Attack of the pocket sized puppy

Yesterday I told you of how the summer breeze scuppered the outfit pics.

Today it was something else that threw a spanner in the works, a very tiny dog shaped spanner!

There I was leaning against a tree, trying to look all wistful and romantic when out of no where a tiny critter lunged itself onto my lap. I howled like a banshee cause I didn't know what the heck it was at first. The owner laughed her ass off as did I once I realized that I wasn't being attacked by a killer squirrel.

Fun and larks in the park, that's what summer should be all about.

My lovely mum sent me another two of these awesome crochet tops the other day. Another white one and this fabulous green one...

70s floral print maxi skirt labelled Richard Shops (car boot sale), 80s sunnies (eBay), Floppy straw hat (car boot sale), brass bangles, Frocktasia silk headband & horse-brass necklace, 80s Pierre Cardin sandals (charity shop), Crochet top (from mum). 

The park larking continued with much sprightliness after the dog incident. I was spinning so much I made myself dizzy and had to sit down before I fell down.

I love going barefoot in the park, it is one of life's little pleasures :)

A few weeks ago Sam of Tangled Wigs and Natasha came to my house to shoot some pics for a feature in the summer issue of Tangled Magazine. I was chuffed to bits when I was asked to contribute and needless to say I jumped at the chance. The feature was to be about music festival style created with Sam's fabulous wigs and Frocktasia's retro & vintage threads. 

For some one like myself, who hasn't got a wild mane of natural locks, wigs have always been a true blessing. It is impossible for me to grow my hair beyond shoulder length cause it gets all ratty and I end up making it even thinner when I try to brush out the inevitable knots. I can't wear a fringe either cause my hair is too fine and I've got a high forehead, so I just end up looking like Gregor Fisher's The Baldy Man. Thanks to wigs I've been able to wear the hair of my dreams and create looks that would never have been possible otherwise. 

If I was to go to a huge music festival where I couldn't wash my hair for days, I would definitely pack a few wigs. Not only in order to hide my ratty tresses underneath but to be able to rock looks that rival those of the glampers. I'd probably bring a few different styles so that I could channel a different persona each day.

For the feature I styled four quintessential festival-goer looks, Sam styled four stunning Tangled Wigs to team them with and Natasha did a great job modelling.

Here are some of my favourite pics from the day...

Sam has got some awesome wig styling tutorials on her website. Creating a funky up-do like this one is easier than you may think.

80s Stones Tee that I nabbed from my dad many moons ago, Leather cut-offs from a pair of trousers that I bought at a car boot sale for a song, 80s Wrangler boots (vintage dealer friend), 80s silk scarf  & sunnies (car boot sale).

I am hankering for this stunning 'Woman of the Ghetto' wig from the Happy Feelins' Collection.

Stunning Afghan kuchi dress that is currently up for grabs on my rail for £35, coinbelt worn as headdress (car boot sale), 90s crushed velvet boots (charity shop), 70s camera bag (car boot sale).

Dream hair!? 

I'd like one in every colour please :)

90s customized camo jacket currently on my rail for £20, customized cut-offs currently on my rail for £12, 90s buckle boots (charity shop), beaded bralet (market), Handmade African necklace which was a gift from my lovely mum.

Mark kindly lent us his guitar to use as a prop. Come on Natasha give us a song ;)

70s Indian tapestry wrap skirt (car boot sale), Suede fringed bralet (originally Topshop but bought from the car boot sale), 90s necklace (gift from my sister), crochet headband (charity shop in Sweden), Balinese earrings (gift from Vix).

The brilliant new issue of Tangled Magazine has just become available to enjoy on-line so you can pop over and have a wee read of it right now folks.

I was enormously flattered when Sam asked me if I'd like to contribute to the next issue too. I have so many ideas, you would not believe...for me wigs and vintage threads are a match made in heaven.

Today I will leave you with one of my favourite songs by Massive Attack, enjoy ;)

Happy Friday peeps!

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Groove is in the heart

Today my outfit made a dude burst into song :)

When we were taking these pics he passed us with his pit bull terrier and started singing  the chorus to Deee-lite's Groove is in the Heart.

I guess there's a wee nod in the direction of the fabulous Lady Miss Kier in this get-up ;)

90s T-shirt dress (Benetton), Tie-dye footless tights (Indiska), Clogs (Buffalo), Aviator sunnies (American Eagle), Handmade Turkish necklace (gift), Frocktasia earrings + handmade bag  & loadsa colourful bangles.

 On Monday I met up with Jo again, one last time before she headed back to the US yesterday. She very kindly treated me to a spot of lunch and then took me to a secret location.

Before lunch we popped into Traid in Dalston and both of us were sighing in unimpressed unison as we perused their rail of overpriced, crap quality quasi-vintage garb. I did like their Traidremade stuff but their vintage sucked!

 After lunch, a short train journey took us to Rotherhithe (don't worry I can't pronounce it either) and the secret location that Jo's lovely partner had stumbled upon recently and that Jo wanted to share with me, what a fabulous friend she is...

The Rotherhithe Picture Research Library is a tremendous treasure chest of inspiration. A vast collection of visual references for sets, costumes and a wide array of other subjects.

It is open weekdays 10am till 4pm and as an educational charity it offers free access to all this magnificent material, all you pay for is if you want to take photocopies.

Jo asked if we could have a look through some of their vintage fashion magazines and the lady in charge let us grab a whole heap of them before perching ourselves by the glossy green table.

We spent a couple of hours pouring over Vogue magazines from the late 60s and early 70s, chatting quietly and taking pics of anything that we deemed inspiration folder worthy. Jo was keeping her eyes peeled for hand-painted shoes, belts and bags and I was thrilled to come across several wig adverts.

I sent these pics to Sam and wrote that I'd love to see a Tangled Wigs advert in a modern issue of Vogue.

You could easily spend an entire day there and not even make a dent in their stash of thousands of books and magazines. This will be my go to place from now on, whenever I hit a bottleneck creatively and need some inspiration to get things going again, what an amazing place. Thank you Jo for sharing this fantastic "secret" location with me, you are a star :) 

Before getting back on the train home, we took some sneaky outfit pics. As I was giving my closet-goth tendencies a good old airing on Monday I thought it was rather apt for Jo to take my pics in a tiny graveyard. 

Jo will come back over in a few months time and hopefully there will be many more days out and dress-up fun on the cards then :)

This one is for groovy bloggy pals...

 Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Summertime

What a week it has been, my feet have hardly touched the ground.

Both Mark and I were completely zonked out after last weekend but thankfully managed to grab a reasonably restful Monday before charging full steam ahead into Tuesday.

We still try to squeeze in our daily jaunt to the park cause it lifts the spirit and is a great energy booster.

Fabulous 70s block print maxi frock, 80s sunnies & platform Hawaianas.

After a smashing Sunday at the Dandy pop-up market, I decided to treat myself to something I've been after for ages...

When my mum went to Morocco in the late 70s she brought back one of these fabulous robes and I remember playing dress-up in it as a kid. Sadly it disappeared in one of our many moves and I've been hankering for another one ever since. It is totally trippy hippie and I can't wait to wear it.

Whilst on the subject of hippies, I've decided to go with a "Far Out" theme for my rail at The Sunday Mini Festival next month. I am currently going hole punch bonkers making one-offs to bring along on the day.

Here's a fringe waistcoat that I made from a 90s suede dress...

I met up with Mike who is organizing The Sunday Mini Festival last Wednesday at the Biddle Bros pub in Lower Clapton for an evening of  beer & fabulous singer-songwriter performances by Allegra Shock , Jaime Wyatt , (fellow Swede) Emil Lager and Meg Cavanaugh. Meg is also one of the acts at The Mini Festi  :)

Then on Thursday I had another delightful visit from Jo. She came to try on some frocks for a friend in The States. I'd primed my rail with floaty creations and hippie style dresses galore. I even let Jo try on my favourite ever maxi that I was sent by Helga some years ago, she was smitten :)

I still have another meet-up with Jo before she heads back to the US. We are going for a spot of lunch tomorrow and afterwards Jo is taking me to a "secret location"...I'm very intrigued & excited:)

This was the beautiful view outside my home office window on Thursday evening...

On Friday I took some pictures of the geese. This is The Grey family, look how big Baby Grey is now...

There are two pairs of Canada geese, both with two young ones each. The goslings are loosing their down now and two of them are starting to look more like the adults. They are still adorably cute though...

Friday was also Summer Solstice or Midsummer as it is more commonly referred to in Sweden. It is much more of a big deal over in Scandinavia and people like to really celebrate it. I marked the day by wearing this very colourful and summery frock that I wore to my sixth form college graduation back in '92.

It had been raining in the morning and there were lots of snails that had been and still were trailing across the graveled path. I saved a couple by airlifting them to safety and putting them down in the high grass ;)

Happy Midsummer :)

Barbara our friend from Berlin came back from her shiatsu course in Wales and we had a lovely night in with veggie fajitas, red wine & a bunch of old photographs :)

The midsummer moon was magical...

Then along came Saturday and another eagerly anticipated colab with Tangled Wigs.
Sam has just launched her fabulous new Happy Feelin's Collection and a new issue of Tangled Magazine is in the making. Sam brought along four absolutely stunning wigs and I'd put together four festival inspired outfits for the photo shoot. Beautiful Natasha did a grand job modelling  and Sam & I shared the camera responsibility. The pics came out brilliantly and I can't wait to see them in the magazine. I had a wonderful time and I absolutely adore working with these fabulous gals :)

After waving Barbara off, I spent the afternoon editing pics. Mark had a boys night out planned with two of his best friends and headed out late afternoon. The three of them came back to the house around 9pm, laden with pizza and beer. We stuffed our faces before heading to the local watering hole for a quick one and then ended the evening by having a wee drinking session in the house before crashing.

I was incredibly happy that unlike last Sunday we could just kick back in the house all day and that is exactly what we've been doing. Mark and I perched ourselves on the sofa, "watched" a couple of DVDs and lazed the day away, blooming marvelous :)

So tomorrow I'm meeting up with lovely Jo and then I have to crack on with preparing my rail for the forthcoming Dandy Lion Market and organizing & promoting the vintage market for The Mini Festival...no rest for those who want things to be wicked ;)

To sing us out here's Janis, enjoy ;)

Hope you are all doing grand?!

loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

From wallflower to wildflower in a few easy steps

Yesterday was Wig Wednesday and what better way to celebrate the occasion than to create a magic wig wonderland in one of East London's coolest bars which incidentally is exactly what the amazing Samantha Barnes, director of Tangled Wigs decided to do. 

I was thrilled beyond words when Sam asked me if Frocktasia would like to pop along with a rail full of vintage & retro threads.

The event was a fundraiser for CLIC sargent a children's cancer charity and the fabulous theme of the evening was 'Barbie Glam' . I stocked my rail to the hilt with fancy frocks, blingy tops and pink jackets. I also brought a plethora of hats, specs and sunnies, stoles and feather boas so that anyone who didn't fancy a frock could still join in the dress-up fun and frolicks. Mark very kindly helped me cart all the gear down to Barrio East and even stuck around to help set my pitch up, what a diamond dude my hubby is. Mark would have stayed all night but unfortunately he starts work at a really ungodly hour. 

Sam had put together a wonderful team of people to make this a very special night. 

Gorgeous Emma who runs Purple Hearts Boutique had brought along a mouthwatering medley of fabulous jewellery and accessories. Check out her online store for trendy and affordable ladies fashion and awesome adornments.

 There was a lot of primping and preening going on with no less than two fabulous make-up professionals and Neil Curtis who is also Tangled Wigs head stylist.

 Here's wonderful Sam in action, making gorgeous girls look even more gorgeous in Tangled Wigs :)

 I was very tempted to snap up the blonde wig that I am wearing in the above picture.

Sam was doing a cracking deal, £30 for one or £50 for two with 10% going directly to CLIC sargent. I have a fair few wigs but none of them even come close to the softness and wearability of these. The wig that I started off in, was bought from my local wig emporium, it keeps slipping backwards so every now and again you have to yank it forward which can be a little disconcerting for who ever you may be in mid conversation with but the Tangled Wig that I tried on not only stayed put but it also felt really natural  & made me feel very sassy. These wigs are top notch quality for a very affordable price and I'm not just saying that cause I adore Sam, it's the truth.

 Every one was smiling, laughing and having a ball, even the guys in the band joined in the fun. Here they are playing their gig in wigs, all besides the cajón player who decided to go with a Frocktasia hat instead.

Barrio East was a perfect venue for this event, loads of funky peeps kicking about, an absolutely solid and fun-loving bar team and the venue itself looks the bees-knees. Colourful, quirky and altogether brilliant!

 The pink wigs were definitely the event favourite :)

 It was really nice to see the lads get in on the action too....you look fabulous dahlings!

I didn't manage to get many photos of people actually dressing-up in Frocktasia's threads but the in-house photographer was there most of the evening snapping away and there were of course other people with cameras, so I'm hoping some of their pics will be of the two people that got dolled up in the wedding dress and the awesome dude that squeezed into a hot pink evening gown, yay!

It was brilliant evening, Sam really got it spot on! 

I met some fabulously  kind and inspiring people that I would love to hook up with again. I think the 'Tangled Wigs Wig Wednesday Party' was an absolutely ace idea and I'd be the first one to volunteer if there was to be another one like it. It would actually be tremendously cool to do this on a monthly basis cause once rumour spreads I recon it could grow to become a very popular night out. A magical wig wonderland that offers up a liberal helping of hair- & make-up expertise, dress-up mayhem and a fun fun fun photo booth, that is my idea of a perfect night out :)

Wouldn't you want to go to a party like that?

My Barbie inspired ensemble of the day...

Blonde wig,  70s mini dress, lurex tights, lace-up boots,  Frocktasia disco-ball earrings & beaded bib necklace.

I'll leave you with a song from the undisputed queen of wigs, enjoy ;)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Peekaboo spring & Wig Wednesday

I bought the vintage-inspired frock that I am wearing today from a car boot sale, it's labelled Monsoon Fusion.

I've never bought anything new from Monsoon, come to think of it I can't even remember ever going into one of their shops. That's not to say I don't like the look of their clothes cause I do, it's just that their prices have always been a little bit prohibitive for the likes of me. Thank goodness for second hand :)

The Monsoon signature style is very folk-inspired often with embroidery and embellishment, what's not to love?!

Labelled UK18 it's way too big for me in the chest region but when teamed with my trusty suede waistcoat, no problem :)

Spring is still playing peekaboo hence the tights and boots. I was actually regretting not putting on a jacket, it was a wee bit chilly today....bonkers!

The Rhododendron is now in full bloom, I'll give it one more week before moving on to another backdrop. It is very beautiful, the flower clusters are reminiscent of those fabulous vintage petal swimming caps.

I bought a "new" pair of sunnies from the car boot sale yesterday, check these bad boys out...

They are from last years MauStein x Asos colab collection. Sunnies in this collection retailed from £45 to £70 a pair, I paid 50p for mine.

Whilst on the subject of collaborations...

When I met Sam, the founder and amazing driving force behind Tangled Wigs at the last Dandy Lion Market, she asked me if I'd be interested in taking part in an event that she was planning for Wig Wednesday on behalf on CLIC sargent cancer charity.

Charity fundraiser, wigs, frocks, hair- and make-up professionals, music, cocktails and the dolly box...of course I want to take part, I mean who wouldn't?!

You can get in on the action too by popping down to Barrio East, 141-143 Shoreditch High Street tomorrow Wednesday the 22nd May from 5.30pm until 11pm. You will be able to raid my awesome Barbie themed rail, try on a wig and have it professionally styled, there's even a professional make-up artist there to make you look even more beautiful than you already are. After all the primping and preening you also get to step into the dolly box to get some photographic evidence of your fabulousness...

I know it's Wednesday and apparently we shouldn't have fun on a school night but rip up the rule book for once and come down and grab a cocktail or five, this is going to be a hoot and a half and what more it is for a darn good cause :)

Huzzah for Wig Wednesday!

Hope you are all doing great peeps :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx