Mummy Ask and I are experimenting today. I am growing out my naturally curly hair and parts are starting to flatten. So Mummy Ask decided to set my hair with hot rollers for fun. As we wait for them to cool, we talk about when I started to love retro and decide that I was born in the wrong era!
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My Gran and I were always firm friends and I loved her things – from her Bakelite kitchen scales to her sturdy, low heeled shoes. I was fascinated by her jewelry box and always admired her diamanté cuff, with a small drop at the clasp (it is one of her many beautiful things that I am now custodian of) and her seemingly endless strands of cut crystal. She had so many lovely things for evening and she so rarely wore them. I loved to sit in her wardrobe and look at her clothes, all the special finishes now only seen on couture garments and those made at home. Things like Hong Kong or French seams, ribbon hems and bias binding. Solid shoes of leather, well polished and kept in shape with wooden shoe trees. And I guess there were many everyday objects to covet, her Green & Gold cookbook given to her on arrival in Australia and her Martha Gardener book of household hints and tips. Oh my I loved that book! Yes, as a child of 6 or 7 I loved nothing more than to read how to unclog a drain or wash woolens. You couldn’t tear me away from a list of uses for borax or washing soda. I guess I was an odd child…
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But childhood gave way to teenage years. My fave outfit at 17-18 was a high waist black tailored vintage pencil skirt that hit mid calf and had a small hip pocket. I wore it with a modest red 3/4 sleeve top, clumpy black heels and either a 1940’s black fabric clutch with diamanté clasp or a 1960’s red leather bag. I know that smoking is terribly naughty but I smoked and would never be seen without my long cigarette holder.
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Once I’d moved out of home, I had to decorate my home. Operating on a negative budget (and didn’t we all?) I chose furniture, glassware and decorative objects spanning 1930 – 1970 and loved it! I always had a cut glass candy dish on my coffee table and my food was in vintage Tupperware. 13 houses in 12 years meant that there was an ever changing parade of old bits and bobs in my life. And the odd disaster – a display cabinet of vintage glassware (thrift shop ahoy!) was accidentally left open and a curious cat took down the lot in one fell swoop!
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In the few years before I met Mr Ask I stayed still in one house and had just few vintage bits I adored. I wasn’t dressing vintage then, well not exactly. My wardrobe was thrift store but if you think I left the house in anything less than matching, you’d be wrong. I had shoes in every colour of the rainbow (lime green, mustard and a pair of yellow leather pointy heels with pink, blue and green polka dots) that matched each colour coded outfit. Still to this day the only pants I own are jeans, leggings and pyjamas – only skirts and dresses here.
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Mr Ask found my rainbow of vintage house things, well ummm not to his taste. Our home was built in 1966 and no matter how we have ‘moderned’ it up it looks kitschy anyway. I have many vintage elements, our dinner set is Grans old Royal Doulton, my stand mixer has pride of place on the bench and I just bought a 1930’s wooden ironing board!
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I am absolutely into domestic history from all eras but I do love the Victorian era most – it’s when everything changed. I love to have the knowledge but still enjoy the more superficial act of dressing up. These days I am comfortable with the looks I get in the supermarket and being permanently over dressed. Most days I rock a big, poufy dress or high waist skinny jeans, low heels (love a slingback), somewhat retro curly hair and if you’re lucky – big liner and a red lip. I am drinking a retro cocktail that I truly love (salty dog) while we play.
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If you are into retro,my only advice is rock it hard and enjoy being the most glamorous gal at the gathering! People will notice, it might make you feel self conscious. But that’s not just retro! I almost never wear pants and when I do everyone comments. I wear such a mixed bag of things but mostly there’s a little something that speaks of another era.
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Do you wear a ‘look’? Are you always in your look or do you have days when you can’t be bothered? Do you feel self conscious? Wanna show me your look? Just post it to my facebook wall. And if you want some tips on changing your look, just Ask Sarah!
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