Pin Up by the Pool

Pin Up by the Pool

MagnaPool is an alternative to traditional salt water and chlorine pools, using a blend of natural minerals. MagnaPool provides pool water that is healthy, nourishing, luxurious to swim in and environmentally friendly. Visit http://magnapool.com/

Vintage tropical pin up dress 5

Vintage  Hawaiian tropical pin up dress 6

What a summer this is turning out to be! Such a mix weather wise, not the usual unrelenting heat we have had in past years. With loads of rain things are actually looking lush and green this time and with all the new landscaping we’ve been doing (dare I say it), tropical!

We’ve managed to get quite a number of my new plants in, Elephant ears, Monsteras and Jasmine all adding to the growing picture. So with any luck, if this amount of rain keeps up, I may yet have the lush green pool side vision I’ve dreamt of. The Magnapool has been simply stunning; both to sit by and to relax in on warm evenings. I find that hot weather plays havoc with my legs and fluid retention, so having such an incredible space to soak and revive is an amazing luxury.

Vintage tropical pin up dress 4

Vintage tropical pin up dress 3

Today’s dress I’ve been saving for a special occasion. It is an original vintage Hawaiian piece I bought from a friend who wore it when she won Miss VLV, so it has an illustrious past. It is one of those fabulous numbers that is both gorgeous and infinitely comfortable, meaning it will become a piece I reproduce for myself in the future. There are quite a number of pieces like that in my collection; pieces I’ve had every intention of making patterns from and then remaking them ten times over for love. The reality is though, that I just don’t have the time or the level of skill to do that quickly, so I’m gradually handing these over to friends who can take this on for me.

Vintage tropical pin up dress 2

Outfit Details

Dress – Vintage Hawaiian

Bangles – Vintage op shop find

Shoes – Bordello ‘Genie’ style in brown snake skin finish (these have the same last as those sparkly ones I posted earlier)

My plan is to eventually have a small but perfect collection of the vintage pieces I love the most, complete with patterns so that I’m able to reproduce their beauty as they become more fragile or as I need things more suitable to different conditions. Have you taken or made any patterns from your favourites? How do you deal with the inherent sadness of wanting to both wear and preserve them?

 Sponsors keep us writing

This post is part of a Nuffnang native advertising series.

MagnaPool is an alternative to traditional salt water and chlorine pools, using a blend of natural minerals. MagnaPool provides pool water that is healthy, nourishing, luxurious to swim in and environmentally friendly. Visit http://magnapool.com/.

The Perfect Reproduction Vintage Dress

The Perfect Reproduction Vintage Dress

 

Spring time!

Time to freshen up the wardrobe and start busting out my favourite colours. I don’t have a lot of green in the wardrobe, but as you can see, it features quite strongly in my decor.

This gorgeous two piece ensemble is by Jack’s Daughter here in Melbourne. Everything is hand made from original vintage fabric and trims. Jenny is an absolute gem, making pieces to order and with such attention to detail that I now have at least ten of her creations in my collection.

I also treated myself to some new spring jewellery I’ve wanted for so long. The perfect earring and clamper bracelet set from Chronically Vintage. Jessica has a superb selection in her Etsy store, but this yellow bracelet (earrings not shown here), really took my breath away. I’d never seen these sets in this colour!

 

It may be Spring and only just starting to warm up, but you may have noticed that Lola is being her usual lazy self and hiding out in these shots. The warmth of the sun through the window and the safety of her chair, means she’s not budging for anyone!

Outfit Details

Silken 2 piece vintage reproduction dress – Jack’s Daughter

Kelly Green cardigan – Trashy Diva

Vintage Yellow clamper bangle – Chronically Vintage

Yellow daisy earrings – Lovisa

Shoes – Take 2 Markets find

Daily Outfit – Polka Dot Vintage Dress Day

Daily Outfit – Polka Dot Vintage Dress Day

It may be Autumn in Melbourne already, but we are lucky to sneak in a few lovely days here and there. Provided you bring a cardi, you can enjoy a bit of a brunch in the sun.

The fabulous ladies at Trashy Diva, who I met while last in New Orleans, kindly sent me this wonderful polka dot version of my favourite Trixie Dress the other day. It’s rare that I go down the polka dot vintage dress road, but for Trixie my wardrobe door is always open. This is without a doubt, my absolute favourite dress block in the range they make. I have it in about seven different prints and fabrics, and that still isn’t enough!

The halter neck and shirred sides make it easily adjustable and very forgiving if you don’t fit a ‘perfect’ size. The folded style bust line is super flattering both on larger and smaller busts. In fact I can comfortably say, that if I were only allowed to have one dress style in my wardrobe, this would be it!

The Trixie Dress in Polka Dot and cropped green cardigan from Trashy Diva.

(this is the inadvertent “oops, my head piece is sliding out” pose)

I’m planning on packing all my Trixie dresses for an upcoming tropical jaunt, as not only do they look the business, but they hardly weigh a thing and fold up tiny. This means lots of extra room for all the shopping I plan on doing. And speaking of shopping, if you fancy adding this gorgeous dress or any other of the multitude of spectacular treats from Trashy Diva to your wardrobe, I have a special discount code for you!

Simply enter the code:  Kawaii10  in the checkout to get 10% off any orders until the end of May.

Pour yourself a cup of tea and have a little look around their store. Let the love affair begin!

Outfit Details

Dress – Big Polka in ‘Trixie’ by Trashy Diva

Cardigan – from Trashy Diva

Bangles – Op Shop find

Fruity head piece – A DIY project of mine

Shoes – Vivienne Westwood for Melissa “Lady Cherry”

Lips – MAC Russian Red