Vintage crochet shawls

I had a fantastic find a little while ago. A stash of vintage shawls and ponchos. Most of them are hand crocheted too.

They are a real mix of hippy chick style, evening shawls and some 40s 50s style ‘bed jacket’ style. Quite an eclectic mix!

Some of the 70s ponchos sold as soon as I put them online, but I’ve just popped up a more varied selection which would be perfect for the current cooler weather.

They are on the eBay Shop and the Etsy Shop.

Incidentally I have also sourced some cool 70s crocheted shoulder bags. These are in fab bright colours and are just on the Etsy Shop at the moment.

I’ve got a few more shawls to work through at the moment but so far they are looking fab! What do you think?

Ted Baker Challenge

A little while ago I took part in an online style challenge. It was using ASOS clothes to create your own style. It was quite good fun looking through stacks of ‘modern’ clothes to try and get the 60s look I wanted. Here’s the blog I did for it – £100 ASOS blogger challenge.

Well, I’ve just been contacted by Ted Baker to do a similar challenge. This time there isn’t a price limit, it’s a limit of 3 items.

I’ve been searching their new collection with a 60s eye. Again, being slightly obsessed with the 60s, I wanted to create something from new that still rocked a 60s vibe. I also wanted it to be eye-catching, so that heads would turn when you walked into the room wearing this outfit!

Righto, here goes!

Ted Baker Challenge - dressI chose this as it is a classic style that is also very flattering. Geometric prints always look good in my book and add to the 60s vibe. I love the asymmetric style and the fact that the pink edging just really brings it to life.

Click here to view the dress on the Ted Baker website

Ted Baker Challenge - shoesThe shoes are a classic heel with a modern twist. The studs give it that really up to date look. The colour is fab and vibrant. It brings out the pink edging in the dress perfectly. The height of the heels adds a bit of glamour…

Click here to view the shoes on the Ted Baker website

Ted Baker Challenge - bagWho could resist this bag? It’s one of my favourite casual shapes – the bowling bag. But, like the shoes, it brings out the pink edging on the dress and really lifts the whole outfit. Oh, and it’s shiny!

Click here to view the bag on the Ted Baker website

What do you think? Where would you wear this outfit? I think it would be great at any big event where you want to make an entrance – weddings, summer parties etc. It’s a fresh summer look.

If you want to take part in the challenge, here’s the link – Ted Baker Challenge

I spotted a mod on TV today…

As any of you who know me or just read my blog, once a mod, always a mod. Anything 60s tends to catch my eye…

I’d got the TV on in the background whilst I was updating this website and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a beehive. It caught my attention.

Stacie StewartThe TV programme was just moving onto a cookery slot and a lady called Stacie Stewart was cooking a pie. She had a fab beehive! Once the TV had caught my attention properly I also saw she had a really cool 60s dress on as well.

So, I thought I’d better look up this lady. She actually describes herself as a mod and recognises that she dresses to blend in her love of the 60s and mod, so not a classic mod style. I like that. I think a lot of us do that to a certain degree. I can’t believe I haven’t come across Stacie before. Here’s a link to her website, Stacie Stewart Website, where she talks about how she became hooked on the 60s and mod.

Of course everyone knows these days that Bradley Wiggins is some new styled ‘King of the Mods’, in fact the BBC even wrote an article about mods during the summer olympics – Bradley Wiggins – what is a mod – so I guess it’s a little bit back out there in the media….

Is mod starting to return more strongly? I’m not just thinking about the more high-profile advocates like Mr Wiggins, but there seem to be more soul and 60s nights promoted near me. There’s one of the Quadrophenia Nights in Nottingham in a couple of weeks. Or is it just that I’m primed to notice these?

Anyway, this article from Mod Culture always makes me laugh – 10 varieties of mod. Which type are you? Do you recognise any mates there?

Oh and it’s the perfect opportunity for a gratuitous Quadrophenia picce 🙂

Quadrophenia

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Hurrah – we’ve started doing men’s vintage!

Well quite exciting news, or what?

We’ve started to stock some items of men’s vintage. I’ve just been photographing the first batch and getting them ready to go on the online shop.

This first batch are mainly men’s vintage tops, including Lacoste, Polo and some cool collared mod tops.

Here’s a sneaky peek at what will be going online this afternoon –

Men's vintage tops

I’ve got a few more items to sort through yet, but I’ve been a little way laid with sorting out some lovely vintage wedding frocks that I picked up a couple of weeks ago…

You can find our Men’s Vintage section here. I’ll be adding more as I sort through!

Vintage buttons – it’s all about attention to detail!

I was photographing a few items to put onto the Online Shop yesterday and was admiring some of the buttons on a vintage 1960s dress. It reminded me of how much attention to detail you find in vintage clothes.

I specialise in 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s clothes and even the day to day wear dresses all have those little touches. It might be a matching belt in the same fabric or a completely contrasting belt with matching buttons. But it is buttons that really tend to make the difference in the look and the feeling of it being ‘complete’. They very often give the simple garment that luxury touch!

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not ignoring the quality of vintage clothes. They were made to last, which is why they are still around and still good enough to wear. I’ve even got some handmade dresses from the 1970s and these are massively superior to anything mass-produced for the High Street.

Here are some of the buttons I found that are used for contrast or highlight on the garments:

This gallery shows the buttons that are made to blend in with the garment or just match the material or colour. Sometimes it’s even difficult to pick out the buttons from the material itself:

They really make the outfit, don’t they?

You can also pick up original vintage buttons in some charity shops, if you don;t mind searching through pots of them. Usually you can pick up enough to make a set, and they are perfect for using on handmade or remade items.

And hopefully you’ve only paid ‘button’s for them..

Feeling shirty?

Shirts are one of those things that never really go out of fashion and many styles are real vintage wardrobe staples.

Think about some of those classic black and white films from the 30s and 40s, you can see some real classic shirts styles on the screen icons.

Shirts were always a big thing for mod girls in the late 70s and early 80s. If you were lucky you could get them from local charity shops, but more likely from Carnaby Street or London markets. Long collars, button-down collars, plain, checked, striped or paisley, teaming them up with a pair of hipster trousers was always a cool look.

Cool shirtsRecently I’ve managed to get hold of some really cool shirts that fit that same sort of style – that mod, come psychedelic, come smart hippy. There are some geometric patterns, checks, velvet and even some frills. They all have one thing in common though – lovely long collars!

Reworked shirts are also still very big at the moment, and you can see them in all the High Street shops. Usually though these seem to be a lower quality cotton with those ‘stuck on’ studs. It’s much better to get a vintage or reworked shirt from an independent shop. They will have made all the changes themselves and you’ll get a real individual piece.

A little while ago I did a blog post on re-working shirts, which you can find here.

Reworked shrtsWe still have a few reworked shirts in the online shop, in various sizes and colours.

There are both sleeveless and long-sleeved, but they can also be made to order, by dropping us a note here.

You can find many of these styles at the Quirky Purple online shop.

What’s your favourite style?

James Bond – girlies and gadgets!

I went to see the latest James Bond about a week ago – Skyfall. I do love a bit of James Bond!

Basically I love all the old 60s and 70s Bond films, especially Sean Connery and a bit of Roger Moore – although only the early Roger Moore – when he started wearing pastel safari suits I kinda lost interest…

Oddly enough I even love all that misogynistic stuff that Bond does so well. There’s barely a Bond girl that doesn’t have to wait for Bond to save her (Oh, James, James) or jumps into bed with him during that first 20 minutes of the film and then dies some horrible death (painted in gold or has poison dripped into her mouth).
Still I also love the Bond girls and all their outfits from those first 2 decades of films. Then again I used to love Miss World and Eurovision during the 70s…. I loved the way the Saturday papers came with a centre page insert of all the contestants listed so you could add your own marks as the shows progressed.

Also let’s not forget those James Bond girl names – Honey Rider, Pussy Galore, Mary Goodnight, Solitaire, Tiffany Case,Chew Mee, May Day, Domino, Vesper, Kissy, Pleny etc.
As Bonds go, I do think Daniel Craig is a good Bond along the lines of Sean Connery. As someone recently commented (sorry, I can’t remember who), he actually looks like a Bond that could kill people – it’s in his eyes… The latest Bond , in my opinion, was missing a couple of big things – a massive car chase and Bond girls. Yeah, yeah, I know there were a couple of Bond girls but nowhere near as much as usual… even that lame ones.

Still it’s always a good excuse to share some piccies of Bond and some Bond girls  just look at these fashions!

From Russia With Love - Tatiana Dr No - Ursula Andress Thunderball - Domino Tomorrow Never Dies - Paris
The Spy Who Loved Me - Anya Goldfinger - Jill Live and Let Die - Rosie Diamonds Are Forever - Plenty
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Teresa Octopussy - Octopussy The Man With the Golden Gun - Goodnight Live and Let Die - Solitaire
Goldfinger - Pussy Galore Die Another Day - Jinx View To A Kill _ May Day For Your Eyes Only - Bibi

Hmmm, oddly enough once I’d complied the list above I noticed that the majority are eith in bikinis or in bed…

Now, who’s your favourite Bond or even your fave Bond girl?

Big, bright and bold 80s

A little while ago I did a post about 80s colours – Sorbet, sherbet, candy cane – fashion that’s good enough to eat. That was more about the softer side of 80s colours. This week I’ve been posting up some vintage 80s clothes onto the Quirky Purple One Shop and they all seemed to be the bolder brighter 80s colours and it got me thinking.

As anyone who knows me or has read previous posts, you’ll know that I am a big fan of all things 60s. I properly discovered and became fanatical about the 60s in the late 70s. The 60s look was just starting to hit mainstream with films like Quadrophenia and then all the mod revival and Two Tone and ska bands suddenly hitting the charts.

This started a whole raft of 60s inspired clothes, colours and patterns in the High Street. Well, if you ignored the ra-ra skirts, leg warmers and hammer-pants…. The 60s and the 80s were both about big, bold and bright colours. Stripes and geometric patterns and of course big colour blocking was in – this didn’t have to just be the bright colours, but monochrome worked just as boldly with black and white contrast. That’s one of the keys here – contrast.

Anyway, as I was cropping the photos I’d taken of the dresses and playsuits it really struck me on how vivid some of this outfits are and the fantastic contrasts. Have a look at these:

Bright 80s coloursMore bright 80s coloursThey look fab don’t they? The other weird thing is that these are all original 80s vintage, but if you walk through the High Street you’ll see similar colors, patterns and styles. The great thing about wearing the originals though is that you are unlikely to walk into a room and see someone else wearing the same outfit!

Anyway, all the items pictured are either up for sale on our Quirky Purple Online Store or about to go up online.

£100 Asos blogger challenge

I came across this challenge yesterday at the Discount Coder Blog and thought I’d try and give it a go, but with a vintage twist – if at all possible.

Quirky Purple Asos challenge style collageWell, I decided to try to go with a 60s inspired look so thought I’d start with a dress and then add some accessories. It was actually quite tricky to get what I wanted within the £100 budget. The collage here is the overall look. Looks pretty good doesn’t it? And it’s all for under £100! The dress is really cute. I was also tempted for a nice white crochet dress look. There’s also a nice little daisy theme going on here.

Here’s the breakdown of the items and the costs:

Vera Moda 60s Dress at £26.50Quirky Purple Asos challenge - dress
Quirky Purple Asos challenge - shoesAsos crochet ballet flats at £15.00
Quirky Purple Asos challenge - handbagRiver Island handbag at £40.00
Quirky Purple Asos challenge - headbandAsos daisy headband at £4.00
Quirky Purple Asos challenge - tightsGypsy 40 denier white tights at £7.00
Quirky Purple Asos challenge - ringAsos trapped daisy ring at £3.00

This all comes to a sum total of just £95.50.

That leaves enough to buy a nice 60s cocktail...

You can find the challenge and other entries here at The Discount Coder Blog

Could you do this challenge for under £100 and try to give it a vintage look?

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Monochrome, mods and sods

Quadrophenia_albumThere was a fab documentary on the BBC a few days ago about the writing of the Quadrophenia album. Here’s a link to the information on the BBC site – Quadrophenia – Can you see the real me?

Watching this really transported me back in time a few years. As a teenager I was a die hard mod and Quadrophenia was seen as a soundtrack to a mod’s life.

And as a mod, monochrome was the perfect colour scheme, along with plenty of olive green. In case you’re not hip enough to understand that, well olive green is the colour of old army parkas. You had to have an original one that looked a bit battered and certainly not a snorkel parka from a high street store – that would be a ‘plastic parka’ and you’d be in danger of being a ‘plastic mod’.

Mods in the 80sWhen I first started to dress like a mod I had a couple of black and white dresses which I had saved up for and bought from high street shops. This was just before I discovered the joys of charity shops, and all the 60s clothes that they sold for pretty much pennies! Yeah, I know, charity shops aren’t like this anymore. All the good stuff is sold off before it reaches the shops and then what’s left in the shops, is actually quite expensive. Of course there are exceptions, but it’s rare to find them these days.

Anyway, once a mod, always a mod. So, monochrome still tends to feature high on my list of faves.

Monochrome at Quirky PurpleAt Quirky Purple we have some cool vintage monochrome for sale in our online shop and have been having a Mid-Week Monochrome Auction, which ends this week. There are lots of sizes and styles.

Check them here – Monochrome Auction items

Do you have any fave mod outfits from past or present?

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