Advantage In Vintage: Adding yet more Horrockses to the collection!

Advantage In Vintage: Adding yet more Horrockses to the collection!: Many people know that I have a huge obsession with the brand Horrockses and in the past month or so I have added another 5 to the ever exp...

Zoe

I am filled with pride at the moment for this little lady. She started living with me in January and truth be told I wasn't sure whether it would work or not but I think we both knew that there was no harm in trying. I have known Zoe for about 10 years and unfortunately those 10 years haven't been the best she could have had. She has lots of battle scars and doubts about herself that I sometimes think run so deep she might let them anchor her and stop her from moving on. Everyday I spend even slightly in her company I see what a wonderful person she is, She sparkles, literally glows. Eve Arnold once commented that when she photographed Marilyn Monroe she would appear to have this glow about her, her pale skin and downy hair were predominately the cause of this but there was also a deeper magic that no matter how much the world around her would tarnish the spirit the magic would fight through. Zoe has this same glow. I catch her on odd occasions where the armour is down and she shares her fears and in those moments you can see all her ghosts. It is a strange situation to find yourself all of a sudden with a teenager, but she is more adultlike than I would have ever anticipated. I know she worries about her future and whether she can achieve the goals she has and I try to reassure her but in uncertain times for everyone it is hard to convince a 17 year old that the world is her oyster. She has started her training for work today and she was nervous but a year ago she would have found a way of getting out of going but this morning she was up at the crack of dawn getting ready. I hope she know's deep down how much everyone loves her and worries about her.

Saw this and thought of you x

To catch a husband is an art; to hold him is a job.
Simone de Beauvoir

Today

Someone said something to me today that I really never expected them to say. It threw me straight away, took my breath away and made eveything seem different. I don't know why it shocked me so much but I have to say it has truly surprised the skin off me. Sometimes you think you have the measure of a man and then they say something that makes everything go topsy turvy, your head goes dizzy and you lose all power of rational thought. The blood rushes fom your head to your heart and you forget yourself for that moment. The certain thing said would have seemed very insignificant to anyone else but not to me.

Preaching to the Converted

Glorifying the ’50s Housewife & The Rise of Cath Kidston

By Cate Sevilla

Whether or not Cath Kidston’s florals and polka dots make you want to vom or squee with joy, there’s no denying Kidston’s success in the recession, and as a business woman in general.
The Guardian have a lovely little feature on Kidston, describing how after being diagnosed with Breast Cancer, Kidston quit the interior design business and started up what we know now as Cath Kidston Inc.
Her rose bud ironing boards and baby blue tea cosies have seen her sales increase from last year's £19.2m to £31.3m, and while entire chains like Woolworths are closing down, Kidston is still opening stores.
So what is Kidston doing right, that everyone else is doing wrong?
Apparently it’s a combination of nostalgia and the fact that since millions of people can’t exactly sell their homes, they’re trying to make the best of their domains. And what better way to do that than throw up some polka dot bunting and dress yourself in a floral house coat, I mean frock.
But mixed in with the nostalgia and the reality of being stuck in your too small flat that just won’t sell...there’s something else.
Zoe Wood explains that Kidston’s popularity also stems from the fad of women embracing the image of the '50s housewife:

“...celebrating baking, afternoon tea and knitting, have become addictive for a generation of women whose busy working and home lives have led them to idealise rather than practise domesticity. “

Between all of us at BitchBuzz, we’re obviously not adverse to baking, knitting and do tend to love us some Kidston . However, you have to wonder where all this came from. Why are women loving this stuff again? Or did it ever go away?
I suppose a lot of it is just liking what you want to like.
We’re not afraid of liking things that aren’t “feminist enough”. In some cases,  a lot of strong, independent women loving corsets and all things domestic is a raised middle finger in the direction of the 2nd wavers.
“See? I can be a feminist and bake a casserole for my boyfriend at the same time!”
But with all those "vintage” dresses, £10 pearls, love of cupcakes and tea and the illusion that we all only care about nomming on baked goods and looking retro-tastic and pretty...it get’s pretty confusing.
Is it silly and frivolous or ironic? Is it genuine or just a simple passing fad?
Even I’m confused by it.
While I do drool over a lot of bits and bobs I see in Cath Kidston’s shops – I suppose the way I feel about Kidston is similar to the way I feel about fairy cakes and girly cocktails.
Individually, I like it. Different pieces, whether it be a Kidston polka dot wallet or 1920s tea party in Covent Garden, it’s fun. But when I look at Kidston’s collections as a whole, my eyes bleed a little. Just as this subsequent movement of faux nostalgic “let’s bake and drink tea and go vintage shopping and then bake some more” makes my brain haemorrhage.
When it’s all mashed together, it just doesn’t seem authentic and/or tolerable.
I’m not saying that people who like to knit or crochet and bake and enjoy their afternoon tea in a  Kidston tea cup aren’t genuine.
 What I am saying, is that mixed all together, it’s a bit overkill, isn’t it?
Everything in moderation...
Just as Albert Wolsky advised that when it comes to '50s fashion that: “One should not overdo it.  It's very easy to slide into total costume." The same should be said of our apparent love of florals, nostalgia, and glorification of the ‘50s housewife.
I suppose I’m just more of Coco’s “simple elegance” school of thought. I believe that too much of a good thing makes you sick. I like to save my Vivienne of Holloway dress for special occasions and my cupcake baking for when I’m going to a dinner party.
Otherwise, I’d just feel like a try-too-hard Stepford Wife, high on icing sugar, and low on noughties realism.

POSTED IN: LIFE

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:24 (GMT+00

Read more: http://life.bitchbuzz.com/glorifying-the-50-housewife-the-rise-of-cath.html#ixzz1sgLaL5vH

Goosebumps

Goose bumps on a person's body

Goose bumps, also called goose flesh, goose pimples, chill bumps, chicken skin, funky spots, Dasler Bumps, chicken bumps, people bumps, or the medical term cutis anserina, are the bumps on a person's skin at the base of body hairs which may involuntarily develop when a person is cold or experiences strong emotions such as fear, nostalgia, pleasure, awe, admiration and sexual arousal.^[1]

I get a kick out of you...

When you have a shop you inevitably get regular customers... Now this can be annoying but also it can be comforting. When you manage a charity shop you get a very ecclectic range of customers. This week I've had some very strage experiences that have really affected me. On Tuesday it was my first day back at work after a lovely little break from work and I was feeling fragile... So I put my Ella Fitgerald cd on and submerged myself into a large black coffee and my misery (standard Tuesday). Then this lovely lady comes in for a browse and to escape the horrid rain that was soaking everyone in Sheffield. She started lightly humming along to the music and then came over to the counter and proceeded to tell me about her husband passing away late last year after 52 years of marriage. Ella Fitgerald was his favourite singer and she said it gave her so much comfort to hear it now. She said initially the memories attached to it hurt too much but now she could hear him telling her to enjoy the music and think of him. I made us both a cup of tea because we were both on the verge of tears and then settled down and just had a natter. When she left all I could think about was how much she had treasured those 52 years and she said they had both been married before and they said there life started all over again when they found each other. It was all too romantic and full of love and hope that I couldn't not share it x