theprimgirl /

Sunny Side Up

I do rather love a day trip to the British coast and Cromer in Norfolk is a classic seaside destination. You can’t ignore the kitsch irony of an English beach on a dark and cloudy autumnal day. The idea of optimism and fun is there, but everyone is freezing, unexcited and most probably parked up eating chips in their car whilst watching the sea. Decayed and disused rides, battered ice cream shacks, abandoned benches and grey skies. In the amusement arcades; the polar opposite, bright flashing colour, neon glowing, clashing sounds of the machines, forced fun, mini bursts of excitement under the stained ceiling tiles and strip lights. So British, so charming in it’s dilapidated state. Much as I love the kitsch beauty of these kinda places, I also find them ever so bleak, they smack of realism, weathered folk queuing in their wheelchairs for hot chips, obese dogs being carried by their equally overfed owners, plastic flowers in the misted up cafe windows and shops selling sun-faded souvenirs of their town. I love the tone of faded beauty in places like this, I love the neon boneyard in Vegas, I love Coney Island, I love Blackpool….but by gosh, I’m glad I can choose not to live in those places, I couldn’t take the extremes of seasons, the burst of people in the summer, followed by the neglect of winter. It is those extremes that make these seaside towns so wistful and austere. It’s like life and death happens to the town every year. When the sun shines down on this little town, it’s the cutest darn thing, it just seems to die a little when the sun stops shining.

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theprimgirl /

Something & Nothing

  1. Flowers in mini bottles.
  2. 1960’s cat ornament.
  3. Framed 1957 London Underground map.
  4. Wire chair that James made me from a Champagne cork cage.
  5. Kate Moss by Banksy and some 1960’s cat ornaments.
  6. My most favourite ornaments.
  7. 1940’s tapestry cushion on our 1950’s vinyl sofa.
  8. Bookshelf.
  9. 1970’s stag chair.
  10. My chest of drawers that I adore.
  11. Malcolm.
  12. 1950’s dress hanging in my hallway.
  13. 1950’s rug under our Ercol coffee table.

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theprimgirl /

A Prim & Proper Exhibition

A delighted gal was I, when my shop Prim Vintage Fashion was asked by The Forum in Norwich to dress the set for an upcoming exhibition! Jubilee Journalists, in the Fusion Digital Gallery at The Forum, showcases the Diamond Jubilee as seen by Norfolk’s younger generation. Over 30 young people received journalism training from The Eastern Daily Press, BBC Radio Norfolk and BBC Voices in a Norfolk County Council organised venture. The resulting films, stories and images are then projected on the huge digital screen that wraps around the walls inside of the gallery.

To add a little extra to the exhibit, I was asked to display a selection of dresses which would have been typical of young women in 1952 when the Queen took to the throne. I spent a fair while stressing about how best to show the era, short dresses, long dresses, daywear, cocktail gowns….I am pretty fussy when it comes to showcasing my shop and my style, but alas, when I arrived to dress the mannequins the dresses I had planned were too small for the slightly larger than described mannequins! So after a very quick rethink I opted to show 4 versions of the same classic 1950’s silhouette. Knee length dresses with nipped in waists and full skirts, lovely! 3 brightly printed cotton ones, I like the clash of the patterns next to each other, and one prom style sugared almond pink dress, so, although not the dresses I originally planned, the exhibit adds a pretty cool extra dimension to the work on the screens, without distracting from it. I ruddy adore dresses and putting them on display, my favourite part of owning a shop is the window displays, so taking part in this is a real big Yipppeeee!

Jubilee Journalists is free and is on until 25th August http://www.theforumnorwich.co.uk

Dresses from Prim Vintage Fashion http://primvintagefashion.com

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Summer Daytrippin’

I had a feeling in my tummy that we needed a good summer day trip, the sun was a blazin’ so we borrowed the coolest green VW Camper from James’ brother for the day! No map, no Sat-Nav, just a quick sunny adventure for the two of us. We ended up in Ranworth, on The Norfolk Broads, sat in the sun eating, climbed up to the rooftop of a church for some utterly peaceful views and mooched about the sleepy village. We stumbled across a village hall beer fest and this ace house with a charity book sale in their car port…it looked like something from a late 1970’s American movie…..loved it! Then we headed out to Winterton beach to watch seals, kites and people. Sun-swept and wind-kissed, we took the slow route home in the camper as the hazy sun came down over Norfolk. Days like these are good.

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