My rock 'n' roll 45's been enraging the folks on the lower floor

I've been a little absent from the Internet lately, just checking my blog feed now and again when time allows it. I've been favouring Instagram and Twitter just because it's so much simpler to look through very quickly on my phone. My absence is entirely down to productivity, my workload shot up with unexpected sudden deadlines so I had to stick my nose to the grindstone. It's actually been quite enjoyable, albeit stressful. Thankfully my ideas have kept flowing and I hope the rewards of my hardwork will be worth it - fingers crossed!



Outfit details:
DRESS - 1960s VINTAGE // NECKLACE - FREEDOM AT TOPSHOP (OLD) // SHOES - 1960s VINTAGE
I bought this dress a few months ago at a local antique store. One of the dealers there specialises in the '60s and '70s and it takes all of my restraint not to go mad and buy everything! So many wonderful homewares and knick-knacks, and a huge selection of womenswear! Everything is quite expensive which is a shame, but I do like to treat myself now and then so I bought this dress. It was deadstock and still had the original tags, and I fell in love with it's bishop sleeves (my absolute favourite!), peter pan collar, and floral embroidery. The embroidered yoke reminded me of Western style shirts - I adore Western style clothing and actually own quite few things so it sold the dress to me completely! I tried to emphasise that train of thought with my bison necklace, what do you think?

It's not a great dress. It mildly annoys me that the button placket doesn't line up, especially as such a feature is made of it with it being pink, and the collar doesn't sit straight (that's not my necklace pulling on it). And the seam down the sleeve doesn't have any give so it pulls the sleeves up constantly; I mentioned this to my mum and was tickled when she said that she remembered her bishop sleeves having the same fault on many of her clothes in the '70s. My mum loves that I wear the clothes of her youth and I enjoy hearing her reminisce to me about her style. She likes this particular dress as it reminds her strongly of a similar one she owned. How I wish she'd kept everything, what a dream that would be!




I finally have all of my things sorted out of storage which feels wonderful! A lot of my things have been in boxes in a storage unit since 2010 due to my not being settled, some of which I deeply missed and some of which I could scarcely remember! I'd been meaning to tackle it for some time, it was quite a task. I was mostly excited to see some of my records again, from when my collection wasn't even a collection yet; just a couple of things I'd bought here and there and pinched from my stepdad's LP collection before he got rid of it. He was quite the avid collector throughout the '70s and '80s, but lost much of it through his own moves and it was in storage for a long time before he no longer saw a reason to keep it. I managed to snag a couple of Queen and Adam Ant LPs (he had David Bowie's entire back catalogue but they'd gotten damaged in storage and were unplayable - an absolute tragedy, they were all first releases.) These few, along with a couple more I'd purchased, were the first records I ever had, before I even had a record player - just collecting some of my favourite albums by my favourite artists to enjoy the artwork and wistfully fantasising about when I'd be settled enough to collect properly and own something to play them on. I was able to begin properly collecting in 2013 and it's expanded a hell of a lot! I was tickled pink to be reunited with my small original collection at last and spent a leisurely evening playing them at full blast and organising my full collection properly by alphabet and chronologically. Bliss!

She loves you, yeah yeah yeah

I can't quite actually believe I'm making this post, ever since I first saw these dresses I've longed for one, it's my "holy grail" item but not one I ever thought I'd manage to acquire. But I have, it's mine, I'm wearing it. I cried real tears when I won it on eBay, and again when I unwrapped it. If I were a cartoon character this would be my signature outfit I'd be drawn in every day.

These dresses were a limited edition sold by fashion chain C&A for just 10/6d (10 shillings and 6 pence, a modern day spending worth of about £7) in 1964 to cash in on the wave of Beatlemania and they've become pretty iconic. Apparently this particular dress was worn only a few times, and had been hidden away under a dust jacket in a closet ever since, forgotten about for 50 years. I got it for incredibly cheaply too, I don't know how I've been so amazingly lucky. It arrived with a little note from the original fan who wore it back then, hoping I'd enjoy it as much as she did. I almost feel like I'm wearing a museum exhibit piece (I am really I suppose, Beatles exhibits often feature it).

I do have a confession to make -- I altered it. I feel a bit like I've committed some awful sin, but being a pear shape I struggle with shift dresses. It fit perfectly on my top half, but my hips said no and it just sat pathetically bunched up around my waist like some sad top. I figured I had two choices - cry about it, or alter it to fit my body. I got cold feet at that point, looking at this flawless collectable in my hands and thinking about how well it'd been preserved for 50 years. But I don't want it to sit in my closet for another 50 years, I want to wear it! It deserves to be worn! It fit so well on top I didn't see selling it and waiting around for a bigger one to turn up for sale as an option, as if I bought it to fit my hips it'd be way too big on top, it's the entire shape of the thing that's wrong for my body (and I admit I did spent a few messed up seconds wondering if I should loose weight to fit it, ew). So I spent my New Year's Eve ripping out the side seams and measuring some plain black fabric. It now gently flares outward instead of being a straight tube shape, and I don't think the panels I added are too awfully noticeable, you can see them in the side angle below. I do feel a little bit bad about altering it, but I did a professional job of it and I can wear it! Plus there was no cutting involved, so it can easily be put back to it's original shape if need be.

Is this appropriate to run errands in? I'm serious. I never want to take it off. I still can't quite believe it's mine. I think I may have to get a dressmakers dummy so I can display it properly, it seems a sin to hide it away in my wardrobe (when I'm not wearing it of course!).











Nancy Sinatra - I Love Them All (The Boys in the Band) (basically my anthem)