Mad Men costumes needed

A and I have been invited to a Mad Men-themed costume party by our best buddy Sparkling Whine and because we are ultra-competitive alphas (you may recall we staged our own Come Dine With Me and came first and second) we have been giving our outfits a reasonable amount of thought.

I am obsessed with Mad Men and I do love costume parties but I hate poorly-thought-out costumes and half-assed efforts. Thus I have been sifting through the AMC website’s photo albums to find the shapes, the details and the crucial hair inspiration I need to make this work. I really want to go as Joan and may even commit so far as dyeing my hair (and stuffing pillows down my front).

Could she be more stunning and fabulous?

The image at the top of this post is the classic 1950s style that is all over Mad Men in the first season, but by season 4, mod and hippie style are starting to creep in, along with psychedelic colours. The Joan look, which I’m hoping can sail calmly through the Twiggy waters to come, is all about tight-fitting clothes, small waists, an updo and lots of jewellery – brooches, necklaces, bracelets, watches and earrings. She also wears liquid eyeliner, which is a problem because I’ve never learned to do it. Other than that the makeup is non-existent despite the emphasis on selling cosmetics at the ad firm.

I adore Betty and sometimes feel alone in this, but I don’t think I could pull off her Grace Kelly, conservative style. It feels so restrained and old-fashioned and it’s really just her beauty that pulls it off. I mean, this brown ensemble wouldn’t have the same effect on Peggy.

Elizabeth Moss who plays Peggy is a brilliant actor and makes the character sympathetic despite being written as a person who is quite difficult to like and made to wear the world’s absolutely worst hairstyle and drabbest clothes. Things have improved for her as the series goes on but it’s clear, despite an episode where she had a makeover of sorts, that clothes are just not what she’s about. Peggy is a miniskirt girl I feel and her time is yet to come. She’ll never fill out a shift dress like Joanie.

Actually neither will I, so I may wear something simple and go in hard on the hair, the fur and the jewellery – I’ll have to locate some clip-on earrings. The absolute musts are:

• skirts longer than the knee
• tie a bow on somewhere
• wear a brooch
• make your hair ten times more complicated than usual
• smoke

S

Signposts

Sadie

• Sadie’s Wardrobe is a classic “what I wore” blog of the type I love so much. Sadie is a cutie with a penchant for perfect vintage pieces. Look at her above; is this not delightful?
• Deena over at Fat Girls Like Nice Clothes Too has done a really in-depth post on the Beth Ditto for Evans collection, with the classic “changing-room photo montage”. I love the dedication.
• Daydream Lily is a beautifully-designed image blog run by a photographer with an eye for beautiful, atmospheric pictures. If you like Loveology, you will probably dig this. It directed me to the website Aspiring Couture, which features these amazing wedding dresses from ecofriendly designer Blushless. Although there is no law stopping people from wearing white dresses every day, these are thousands of dollars worth of couture-standard dress. I wish I could see bigger pictures.

Have a good weekend.

S

Biba & Ossie Clarke Gear

I have scoured the c20vintagefashion site and found some lovely pieces by Biba and Ossie Clarke.

Biba Leopard print jacket

Decadent Biba satin lounging dress

Ossie Clark dress with Celia Birtwell print

Ossie Clarke Jaquard Coat/Dress

Further outfit eye candy available here. A.

A Good Vintage

It can be difficult to find good vintage in London despite the plethora of vintage shops. I’ve read a few quotes from celebs recently saying much the same and I agree that there is a lot of dross out there.

You definitely get what you pay for, which means that I, for one, have lots of

Dehydration Dress

‘crazy’ vintage dresses made out of plastic fibre which is always the wrong material, whatever the weather. I have one particular dress, which features sprays of small blue & white flowers all over, which actively helped me dehydrate on my late summer trip to Italy this year.

So, it was nice to see that someone has thought of putting vintage on the internet. The only downside is not being able to feel the material (which I love doing) but that’s always the downside with online shopping.

Sunday Times Style magazine has picked out the best so I don’t have to:

• lovemissdaisy.com: extensive selection organised by type and reasonable prices.
• rokit.co.uk: Online version of the shop but could be viewed as a little pricey.
• ninaandlola.com: You can search by decade! Brilliant and a good site too.
• c20vintagefashion.co.uk: Biba, Ossie Clarke  and other60s/70s rock n roll boutique items.

A

Portobello Market Style at your fingertips

Cred: PretaPortobello

I’m a South London girl at heart – for many years, Greenwich Market was my local market staple. I heard good things about this magical West London market on Portobello Road but could not be convinced to trek across town to visit. Until one day, and there it was, laid out in its full glory and really, Greenwich Market just does not compare.

We followed the crowds from Notting Hill tube station, past the antique stalls selling everything from cricket balls to horn handled magnifying glasses, all the way towards Ladbroke Grove, and the fun, clothes bit of Portobello market. As you can probably tell, I’ve always imbued the market shopping experience with a magical, mythical quality; the experience tends to live up to that until the moment I find something I love, realise I have no cash and I’m a bit cold. And on a wet day like today, the idea of a market just doesn’t appeal.

So, you can imagine my excitement when I heard about the new site -
PretaPortobello. They describe themselves as ‘a brand new fashion market on the web’ and you can even barter with the sellers; I think the site’s little flourishes really add to an already great idea. There’s even a vintage section. A.

Ebay gems: Purple

Scanning ebay can be tiresome and frustrating for those with better things to do, especially when searching for vintage. Here is my selection of the best current ebay vintage auctions (UK) featuring the colour purple.

1. Jersey dress, size 14. At time of posting, £9.99. I’m not convinced that this is 1940s as claimed but it’s made of a draping knitted material and is a lovely colour, plus I love panels and layers.

 

2. Polyester dress, size 16. ATOP, £65. Steep I know but check out the detail: ribbon-edged ruffles in the skirt and at the neckline, with a full skirt and a luminous colour.

 

3. Polyester dress, size 8/10. ATOP £12.99. The graphic stripe on this dress is awesome. I apologise for finding you polyester clothing but it’s not always as bad as you imagine, I have a couple of polyester ebay and they are soft and wearable and hardly ever catch fire.

S