Alfie's Nostalgia Saturdays

Style Cramp's getting a little obsessed with the 1940s! What with struggling to stuff our hair into victory rolls before work and lindy hopping badly round our room, we've picked up a few catchphrases along the way. I've tweeted 'spiffing' at least three times in the last fortnight, and for some reason I have the urge to keep shouting "potted meat!" at Apollonia. We even had a mutton and turnip pie at the Ministry of Food exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, but thank goodness their rations stretched past powdered egg and acorn coffee.

On Saturday we trekked over to Alfie's Antique Market in Marylebone with old college chum (see?!) Natalie who was reviewing Alfie's Nostalgia Saturdays for The London Word and yearned over the enormous collection of shoes, hats, frocks and slacks. A sprawling and expertly-selected antiques market across three floors, their weekend events have a different vintage theme every week and this week it was '40s and '50s.

We loved the Mad Men stylings of the '50s office furniture and there was some beautiful glassware and kitchenware - a Bakelite Thermos caught my attention - but I know practically nothing about antiques, sadly, though I was pretty interested by what the dealers had to say about their pieces.

Rather than attempt to research '50s furniture design, we'll stick to talking about the fashion.

The Girl Can't Help it was the main clothing outlet, packed to the rafters with high-quality vintage merch. Not cheap but for these excellent garms it shouldn't be.

Lord Robert of Wembley and Chastisement

He wrote to Queen Victoria to make that title official but the fat bitch never got back to him.

TRUE STORY.

http://yayornayblog.blogspot.com/

http://alfiesantiques.blogspot.com/2010/04/alfies-nostalgia-saturdays.html

“Things That Only Work on Paper” and other news

I may start a section entitled “Things That Only Work on Paper”. First submission will be a picture of the rodeo shirt and cravat I am wearing today, because I think I may look a big sack of insane.

My bad-taste filter, the gauge that most people employ to their choice of clothes in the morning, seems to be faulty, because when most people look in the mirror at the unwitting choice of all the primary colours in one outfit because the curtains were closed and think “woah, step back,” I think “does that look good? No it doesn’t, so it does!”

I’ve not posted in ages because, well. I’ve been right shit to be honest. I can’t say I’ve been ill, or on holiday, or even particularly busy. But when I get home from work, I have become increasingly drawn to the couch, an airport-sized Toblerone and Eastenders.

These slothy evenings are mostly a result of days like yesterday, when I  locked myself out without any keys, Oystercard or wallet, meaning hiding my face and running past the market vendor I owed £2. Turns out it could actually get more annoying than that; I engaged in an act of wanton delinquency the details of which I won’t divulge. Then the heel of my shoes just bought from E&C market for £2 (see above) crumbled on the pavement on my way to a gig.

By the way, here's a picture of some of the excellent shit that's available for half the price of your lunch at Elephant & Castle market. I know i'm a pikey, but I love it!

We’re off to ogle some antiques and vintage beauties we can’t afford at Alfie's Nostalgia Saturday's antique market in Marylebone, with our lovely mate Natalie who’s interning at The London Word. She promises to mention Style Cramp in her write up and Nat, I’ll hold you to it!

STYLE CRAMP APOLOGISES FOR THE MUNDANITY OF THIS POST. NORMAL SERVICE WILL RESUME SHORTLY.

Style Cramp at the Blitz Party

What a thoroughly spiffing Saturday night Style Cramp had! We were guests at the Blitz Party, where we swing danced the night away in an air raid shelter, stopping only briefly to rehydrate on a gin fizz or two.

Village Underground in Shoreditch was blacked out for the night to give us a real flavour of an East End wartime dance, complete with sandbags and ration books for cocktail menus. There were even pork pies and doorstop sandwiches for the peckish.

Style Cramp began the night in heated rollers, preparing our victory rolls. After many attempts to do my own, I gave up and asked Kid to help me. How did these gals deal with bobby pins before Youtube tutorials?!

I donned a pale blue crepey-cotton button-down frock with a cotton slip underneath, bobby socks and Oxford loafers (bare legs). I figured if i'd have been a young woman in wartime London, i'd be working down the munitions factory, so I didn't bother with feathers or a fancy hat or all that lark.

Apollonia wore a stunning and very flattering wrap-around Hawaiian print dress from Vivien of Holloway (someone's been dating a GI!), lined stockings and a white flower in her hair, and Kid wore a long red ruched dress with netting on the neck and simple brown Mary Janes. Somewhat posher than my outfit. But all our dresses were genuine 1940s vintage! For makeup we wore simple black eyeliner and matte pale eyelids with red lipstick and bareish cheeks.

We all got very excited as we got on the tube, imagining an air-raid siren might sound and running up and down the platform shouting "VICTORY IN EUROPE!!" and cursing the blasted Gerrys. I must try and remember to act with some decorum at these events...

After a round of cocktails and a wander, the swing band kicked off, playing 40s and 50s tunes with flair and imagination; the lead singer got out a set of bagpipes and did a mean impression of a trumpet that we didn't even believe possible! We couldn't quite believe Satchmo wasn't hiding behind the curtain! He was like a jazz Nick Cave. And when he screamed Winston Churchill's Fight Them On The Beaches speech the crowd went wild.

The standard of the outfits was very high. Some of the girls hadn't got it quite right - there were a couple of poor-man's Betty Grables - but all-in-all everyone had made a stellar effort and the majority of costumes were enviably authentic. The boys who weren't quite sure of the best way to wear a cravat had gone for the safe option of an army uniform and it really paid off.

We left tired, sweaty and very very satisfied. As we started out on the dreaded night journey back to Brixton.

we all cursed that we were born in the wrong era. Sunday morning I woke up and put some Billie Holiday on the Ipod. I wish every Saturday night could be like that. No fights, no aggro, just good ol' fashioned fun. And music I can actually dance to!

A couple of minor grumbles. Firstly, i'm disappointed I didn't see a Bettie Page (though props to the popcorn seller girl! Very sexy) and secondly, there were plenty of boys in GI and allied uniform, so why did none of them offer to walk us home?!

Links
http://www.theblitzparty.com/

Screen Icons: Betty Grable (A Blitz Party special!)

"There are two main reasons why I am successful in show business, and I am standing on both of them."

This is just the sort of cheeky and humble comment that can be attributed time and again to the brilliant Hollywood star Betty Grable, the proud owner of a winning, girl-next-door style smile as well as a certifiably perfect pair of pins!

Betty Grable starred in a number of films that American and international cinema goers genuinely loved, from her big break in the musical Down Argentine Way (1940) to the comedy Coney Island (1943) and, my personal favourite, How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), alongside Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall.

Betty also gained public recognition when she married the actor Jackie Coogan, made famous in his youth by his role in The Kid with Charlie Chaplin, though the two divorced after just three years together.

Considering all of these notable successes, it was not an acting role that really made Betty Grable an icon – it was a photograph. The public already loved Betty thanks to her fun personality and strikingly pretty looks, so it was no wonder that when a pin-up photo of her was released during WWII showing off her fabulous legs, she became the sweetheart of the nation, and, historically, of the armed forces.

The beautiful and all American girl Betty clearly reminded soldiers of what they were fighting for at home and her pose swiftly adorned barracks around the world. Betty herself was clearly flattered by this and took on the mantle of the forces pin-up with gusto, commenting: “I'm strictly an enlisted man's girl.”

It was this popularity that really fired up Betty's film career, with the treasury department noting that in the year 1946-47 that she was the highest paid actress in Hollywood, earning $300,000 a year. It was at this stage in her career that 20th Century Fox famously insured Betty's lusted-after legs for a quarter million dollars, a wise move considering that she was so in demand!

On screen Betty was an enlivening presence, using her talents as a trained dancer to perform with energy and warmth, which perfectly offset her enviable physique.

These attributes were obviously noted by costume designers as the outfits that were chosen for Betty were usually sleek and sparkling for glamorous roles, sporty-chic for her more light hearted appearances, and still slim fitting for parts in war films such as A Yank in the R.A.F (1941), though room was always understandably made to show a bit of leg!

This classically American styling carried through to Betty's publicity shots and personal attire, indicating either a canny awareness of her public image or just good old fashioned taste for clean lines, vibrant colours and flattering shapes.

In the shops this season the sporty American look and military styling that Betty is associated with can be easily found, largely thanks to the fact that shorts are everywhere right now, much to the delight of Vanity and Kid!

Super small shorts in an array of bright colours that can be paired with simple t-shirts or vests will jump out at you in H&M or Uniqlo, whilst shops such as River Island, Zara, New Look and even M&S are sure to have some great basic shorts in khaki, brown or sandy tones to achieve an army surplus look, which I am gearing up to try.

Just like Betty, accessorise with a slim belt around your waist, cracking pins, high heels and a smile!

Apollonia Gish x

If you like this, check out Style Cramp at the Blitz Party

Fashion Fridays at Topman

Last week kicked off Fashion Friday at Topman on Oxford Street, with the inception of Stylist; a bespoke styling service exclusive to the flagship store.

This article should be about the launch of AAA, the new rock 'n' roll line for Topman, but we can blame a swift change in direction on that darned volcanic ash as the merch wasn't delivered in time.

So last Friday, Kid Page and I grabbed a couple of beers in the reception area on the second floor and the head stylish Luke showed us some of the signature looks (very tailored: carrot-cut trousers, sharp-shouldered blazers, trilbys, slim scarves. Think JLS meets Bros) and explained a bit about the service.

You can book a place for up to two hours, have a few beers, get groomed and preened and walk away with, hopefully, something more stylish than a striped polo shirt.

Upsettingly for me, as I like wearing men’s chinos as they hang better, the cropped ones I tried on would not go over my enormous calves. Ok, they’re not enormous at all, but they felt it when I couldn’t get them off again. That’ll teach me for trying to save time by trying on things on the middle of the shop floor…

Topshop launches make up

Topshop Make Up launches tomorrow. Buy three or more products and get a limited edition cosmetics bag. Aces.

As well as a core range, there’s the Trend Collection; a limited edition line which will be released every three months.

Hmm, well it’s all terribly exciting I suppose, but we just hope it’s better quality than the gloopy and cheap Miss Selfridge glitter compacts we used to buy circa 1999.

Topshop, as our UK fashion stalwart, we expect big things!

Images from the Topshop blog: http://topshop.insideout.com