The Big City

As many of you know, I’m a seaside-town dweller. I adore living in such close proximity to a myriad of wonderful beaches but I do enjoy exchanging the tranquility of Dorset for the exciting hustle and bustle of The Big City now and then. Last week I was lucky enough to spend a gloriously spontaneous day in London and had a marvellous time visiting Soho, perusing the National Portrait Gallery and visiting M&M’s World. Oh, and I saw the actress Anna Chancellor in passing! (I’m such a tourist!).

And of course, I had to take a few snaps in passing. Literally in passing, as London is too busy to stop and take a picture.

It wouldn't be me without a plethora of good old iPhone snaps that make me look silly, right?Not impressed with the early morning | Meandering tourist selfie | Outfit selfie having found a giant mirror in a park(?) dress - H&M, brogues - Clarks, leather jacket - Topshop | M&M store!

I do love visiting London, although half the time I never know where I am. There’s a never ending list of things to do, so I know I’ll have to return for a 4th time this year!

Any visit suggestions? I hope you’re all having a fantastic week!

 

The Bournemouth Vintage Fair

I’ve had today marked on the calendar for several weeks. Why? It’s the Bournemouth Vintage Fair! When I lived in Southampton, Vintage Fairs were pretty commonplace, but here? This is the first time I’ve seen one. I hope this is a sign they’re becoming more popular!

To set the scene, the fair was held in the Pavillion theatre, by the lovely Bournemouth seaside. I always enjoy going to Bournemouth, I consider myself incredibly lucky to live by the sea. The building itself was a highly appropriate location, with 1920s Art Deco architecture and decor. The stalls were set up in the ballroom, a place you could imagine dances being held in decades gone by. Is it just me or does an evening ball sound a lot more appealing than spending the early morning hours in an overcrowded sweaty club?

I didn’t have the DSLR with me as it’s the weekend but I took quite a few snaps on my phone, a few of which I’ll share here!

This doesn’t even cover half of the fabulous things the Vintage Fair had to offer – from the rails of dresses – ranging from 1940s to 1980s, tonnes of retro sunglasses, the mass of fur coats, the rails of customised levis and rows of jewellery it was genuinely a heaven to behold.

Did I buy anything? I’m going to be honest – I am in a “too much month left at the end of the money” broke situation.  But I thought it was still worth going, even just for the blog post and inspiration!

Besides, I really enjoyed having the excuse to go a bit vintage.

I wanted to channel a Brigitte Bardot vibe (no change there) and took inspiration from a Bardot picture that’s on my amazing wall collage. I created a half up do and secured it with a thick black ribbon to match my velvet dress.

It’s a super easy look too – simply sweep back the top layer of your hair (backcombing a little helps create the voluminous look Brigitte sports), secure with a hairband! You can also add a ribbon, bow or whatever. Make-up wise, the eyes are the other main feature of all Sixties inspired looks and I simply added a generous line of Rimmel’s Gel Eyeliner to achieve mine.

I hope you all had great weekends and I’ll see you tomorrow for another post!