Our Stylish Stall Girls

Singtank

You have probably heard of Josephine De La Baume. The beautiful actress, model, songstress and more famously, fiance to Mark Ronson.

However, you may not have heard of her band Singtanks, which comprises of herself and her younger brother Alexandre, whose scruffy stylish look is similar to many a Manchester man! He could teach you boys a thing or two about how to tie a neck scarf! Their music is mellow pop and they are so cool they were featured in the January issue of British Vogue.

At vintage threads, we love their style. Josephine loves to mix old things with new, just our kind of girl. As we have a market on the 5th I thought it would be a good idea to blog about them to give our vintage threads goers a little bit shopping inspiration. It will be the weekend after pay weekend and the sales are over, so if you are like me you will be desperate for some vintage bargains to mix with your sale buys to make your look more original (and more like josephine's) .

Vintage Glamour at the Couture Shows

John Galliano's Inspiration, Illustrations by Rene Gruau

Karl Lagerfield's Inspiration, Marie Laurencin 'Les Biches'

Two of the big couture shows for Spring ‘11 were obviously inspired by the glamour of the past and reminded us Vintage Thread's girls why we love vintage!

John Galliano at Dior was inspired by Rene Gruau, the illustrator who worked for Dior through the Forties andFifties. Gloves, amazing gowns, high waisted skirts and large fur coats came down the catwalk! After our last post on vintage beauty we couldn't help but notice the fabulous job Pat McGrath did on the make up. The girls just oozed glamour.

Karl Lagerfield at Chanel was inspired by 1920's artist Marie Laurencin. Drop waists and delicate details met Chanel's signature tweeds. As per usual though there was a twist and Lagerfield had all the girls wearing pointy flats which while they looked great on the models, I’m not sure a girl of average height could pull off the look.

Dior Couture Spring 2011

Chanel Couture Spring 2011

Vintage inspired make up

It's all well and good to have great vintage clothes but the truly glamorous women of the past have always had the make up to match. So, if you want to make the most of your vintage threads buys I would recommend some vintage make up inspiration. Whether you go for a slick of eyeliner and a red pout like a 1940s siren or, black smudged eye make up and nude lips like the 'it-girls' of the 1960s, getting your make up just right will definitely add to your vintage look.

Anna Mae Wong

Elizabeth Taylor

Brigitte Bardot

Twiggy

Edie Sedgwick

Marc Jacobs 70's inspired Spring/Summer 2011 Show

Dita Von Teese

Bring on the sun

Is it just me or has this winter seemed to last forever? I have met several bikini buying folk who have just got so fed up they have booked an early holiday and are dashing to sunnier climates in February. They have left me feeling a little (well maybe a lot) envious. I would be more jealous but this year for the first time in a long time I have a beach holiday booked for the summer- yay, I will eventually defrost. The excitement has already kicked in and I am outfit building already.

Sunglasses are probably key to everyone's summer outfit and I am regretting not buying some I saw at previous Vintage Threads but hoping there will be some equally great ones at future fairs. I am really lusting after some vintage Pucci ones, so big that the rest of my face will hardly be visible!

So, here is my summer sunglass inspiration. For those of you who aren't going to get abroad, it's worth buying some anyway, failing any sun appearing in the UK this summer, sunglasses can be useful in the bright snowy conditions our winter may bring.

70's inspiration for the boys

Recently we have been blogging about trends that have been mainly based around women. We have been inspired by an overload of women's magazines in the shops! But this week there is a huge amount of excitement around menswear with the fall collections showing in Milan.

We are loving some of the vintage inspired shows... especially Cavalli, which is very 70's.

We think the Vintage Threads man will love it too because the Vintage Threads man is dapper. He doesn't wear jeans hanging around his knees with Stussy t-shirts. He wears neck scarves, slim fitting trousers and good shoes. He is more inspired by Keith Richards than P.Diddy. Oh, and lots of our Vintage Threads men are fans of facial hair and quiffs, so we are guessing they will love the models chosen for the show.

We hope to see them around Manchester's Northern Quater soon and after the last few days shows they will have no reason to say men's fashion is boring.

Cavalli Fall 2011

70's Glamour

As mentioned in a few of our recent posts and in pretty much every trend reporting fashion magazine, the 70's are going to be huge this summer. It is a trend that all of us at Vintage Thread's are very excited about, we are desperate to get out and about on the streets of Manchester in large sunglasses, wide brimmed hats, bellbottoms and floating maxi dresses….we just have to wait for the weather to turn! The floor length that was popular in the 70’s would only absorb all the puddles at the moment.

Obviously, we are going to have to wear the look carefully, we don't want to look like we've turned up to a fancy dress as Abba. For some inspiration on how to make your original 70's pieces look current here is how the look was shown at the Spring/Summer shows. We are thinking along the lines of the arm candy of the Rolling Stones and the party goers at Studio 54. (image, Etro)

YVES SAINT LAURENT

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO

HALSTON

MARC JACOBS

Just Accessorize

There is a simple and easy way to update your wardrobe for Spring/Summer. Ditch the wooly scarves and gloves and replace with chunky jewellery, big sunglasses (I am desperate for a vintage Pucci pair) and silk scarves.

Vintage accessories are so easy to get hold of, especially from the 70's and 80' and in case you haven't heard, the 70's are going to be huge next season. Any regular at Vintage Threads will tell you that there are always suitcases filled with scarves and tables covered in fantastic plastic gold.

Next season is all about fun. Everyone is sick of playing it safe and hearing about the recession, so what better way to cheer ourselves up than with some £5 Pat Butcher earrings. For inspiration on how to pull off the bold look see Moschino Spring/Summer '11 where the girls looked fabulous in polka dot silk scarves and an overload of costume jewellery.

We do heart it

It has been a while since the last Vintage Thread's market and with the weather in Manchester being so miserable at the moment we are all desperate for something to cheer us up. So, while we are saving our January pennies and waiting for the next market, I have found a fabulous website www.weheartit.com to keep me inspired.

If you want to plan what bits and pieces you may be on the hunt for at the next vintage fair then search the site for photos on 'vintage' or 'fashion' and you may find yourself overdosed with exciting images.

Below are some of the best pics that I found today. I think I will add a floral dress, like the one the lady in the second image down is wearing, to my Vintage Thread's shopping list.

http://periculosusrabidus.tumblr.com/page/5

http://elizabethflint.tumblr.com/

http://community.livejournal.com/vintagephoto/5229630.html

http://abodyofthought.tumblr.com/

http://www.cliffhouseproject.com/photos/sfimages.htm

Who we want to dress like

This week's Grazia had a feature on 'who we want to dress like'. We couldn't agree more with their choices, the boho idol, Marie Helvin, 70's singer Stevie Nicks, rock chick Joan Jet and classic beauty Bianca Jagger. They also mentioned Spring and Summer shows where the influence of these style icons was apparent. As most of our wardrobe budgets will not stretch to new season Louis Vuitton, Vintage Thread's goers are going to stick to some original items from when these ladies were at their prime and hope that while doing so we stumble across some vintage Louis Vuitton.

Stevie Nicks

Bianca Jagger

Marie Helvin

Joan Jet