A Peek Into the Past

Who would have thought that looking back into the past could be so much fun? With fabulous music, fantastic dancing, flashy fashion and fast cars; welcome to the Kurri Kurri Nostalgia Festival.

I experienced my very first Nostalgia Festival in 2013, celebrating its 10th birthday! The festival spans over three days, Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday. Kurri Kurri is a small town that lies between Maitland and Cessnock in New South Wales, Australia. The Nostalgia Festival attracts many tourists to the area each and every year. Over 40,000 festival goers attended last year! Yowsers!


Last year, for me, it was mostly about the car show. My granddad owned the most wonderful
FB Holden (in pink and white no less!). I was sad to see her go the day she was sold, but seeing some of these classics brought back memories.

Some lucky people own the most amazing heritage cars.

A lot of hard work goes into restoring, painting (and in some cases, modifying) these vintage beauties! Of course this purple and flame hot rod is a total winner for me

I went with my mum on the Sunday, which is generally the biggest day for the festival. More cars exhibit on this day than Saturday. The day was sweltering hot and humid! I regret wearing my hair out - whew! There was so much to see, but in the end, being hot and sticky meant that we didn't stay as long as we probably would have. I'm wearing a 1950's Kamehameha dress with orchid prints that I picked up on Etsy. Mum is wearing a sweet summery dress by the Aussie brand Retrospec'd. To check out their amazing collection, click here. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Retrospec'd dresses were genuine vintage! They really look the part.

Skip forward to 2014: This year I found my courage and participated in the best dressed competition (it's amazing what a little Dutch courage can do!). There were three categories: the Junior category, Traditional and Miss Modern Day. I entered in the Traditional category, hands a-sweatin' and knees a-shakin'!

I'm wearing a 1950's backless dress by Sun Fashions Hawaii. This is one of my most favourite dresses in my entire vintage collection. The craftsmanship of this dress is superb! The gathered waistline clips together at the back using hooks to hold you in, all nice and snug (Look ma, no bra!).  I also wore handcrafted hair flowers by the one and only Lady Rowe. You can buy her amazing pieces here - you'll thank me later! Did I place? Not a chance, ha ha! At the end of the best dressed parade, I was lucky enough to have my photo taken with the super sweet Cherry Dollface! She told me I looked gorgeous, and that she loved my dress. Now THAT'S what I call a win!

On day two, I was purely there to check out the fashion, see the car show, hang with my bro and listen to some good music. I can check all of those boxes! Some happy snaps below from the Sunday.

Sunday Funday. Mixing and matching prints as inspired by a wonderful Facebook friend. I'm wearing the Heart of Haute Marilyn tee and Wheels and Dollbaby Le Chic Skirt in La Pin-up print. Both colourways for my tee and skirt are no longer available but you can check out Heart of Haute and Wheels and Dollbaby for the same cuts in different colourways. Bro is wearing the Chaos Western button up by Steady Clothing, available here. Also, check out the sweet, sweet Holden classic cars! Yes, they match my outfit. Yes, that was planned for the pictures :) 

The Kurri Kurri Nostalgia Festival is held in late March and it is a great day out for everyone; I'll definitely be heading there next year!

Happy Tuesday x

My Prints Charming

Yes, I have been swept off my feet by vintage inspired prints. Is there anything sweeter than a swing dress that hearkens back to a bygone era? Hardly. Novelty, atomic, floral... all these prints are reminiscent of simpler, more easy-going (and dare I say, happier?) times.

I  purchased a few dresses recently that reminded me of my grandma's fabulous fabric collections! The fabric of these dresses really have a retro feel to them, particularly the circus print Zooey by pinupgirlclothing.com. As usual, the fit and quality are superb!

The Ginger halter dress in turquoise atomic print is available from pinupgirlclothing.com. This dress came with a thin, black, poplin-covered belt, but I think that it detracted from the overall look of the dress. Sometimes, belts can shorten the look of your torso by giving your body the appearance of two "halves" - I find the belt that came with my Ginger had this effect on me.  This dress also comes in a myriad of stunning prints and colours.

The Zooey pink circus print dress is available from pinupgirlclothing.com. This is fast becoming my favourite summer dress. The stretch cotton sateen feels luxurious and the bust is lined for a little bit of modesty ;) The vintage-inspired print on this darling dress is rather quaint, with animals in outfits, a man on stilts and pretty pin ups. This dress also comes in a red 'tablecloth' print and grey birdcage print.

This dress is the Netti in Tiki print. The Netti dress comes in so many fabulous prints, but this one is my favourite by far!  I feel like hosting a luau party, BYO ukulele! I can picture a vintage Hawaiian shirt in this eye-catching print. Again, available from pinupgirlclothing.com. Be sure to jump onto the website and check out their wide range of precious prints!

Naturally, many reproduction brands have produced their own beautiful vintage inspired prints. Here are a few from a range of different brands that I would love to share with you.

Left to right: Bettie Page Paradise dress available from  https://www.bettiepageclothing.com. Trashy Diva Sweetie dress available from  http://www.trashydiva.com. I have the Sweetie dress and the rayon fabric is simply perfect for a hot summer's day!

Left to right: Hell Bunny May Day dress available from MANY places, including eBay,  http://www.attitudeoz.com.au,  https://www.retroglam.com to name a few... On the right is a Hawaiian halter sun dress available from  http://www.bluevelvetvintage.com.

Left to right: Katrina dress by Australian brand, Retrospec'd ( http://www.retrospecd.com). They have a brick and mortar store at 486 King St, Newtown, Sydney. The Bernie Dexter Pearl in Cherry Tree Lane dress is just that: a pearl. You can pick up this head-turner from  http://www.berniedexter.com/bernie-dexter-dresses.html.

Left to right: The Beverly Cerise cherry print dress available from  http://heartbreakerfashion.com and the Comic inspired dress available at http://www.limb-clothing.com are cute and quirky novelty prints. Although they each have a different feel to them, they are equally awesome.

Do you love a vintage print as much as I do? I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic and see some of your personal favourites, reproduction or vintage!

Happy Saturday x

Sarong? So Right!

Bad pun aside, let's take a look at an iconic dress style of the 40's and 50's: the sarong dress. 30's and 40's starlet, Dorothy Lamour, helped to popularise the sarong dress. Six of her films featured her in a sarong-style dress, earning her the nickname 'Sarong Girl'.

Dorothy Lamour first wears a sarong dress in the film "Jungle Girl"

Many vintage brands cleverly jumped on the bandwagon and began producing their own version of the sarong dress. Some of these designers include: Kamehameha of Hawaii, Surf Riders, Paradise Hawaii and, of course, the legendary Alfred Shaheen.

Things were made to last in the post-war years, there's no denying that! Luckily for us, this means that many of these stunning garments are still around and in excellent wearable condition. A couple of things to note however. When buying a vintage sarong dress, expect to pay the big bucks. Especially if the dress carries a big name like Alfred Shaheen. For a Shaheen dress, you may expect to pay anywhere (and certainly upwards!) of $250 US dollars. Eep! Another point of interest is that many of these vintage sarong dresses were designed to suit a slender, yet voluptuous figure. I have often perused through vintage dresses thinking that women of the 50's were living, breathing hourglasses. It wasn't until recently that I discovered the secret of foundation underwear! A good waist cincher can take up to 3-4 inches from your waistline! Apparently, the mid-century misses and designers all knew this. Wearing good, strong foundation wear was the norm. Knowing this makes buying vintage less of a shock. On a good day, my waist is something like 27 inches in circumference. Many vintage sarongs average about 24 inches in the waist area. Holy smokes!

My darling Alfred Shaheen flat measures at 12 inches at the waist. That makes it 24 inches in circumference! Rest assured , I'm not getting into this bad boy without the help of a good waist cincher and the handy shirred panels at the back! My dress also features a sweet, detachable sash.

Don't let this daunt you though. Many reproduction and vintage inspired brands have tried their hand at sarong dresses. Not only are these dresses built for more modern women, but they don't necessarily carry the hefty price tag. Additionally, they are made from quality materials and come in fun prints!

Here are some of my favourites :)

Deadly Dames "Malibu" dress designed by the  fabulous Micheline Pitt and retailed for $122. This dress was a favourite of Amy Winehouse and there are talks by the designer to re-release it. Yay! 

Paradise Dress in Katrina print by Heartbreaker Fashion retails between $80-$100 US. Available in Leila print only from http://heartbreakerfashion.com/. Have a look around with this dress though. It's still available in the Katrina print, but you have to hunt for it.

Dixiefried's "Tiki Twist!" retails for $130 US from pinupgirlclothing.com. This dress is in my personal collection and I find it runs a bit big! You can easily size down due to the shirring at the back. Also available in black and gold brocade.

Tara Starlet's sarong dress retails for  £75. Available in different prints and colours from http://www.tarastarlet.com 

The Shaheen Dream by Whirling Turban. Available in lots of different prints and styles from http://www.whirlingturban.com/. This baby carries a higher price tag at $210 US.

Bernie Dexter for Babygirlboutique available for $89 US at http://www.babygirlboutique.com/

Some good places to hunt for vintage sarong dresses:
www.etsy.com
www.poshgirlvintage.com
www.ebay.com

The sarong dress is  perfect for those sultry summer night parties and events. Some sexy springolators, a tiki bamboo bag, cocktail in hand and you're good to go!

Happy Friday x