WHO WORE WHAT WHEN

Fashion Salvation

I was styling a shoot today for The Salvation Army that will appear in the press this week. Here are my own images from the day. Antonia who was today's photographer took some amazing images in some fabby sets that she created using different bits and bobs from the shop, and the student models looked fantastic and were very professional despite never having done anything like this before. I don't tend to blog and each and every shoot that I do, because after a while I think it would get a bit dull, for both me and anyone who reads this, but this shoot reminded me that to make a great outfit, you don't need a wardrobe full of designer labels costing the earth. Each of these runway inspired outfits cost less than £20 and all the money made goes to a worthwhile cause.

Vintage Valentino Blazer (only £5.99!!!!!!) So Balmain A/W 09!


These acid wash tapered leg, high-waisted jeans are only 99p! The 50s are still proving to be very popular and Kaeleigh, the hair stylist did an amazing job on the hair.




The middle girl's 'Sherlock Holmes' style tweed cape looked great, but when it came to posing for photos, I think she found it rather restrictive. I loved her animal print top, and I believe that she purchased this skirt straight after the shoot!

A new job...

I had a phone call from the lovely Sarah at The Salvation Army who are holding a fashion event for freshers and students on Monday 14th September. The event will include yours truly styling some student models in clothing from the stores and then all week, students will receive 20% OFF all their purchases, including clothing, furniture etc. It should be a great event and it's for a good cause!

Long time no see...

It's been ages, but I have been mega busy ok?

I have been to Belgium, been doing uni stuff including the dreaded dissertation...will it ever end???

Anyway, Belgium was amazing. It was our third year at Pukkelpop, a fantastic music festival, with clean toilets!!! It was great, although The Kenneth and I did frequently say to each other 'why are we doing this?' as we walked from stage to stage with aching feet, and then climbed into a cramped tent that was HOTTER THAN THE SUN at the end of the day!

The highlights were definitely Faith No More, Maximo Park and Florence & the Machine. Florence Welch looked fab in a sheer, flouncy chiffon dress and sparkly, sequins hotpants that showed when she twirled around the stage. See my pics...

Flo's stage was suitably 'dressed' too with floral arrangements and bird cages.

H-H-H-H-HOLA

I totally forgot I had done this interview with Spanish 'H Magazine' until I was scouring back issues for a photo shoot I had seen. I thought they had decided against using it. Can't really remember my answers to their questions so it would be nice to know what I had said, so I can scrutinize every last word and CRINGE, but alas, my Spanish does not extend much further than 'hola' and 'amigo'.

Lovely pics of Jess and Jenni!

What is in my bag?

Another tedious post that has been well overdone by bloggers across the world. Weirdly it doesn't seem to get old for me, even though I have read umpteen variations of this exact same post concept. Enjoy.

My purse is full of business cards, post it notes, photographs with no room for any cash, so it generally floats about at the bottom of my bag. Many a queue has been held up while I rummage around the bottom of my bag while people moan and tut. I am that annoying person! My sister bought me the Urban Decay eyeshadow pallet for my birthday one year and I use it all the time. The colour titles Peace is the best! Piriton tablets in case someone tries to kill me by feeding me eggs or nuts, and my new favourite bird brooch from Hungry Designs. I also must be the only person in the world without an iPhone. If The Kenneth is reading this...I would like one for Xmas please...or as a Graduation present...whichever happens first (hopefully Graduation)!

My hot pink leather purse is by Loop from Urban Outfitters and has two wee rabbits on it. I have been scouring eBay for the green version with fruit appliqued onto the front, but have not managed to find it yet! Being a computer geek, I always carry my pen drive with me, just in case I need to quickly download an important conspiracy type file a la Sandra Bullock in The Net! My CK sunglasses that I don't get to wear that often due to the atrocious overcast/rainy/stormy weather that we have in Scotland. Always with my marketing head on, I make sure that I have some Glasgow Craft Mafia related promo materials, in this case, a postcard, on me.

Thanks for looking around my bag!

90s vintage? WTF?

After nearly four years of running Pistol Whip Vintage.com and seven years selling vintage on eBay, I am closing the store. My heart isn't in it anymore, what with being bogged down with Uni and Styling work, and also the imminent launch of the magazine. It will be a sad time as I put so much work into it, but I cannot wait to get stuck into my new little venture!

As a self proclaimed Vintage Aficionado, I am always excited when new vintage shops spring up on the internet. Despite running Pistol Whip Vintage, I still shop other stores all the time, as I am constantly on the look out for fab vintage. I heard about Bitching & Junk Food a while ago and immediately forgot all about it, only to be reminded today by Topshop's Inside Out Blog.

My first impression was 'Wow!' finally some UK vintage sellers who are making an effort with their store photography and styling. I think that because I am so used to 'clever' USA based vintage sellers such as Nasty Gal, Bleubird and Urban Collection, it is always such a letdown looking at UK based online vintage stores that utilize tailors dummies as opposed to live models and have next to no photo editing skills or computer know-how.

On closer inspection, I realized that they only sell '80s and 90s vintage'. Whit? 90s vintage? I can understand 80s vintage, but 90s??? Maybe I am getting old, and need to understand that there are obviously a load of new younger, whippersnapper type vintage buyers and sellers who don't remember the horrors of bomber jackets and cheap synthetic shell suits from this era.

Personally I think that for an item to be classed as 'vintage' it needs to be a minimum of 25 years old. The Vintage Fashion Guild agree. The prices are steep, with some 90s dresses selling for £50/£60 and earrings at £18. In stark contrast to this, I was excited to read that they will be having giveaways! More info can be found on their site nearer the time.

The store has some nice pieces. I especially like this fringed leopard scarf and Kiss t-shirt:

and some really awful (90s?) pieces...





The styling was a bit off in some of the pics, a lot of it being a bit 6months ago. After a while, if I had seen a pair of these on the models, I wouldn't have been surprised:


Still, I feel I should applaud the people behind the store for attempting to give those pesky USA based vintage sellers a run for their money! The reason why those sellers are so popular and successful is because they pay close attention to what is on the runway, and are extremely good at forecasting trends and styling the shoots to replicate them as closely as possible. This, unfortunately is where B&JF falls down. But they are new and hopefully will go from strength to strength in the future and wave the flag proudly for British UK sellers!

Little boots...

I have boots on the brain at the moment...having gutted out part of my wardrobe, I found a pair of vintage victorian-esque ankle boots that I had completely forgotten about.

Can't wait to get some wear out of them, now that the Scottish Summer is apparently over.

Almost thigh high...

In this month's VOGUE, I was confused as to why PRADA ever thought that these were a good idea...

This look is most definitely not for me...however, inspired by QM's post about her new Topshop thigh high boots, I dug out a pair of over the knee boots I have had for ages, but never worn.

Even though QM made them look positively demure in the below image, I had always steered clear of them through fear of looking 'slutty'. I think I would definitely need to wear them with leggings and a pretty dress a la QM, rather than with bare legs.

Unlike QM's boots, mine come just up over the knee and are flat, as opposed to manically high wedged platform numbers! I bought mine in Next of all places. I wore my Topshop suede ones far more often, back in the day, over my jeans, and folded down to resemble something out of Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a good look at the time, honest!

My Hero!

The Kenneth has promised to buy me a dress for the wedding at the weekend. YAY! Perfect Man! So I am going to head into town in a couple of hours, choose it, then go for dinner at Wagamma (Two Chicken Katsu Curries please!) and then we are going to see the new Johnny Depp film in the cinema...I forget what it's called. Wish me luck!

Desperately Seeking Cheapness...

Got a wedding this weekend and as usual I don't have anything to wear, and as usual, due to my crappie job and student status, I have no money! Hence the trawling of supermarket clothing websites.

I unearthed this little gem from Asda:

It would fab with my big chunky wedged Aldo Boots

and my next hairstyle:



It would help satisfy my still lingering and unsatisfied lust for Matthew Williamson's pixelated tapestry dress from A/W 08. Ebay is offering me nothing, except all the H&M stuff, or the dreaded 'Butterfly' Debenhams range. Gahhhhh!

I felt that I couldn't keep this bargain (£16) to myself, especially when two of my friends and fellow Glasgow Craft Mafia members, We Are The Robots, are sooo obsessed with pixelations, so I facebooked the link to them. What a good soul I am! The dress would look amazing with one of their pixelated necklaces...