Lennon Sisters - Ferdinand The Bull

Shame... Cos you'd have to be rat arsed to touch that lot

What a lovely bunch.

Spanking the monkey vintage style

Found this while browsing the interweb...

Couldn't find Patience and Prudence but these gals pull it off pretty well!

mmmmmm..yummy!

Learn to cook by pictures

I found this book at a boot fair a few weeks ago. It doesn't have a publishing date but contains plenty of references to rations... so I think it was released just after the war, around 1946. It seems far too colourful and extravagant to have been published during the war years. As some of you may know rationing went on for some time after the war ended here in the UK.

Anyway, it's full of delightful (ugh! and by no means delicious!) recipes and handy household tips. It started as a popular comic strip in the Daily Mirror and went on to become a best selling book.

It follows the struggles of new wife Patsy as she learns to cope with running a household and bringing up her family. Her husband is called Peter, and she regularly enlists the help of mum, dad, Mrs Always from next door and someone called Mrs Featherpenny... haven't quite worked out who she is yet!

I will be posting regular recipes and tips from Patsy as time goes on. I'm not sure how edible the recipes will be, but I find them quite charming and amusing! Enjoy!

Confession of the week...

I love the Waltons

Vogue IT March 2010 : Lady Grey by Tim Walker

When I am down I turn to Tim..

For many years now I have been cutting out all my favourite fashion shoots from Vogue magazines, and I discovered about a year and a half ago that they were all shot by the same photographer, Tim Walker. He has become one of my biggest sources of inspiration to date. I keep his book by the bed and have spent countless sleepless nights completely mesmerised by the colour, composition, detail and lighting of every single shot. He is a genius.

For any fans out there, you may be interested to know that he is making his first film called "The lost Explorer". It's a short film about a young girl who discovers an explorer living in a tent at the bottom of her garden.. a simple story, but It will be truly breathtaking. I for one can't wait.

Above are some examples of his work... believe me, they are just a tip of the iceberg.

Happy Fathers Day!

Here's my dad at the tender age of 18. Lots of love to you dad xxx

Marilyn

I found these lovely pictures of our Marilyn Monroe behind the scenes on "Some like it hot". I think they must have been taken by a crew member... some of the others were quite blurry and random. Anyway, these were my favourites.

Bruce Lee playing Ping Pong

Shirley Temple - Early Bird

Aaaah, summertime!

It was a gorgeous weekend at the beach... here's the proof!

Meow!

So, cat eye sunglasses are all the rage this summer. There are some fantastic frames out there on the market. My personal favourites are these ones from Sonia Rykiel. They come in several different colours, shown here on the Catwalk in blue sparkles. But wait for it... they cost £216! EEEK! But, in my opinion, if you can afford it and you look after them it's well worth the investment. www.soniarykiel.com.

It's always a good idea to look out for vintage frames and put your own lenses into them. At least that way you know you'll have a completely original pair! Here are some I found from a company called 'Vintageous' in the USA. They have a huge selection of fantastic frames, many of them dead stock, never worn. Prices range from about $50 t0 $350 for super special rare frames. Send them off to www.deadmensspex.com and they will put lenses in for you for about £15 plus p&p. I think that's a bargain! www.vintageous.com/eyewear

Vintage fairs this Weekend

Couple of dates for those in London, both for this Sunday.

Vintage fashion Fair, Cecil Sharp house, Regents Park Road.

Doors open at 11am, £3 entry.

Head downstairs to see Debbie and Mickey at 'The Dress Circle'. They have the best selection of rare 40's/50's clothing and accessories, and their prices are reasonable too. I think they are the best dealers in town.

This fair is smaller than Hammersmith, but I love the atmosphere and the dealers are all lovely. This one is definitely my first choice.

www.vintagefashionlondon.co.uk

Hammersmith Vintage Fair, Hammersmith Town Hall, King street, Hammersmith

Doors open at 10am, £5 entry

One of the biggest fairs in town. I find this one a bit hardcore, sometimes it can feel a bit of a bun fight. I have had items snatched from my hands here and the memory of several elbows are embedded firmly in my ribs, argh! I know these things are rare and beautiful but PLEASE!!! It's not very attractive! Anyway, well worth a visit, and much more pleasant later in the day. It closes about 4.30pm.

www.pa-antiques.co.uk

Auntie Barbara

This is my great auntie Barbara. She died quite a few years ago and after she passed we found photo's that revealed a sad secret about her life. She lived on the South coast with my great Grandmother, and during the war she met and fell deeply in love with this Canadian soldier. He asked her to marry him and wanted her to move back to Canada where they could spend their lives together. Sadly, my great Grandmother forbade their union and guilt tripped Barbara into staying and caring for her until she died. By this time barbara was nearing old age herself and lived the rest of her days as a spinster. Sadly there aren't any pictures of them together as they were destroyed. Poor Barbara, there must have been so many stories like this... Follow your hearts people!

Wowee! Check out these babies I have found from Irregular choice. They are GORGEOUS! Ok, they look super high, but if you take into consideration the chunky platform, they aren't too bad. I struggle walking in high heels, but I have a similar pair from last summer and they are actually quite comfy for at least 4-5 hours... now that's a record for me! They also come in red and white polka dot and blue and white polka dot, and at a very reasonable price of £64.99. I love the name most of all 'Kim Oh No'. Brilliant! get them from Irregular choice on Carnaby street or on line from www.irregularchoice.com

Off to Glastonbury next weekend? This Blyton picnic tin could be just the ticket for those long, languid lunches in the mud! It's a gorgeous retro style tin containing a lovely enamel flask, 2 ceramic plates, 2 mugs, cutlery, cruet set and 2 embroidered napkins. I have seen it for sale in some places for over £80 but you can buy it now from Prezzy Box for £59.95! And if you order now you will get it within 3 working days. Not bad! www.prezzybox.com/products/index.aspx?pid=4276

Tropical teasers

Have you ever been to some far flung tropical place and wished you could bottle the smell of the exotic flowers? Well now you can! These products weren't always readily available in the UK, but now I see them popping up everywhere. I have been a huge fan for many years.

Hei Poa are beautiful, exotic and luxurious, body, hair and sun care products from Tahiti. The main base ingredient is pure Monoi which is basically refined coconut oil. The magic happens when the flower blossoms are added....

Monoi is moisturising and has great healing and restorative properties. All products have dual use and can be used on the skin and in the hair (we are already cutting down excess baggage!), and are paraben free. Yippee! They really smell like summer too. I am quite sensitive to strong smells and find them really yummy to wear on the skin.

Here are a couple of my favourites.

Monoi Body Butter £10 . This product nourishes, repairs and hydrates brittle hair and skin. Yummy!

Monoi beauty oil with pearlised gold £9. I Love this! It gives your tan a wonderful glow thanks to the golden mother of pearl. It really makes your skin shimmer and smells like heaven. Oh, and it helps to prolong the life of your tan too!!

Get them all at www.bathandunwind.com

Here comes Flying Fish....

Everybody keeps asking what's happening with this summer's collection. We are so close!!! It's a bit later than planned due to the oodles of time spent on getting the size, fit and detail of every design just exactly as it should be. We won't be selling on line for a wee while but if you just can't wait I can send you an invite to one of my soirees, or, you can contact me on mail@flyingfishoriginals.com and I can arrange something for you. Don't forget we will also have some rather beautiful black swimsuits in the highest quality stretch satin Lycra, and lace too, all with fantastic support and construction aimed at making the most of your curves and showering you with body confidence. You CAN look like a Hollywood starlet, yes indeedee! watch this space for updates... By the way, that lovely photo was taken by the brilliant Tas kyrianou. www.taskyprianou.com

For those of you searching for the perfect black eyeliner to create that signature vintage look.. enter 'Punk Your Eyes' by the make up maestro's Ruby and Millie. It's part of a range called 'Scarlett and Crimson' designed especially for teenagers.. but I won't tell if you won't! It's better than any felt tipped liner I have tried and the results give a long lasting black glossy finish. I find felt tip liners much easier and less messy than brush liners, and this one is no exception. As with any liquid eyeliner, It takes a wee bit of practice to get the line straight, but I love this product. Give it a whirl! It's available in Superdrug for £4.95.

Vintage Fashion Newsreel: Swimsuits 1952

I love to take pictures with my iphone. this is a great app called 'hipstamatic'. It gives all your photo's a vintage feel. It costs £1.19 from the app store and is worth every penny. I use it all the time. This picture was taken on a windy day in Herne Bay a couple of weeks ago.

I grew up in Herne Bay, and even though my childhood memories are very happy, it's not a place I would recommend for your summer hols, but there is plenty to do if you love water sports and penny slot machines! In a nutshell, Herne Bay is great if you have kids who need constant entertainment, but I prefer to head west to Whitstable, land of oysters. Much more to come on Whitstable later!

First entry...

Hi Everyone,
So glad I have finally managed to get this up and running. I have messed around for weeks trying to get this blog off the ground, but being the technophobe that I am it has been a bit of a disaster till now.. I was scouring through some vintage blogs and came across a link for a website called www.shabbyblogs.com. Suddenly everything made perfect sense. They have great templates for backgrounds and all kinds of other brilliant stuff, but most of all they explain everything dummy fashion for people like me who's computer skills are from the dark ages!

Anyway, I am starting to find my way and work all this out so please bear with me as I discover the world of blogging!

xxxx Katy