At last I have found the time to post (some of) the pictures that were taken for our local 1950's nostalgia festival, "Cooly Rocks On".
Day One: The Street Parade
Outfit:
- 1950's style Pinup Couture cherry dress with matching red belt
- Thrifted black reproduction petticoat
- 1950's style red Pinup Couture Bettie heels
- 1950's vintage white beaded necklace
- Princess Diana replica earrings
- White rose hair clip
- Pearl and diamond bracelet
- Pearl ring
- Spotted umbrella
- Vintage white handbag
The street parade was held on Saturday. I woke up very early in order to prepare but the boy decided to sleep in. Not for long though, as all of a sudden we heard Elvis being blared ridiculously loud through our bedroom window. After all these years of having no clue where all the giant parade floats arrived from, it turns out that they all prepare in the street right outside our unit.
That morning I furiously ran all about the house getting all dolled up. My nails were given a coat of red polish, my skin was dusted in white rose talc and my face was treated with my best quality makeup and product. As mentioned
here, I had slept on my hair done up in pin curls. And thankfully they turned out wonderfully! In fact, the best they've ever turned out! Unfortunately though the weather that day was an awful mixture of wind and rain and they blew out.
Another downside to the day was that we actually missed the parade. We left the house too late and trying to find a park was a nightmare, even for us locals! Also, unfortunately, the boy and I could not follow through our plans of a photo shoot of the day due to illness, which forced him to leave early. After I came home we did take a couple of photos on his phone just so we could show you my outfit in the full. The pictures should be up here soon.
A very contemplative looking me with my blow out curls.
The red Bettie shoes.
Gorgeous, but painful (they are one size too big for me).
That day I was complimented by many, was told that I should have entered the Miss Vintage Pageant (as mentioned
here) and even photographed for the facebook pages of two local businesses. In the second image I am pictured with my older sister. At the time she and her fiance were visiting and I met up with them for coffee, or in my case, a hot chocolate! The cakes pictured were delicious too. We bought seconds.
Day Two: The Markets
Outfit:
- 1950's style white and purple floral dress with matching belt
- Thrifted black petticoat
- 1960's vintage white shoes with bows on top
- 1950's vintage white beaded necklace
- Vintage white gloves
- Vintage white handbag
- Pearl Earrings
- White rose hair clip
- Spotted umbrella
- Soft pink cardigan (not shown)
The next day my younger sister and I visited the festival markets together.
This time I wore my hair in victory rolls and I was quite pleased with how they turned out. Not my best, but still quite pleased. My Grandma (who is staying with our family at the moment) laughed when she saw a picture of my hair. She was surprised that people still wore the styles that were worn back in the days of her youth.
I was also very happy with my eyeliner too!
The markets were fantastic. So much vintage and reproduction clothing everywhere, record stalls, antique stalls, vintage hair and makeup booths and festival food galore! Unfortunately I had very little money to spend this year, which was quite painful when I came across multiple records that I've had my eye on for yonks! My sister and I, both dolled up in our 50's gear, got our fair share of compliments from people that day. We felt like film stars. And we also spoke with many ladies who experienced the decade themselves. Some lovely people even took our picture for us in front of some of the vintage cars, and one gentleman caught us on film (which was a shocker for my sister as her skirt kept wanting to pull a Marilyn!)
My gorgeous younger sister. She looked absolutely stunning.
You can find her tumblr
here.
I also found the dress of my dress that day! And in my price range! It was a 1960's dandelion yellow paisley printed mini dress. I really had never seen such a beautiful dress in my life, and the picture of it (which I sneakily took in the changing tent) does it no justice. Much to my disappointment the dress didn't fit.
The dress of my dreams.
The rest of the day was spent with us taking many pictures, both lovely and silly, eating slices and cakes named after Marylin Monroe and Sammy Davis Jr. and having a group of little boys ride past on the skateboards as I walked home saying how nice they thought I look in the "old fashioned clothes".