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Slim Aarons Summertime

Slim AaronsSummertime is coming, albeit very slowly and in fits and starts……but, the sun is surely on its way, yay! So when I saw that the Getty Images Gallery in London had a small exhibition of Slim Aarons work on, I knew it would be worth a trip. Being a big fan of Aarons’ work, especially his images documenting dreamy summers in the 60’s, I was pretty certain that taking some time out to gaze at his work would pop a spring in my step. And it did.

Joining the US Army in the 1930’s and serving as a photographer for the US military magazine ‘Yank’, Slim Aarons decided that the only beaches worth landing on were ‘decorated with beautiful, semi-nude girls tanning in a tranquil sun’. Along with his contemporary Henri Cartier Bresson, Aarons was also a pioneer of candid photography, preffering to show people in real situations, snapshots of life’s moments. And so after the war he headed to California to make a life photographing the rich and famous; creating some of the most beautiful depictions of life I have ever seen. Timeless and glorious, perfect compositions and breathtaking scenes. A lifestyle we surely all dream about living.

Swoon.

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Springtime is on the way

the prim girlYeeep-yeep! The first few peekaboo signs that spring is coming have made me a happy girl. Happy enough that I managed to get out into a patch of sun to shoot my new dress. Not quite ready to break out the summery colours yet but, twas indeed a treat to get the sun on my skin and see a few flowers showing the top of their heads in the soil!

the prim girl

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  • Dress-OC at Urban Outfitters
  • Boots- Aldo (2006)
  • Bag- Vintage
  • Nail Varnish- ‘Purple Ash’ by Models Own at Boots

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J’adore Couture

Wenda Parkinson in a Hardy Amies dress, photographed by Norman Parkinson, 1951

Haute Couture; the very best of dressmaking, the very finest of fabrics, the most specific tailoring, the most intricate embellishment, the most beautiful fashion in the world. As a girl whose heart beats faster at the sight of a well-made dress, it doesn’t get much better than this. One of my all time favourite places has an utterly divine exhibition on at the moment and I got my peepers on it last week. ‘Hartnell to Amies, Couture by Royal appointment’, is just perfect. The Fashion and Textile Museum, as always, is a great place to see an exhibition, great size, relaxed atmosphere, and always impeccably curated, on this occasion by Dennis Nothdruft and Michael Pick.

Models wearing Norman Hartnell for Vogue, 1953. Photographed by Norman Parkinson Wenda Parkinson in Hardy Amies coat, 1949. Photographed by Norman Parkinson Fiona Campbell-Walter with Julia Clarke and Hardy Amies, photographed by Norman Parkinson, 1953

This darling of a show focuses on the undisputed Kings of British vintage couture; Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies. With a stunning selection of their work, displayed beautifully and with great informative text alongside. We also get to see examples of hat couturier Frederick Fox. In addition to all this gorgeousness, we are treated to the sights of some other couture pieces including Worth, Digby Morton and Lachasse. It is always an absolute treat to see the fashion up close, to study the detail and craftsmanship. As a vintage shop owner, I am lucky enough to come across couture pieces myself. I currently have dresses by Hardy Amies, Lachasse and Worth in my collection which I love and will blog about separately. These photographs above are a few of my favourite from the work of infamous couture photographer, Norman Parkinson, beautiful. I did take some photos whilst at the show, not great but a bit of a glimpse at my pick of what was on display.

Norman Hartnell, Black crepe dress with bolero. 1938

Norman Hartnell. Black crepe dress, 1938

Norman Hartnell, pale bronze silk satin dress, circa 1946

Norman Hartnell, pale bronze evening dress, circa 1946

Norman Hartnell, blue crepe two piece suit, circa 1956

Norman Hartnell, two piece suit, circa 1956

Hardy Amies, red and black printed cocktail dress, circa 1960

Hardy Amies, copper satin cocktail dress, 1952

Hardy Amies, scarlet crepe evening dress, , 1980

Hardy Amies, scarlet dress, 1980

  • Black crepe evening dress with matching bolero, Norman Hartnell, 1938
  • Embroidered pale bronze silk evening dress, Norman Hartnell, Circa 1946
  • Blue crepe two piece suit, Norman Hartnell, Circa 1956
  • Dark red and black printed glazed manmade satin dress, Hardy Amies, 1960
  • Copper satin dress, fitted bodice, full skirt, Hardy Amies, 1952
  • Scarlet crepe evening dress, Hardy Amies, 1980

This wonderful exhibition is on until 23rd February

 

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The Things I Work With

Things I work with

I’m a lucky girl. Lucky because I get to work with and be surrounded by things that I love. Running my vintage fashion shop is a pretty great way to earn my pounds, but the actual shop is just a small portion of what goes into selling clothes. James is pretty much the salesman, he runs the shop most days, and very good he is at it too, he simply excels. I am behind the scenes, and there sure is a whole heap of stuff behind there. My role is to source the stock and then prepare it for the store. Prepping generally involves me being at home, out at the back of our house we have a garage which has been converted into my work space, it’s pretty cold in there but I have everything I need and my cats can visit all day long too, super! I take each item and wash it, whether it be by hand or in the machine and then I steam and iron it and do any fixings and repairs that it may need, making sure it’s in a tip-top shape for being sold. Each and every day I fall in love with an item, most usually a dress. I become amazed at the beauty of it and the detail it contains. I adore looking at old hand stitched seams, explicit tailoring, intricate detail and embroidery that would have taken a whole heap of love to create, it fascinates me all of the time.

My weeks are full and I love that fact. I do sourcing and prep work a few days a week, other days I blog, do admin, go to London, meet friends, oh and a couple of days a week I get myself to the shop to merchandise, clean and tidy and be the most sales-girly I can be. Running Prim involves more work than I have ever known and the stress of owning a shop can grind a girl down, but, in my heart I know that I would take this over an office job any day.

Things I work with

Things I wok with

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Things I work with

 

  1. key to my work space
  2. the Prim archives under wraps
  3. a mug of green tea, always
  4. boxes of dresses waiting to be prepped
  5. loving the fact I can put posters up like when I was a teen
  6. Kate on my wall
  7. more posters and my old radio
  8. ironing pile
  9. lace 1950’s Wendy dress
  10. steaming the dress
  11. beautiful
  12. sewing box
  13. original old zips to replace broken ones
  14. steaming a 1930’s lace and crepe gown
  15. keeping me company…and his own tail warm!
  16. steaming a Quant waistcoat
  17. amazing detail on this 50’s Heiress dress
  18. love the old hand stitching I discover in the seams

 www.primvintagefashion.com

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Shoop-Shoop Shooooes.

Goodness me, shoes are just glorious, what girl doesn’t love them? Like most, I have a pretty sizable collection of shoes. Some I wear to death, others mostly sit there to be admired and slipped on once in a while. I love both vintage and modern shoes, I love sexy high heels, I adore snakeskin and good old leathers, I love glitter and bow details……I also loooove boots, mostly brown boots and 80’s kitten heel ankle boots. With both my shoes and boots I like them to look lived-in and well-loved, I like to look like I walked a few blocks in them, don’t know why but I don’t like the look of brand new shoes, I want my shoes to look as if I have had good times in them. My bedroom is pretty littered with footwear, they are as much ornamental as they are wearable and as with all my vintage pieces, I like to wonder about where the shoes have been worn, who by and how much dancing have they done.

A few of my most favorite pairs of shoes are; my 1920’s silver leather shoes, so flapper, I imagine these danced the Charleston a few times! A great pair for all sorts of outfits that require a feminine and pretty neutral shoe, very dainty and girly, pretty comfortable too.

Another amazing pair are my 1940’s black suede shoes, I call these my ‘Cage’ shoes as they make it look like your feet are in little ornate cages, I love how the foot is pretty much fully on show at the same time as being covered, part of why I love shoes is that ultimately, I think women’s feet look so sexy in them and this pair of shoesies are a great example. These are so classically 1940’s and in stunning condition, you don’t see a lot of shoes like this, a great statement pair worn with a plain dress.

These 1980’s pink and white leather heels are just ace. So definitive of their era and pretty unusual too, great with skinny jeans and a blazer.

These 1980’s black suede and diamante bow slingbacks literally make my heart jump, sooo cute with their over sized bow and so feminine with their open sides and slingbacks…perfect with a black dress.

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