Outfit Post: The Wrong Dress!

A few weeks ago I decided I deserved a treat so I ordered myself a dress I had wanted for a long time.

It was an orange swing dress, I was planning to wear it for my friend Sarah's birthday night out.

I'm like a kid at Christmas when I'm expecting a delivery through the door and I waited excitedly for it to arrive all week. 

But when it finally did arrive it was the wrong dress!

Much frustration and many tears were nearly shed as I though the whole outfit I had planned on wearing was ruined. 

However... I couldn't have been more wrong!

The dress that I received was the same style but in the wrong colour... or was it?

I, in fact loved this colour more than the one I had actually ordered.

My world was restored to rights. 

Now for the pictures.

Dress - Lindybop

Hair Flower (that you can't see) - H&M

Also by some stroke of luck my hair turned out perfectly!

I got told in a bar we went into that I looked like a Disney princess... not sure which one he meant as I don't think I've ever seen a Disney Pin Up Princess!

Oh now you can see the hair flower... just.

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

Outfit Post: Beamish

It wouldn't be a Bank Holiday without a trip to Beamish!

Well that might not be true for everyone but it is to me.

So I bet you can guess where I went last Bank Holiday Monday... that's right Beamish.

I decided to dig deep in my draws (get your minds out the gutter!) and pull out some old items I haven't worn in a long time and this is what I came up with.

Top - H&M

Belt - Off a Lindy Bop Dress

Skirt - eBay

Petticoat - eBay

I chose neutral coloured makeup with a small beehive hairdo. This is the day I sprayed perfume in my eye, hence the watery look.

Sadly I don't have a picture of my whole outfit where my hair isn't in my face so you'll just have to put with with only seeing half my beauty :p

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

Sheffield: What I wore day 3

The last day of out trip was a sad one as it signified the return to the gray North and the return to work... but I did wear a cute outfit so it wasn't all that bad :p

 

Cardigan - H&M

Top - Primark

Skirt - Primark

I wore flip flops on my feet because after two days of wearing naff shoes I had the most enormous blisters  on my little toes... I still have the scars.

This guy didn't look too bad either, in fact he looked pretty damn fine.

On our way home we stopped at Hardwick Hall, as ever with the National Trust no photos could be taken inside but I did get plenty outside.

Take a look...

With this big old tree outside it reminded me a little of Downton Abbey.

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

Sheffield: What I Wore Day 2

On the second day of our trip we took a wonder into the town center.

Once again the hot sun was out and it was a beautiful day...I chose to wear a petticoat, a decision I later came to regret. Boy was I warm!

Here's what I wore

Dress - lindy-bop.com

Petticoat - eBay

Shoes - Primark

I have to say out of all the Lindy bop dresses I won this one is my most favourite.

I couldn't go anywhere in it without some one stopping me to compliment it or without hearing some one say something about it was I walked past.

The best thing is that Lindy Bop not have it in 2 other colours... guess what I'm getting!

Once again I couldn't be bothered to sit and pin curl properly so a quick curl was all the hair got.

Excuse the mess, it's the misters, my side was spick and span(ish)

Check out my sunburn.

I was lobster red in that area for a few days, lesson learned!

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

Sheffield: What I Wore Day 1

A few weeks ago my mister and I took a little trip to Sheffield... not the most exotic of places but I must say I enjoyed it immensely.

The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky the whole 4 days we were there which meant summer outfits came out to play! (they went straight back in upon returning to cold and rather gloomy Shields however)

On our first day we took a trip to the zoo and got a wee bit sunburned oops!

 Anyhoo here's what I wore.

Trousers - ASOS

Vest Top - George

Kimono - A Gift

Shoes - Primark

I adored wearing this outfit I felt so pretty in it until a little girl stood on the back on my trousers with her muddy shoe, then I just felt a bit of a scruff :/

For such a relaxed outfit I felt simple hair and makeup were in order... plus I couldn't be bothered sit and pin curl.

All in all it was the perfect day out made better by this guy...The monkey... scroll down

He's so darn cute!

Till next time Folks,

Laura Lou x

Outfit Post: My Vinatge, My Way

I have found myself lately getting really down about my style.
It's not because I am starting to dislike it, I love the vintage style perhaps even more so than I did when I started out, it's because I can not achieve the level of vintage style that I've always thought I should have.
I have always strived to be more and more 1950s with every outfit that I have put on but lately I just can't seam to do it and I put myself under so much pressure when I get dressed. I scrutinize everything about my appearance from my eyeliner to my shoes, each time thinking 'it's not vintage enough!'
But why?
Maybe it's because I feel I owe it to all you readers to show you something really great or maybe its just me always looking for perfection but if the truth be told I don't have the time nor the energy to set my hair every night. It would be highly impractical for my to wear a petticoat and dress to work everyday and sometime I just want to throw on a hoodie and joggers and be a slob for a while.

I don't want to change the way I dress, I adore getting all dolled up for a day out, it's one of my favorite pastimes, but I'm coming to realise that I can't be a living embodiment of all the pictures I see of those 1950s beauties. I can only be me, Laura Lou.

So I'm going to do my vintage, my way.

Now I've got that off my chest here's the outfit I wore to tea on Mothering Sunday.

 None of what I'm wearing is vintage but there are so many great midi skirts and cardigans ect out there in the shops that I haven't needed to scout around on eBay in a while.

Top- Primark

Cardigan - Primark

Skirt - Primark

Headband - Her Curious Nature

 

I loved wearing this outfit so much! The cardigan is so light and delicate it really does give off a great retro feel. The skirt looks heave but its nice and light to wear and gives a great shape to the waits and hips with all the folding pleats. Also this top comes in so many different colours and designs... I have them all.

I teamed it all with black opaque tights and sliver glittering Red Or Dead shoes (which I didn't get a photo of)

I succumbed to the shame of a bathroom selfie as it was the only place I could get a full length photo.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers day!

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

Just Starting Out

It can be intimidating when you try something different like changing your style.

I should know as thats how I felt when I first decided to give up on the hopeless fashions of today and dress the way I admired other women for dressing.

Vintage.

I was worried people wouldn't appreciate the way I had decided to dressed and that I would get odd looks from passers by in the street. But as it turns out people generally like to see someone all dressed up in pin curls and a swing dress and apart from the one off jealous glares off some females it gets a lot of good attention and so will you.

I've written up a helpful little guide to start you on your new style adventure.

When I first started dressing vintage I needed all the help I could get, I didn't ever think I'd be able to successfully pin curl my hair or achieve the prefect eyeliner flick but thanks to the help of makeup/hair tutorials and vintage blogs I did.

Before you do anything you need to decide your era. Are you a 1920s flapper? A 1930s film star? A 1940s

    Land Girl? A 1950s Pin up? Or something completely beyond?

I'm a 1950s girl through and through and always will be, I have tampered with other styles but I always come back to the circle skirts and swing dresses of that era.

Once you have decided your era things become a bit easier, you know what you are looking for in terms of tutorials and what to copy.

Clothes:

Try experimenting with the clothes you have first. Turn them from modern day into vintage with a few adjustment or by adding a few accessories to see what works for you.

Reproduction clothing is great, there are a lot of sites online that sell repo/rockabilly/pinup clothing all depending on what you want. You'll feel beautiful and confident  in what you are wearing instead of worrying if you've paired the right vintage skirt with the right top and so on.

I didn't start wearing true vintage until I was confident in my style. You may be the same or you may feel confident enough to go straight into it. Either way its cool, all that matters is that you feel comfortable and beautiful in what you are wearing.

Makeup:

It can be a tricky thing to perfect but practice makes perfect.

You don't have to spend a fortune on products either, I don't.

In fact I find that most times high street products work just as well (and some times better) as high priced designer ones.

I found that tutorials on youtube and blogs the best way to practice my makeup and technique but once I was confident in what I was doing I started adding my own little bits and bobs into the mix.

                                      Hair:

There are so many different vintage hairstyles it's hard to choose which one to try first.

I want to say

try something simple first but, if you've never done them before, non of them are really that simple.

Don't let that deter you though. As with the makeup practice makes perfect! There are so many tutorials and blog posts available on the internet so make full use of them and get practicing.

Here is a list of links that helped me when I first started out and if you want more go to my links

page. 

Pin Curl tutorial part 1

 Pin Curl tutorial part 2

Victory Roll tutorial

Brows

Hair and Makeup 

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, I'll be as helpful as I can (email on contact page)

Also sorry about the awful formatting, can't seam to fix it :/

         I hope this has been a help to you ladies.

Till next time,

Laura Lou x

I have a new dress...

 

Saturday was such a hot day... So I wore a woolen dress?

 It got quite a few strange looks from people in the shopping center but the lovely shop 

assistant in H&M said she like it, I must say that one comment made my whole day after someone (whom shall remain nameless) said it looked like a coat.

 

 

I love it when things as nice as this only cost me 99p... thank you eBay :)

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

Any Excuse To Dress Up

 

Before the rain set in again we had some lovely weather here in South Shields, sadly I only saw one day of it though as I was in Scotland which isn't famous for it's sunny spells.

Anyway like the rest of the town I decided to make the most of the sun and dress up!

I hope you're all enjoying the start of Summer as much as I did yesterday.

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

Style Icon #1 Doris Day

Ever since I was a small girl I've loved to sit in front of the television and watch old movies.

The pretty women dancing and singing with there handsome male love interests never failed to capture my attention when I was a girl, I could sit for hours shit off from everything except the pretty pictures in front of me. I think that's where my love of everything vintage started.

One starlet who really used to mesmerism me was Doris Day. 

 

The film I ever saw her in was Move Over Darling,

I thought she was so beautiful and ever since then she has been my favorite screen actress, past and present.

She has such a grace in everything she does, the way she moves, the way she talks and the way she dresses.

I'd say I mainly style myself with her in mind, not on her though, just with her in mind because I also think with vintage style it's important to be original as well as take inspiration from old starlets and pin up girls. other wise we'd end up with a bunch of Marilyn's and and Audrey's running about.

But anyway back to Doris...

Her style was so fresh I think, she had the platinum hair and the dreamy eyes, she was a blonde bombshell but not in the obvious sex kitten way that, say, Marilyn Monroe and Veronica Lake were (that's not to take away from their style and beauty though). But that's not to say she wasn't just as beautiful or just as appealing.

To me her look was a lot more understated than others of her time. She had the whole less is more thing going on with her make up and her clothes were always tasteful and modest but very stylish.

  

 

Doris Day is, and will remain for the rest of time, a timeless beauty and that's why she's my style icon.

(sorry about the messy layout folks, I'm having a bit of a malfunction over here)

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

p.s don't forget to follow me on instagram (lauralouvintage) where you can get a sneaky peak at some of the  pictures that don't always make it on to the blog ;)