Imaginary Wardrobe Overhaul.

I am sick of my clothes. I find myself wearing the same two pencil skirts over and over again, have very few things that match each other, and I have no Winter clothing. My drawers are bulging with black cut-up band shirts which are only really any good for Summer, and I find myself at an awkward crux between my old punk wardrobe and the glamourous vintage wardrobe which I so desire - I've been uncomfortably stuck between the two for years now.

I have some fabulous dresses which are for special occasions, but not much for everyday wear, and I get a lot of compliments on the way I dress, but really I just feel unresolved about it which is a massive bugbear for someone as obsessed with aesthetics as I am.

So, here are some things that would help take my wardrobe in the right direction, if I had the money. Maybe I will save up and get a couple of them.

First, hot on the heels of the 'Mad Men' trend, the 'Rita' dress by Bettie Page clothing, coming soon to Pinup Parade, available soon or reserve yours by dropping an email to the lovely Helen. (Picture from Pinup Parade, hope this is OK Helen!)



I would pair this with these fabulous accessories from Irregular Choice, who have FINALLY released some shoes suitable for vegans, after years of me waiting and coveting - normally there's a partial leather upper or a leather lining, but these are all fabric uppers with a sumptuous velvet lining - great for stopping stockinged feet from slipping out as you walk. Plus they have perspex heels and a MONKEY! Squee. The shoes and the matching clutch bag are available from Schuh stores and online, and I think I am in love with them both. In fact, I almost accidentally bought the shoes a couple of weeks ago, but common sense prevailed and I paid my rent instead. Prying them from my feet was such a sad affair.

In Summer I would match the dress with these 1950s aqua - coloured beads I picked up at a fleamarket, one of my new coral raffia fruit pillbox hats (on sale soon or contact me if you'd like one!) and these cute Miss L Fire 'Sylvie' sandals, which I might actually have to buy before the week is out before they're snapped up by someone.



My next two choices for versatile dresses are also from the Bettie Page line at Pinup Parade, the 'Nataly' and the 'Charm' (this one's in the Sale section too!)



I love the '40s styling and cute cherry print on the Nataly, and the dark colour and sheer fabric make it suitable for a variety of occasions and seasons. I also already have lots of accessories in the right colours to match it. The Charm is a fantastic dress for Winter, and the stretch fabric would make it practical and comfortable as well as sexy!

My next coveted item is a pair of vintage 1950s carved rhinestone lucite heels in a UK6/US8/EU39. Yes, this post was supposed to be about my imaginary practical vintage wardrobe, but if you think about it, they are completely practical *ahem* they go with any colour outfit, the heels are never too high so they're practical for nights out for a girl such as myself whose evenings (and possibly her boyfriend's evenings) are usually ruined by complaints about sore feet, plus they'd match my lucite bag collection.



My next set of desirables all come from Trashy Diva and make me salivate wildly. Unfortunately, I'd have to drop a dress size to fit into any of these, as their largest size is a US 14/ UK 18. I do hope to achieve this again soon though, as I lost some weight recently then put it back on by eating carelessly, so a motivation such as this might help!

First, the 'Courtney' coat dress in leopard print, which you can see being worn to full effect here at the ever enviable Freelancer's Fashionblog.



Next, the short version of the 'Courtney' in the divinely retro 'Midcentury Kelly' colourway would look fantastic worn as a top with a black pencil skirt, or with its fluted peplum would be excellent as a short coat with a circle skirted dress where a longer coat would get in the way. The 'Sweetie' dress is just so cute, I love the print with splashes of cheery red and yellow, and the big buttons. It would be great for Summer, nice and light whilst keeping the tops of the arms covered.

My next major desire is an 'Olivia' blouse from Heyday reproduction clothing. They have a black one with a marvellous cherry print coming out soon, which is the one I want! I would also like a pair of their sailoresque Navy Swing Trousers.

Finally, something no vintage girl should be without; the ability to create a finished hair and makeup look to go with her outfits. I have a good grasp of wet setting and a few different styling techniques, but could do with learning a lot more. Lauren Rennells' "Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques" has become a bible for vintage hairstyling newcomers, and is now available in an updated and expanded second edition (pictured here). It's available for around £28 from all the usual sources but is often out of stock due to its enormous popularity!

Lauren runs the helpful and interesting Bobbypin Blog with lots of styling and beauty tips.



A possible contender for its crown (and considerably cheaper) might be the newly-published 'Style me Vintage' by Belinda Hay, brought to my attention by Queen of the Vintage Blogs Fleur De Guerre. I'll let you know - at that price I think I should be able to afford to purchase this book fairly soon and try out some styles!

My last wish is the book ' A Stitch in Time: Vintage Knitting & Crochet Patterns 1920-1949', again featuring the lovely Fleur, this time in a modelling role, along with sixty designs for vintage knitting and crochet projects. Whilst my crochet skills are basic and my knitting skills are nonexistent, I'm sure I could learn easily or get my mum (hello, mum) to make up a couple of the lovely sweaters for me. I've already dropped a massive clanging Christmas hint about this book to someone who isn't a reader of my blog, so I can but hope!

If you don't fancy knitting it yourself but do fancy a 1940s/50s styled sweater, there is a fine collection available at Greetz from Tiz, Dressing4Impressing, Rocket Originals or you can pick up not-too-expensive vintage originals on US ebay.



L-R: Greetz from Tiz, Dressing4Impressing, Rocket Originals.

Blog negligence and general stuff.

I haven't updated this in ages, mainly because I have had no money and have been doing not much that would be of any interest to anybody reading about it.

A few highlights of the last few weeks:

Apple Pie!



It looks beautiful but its bottom was slightly soggy. Deceptive pie.



Had a stall with some hats and some cakes



Built a divided fish tank for my male Betta Splendens (Siamese fighting fish, hence the separators - they are very aggressive to other males and I don't want them ripping each other to shreds).



Citizen Fish


Boris Karloff


Klaus



Took on some extra work making lovely dresses for Outerlimitz Vintage Reproduction Clothing! Here is the dress I am currently making for them. They have some gorgeous designs, especially their Hawaiian range.



Some upcoming things in the life of Kally:

-Fruit hats!
-More dressmaking!
-Going to the Bizarre Winter Ball!

...and probably some other things too, hopefully some of which I will blog about.

Lovely new hat pictures!

A while ago, I sent some of my hats over to Sweden to be photographed by the very talented pin-up photographer, Emmelie Åslin. When I finally get round to developing a proper website for my business, these will be some of the product shots. What do you think?

These hats are some of my retro and psychobilly designs; I plan to do a seperate post with some of my more authentically vintage-looking reproduction 1940s - 50s millinery.

Until then, I'm currently having a sale in my ebay shop,Kalandra Jane Burlesque and Retro, where most items are 15% off until next week!

Photographer: Emmelie Åslin - www.emmelieaslin.se
Model: Chesty von Ellem - www.thecore.nu/models/ellem

A trip to York, and Vivienne Westwood shoes!

Once Aerospace Boyfriend had gotten over the shock of being thirty, we decided to go on a date to York, a wonderful city full of history and shopping opportunities!

Last time we went, we did the historical stuff - walking the Roman city walls, a tour of the Medieval Minster, viewing the wonky Tudor buildings of The Shambles, and discovering the Viking history of the city, so this time was all about the shopping and food!

Here is the Minster, well, the tiny bit of it that I could fit into the frame of the camera!



We arrived at lunchtime and headed straight for El Piano, a fantastic Spanish/South American vegan cafe where everything is so tasty! I had spicy kofta with turmeric coconut sauce and lentil and rice tabuleh, he had Mushroom and Basil salad with rice and chutney. It took me ages to decide what to have, everything looked so good and I'm not used to being able to eat more than one thing on a menu! Next time, I may pick up a copy of their cookbook from their little shop.



Following a recent eBay fiasco where some shoes I bought were listed as the wrong size and I ended up having to sell them on rather than return them to the unhelpful seller, I was promised a trip to Vivienne Westwood to 'try on' the Lady Dragon shoes to see what size I needed, the plan being to then buy some cheap-ish-ly on eBay. Well, Aerospace Boyfriend decided that he would buy me some there and then, and that instead of a previous season's style, they would be the amazing brand new ones with the cherries on the toe instead of hearts! Squeeeeeee!



Here they are! Available online here!

I also got this cute cowboys and wagons print handkerchief with a polka dot border from the Cath Kidston shop. I wore it today as a headscarf.



We had ice creams on the lawn outside the Minster, mine was vegan chocolate, then we went on a romantic boat trip along the river Ouse. This is a view from the boat, of the York Guildhall and one of the four bridges in the city centre.



Finally, we went for dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant where we sat outside. I had a tomato garlic bread and some spaghetti with grilled vegetables, then we walked back to the car along the riverbank, and got there just as it started pouring with rain!

Unfortunately we then got stuck in a traffic jam for three hours on the way home, but it was still a lovely day.

Here we are enjoying some incredibly sour lemonade:



And me with a big door knocker outside one of the city's famous 'haunted houses'.

My new baby Neice, Vivien of Holloway and a Scary Birthday!

On July 11th, my sister Ginny gave birth to baby Elanor Paige, my first neice. Here she is! I am bemused by babies, as you can see.



July 11th was also the day Areospace Boyfriend turned 30! We spent the day together on our own, I got him lots of presents including DVDs and Star Wars collectibles, and made him a lovely three-course meal and birthday cupcakes to celebrate and allow him to hide from the rest of the world (he is not taking it well).

Here are the birthday cocktails I made!



Mmm, garish!



Slurp.



The umbrellas had absorbed quite a bit of flavour.

Our friend Ciana's birthday also fell during the same week, so we arranged a joint birthday party at The Hellfire Club, Manchester. The restaurant is horror-themed and we got the place to ourselves, as there were over twenty in our party. The food was lovely and the atmosphere was great, they also made me my own special vegan menu which consisted of some gorgeous spicy roasted peppers, a tasty mushroom and rosemary risotto, and an enormous exotic fruit salad.

Here is the birthday boy tucking into his prawn cocktail starter, stuffed into a huge pineapple! He then proceeded to eat a steak which was bigger than his face, and a sticky toffee pudding.



Here is Ciana looking lovely, and eight months pregnant, not that you can tell! (hat made by me, available here!)



We stayed there drinking for about five hours, as you can tell.



Our tables stretching off into the distance:




In the last picture you can see my lovely new dress, which was bought for me from Vivien of Holloway. My friend Kathy also has these in stock at Rockers England.


(Picture copyright Vivien of Holloway/Jazz Hans Photography/Anna Fur Laxis)

Shack Shakin' in the Rain!

Last Monday, Some friends and I travelled to a remote pub on Saddleworth Moor to see Th'Legendary Shack Shakers play. They were great! On the way there, there were thunderstorms and downpours, and this is the flash flood we drove through on the way. Despite there only having been five minutes of rain, it covered the wheels of the car!



Here are the band in action. The gig was upstairs at The Royal George, a family restaurant/pub and was organised by the Saddleworth Blues Club. It was rather strange; one side of the room was populated with damp psychobillies who had all crammed into a few cars to drive over from the city, the other side consisted of the ageing gents of the Blues Club, sat around tables like they were at a wedding, but still obviously enjoying it.



Banjo!



Col. JD Wilkes on harmonica



The 'shithouse bass'!



I Bought one of their records which I didn't have yet, Swampblood, a shirt, and I took a poster off the wall and had JD sign it. The Colonel is also a talented artist, you can see some of his comics and quirky, grotesque sideshow banner paintings at his site, www.jdwilkes.com along with his writing and film projects.

If you haven't heard the Shack Shakers, I insist you do so immediately! Their unique Southern Gothic sound draws together elements of blues, punk, polka, hillbilly and horror and encompasses a raw, unpretentious, almost psychotic fervour for traditional American culture and music. A review of the gig will be featured in the next issue of TNS Records Fanzine, out next month (ish!)

The Summer Dress - Complete!

I haven't blogged in a few weeks because I have been busy with work and some other bits, but I did get a chance to finish my dress! I wore it to the burlesque here in Manchester last month. Here it is! I'm fairly happy with it; it's not perfect but it looks OK.



I also got a haircut, finally. Here it is upon coming back from the hairdresser, where I got a cut and set under the hood dryer for £20! There was an old lady in there having the exact same thing done.



Here it is the next day. The set is less structured than I usually have it when I do it myself.




Here is little Scamp dog interrupting my sewing with his favourite trick. He loves to sit on his bottom like a meerkat, strange dog.



Aerospace boyfriend also bought me an aquarium. It now has a little group of tropical inhabitants, including three albino corys, a lovely betta (siamese fighting fish), and two African dwarf frogs! There were also some baby swordtails which had bred in my boyfriend's tank, but these unfortunately became dinner for the betta :(



Here is Sir, my male betta.



Some other bits of news to come in the next few days, but really I have been doing nothing but work! I can't wait to be able to have a break.