Shop Profile: Black Friday's

First up, I should probably apologize for my lack of posts lately. Paloma's doing a great job of staying on top of this whole blogging business, where as I have spent the last week in a frenzy of tattoos and shopping and general laziness.

Which brings us neatly to the topic of today's post. In search of a new retro rockabilly dress, I ventured into a shop I had read about but never actually been to: Black Friday's in Sherwood. Neatly located behind True Love Tattoo on Oxley Road, Black Friday's is my Favourite. Shop. Ever. Cheesecake pin up posters adorn the walls, the wooden floors creak underfoot in a homey, comfortable way and the speakers blast the best rockabilly tunes. They stock the finest in repro (and genuine) vintage: Stop Staring, Bettie Page, Heartbreaker, Rock Steady, TUK and Pleaser Shoes, Sailor Jerry... the list goes on (they also stock pomade for the gents). For all you pin-up princesses out there, Friday's also sell hair flowers, cosmetics, jewellry and compact mirrors. I purchased a rockin little pink and black diner dress, TCB magazine and US Kustom Cars catalogue for $160. Rad? I think yes.

Run by Lauren and Dutch, the whole shop has a laid-back vibe which means you won't feel awkward coming back again in the space of about two days. (I did just that. Trust - you won't be able to resist.) Check out there Myspace here - you can also buy items online - and if you're in Brisvegas, get yourself down to Black Fridays, ASAP.

A Very Retro Summer in Blue

Pretty on the Prairie Dress - US$44.95 at Modcloth

 

Blue Doll Dress by Stop Staring - US$84.95 at Daddy-O's

Pique Tulip Dress in Marina - Discounted to US$28 at Tulle4us

 

Satin Trim Top in Damson - £65.00 at Boden 

(For a visual of how cute the top is in person, see this 'Some Girls Wander' post)

Vintage Pastel Blue Culottes (size small) - US$15 from Etsy seller Oh LeoLuca

 Sailor Shorts - US$80 at Stop Staring

 

Sailor Skirt in Blue - AUD$89 at Tiger Rag

Vintage Navy Romper (size 6) - US$22 from Etsy seller Vintage Shouting!

Soda Pop Playsuit - US$117 at Stop Staring

The Veronica Bikini - US$129.99 at ModCloth

 

Ribbon Cloche Hat in Military Blue - US$50 at Banana Republic

 

Ice Cream Flats in Blue - On sale for AUD$39 at Melissa Australia

8277 Jeffery Campbell Heels in Blue - On sale for US$74.95 at Sole Struck

Vinyl Wedges in Blue - AUD$109 at Melissa Australia

 

Carriage Ride Wedges by Pink Studio - US$64.99 at ModCloth

 

Vintage Patent Leather Handbag - US$15 from Etsy seller By The Way

Vintage Leather Clutch with Chain - US$20 from Etsy seller Old Baltimore Vintage

Recycled License Plate Purse by Little Earth - US$252 at Babygirl Boutique

A Very Retro Summer in...

Well we are only into the first few days of Spring down here in Australia, but already it's hot and sunny like summer. As Eugenie and I are both big lovers of retro fashion, particularly the pinup era, I thought I'd do a write up of retro fashions available for this Australian summer. However there is soooo much great stuff around, I couldn't cram it all into one post. Seeing as cataloging by colour is just as good as any other arbitrary method of cohesion, I've decided every day I'll be posting 'A Very Retro Summer in...' until I run out of wedges on the colour wheel.

First up is sunny, happy yellow. Yellow can be a hard colour to pull off - it is after all, the colour of jaundice. If you don't think you can do a whole outfit, choose a statement piece like a bangle, badge or shoes.

Soda Fountain Dress in Ginger - US$44.99 at ModCloth

 

Charming Yellow Polka Dot Dress - US$44.95 at Daddy-O's

 

Vintage Yellow Stripe Blouse (size medium) - US$15 from Etsy seller gugu

Vintage Slouchy Polka Dot Top (size medium) - US$15 from Etsy seller Oh LeoLuca

 

Vintage Bright Yellow Escada Pencil Skirt (size medium) - US$45 from Etsy seller VSshop

Marigold Pleated Skirt - Discounted to US$29.20 at Tulle4us

 

Vintage High Waisted Short Shorts (size 8) - US$18 from Etsy seller lemonlively

Espia S Flats - On sale for US$252.65 at Chie Mihara

 

 Zen Girl Flats in Yellow - AUD$79 at Melissa

 

Affair Flats in Transparent Yellow - On sale for AUD$55 at Melissa

 

Vintage Woven Handbag - US$17 from Etsy seller halfCaf

 

Interchangeable Purse with Vintage Frame - AUD$45 from Mintd seller Anita's Bags

Orange Slice Polymer Clay Studs - AUD$8 from Mintd seller MistyAurora

 

Indian Pith Helmet - US$28.95 at The Village Hat Shop

Stay tuned for further colourful retro adventures!

Tattoo Porn

I love tattoos. Adore them. Can't get enough of them. I am constantly ogling perfect strangers in the street to get a closer look at their tattoos, which probably makes me seem a wee bit creepy, but not as creepy as I could be if I also tried to surreptiously take photos. Social taboos and general decency prevent me from becoming a fully-fledged tattoo stalker, but thankfully the internet can help me out here.

When I was younger, I was very much under the impression that the only people who got inked were bikies, juvenile delinquents or prison inmates. Oh, not to mention people with a penchant for shaded portraits of celebrities and Jesus.

Yep, he's laughing right at you, kid.

Sexy

Needless to say I was not a fan, and by the time the tribal armband/Japanese character/tramp-stamp-fest of 1990 onwards hit its stride, most tattoos that my young self saw were pretty hideous and nothing to aspire to. However, both the quality of the inks and the artists themselves have increased exponentially over the years. Anyone can get anything tattooed anywhere (for a price), and while this has lead to a strangely high number of men decorating themselves with stoned copulating unicorns riding a rainbow of ecstasy (or shitting out a rainbow of ecstasy, you know, whatever floats yer boat) it also means that people are getting some pretty gorgeous and alternative work done. So enough with the bad - we all know what a bad tattoo looks like - let's get on to the awesome.

This chest piece isn't my style, but my god it is incredibly pretty. For more photos, clicky clicky here.

Scott Harrison is fast becoming one of my favourite tattoo artists, due in no small part to amazing pieces such as these (I want me some hinges like #2). He works out of Portland, Oregon so for now I'll just have to admire from afar.

  

Kiwi lass Rose Hardy has some super incredible work with a cool original vibe. She occasionally works down at Chapel Tattoo in Melbourne, so fingers crossed I can book in with her one day. (That chestpiece? HOLY SHIT I WANT IT NOW.)

On the Australian front, we have the very lovely derby queen tattooist Miss Manners (this is one of my favourite sleeves ever):

Dude, there's a veritable cornucopia of awesome skin art out there, and I'm sure there will be many more posts from me on the subject. Get googling, y'all! There is much inky goodness to be seen. But for now, here's a picture of one of my favourite tattooed models, the slammin Miss Cherry Dollface. Her portfolio is well worth a look for her tattoos alone.

Stop Staring!

Stop Staring! is a fantastic American clothing company that was "founded on the idea of timeless and classic dresses, and rockabilly clothing. Stop Staring! is inspired by silver screen glamour icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth and Joan Crawford."

My rather unreliable memory is telling me I first stumbled across Stop Staring at Modcloth, one of my favourite online stores. Although this may or may not be true, it does make sense, as they are usually selling at least one or two Stop Staring! pieces at any given time.

I think out of all the vintage inspired/recreation clothing labels I know, Stop Staring! has got to be my favourite. Their designs are consistently gorgeous, with lovely detailing on every dress.
The wearability of their designs ranges from 'probably could wear to (fancy) work' styles like these:

(L-R) Paris Dress in Navy US$126.00 at Stop Staring!; Paris Dress in Black with Pink Flower US$137.00 at Stop Staring!

(L-R) Classic Ashley Dress in Black, US$145.00 at Stop Staring!; Manhattan Dress in Black, US$94.95 at Daddy-O's

To crazy sexy dresses like this one:

Lolita Dress, US$122.00 at Stop Staring!

To sophisticated dresses for evenings out:

(L-R) CocoD Dress, US$154.00 at Stop Staring!; Vogue Glamour Blush Dress in Grey, US$141.00 at Stop Staring!

And dresses for all those moments in between:

(L-R) A-line Doll Dress, US$138.00 at Stop Staring!; Puff Doll Dress, US$65.00 (on sale) at Stop Staring!

(L-R) 30s Sexy Bombshell Dress, US$126.00 at Stop Staring!; Doll Swing Dress, US$96.00 (on sale) at Stop Staring!

I guess what I'm saying is that if you were looking to live and breathe that burlesque/rockabilly period, a la Dita von Teese, well, Stop Staring might not be a bad place to start.

And although I couldn't find any photos of her when I quickly flipped through their site just now, I'm pretty sure it was Staring! who first made me aware of the gorgeous pin-up and cheesecake model Bernie Dexter (who in my book, is way, way cooler than Dita von Teese). So big points for that.

Of course, in these trying economic times, one must at least attempt to appear sympathetic to the concerns of the proletariat (myself included) and so I tell you that, as a long suffering student, even without factoring in shipping expenses and conversion to the useless Australian dollar, I probably could not afford to buy any of these right now. Well... maybe one. But I suspect I would be eating a lot of Mia Goreng for a while afterwards.

My Current Most Favourite Thing/Damn you Australian Dollar!

Courtesy of one of those long and winding link journeys, where you just keep clicking on links within links within links till you can't remember what it was you were looking for in the first place, I discovered She-Bible last night. In particular I am coveting this absolutely gorgeous coat:

She-Bible Gentry Coat in Dutch Blue

They have borrowed what seems to be all the best bits from peacoats, trench coats, capes and more, and yet managed to make a piece of clothing that is so unique and all their own. Plus how awesome is their model? Best lips in the world.

To top it all off, the coat is only US$40 down from $180! Unfortunately, when I factored in shipping costs to Australia (US$35) and converting to Australian dollars, this lovely coat would end up costing me AUD$111.00. Still not an outrageous price but a bit of a downer from the original excitement of 'only forty dollars!?'

Sigh. I suppose the Gentry Coat will just have to sit in my 'things I want' bookmark folder for at least a little while longer.