The benefits of moving

Though exercise wasn’t as hyped in the 1940’s as it is today, it was still something that was considered good for you. Interestingly my beauty books don’t mention weight loss when it speaks about the virtues of moving your body, though it does say that exercise will keep your body trim. It put much more stress on the joy of being able to control your movements and to feel liberated in your body as well as promoting your health and vitality.

The advice is to do your exercise every morning for 15 minutes- get up a little earlier to find the time. The kind of exercise is what the book call gymnastics, but we probably would call aerobics. Start slowly if you are new to it and gradually build up your strength, but do try work hard enough to feel completely warm. Keep you posture throughout and don’t forget to breathe properly. Be very careful when you stretch out your muscles! Do your exercise in front of an open window, of, if possible, outside.

Heyday giveaway

Heyday is having an absolutely fabulous givaway, the black Fleur-dress with daisies:



One of the dresses I have been eyeing, in fact. And to complete it, earrings and brooch.

New skirt

I've actually finished something! To be truthful it's something I started before I ventured into the wardrobe project, but as it is a 40's skirt, it fits anywy. It's an A-line wool skirt that I very nearly finished in February, but then I had just the hemming left. It's funny how often the hemming slows me down... But now, in time for colder weather, I finally took the last stitches on it. And as I've spent the last few days feeling a bit under the weather due to a cold, I really felt the need to put on some lipstick and feel a bit pretty.

Back in business

I must confess that all the hard work I put into my masquerade costume came to naught. Well, not really, but I realized last Wednesday that I wouldn’t be able to finish it to wear on the masquerade after all. So I can’t show you any pictures of it yet I plan to wear it on a masquerade in Mars, so it will be finished. Instead I wore an old costume and wasn’t unhappy about it:



More pictures can be seen here.

Anyway, now I have finally time to spend on the 1940’s again! I’ll do my best to finish hemming my brown skirt very soon and then I think I’m going to make my fake fur- winter is after all approaching.

Waiting at the station coat

This week I finally got my coat from Puttin on the Ritz. I say finally as I have been waiting so eagerly for it, but the truth is that it was sent to me 2 days before the stated waiting time ran out, which is 6 weeks in the slow seasons. The coat is beautiful and comfortable and I couldn’t be happier with it. I always have trouble finding coats that fits, so I’m glad this worked out so well. I’ll definitely be ordering from them again in the future, probably a wool skirt for the winter.

An alternative to classic perfume

Before I realized there were such a thing as vintage perfume- or rather that it was possible to actually get your mitts on them, I hadn’t used ordinary perfume for years, but solely purchased my scents from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, or BPAL. For some reason modern perfumes gives me headaches and I very, very often find that they have a slightly nasty smell underneath the other notes, something that most of all reminds me of water from a vase where flowers has stood too long- rancid and flowery at the same time. And though I have fallen hard for vintage perfumes, I still wear my BPAL scents when I work, so I have done a little research to see if there are any of those that evokes the same scent ideas that my vintage perfume does.

I read blogs

I read Aimee and Harriett’s Bright Young Twins, The Lives of two best friends stuck in a time warp. They have an absolutely amazing sense of style and know how to take pictures of it too (I’m envious) There are many, many, posts I’d like to point you to, but I choose Tea Time!, because they review a book I really want, 'The Vintage Tea Party Book by Angel Adore.

Meanwhile there will a bit of a lull on this blog for two more weeks. After October 22, when the big masked ball has arrived and I have finished my costume, I will get back to a more interesting posting schedule. At the moment I spend every free moment stitching silk velvet and getting more and more convinced that I’m quite insane to choose such fiddly fabric for a very big 18th century gown…