Well I said you wouldn't hear from me for a few days but it seems that I just can't keep away!
We have arrived in Birmingham!
After a very long and, at times dangerous, car journey I am now relaxing in the executive lounge at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole drinking an ice cold bottle of (free!) beer
So far we've had a few little hiccups but over all this hotel is really great and the staff (bar one) are wonderful.
This is just a little post to say hi, you shall hear more from me soon and next time there will be pictures I promise.
We are taking Charlie Boo to the zoo (hehe that rhymed) tomorrow.
Take care dolls,
Laura Lou x
Search Me
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Monday, 27 August 2012
Jacob's christening
I am going on a short little holiday tomorrow so you may not hear from me for a few days so I have decided to post this a day early... enjoy.
Sunday was a special day for someone.
Baby Jacob to be exact.
It was the christening of Jessie Grace's little nephew Jacob Forth and we were all invited (of course).
I wore this wonderful 1970s C&A dress that I got from my favourite place... eBay. It was £5 in case you were wondering. I teamed it with a pair of tan Red Herring shoes that Hannah bought me for my 21st back in February.
A close up of my cream cake...not sure why just thought it looked rather good
Sunday was a special day for someone.
Baby Jacob to be exact.
It was the christening of Jessie Grace's little nephew Jacob Forth and we were all invited (of course).
I wore this wonderful 1970s C&A dress that I got from my favourite place... eBay. It was £5 in case you were wondering. I teamed it with a pair of tan Red Herring shoes that Hannah bought me for my 21st back in February.
This is me and Sarah Lou waiting outside of the church. You can't see in the photo but we were covered in goose pimples it was so cold!
My two gals Sarah Lou and Jessie Grace looking F.A.B
Sisterly love
My Family (minus eldest sister) Me, My mother Amanda, Bethan and of course little Charlie Boo
Bethan posing while looking oh so Boho.
Bethan, Jessie Grace and Me
An Alfred Hitchcock style photo in the toilets
Relaxing after a very long and tiring day... okay so it wasn't that tiring but if you bare in mind that I was out the night before then you can understand my tiredness
Till next time, folks, take care,
Laura Lou x
Painting The Town Red
After working very hard all week a girl needs to let her hair down and Saturday night's are the best time to do that, wouldn't you agree?
However I often find that a Saturday night out can often be more tiring than work it's self.
That's how my Saturday turned out, not that I'm complaining.
It was the usual crowd (with the exception of one David Hopper who joined us later in the evening), Me, Bethan, Hannah and Jessie Grace.
We decided to be posh gals and went for a lovely Italian meal before heading out on the town but of course we stopped off at our favourite little pub, the Steamboat, first.
This is the dress I wore. It's a Collectif dress that I got from, yes you've guessed it, eBay. It was only £15 new with tags so I as pretty pleased with it. With it I wore some black court shoes from New Look, £20.
I started out looking so glamorous, as you'll see when you scroll down it didn't last long.
I wasn't too pleased with my makeup as I used a new gel eyeliner from Collection 2000 (£3.98 I think) but it smudged constantly throughout the night, it was a bit of a disappointment.
However I often find that a Saturday night out can often be more tiring than work it's self.
That's how my Saturday turned out, not that I'm complaining.
It was the usual crowd (with the exception of one David Hopper who joined us later in the evening), Me, Bethan, Hannah and Jessie Grace.
We decided to be posh gals and went for a lovely Italian meal before heading out on the town but of course we stopped off at our favourite little pub, the Steamboat, first.
This is the dress I wore. It's a Collectif dress that I got from, yes you've guessed it, eBay. It was only £15 new with tags so I as pretty pleased with it. With it I wore some black court shoes from New Look, £20.
I started out looking so glamorous, as you'll see when you scroll down it didn't last long.
I wasn't too pleased with my makeup as I used a new gel eyeliner from Collection 2000 (£3.98 I think) but it smudged constantly throughout the night, it was a bit of a disappointment.
Me and Hannah having a moment while Bethan and David Hopper seam blissfully unaware.
This is such a bad quality photo, surprising considering it was taken on an iphone! But any it's a little cutie of Bethan, Jessie Grace and Me :)
Me and Jessie Grace taking a sneaky sip of David Hopper's Pink Sambuca ;)
I have no Idea of the story behind this photo but it's a laugh in any case.
Even though I fell over in a taxi and scraped the whole of my left arm pretty badly and woke up the next day with a very sore head I must say I enjoyed myself immensely.
I hope you have all enjoyed your Bank Holiday Monday those of you living in the UK, those of you who aren't I hope your Monday went swimmingly too.
Till next time,
Laura Lou x
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Ruth Ellis
I have heard many mentions of the 'last woman hanged in Britain' but never actually read anything about her... until today.
I was casually reading dailymail.co.uk when I saw a picture of a striking woman in the 1950s. My interest piqued I clicked on the link and found this...
On a warm July morning in 1955, deep within the walls of Holloway prison, a tiny, slim young woman was getting dressed.
Until that day she had worn the regulation prison blue smock, but today she was allowed to choose her own clothing.
She
selected a skirt and blouse, then cleaned her face, brushed out her
hair and applied a minimum of make-up, clicking open the powder compact
that played a faint, tinkling tune: La Vie En Rose. The door opened,
admitting a warder with her breakfast.
She
ate the scrambled egg delicately, using the plastic knife and fork that
accompanied it. Then the prison wardress who had been rostered to
supervise her that morning, Evelyn Galilee, helped her light a final
cigarette.
At a quarter to
nine, the deputy Governor entered with the prison chaplain, Reverend
John Williams and they took a seat at either end of the table.
The door opened again. A nursing
sister walked in, poured some liquid into a phial and passed it to the
condemned woman, who refused it. The sister hesitated, then said, ‘It will calm you.’ But again it was politely refused.
The sister tried one more time before giving up and leaving the cell. For a moment no-one spoke.
Then Ruth Ellis slowly removed her glasses and handed them to the deputy Governor. ‘I won’t need these any more,’ she said.
‘Thank
you.’ A little before nine, the door to the cell opened once more and
the executioner, Albert Pierrepoint, walked in with his assistant.
Ruth sprang to her feet, knocking over a chair.
‘It’s
all right, lass. It’s all right,’ Pierrepoint reassured her. He told
her to sit down again and, keeping behind her, bound her wrists with a
soft leather strap.
A warder
pushed away the green, 6ft-high screen that ran along one wall of the
condemned cell. Ruth had kept asking Officer Galilee what lay behind it.
In her heart, she almost
certainly knew; now there was no doubt. The door to the execution
chamber — always so near, yet hidden — suddenly slid into view. Ruth
stood and followed the executioner into the chamber, a warder at each
elbow, holding her firmly.
She turned swiftly to glance at Evelyn
Galilee and mouthed ‘thank you.’ The wardress would always remember
Ruth’s dignity in her final hours: ‘Not once did she break down, scream
or cry.’
Through the door and straight ahead, suspended at chest height above the trap, was the noose.
The escorting officers guided Ruth to the ‘T’ mark that Pierrepoint had chalked beneath the great beam at daybreak.
She
stepped in her black court shoes onto the fissure in the trapdoors.
Pierrepoint’s assistant stooped behind Ruth, fastening her legs together
with the ankle strap. Then Pierrepoint extracted the white hood from
his breast pocket.
When his
fingers reached for her long, loosely combed hair, she looked at him
and lifted the corners of her mouth in a faint smile.
He drew the hood down until it covered her face and reached for the rope.
In
a seamless movement he lowered the noose over Ruth’s head, tightened it
to one side of her chin and pulled a rubber washer along the rope to
secure it.
Crouching down, with one hand he pulled out the cotter pin (the safety catch) and with the other he pushed the lever, hard.
The trapdoors banged open and Ruth’s body plummeted through the cavity into eternal darkness...
Ruth
Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Her execution
provoked a wave of revulsion and a national debate on capital punishment
that culminated in the permanent abolition of the death penalty for
murder in 1969.
At her
trial she was portrayed as a brassy, cold-hearted nightclub hostess
who’d killed her privately educated lover David Blakely because he
wouldn’t marry her.
Yet
Ruth Ellis’s story was far more complex and tragic than that. No mention
was made by the public school-educated barristers of the childhood
physical and sexual abuse she’d suffered at the hands of her father, nor
of the appalling violence inflicted on her first by her husband and
then by Blakely himself.
Nor was there ever any mention of the
fact that the gun she’d used to shoot him with had been supplied by
another man, Desmond Cussen, who was deeply jealous of David Blakely.
Not only that, but he’d also taught her how to use it, and drove her to the North London street where she would kill Blakely.
None
of this came to light at Ruth Ellis’s trial, because when she stood in
the dock to answer for her crime, the many prejudices of the period were
as discernible as the peroxide in her hair.
Born
in Rhyl, North Wales, in 1926, Ruth was the fourth of five children,
and was always her mother Bertha’s favourite. In a 1955 letter to the
Home Office, Bertha described her as ‘a sweet and lovely child. She
never gave me any trouble of any kind.’
Her
sister Muriel told an interviewer years later that their father Arthur,
a musician, frequently attacked his children and began sexually abusing
her when she entered her teens, making her pregnant.
When
Ruth reached puberty, their father turned his attention towards her.
Muriel heard her young sister screaming as he attempted to rape her. But
Ruth fought back, telling Muriel: ‘I’m not letting him do to me what
he’s done to you.’
She was fiercely determined to escape her background. By the time war broke out the family had moved to London.
Ruth
found a job at Lyons Corner house near Trafalgar Square and told her
mother, to whom she gave most of her earnings: ‘Mum, I’m going to make
something of my life.’
One
night in 1943, in a bar, Ruth met a French Canadian serviceman named
Clare Andrea McCallum. They shared a flat together where they enjoyed
‘weeks of rapture... he loved me devotedly.’
When she discovered she was pregnant
in early 1944, McCallum asked her to marry him. He was then posted to
France, leaving Ruth excitedly preparing for the birth and wedding. In
September 1944, aged 17, she had a healthy baby boy, whom she named
Clare Andrea after his father.
But
her soldier fiance didn’t return — and Ruth then made the shocking
discovery that he was already married, with a wife and three children
back home in Quebec.
Recalling
the heartbreak ten years later, she said the betrayal changed her view
of men for ever. ‘I no longer felt any emotion about men. Outwardly I
was cheerful and gay. Inwardly I was cold and spent.’
Leaving
her mother and sister Muriel, now married, to look after the baby, who
she now called Andre, Ruth worked as many hours as possible to keep them
all afloat.
Though not
conventionally beautiful, she took great pride in her appearance and
would not set foot outside unless fully made up with heavy foundation,
rouge and lipstick. She used tongs to style her long auburn hair and
bought the best clothes she could afford.
One evening she was taken for a drink to the Court Club, one of the rash of new nightclubs opening in post-war London.
It was owned by Morris Conley, a ruthless but genial pimp and convicted fraudster who had shrewdly spotted a gap in the market.
He
believed ex-servicemen, regarded as heroes during their time in the
forces but finding it difficult to adjust to mundane post-war
occupations, would dig deep in their pockets for a chance to brag about
their exploits – real or exaggerated – in an environment that offered a
little ersatz luxury, alcohol — and desirable young women.
Conley immediately offered Ruth a job as a hostess, assuring her that she would earn twice as much as in a factory or shop.
Ruth soon learned she was expected to offer more than just drinks to customers, and came to view sex as part of business, giving customer satisfaction while shutting off her emotions.
It was at the club that she met George Ellis, a dentist who had also briefly been a director of Crystal Palace Football Club. He had turned to drink and lost his business after his wife had left him, taking their two children.
Ruth knew she didn’t love him and she was worried about his drinking. But he was 17 years older than her and generous with money, gifts and time.
‘He took me out shopping, bought me lots of expensive things,’ she recalled. When he proposed she accepted, on one condition: that he seek professional help for his drinking and depression.
He agreed, and in November 1950 Ruth Neilson became Ruth Ellis
Ruth soon learned she was expected to offer more than just drinks to customers, and came to view sex as part of business, giving customer satisfaction while shutting off her emotions.
It was at the club that she met George Ellis, a dentist who had also briefly been a director of Crystal Palace Football Club. He had turned to drink and lost his business after his wife had left him, taking their two children.
Ruth knew she didn’t love him and she was worried about his drinking. But he was 17 years older than her and generous with money, gifts and time.
‘He took me out shopping, bought me lots of expensive things,’ she recalled. When he proposed she accepted, on one condition: that he seek professional help for his drinking and depression.
He agreed, and in November 1950 Ruth Neilson became Ruth Ellis
But
it was not long before George was not only drinking again, but beating
up his new young wife. Her mother Bertha described one beating in a
statement years later: ‘He pulled her hair and banged her head against
the wall six or seven times . . . she started bleeding from the nose,
losing pints of blood . . . both her eyes were swollen. She had a bald
patch on the left side of her head. Her legs were bruised. She was a
very sick girl.’
By the
winter of 1951 she had given birth to a daughter, Georgina, but the
marriage was over. Once again, Ruth had learned a hard lesson — that men
could not be trusted.
With no means of providing for herself and her children, Ruth went to Morris Conley to ask for her job back.
Delighted, he asked her to manage his
new club in Knightsbridge, the Little Club. He provided a flat near
Harrods to go with it and a salary sufficient for her to pay her mother
generously for looking after Andre and Georgina.
She
dyed her hair peroxide blonde in imitation of Marilyn Monroe and Diana
Dors, and luxuriated in the thought that life was finally getting
better.
She was wrong. On
the opening night the first customer was David Blakely. ‘He had dark
brown eyes and curly eyelashes,’ Ruth recalled later. ‘When he left at
closing time, I wondered if he would ever return.’
He
did, the next night and the next, until one night after closing time
Ruth invited him up to her flat. They ended up in bed, and within a
fortnight Blakely was living with her. It was the beginning of an affair
that would prove deadly for them both.
Although
Blakely was from a much wealthier background, his upbringing had been
almost as troubled as Ruth’s. His doctor father had regularly beaten his
mother, and was later acquitted of murdering his mistress after an
abortion went wrong.
His
parents divorced and his mother married a wealthy businessman who paid
for him to attend Shrewsbury public school. But he was supercilious and
unpopular — a fellow pupil described him as ‘taking a positive delight
in hurting others’.
By
the time he met Ruth, Blakeley had developed a passion for motor
racing. All his time, energy and limited funds went into his MG racing
car, often at the expense of his relationship with Ruth.
But even when Blakely got engaged to someone else — and then broke it off — she could not stop loving him.
She
said: ‘I thought the world of him; I put him on the highest of
pedestals. He could do nothing wrong and I trusted him implicitly.’
Meanwhile,
Ruth had an admirer of her own, in Desmond Cussen, a shy but likeable
ex-RAF officer with a clipped moustache and Brylcreemed hair, who was a
regular at the Little Club. When she found herself increasingly loaning
Blakely money, Cussen offered to pay for her son Andre to go to boarding
school. She accepted gratefully.
And she also agreed to a request from
her ex-husband — claiming she was an unfit mother — that he give their
little girl, Georgina, to a wealthy childless couple he knew.
Ruth
later told a prison doctor: ‘It was a measure of my love for David
Blakely that I was prepared to give up my child.’ Her love over-rode all
other emotional attachments.
Despite these sacrifices, her relationship with Blakely rapidly became toxic.
They
had enormous rows that ended with Blakely beating her viciously and it
wasn’t long before their relationship was causing tension at the Little
Club.
All the customers were aware she was ‘nuts’ about Blakely, and Cussen was nuts about her.
Morris Conley warned Ruth that she must be seen to treat all customers equally — and that included ‘loverboy’ and Cussen.
But
when he saw takings had fallen from £200 a week to an average of £80,
he fired her. With nowhere to live, she moved in with the devoted
Cussen.
Shortly afterwards Blakely asked her to marry him, and for a few weeks Ruth allowed herself to believe that he would.
By the end of March, she was pregnant with his baby — but, seemingly inevitably, her dreams were dashed.
She then spent the day with Cussen and
her son Andre. According to Cussen, he took her home at 7.30pm. She put
ten-year-old Andre to bed and he watched her repair her make-up, change
her shoes and skirt, and put on a black coat.
Andre
remembered her leaning over his camp bed to kiss him goodnight. ‘I
won’t be long,’ she said softly, then she went out. He never saw her
again.
Asked in court about
her mood and feelings towards Blakely that night, she replied, ‘I was
very upset.’ Then she paused and said, ‘I had a peculiar feeling I
wanted to kill him.’
Once
again the Findlaters were having a party to which Ruth had not been
invited. Carole ran out of cigarettes at 9pm and Blakely drive to the
nearby Magdala pub to get some, taking a friend, Clive Gunnell.
They
parked and went in for a drink. At 9.20pm Blakely and Gunnell emerged,
holding bottles. Neither noticed Ruth standing with her back to the wall
of the pub.
When he saw
her, Blakely started to run. Ruth fired twice, the gun emitting small
white flashes. At first she thought Blakely had not been hit, as he was
still running.
She followed him around the car. From the junction opposite, a middle-aged couple, Donald and Gladys Yule, watched in horror.
Ruth
recalled. ‘When I got to the front of the bonnet of the car I think I
fired again — David was still running and I must have followed . . . he
looked round as I shot again and he fell forward flat on his face.’
She
lost the baby after yet another beating and became very ill. ‘You’ll
always come crawling back,’ Blakely goaded her. ‘You can’t walk on me
for ever,’ she warned him quietly. ‘I’m only human: I can’t stand it.’
On
Good Friday 1955, Blakely failed to turn up to meet Ruth as promised.
She suspected he was at the house of his friends Ant and Carole
Findlater in Tanza Road, Hampstead. She asked Cussen to drive her there,
and saw Blakely’s car parked outside. It was an ominous situation.
Ant
Findlater was one of Blakely’s fellow motor-racing enthusiasts, whose
wife Carole disliked Ruth intensely. The feeling was mutual, as Blakely
and Carole had once had an affair and Ruth was jealous.
When
Ruth rang the doorbell, no one answered. Then she ran to a nearby phone
box and called their number. The phone was picked up and immediately
put down. The same thing happened the following night, only this time a
party was in full swing.
Humiliated,
Ruth returned home. The next morning, Easter Sunday, she telephoned the
Findlaters, again but Ant put the phone down on her.
Directly across the road, Mrs Yule saw
the figure lying on the pavement raise himself up on one elbow. ‘I
shall never forget the look of appeal in his eyes,’ she recalled years
later. ‘She put two more bullets into him, deliberately. I was
petrified.’
Then Ruth very
deliberately brought the gun up to her temple, pressing it under a lock
of blonde hair. Her fingers closed on the trigger. But nothing happened.
She brought the gun down and as she did so, it did fire, the bullet going clean through Gladys Yule’s hand.
As
Blakely lay in a growing pool of blood, Ruth turned slowly to look at
Gunnell through her horn-rimmed spectacles, the revolver in her hand.
She was totally calm.
On the
road outside the Magdala, beer from the broken bottles that Blakely had
been clutching to his chest mingled with the blood, and the deep red
froth seeped into the drain at the foot of the hill. There was no
doubting who had gunned him down: it seemed Ruth had signed her own
death warrant.
Yet, as we will see on Monday, if only the jury had been told the full story, she might have escaped the gallows.
Adapted from A Fine Day For A Hanging:
The Ruth Ellis Story by Carol Ann Lee, published by Mainstream on
September 6 at £11.99. © Carol Ann Lee 2012. To order a copy at £10.99
(p&p free), call 0843 382 0000.
Till next time,
Laura Lou x
Saturday, 25 August 2012
An Oufit Fit For Walmart
Well hello there folks!
I Just wanted to share with you all this look I threw together the other day. I wore it to go shopping in Asda Walmart, that's how glamorous my life really is, I got a few (a lot) of strange looks, non of which I think were appreciating my outfit but I didn't mind, I felt good in it.
I can't really pin-point an era that it was inspired by. I has a kind of Edwardian/1920s sporty secretary feel to it.
I Just wanted to share with you all this look I threw together the other day. I wore it to go shopping in Asda Walmart, that's how glamorous my life really is, I got a few (a lot) of strange looks, non of which I think were appreciating my outfit but I didn't mind, I felt good in it.
I can't really pin-point an era that it was inspired by. I has a kind of Edwardian/1920s sporty secretary feel to it.
The skirt I bought from Primark about three years ago for around £12, the shoes are my little white plimsolls form Primark (which I have mentioned before) and the top was a hand-me-down from my oldest sister.
I love throwing little vintage inspired outfits together because I'm sad like that.
I shall leave you with this picture of me being extremely silly.
Till next time folks,
Laura Lou x
Labels:
1920s,
Edwardian,
Fashion,
Victorian Hair,
Vintage,
Vintage Hair
Friday, 24 August 2012
(not so) Marylin Monroe
Everyone who does vintage has their own Marylin Monroe makeup look so I thought why not do the same? But me being me I had to change it just a smidgen (a lot) so it ended up looking only slightly Marylin-esq but stunning all the same (well I think it is).
I probably should have done like a photo tutorial or something to go along with this post but that thought did not occur to me at the time so instead I shall show you some vainly posed pictures of me and explain what makeup I used.
For this look I decided to tone the eyes down with thin eyeliner and make the lips the main focal point.
I'll start with my foundation, it's collection 2000 Lasting Perfection (shade) ivory 2 then I applied some concealer onto my, ehem, blemishes and under my eyes for a but of a brighter look. Concealer by George at Asda Walmart (shade) light 01.
My blusher is a one I found in a Givenchy pallet I have from a while back sadly it does not tell me the shade on the back though so I'll tell you that it was basically just a light pink.
I have one of those 120 eyeshadow plattes that you get from eBay (not sure if any of you know of them) and I used the 2nd brown colour on my eyebrows. I also made my eyebrows thicker as opposed to my usual thin-ish brow look.
On my eyes I started with a MUA beige colour (shade) 17 then applied MUA (shade) 22 under my eyebrow as a highlighter. Then on my brow bone I used the 2nd lightest grey in the 120 eye pallet and not satisfied with the look i covered over the MUA 17 with a white from the pallet which turned out rather nice.
My eyeliner (on top lid) is Collection 2000 Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner which I ADORE! and on the outside of the bottom lid I used Collection 2000 Kohl liner in black. I only lined the corner of my eye though as I find that if I go all the way along my eye looks smaller.
I used NYC Show Time mascara which I am obsessed with. I have three unused tubes sitting in my makeup bag, that's how much I love it.
The lipstick Is Dior Diorific (shade) 013 Rouge Bingo Roulette Red, it is one of the best lipsticks I have had in a long while, then on top to give it a shine I applied a Lancome lip glass (shade) 110.
My powder press is also Collection 2000 (shade) 18 ivory.
And like I said me being me I added a non-Marylin hairstyle (a Gibson Girl to be exact)
Excuse the pink strawberry dressing gown but it's just so comfy!
An aerial view of my hair. All I did was hang my head upside down, twist the hair then make it into a small bun at the front of my head, didn't even take a minuet.
Have a go at doing your own Marylin Monroe look, I'd love to hear about them.
Till next time folks,
Laura Lou x
I probably should have done like a photo tutorial or something to go along with this post but that thought did not occur to me at the time so instead I shall show you some vainly posed pictures of me and explain what makeup I used.
For this look I decided to tone the eyes down with thin eyeliner and make the lips the main focal point.
I'll start with my foundation, it's collection 2000 Lasting Perfection (shade) ivory 2 then I applied some concealer onto my, ehem, blemishes and under my eyes for a but of a brighter look. Concealer by George at Asda Walmart (shade) light 01.
My blusher is a one I found in a Givenchy pallet I have from a while back sadly it does not tell me the shade on the back though so I'll tell you that it was basically just a light pink.
I have one of those 120 eyeshadow plattes that you get from eBay (not sure if any of you know of them) and I used the 2nd brown colour on my eyebrows. I also made my eyebrows thicker as opposed to my usual thin-ish brow look.
On my eyes I started with a MUA beige colour (shade) 17 then applied MUA (shade) 22 under my eyebrow as a highlighter. Then on my brow bone I used the 2nd lightest grey in the 120 eye pallet and not satisfied with the look i covered over the MUA 17 with a white from the pallet which turned out rather nice.
My eyeliner (on top lid) is Collection 2000 Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner which I ADORE! and on the outside of the bottom lid I used Collection 2000 Kohl liner in black. I only lined the corner of my eye though as I find that if I go all the way along my eye looks smaller.
I used NYC Show Time mascara which I am obsessed with. I have three unused tubes sitting in my makeup bag, that's how much I love it.
The lipstick Is Dior Diorific (shade) 013 Rouge Bingo Roulette Red, it is one of the best lipsticks I have had in a long while, then on top to give it a shine I applied a Lancome lip glass (shade) 110.
My powder press is also Collection 2000 (shade) 18 ivory.
And like I said me being me I added a non-Marylin hairstyle (a Gibson Girl to be exact)
Excuse the pink strawberry dressing gown but it's just so comfy!
An aerial view of my hair. All I did was hang my head upside down, twist the hair then make it into a small bun at the front of my head, didn't even take a minuet.
Have a go at doing your own Marylin Monroe look, I'd love to hear about them.
Till next time folks,
Laura Lou x
Labels:
Gibson Girl,
Victorian Hair,
Vintage,
Vintage Hair,
Vintage makeup
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Like Dreamers Do
Here is another of my short films staring my ginger sister Bethan.
(I have a whole stack of these to show you)
This one is called 'Like dreamers do' simply because (like all my short films) that is the name of the track it is set to.
I made this on New Years morning 2011 in newcastle at the castle keep,
Enjoy.
Laura Lou x
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Airing My Vintage Out For All The World To See
So yesterday I told you all about my eBay addiction and today I am going to show you some of my recent purchases form said Internet auction site.
I love this skirt, it's 1970s blue gingham. I am planning on teaming it with a peach shirt which has sadly not arrived yet.
My 1950s night gown which I promised to show you all some time ago but shamefully forgot.
I love the detail on the top of the night gown. sadly I still haven't found anything to put under this so as to make it a wearable outfit but never fear I am still looking!
This is a 1960's Trina Lewis dress. The smell that radiates from this dress is stifling so I do not wear it. It is merely a piece of vintage to have.
This is one of my newest dresses. I love it so much but I'm about the only person who does. It is a 1970s mint green cowl neck dress, simply stunning.
It looks less mint green and more teal in this close up but I promise you it's not.
This I call my Safari dress. It is also 1970s but I think it's late 70s as opposed yo early. I shall be wearing this when I take my little sister Charlotte to the zoo, I am currently looking for a hat to match just just go with the whole 'explorer' theme of it.
I have so many more vintage items to show you, which I will very soon but until next time folks!
Laura Lou x
Ps. there is a new instalment onin the story of Cassandra, enjoy x
I love this skirt, it's 1970s blue gingham. I am planning on teaming it with a peach shirt which has sadly not arrived yet.
My 1950s night gown which I promised to show you all some time ago but shamefully forgot.
I love the detail on the top of the night gown. sadly I still haven't found anything to put under this so as to make it a wearable outfit but never fear I am still looking!
This is a 1960's Trina Lewis dress. The smell that radiates from this dress is stifling so I do not wear it. It is merely a piece of vintage to have.
This is one of my newest dresses. I love it so much but I'm about the only person who does. It is a 1970s mint green cowl neck dress, simply stunning.
It looks less mint green and more teal in this close up but I promise you it's not.
This I call my Safari dress. It is also 1970s but I think it's late 70s as opposed yo early. I shall be wearing this when I take my little sister Charlotte to the zoo, I am currently looking for a hat to match just just go with the whole 'explorer' theme of it.
I have so many more vintage items to show you, which I will very soon but until next time folks!
Laura Lou x
Ps. there is a new instalment onin the story of Cassandra, enjoy x
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Lizzie Jobes
I would like you all to take a look at this.
It is a video made by my cousin Johnny Robson in memory of my best friend Lizzie Jobes who died suddenly last October.
I literally saw it for the first time 5 minuets ago so needless to say I am sitting here in floods of tears as it is such a beautiful video and so well put together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur7SezFhqZg
I miss Lizzie an awful lot and always worry that I'll forget little things about her so it's nice to have things like this to remember her by.
Laura Lou x
It is a video made by my cousin Johnny Robson in memory of my best friend Lizzie Jobes who died suddenly last October.
I literally saw it for the first time 5 minuets ago so needless to say I am sitting here in floods of tears as it is such a beautiful video and so well put together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur7SezFhqZg
I miss Lizzie an awful lot and always worry that I'll forget little things about her so it's nice to have things like this to remember her by.
Laura Lou x
So much Vintage So Little Money!
Today I realised I had a serious addiction problem... with Ebay.
This may seem like one of those jokey haha posts but it really isn't, I actually need help, professional help.
A fine example of this addiction happened today. Knowing I only had £14 in my bank account I bid on and won three vintage items that together with postage came to £13.67. I now cannot afford to go to the gym.
I should mention that I had already spent £30 on ebay this week so in total thats £43.67 I have spent on buying peoples old clothes.
But On the plus side a new vintage botique has opened in South Shields! I believe it to be the first of it's kind in this area. It it called It's Vintage Darling, I took a gander over yesterday and it is adorbale (saw a lovely pair of 1940s shoes but couldn't afford them due to my Ebay addiction).
And on top of all this I had a terriblt bad hair day on Sunday. It was a result of my beehive on Saturday night.
If you would like to see the results of me brushing it out please see below.
This may seem like one of those jokey haha posts but it really isn't, I actually need help, professional help.
A fine example of this addiction happened today. Knowing I only had £14 in my bank account I bid on and won three vintage items that together with postage came to £13.67. I now cannot afford to go to the gym.
I should mention that I had already spent £30 on ebay this week so in total thats £43.67 I have spent on buying peoples old clothes.
But On the plus side a new vintage botique has opened in South Shields! I believe it to be the first of it's kind in this area. It it called It's Vintage Darling, I took a gander over yesterday and it is adorbale (saw a lovely pair of 1940s shoes but couldn't afford them due to my Ebay addiction).
And on top of all this I had a terriblt bad hair day on Sunday. It was a result of my beehive on Saturday night.
If you would like to see the results of me brushing it out please see below.
Me looking rather disgruntled at the state of my hair. It has only just struck me how big the shoulders on this dress is!
Well, I'm off to wallow in self pitty until my ebay items arrive :)
Laura Lou x
Monday, 20 August 2012
A Night Out 1960s Style
On Saturday night Myself, Hannah and Bethan went out to celebrate the end of GKR (Goblin Kings revenge).
I searched for days for an outfit to wear but to no avail, I went through dress after dress, shoe after shoe and nothing seamed right but then I found my black Audrey Hepburn dress hiding in the back of my wardrobe.
"Yes! You beauty!" I was heard shouting, I had completely forgot that I even owned the thing.
And just like that I had my whole look planned including hair and makeup.
I decided to mix things up a little and do a bit of a 1960s, Ronette look and I think I achieved it very well even if I do say so myself.
I searched for days for an outfit to wear but to no avail, I went through dress after dress, shoe after shoe and nothing seamed right but then I found my black Audrey Hepburn dress hiding in the back of my wardrobe.
"Yes! You beauty!" I was heard shouting, I had completely forgot that I even owned the thing.
And just like that I had my whole look planned including hair and makeup.
I decided to mix things up a little and do a bit of a 1960s, Ronette look and I think I achieved it very well even if I do say so myself.
I kept my accessories to a bare minimum wearing only a watch and topped of the look with a cute pair of tan heels.
I don't know whats going on with my facial expression here but hey ho.
Excuse the washing line and the wendy house in the background.
Look at the length of Bethan's legs!
I will be the first to admit... I look quite tipsy in this photo but I still like it.
The night ended with a McDonalds and a late night/early morning showing of 'Allo 'Allo, all in all a good time was had by all.
Till next time, folks,
Laura Lou x
Labels:
1960s,
Beauty,
Clothes,
Makeup,
The Ronettes,
Vintage Hair,
Vintage makeup
Sunday, 19 August 2012
The Goblin Kings Revenge!
Well, what can I say? It has been one of the most tiring and draining weeks of my life but I wouldn't change it for the world.
Two shows a day, six days a week sweating in that fur suit and now its all over.
Yesterday was our last show, it went well. In fact all of our shows went well and we preformed to a full audience almost everyday.
Scruff was a big hit with the kids (and the adults!) and we were all in demand for photos after each show.
The lead up to a show is always tough. First you have to come up with the idea, then write the show which involves weeks of improvisations and brainstorming and after that it gets written up. Then costumes are made and set is designed and before you know it you're off script and preforming on stage dressed as a big furry dog talking about pizza and piddling on Old Mother Hubbard's carpet.
But I guess that's show business!
(From left to right) Little Red Ridding Hood, Jill, Little Bo Peep, Biebs, Old Mother Hubbard, Jack, Lucy Locket, the Fairy Queen, the Goblin King, Scruff.
Partners in crime. Me and my gal Hannah potter (Old Mother Hubbard and Scruff)
That dragon really has a way with the ladies doesn't he.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed sharing in the adventures of Bold As Brass.
Till next time,
Laura Lou x
Two shows a day, six days a week sweating in that fur suit and now its all over.
Yesterday was our last show, it went well. In fact all of our shows went well and we preformed to a full audience almost everyday.
Scruff was a big hit with the kids (and the adults!) and we were all in demand for photos after each show.
The lead up to a show is always tough. First you have to come up with the idea, then write the show which involves weeks of improvisations and brainstorming and after that it gets written up. Then costumes are made and set is designed and before you know it you're off script and preforming on stage dressed as a big furry dog talking about pizza and piddling on Old Mother Hubbard's carpet.
But I guess that's show business!
(From left to right) Little Red Ridding Hood, Jill, Little Bo Peep, Biebs, Old Mother Hubbard, Jack, Lucy Locket, the Fairy Queen, the Goblin King, Scruff.
Partners in crime. Me and my gal Hannah potter (Old Mother Hubbard and Scruff)
The Family back together again! Old Mother Hubbard, Scruff and the Goblin King (Wee Willie Winkie)
Bo Peep being a little creeper
Just Chillin' We Red. Can you see that little spec of glitter under my eye? Yeah, that was everywhere!
Private moment with one of Bo's dragons. I look so old in the photo it's disturbing.
My head in my hands.
Our dressing room, only the best for us ;)
Fairy Land! Our glamorous set
Bethan eating lunch between shows
Well, I hope you have enjoyed sharing in the adventures of Bold As Brass.
Till next time,
Laura Lou x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)