vintage overdrive. (urban junkies workshop)

is it just me or have we seriously gone into vintage overdrive?! vintage shopping not so long ago was a fun and delightful shopping experience that we did on saturday mornings with friends exploring a treasure trove of past-on gems at affordable prices. Nowadays saturdays are simply a morning of window-shopping, glaring enviously at those Chanel pumps with the very steep triple figure price tag. the first time we reach into our purses is to buy a skinny vanilla latte, extra hot, no cream which is not nearly as satisfying as a good-vintage buy, close but definitely not close enough. i propose that we all boycott the vintage fashion craze and find something else with more vintage cool then a pair of 1970’s Vivienne Westwood sunglasses. let’s say an old record player from the 50’s or the very first model of the Polaroid camera? Polaroid has recently announced the discontinuation of their products so get down to finding and hanging on to that now-retro-looking 80’s Polaroid camera of yours that has probably started collecting dust in the box labelled ‘junk’ and divulge yourselves in old-school Game Boys and other vintage-tech that won’t result in a call from you bank manager.

polyester potential.

Like all fashion lovers I sort of have a problem with polyester and I usually refuse to buy anything made from it unless the clothing item in question is truly lovely and not too expensive. Seems vintage fashion sellers are well aware of our feelings for synthetic material - they tend to write 'luxurious silk from 1968' on the tag even though clearly the item is marked '100% polyester' on the inside.


But a recent article in W Magazine got me thinking about the future of polyester and its potential as a luxury clothing material. Lanvin, one of the worlds most elegant and lavish fashion houses, recently used polyester in the making of their iconic floaty dresses. Aber Elbaz, designer at Lanvin, admits that he 'loves the feel of (polyester)'. But surely he's not talking about the same polyester that was overly used in the 60's and 70's to create most of what we see and try our very best to stay away from in thrift stores today?

Apparently polyester is no longer the restraining and tacky material it once was. Synthetic material has been improved and is slowly making a comeback as more and more designers are choosing to use polyester.

If big fashion houses are dabbling and divulging themselves in synthetic fabrics to create beautiful and breathtaking pieces maybe polyester will no longer be the unspoken and forbidden word in fashion. I won't exaclty be rushing out to get my hands on as much polyester as possible but it does mean that I might have reconsidered that clothing item labelled '100% polyester'. Maybe one day there will be no horror reaction to a tag that reads 'luxurious polyester from 2008'.

the death of the ultra-cool polaroid.

unless you haven't heard... Polaroid Co has decided to officially discontinue their products within this year. invented by the ingenious Edward Herbert Land in 1947 the polaroid has been around for well over 50 years and has left a stamp on the world in the form of billions of polarized film. i can't help but wonder how our lives will change without polaroids... what will the fashion world do? how will jason mraz take photos of himself on stage and throw them out at his audience? and what will amusing sites such as postcardpolaroid.com do with themselves now?

in the 1990's Polaroid sorta had a revival and that's probably when my love-affair with instant film began. my first Polaroid was actually the Polaroid JoyCam and then the iZone and only then the regular sized Polaroid camera... more than anything it's probably cause i love anything pocket-sized and the iZone polaroids were tiny compared to the regular sized polaroid. (oh god and do you remember the SpiceCam?? i remember it was the height of cool to have one. random thought sorry.)

but with digital cameras (and facebook profile pictures) taking over our lives... i guess polaroids have kinda taken a backseat. nowadays our camera-savvy friends take the photo and instantly we gather around him/her trying desperately to catch a glimpse of the outcome. is my double chin showing? or has that huge spot that i'm so discreetly trying to hide with my v. interesting hand posture reared its ugly head? and after much protesting ('i look horrific in that photo'/'you gotta delete it'/'if you post that up on facebook i'll delete you as my friend') the photo is deleted - without ever actually being a real photo. with polaroids - we embrace the imperfections and bad hair days... on the most part cause instant film is rather pricey but none the less you gotta admit that there's never a bad photo when it comes to a polaroid.

i'm personally sad to see polaroids slowly but surely seeping away. there's certainly something about them - i dunno it might be their old-school cool or quirkiness but there's just something unique about taking a polaroid and owning a polaroid. something that i'll miss in the future and that's why i intend on getting my hands on as much instant film as i can or at least as much as my bank account will allow.

on the otherhand i think we might also have a found a window to something with vintage potential? my advice is to hold onto all those instant snapshots (even if they are of you in your pajamas) cause they might be worth more than you think one of these days.

in the mean time... visit http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/save-polaroid-film.html and sign the petition to save polaroid film!

80's apparel_

i was browsing about topshop yesterday and tried on a blue & white striped bodysuit with a high waisted flared skirt similar to the ones shown at miu miu s/s 2008 show (a look that i basically stole straight off the catwalk) the look worked well but the blue & white striped bodysuit didn't quite work so well with the rest of my wardrobe. and so began my (unexpected) search for a black/white bodysuit that would fit right into my collection of wardrobe basics... and where better to get a bodysuit than AMERICAN APPAREL? yes i actually went looking for a bodysuit... you remember those leotard tops that we happily agreed to own in evert colour that had us resorting to descreetly pulling at our pants, trying desperately to get rid of a wedgy without anyone noticing? aha - think hard! the suppressed memory is definately there somewhere at the back of your mind. i think i can finally admit that the 80's are officially back! but really it only seems natural that with highwaisted trouser/skirt back in the fashion spotlight that bodysuits would naturally follow... the two fundamentally go hand in hand - yes? a decade or so ago i was totally working the highwaisted jeans/bodysuit look and lets not forget the legwarmers that went over the jeans! now that we have embraced the 80's comeback it comes as no surprise that AA is fast-becoming a hit store on the high street. the bodysuits were flying off the rails so fast that i could barely get my hands on one that wasn't a XS or L... but i guess with so many more AA stores filled to the rim with shiny spandex and skin-tight lycra in every colour under the sun i shouldn't have any problem getting my hands on some 80's apparel for the second time around.

fashion lets loose!

you know how they say "all work and no play makes jack a dull boy" well fashion is running and screaming refusing to be dull this spring. designers return to their childhood for some inspiration and start having some silly fun as they turn this seasons catwalk into fashion's very own playpen.

lego hairbands. crayon coloured shoes. heart-shaped sunglasses. spongebob squarepants. playsuits. lego belts. batman motifs. mickey mouse head pieces. smiley faces. floppy bows.