Thank you to the extremely talented local photographer Charlotte Doran Davies for these wonderful images!
Next year I hope to take some photos of the actual festival myself!
Just in case you are not aware, I made the little top hat myself. Check out Cogsmith’s Curious Creations on Facebook for more designs!
I thought I would treat you to a fun little shoot I did in the snow on Saturday! A little bit of vintage pinup for the festive season. ‘Yule’ love it!
Wearing an original 1950’s gold lame swimsuit; originally used in a circus in LA, 1940’s rubber and fur over boots and a 1930’s fur muff with ruched silk on the back with a hidden purse pocket. The boots are wonderful as you just wear your own mid-heel shoes inside. They act as wellies to keep the rain, snow and mud off your footwear!
Kisses
Kitten von Mew xxx
Photos taken by Richard von Mew
Well it even started to snow in my performance yesterday, adding to the magical atmosphere of Stratford’s Victorian Christmas Market!
Looking forward to seeing you all AND the wonderful festival lights, when I sing at 5.40pm today!
As we are not getting paid for these performances, I have decided to raise money for Combat Stress. Please, please would you mind offering up any spare change that you can to raise money for psychological support for our veterans?
Thank you in advance! X
On the first Sunday of December, we booked the Breakfast with Santa at Wyevale Garden Centre!
I thought a good old English breakfast was a fine way to start the festive season and as I had never had one at Wyevale, this was the perfect opportunity.
Crackers festooned the tables, twinkling lights welcomed us and Father Christmas’ favourite elf helped bring drinks, answer queries and add to the wonderful atmosphere. We had pre-chosen our meals (hot breakfast all round!), so it was just a case of getting our hot drinks (all refilled for free!) and await our food. It did take quite a while to arrive, BUT it was worth the wait. I would rather not compromise quality with speed, I mean… what would you rather have? Cardboard bacon cooked hours ago and put under a hot lamp or freshly cooked-to-order yumminess? Exactly.
The wait wasn’t that bad as the children were all given ginger bread men and icing pens, could go in the soft play area and had colouring sheets with crayons too.
After our hearty meal, the elf encouraged all the children to shout for Santa and low and behold he answered their screams of excitement. Bell in hand, he walked around every table, talking to the visitors, high-five’ing the kids and offering cuddles to anyone who wanted them!
Once he had done the rounds Father Christmas took a seat and awaited the children and their wish lists. After a chat with their favourite festive celeb, the kids got a chance to choose a gift from an overwhelming display of soft toys, crafts and games. I was really impressed with the wide choice available and got rather jealous too…
The experience is £8 for adults (inclusive of full English breakfast, toast, free refills on teas, coffee, cappuccino etc), £10 for children (inclusive of mini full English, soft drink with free refills, gingerbread man with icing pens, visit with Santa Claus and a choice of gift). If you think that a full English is about £7, the fact that you get as many tea and coffee refills as you like is a really sweet deal. I think maybe giving parents a 10% discount voucher for the store would be a nice gesture too and I may suggest this to Wyevale myself.
I felt that the experience was definitely worth the money and the fact that they have an indoor soft play area really helps. The staff were cheerful, attentive and helpful, whilst the food was fresh and delicious. I will definitely be back for more breakfasts in the future!
Today (04/11/17) we just nipped into this free Contemporary Arts Fair at the town hall, in Stratford upon Avon. It is well worth a visit if you are in the area. With free admission (which is very rare with anything nowadays), there’s jewellery, paintings, ceramics, leather, wood work and more.
Upstairs there were more vendors, but also a wonderful pop up tea shop serving yummy cakes, tea and coffee. They had the most beautiful gold tea sets and the cakes we sampled (chocolate and some Stollen) were really fresh.
My highlight was Becky Paton and her gorgeous mosaics. As well as the larger pieces to break hearts and bank accounts, there were more purse friendly items such as Christmas decorations, brooches and clips. I bought this wonderful dragonfly!
The show is open today and Sunday, with more info available HERE.
Back in March I was lucky enough to be part of a collaborative shoot, organised by Ruth and Sheena of Emily’s Best Travelling Traditional Sweet Shop!
With a Halloweeny… Harry Potteresque theme, I jumped at the chance to get involved! Having not had the exciting bit of trying on loads of bridal gowns for my own wedding, this was also the perfect opportunity to feed that little yearning too.
Gemma Williams was a wonderful photographer, as you can see from the images.
Daisy and Fred created an epic Snitch themed cake, Jamball and Kerry Gold made some wonderful fabric and paper bouquets adorned with charms and Harry Potter references, Jen Hogmany Melchett upcycled some wonderful heels with big velvet bows and Marauder’s Map fabric, All Things Lucy handmade some stunning headdresses, Rosie Red Corsetry brought a mouth watering collection of gowns that I wanted to take home, Sarah Russell was makeup artist and went for a much more natural style than I am used to but super-wild hair, Shelsey Herbs and Flowers brought stunning flowers and foliage, M Style did the theming and there were more people than I can list helping out.
A double page spread of this wonderful bridal shoot has been featured in Issue 83 of Vintage Life Magazine!
Huzzah! It’s that time of year again where we all get to dress up and be part of something truly epic! Goodwood Revival is back in all its Harris Tweed glory. I cannot wait to sing in the VIP area again, with its fantastic vintage BBC radio set up and see all the wonderful Goodwood actors, staff and racing drivers once more. Although this year’s event sold out as quickly as it went on sale, you are in with a chance for next years event, so let me entice you with some of last year’s pictures…
Entertaining the evacuee children with a little bit of Gracie Fields.
I had just gotten to the VIP area and was doing ‘once round the room’ saunter, when a waiter turned round, saw the outfit and dropped a jug of orange juice down me by accident. Sticky, but hilarious! Had to use someone’s hair dryer behind the scenes.
The sound effects for the radio shows!
Recreating old radio shows from the original scripts. An absolute hoot!
For one of the VIP areas you had to walk through a 60’s record shop!
Another VIP entrance. Absolutely incredible England football team dressing room, including a mini pitch outside!
My wonderful boys of No.26. Can’t wait to see them again! Andrew Wareing’s 1964 BRM F1 car, P261
The adorable pedal car race. My personal favourite!
They look tough, but they are pussy cats really…
I asked for a strong tea with a tiny splash of milk. The girl Pantone matched it to the beige table cloth…
The gorgeously suave LM and his chum.
Today I did a set of soothing 40’s to 60’s songs at Leif Tearooms! I couldn’t wait to meet up with my friends and try the afternoon tea. Usually there is a piano player, but this time they got me on the mic! I was upset to hear that one of my friends was poorly, so couldn’t come along, but we managed to have a good time and wished her a speedy recovery.
Time for another shameless plug… I was yet again wearing one of Time Machine’s amazing vintage reproduction outfits! The barkloth fabric is amazing and contrasts beautifully with the polkadot cotton of the skirt. You may have seen me wearing the trousers of this set at Battles for Victory last year! I also have some shorts too! I teamed this outfit with some vintage Bakelite and jade bangles that picked out the yellow and green beautifully.
So back to Leif! The afternoon tea is priced at £12.95 and is delicious and filling. You get to choose 2 Sandwich fillings and these come on a tiered slate cake stand with slabs of cake, really gorgeous scones (fresh not frozen!), strawberries (guessing these are seasonal) and the obvious clotted cream and jam. Your tea is served in a loose leaf pot, so nice and fresh.
I do prefer the little patisserie fruit tarts you usually get with afternoon teas as scones AND sponge cake can be a bit too heavy. I only managed the sandwiches, strawberries and scone, but it was a delight.
Hopefully I will be asked back to sing again some time! Enjoy your weekend! X
I meant to write this post LAST year, but just never got around to it. It was more of a chance to tell you about Kim Clark at Time Machine Vintage than anything! I wore her gorgeous summery dress to last year’s SVR WW2 event and Betsy wore the matching little playsuit! I had a few other things made by the talented lady, but could never find the perfect weather and location to don the all in one trouser playsuit. Low and behold, June came round again and so did Severn Valley Railway, with sunshine and warm weather! So I got to wear 2 Time Machine outfits at this fantastic event!
Both have been sooooo comfy and far more enjoyable to walk around in than a suit and high heels. There is so much to see at the 40’s event and quite a bit of walking, so I wanted to be comfy but of the period. The linen jumpsuit is actually based on a 1930’s pattern, but Kim and I loved the styling and it was easy to create an early 40’s look with it too. I cannot wait to wear it on holiday with some yellow bakelite jewellery and a more 30’s twist! Kim has a real eye for vintage style fabrics (and sometimes gets her hands on 40’s and 50’s originals too!).
It was fantastic to be back at Severn Valley. It had its ups and downs in past years, but it truly is a lovely event and a wonderful day out. Where else can you get on a steam train and stare out the window at soldiers, scenery, elephants and rhinos?!
Pushchairs are not easy to get on and off the trains, so you may find yourself carrying your little people more than anything, but it is a perfect event for families. Some of the ‘vintage’ stalls were more 80’s does 40’s and polkadot 50’s dresses, but there were some good authentic stalls inside the Engine House (albeit flipping pricey!!!!). You may want to bring your own lunch and snacks as food is very pricey, but you can always have a cooked breakfast to start they day off at the station’s restaurant.
Very much looking forward to going again next year! Here are some photos of the 2016 and 2017 Severn Valley Railway 1940’s Events…
2016
Time Machine Vintage 1940’s reproduction summer dress and baby romper!
2017
With cheeky Chico!
Time Machine Vintage’s wonderful 1930’s outfit, twinned with an original 30’s hat and WW2 brooch. Shoes by Rocket Originals.
I love the fact that Betsy has never actually been on a modern train yet! Only vintage trams and steam trains!
I just love a good village fete. There is something very ‘Darling Buds of May’ about a decent fete in fabulous weather. Ive been lucky enough to go to 2 so far this summer (One performing, one pleasure) and have another in the diary too. It is wonderful how a little place can rally together and create something lovely each year!
Snitterfield Village Fete was yet again great. This year had a light Back to the Future theme, with the presence of a DeLorean and the compare dressing as Doc! I just wish that they had a better variety of vintage cars and stalls there. Maybe a carboot area would work well? They have some great entertainment from a choir, ukulele group…myself obviously…and even a mini Crufts. Eatery wise, they had a pig roast (yum!), cream teas and more.
I happened to be invited along to a very quaint fete in Pershore this weekend just gone. My friend’s daughter was one of the May Pole dancers and I couldn’t wait to go and see! It was a great set up, right in the heart of the village, either side of a little brook. There were even a couple of stall in people’s gardens! This one had a dog show too, a couple of guys playing guitar and a duck race. It was lovely to have some real bric-a-brac stalls to rummage through , but not enough of a selection of savouries to eat unfortunately. Luckily our friend had made us a slap up lunch, so we just wanted an ice cream in the shade!
So here are some photos of both days for you. I do hope you support your local fairs? Usually they are raising money for a village fund, school, youth club or the like, so it really is important to have you there.
Teacup ride with Betsy! I got waaaay too dizzy on this, but she loved it. Snitterfield 2017
In the DeLorean with Doc and Betsy! Snitterfield 2017
In line, ready for May Pole. Pershore 2017
The May Pole in Pershore 2017
Cooling off in dappled shade! 31 flipping degrees!
1940's Pin-Up Entertainer Kitten von Mew 