Kelly Doust introduces readers to her wonderful world of reviving and customising vintage pieces, while bringing a modern and unique twist to wearing vintage clothes – Dita Von Teese
Itchy fingers
Carmen Cass gets toasty
I’m like the grasshopper who sang all summer (except I was getting superfit working out five times a week – no weight loss, but I can run up hills now, big ones, and not pass out or be sick, bonus! – and writing books not blog posts and making monumental plans to overhaul my life), and now it’s autumn and I have 50 projects to make for the next book, which I handed in last February but is about to be shot in just over 2 months time, and it’s scaring the bejeezus out of me. Yikes!
Met with my lovely new publisher, Tracy Lines (former Creative Director of Inside Out) on Wednesday, and she succeeded in lighting a fire underneath my butt (totally necessary – I even had Olive help me overhaul a hatstand yesterday, how desperate is that? Just a tip, three year olds make rubbish helpers). Fortunately I won’t starve or go begging the ants anytime soon, but it’s time to stop squawking.
Naturellement, this was all feeling a bit stressful. So I took off to The Corner Shop in The Strand Arcade last night to learn how to knit as part of the Campaign for Wool (thank you Corner Shop, you’re my favourite) and despite now fantasising about making my own clotted cream-coloured slouchy knit for winter (I can purl!), à la the one spotted here on the enigmatic Ms Kass, I’m also considering signing up for the always-fab workshops at Calico & Ivy Balmain over winter because my fingers are itchy, dammit, and I’m going in for a spot of work avoidance behaviour (WAB) this week. When you make for a living, making for the selfish hell of it feels gloriously subversive.
Wool week at London's Selfridges
What else?
Cloth is selling off cute bundles of all their archived fabrics at their online store, so I might pop in for a nosy at those this afternoon and urge you to do the same.
I went to Rozelle Markets for the first time in months last Sunday and was wooed by my ruggedly handsome paramour all over again (don’t tell my husband). Sometimes a vintage vixen starts to feel pure Second Hand Rose when she’s up to her ears in marketeering, but I bought a bangin’ black miniskirt, secondhand Sass & Bide tux jacket and lambskin floor rug for under 50 bucks, and now I’m biding my time until our 8am tryst tomorrow. Gotta love those cheap thrills.
Rozelle Markets, I heart you
And I’m appearing at Sydney Writers’ Festival in a month with Indira Naidoo to talk DIY! All the superlatives in the world can’t cover how XXXXXXXX I am to be part of the best festival in The Showgirl’s calendar. Love SWF to pieces. I will finish reading The Marriage Plot and Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? before I see Mr Eugenides and Ms Winterson next month, I will I will I will.
I won’t promise to blog more, and I won’t wish to fit more in my week. I broke fast with one of my dearest friends in the world this morning, and life is GOOD (I’ve been up since 3am, can you tell?)
Much love to you & yours & keep on truckin’.
Lordy, it’s Love Vintage
Back to the Future
Feels like yesterday we were having a ball at the last Love Vintage, and yet the next one’s on in less than a month. The new venue means more stalls, more events, more fantastic people-watching opportunities and more vintage thrills. Plus I’m doing workshops again on Saturday and Sunday. Can’t. Wait.
Check out these pics from last year’s festivities, and pop March 23-25 in the diary – hope to see you at one of the workshops below.
Cheongsams and fur
Lindy Charm School for Girls
Stayin' Alive
Can't beat a turban
Vintage clothing restoration with Kelly Doust
Saturday 24 March @ 11am, Sunday 25 March @ 12pm
The bestselling author of Minxy Vintage, A Life in Frocks and The Crafty Minx will be sharing her hints, tips and creative ideas for restoring all vintage clothing at this free workshop. Come along to hear Kelly’s advice on how to fix or customise preloved and damaged pieces, giving them a new lease of life for many years to come. These are fun, easy and environmentally friendly skills for even the least crafty. Feel free to bring along an item or two for specific advice on restoration – after this workshop you’ll never look at those less-than-perfect finds the same way again.
My top five tips for revitalising vintage pieces:
- Shattered silk and holes can be almost invisibly repaired with iron-on bonding – available from Spotlight and most haberdasheries – paired with fabric sneakily borrowed from a generous seam or hem (this works best on printed fabrics rather than block colours).
- Expel musty odours by dipping your vintage piece in a warm bath and adding ½-full cup of white vinegar. Dry in the shade before dipping in a second bath, this time with a few drops of sweet-scented lavender or grapefruit oil, to eradicate the smell of vinegar.
- Eucalyptus and tea tree oil remove stubborn oil stains and chewing gum. Simply apply directly to fabric, before finishing with a handwash or popping hardier items in the washing machine.
- Most other stains can be faded or disappear with Napisan. Dip item in dissolved solution and dry in full sunlight without rinsing. The enzymes react with the sun to bleach stains (be aware this may also fade bright colours or delicate fabrics – try a test patch first).
- Badly stained items are easily revitalised by dyeing to a new hue. Some shades are harder to achieve when added to the original fabric colour but when in doubt, black covers almost everything and is eternally chic.
Signed copies of Kelly’s books will be available at Love Vintage from Coco Repose (stall no.C02) and at both workshops.
Love Vintage wrap-up
Ah, Love Vintage… why are you over until March next year? I’m in withdrawal.
Glam 1930s-era hairpiece from Circa Vintage Hats
Last weekend’s event was by far the biggest and most buzziest I’ve been to in some time. Perhaps it’s because vintage is so hot right now (need evidence, Mugatu? Read this article… if the Tele says so it must be true). Or perhaps it’s because all the workshops and talks – which I adored, by the way, and thanks to the scores of lovely people who attended mine – were just brimming with enthusiasm and admiration for such high-quality pieces from yesteryear. Indeed you could barely hear yourself think above the chatter, tip-sharing and general gasps when gowns fit like the proverbial glove. It was every vintage vixen’s dream.
Heart it: true vintage by Rosalie, Giorgio & Robyn
Channelling Betty Draper / Veronica Lake, thanks to Mistress Chrissy of the Lindy Charm School
How many 50s prom dresses can one girl own?
Jess Guthrie weaves a little feather magic
Lindy Charm school recreates Underbelly: Razor
I may not wear vintage head to toe in everyday life, but this was the place to indulge latent screen siren fantasies. Thanks to the fabulous Chrissy, Lucy Topp and ladies of the Lindy Charm School for Girls for their stunning ‘dos, MC Bonnie Rose and to Charlotte Smith of Dreaming of Dior fame & the Darnell Collection for her fascinating forays into clothing’s social history. Not to mention all the dealers who made the journey out to Canterbury Racecourse to sell their wares. Thank you thank you Coco Repose, Garden Street Bazaar, Empire 47 and Circa Vintage Hats, to name but a few.
Until next year.
Orange silk poppies on my immaculate Coco Repose 60s Wiggle dress
Garden Street Bazaar for spectacular vintage everything
And today's job: tea-dyeing white lace to cover the holes in a 1950s coolie-style hat
Frocks published in China & Love Vintage
I just returned home after a lovely, meandering chat about vintage on morning radio with ABC 702′s Deborah Cameron and setting up a Minxy Vintage window display at Cammeray Bookshop, when I heard the news A Life in Frocks is being translated into Chinese! What a thrill to see my book written in the language I so struggled with learning a decade ago (Mandarin, that is… although I was living in Hong Kong at the time, I didn’t even attempt Cantonese – typical gwei-lo).
Pop on your dancing shoes & head to Love Vintage
Writing this post in a stolen half hour before heading off to Love Vintage, in full shopping mode and ready to officially open the fair tonight (shopping first, officiating second). Here’s a few reasons why you need to be there:
- Discover stylish, quirky, glamorous gear for girls and guys, plus designer vintage fashions from New York, London and Paris
- Attend my free workshops on how to wear and revamp vintage for a modern look
- Shop for linen, lace, jewellery, antique tablecloths, hand-made aprons, buckles, vintage sewing patterns, magazines, antique prints, jewelled ’50s compacts & lipstick cases, rare Bakelite brooches, the prettiest parasols, and so much more
- See summer and special occasion fashion presented by Mistress of Parades, Miss Bonnie Rose
- Learn tips and tricks for perfect ‘hair and hat’ race-day styling with the Mistresses from the Lindy Charm School for Girls
- Enjoy presentations of gorgeous gowns from the 1920s-70s
- Buy fabulous shoes, hats and handbags to complement a race-day outfit, classic suit to wear in the office, or to-die-for party dress.
Tonight is ‘Best Dressed in Vintage’ night, so dress to impress. There’s also prizes being given out all weekend, so you can rock your favourite vintage look anytime at the show.
Be there or be square.
Learn of the Evans sisters' intriguing story, and see their original 1930s dresses up close
Spring has sprung
Sixties silk kaftan from Rozelle markets, pre-repair
This week Sydney has turned on her charms like the cancan dancer she is, and made me remember why I love living in this city. The balmy breath wending its way through the house today is dispelling the cold memory of winter, and the air seems to thrum with its energy. Ah, spring.
Yesterday I wore a silk kaftan for the first time since March – with bare legs – and was overwhelmed by a desire to throw open all the windows and doors, and take to every space in the home with a duster, in full-on editing mode.
Hello, window-box geraniums. Hello post-dawn morning yoga classes, and trips to the fish markets. Goodbye winter colds, let’s be done with you. Come hither, sun.
Windowbox cheer
Swapping wool for DK cotton - my somewhat wonky decorative crocheted potholder
Crown and Brim
A dreamy Nicole Plester creation
Today I’m heading up to Newcastle with a bootload of books for the Newcastle Vintage Fair, which starts tomorrow. I’ll be talking about A Life in Frocks and signing copies of all the books, while my lovely friend Jess brings her delectable vintage wares to town with the Coco Repose stall. Pop in and say hello if you’re in the area.
What will I be looking for? Spring Carnival-appropriate headwear. Currently lusting after these divine pieces from clever Perth-based milliner, Nicole Plester. With a background in theatrical costume, Nicole works with the West Australian ballet and custom-makes pieces for individual clients. Divine, non?
Staying in: the new going out?
Cabbage (&) Roses
We chucked most commitments today in favour of time indoors, en famille. The knots in my shoulders are working themselves loose and I feel sane again, because Minxy Vintage is very nearly off to print, and the days brought various good tidings. Hooray for the turning tide.
I did, however, pop out for some flowers to cheer up the house – hence the kale and roses above. And my new/old egg cups, a collectible German design from the 50s. Who was I to resist such pastel charms?
And my chubby babe is due another bib, for the seams were bursting on the old one which featured in The Crafty Kid. Here’s the new version – done & dusted in under an hour. It should last until she’s four. By which stage, bibs will be redundant, right? (ha).
Googie eggs never looked so good
A new bib for Miss Olive
Market hopping
No space for a Singer
What does the perfect weekend consist of? Good weather, good food, a family trip to the beach, high tea with friends and a spot of market hopping.
Here’s a few of the bargains I didn’t buy: an antique Singer, leather doctor’s bag, and these sweet ballerina prints texted by my neighbour Anna, and seen too late.
You snooze, you lose.
Doctor, Doctor
Gone but not forgotten
Feeling vintage
Manning the book stall at the Coffs Harbour Vintage Fair
We’ve just returned from a few days in Coffs Harbour, where I was speaking at the Vintage Fashion Fair and reading from A Life in Frocks. Thank you to the lovely blog readers who travelled from near & far to say hello, and to organiser Jeanette Luke, owner of From Here to Eternity, for inviting me to attend.
If you’re in Sydney this weekend a couple of the same dealers – including Coco Repose – will be trading at Becky Sharp’s Vanity Fair vintage market, held from 10-5 at the Paddington RSL on Saturday. Go forth and plunder a fab frock or two…
From Here to Eternity's Vintage Swimsuit exhibition
Jess Guthrie's Coco Repose stall
Feathered friend in stunning fuscia, Coco Repose
Frocks event in Coffs Harbour
If you happen to be in Coffs Harbour during the first week of January, come along to the Vintage Fashion Fair, where I’ll be locally launching A Life in Frocks. I’ll be talking, signing and selling books all day (and squeezing in a few days’ holiday nearby). Hope to see you there.