Huddersfield Vintage

The highlight of any trip home for me is a visit to Huddersfield vintage market however Huddersfield's good vintage doesn't stop at the market. It also has great charity shops and vintage shops.

This has been a particularly successful trip home...

Leather gloves with laser cut pattern and cream fur beret.

Calfskin pouch in near mint condition, £2.50- Each compartment is labelled for it's function, it has a section just for stamps.

The Lea Stein broaches were a second hand market find.

Red wool jacket from Magic Vintage

Mink stole with navy wool coat and black riding boots, all from Magic

Lea Stein

Designed in Paris by Lea Stein from the 1960s onwards, the appeal of these plastic broaches is still evident. I could have bought them all.

Broaches are made from multi-coloured sandwiches of plastics. Each 'sandwich' is baked for a long time, then cooled and cut into shapes. The broaches replicate celebrities (the lady in the red dress and big hat is Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind), household objects and animals.

You can see how these broaches inspired Chanel and Sonia Rykiel to explore the use of plastic in accessory design.

The floral ballerina- I love the simple representation of forms.

The 'quarrelsome' cat- One of her most popular subjects this was produced in a multitude of colours.

Extremely collectable, prices range between £40 to £200

Jaegar Boutique

Although Jaegar have been producing this 'younger' collection for a while now i've never been particularly interested. Somehow the branding never hit the right note and the shop fit was more Warehouse than boutique. However, this season Jaegar Boutique has produced a few dresses that are definitely my cup of tea. The price point is quite high for the high street so I hope to scoop some of these up in there mid season sale.

Look!

I'm always a fan of a red dress and this one is the perfect fit for those of us who are small on top and bigger on the bottom. Would wear with ballet pumps, flat sandals and wedge heeled mary janes.

Loose silk dress with grosgrain bow.

Blue and white stripes

Scallop trim shirt dress with peter pan collar. A wardrobe essential.

Scalloped hem

I'd wear all of these dresses with...

These shoes by Casadei

Jaegar Boutique

Pierrot Gourmand

This saturday I took a trip to Angel and came across one of the best second hand markets I have been to in London. At this market I found a small clown broach and thought it would make a nice gift for someone, when I showed it to my friend she said it looked like Pierrot Gourmand so I of course had to ask, 'who is Pierrot Gourmand?'

The broach. £5 from the vintage market in Camden Passage.

Pierrot Gourmand, a famous French lollipop brand with a clown boy patron. Love his rosy cheeks and ruffed smock.

I NEED one of these vintage lolly displays, I think i'd turn it into a lamp. If anyone ever sees one please tell me.

On Ebay for £45, should I? Would make a great storage box / plan chest. 

Allison Goldfrapp plays a Pierrot clown on her album cover. I saw a vintage Pierrot suit in a shop window some time ago but alas it was not for sale, I want one.

Next Halloween, I am Pierrot Gourmand.

TBA Again

It's still freezing outside but as always the shops are always one season ahead so I am of course dreaming up my looks for this spring and summer. As usual TBA have created a couple of pieces that will form the corner stones of my spring wardrobe.

Love the crochet collar on this dress and the straw coloured silk.

During summer I live in smock dresses, they are so easy to throw on and dress up and down. The collar on this silk dress is lovely.

I'm always a fan of a high waisted silk skirts. I can see myself wearing this skirt with a white Hanes 'Beefy-T'.

Team the above with...

Prada's woven flats, or...

Topshop's 70s platforms (this picture does them little justice).

Paris Shows

A few of my other highlights...

Alexis Mabelle: This collection has a bit of an 'I Love Lucy' feel to it. I really like his use of tafetta and how he places loose translucent silks over the top of fitted dresses to create more defined silhouettes.

Dior: Galliano was definitely rummaging round in the Dior archives when he created this collection. The pieces are clearly influenced by the dresses Dior was making in the 50s. Love the Jessica Rabbit make up and hair on the models.

Chanel: I really wasn't a fan of most of this collection, thigh length tweed coats and sequin trousers really don't do it for me. However there was a couple of pieces that did catch my eye.

Coat, minus the trousers and flat pointy pumps.