(Virtual) Retail Therapy...

Hello my lovelies, 

This past weekend saw me undergo an Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF). Thanks to a spectacular fall back in September, I ruptured a disc in my neck, which has been causing me a lot of pain. On top of the MS, this was almost unbearable and surgery was the only option available to me. So, on Saturday, I put myself in the very capable hands of Mr Andrew Brodbelt at the Walton Centre. I managed to persuade the hospital to release me last night, so I am now recovering at home. I have a neck like a tree trunk and am not really able to swallow properly, however in between my naps and painkillers, I thought I would try to cheer myself up with a touch of virtual retail therapy.

This face needs to be cheered up, right?

The answer to the above is obviously, yes. 

So, let's have a look at what's been cheering up this face, shall we?

I have been literally slobbering over the Heyday range of clothing. Namely, the brown 1940's wartime suit, modelled here by the beautiful Fleur de Guerre, from Diary of a Vintage Girl. I am also coveting a pair of these Navy Swing Trousers, which are absolutely gorgeous. They also look really comfy! I am pleased to report that Heyday also offer gift vouchers for any value between £10 - £1000! I think I should give my husband the nod about this!

I have also been whiling away the hours dreaming of owning some of the gorgeous items available on the Rokit website. There are some stunning items available on there - if only my purse strings would stretch that far!

The teadress, the green knee-highs and the cute little playsuit all caught my eye this afternoon! One thing I do have to say about this website is that there is a LOT of variety on there, lots of different eras to choose from, so if you are looking for a perfect seventies outfit or a forties one - Rokit may be the perfect place for you!

Since I will be recuperating from my operation for a significant amount of time, I have been considering my crafting options. I want my recovery time to be productive.

I came across the Free Vintage Knitting site and will definitely be delving into their patterns to see if I can actually create anything - I'll keep you posted! 

OK my lovelies, I is a tired one now, so off to bed again for me. What clothing items are you coveting at the moment? Where do you prefer to do your vintage shopping? 

TTFN dearies, I'm off to mope elsewhere... xx

Post-Cake Rambling at Amberswood Nature Reserve

Hello again dearies, 

If you have read the previous entry, you will know that the afternoon on Easter Saturday was spent gorging on delicious coffee, finger sandwiches and cake. After all of that carb-y goodness, we needed to move move move, so we did a quick dash back to Ruth's and Caroline's, to change into some more appropriate walking attire, before meeting up with Mark from Spiralling Leaf, for a lovely 2.5 hour jaunt around Amberswood, a beautiful 160-hectare nature reserve in the Borough of Wigan.

It really was a glorious evening, so I wanted to share it with you. Due to me leaving the camera in the car (again), all of the shots in this post were taken by Tanya.

Katanya Simm 2014 ©

Katanya Simm 2014 ©

Katanya Simm 2014 ©

Katanya Simm 2014 ©

It was a fabulous way to end a fabulous Saturday (and burn off some of the 1,000001 calories we consumed during tea!

The Friends of Amberswood website has a wealth of information about the local area and they organise 'health walks' on the 1st Sunday of every month. If you are looking to get out and about and take in some beautiful scenery, why not have a look at their events page or get involved?

How did you spend your Easter weekend?

Clare x

Anyone for Tea?

Good afternoon lovely readers, 

To celebrate Easter Saturday this year, a few of us got ourselves dolled up and headed out to the beautiful Willington Hall Hotel for a spot of afternoon tea.

Willington Hall, Katanya Simm 2014 ©

Willington is a small village in the heart of Cheshire and the hotel is a very popular venue for weddings and wedding receptions (my own wedding reception was held here back in 2008)! Needless to say, there was a wedding yesterday as well and I wish I had managed to snap some of the outfits worn by the guests as they were simply stunning. 

Here's a shot from my wedding day, with my younger brother, my hubby and my niece & nephew!

My wedding, June 21 2008, G E Dyson 2008 ©

Willington Hall was built in 1829 by a Nantwich-based architect, George Latham. The Hall was built in what Latham referred to as "Queen Elizabethan" style. Needless to say, this is one classy place, set back in the Cheshire countryside. You can read more about Willington Hall's history on their website. 

A few friends and I wanted to go for tea, so I suggested Willington Hall, knowing that this would be a lovely (and local) venue for our inaugural afternoon tea trip. 

We were not disappointed! 

The tea itself was superb. I, ironically, chose to drink coffee, along with the gorgeous Ruth (I'm absolutely gutted that I didn't get a proper shot of her superb outfit!), Caroline and Tanya partook of the tea. I was a little surprised that there was not a selection of teas to choose from, but the girls didn't seem to be bothered about that!

Food glorious food! C L Peartree 2014 ©

Then the pièce de resistance arrived... a glorious collection of finger sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, jam, walnut & coffee cake, miniature crème brulées, chantilly cream-filled choux buns and chocolate pots filled with crème patissière and topped with berries. Deeeeeeee-licious! 

Here are some shots of the yumminess! As I said, I hardly took any photos - I was too excited about sandwiches and cake, so I've had to pinch a couple from Tanya, who had the foresight to actually take some photos!

Afternooon Tea, Katanya Simm 2014 ©

We did get rather giddy consuming all that sugary goodness and our decorum may well have suffered slightly:

Tanya was excited that there was just SO MUCH cake! C L Peartree ©

It all  became a bit too much at one point and there was a mini cake-tastrophe!!!

Cake-Tastrophe! C L Peartree 2014 ©

Much fun was had all round and I'm sure that there will be many more tea weekends to come!

Ladies that lunch! C L Peartree 2014 ©

The beautiful Ruth and Caroline! C L Peartree 2014 ©

Hope you enjoyed seeing how we spent Easter Saturday. If you are ever in the area, do pop along to Willington Hall and sample some of their lovely fayre - they have a wide (and delicious) range of food on offer and the prices are very reasonable.  

The girls and I had so much fun! We will definitely be making afternoon teas a more frequent weekend activity, so if anyone has any recommendations for places to visit around the North West, shout up!

Thanks for reading! Toodle pip!

Clare x

Shoes and (Navy) Blues

Hello sartorial readers, 

As we know, I have decided (in my 31st year) that I need to move from slob to stylish. Urgently! My wardrobe is in a complete mess and I plan on overhauling all of it. Alas, I do not have a secret pot of gold, thus I am limited to updating my wardrobe over time - and (you lucky lot, you) I am using this here blog to chronicle my progress. 

Yesterday morning en route to the wonderful land of "WORK", I had a shoe disaster. I cannot show you the extent of the shoe disaster (which shall henceforth be known as "SHOEGATE"), however, my work flats (which were a black ballerina pump, with daisy fabric interior), committed shoe-icide (that's a word now, folks), as I alighted the train in the morning. As such, I was forced to do an emergency stop at Sainsburys (the only shoe-stocking establishment open at 0812). I toyed with the idea of replacing my shoes with an identical pair, until I spotted these beauties:

They were an utter steal at £8... then to my delight, 25% off at the till, bringing the grand total to £6! They are comfy, stylish and will go perfectly with the 'sailoresque' top that I picked up at Next a few weeks ago!

OK, well the sun is shining and I have laundry to dry.... 

I will update you in a short while with my plans for the Easter Bank Holiday weekend! 

Clare xx

Staying Stylish on Soggy Saturdays

This weekend has been quite the lazy one - which is something that I've been needing for a while, thanks to a recent MS flare-up and a pending neck operation. Yet, as I write this, I am struggling to avoid that Sunday-night anxiety, which precedes the beginning of the working week. You know what I mean, right? However, yesterday was spent catching up with 2 of my favourite ladies and exploring one of my favourite places!

The hubby and I decided that we would spend Saturday taking a wander around Delamere Forest, which is one of the most beautiful areas local to home. We invited a couple of friends to come with us and it was a most splendid day. The wet weather predicted by the dear old Beeb stayed away until we were back in the cars for the homeward journey. Hurrah!

Sadly, I failed to charge my camera, so photos are somewhat lacking - but do have a look at the Visit Delamere website - there are some gorgeous shots on there and there is so much to do - your life is lacking if you've never visited! I'm not going to lie - I'm quite the hippy at heart - but my usual attire is errs on the side of function over fashion. As such, I was looking more than a little functional in a pair of old black leggings (aka "The Growbags") and a faded black & blue jumper dress, all topped off with muddy walking boots and a purple mac. Definitely functional and I'm rather grateful that there are no images capturing that delight.

I try to spend a lot of time outdoors, in nature, but I would much prefer to look a bit more presentable during these mini adventures, but how? Cue an evening in front of the computer, drooling over things I do not (yet) have in my wardrobe!

There are some beautiful items available on the RainMac website. Retro PVC macs with matching/contrasting bow belts and even rain hats. Oh the happiness to own some of these! They are definitely going on my 'must purchase soon' list! Take a look!

Are these not divine? The Carnaby- full length is currently showing an online price of £89.00. There is a selection of waterproof hats priced between £32.00-£65.00 and the Bow Belts are so cute and quite reasonably priced at £29.00. I will have to drop some hints to my hubby about birthday presents ;)

I also found these gorgeous wellies on Welly Warehouse:

These are called Splash - Miss Chic and are currently selling for £26.99. 

I also spotted these beauties! They are really stunning and are currently on sale, reduced from £79.00 to £29.99... extremely tempting! 

As much as these are beautiful, though, I'm not sure how much walking they'd stand up to - which led me to Dr Martens new floral range, which includes these gorgeous boots in Vintage Rose (if only I could justify the £120 price tag)!

In lieu of all of the above, I suppose that I should brace myself for this year's April showers by getting myself a new brolly, if nothing else!

How do you stay stylish rather than soggy?

xx

Colds, Curls and a Lisa Freemont Street - 50K Subscriber Giveaway!

Hello beautifuls,

Today has found me feeling sorry for myself for the third day running, as I battle the dreaded lurgy and an MS relapse. 

In a desperate bid to cheer myself up, I managed to at least fashion my hair into something half-decent. As somewhat of a newbie to styling my hair in a 'vintage-inspired' way, I am rather pleased with the result. What do you think?

Face Redaction... Thanks phone!

In between the moaning and groaning about my current state of ill health, I enjoyed a little time on YouTube. I caught up on a couple of my favourite vintage ladies: A Vintage Vanity, Pin Up Doll Ashley Marie, Cherry Doll Face and of course, the fabulous Lisa Freemont Street.

Now, I am sure that I am preaching to the converted, when I say that the videos that all of the above-mentioned ladies are utterly essential for the newcomer who is looking to glean important information on vintage looks and styles, how to ensure your victory roll doesn't have a saggy backside (who likes a saggy backside?) and whatnot. Well, the aforementioned Lisa Freemont Street (who also has a fantastic website here) has reached an amazing 50,000 subscribers and this generous gal is hosting a giveaway to celebrate!

The giveaway video is here.

All you need to do is comment on the video (and you should subscribe to her channel if you aren't already - go do it now).

The giveaway is open internationally and there really are some amazing prizes on offer! So go and enter now! Go!

The winner is being selected on April 15th, so there's not much time left!

OK done? Welcome back.

I will be doing a post on the lovely ladies of Youtube Land soon - my way of saying thank you and ensuring that you all know to go and subscribe to their channels.

In the meantime, I shall top up on the vitamin C to kick this cold to the curb and stop feeling quite so sorry for myself, *sob sob*.

Toodle pip!

Clare x

Sartorially Challenged?

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to come over and check out my blog.

"Oh goodness, another vintage blog?" I hear you cry. 

Well, yes and no.

Let me introduce myself.

The hubby and I in January 2014... True Love

My name is Clare and my 31st birthday is currently approaching. Rapidly. As such, I thought it was high time that I started to love myself and to start celebrating who I am. I have always felt quite out of place, my fashion sense, so I understand it, has been questionable at best. No more! 

I am not going to lie - I am overweight. I currently wear a UK size 22. As my size has increased, my self-confidence has decreased and any style I may have originally had went out of the window and was replaced my lots of black, baggy clothing which I used as a way to hide myself away. 

I have recently become aware that I am dreadfully unhappy with the current state of play. I have also realised that life is precious and that I no longer want to hide myself away. I want to shine.

So the point of this blog? The point is to track my journey from what I believe to be sartorially challenged to sartorially vintage... and at least... sartorial. Hopefully, I will also be tracking my journey from fat to... less fat. I'm all for curves... but let's face it, when your curves have curves and it makes you unhappy, there's just no point.

So where does the vintage come in?

I have ALWAYS been a massive fan of classic styles. The beautiful shapes from the 1950s particularly. I've just never before had the courage to embrace fashion in any shape or form. Until now. 

Life is too short to hide away in the shadows and I've begun to realise that I am allowed to dress my large frame and make an effort. I have been reading some excellent vintage fashion blogs lately - namely Diary of a Vintage Girl, Yesterday Girl and Victory Rolls and Roses, to name but a few. These girls are absolutely beautiful and the most beautiful thing about them all is that they have shunned society's pressures to dress 'just so' and have developed their own vintage style and stuck up a middle finger to those who think they are crazy. Lovely ladies, I salute you. 

Of course, none of the ladies mentioned above are in the slightest bit 'plus size', but I am not letting that put me off. I am going to embrace my own femininity in a way that makes me feel happy and beautiful - and this is where I'm going to track my progress. 

Want to come along for the ride?