Outfits to fill the boring gap

It's gotten so boring on my blog it's sad!

I am back in the UK but my laptop is still down and no silver lining in these regards. That means hardly any online time and the little I get has to be divided between various course work, picture editing (a zillion pics I took in Austria), general chit chat and of course blogging. So first things first - a blog post! And as I have no time to research I'll delight you with two outfits! :-)

40s inspired playsuit by Jasmine Guinness

 I love this suit, it is the most expensive clothing item I ever bought or owned. But I bought it via Littlewoods which means no big amount of money all at once! Yay for deluding yourself! 

When it arrived in the mail order just before Christmas Mr. Bossy loved it so much on me he happily accepted the price. It is indeed quite short and daring (well at least for me it is) but despite the shortness it still has an elegance to it.

And please do not forget the true model in my house.
Le poser extraordinaire!

 Suit - Jasmine Guinness via Littlewoods (not available anymore)

Shoes - Peacocks (years ago)

Cardigan - Primark (dito)

Bag - Marks & Spencers (last year)

Sweater Guard - Ebay

Snood - homemade

I particularily like the Gerbera, my favourite flowers, print.
Very punchy colours!

And here a land girl inspired outfit.

I really like knitted tank tops - I've had a few sitting in my wardrobe for years but hardly ever wore them. They certainly get their wear now! I also do a similar version of this outfit in grey/pink.

Trousers - Marks & Spencers via Ebay
Shirt - Pimkie in Austria (about 10 years ago)
Tank - Primark (few years ago)
Snood - homemade

What a failure to try to photograph my hair and my black snood. Blame the toddler who made me laugh.

These little lovelies I bought in Austria (at Deichmann) a few weeks ago. I love them! They were cheap as chips, have exactly the look I wanted and the heel is so reasonably low that they are comfortable for the whole day!

You may have noticed my new brooch. This was actually a birthday present my great aunt gave to my mum many years ago. She doesn't know what era it exactly came from but it certainly matches my growing collection. I hope my great aunt doesn't mind - I love it and wear it a lot!

And talking about family heirloom - as you know my nan recently passed away and I brought a few treasures (treasured by my heart and by my vintage loving eye) with me. But this one is my true precious. I inherited her seal ring with my grandad's - her late husband's - family's coat of arms. My mother and aunts all have one as well and my nan would always say I'd get one for my 18th birthday. I suppose because suddenly so many grandchildren appeared in the family or maybe because my grandad got ill around my 18th birthday and died the following year we never talked about this again. So I was very touched when I inherited her very own ring. And it fits like a glove.

Which is a stupid saying by the way because I have such tiny hands - no glove ever fits me. Unless it's a child's glove.



My true precious



I have just discovered photoscape. Indeed I don't know what I am doing yet but you can see I already had some more fun with these pics than with boring old Picasa. It will take me a little while to get the hang of it but I'll get there!

Pop pop popppppp art

I am certainly no true aficionado of the fine arts but I am also no unaware rookie. I have grown up surrounded by art as my dad is a fine arts photographer and an amateur fine art historian (knowledge comes with the job). Art nouveau was the most appreciated art form and era in our house. I completely disregarded it as a child or a teen, my love for art nouveau awoke much later.

When I was a teenie I discovered pop art for myself and fell in love with it. The vibrant colours, the bold statements, the cheekyness - I admired everything about it and always considered it very me. These days I am much calmer and I like to spread my tastes in my house. It's not only a colourful explosion of pop art with some 50s pin-ups in between, I like to dabble in a lot of eras. I adore art nouveau, I like art deco, I adore pop art and I also really worship vintage kitsch and modern Kawaii. So a mix of all these is me or my interior!

And when I realised that there's currently a Mel Ramos and Roy Lichtenstein exhibition in Vienna I just had to go. No I ran. 

Both artists mean a lot to me and my personal history. Earlier today I stood in front of one of the nearly life size big candy coloured naked pin-ups of Mel Ramos and I just smiled at her. She really made me happy, I wanted to touch her, stroke her. I know that sounds a bit iffy but you know what I mean, don't cha?

Unfortunately two of my favourite Ramos images were missing in the exhibition. Amongst lots others, but those I personally missed as I had them up my wall in my very first flat donkeys years ago.

Roy Lichtenstein inspired art you can find everywhere all over the world. And I always loved him. I cannot tell you why but he is certainly amongst my top 5 artists.

Again my favourite work by him was not shown.

I had planned to elaborate much more on the two artists but quite honestly I am really beat. And I don't want to miss blogging all the time. So there you go. I had a lovely time today as my dad looked after my son and my middle sister accompanied me in enjoying the exhibition. Just the two of us. Great feeling!

I've been very lucky in recent years with exhibitions in Vienna. There are always tons all around the year but I seem to catch my favs. Last year I went to see Alphonse Mucha, another one of my top 5. How I loved it!

Evening - by Mucha. I bought a print in Muchas hometown Prague years ago and still haven't had it framed!

So next year I expect de Lempicka, Vargas or Elvgren. Got it? 

Tamara de Lempicka's self portrait

Pin-up girl by Alberto Vargas  

The Fence - by Gil Elvgren

             

And talking about Gil Elvgren - in the museum gift shop I snatched up the Gil Elvgren Taschen Anniversary book. It contains all his illustrations and frankly it left me speechless. I did not know all his work and it's beyond beauty. I love it. I was surprised by the size of the book, judging from the Amazon pic and prize I assumed it was pocket-ish in size!

I am already half in my pjs and I look quite  tired. But I really liked my hair today. And the book :-)

                                          

So people in Vienna - if you have not done so yet go and see Mel Ramos and Roy Lichtenstein at the Albertina. The're on until May!                              

Victory rolls like magic!

A few days ago the beautiful Fleur posted this video tutorial. 

I've been doing Victory rolls for a little while now and I do them quite often, so I thought - well what else can be new? I already tried a few techniques but nonetheless I watched it because it was Fleurs. 

And I am glad I did because even though I do them in a very similar way - roll them half way down around the fingers because neither rolling from the base nor rolling from the tips worked well for me (I could never achieve the desired stability) - I never tried this very simple alteration: Fleur rolls around only one finger whereas I always roll around two - I have teeny tiny fingers I never thought this would work with only one bony stick like mine - but it does and how it does! 

I rolled around one finger and like magic I had much more control over the placing and shaping of the roll - it even works with uncurled poker straight hair. And my hair is not only poker straight it's also very fine and silky - backcombing doesn't last and the ends just spring out, they just want to stretch and be free (they are such a pain while pincurling I tell ya!)

I am still in Vienna at my parents - I took these pics a minute before we all left the house in quite a hurry. So please excuse the blurriness etc. But just before we left I took out the very obvious pin and added an obligatory vintage brooch to my cardigan.

And since this is a vintage blog - Vienna in general is quite the vintage mecca - not neccessarily for the 40s or 50s but for the periods Biedermeier (obviously) and Art Nouveau (my very favourite). It is such a pleasure to look around for vintage loving eyes and ever since my parents moved into the inner city (which is the very oldest part of Vienna) I see daily many different antiques traders - you can find little shops all over the city, also in the neighbouring building. But as it is very much appreciated in this country it is also very, very expensive. 

Note the floor in the background of the pics in my parents flat - this is a truly vintage floor, it dates back to medieval times. My mum is not 100% - it's an original floor from anytime between 1200-1600. The building they now live in (which has about 10-20 appartments) is the second oldest building in the district and a very historical one. Beautiful!

Proof of life - and death

First of all thank you so much to the many new followers! Despite my lack of attendance the number keeps rising - I am in awe! I promise there will be a time where I can show my gratitude and I will browse, follow other blogs and comment.

At the moment I am at home in Vienna in Austria. Sadly my beloved nan passed away 2 days ago but I got here in time, I was able to say good bye and she died at home surrounded by her 3 daughters and me, I am her eldest grandchild. We basically held her and watched her dying and as horrible as this sounds - it was a beautiful moment, she was able to let go after a number of years of suffering, she managed to just fall asleep peacefully without a fight and I perceived it as a very bonding moment between my mother, my aunts and me.

My nan, or Omi as I called her, partly raised me, for at least 10 years of my life I lived with her - for parts of my childhood full time and later on in my very late teens/early 20s I lived across the hall from her in the flat opposite of hers. To me she was more than just a nan, she was my second mother. A woman who always took care of me - my whole life, even as a severely handicapped old lady in the last years she supported me financially. My parents are great people and I love them dearly but the one rock who was reliable was my nan. Her flat is is the only steady home I ever had as my parents always moved around. The street, the district, the appartment she lived in - to me this is where I come from, my roots.

3 1/2 years ago she suffered a very bad stroke which she - amazingly - against all odds survived. Her whole life she had a very, very strong spirit, a true fighter and this amazing stamina and spirit also showed after the stroke - she even gained some speech again, she managed to walk a little but she had to have full time care. Once a very elegant and proud woman she still kept her pride and died very much loved. I hope she can rest in peace now with my equally beloved grandad who died nearly 13 years ago.

I want to scan some old pics of me and my nan and some of her as a young woman but for now a pic of me and my boy yesterday, the day after she died. 

The church is just opposite of my parents flat, tomorrow I will say a little prayer for my nan and light a candle in the church.