My Swish vintage clothes swap

Clothes swapping - ain't it great. My Swish events offer the perfect opportunity to swap those unwanted clothes cluttering up your wardrobe for new-to-you gems from beyond your circle of friends.

Brighton is full of stylish folk, so there are always fabulous finds to be had, but their first ever 'vintage and retro swish', held at the Blind Tiger this Sunday, was in my humble opinion, the best yet.


Goodie bags with free copies of Vintage Explorer magazines, tea and Cloud 9 chocolate brownies served on vintage china from Roses All Over and vintage styling and shopping courtesy of from Emily Inglis from Wooden Hill Boutique - and all that on top of free clothes!

Helping the Swishettes sort, tag and hang the clothes, I got to have a sneaky peak at the best bits before the snatching began, and managed to bag a cute green beaded knit, canary yellow floral summer dress, 1960s pop art mini for a friend and, the steal of the day/month/year - a Marc by Marc Jacobs sun dress!

Living it up in Uppingham

One of my bestest friends got married in her old boarding school in Uppingham, an affluent market town in Rutland, this weekend. It was a perfect day, full of happiness, love and chatter.

Being a summer wedding in a grand location, it was the ideal excuse for everyone to dress up, and I chose to debut my £10 eBay bargain buy - the Mad Men dress - matching it with the handbag I wore to my own wedding, picked up for £5 at Vintage @ Goodwood, and my much loved Swedish Hasbeen x H&M sandals.


As we had some time to spare before the big event on Saturday morning, we pottered around the shops and came across a rather splendid, albeit somewhat overpriced, vintage boutique called Legacy.

I tried on another Joan Harris-esque pencil dress, complete with this season's 'on-trend' scalloped collar detail, and as it fit so perfectly, and I was on a bit of a pre-wedding high, ended up walking out £50 down - expensive, but special.

The Mad Men dress

I recently sold a whole load of clothes on eBay, meaning that I had £70 in my Paypal account to play with. As it costs to take money out of said Paypal account, of course it all went straight back into eBay - good set-up they've got there.

So the 'sorry you were out' cards, which now read 'something for you' - much more enticing - have been piling up over the last week and today I trekked up to the post depot to pick of my parcels of joy.

The item I was most excited about getting my hands on was an original 1960s gold threaded floral and paisley print dress. No one else had bid on it and I won for just £7.50 plus £3 P&P - a grand total of £10.50!

It looked gorgeous on the site, and I thought it'd be the perfect dress to wear to one of my good friend's weddings in the summer.

You can never be sure of the sizing when buying things through eBay, especially when they're vintage, so I was a little anxious that it wouldn't fit, but it does - perfectly!

The lining is silky, the material heavy, the gold thread catches the light beautifully and it hangs in a way that means it will swish and swoosh on the dance floor.

I really didn't want to take it off - June can't come soon enough.

Oh, and did I mention that it cost just £10.50? TEN POUNDS AND FIFTY PENCE! I have to win some kind of bargain-hunting award for this. Where do I pick it up?

1960s wardrobe update

As well great deals on the high-street, I've come across some fabulous vintage bargains this month.

This delicately embellished Betty Draper-esque cream cardigan was just £8 from a new vintage shop in the North Laine, part of the expanding To Be Worn Again empire. All items are uniformly priced, with shirts starting at £3, shoes at £5 and dresses £8. Well worth a visit!


These next two 1960s dresses were just £2 each from a mess of a stall at the Upper Gardner Street Market - the second-hand trader was trying to get rid of a load of stock he "couldn't be bothered" to sort out, making for some special finds for those who were willing to rummage. And I'm not one to shy away from a good rummage...


I love the collar on the brown shift, which I think is very Peter Pan but Irish says is more 'Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves', and the checked dress has a feminine flare that looks great with a skinny belt.


And, while my wardrobe is fit to burst with vintage dresses, I just couldn't resist this flower power pop art shift - £15 from a pop-up vintage shop in Leeds Corn Exchange. I can't wait to wear it with bare legs and sandals in the summer.

Lanvin for H&M - inspiration from the past

I haven't been blown away by Lanvin's collection for serial collaborator H&M - a few too many corsages and bling details for my liking. I may be in the minority of people who wouldn't want Carrie Bradshaw's wardrobe - more specifically, I'd take the wardrobe, possibly turn it into a study, but she could keep the clothes.

However, the presentation on the homepage reminded me of the Theatre de la Mode exhibition I've recently been researching for a piece I'm writing on the history of the little black dress.


To celebrate France's release from German occupation in 1945, and to reinvigorate creativity in an industry heavily restricted by wartime rationing, the top French designers of the day, including Jeanne Lanvin, presented their designs on Elaine Bonabel's wire dummies.

Premiering in Paris' Theatre de la Mode, the show exhibited collections by designers such as Balenciaga, Balmain and Nina Ricci, and finished its world tour in 1946 at the De Young Museum in San Francisco.

Looking back, as well as the obvious Eighties influence - acid brights, tulle skirts and OTT detailing - the inspiration for Lanvin's highstreet collection can be seen in much earlier pieces by the French fashion house.

I love the floral detailing and va va voom volume skirts of these evening dresses from online archives, though perhaps a little bit more expensive than the H&M pieces...


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