Pictures from last Summer

Me looking less than fashionable on a camping trip to Snowdonia.

Me looking like some form of cat again last Summer. I had red hair :O

New Hat

I haven't blogged for a while due to exams!

This is my new and my now favourite hat, bought from a gorgeous little vintage shop in Chester for £15. The woman there said it was around late 1930's-1940's. The decorations on the hat are hand sewn on. On the inside of the hat, bears the label "CONNOR regd. England." If anyone has any information about CONNOR hats, I would be grateful. I have not yet worn it, but I do think that this weekend calls for it.

Radio Lovers.

Currently scouring http://www.radiolovers.com/ for some old radio shows whilst I revise for History. WWII plus old radio shows...I think this is a good morning!

For me, there really is something about Radio Shows, I love them. I love using my imagination to create images in my head. Personally, my favourite genre of radio show has to be horror...Especially Vincent Price's; "The Price of Fear." I wish they still played all of the old radio shows on the actual radio instead of me relying on the internet. . I currently crave a pastel blue one!

Kate Bush

This woman is on of my many inspirations.

Hammer Horror.

Summer calls for inspiration.

Summer is upon us...albeit in short bursts. I need a wardrobe update, all of my clothes Winter wear and very 1940's-esque. Summer calls for a more 1920's, 1950's and 60's look in my opinion. Although, a 1920's look needs a more boyish figure. Which is why I favour the 50's...plently of room to accentuate my hourglass figure. Especially Christian Dior's 'New Look' movement.

At the moment, for some reason un-beknown to me, I'm craving a pair of leopard-print leggings... Perhaps it's the obsession with Pin-up and Rockabilly doing this to me? Who knows. I've also found a site which sells the most perfect Swing and Wiggle dresses at really good prices. Perfect for Summer.

http://www.rockabillypinup.co.uk/

I draw some of my summer inspiration from women like Brigette Bardot (an obvious choice...considering Bob Dylan even sang of her) I've alwasy adored the 60's, probably more than any other era. I like the idea of being free and easy.

Also, Vivien Leigh, one of my favourtie actresses and possibly the most beautiful woman of all time. She starred in 'Gone with the Wind'', ''Cleopatra'' and Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar named desire." You can start to see how all of these women are somehow rooted in some obession I possess. I love how she looks in black...and yes, I know it's Summer, but I can never say no to a black dress.

Finally, well, for this post at least...I really, REALLY want a 1950's, pin-up-esque swinsuit. There are some beautiful examples on here; http://www.unique-vintage.com/

Robert Doiseneau (second post)

I know i've already made a Robert Doiseneau post (click here to view) back in March, but I thought i'd do another with a bit more information about what drew me to him.

(the picture that drew me to Doisneau)

I first became interested in Robert Doiseneau as a young girl, I just didn't realise who he was. I went out with my parents and Grandparents when I was about 8 to somewhere in the country. In a small shop, (where I remember buying one of those little pens with the jewels on, a pink one) I came across one of Doiseneau's pictures, blown up and put on canvas. I loved it. It grabbed my attention because I wanted to be an artist. I showed my Grandad who liked it too. He always had faith in my becoming an artist and he was the person who inspired me to draw at a very young age. He would sit me down at the dining table with paper and pens and he'd teach me to draw his and my Nana's cat, Mitsy. He'd say "Here's a little eye, here's another little eye, here's a little nose, and here's a little mouth. Here's some little whiskers and here's her ears. Look! You've drawn Mitsy!"

It's funny how one photograph can trigger off a million memories...





I rediscovered Doiseneau at the age of 16, when I undertook a lens based media project for my Art GCSE, I cane across the photograph and was flooded with memories once more. So, I decided to do more research on him, and created a few 'Critical Studies' pages on his work. I adore his pictures; they make me happy. I also adore Paris...my favourite city. I'm going back soon!

The Wiggle Dress NEEDS curves.

Something for every curvacious lady, the Wiggle Dress accentuates the finer things about us girls; boobs, hips and bottom. This is not a dress that an ''I'm so skinny because I haven't eaten in like, EVER and as a result have the figure of a small boy" type of girl can pull off. You need an hourglass figure. You need boobs. You need hips. You need a beautiful bum.

I own a wiggle dress with a modern twist (it has long sleeves) and am the proud owner of all three of the criteria for the Wiggle. Now, you see, some girls have called me 'fat' in the past for being a size 12. I have been likened to the 'vicar of dibley', 'Beth Ditto' and even that 'Belinda' or whoever off Big Brother. Comments like that used to really crush me, (yes, I'll admit, I even cried) but now I'm more confident and don't go on extreme diets. I actually eat. These girls have all been in need of a decent meal and have all, funnily enough, gotten really upset when I've said something about them which hasn't been nice. What's beyond me even more is how these girls can idolise people like Marylin Monroe and call a girl who's dress size is less than Monroe's fat? (Marylin Monroe was a size 16, equivalent to a size 14 today) I'm sorry, but a size 12 is healthy and I like having curves.

ALSO, I am extremeley happy at the fact that due to a lot of the Autumn/Winter 2010 fashions being based on Christian Dior's post War 'New Look' movement, there has been a call on the catwalks for models with an hourglass figure. Bye-bye skinny.

Josephine Baker

An inspirational woman. She was a member of the French resistance during the war, received the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor award, she was a dancer at the Folies-Bergère (famous for wearing nothing but a string of banana's around her hips), brought together what she called a "Rainbow Tribe"; her adopted children of many races (move over Angelina Jolie) and also one of the earliest ambassadors for French haute couture, reviving French fashion after the war.

"One day I realized I was living in a country where I was afraid to be black. It was only a country for white people. Not black. So I left. I had been suffocating in the United States... A lot of us left, not because we wanted to leave, but because we couldn't stand it anymore... I felt liberated in Paris."

Last Summer

A picture of me in Cambridge last summer. I went for a few days with some friends on a trip for the school's candidates for the OxBridge. Unfortuntaley, neither Cambridge or Oxford did the course I wanted, so we just got drunk instead.