Blitzbabes

Real-life babes (I nicked that expression from a friend, good isn't it) in three very different looks at the recent   Blitz Vintage press party. Hubba hubba. Hey, if we all shop there maybe we can look this hot too...

LFW Street Style - Portraits

1. Rainbow hair at Topshop Unique; 2. Hannah; 3. Hat and black layers; 4. Rosalind; 5. David and me in his glasses; 6. Marie, right before The Sartorialist nabbed her off me; 7. Nadia

Yard Style

Milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.  Except in this case it's not milkshake, it's bargains, and it's not boys, it's girls.  The yard in question was that of uber-blogger, and our gracious host for the day, Susie Bubble, who was joined by a dozen of your other favourite bloggers to host the hopefully now annual Bloggers' Yard Sale.  I was stall-sharing with the lovely Kristabel and was pleased to see lots of happy shoppers go home with my wares, although I'm still crying (sob) for some of the things I decided to sell on a whim...Oh Rockabilly Checked Dress, wherefor art thou?  In all the excitement I forgot to take a snap of Susie - duh - or the Balenciaga (wtf!) and Christopher Kane (double wtf!) delights she was selling, but I hope you enjoy these other stylish lovelies, including - oh yeah - the in-house ukelele lady.  That's how we roll, yard style.

Styleeast x The Vintage Store

The Vintage Store, 182 Brick Lane, describes itself as a treasure trove of fashion-led vintage gems, and I could not agree more.  Whether you're after a 50s look to get your Mad Men on, or fancy a bit of what I like to describe as Rihanna denim - or in fact anything in between - then this is the place for you.  The cast of Made in Chelsea shop there, dontcha know (coming to a tv screen near you soon...).

But I digress from the news that I am here to bring you - that the Vintage Store is having a KICKASS spring clean this Thursday, which means endless bargains for you, from £5, not to mention 10% off the full price stock too.  You can find out all the deets here, and if that's still not enough for you (what more do you want people?!) then there will be live bands too.

Oh and this being Styleeast, I couldn't resist a little streetstyle snapping of the Vintage Store staff while I was there.  I'm sure you will recognise manager Ella from this post I did last year, and she and her colleagues promise to go out of their way to make shopping at the Store a pleasurable experience (I've witnessed it first hand, now it's time you got down there to see for yourself...)

You can also follow the Vintage Store on Facebook here and Twitter here

Ladylike v Grunge

Often when I grab a streetstyle shot, I'm left wondering what my subject wears on every other day...is the photo I took their usual 'look', is it something they're experimenting with, do they like to glam up in the evening? And usually you just never know, the mystery is part of the appeal. In Ella's case however, I have crossed her path several times, as she works in one of my favourite vintage stores, and is now working for the new Blitz Department Store (where I expect to be a regular visitor).

It was at the press party that I took this first shot, in which Ella is the epitome of ladylike retro glamour, in a vintage lace dress from the store. The second shot is from when I first met Ella, a look I described at the time as modern grunge. About her dressed-up look, Ella told me she was going 'ladylike' having cut the green from her hair and wanting to dress up for the evening. But her innate style is still there, in the collection of rings she wears, and the attitude with which she wears that dress, and now I look back at that original shot, you see her tendency to glamour was there all along, in that flowy skirt and up-do.

Proof, I'm going to venture, that personal style is about more than just the clothes you wear- and that it's fun to mix it up sometimes...

Hats off to Blitz Vintage - part 1

If you've ever thought that east London couldn't possibly need a new vintage store, I can tell you now you'd be wrong.  That's because Blitz Vintage Department Store has arrived in town with something new and fresh to offer us jaded vintage shoppers.  Spread over a vast Victorian warehouse space on Hanbury Street, it's a delight to shop in, with an accessible collection of hand picked quality vintage (all at reasonable prices I might add), a delightful collection of rare 40s, 50s and 60s vintage dresses, plus homewares and quirky antique furniture.  There's also plenty for the boys too, and if they get bored while you're browsing there's space for them to sit (on stylish leather sofas of course), read and enjoy a drink.  Here are some snaps from the press night this week, with huge thanks to Ella for the invitation, who'll feature in a future post (I took so many photos I'll have to do it in two parts!):

Self-style blogger Stella, a swingin' 60s chick and an absolute delight, in a dress borrowed for the evening from Blitz (and subsequently bought!)

A 60s sundress I fell for

Writer Angel Adoree, her gorgeous book, Vintage Tea Party, is out now, featuring patisserie recipes from a bygone era - there is definitely someone in your life who needs this for Christmas!

Sparkly knitwear, for when the winter sets in (any day now!)

Plenty here for the boys too (by which I mean the jacket and shoes above, not the lovely lady below)

Gorgeous vintage styling, love the coordinated hat and lipstick.

It's Blitz!

You'd never guess from the sense of space in this photo that I nearly got knocked over by a cyclist, 2 cars and around 40 pedestrians whilst trying to get the shot.  It's come out almost monochromatic but for that amazing doll-like complexion and a peek of burgundy cut-off under the crochet tunic.  This girl (must start asking people their names) was flyering for the new Blitz Vintage Department Store on Hanbury Street, sister shop to The Vintage Store from where you may remember Ella of this post.  Seems like this chain has got east London street style all sewn up!  Pop down for a visit soon and maybe I'll see you there...

Also this week:

My photo of Ella (and several others) was also featured recently in Japanese street style magazine Jille, who did a whole page about my blog ...huge thanks to the lovely Aya and Sayaka who spent an afternoon with me shooting for the feature, which you can see below on the left page:

Don't forget I'm currently judging the Westfield Stratford City's 'Create your Take' competition , to celebrate their launch, and will be looking for your version of a family portrait.  The prize is good...all I can say is start thinking who your ten favourite people are.

And finally, I've discovered my new favourite self-style blog this week, and just had to give a shout out to the gorgeous Emily of It Girl Rag Doll, who also featured in the August issue of Jille.

A day in the life

Last weekend I was happy to be invited to style-hunt at Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair in Spitalfields market (thanks, Kieran and Jill).  Judy's is exactly what it says on the tin - affordable vintage clothing, they do fairs up and down the country and it's pretty much the best place to find high-quality bargains all under one roof.  The day of the Fair just so happened to coincide with the day that fashion journalism student Kate was following me around, doing a 'day in the life' story about little old me.  Now, given that I'd spent the first part of the day in my scruffs cleaning the house, I thought I'd better jazz up the afternoon somewhat, lest anyone get the impression that fashion bloggers are anything less than exciting and glamorous at all times.  So to Judy's Fair we went and what a perfect place for style spotting, the stallholders alone were flying the flag for true vintage glamour.  We topped off the day with a Japanese cherry tea at my favourite Brick Lane bar, Hookah Lounge, and shopping at Beyond Retro on Cheshire Street.  Here's a selection of the stylish ladies we met at Spitalfields:

First up, from Dandy Dolls, a lesson in casual glam, with a silk white maxi and Moschino belt mixed up with white Cons (and a great smile):

Next, one of our favourite style-spots of the day, the lovely Hannah from French Kiss Vintage.  We loved her rockabilly styling and her red shorts:

Credit for this one goes to Kate, who spotted Jessica from Smoking Gun Vintage's beautifully toned hair and outfit.  Catch Smoking Gun at Spitalfields on Thursdays and Brick Lane at the weekends:

Champagne in the afternoon

I think it's fair to say that Shoreditch's best hair salon know all the ingredients for a great party...endless champagne, cupcakes (complete with J+P logo), a candyfloss machine, superstar DJs and a collection of east London's most stylish people.  Oh, and about 100 handsome, tattooed boys.  Jones and Payne were celebrating their first birthday party in their gorgeous salon and, if you haven't been yet, you need to get yourselves along sharpish, not only for a haircut of joy (ask for Gary!) but to experience the surroundings and get a go on one of their massage chairs.  Thanks, Jones and Payne, for a great afternoon...