Showing posts with label Hair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hair. Show all posts

Tuesday, 19 January 2016

I Want to Ask You Things



I don't much attend the cinema.  I mean I love films.  Absolutely.  But I just don't tend to go to the big screen often.  That is until I get completely drawn in by some visual or poster or soundtrack or other which just makes me want to sit in the dark and absorb every little detail playing out in front of me.  Carol was one of these such movies.

It was mesmerising.  Beautiful.  Absolutely stunning.  It was a feeling beyond words.  I was completely drawn in from the very first flicker of the screen to the very last credit playing against the soundtrack.  It emotionally absorbed me and pulled me in every which way.  I cried a lot.  Heavy crying.  Hot tears.  Not just because of the story which unfolded before my eyes but because it triggered feelings inside me so real.  My heart drowned in its depths.  Their silent knowing glances.

Cate Blanchett whom I just absolutely adore.  Perfectly casted opposite the quiet, shy Rooney Mara.  It was perfection.  One film that will stay with me forever.  Along with its wonderful soundtrack.

Of course I cannot leave without mentioning and crediting the wonderful work of triple Academy Award-winning costume designer Sandy Powell for the to-die-for wardrobe.  To have Carols wardrobe would be a dream...  1952.  The fifties style, early enough so that it still captures the essence of the forties.  J'adore.














Alison xxx

Wednesday, 13 January 2016

One Looong Year Later...

How quickly a year pasts by.  Apparently the older you get the quicker a year seems to pass by.  The logic?  Something to do with how relative the time is to our own age.  I morbidly think it's because every year seems shorter to the last because we secretly think about how much closer we all are to our deaths.  But that's only if you don't get hit by a bus whilst crossing the road I guess!

I really haven't forgotten about my little blog here as you might think.  Oh no.  Far from it as all my social media is interlinked and really all began because of lovely said blog.  I just really haven't found the time but for some reason I find myself here once again.  Maybe it is because I have been trying my damnedest to get back to doing all the things I love again this end part of the last year.  Someone I met really inspired me to be inspired.  To really put my time back into drawing, writing, reading...  Just actually doing things.  Of course I should really inspire myself but we all get a little lost every now and again.

Many a good and bad events have happened over the course of 2015 and I can truly say I am looking forward to a new year. This past year has been more than testing for me to say the least. Although all was not lost and some good things did occur.  Along with the many hair changes of Alison as per usual so nothing changes there.

I'm sure when I last posted I still had my to-die-for waist length turquoise mermaid hair. Well, a lot has changed since.  I went from this...


To this... Chopchopchop!
This was the first photo of the new hair.

And then well, I just went all out blonde because that's the colour I have always wanted to be!
Then preceded to dye my bangs various temporary colours.

Now I get to strut around pretending to be a "Blonde Bombshell"


Starting to grow my hair out again already because damn I miss the long locks!  Going to see how well the hair holds out with the continuous bleaching.  As they say, once you go blonde... you never go back... Lol.


Why has my year been testing you ask...?  Well, I somehow managed to suffer not one but two heartbreaks.  Must be a record.  Seems I thought it would be a good idea to get over the first heartbreak by getting a second one.  And then I revisited the first one.  How silly of me.  As you can imagine I ended the year in a hot mess of tears and heartache, literally on the last day of the year.  At least 2016 can only look up right?  Funny thing is I thought about my first love from many a years ago a lot this past year.  I'm not sure you ever get over those who meant a lot to you in your life.
I don't generally get too personal on here, not when it involves me being upset anyway.  But I guess these events really affected me and if I am to reflect on the last twelve months it wouldn't be truthful to leave them out.  Where am I now?  I have no idea and I'm not sure I will ever know to be certain.



At least it wasn't all doom and gloom for me.  I finally moved into my very own flat at the end of summer!  Back to Ol' London Town I went.  Moved into a nice little sixties block of flats.  There was and still is a lot to do but slowly and surely it is getting there bit by bit.  I had the builders in for well over a month gutting and doing all the prep and lining, flooring, ceiling, doors etc etc.  I put in a whole new bathroom and kitchen too so you can imagine the work involved.  The only room that is completely finished is the spare room because this was finished modern style (for now) so it was quick and easy.  Every little detail I have painstakingly hand picked to my specification and apparently I'm a very difficult customer according to my sister who was basically project managing the whole thing.  Everything turned into a small fight between having what I wanted and my budget. In the end most things in the flat are what I want with a few small exceptions which I have had to compromise on but not too drastically.  Plus I have plenty of time to get everything just as I want it in the long run.  I just wish I moved in with the flat just as I'd like it to be!

I hope to be able to do a post on some of the progress I have made in the flat.  When I finally get down and dirty with the decor, painting some atomic-esque mid-century details into the kitchen.  This will be a big project but I have to focus on my future ice-cream coloured pink and mint fifties kitchen.  It is in my sight and I will get to the end of it if it kills me!  I have also collected so many prints over the years that I need to frame and finally have up onto walls.  I have my eye on a couple of other things for my bedroom walls but already I have some pieces of vintage lingerie which I want to put into box frames to display.

A couple of pretties for my walls...




I won't post too much about my flat here and now.  I promise to do more on it later.  Soon!
I'll end this post with a little photo of a painting.  A painting an artist painted of me.  Jack Richardson.  I visited Jack at his flat a couple of weeks after we met.  Sat very still for many hours.  He even praised me on how well I sat haha.  Jack did a life "drawing" of me there and then.  But he'd also been working on a piece from one of my photographs.  I'm looking forward to seeing the finished piece but of course I know these things takes time.  Might do another sitting.  My new career as a life model!





I hope this will be the first of many more posts and my permanent return to the blogging game.
Already a week into the new year.  Time is flying by...


Toodles,
Alison xxx


Ps. I had intended to post this before the weekend but then I gallivanted off to Brighton to put a little fun back into my life.  Then of course we all woke up to some very sad news on Monday morning.

May you rest in peace Mr David Bowie Robert Jones.  Beautiful on so many levels.



Thursday, 17 April 2014

Puttin' on the Glitz

Gosh, I tried my darn-dist I really did but I never quite managed to continue blogging as I had intended to this last year.  Well, let us start again here shall we...?

Hello All!  Lady of the Parlour/Miss Cherrylicious/Alison here.  How do you do?  Pleased to make your acquaintance... Again.  There has been so much happening in my life, so many events attended, so many people I've met, so many shopping trips.  So much clothing to show you... And all the new shooooes!

Before I do an outfit/shopping/wardrobe post I wanted to write about a recent event I attended at The British Library.  Puttin' on the Glitz - Fashion & Film in the Jazz Age hosted as part of their Spring Festival at the library saw the amazingly fabulous Amber Jane Butchart and Christopher Laverty grace the stage to speak to us about the wonders that was the Jazz Age.  For afters there was a Cocktail Party hosted by the lovely ladies of The Vintage Mafia.  And what a party it was; with live music from the one and only Alex Mendham and his Orchestra.  Such a treat!

Well I say we start with an event post but what's an event post without my event outfit!?
Here's a quick look at my hair and dressage for the evening...

Hair - the higher the better!
It is hard to tell here as my hair is in a net but the length is actually down to my waist.
But isn't it great to have the option to make ones hair appear shorter?

This is probably the best photo of my outfit captured outside the cocktail party venue.
© Luca Sage 


I never like to read too much into any talk if I already know I will be attending as I hate to spoil things for myself by knowing too much.  The lovely Christopher whom I had not had the pleasure of coming across before this event was a wonderful speaker.  Such passion and so very engaging.  I could have listened to him talk all night about men' fashions!  It also happened to be an more interesting talk (for myself) as Christopher based his talk on the costumes of the characters from The Boardwalk Empire series ( a personal favourite; which I am very behind on) due to their historically correct costuming.  Some rather interesting facts that Christopher pointed out was the alignment of ones suiting pattern... which I'm sure everyone was subsequently noticing for the rest of the evening; along with myself.  The wondrous array of colours that were actually worn by the men of the Jazz Age.  Those dandies and gangsters knew how to dress alright!  Such inspiration to the modern world which is usually hidden behind the black and white films and photography that we see around.

I first discovered Amber in my early years in London when I would be out on the town night after night.  Spotting Amber as part of her DJ duo The Broken Hearts whom can be seen at the most fashionable events around!  Amber spoke of the fashions from the silent movie eras through to when the talkies took over.  How Hollywood and Paris fought it out for top spot as fashion leaders to the world.  And surprisingly how movie stars would bring in their own wardrobe as costumes for the films they were stars of!

I am highly anticipating Amber's new project which she is currently working on entitled Nautical Chic due for publish in 2015.  In the meantime her current book Fashion Miscellany is on my to-buy list.

On to the Vintage Mafia hosted Cocktail Party...

It was rather busy as you can imagine whilst trying to capture a shot of Alex and his band.
Everyone was having a whale of a time Charleston-ing it out to the sounds! 
Photo-booth present - Outtakes not ;) 
My own version - Wanted to show you this dreamy car...


As part of the evening the talented Mr Hanson Leatherby had his Vintage Travelling Portrait Studio set up at the cocktail party for guests to have a little souvenir to look back on.  You can have a look through the rest of the shots here.  This below is my still... Hanson making me look good.  I almost feel as if I should autograph it like a Hollywood Starlet!  Almost...



I say, if that was even a slight taster of the Jazz Age parties then take me there.  Sharpish!

Until next time...
Alison xxx


P.S - A little video captured by The Vintage News crew giving you a snippet of the event.  You can also see a lot more photographs taken at the event on their website.



Friday, 12 July 2013

Live & Rockin' - Nostalgia Festival

Heyhey, a slight delay but here goes my second post from my recent trip to Sweden....

On the day I landed in Goteborg I got whisked off to Live & Rockin' - Nostalgia Festival in VĂĄrgĂĄrda.  It was their 10th year hosting all things vintage, old cars, flea market, music and fun times!

May I present to you a mostly photo filled blog post :)


Very important supplies were picked up on the way.

The first day just for us to set up and be ready for the next morning as Malin was judging the best dressed contest and Magnus' band was playing which meant an early rise for us all.  We did have drinks and a little BBQ with friends at their camp that evening but it wasn't a late one.  Bed by 1am I believe.  

I did notice this sign in the room though which I'm sure Dottie would not be best pleased with!
There were plenty of doggies around at the event which was lovely to see.
Although she is yet to pick up her doggie passport for holidays abroad. 


The Event Day....

My day-time outfit: A tiki two-piece by Hell Bunny


A sea of vintage motors

WANT!!!



Magnus with his band - Carl Casino & The Hardhittin' Dynamites 
They played outdoors by the market during the day along with others.

Lovely ceiling light - I wished I could take home.


Poor Malin in her leg cast but looking radiant all the same.
Judging the "Best Dressed" contest.

Gentleman on the left won along with the lady in burgundy.
She was wearing shape-wear even in the roasting heat!

The lovely Denise hosted her vintage salon in the indoor flea.
I was also photographed and interviewed by this lady too.

This chap provided music to our ears at the flea.


Evening Fun....

Evening outfit - Custom made dress teamed with my vintage tiki bamboo handbag
and my new pair of Miss L Fire Lola mule heels!

Drinking in the sunshine with some dapper chaps!
(boys in the band)



Tennessee Drifters closed the show.

Fun times!

That was most of it although I didn't take as many photos of everything this time.  I need to get the shopping post on here.  I want to show you all what goodies I took home with me!

Last but not least, we left the next afternoon and stopped by for some much needed pizza - for breakfast!  Lol.  Then home we all headed.

It was yummy!


Now what to wear for The Chap Olympiad tomorrow?  Off I go to set the hair!

Take care until next time,
Alison xxx