The Perfect 1930’s Fashion of Woody Allen’s Cafe Society

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If movies were beverages, Woody Allen’s Cafe Society would be a cool glass of smooth Champagne; sparkling and decadent. A beautifully enchanting and bittersweet film, set in 1930’s Hollywood and New York. This latest Allen offering has his usual perfectly paced wit and charm, with Jesse Eisenberg captivating in his lead role, particularly personifying a younger Allen, a modern embodiment of the man himself with his faultless delivery of the dialogue and eager awkwardness. The film has a gorgeous, subtle and easy pace alongside the scintillating quickness of the script. Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart are the fashion in this film, gah, what era is more cinematically superb than the 1930’s? This is a feast of fashion indeed.

Floaty, feminine fabrics, dainty and fragile details, the 30’s clothes in this movie are so expertly selected, with pastels and ditzy florals in abundance for day wear and jaw dropping glamour when it comes to the evening wear. We’re watching the Bette Davis era, the elegance and sophistication is magnified and each outfit creates heart-shaped eyes for the viewer. Frilled cape sleeves, floppy neck ties, slim lines and below the knee hemlines conjure up a time when fashion was neat and beautifully effeminate. On a fashion note alone, this stunning film is worth watching just for the red silk gown worn by Lively, which in my opinion easily rivals that green dress worn by Keira Knightley in the film Atonement. Oh my.

You’ll come away from this movie with the 30’s on your mind, eager to add some of that look to your wardrobe, trust me, you really will. You’ll want sherbet colours, delicate details and prim gloves, you’ll be inspired to add a bias cut to your repertoire – which is flattering for every shape – you’ll want a neat short curled bob in your hair and a beaded bag on your arm. The day wear is cute and accessible and the evening wear is pure luxury on your skin, be it crepe or silk, no gal can feel unnoticed in a 30’s gown. Scour sites like Etsy for originals and replicas, or seek out online vintage fashion stores like mine which have done the hard work for you and have found the best pieces. To wear authentic items can be a pricey affair, but these pieces are a true investment with their value constantly on the rise, they’re an excellent addition to any collection, plus if you take the time to search you can find amazing items at fair prices or you can simply invest in some accessories of the era to add to your modern look, giving a discreet nod to this perfect period.

Cafe Society is available to own on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download from 26th December 2016, courtesy of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, and I defy you to watch it and not be inspired to dress and dream as though you are living in the utter delight of the decade. Swoon.

 

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An American Adventure

I’m back! Back from a holiday that was brilliant beyond words! Having had our shop in Norwich for so long, James and I had to always take separate, if any, holidays and so finally we got to take one together; and my goodness it was good! We decided we were gonna take a holiday to celebrate James’ big birthday and then when our beautiful friends who live in NYC announced that they were getting hitched in the middle of Moab Desert in Utah, we decided that a road trip through USA was the only way to go! We flew to San Francisco and spent a few days staying with my long time bestie Kristin, and then picked up our hire car, a Jeep and headed out to the desert! Going via Big Sur, Santa Barbara, Las Vegas and Escalante before hitting Utah for the wedding! Then a few more days of exploring, through Beaver and back to Vegas before flying home!

I was brought up, very fortunately, with lots of emphasis on travel and so I’ve spent much time visiting USA before as well as having spent time there studying for my Degree, I ADORE America, that place truly has my heart and this trip was a pure delight! My eyes saw things they couldn’t quite believe, the scenery in Utah was other-worldly and the heat was insane…45 degrees in the desert!! Wooosh! The trip was mind-blowing and then the wedding of our brilliant friends made it even more special! A beautiful glamping weekend wedding with the heat and the backdrop of the desert, it was so very magical I cannot even try to describe it. Simply luminous with love.

The trip cost us money we don’t have and I feared James and I would drive each other crazy in a car for two weeks, but, it was worth every cent and squabble, what a wonderful adventure we had, a perfect start to our new non-shop chapter of life! I’m pretty snap-happy with my iPhone when travelling and seeing new things, so I documented the whole trip on my Instagram; lots of you appeared to enjoy sharing my journey with me, such fun! These are just a few highlights, if you wanna, you can see all my holiday snaps here!

What a ride! Now back to reality and pretty dresses! xx

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Williamsburg, Brooklyn

 

Williamsburg

On my recent, rather super holiday, I stayed with my friend Kristin in Brooklyn, NYC. Much as I love Manhattan, I’ve been lucky enough to see it many times and so it was ace to spend more of my time in Brooklyn on this trip. I’ve visited Kristin here before and loved it, this time I wanted to explore even more. So, with my camera in hand, I decided to explore the neighbourhood of Williamsburg on my way to meet another friend of mine, Simon, who is based in this cool spot. I’m a bit of an observer in life and I rather enjoy walking around looking at people and places; anywhere in America is great for this. I walked around some residential streets, it was a glorious sunny day and the dappled sunlight was hitting the clapperboard houses and the sun faded flags, America and patriotism go hand in hand from my experience. I love the irony of ripped faded stars and stripes proudly hanging next to the tatty doorways and rubbish bins. Walking around Williamsburg, it almost felt like a small mid- American town, cute houses with personalized and kitschly decorated front gardens, quaint dated hair salons and bars, and the odd friendly local eager for a chatter. The fact that this cool, independent area, with a ripe character of its own is a mere moment away from the craziest city on Earth is a wonderful contrast, I really love it.Williamsburg

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Instagramming NYC & Miami

Sometimes good things come out of bad things. Losing my dearest Grandfather earlier this year was a heart break. But, he left me enough money to take myself off on a much needed, probably well deserved and long awaited holiday; thank you Gramps. So in honour of his memory, I headed off to one of my most favourite cities in the World, NYC and had an absolute whirl! Having our shop means that James and I rarely get away together, a real pain, but, I have a bunch of friends stateside, most particularly my favourite, Kristin, and so I went to visit friends and get away from it all for a couple of weeks. Yay. One of the best holidays ever.

Kristin lives in Brooklyn, I adore it there, so different from the choas of Manhattan, I also love it there but I spent the bulk of my time exploring Brooklyn. Kristin had a work trip to Miami while I was there (it cleverly overlapped with my visit) so I got to be an extremely lucky girl and tag along on her business class trip there for a few days….pheweeeee, I have never seen such luxury, or heat, amazing.

Then a couple more days in NYC before heading home. A superb time, good friends, amazing weather, fun adventures and lots of head space from real life. I took heaps of photos so there is a whole bunch of blog posts on their way, but for now, if you don’t follow me on Instagram (why ever not it’s so much fun there) then here are a few highlights of my beautiful holiday. x

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  1. flying away….
  2. me in Brooklyn
  3. candy cane garden
  4. having a People’s Pop at the Brooklyn Flea
  5. new jumbo Leopard ring
  6. me and Kristin
  7. I love reading the city
  8. wherever I am I find fashion exhibitions; ‘Punk: Chaos to Couture’ at The Met
  9. the night is ours
  10. meeting up with my friend Simon
  11. me and Kristin watching Postal Service in Brooklyn
  12. wall art
  13. hello Miami
  14. stunning Art Deco district of Miami
  15. cocktails on the beach
  16. the Miami heat made us crazy, calm on flight there, jumpin’ on flight back
  17. bye Miami
  18. sunny Renegade Craft Fayre in Brooklyn
  19. NYFC
  20. love this
  21. byeeeeee Brooklyn, I heart you