Fashion | I Get a Kick out of you

Just Peachy

January 11, 2012 by igetakickoutofyou

How beautiful are these? I must admit I have encountered Bernadette Pascua through Miss Moss not through an extensive knowledge of fashion illustration! Miss Moss is absolutely right, I can’t get enough of her work. They are so simple and subtle in colour but – wow, really pack a punch. Bernadette is an illustrator based in Brooklyn who started drawing after completing a textiles degree. Not a native New Yorker, Bernadette moved there as a seventeen year old and says: […]

Categories: Fashion, Illustration, Interiors • Tags: art, beauty, Bernadette Pascua, Decade Diary, design, Fashion, illustration, Interiors, music

Butterfly Kisses

January 8, 2012 by igetakickoutofyou

“Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one. It got on at 42nd, and off at 59th, where, I assume it was going to Bloomingdales to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake – as almost all hats are.” Nikolaus Laszlo, Nora Ephron, and Delia Ephron, You’ve Got Mail It’s that time of year when Christmas has passed and it feels like we are running the everlasting lap […]

Categories: Fashion • Tags: birds and flowers, butterflies, cashmere cardigans, cats, colourful butterflies, craft, culture, design, dressmaking, Fashion, Interiors, music, nora ephron, sunburst band

Grace Kelly meets the Gladiator

January 1, 2012 by igetakickoutofyou

My challenge for New Year was to re-create a vintage outfit. Doing the daily routine, school runs etc, in slightly distressed vintage is all well and good, and indeed can add to the outfit, but sometimes there are occasions when the evidence of ageing just won’t do. The added advantage of making an outfit from scratch is making it to your size, particularly since the majority of my vintage finds are a tad on the small size. I comfort myself […]

Categories: 1930s, 1950s, vintage, Vintage Inspiration • Tags: craft, design, dressmaking, Fashion, Grace Kelly, history, HItchcock, movies, Rear Window, vintage

david downton, fashion illustration, V&A

Getting the “Hedkandi” Treatment

December 28, 2011 by igetakickoutofyou

The week before Christmas I went along to a Fashion Illustration exhibition, arranged by the Fashion Illustration Gallery, in Bruton Place. Expecting the normal rather impersonal affair of an exhibition I was surprised to find an intimate gathering with none other than David Downton and Jason Brooks, in person. David Downton you’ll no doubt be familiar with – having done many projects with Vogue and, in particular, illustrations for The Golden Age of Couture exhibition at the V&A. There were […]

Categories: Illustration • Tags: art, David Downton, design, Fashion, fashion illustration, Hedkandi, Jason Brooks, jewelery, music, topshop

Pillow Talk and the Hunky Beast

December 18, 2011 by igetakickoutofyou

The prompt for this post was the Terence Conran exhibition at the Design Museum, which is definitely worth a visit for all those interested in vintage pieces and design (and doesn’t finish until March 2012!). Perusing round the various, “Heals & Habitat”, styled furniture and textiles, I came across this dressing table . This is one classy, cool piece dressing table. It’s chunky, almost masculine, with an industrial edge but is still somehow elegant. Only a really cool cat could have […]

Categories: 1950s, 1960s, Interiors • Tags: design, Doris Day, Fashion, film, Interiors, movies, Pillow Talk, Rock Hudson, vintage

A Dress for Bel Gazou

December 9, 2011 by igetakickoutofyou

A slip of a dress from Velvet Atelier kept calling me back at one of the vintage fairs. A slip of a dress for a slip of a girl, as it happens, since it hardly made its way passed my arm! I desperately want to take a steamer to it, as I think it could be a bit of a gem. Not for me though..it’s a dress for a girl not a woman! But I bet it’s seen some parties! […]

Categories: 1920s, Fashion, Vintage Inspiration • Tags: 1920s, books, Colette, Fashion, flapper, Gucci, history, literature, vintage

A Week with Marilyn – The Ingenious Breast Dress

December 1, 2011 by igetakickoutofyou

Ahh……loved, loved , loved “A Week With Marilyn”. Michelle Williams is incredible – absolutely breathtaking – in fact I’m going to see it again! One of the things I want to pay particular attention to is the dress that Marilyn Monroe (Michelle) wears when she steps off the plane in England. You’ll know what I mean if you have the seen the film – it’s a total scene stealer. The construction of the bust line on this dress is seriously ingenious. […]

Categories: 1950s, Fashion, Vintage Inspiration • Tags: 1950s, burlesque, craft, dressmaking, Entertainment, Fashion, film, flapper dress, Glamour, hollywood, Inspiration, marilyn, marilyn monroe, movies, my week with marilyn, photography, shopping, style, vintage

“Bernice bobs her hair” – The Watermelon Flapper Dress

November 24, 2011 by igetakickoutofyou

What a wonderful experience vintage fairs are – in fact I am convinced they are good for the soul. I always get that childish anticipation that I’m going to find a real hidden treasure – although typically the price tag is too high! So at the London Fashion & Textile Fair I unearthed this sorbet flavoured flapper dress from Velvet Atelier and they let me take a few shots of it. The detail on the edging is exquisite – the […]

Categories: 1920s, Fashion, Interiors, Vintage Inspiration • Tags: 1920s, Art Deco, Bernice bobs her hair, books, design, Fashion, fashion illustration, flapper dress, Scott Fitzgerald, Velvet Atelier, vintage dress