work, day, play by bettyamazing featuring flower post earrings
Some people seem to have a central colour scheme to all their outfits - it certainly saves money on accessories as you can just chop and change. xx
Pop Culture engineers and style forecasters Youth Club present their latest exhibition It’s Something Hell’s – a celebration of Rockabilly, Rockers & Teds style past and present.
Here’s the link through Fused Magazine
Today I went out with my mom to the Crystal Tea Rooms in Wordsley’s glass cone, as far as I know the café hasn’t long been taken over and it’s in a 1940s theme which was really quite nice! Lovely to have something like this so local to me and it’s quite obviously a passion of the man who owns it (Mark Pincher who has starred on London’s West End) which is nice to see.
Definitely worth popping down if you’re in the area and fancy a sandwich or a cream tea (very good scones with real cream and strawberry jam), they have a great range of golden era music playing in the background and the waitresses wear hats like Lyons’ Nippys used to which is a great little touch.
Very enjoyable!
xx
Betty Amazing is a dolly bird, blogger, and illustrator xx
About two years ago I did a brief interview with the lovely Kitten Von Mew about the rise of pin up art and photography and its popularity in mainstream culture, I’ve got a couple of snippets for you here which are wonderful. She is always kind enough to take the time even with strangers, I hope you’re lucky enough to see her perform or meet her some day!
What inspired you to become a vintage-style pin up?
I am a curvy gal and have always love the vintage era’s and fashions. Having grown up watching Fred and Ginger and Marilyn Monroe movies, it was inevitable really! I love the fantastic shape to vintage wear that structure your figure and create wonderful hourglass silhouettes. Everything was better designed back then.
Who are your influences?
Marilyn Monroe who knew all the tricks, Bettie Page with her fantastic expressions and Tempest Storm with that incredible Jessica Rabbit body. Marilyn used to pluck one eyebrow so it was high and arched whilst keeping the other more natural, so it gave her a sultry look. She also had one heel slightly longer than the other to give her the famous wiggle! I used to practice Bettie Page’s surprised expression in the mirror, I loved it. I think that is one of my most known expressions now as it is so fun!
Why do you think that classic pin up art has made such a strong resurgence in the media?
The whole Vintage pin-up thing coming into fashion doesn’t just mean clothing and fighting for the rights of women, it includes home decor, art, music… I think we started with the 50’s kitsch come back which did bring back some art like Gil Elvgren’s work being plastered on calendars, drinks coasters and the like, 50’s circle dresses came in that brought even more pin-up imagery and then it became huge. Then we moved to burlesque, corsets, heavy and luxurious home decor like chandeliers and flock wallpaper etc. Fashions are sometimes influenced by films or underground treasures such as the new burlesque scene. Suddenly Heather Sweet with her butt plugs and spanking became known as the sweet innocent Dita with burlesque purity and prettiness…go figure! But she is one of the main reasons why the whole Burlesque fashion came back.
Kisses
KVM x
(Kitten Von Mew is a rather lovely local(ish) burlesque dancer who I first met during a corsetry module at uni - she performed for us and we were lucky enough to see her corset collection, there are some amazing treasures in there I tell you! She returned later to see how we were getting on, she was the one really who taught me to pose like a pin up)
Photograph by Candee Photography
