Vape for girls (and guys, too!) - Ruby's Originals e-liquids

Today's blog post is a little different to my usual thing. Today I am going to talk to you about some new e-liquids that have popped up on the retro scene. Being a female vintage enthusiast makes me niche anyway, and I feel that it is difficult for gals to find a space in the vaping market. However, Ruby's Originals combines both vaping and the pinup style to create 6 incredible flavours. I want to make it clear that I do not encourage healthy people to pick up e-cigarettes just for the sake of things. Vaping is designed as a step-down for smokers, with Public Health England stating that vaping is "around 95% less harmful than tobacco". My boyfriend, Danny, vapes - so I have used his knowledge on different e-liquids to create this post.

Danny uses a 50W e-leaf battery with Hobo RDA. The liquids used contained 0mg of nicotine.

'Wild Child' - Vivien of Holloway Jezebel dress

 Once I find a brand that I love, I get obssessed. So those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that I often feature Vivien of Holloway in my OOTD posts. I love them for their fit, quality and extensive range of colour and design choice. I was over the moon when they said they wanted to send me a little something to share with you guys on my blog!

Erstwilder at Christmas

Erstwilder is a much talked about brand over here on Alice in Retrospect, so I wanted to share my latest goodies with you guys over Christmas. The Erstwilder company is now closed for Christmas, so sit back and relax whilst you're eating your turkey (or veggies) and plan which Erstwilder piece(s) you're gonna get with your Christmas money - I've already got a long list ready for January!

The Golden Tiki - Review of She's Dynamite sarong dress

You may have been tricked into thinking Tiki is a summer style, but oh no... you are wrong! It might be cold out (not as cold as it should be for Christmas over here in the UK) but tiki is a style that can be rocked all year round, with added layers of course! This post is all about the tiki sarong from She's Dynamite.

The Prettiest Dress - Review of The Pretty Dress Company & Splendette

Today's blog post is about the beautiful Marnie pencil dress from The Pretty Dress Company. This online boutique is a UK-based company that brings vintage inspired garments to the modern woman. Their range is sizes 6-18 (6 and 18 are pre-order only) and priced from £49 and upwards with not only dresses on offer but skirts and bustiers, too! First impressions when browsing the website was how elegant each dress looked, whilst also many of the styles being available in different colours/prints.

Alice in Retrospect Reads In Retrospect Magazine

Almost a year ago, some of you may recall that I attended the launch party for a brand new magazine with my fellow British Belles in Brighton. That magazine was In Retrospect, a glossy quarterly 'zine packed full of vintage inspiration, up and coming repro brands, exquisite photography of the past and present as well as interesting debates and articles and much more. This magazine caters for both men and women alike to provide the very finest in vintage publications. 

'Up To No Good' - Mischief Made Tees

Mischief Made is a company based in California, USA and is owned by the ever-so-lovely Yuri who is originally from Tokyo, Japan. She designed all the lovely t-shirts featured herself and has a great selection available in her Etsy shop. The designs have the feel of a mix of classic vintage and traditional tattoos - two things which I love! 

'Girls date' tee - I love the poodles that are enjoying their lunch!

I was lucky enough to be sent two of the new t-shirt designs: 'Harlequin Dancers' and 'Native American Girl'

Beatnik Babe - Goldie's Capri Pants

Bonjour! Here I am with my next installment of Goldie's magic! If you didn't see my recent post about the Cinderella dress from Goldie's Clothing then click here to have a ganders.

- Yes, that is the Grease soundtrack! -

Now...you've seen my princess side so it's time to show you my bad girl bombshell look with these drop dead gorgeous black capri pants from Goldie's, which can be bought directly here. They're so fitted you could kill a man just by wiggling your booty (believe me, I've done it!).

- One of the gorgeous models on Goldie's website -

The Cinderella Affair - Goldie's Clothing

Hello! Long time, no blog! I have been really busy over the past fortnight with my brand new grown up job so I apologise profusely for the lack of posts. I am now back in business now that I have settled into my new routine. 

Goldie's Clothing is a vintage and pinup inspired clothing company based in Barcelona, Spain. I wasn't sure what they were going to be sending me so I was excited to see what goodies would arrive in the post.
 

Erstwilder 'Eau de Toilette' - New Website Launch!

Erstwilder have just launched their BRAND NEW website which not only allows you to browse over 300 Erstwilder designs, but also lets you purchase them! WARNING: Incredibly dangerous for your savings! To visit the brand new site, click here. The new website is nice and simple to navigate and has a search option to bring you to 'yo thang'. You can also use the drop down menu under 'shop' to search themes, animals, colours etc.

The wonderful Erstwilder team were kind enough to send me some pieces to share with you guys to celebrate the new website launch. I shall be sharing all of these pieces over the next fortnight, starting with...

Marine Madness - Banjo & Cake

My collaboration with Banjo & Cake was something a little different to what I have done before as I wanted to feature their 'Sea Garden' collection, with both a skirt and...a bikini! These together made an adorable little three piece as they are matching prints. Banjo & Cake are a company very much inspired by the rockabilly, pinup and tattoo scene as noted with their polka dot prints, kitsch patches and juicy cherries! I wanted to choose a bikini because they are just so darn cute! Below are the two bikinis available to purchase from Too Fast.

 

Donna Bikini - Sea Garden

Donna Bikini - Bows and Anchors

Throwback Thursday - 1940s Style Inspiration

Gals in the 1940s in their summer wear

Here is the third installment of the Throwback Thursday style inspiration posts I have been releasing each week. This week's focus is the 1940s. Click here for the 1920s and 1930s. The 1940s was a decade struck by great terror - World War II. Half the decade was taken up by official war, and the effects of the war lasted for the entirety of it. However, women did not let rationing affect their sense of style. To me, the 1940s is an era of incredible sophistication. Women drew on the seam of their stockings on to their bare legs, because nylon was rationed. They made dresses, skirts and suits out of old material under the campaign 'Make Do and Mend'. This little post shall highlight the basics of hair, fashion and makeup of the 1940s.

Be there, or be square...

Vintage Hair pincurl sculpture tool

Bonjour mes petit amis! Hopefully my YouTube tutorial isn't as bad as my French! 

A little while ago, the company Vintage Hair kindly sent me this little tool to review on my blog. The video is posted below (excuse my derpy face):

Mini Post - Tuesday's Tummy Treats!

Happy Tuesday!
I know we're all feeling a little glum to be back at work after the bank holiday weekend but if you need a little cheering up then carry on reading this post to fill your hunger because this post is all about food-themed clothes and accessories! Click the images to go to the websites.

Flamingo-a-go-go!

 

A couple of months back I wrote a blog post about my favourite brooch companies (Click here to read the post). One of those companies I focused on was Poison of Choice. When a particular style of earring was shown on their Instagram @poisonofchoiceshop, that was the fuel I needed to make a cheeky purchase.

Mini Post: Bangin' Bangles!

I have been going a little bangle crazy lately. Charity shops are choc-full of them so I always keep my eyes peeled for cute wooden or plastic ones. If you are super lucky you might get some Bakelite or lucite treasures. For the online shops, that are several places you can purchase some incredible bangles for a great price:

Banned Wanderlust Swing Dress

Now if you know me, I LOOOOOVE a little bit of tropical print. So when Banned said they were going to send me something from their new Spring Summer 2015 line, I was dead excited. Myself and several of the British Belles were lucky enough to see a sneak peek at the London Edge show and we were certainly not disappointed! Here are just a few snippets below of some of the incredible prints to offer:

How to: Edit your selfies using PicMonkey

Just a quick evening post about how I edit my photos! It is amazing how different you can make an image look just by adjusting the lighting, filter or focus. It can be fun to edit your photos and there is nothing wrong with it. Below are some examples, all of the same photo. The technique for achieving them is included in the caption.

Voodoo Vixen's Anchors and Spaceships

...Bit of an odd combination? Well, Voodoo Vixen very kindly graced me with two dresses from their new line. Both of which I am IN LOVE. 

Several weeks back I was lucky enough to be invited to the London Edge blogger's party which was sponsored by Voodoo Vixen. At the event I was given the opportunity to see the up and coming lines for an array of alternative brands including Voodoo Vixen, Collectif and Hell Bunny. Amongst the selection of bright and tasty prints that Voodoo Vixen had to offer, I spotted a poppin' atomic print. Upon closer inspection, I could see that the dress was covered in space babes! An incredibly unique design and the clash of fuchsia pink against the black background was all I needed to lust for the dress. It was no hard decision that I had to review the pencil dress.