The gorgeous Miss Rouge liked our blog post..... :)

An excellent post i thought id share with you lovelies !https://desdemonastyle.wordpress.com/2015/05/23/tend-alert-dont-pull-the-short-straw-you-do-not-want-to-miss-out-on-this-summer-trend-straw-hand-bags/

Posted by Miss Rouge on Friday, October 2, 2015

Desdemona Style & Vintage will be having a pop up shop this Saturday at the Rochester Flea

Any of you readers live in or close to Rochester, Kent? …….. if so you are in for a real treat Desdemona is popping up at The Rochester Flea in Rochester High Street this Saturday (29th)
 

Desdemona will have clothing, bags, jewellery, sunglasses etc up for sale, so come and have a browse :)
If you are not local then you can always shop online (all links are on my website, or feel free to contact me if you are after something in particular)

This week, I was honored to be picked as their featured seller on their blog this month, here’s my interview…..
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THE FLEA BLOG IS BACK! Interview with Hayley Ford of Desdemona Style & Vintage

By tracyaffleck, Aug 23 2015 07:40PM

Hi Hayley! Really looking forward to seeing you at the Rochester Flea on 29th August. How long have you been selling vintage and how did you start?

I’ve been selling vintage and quality fashion items for around 15 years now. I started off working in an underwear boutique in Bluewater and the owner always mentioned what I was wearing and customers would ask me where I got my clothes from. She gave me a budget and I would go out and buy items and customize garments for her to sell in her shop alongside the underwear and those items flew out the shop, so I started setting up my own stalls, beginning at Greenwich market in London, and it’s all gone from there.
 I had my own boutique that some of you may remember, Up the Junction along the lower Rochester road, and that’s where I started off my styling side of things and sourcing and supplying clothing and accessories to costume designers and wardrobe departments for TV and stage, which I still do now.

What do you love about vintage clothing?
 Well, I love the romance of where that piece has been, who wore it before you, what it’s seen and all that hippy dippy stuff!

But more seriously, it’s the design, the cut and the quality of clothing then, time and care was taken over making a garment, it wasn’t knocked up in some sweat shop in China, which brings me to the ethical side of it… for starters wearing vintage or second hand clothing is recycling so it’s good for the environment, it cuts down on the energy and pollution made by producing and transporting disposable clothing, and less goes to landfill.

Desert Island Discs?
I love this question!! If Carlsberg asked questions this probably would be one of them ;)  I’m a castaway!!

I have to start with a Beatles track as they are my all time favourite (BIG John Lennon fan over here!)It was my mum that got me into The Beatles when I was a kid (as well as Rod Stewart, T-Rex and Reggae!)

• No.1 is The Beatles – Come Together.
• No. 2 Eddie Cochran – Twenty Flight Rock. It’s in a great film The Girl Can’t Help It with Jayne Mansfield and it’s a great tune, nuff said!
• No. 3 a bit of Doo Wop now that sounds like it could of fell off the Grease movie soundtrack….Del Vikings – Whispering Bells.

I was a Indie kid in my teens when I started wearing vintage clothing, 70s flares, some kitsch skinny rib t shirt and my Adidas Sambas, thinking one day I might be the first female member of Oasis!! Oasis singles where great because you’d get 2 or 3 B sides that where just as good as the A side so you got a lot a bang for your buck so…

• No.4 is Talk Tonight – Oasis (B side on Some Might Say)
• No.5 Another track from the 90s Indie days ..The Stone Roses – Waterfall . brilliant song.
• No. 6 Love this song…. Ramblin’ Man by The Allman Brothers Band
• No. 7 Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyd. I have my Dad to thank for my love of 70s rock music, he was a drummer in a band in the 70s, they were called Mind Cage! Hehe!
• No. 8 is Bo Diddley – Who Do You Love, just because !  And then I know you only get 8 but I NEED 9! This last track is not only my teams song (Liverpool FC) but it’s the lyric, simple but always pick me up when I need it, and its fitting with the lost of Cilla Black this month…
  
• No. 9 Gerry & The Pacemakers – You’ll Never Walk Alone
  
  Artists that inspire you?
  These are all artists too me in one way or another..   Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards, John Lennon, Barbara Hulanicki, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Rachel Zoe, Iris Apfel, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Moss, Edith Head, Elsa Schiaparelli, Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot.
  
  
  What was the last exhibition you attended?
  

  
  

  Last week I visited the Imperial War Museum for their Fashion On The Ration exhibition, The exhibition was a little smaller than expected, but was really good if you are into fashion or 40’s fashion.
  It includes uniforms, utility clothing, “make do and mend” garments, wedding outfits etc.
  My favourite piece was definitely the “Siren Suit” a kind of (more stylish) onesie that was designed to wear over nightwear to maintain a ladies modesty while traveling to and seeking shelter during night time air raids.
  
  (Read my blog post about the exhibition HERE)
  
  

  Favourite thing about Rochester?
  

  The history, the boutiques, the coffee shops, the cobblestones
  
  

  Sushi or Italian?

  I’m not much of a meat eater and I’m not keen on sushi at all, you can’t go wrong with an Italian…. I do love a mean pizza!
  
  Pink or Red?

  Definitely red! My hair gives that away, I’ve never been that much of a pinky girly girl, I even tried to dye my dolls hair red with my mums’ red food colouring when I was a kid!
      As of this spring I am also a trained hairdresser, so I’ll stick to proper hair colourants from now on, Promise! I’ll have a mannequin head with a victory rolls hair style on display at the Rochester Flea so if anyone’s in need of some vintage hair styling for events then come say Hi!
  
  

  Favourite ever vintage purchase?
  

  Well that has to be the Austin Mini I had, 1966, Red with a union flag on the roof, next to no mileage, he’d been sat in a garage for years, he was a stud! But I had to let him go, I didn’t trust my driving !!
  
  Where can we find you?

  www.desdemonastyle.wordpress.com
  Twitter: @styledesdemona
  Instagram: @desdemonastyle
  Facebook: Desdemona Style & Vintage
  All these links are on my website www.desdemonastyle.moonfruit.com
  
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  Thanks for reading :) See you there!!
  

Fashion on the Ration at The Imperial War Museum (Aug 13th)

Took a trip out this Wednesday to the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth, London to check out the Fashion on the Ration  Exhibition, and what a jolly spiffing trip it was.
The building itself is steeped in history as it was previously The Bethlam Hospital for the mentally insane or “Bedlam” as quipped by Lord Rothermere, it was well known for its excess of lunacy! It became The Imperial War Museum in 1936. The museum closed in 1940 and re opened at the end of the second world war, so that moves us swiftly onto the exhibition…..


The exhibition is on the 3rd floor and is comprised of six sections

• Into Uniform
• Functional Fashion
• Rationing & Make Do & Mend
• Utility Clothing
• Beauty as Duty
• Peace and a New Look

I loved the ‘Siren Suit’ which was (a much more stylish) version of the modern day onesie, designed to easily put on over night wear to maintain a ladies modesty while traveling to and seeking shelter during night time air raids


Just as much, I loved the handbags with compartments for the ladies gas mask and the luminous paint to apply to hair flowers etc during the blackouts! They went to such effort to still look stylish even through a traumatic time, people were made of much stronger stuff back then, I dread to think what assembles would be worn by a lot of todays’ women to run to an air raid shelter probably a Juicy Couture track suit, Ugg boots and a scruffy dressing gown with yesterdays gravy down the front!! (oh the glamour!)









I really hope you get a chance to see it,
The exhibition is on until the 31st of this month (so hop to it!)
The Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London, SE1 6HZ
and if you don’t get a chance to see it, there’s always this book by Julie Summers

Fashion on the Ration: Style in the Second World War

Thanks for reading…….

Happy 55th Birthday Carnaby Street (July 9th)

 

 

Firstly I’m gonna start by wishing a Happy 55th Birthday to The Carnaby Street we know today
Carnaby Street has a huge reputation for such a tiny street, just a cut through street from Regents Street to Soho.
Before 1960 it was not notorious at all, with just a few warehouses & tailor supplies for the nearby Saville Row.
Being just a 3 min walk from Soho, the street firstly became popular with the gay community, then when the Mods came across it, it became known, and the place to shop.

Major music artists managers all had their offices on or around the street in the 60s….
Brian Epstein on Argyll Street, Robert Wace on Kingly Street, Andrew Loog Oldham on Maddox Street, Don Arden on Carnaby Street,
so bands such The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Small Faces, The Kinks & The Who would get their suits on Carnaby Street because they liked the modern cut, bringing together music, fashion & art & putting Swinging London firmly on the map!

 Other people to shop on Carnaby Street were Twiggy, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix & an unknown face Mark Feld later to become Marc Bolan.
“The high street for the stars” – Robert Orbach from Lord Kitcheners Valet
New independent fashion boutiques were popping up one by one Lady Jane, Take 6, Male West 1, Lord John, Kleptomania, Gear, Lord Kitcheners Valet, Foale & Tuffin to name but a few





 



I couldn’t end this piece without mentioning the “King of Carnaby Street” Mr. John Stephen. John Stephen was the first to open a boutique on Carnaby Street in 1957, after a fire in his premises in Beak Street.
John’s boutique His Clothes grew popular for their coloured jeans and Breton shirts & John Stephen was the first person to import Levi Jeans to the UK
Carnaby street peaked in 1967 and has never quite been the same again

Today the shops that line Carnaby Street are Liam Gallaghers Pretty Green, Lambretta Clothing, Irregular Choice, The Kooples..
I’ve done a little bit of Cyber Shopping for you here and have picked an outfit that can all be found on Carnaby Street today
(In my opinion, nowhere near as fun as some of the clothing being sold or worn on Carnaby Street in the 60s, but as Bob Dylan once sang…. the times are a changin)


 

Supertrash swift skirt £90. Cheap Monday Glam perspex sunglasses £25. Dr. Martens Aila shoes £125. Skinnydip bee clutch bag £45. Peckham Rye Boulevard Golden silk scarf £65. Classic plain white Pepe Jeans linen shirt £65

I hope you have enjoyed reading this, I’d love to read your comments
Hayley xx

Tips and Tricks on getting the perfect jeans to flatter your bum !

When shopping for Jeans one thing most women don't look out for is the back POCKETS The shape, size, width, height etc of the back pockets can completely change the shape & size of your butt.

Here's Desdemonas tips on getting the most bum-flattering Jeans OK so you have a Flat / Small Butt you want to emphasize You are not the only one celebs like Victoria Beckham, Taylor Swift & Gwyneth Paltrow also have weenie butts  

 


Victoria Beckham is the first to say she has a flat butt and started her own range of jeans (VB Rocks for Rock & Republic in 2004) because of this.

 To emphasize a small butt pick jeans with

• Flap back pockets
• Embellished pockets,
• Buttons on the pockets
• High pockets to lift the butt, Make sure the bottom of back pockets never sit lower than the butt cheek, or you will be in danger of a droopy look 

Flaps / Buttons / Stitching / Wide belt buckles all good for creating that bubble butt.

Stay away from high waisted garments as they will just stretch out and flatten your butt further, instead opt for a well fitting lower waist jean to "squash" the butt as such. See how the height of the waist can make a huge difference?!

Now for you Big Bottomed girls (That as Freddie Mercury sang "you make the rocking world go round")
so you want to make it appear smaller, Now, I'm all for a big bum! But as any stylist will tell you "its all about proportions" so this is great for you juicy pear shape girls.
Celebs with larger butts are Kim Kardashian J-Lo & Kelly Clarkson


Now you girls need the opposite as before mentioned for small butts

• Avoid any unwanted bulk
• Avoid small back pockets the smaller the pockets the bigger your butt will appear.
• You need big wide pockets that sit lower on the butt cheeks
• The closer the pockets are together the better, as that draws the width in.

ALL WRONG!
Much better!

Another little trick is the shape of the Back Yoke (which is the row of stitching between the waistband and the pockets) this can completely change the shape of your butt by illusion
The Butt Optical Illusion

Choose an inverted arc yoke to create volume and a V yoke to minimize volume, a straight yoke is only really flattering on a top heavy body shape as it widens the hips.

Last tip! Never buy jeans with no back pockets, they do not flatter any body shape, and need abolishing!

Hope this has given you ladies a tip or two when buying your next Autumn/Winter jeans
Thanks for reading
Any enquiries feel free to comment below or contact me at desdemona.style@hotmail.com
Hayley
xxx

A Bit About: Jeremy Scott

You may know Jeremy Scott for his recent work as Creative Director at Moschino like his McDonalds & Sponge Bob Square pants designs, which have been splattered all over the fashion blogs, heres a quick reminder..

C. R. A. Z. Y !!
Before he became C.D of Moschino, Jeremy Scott (Born in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S) studied Fashion Design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.
In 2004 Jeremy designed the futuristic flight attendant costume worn by Britney Spears in her 'Toxic' video and in 2011 he designed the denim two piece worn by Rihanna in her 'We Found Love' video

Then in February of this year he designed 4 costumes for Katy Perrys' half time performance at the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX
  If you would like to read about the 4 outfots in more depth, then its all here for you on   www.redcarpet-fashionawrds.com  ♚
I liked his collaboration with the French luxe brand Longchamp, where by he injected his unusual iconic style into the classic Le Pilage tote bag.
The ghouls bags where a favorite with celebs, stylists and fashion bloggers the world over.
Personally I like the Postcard bags

In 2008 Jeremy Scott Collaborated with Adidas, the most famous piece in this collab was his wingtop trainers worn by Nicki Minaj & Cara Delevingne,  (Love her! Nutter!)
There was some controversy over some of his designs, which I believe ended his relationship with Adidas, so there will be no more :(
However, Desdemona style is auctioning off a (very rare) Jeremy Scott x Adidas piece
its his Superstar Peplum jacket as worn by Gwen Stefani (another one I love! she is so inspiring, and I may have had a small girl crush on her since my indie days in the 90s)

to view this item click HERE
I hope you have enjoyed reading my piece on Jeremy Scott, what do you think of his designs?
I would definitely wear that red dress Rihanna has on above
Thanks for reading....

Trend Alert: "Don't Pull The Short Straw" you do not want to miss out on this Summer trend: Straw hand bags

Straw hand bags are often made of plaited raffia, cane, dried grass or rushes.
In the mid 1950s straw hand bags appeared on the arms of all the fashion movie elite, in the south of France such as Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor & Jane Birkin.



Elizabeth Arden went on to create a high-fashion take on a shrimp basket in 1956, outfitted with a compass!!


By 1958 woven basket bags were staples of high fashion magazines, and still as stylish today as they were then,




With designers such as Kate Spade, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Lulu Guinness & Bottega Veneta have all designed their own take on this classic bag










Here's how some of you fashionistas rock yours....

Left: Instagram  Missrougenz

         Blog www.missrougenz.wordpress.com
Right top: Instagram  Florcitamuffin
Right bottom: Instagram Kittehinfurs
                       Blog www.curiousfancy.com

Are you feeling like your life (ok, maybe not life but definitely, wardrobe) is incomplete without one of these bags? well, lucky you, Desdemona has done all the hard work for you, and has found a couple of beauts..

Vintage Straw 'Ivy Simms' handbag

Vintage African raffia bucket bag

Thanks for reading