Comments

  1. I love Wowhaus too!

    Oooh, that Aussie site… I hadn’t seen that before. There’s an outfit on there that I now REALLY want. Drat you 😉

    • Oops, sorry! They have some really amazing stuff on there though.

  2. I think I will be taking a look at that house site, I love a look round period buildings. I enjoy these link round ups.

  3. Hi Cate, and thank you for the lovely write up on my webshop! We have almost 2,000 pieces up and have just launched a new design with a ’30s floral background, which I thought you might like to see (I adore ’30s prints).

    I have big plans for expanding the site this year, as I’ve been buying vintage for over thirty years and the webshop lets me share it all with the world so lots more lovely pieces will be coming soon! All the best, Nicole from Circa Vintage, Australia

    • You’re very welcome. Your site is amazing with so much vintage in one place and it’s all so tempting. I can’t wait to see what’s to come and I love that background print. I wish I could make a dress out of it!

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