New To The Shop This Week

Finel coffee percolator, designed in 1957 by Antti Nurmesniemi

60s patent leather shoes, new old stock in original box

A nude lady of a different kind, pink satin depression glass candle holder

1950s quilted shelf bust dress

Here's a close-up to whet your satorial appetite...but sorry we're keeping this one!

Retro manual typewriter, in perfect working order, complete with carry case, tipp-ex and instruction manual

Another hilarious piece of kitsch, I think I'm on a roll with the kitsch lately, it just keeps coming my way.

No prizes for guessing that this ashtray is my personal top pick of the week. Unfortunately I just sold it five minutes ago, but I couldn't resist showing it off anyway.

Of course there's lots more goodies on offer than I've shown here, including several larger sized 50s dresses, depression-era furniture, and some stunning Art Deco celluloid clocks, lamps and cases.

PHOTOS!!!! Our Melbourne Cup Vintage Fashion Parade

I am SOOOOO excited to be able to show you these pics!!!!

And to have them so soon- the parade was only held yesterday.

Yes- we had an absolute ball! ...we're already talking about how and when we can do another one.

Miss Chrissy from The Lindy Charm School for Girls was our most excellent host and compere, ably assisted by her heavily-Manchester-accented comic offsider, 'Glenda', who apparently kept the sellout crowd in stitches.

Sue and I operated as dressing /spotter assistants (over in the rather distant dressing room) so we didn't see the parade at all, however I had plenty of strategically placed armed guards around the room (i.e., my mother was there) to assure me that all went well!

So, without further ado, the photos!!!

Andrea in a 3 piece 1940s suit, from Sues and my joint collection

Ellie in a 1920s silk velvet flapper dress, as shown here

Desiree in 1930s silk velvet dress, from my personal collection

Yeah yeah I know my suit's cool, but FREAK ME! my handbags a REAL ARMADILLO! Mel in 1940s rayon suit (seen here), no prizes for guessing whose collection the handbag is from!!

Evening beauties, non? L-R, Evelyn in 1960s lurex, Ellie in 40s/50s brocade, Shannon in 1930s satin-back crepe

Ellie...can you tell she moonlights as burlesque dancer Columbina Silk??

Our lovely muse Evelyn in her personal favourite, 1940s wool suit

Beautiful Mandy in a stunning chiffon maxi

Close-up, just for Nelly

Mel in a 1940s rayon day dress

Desiree says it all with one look. SIGH!!!

Andrea had heaps of fun with her 60s lurex mini

Evelyn in her element!

Shannon in a 3 piece 1960s leopard lingerie set

Mel in a 1950s tulle ball gown

1950s Mandy. The '1930s gent' behind her is her real-life husband, and yes, he was modelling for us too!

Andrea says 'Joan Crawford eat your heart out, 'coz I'VE GOT YOUR ROBE!!!'

Unsurprisingly, Desiree draws all sorts of looks from the crowd-LOL!!!

Evelyns vintage lingerie, what a femme fatale she is!

Looks like Mandy drew gasps of admiration in Sues 1960s nightgown set

I'd have loved to have seen Ellie go around with this outfit. It was a last minute decision to send her out with the stuck hairbrush and can of hairspray, she's such a little ham when she's on show I'm sure she made the whole room laugh!

See what I mean? LOL!

Desiree was our 'parade finale', our 'fashions on the field winner'

Eagle eyes may have seen a preview pic of this dress on my or our facebook pages, but heres a proper look at this truly 40s/50s stunning taffeta gown

This is what I wore, a NOS 40s suit I've been hiding from you ;)

Now for a few behind-the-scenes shots...oh, did I mention how many photos were taken?!

Miss Chrissy does Sues hair

the hilarious Glenda

Yes, I did a lot of 'fixing'

While it wasn't my day to be changing outfits, at least I could change hats halfway through, right? I'm sure Helga! would approve wholeheartedly!

Cast and crew...check out the grins from ear to ear. 

Desiree mentioned to me that someone recently commented on her blog, 'Aaaw, all the good stuff happens in Australia'. I don't know who it was or to what they were referring, but as far as I'm concerned, that person is right!!!

Massive thanks to our fabulous models Evelyn, Shannon, Ellie, Mel, Mandy, Andrea and Desiree, and to Miss Chrissy and Glenda for their wonderful work 'out front'. The pics of course were all down to Mike Hilburger, not only a supremely fab photographer but a super-nice guy too!


So come on prostis, tell me what you think!!!!!!

Busy...and Excited!

We're so busy this week that this is actually something of a Claytons post. You know, the post you do when you haven't got time to do a proper post!

Hot on the heels of my teeth drama comes Sues big house move this weekend. You might remember me showing you through her house a while ago, and how much stuff she has...if not, click here and here to see what she's had to pack over the past few weeks.

We've also had our biggest ever load of vintage clothing land in our lap this week- so exciting! Everything from 20s voile tea dresses to fabulous 60s go-go boots to 50s chiffon party dresses to spectacular gloves...and everything in between.

Of course I'll show you lots of pics as soon as I can, but not until it's all clean and presentable-I'm still working on that of course. For now I can only show little teaser pics!

Of course all the new lovelies have to be ready in time for our biggest fair of the year, the Brisbane Vintage Fashion Fair, held at Eagle Farm Racecourse on October 28 & 29. If you're local and don't know about it, look them up on Facebook as you WILL NOT want to miss this one.


The most exciting news of all though, is that we have been asked to take over the annual Zonta club Melbourne Cup fashion parade on Tamborine Mountain on November 1st! We've enlisted Miss Chrissy of The Lindy Charm School For Girls as host and compere, and will be showing a range of Melbourne Cup themed fashions from (of course) the 1920s to the 1970s, including many pieces from our new range and some as-yet unseen pieces from Sues and my personal collections.

If you're local and would love a great day out on Melbourne Cup Day, keep an eye on our Facebook page. Ticket details will be announced soon and you'll need to get in quick for this one!

Vintage Weakness

We all have a weakness for some special vintage thing, don't we?

Something that we simply CANNOT resist.


Something that no matter how many we have, when we see another one we have to buy it.

Whether it's fashion related or some sort of collectable, we are each irresistibly drawn to one thing that we have to own. To have. To possess. To collect.

Or maybe it's more than one thing...? A genre. A brand. A type. A colour?

For me, it's 50s black 'hairpin leg' stuff. I NEVER leave this stuff behind.

And 50s kidney-shaped little dishes, particularly in black

More black stuff...not that I buy everything that is black and 50s, but a lot of what I like seems to be black!

 

Blue Lewbury

 

Big 70s platform shoes. Proper ones are quite hard to find now, so if I find a pair that fit me I snap them up, pronto.

Now there's lots of other things I like, of course, and other things that I'll buy the odd few of....like furs, mid-century furniture, lucite boxes, 50s lamps, pyrex, compacts, and cigarette cases, but the pics above are my absolute must-haves.

So tell me dear readers, what are your vintage weaknesses??

What vintage items can't you live without?? If you have a blog, please show us!