Morning all, you may have seen on Twitter yesterday that I (sort of )announced a very special project, one that I feel truly honoured to host. Some of the tweets were a bit cryptic and there are quite a few parties involved, so let me explain a little bit more.

On the 31st of May, from 6pm till 9pm (put in your diaries please) I will be hosting a very special evening of all things vintage and shopping at Mary Portas’ Living and Giving Shop in Primrose hill. I visited them recently and its a gorgeous warm space that sums up the aim and ethos of these shops.

‘With the local community at its heart, Living & Giving is not just a shop, but a place to inspire, share, create, meet and discover’

I’m going to do a book talk on how to buy and date vintage, and a Q&A, but more excitingly part of the evening will be a vintage shopping extravaganza where I will be on hand to help you pick the best items of clothing to purchase. 100% of the profits will go to Save the Children, which I am delighted to be supporting.

This is where I need a little help.  Mary’s three shops are currently saving the best donations for the evening itself (that alone is exciting enough) and I almost fell off the sofa yesterday when I found out Zandra Rhodes has donated, but we could do with a bit more. In fact lots more please. The more we have, the more we raise.  So, if you love vintage and have some good quality items to spare, I promise I will re-house them with someone who can wear them and will love and look after them. I know this is equally important to a lot of you. So instead of leaving them languishing in the eBay bag, dig  ‘em out and do something good with them. I will also, of course be donating some very special items from my wardrobe.

There are three ways you can do this: this Sunday Mary’s team are collecting donations at the Pop-up Vintage Fair at Hampstead Town Hall (11 -4). Otherwise you can drop off your donations at the shop, just please let them know it’s for the event. Lastly there will be a goodie bag for the first 25 guests who donate any pre-loved designer or vintage pieces on the night.

Lastly this event is open to all and It’s going to be a really lovely evening, so please do come along. There will be some amazing items on sale. My gorgeous cover girl Jennifer Siggs of  the Yesterday Girl blog fame will be there to help style and answer questions (if the 50’s is your thing then she is your girl) and also of course cocktails and canapés. I hope to see you there.

Thank you
Naomi x

Despite being well into the month of May, it’s still freezing. I’ve packed away my winter skirts and dresses but I might get myself a pair of these “cheating” seamed tights from What Katie Did. I *do* enjoy wearing proper stockings, but lets face it, its colder than a nun’s……. at the moment. £8 from here

Whilst we are on the subject of cold, I would rather quite like this Tara Starlet coat in blue fleck . Think the seamed tights, red lippy and a beret for instant french resistance chic. 40% off and now available for £90 here

 I actually know who owns these boobs! This top from Heyday on-line has 20% off until tomorrow. £33.60 here 

I am OBSSESSED with white and blue right now. Something about longing for the summer sky. This 1950′s dress boast a full circle skirt, a shawl-like collar. From Lovely’s Vintage Emporium. Now reduced to £65 here

Cake! This is what greeted me when I arrived an Helen’s original 1960′s holiday chalet in Ventnor.  I was tickled pink, and oddly, despite not really being a big fan of chocolate or cake (I have been accused of not being a real woman over this fact) I cut myself a large slice and enjoyed it with a smug cuppa.  For those of you that haven’t heard of Vintage Vacations I urge you to have a look around their site. You can stay in an airstream, a converted mission or as I chose, the cutest little bungalow on the top of a cliff. At this point I should really say that this is not a sponsored post. Shortly after my book launch I had a bit of urge to run away, so I did just that. I paid on Thursday and was on the ferry the next day. I also turned my phone off…..

I love to walk, am quite happy with my own company, and was in dire need of some me time. My over active imagination was also thinking about pirates and coves. I grew up mainly in Paris so I am also a big fan of the Staycation, even if it means only going a few miles from my house.

As you can see from the below the whole bungalow was kitted out in keeping with its age. I wish I had taken a picture of the kitchen. Helen has spent ages collecting original 50′s/60′s holiday bits and pieces and the whole effect was very cosy, and very relaxing. There were also plenty of books and guides to read and a very helpful folder full of her top tips for exploring. Which is how I found Suzes Room, one of the best vintage shops I have frequented in a long time. Good for clothes and home wear and run by two lovely ladies. Despite tramping around in jeans and a headscarf the lure of an Ossie Clark with Celia Birtwell print proved too much and I spent more than I ever have done on anything. My pension-in-waiting will be getting its own blog post soon.

I’m not going to go through all the pics (my dad is making me boiled eggs and I hate it when they go hard) but there are a few notable mentions:

I believe the Crab and Lobster may be owned by Charly Surry’s aunt? Am I correct Charly?

The Gaiety was a WW1 aircraft hanger.

The botanical gardens are all of what left of the Royal National Hospital for Diseases of the Chest. I’m quite sad that the building is no longer there. The grainy picture of a picture (they are all a bit grainy) is of a 50′s Christmas show put on by patients and staff. I found it wonderfully eerie. Very interestingly I discovered when I got home that my paternal grandmother spent time in the hospital as part of her nurses training around the same time.

The beach huts are orginal victorian ones in a small secluded area called the Steephill Cove which features many seafacing properties to rent.

Hello *waves* personal blog time, of sorts. If I had a pound every time I have been asked why I wear vintage rather than sticking to mainstream fashions and trends I wouldn’t be having to eBay half of my wardrobe this summer (actually this is no biggie. I need SPACE) Recently with the round of book interviews, I have given this a bit more thought. I’m getting philosophical in my old age. I’ve summed it up in three main points

No 1 BECAUSE IT MAKES ME HAPPY.

Yes it does. I don’t do this for anyone other than me. 99% of my friends are the same. This is probably why most of us are single (jokes ladies!) On the aesthetic side it can be elegant and lady-like or it can be brash, pop-ish and fun.  It’s always creative. Personally these days I embrace both.  I dress according to my moods. This summer I can’t get enough of my white peg leg 90’s jeans with fluo green and yellow perfume bottle motif, but I will still be dressing as a 50’s beach babe at every opportunity (COME ON SUN!). Shopping is much more of a pleasure, there is ALWAYS the adrenaline buzz that comes with discovery at the right price.  I like wearing clothes that no one else has. It gives me a kick. In the background there is also a community with camaraderie, and a mutual understanding of what makes us tick. It’s like a secret handshake, only really it’s a nod of appreciation instead. People I have met who love their old clothes will always be happy to talk about them to a fellow enthusiast. I have met less than 5 people who were utterly horrendous, boorish snobs.  Vintage is always an investment. High street is rarely. I enjoy the escapism, the fantasy. It pulls me out of lows, enhances the highs. I have always been attractive to ‘different’. My first and longest love was thanks to a masculine and liberal application of eyeliner and silver nail varnish. As a young child I loved dressing up in my mother’s feather trimmed dresses and 80’s body con cast offs. I had a pink fake fur coat and used to wear it with a white swimming costume adorned with a giant gold star I pinched from the Christmas tree (I was 7, and faintly precocious). In my teens I secretly swanned around in my grandmothers 30’s bias cut evening gowns. As far as I can remember extraordinary clothes have always made me feel warm, and oddly safe. This is why I chose to become a personal shopper. Nothing pleases me more than someone else experiencing that tingle. I always try and guide my clients via informed choices, not dictate what they should buy. Otherwise the magic is lost.

No2 BECAUSE I DON’T LIKE PRESSURE (…..and maybe a bit of rebellion)

Here is where I dig out the tiny violin. I spent most of my formative years trying to fit in. I went to 6 schools in 3 countries and the only survival technique was to identify as quickly as possible how to seamlessly blend in with the crowd you wanted to be part off. This meant you got invited to parties and picked at games. If you were in the right group boys paid attention. This may have led to a small nervous breakdown aged 24 when I realised I had continued to do this well into adulthood and had no idea who I was as a person. It was always a competition to see who had managed to infiltrate as much Moschino or Calvin Klein into their school uniform. I remember girls reeling off lists of what designer items they owned like it was some roll call of achievement, and they weren’t even the embassy kids or heiresses (my brother was too busy chatting them up). My mother, having been brought up by ‘Vintage’ gran on a spartan but forward thinking diet of cast offs that were second hand many owners ago, was having none of it. The most I got was Kookai, Caterpillar and Morgan (this was early 90’s France I hasten to add) There is nothing lamer than being made to feel inadequate because of your clothes. Yes, these days I am seduced by designer vintage but if you are buying diffusion brand t-shirts at £70 a pop, at any age, you should really wake up and smell the sweat shop. I still remember those school days with a shudder of horror.

No3 BECAUSE I CAN.

Here is why I may get a bit preachy, I think we should all just shut up and let each other get on with it. Seriously, can we please do that?  Women are being attacked with acid for supposedly being too ‘vain’ and young men are being rounded up and killed in Syria due to the link between western trends and homosexuality. We don’t all have the freedom of choice. We do though, and it’s for exactly this reason that I respect any kind of look. I don’t like bitching about anyone. Each to their own. Recently the facebook page of a well known festival posted a picture of a group of ladies at Aintree with a searing caption. Wouldn’t they look better if they attended their event and wore vintage? Fnarr  fnarr, aren’t we better than everyone else? Well no, actually. This kind of attitude gives vintage a bad name. Quite rightly, it experienced a back lash. You know those Aintree gals? Kudos to them for putting it out there. It may not be to my taste but I respect their decisions. Live and let live. Funnily enough there have long been murmurs that the only difference between that look and a vintage one is a paler foundation and a redder lipstick. Fake eyelashes, fake nails? Tick, tick. Scouse brow? We have been doing that for ages….. probably nicked it off the Cholas and their sharpie pen brows. Ditto to the hipsters, or any kind of music related fashion sub genre. In fact anyone who dresses to please themselves should be left alone.

Is there warrant for critique and mild snobbery? Sometimes. Another badly styled Daily Mail article proclaiming Rihanna to be dressed in a 40’s style when it’s nothing of the sort makes everyone’s teeth grind. I have the utmost respect for those who can pull together a 100% original era specific look and at some events that is de rigour. Vintage may be about dressing fancy but it’s not about fancy dress. Wearing a joke shop afro or stick on ‘tach aint going to cut the mustard anywhere. Those who spend so long getting it just right deserve respect (I certainly do not have the skill or dedication). There is also a need to weed out the opportunists trying to flog Primark as vintage.  Overall I very rarely see this in an unjustified capacity.

There are a million other reasons why people chose this path. I’ve known people who wear vintage for the ecological benefit, because of a fetish or to keep a family connection alive.  Feel free to tell me yours in the comments.

Sometimes a girl just needs to get out of town.  Not long after my book launch party I took the somewhat spur of the moment decision to go to what we know here as ‘The Island’. That’s the Isle of Wight to everyone outside of Pompey. I had long know about Vintage Vacations so I emailed owner Helen and the next day I was on the ferry to the rather large land mass that I can see every day from my kitchen window.

I’m sounding like a complete grockle here but I genuinely had no idea how ‘old’ it was. I figured it was possibly a bit like Portsmouth but with a few more hills and farms. It was positively prehistoric. It reminded me of one of my favourite films, The Others. I was amazed, and instantly addicted.  Old + sea + walking + no internet+ sleep = happy me.

These were all taken at around 5.30pm in Bonchurch, near to where I was staying in Ventnor. It was deathly quiet and I was the only person walking around. Most of it is 11^th – 13^th century.  Heaven.

*Part two contains a bit more nature, but lots of vintage and a 50′s holiday home.

I must confess I very rarely go the theatre. I have a slight attention span problem. I also have a morbid fear of ‘prescribed comedy’. So, combine the two and I will usually recoil in horror. Chuck in some enthusiastic musical element and I generally am gone before you can say ‘Jazz Hands’. I’m no cultural philistine. I’ve read Camus, (en français). It’s just the way I am. I must admit I thought ‘what am I doing?’ when I accepted an invite to go and see One Man Two Governors a few weeks ago. I was undergoing a detox at the time and was seeking light distraction. Plus it meant I got to hang out with Fleur and Laura. I figured if it was rubbish I could fall alseep.

I went. I enjoyed. I would recommend. Yes, here is the clichéd part where I go ‘ I was pleasantly surprised, I loved it!’. I really did.

Here is the skinny:

‘Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe. But Roscoe is really Rachel, posing as her own dead brother – who’s been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a job with one Stanley Stubbers – but to prevent discovery, he must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.’

My attention span issues where catered for with musical interludes from the rather easy on the eye in-house band The Craze, who oddly don’t look at all like they do on their website. Am I missing something?

I am hard to please comedy – wise and the initial jokes felt a little weak, but it gets clever. The laughs are built around the character development and at points I was crying with laughter. There are also a few points in the show where the unexpected happens and you have no idea if it was meant to be that way or not. I have never encountered this before, and at some points it was truly shocking. I like shocking.

The show is feted for James Corden’s role as Francis Henshall  but I have a sneaky feeling that replacement Owain Arthur does it better.  Ben Mansfield is excellent as the chappist Stanley Stubbers who pulls it off without being too slapstick. The main accolade goes to the lesser role of  the ‘actor boyfriend’. This character had all 3 of us in tears, as he appeared to be composed of small parts of notable ex boyfriends.

I didn’t fidget or look at Twitter at all during the 2.5h performance.  That’s as good an endorsement as I can give.

Currently on at London’s Haymarket.

SS: ATLANTICA

RETURN TO THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN TRAVEL

All aboard the SS: Atlantica, setting sail on Saturday 31st March. Featuring fine dining, live bands, floorshows, cabaret acts and dancing, SS: Atlantica is a Champagne-sodden foray into the glamour of yesteryear’s most luxurious form of travel. Return to the golden age of luxury travel with a lavish 3 course meal and floorshow followed by a magnificent Ocean Liner party.

Guests will arrive to a drinks reception, with signature cocktails courtesy of Bourne & Hollingsworth. They will then be invited to partake in a sumptuous 3 course meal provided by Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts all the while being entertained with a decadent floor show as we cruise down the Thames.

From 8.30pm the night will progress into a 1930s style ocean liner party with bars serving classic cocktails and Champagne and a stage holding live floor shows and bands.

The evening’s entertainment follows an authentic ship itinerary from the 1930s, and guests will be entertained by activities and diversions typical to those enjoyed by the P.O.S.H* crossing the Atlantic in those glory days. Gamblers can try their hand at the roulette and black jack tables while music will be provided by London’s finest live bands and singers all performing in the style of the era. So don your finery and join us on deck for a cocktail. 

Itinerary:

6.30pm: Embarkation, Cocktail Reception

7pm: Dinner is Served, Floorshow, 1st  Cruise

8.15pm: Boat Docks

 8.30pm: 2nd

Embarkation, party begins

9.30pm: 2nd

Cruise

1am: Boat Docks

 2am: Disembarkation 

Dress Code: At-Sea Formal Wear

 Gentlemen should emulate the starched collar and immaculate dinner suit of an Agatha Christie villain and ladies can take their inspiration from the silk and fur ensembles worn by stars of the silver screen.

Tickets: 

Supper Club and Ball: £60

Supper Club and Ball (full table of six diners): £330

Ball only: £20

www.ssatlantica.com

I have a pair of tickets (BALL ONLY) to give away. Just tell me what you will wear in the comments below. The Winner  will be announced on Wednesday 28^th March.

                        Ian Johns and Mr Ian Bodenham from Hunky Dory Vintage

                             Poet Tiffany Anne Tondut and Alex Mendham

                                                   Laura and Patrick Lee

                                                     Gemma Seager (aka Retro Chick)

               Songstress Gabby Young, Akeela Bhattay (aka Actually Akeela), moi, Illustrator Emma Block

                                           Rachel Baynton and Simone Hadfield (aka Miss Turnstiles

Fay Stevenson, Lena Weber (Vintage Guide To London, Queens of Vintage, Style High Club) and Hannah Asprey

                              Dinkie (Harriet) and Amy AKA The Bright Young Twins