Happy Easter

Well Happy Easter to you all! Is anyone actually here? Reading this. Echoes.....




Latest addition to my Collection!


Anyway! If I get my circle skirt finished on Saturday night I might even be out on my bike as this gets published! I haven't been out on her in ages due to being busy at weekends a lot of the time, dark evenings and her lack of lights! So really weekends are the only time I can get out on her.

My Beautiful Bike!

My other half is away in India for another week or so on business so it means I get to tidy up the house a little, do my own thing and spread my recently acquired sewing paraphernalia around the lounge! It also means sleeping with my hair in pin curls and rollers as he's less than fond of that particular vintage girl trick!!

I'm hoping to treat you to some photos from Colchester Jazz club next week, after my new skirt's outing! If I can persuade a friend their might even be pictures of me dancing! Aren't you just the luckiest!!

I hope you're having a great Easter Weekend wherever you are! Ah Creme Eggs are wondrous things!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my little corner of the Internet! All interaction is very much appreciated!

Jo :-)

Vintage Style Trousers

Gosh. Organisation. A post written last night, to be published this morning. Oh my! Long may it continue!

Now when I say vintage style trousers I'm thinking wide legs, high waist. Typical thirties and forties types as it were. Vivien of Holloway's beauties come to mind!

I've had a couple of pairs of denim wide legged, somewhat high waisted trousers for a year or so now. They're beginning to get rather worn out, I wear them constantly! One pair now has a hole on the inner thigh and in a wild moment, this happened:

Never let me loose with a seam ripper....

You can see where they are worn on my legs, knees and annoyingly large bum! Having pulled one pair apart and laying it out on (totally innapropriate for work!) thin cotton denim I've come to the conclusion that I may need to buy a new pair. Which makes me sad. I've got comfy in these trousers!!

So, I've been on the hunt for some around the interweb and here is what I've found!

Vivien of Holloway 1940s Swing Trousers

Photo from VoH website. Theirs not mine! I just think they're pretty!

Beautiful, classic 1940s design. Only £45 so a bargain really for such good quality clothing. I own a circle skirt dress from here and it's wonderful. My only issue with it would be that it would get wrecked at work! For a smart pair of trousers though, fab!!

A|Wear Ireland Ginger High Waist Wide Leg Trouser




Photo from A|Wear Ireland's Website. Theirs not mine!

 I think these are rather pretty. Certainly not work trousers, but they're currently £9 (?!?) on sale on the website in very limited sizes. If they had my size, I'd definitely be buying a pair!

South Wide Leg Fashion Trousers

From Very's website. Theirs not mine!

I like these, although they have a certain seventies vibe. They come in black and white as well. Also in the sale on Very's website. A bargainous £8. I'd prefer soemthing in denim for work though for the hard wearing properties!

Having had a nose around I think my only decent option for work is to make a pair (once I can get my hands on some nice sturdy denim!) using my old ones as a pattern. I'm intending to make them a bit wider to easily accomadate more layers in the winter and a bit of a higher waist, just cos! I've not made trousers before so I'll make sure to keep you updated! If anyone is actually reading this!

Also, I'd highly recommend Shop Style for searching for clothing online. It's where the trousers above have come from. It came up first on my search engine earlier, but I had already heard about it via Retro Chick's blog post reviewing them so was keen to give them a try!

That's all for now folks!

Everyday Vintage

So I'm an aircraft engineer. I work with my dad (which is mostly wonderful!) and therefore I have no specific uniform in which to go to work everyday.

So what's a vintage loving gal to do. I need to stay warm. I need to be able to wriggle my arms into tiny spaces and I'd still like to look like me.

I have to say, high waisted trousers have made getting that 'vintage look' a lot easier. Especially in the summer when I'm not wearing two costs and you can see they're high waisted.

So my usual uniform for a work day is layers. Leggings (or thick tights!) with a vest and a t shirt tucked in. Then a thinner long sleeved top tucked into my high waist, wide legged (ish!) trousers and as many jumpers and costs on top as I need! Plus my steel toe capped boots and many many pairs of socks!

Generally though what pulls the outfit together is hair and make up. I'm going to be honest. A side bun or pony tail does most days. A beret when I need a hat. And a swipe of lipstick and mascara. It just helps me feel a bit more like me whilst elbow deep in an aeroplane!

New Shirt and Head Scarf!

Hello all!

A quick outfit post today! If you follow me on Instagram (@ofaVintageAir) you may have seen that I picked up some bargains in Tesco the other day. I often buy cheap tops and jumpers from places like Tesco and Primark as my things tend to end up with paint or grease or other stainy type things on them at work, so there's no point buying anything expensive!

One of the things I picked up was a lovely pastel coloured, striped shirt. In preparation for sunnier weather, I wore it one day last week and it mostly ended up covered by a jumper!

By the miracle of self timers....

I don't feel massively comfortable showing my stomach off so I'm wearing a white vest underneath (and it was a tad chilly!!) and felt much better about it! I did wear the shirt tucked in for a while, but preferred it like this!

Jo who rivets very rarely....

The head scarf I'm wearing is a cheeky offcut from my Spring Circle Skirt and kept my hair fairly well in check for most of the day.

So my outfit consisted of:

Headscarf: offcut!

Vest: Sainsbury's

Shirt: Tesco (£4)

Jeans: Charity shop. They're the same as my last work outfit post, but I've taken the turn ups down!

And as per usual my awesome "Hard as Nails" steel toe capped boots!

Obligatory Casual Leaning against a wall photo...

So that's all folks. It's been a busy week!

Jo :-)

On Your (Vintage) Bike

So after many failed attempts at posting a vaguely pre prepared post about the awesomeness which is my new-to-me toy, I have given up and started again. Bear with me! Pretty please :-)

So, my new-to-me toy. Her name is Bee, she's from the 1940s at some point. I could apparently look her up and find her exact birthday but I wouldn't know where to start!!

Bee is my birthday present from my other (better?) half, she's a beautiful loop framed, Dutch style bicycle. And very elegant she is too! Complete with three gears, rod brakes, and a wicker basket she is my new best friend.

When I collected her she was a little the worse for wear, but having replaced her tyres with cream walled ones (there was a choice of white or cream, but cream matched the mud guards!!) and changing the front brake pads, she rides beautifully.

Now all I need is for my friend to bring her Pashley home and we can go for lovely elegant bike rides. To the pub. Obviously!

So yes, just the ticket for getting my behind in gear and into all those wiggle dresses I long to buy!

There should be a couple of pics floating round this post somewhere. It's taking a bit of getting used to, blogging on the iPhone. Any tips?

Ciao!

Jo

Gold Buttons!

Just a quick note to say that I'm on Etsy!

Now that really is exciting for me! Only got one listing up at the moment, and thats for my bright gold buttons that have been languishing in my button box for quite a while now. I was intending to make a tailored black jacket with them on, to be a bit bling! However, my sewing machine isn't up and running yet (sad times) so I thought they'd be just the ticket to start my shop off.

Gold Buttons on Etsy!

I've got a few more bits to put up in the near future, and when my sewing machine is up and running again, hopefully that will include some handmade bits from the gorgeous fabric my boyfriend got me when he was in India earlier this year. There is some seriously beautiful fabric!

Anyways, back to the day job....

Ciao folks!

Jo



The Gloves are On!

Hello All :-)

So, first post. At least there's no expectations yet! I haven't got a fabulous outfit post to do yet, but I'm going to The Shuttleworth Collection's evening airshow on Saturday, then a wedding party in a hangar in the evening, so hopefully then. I'm thinking pencil skirt and my gorgeous fifties swing coat.

Photo Taken by me at a Shuttleworth Collection display last year.

What I do have to share with you is a couple of beautiful finds from Chelmsford market last week. I've been after a pair of white evening gloves for a while, keeping my eyes peeled and debating what to get. Having wandered around Chelmsford for a while I was in Debenhams trying on lots and lots of hats having a look at hats in the formal section when I spotted a nice silky pair of short, white evening gloves. 'Lovely!' says I and I even had a birthday voucher for them. The only thing was they didn't quite have that spark....we didn't quite click. Sadly there was no love at first sight, so they were replaced and my search amble continued.

I wandered over to the market and sat outside having my new healthy rabbit food lunch. This friendly pigeon came and fluttered around by me feet. Apparently the person before me on the bench was a messy eater....

Photo Taken by me. Fag ends, not dropped by me. Grr.

Pigeon paid with corner of cereal bar!

And then I made an awesome discovery :-) there was a lovely, lovely stall in the market selling some really beautiful old things. Seriously, I could have spent all day there. Amongst these was a pair of original fifties white evening gloves, still stitched together, still with their original tag. These were half the price of the Debenhams pair!!! Bar-jin as my friend Tash would say. They fitted wonderfully. Although I'm now a bit loath to take the tag off them, but I suppose I could always sew them back together....maybe.

But the best discovery of all was a pair of white kid leather, elbow length evening gloves with a three pearl button closure. This time there were sparks, lightning bolts and immediate falling in love. Alright so they're a tad on the tight side, but I'm losing weight, maybe my hands will slim down a tad....maybe!! But they are stunning. The softest thing ever. I'm so pleased I didn't buy the gloves from Debenhams, yes they were nice, but these are just perfect!!

 Photo taken by me. Pearl buttons.

 Photo taken by me. Tad tight, but still lovely.

Photo taken by me. Beautiful gloves, plus a pair of leather gloves I got from New Look for driving my other half's convertible, my hands get cold! And a sparkly, feathery (can you get a better combination?!) hair clip also from New Look. Both New Look items were on sale as well. Bar-jin!

So anyhoo, they're my goodies for the moment. Think my next update will either be on my bike, or my outfit on Saturday. Depends if I do any riding before then, and the way I'm feeling today it's doubtful!!

Ciao then!

Jo :-)