Ruching It Up

If you love Vintage-ish clothes that have a modern wearability to them and are obsessed with clothes and accessories from Anthropologie, then allow me introduce you to Ruche. This California based online store is a haven for modern women who enjoy a little old world charm every once in a while. Ruche's clothes and accessories have a wonderful free spirited, gypsy like boho touch to them and come at half the price as those from Free People and Anthropologie. They even stock one of a kind hand made and eco-friendly items for all you nature lovers out there. And the best part about this pretty little store is that they ship world wide. Finally, I know where I'm gonna be investing my last month's savings!

Here a few outfits and pretty pictures from Ruche's lookbook to whet your appetite as well.

Happy Vintage Wednesday lovelies!

Modern Day Fairytales

Here are some pictures of the Beauty And The Beast photo shoot featuring the very pretty Drew Barrymore from the Dream Portrait Series, shot by acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz. This series was an advertising campaign by Disney and it featured famous Hollywood actresses dressed as Disney's fairy tale characters.

Beauty being held captive by the Beast in order to punish her father for plucking a rose from his garden.

 (Beaded and ribboned grey gown by Chanel Haute Couture.)

Every night Beast proposed Beauty to marry him and every night he found himself rejected by her.

 (Red dress with a gold lace petticoat by Christian Lacroix.)

 Beast tried to win Beauty over by gifting her the fines clothes and expensive jewellery

(Empire gown with gold bead work and a big bow on the shoulder by Dior)

Although Beauty liked Beast for being so nice to her she couldn't help but be repelled by his ugliness.

(White satin gown with beaded lace overlay and blue ribbons by Chanel)

Little did Beauty know that she was soon going to fall in love with Beast.

(Strapless white gauze dress with over-coat and heavy gold embroidery by Dior.)

In the end Beauty realizes that the friendship that she felt towards Beast was in fact love and she confessed her true feelings to him.

(Pink ruffled chiffon dress by Christian Lacroix Haute Couture)

(The pictures above are from Vogue and were published in its April '05 issue.)

Season's Greetings

Wishing you all a Merry X'mas! I hope Santa brings you loads of goodies and all that you wished for this year...

    

...And as for me, all I want for Christmas are some Scottish Shortbread cookies and Jude Law (not necessarily in that order :P ). Have a wonderfully festive weekend...and like me, do indulge yourself in a little wishful thinking - Its Christmas after all!

A Puff Of Steampunk

Steampunk Fashion seems to have suddenly exploded all over the place out of nowhere, generating a storm of interest amongst die-hard fashionistas around the world. I guess, part of the reason it has become so popular is due to the difficulty in pinning down just what exactly Steampunk Culture encompasses.

It can loosely be defined as a genre of fiction set in the 1800s during the Victorian Era. The fictional part being the existence of steam powered devices, which were not yet discovered during those times. Think time macines, steam robots etc. The Steampunk Fashion that stems from this culture is hence a fusion of early technology meeting Victorian aesthetics with an edgy punk twist to it. This fashion can be an amalgamation of a variety of different styles from genres like Vintage, Goth, Punk, Bondage,  Lolita, Western and Cyber.

If you like corsets, petticoats, chunky accessories, loud make-up and enjoy creating different looks for yourself then its hard to resist Steampunk Fashion. While a few Steampunk outfits are just too outrageous and bizarre to digest, most are wonderfully whimsical, romantic and disturbingly beautiful  to look at.

Get The Look
Steampunk Fashion is certainly not for weak hearted preppies. Steer clear of this one if you do not like to be stared at. This look is for people who like to express themselves through their clothes irrespective of the practicality of an outfit

A steampunk costume can include layered skirts, corsets and lace, or pants, chained gold watches, goggles, a funky hair-do with a cyber hair piece or a hat and leather boots or chunky high heels.

The look is vastly based on your own interpretation of the Steampunk era and as such there are no set rules to follow. However, movies like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, The City Of Lost Children and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen are good starting points to draw inspiration from.

Here are some interesting Steampunk images from the internet.

(photographs courtesy  1: The Heliograph, 2-3: deviantART, 4: Kat Bret Photography,

5: www.tempered-steel.net, 6-8: http://bcjphotography.com)

Have a fabulous Vintage Wednesday!

Fabulous Fridays

Wishing you all a relaxing weekend. I know mine's going to be a hectic one with lots of weddings and cocktail parties to attend. I hope I find some time to catch up on some much required beauty sleep.

Vintage Wednesday

Much has been said about fashion from the forties, one of the best decade from the bygone era. I am yet to meet a fashion enthusiast who does not drool over women's fashion from the 40s. For the uninitiated, here's the low down on what makes Forties Fashion so very fashionable.

Due to World War II fashion and practicality came together perhaps for the first time to create long lasting elegance with limited resources. Until 1947, women wore rather simple knee length dresses with shoulder pads and relied on curlers, red lipsticks and hats made from recycled material to look attractive. To visualize the look think  of Kate Beckinsale in Pearl Harbour.

 After the end of the War, materials became freely available again and the Parisian couturiers who had been side lined during the occupation of France once again transformed the frugal fashion scene. Christian Dior ushered in  the 'New Look' that boasted of full skirts made from yards and yards of luxurious fabrics with nipped waistlines to create a more feminine silhouette.

Fashion in the forties was all about highlighting one's curves. Dresses then were cut for real women with an actual waist and a bottom as opposed to our idea of bones being beautiful in the recent years. This is perhaps what I love the most about the 40s. Every woman looked divine in those fitted pencil skirts and jackets with shoulder pads. If you had the curves, this look highlighted them to the hilt and if you didn't have the curves, the pencil skirt ensured that they were created!

Here are some pictures of beautiful Retro Queens from the Forties.

For more of such photographs from the fashionable forties please visit My Vintage Vogue and have a fabulous Vintage Wednesday !

Que Sera Sera...

I just discovered the Uber Glam Sera of London - an extremely exclusive interior design firm in England. I am yet to lay eyes on salons as exotic as the ones designed by Madame Sera.

I love the old world boudoir charm oozing from these salons. In the olden days if a young lady was sulking she was sent off to her boudoir where she could sulk in private. In fact the original meaning of  boudoir  was 'pouting room'. If only I had a salon like this to retreat to, I would be delighted to sulk the rest of my life away!

Fabulous Fridays

Wishing you all a Fabulous Friday. Me - I shall be working this weekend. We have participated at a Trade Fair in Ahmedabad and I am looking forward to it. Hopefully I shall be free in the evenings to catch up with old friends and if time permits maybe even shop a little. I am keen on checking out Esprit's Winter Collection.

In the meantime, here are some amazing pictures of Emma Summerton's photo shoot for Vogue Italia, styled by Patti Wilson.

 

 

I love the whimsical retro vibe oozing from these pictures. The red lips, the bouffants and the outrageously bling bling Alxander McQueen jumpsuit are simply Ooh la la! How I wish I could transport myself to the 1960s and dress up like that. Anywayz, I hope you all have a Glamorous weekend. See you next week... xo.