Please wish for fair weather

Well, today was gig day number one and it went rather well despite having no rehearsals! The only problem was that I couldn't make out what the weather would be like. I'd heard forecasts of rain, so I played safe and went for a sleeved floral 30s tea dress, which worked, but every time the sun popped through the overcast cloud I wished I'd thrown caution to the wind and worn this...

It's in the most amazing condition. a lovely heavy printed taffeta, with buttons down the back and blue velvet trim, the bottom trim is weighted so the skirt doesn't blow about! I've had it since Christmas and have been desperate to give it an outing. Somehow wearing a big, glam, floral frock in a big, luscious garden seemed appropriate. I have a pair of enamel butterfly earrings to go with it too, that way,  I can jump into the herbaceous border and camouflage to my surroundings!

... I think I may be daring tomorrow and wear it anyway. Please keep your fingers crossed for good weather!

G x

What's that? Someone's getting married tomorrow?

So, the gossip goes that tomorrow, that Kate Middleton girl will marry some chap who's a Prince and called Wills, or William... or something...

Nailing the bridal look...

At the announcement of their engagement I cried. Not because it was so romantic and I was being sentimental. Far from it. I cried because it seemed so cold and ritualistic. Imagine being proposed to, feeling light as air, and then having a sudden lead balloon added to the mix as you have to go to a press conference and be papped near to epilepsy. I found the whole process rather sterile and couldn't help thinking how the happy couple really feel about it all? Engagement must be overwhelming as it is, engagement and then having your retinas burnt by flash bulbs and ear canals blown by interviews takes it to another level.

I know that they are high profile, as a future Monarch you are expected to have this attention, it's part of the gig. But in the past, before the mass media and invention of high def TV, Royal Weddings could be broadcast to the masses yet still keep a sense of intimacy and magic for those involved. Now the whole wedding countdown seems to be treated like a circus.

To me it appears the media haven't really spared a thought  for the two folks whose day it actually is. I know it's natural for us all to be excited/intrigued as it's a piece of history we're living through. But surely it can be dealt, and anticipated, with a touch of diplomacy and class? Everyone, it seems, wants to have a piece of the action; cashing in by selling memorabilia or bantering inanely about the guest list and cost of security... yes it is a lot, but Wills and Kate are damned if they spend a lot and dammed if they spend a little. It'll be either...

"Have you seen that astronomical bill... what's that about austerity?"

or

"Tut tut tut, married in a church, not an Abbey? No guilt plated chandeliers, ice sculptures and matching turtle doves to release?!... skinflints"

I keep thinking how nerve wracking the event must be for the two people it's actually all about. I'm not married, but I imagine if I got married I would be a quivering wreck pre-ceremony. When I mentally add a guest list of royalty, diplomats and celebrities, billions of people watching me on the tellybox... oh and the Queen as my soon to be Granny... sod the cold feet I have frost bite!

So please, whilst you're enjoying your day off and revelling in the festivities, take a moment to remember that this day isn't really about you or the nation, but one couple's devotion and love. A love that has remained robust, not only through 8 years of run of the mill private dramas we all experience in relationships, but 8 years under public speculation. And that, in my opinion, is a rather big love that should be toasted to... not with regal nail decals, but with grace and class.

Face to face with original Art Deco decor

Yes, it's another post about renovations and "inspiration". Please bear with me though, as I think this is a bit special and you may like it :)

Whilst waffling on about my walls, a dialogue that usually consists of my complaining about the wood chip paper (it's a rather dull monologue) I found myself abandoned by the audience. Charming, I thought, you brought the subject up... I know it's dull but I didn't think it that bad! So I briefly sat alone, sulking over my tea, soon to be rejoined by said audience and this little treasure.... 



Oooo, this looks promising!

I was told this little gem was discovered beneath the stairs in a house clearance, thank heavens for hoarders I say! The wallpaper sample book features a range of colours of "distemper" to be used upon your walls, original samples of paper, and rather special sketches of interiors, showing what each wallpaper scheme will look like.

I'm loving the second green down on the left

Graphic floral corner frieze

I never knew that as well as borders you could buy a frieze to paste upon walls, the frieze could be used at the end of a border as a feature to punctuate when the lines changed direction, or they were used as stand alone features. I love this idea so much and would really like to emulate it when I finally get around to the bedroom and living room walls.

Another little feature I loved in the catalogue was that the whole suggested wallpaper scheme was be placed together on each page, so you could see the base paper, border and frieze alltogether, alongside this there was a sketch showing how they'd look on the wall. I'd love prints of these sketches to frame and display... especially this one with boats...

An original sketch showing how the wallpaper could be used.

Close up of a sample of the boat frieze (as featured in sketch above. You can see the base paper and border samples beneath aswell. I love this look!

A daffodil motif, co-ordinating papers and room sketch

Some more sketches... I like the look of that sideboard!

An unusual way to feature two wallpapers.

A Japanese themed wallpaper and border

I love the colours in the scheme, the border's so pretty!

I'd really like to find one of these brochures for myself, it felt magical to flick through the pages, feel all the textures and get a good idea about the colours used at the time. So I'm on a search!

In other news my search for an art deco bathroom mirror ended happily this weekend when I won this...

... for £25!

I can't wait to collect it and get it on the wall!

Hope you all had Happy Easters and that if you're having a day off today that it's a good one :)

G x

P.S...

I'm really sorry but I've had to turn my comment verification back on. I removed it as I felt that it was a bit of a faff to go through when leaving comments and I do love to hear from you. But the problem was that I was getting a lot of pretty dodgy looking spam on a daily basis, so word verification is back. I wish I could choose the words for you to type, that would be fun!

Paper Doll

I have a problem... I own far too many vintage frocks and desperately need to sell some on. You may well be yelling at your computer screen now exclaiming "THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM!" but bear with me... it really is as:

A) I'm running out of room.

B) Some of it I've never worn as it's either...

B.1) The wrong size

B.2) Massively impractical

B.3) Simply doesn't suit

= This, in my opinion, is a sin to vintage lovers as I'm allowing things to languish in my wardrobe when someone else may enjoy them more.

C) As I'm running out of room I really cannot warrant buying new stuff (I passed up an amazing knitted suit the other day due to "space and finance" I'm still regretting it)

D) With looming home renovation bills I know that I really need to sell the unused things.

The problem is, I know I need to be brutal in my wardrobe cull... what to sell? The other night I got the ball rolling by having a little fashion show, unfortunately, my inner monologue went along these lines...

"Oooo, I forgot I had this, it fits ok... ish, ah... there's a hole there but I can fix that... but you haven't worn it for a year Gemma time to pass it on! Oh, but it's so unusual, I may regret it!"

And so it continued until I eventually gave up, as nothing was leaving my grasp with ease. The problem isn't just a case of aesthetics, it's that each vintage item I own holds a story and it's this history I hold dear. I remember where I found each piece, the name of who I bought the item from, a few things I even know who the original owner was... and if I don't I like to imagine who would have worn it, making up names, professions, looks, the whole shebang.

Anyway, this mini fashion show left me feeling like a paper doll... you know the ones you played with as a kid? Painstakingly cutting out each piece and then dressing your paper model up in every single variation possible. So I decided, to help me part with some of my wardrobe (and give some of it an airing), that  I, dear readers, will be your paper doll.

I will post a selection of outfits over the next few weeks for you to choose from, the one with the highest votes at the end of each week will be modelled by yours truly.

To start off I thought I'd post a little bit about the history of paper dolls...

As long as paper has been about the paper doll has existed. Some records date back to A.D. 900 where a doll was used in an ancient Japanese ceremony (a paper figure and a folded paper kimono was put to sea in a boat). The Balinese have also made shadow puppets of leather and paper since before Christ.

Speed forward to 1810 the first manufactured paper doll appeared. Pproduced in London by S&J Fuller she was called, Little Fanny. Then, two years later the first American paper doll came into existence... The History and Adventures of Little Henry. Celebrities followed suit in 1830, when an effigy of the ballerina Marie Taglioni was reproduced on paper, not wanting to be left out Queen Victoria also had her own parchment doll created.

Something that surprised me was that the early printed clothes didn't include tabs for ease of dressing the dolls.  Instead, children painstakingly attached the clothes with tiny drops of sealing wax, it must have been a labour of love with such a process, I'm sure I'd burn my fingers and tear the paper!

By 1859, magazines began to feature cut out dolls. Godey's Lady's Book is the first known magazine to print a doll in black and white, along with a page of costumes for children to colour in. At this time department stores also discovered that this was an ideal fashion advertisement and esspecially designed dolls promoting gowns and new patterns. These appeared in ladies magazines such as "Good Housekeeping", "Delineator","Ladie's Home Journal", "McCalls", "Pictorial Review" and Woman's Home Companion".
Popularity reached its highest between 1930 to 1950; probably as during times of financial instability paper toys could be afforded by all... even through product shortages during World War II, paper dolls were still manufactured on lesser-quality paper.

Over the years many effigies have been reproduced in the form of a parchment doll, from Ava Gardner to Barbie... many of which are now extremely rare and valuable. Nowadays I'm not sure if a child would sit down and play with such a thing? I can't say I've seen a paper doll in a toy shop... the only ones I've noticed have been in museum gift shops, depicting period fashions. I'd like to think that young and old alike still get enjoyment from such a simple form on entertainment, I know that I did, and probably still would... in fact, where can I buy one?!

Now cut on the dotted line, and make sure you are accompanied by an adult!

G x

Radio Times

A scale model of the Crystal palace Aerial and the HMV dog "Nipper"

 I have always loved the medium of radio. As an awkward teenager I whiled away the hours exploring the frequency dial... Giggling away to radio comedies on BBC4, tuning into French stations on long wave (I recall French accordion music accompanied by a high hissing interference), stumbling across pirate stations sneakily pumping out heavy drum and base, and my personal favourite discovery; Virgin Radio's ten minute loops of test broadcasts prior to turning onto FM... the excitement I felt having found a station yet to be born and the anticipation knowing that soon, this frequency would be filled with live radio broadcasts, created a feeling I find hard to put into words. (Although, I admit, it's exceedingly nerdy!)

I did all I could to immerse myself in the medium, from making my own home radio programmes on a dual deck cassette player, to volunteering at my local hospital station... I still find it incredible that I have managed to achieve my goal and hold down a career on the airwaves. Yes the hours are long and unglamorous, yes it doesn't compare with a city banker's salary and yes, I complain, frequently, about this. But at the same time I realise how lucky I am... how many people as an adult can say they are doing what they dreamed of doing at 14?

Something that worries me though is the looming DAB switch over. Radio is being pared down and the more I look the more it seems that people take the medium for granted. To me, nothing else holds the immediacy and intimacy of radio. Television is hardly portable, and extremely hard to multi task along to (unless you're ironing!) Where-as radio is a movable feast of information!

But enough of my swan song... onto something positive. There's a Chap in South East London who's preserving the past, salvaging pieces of media history so that the I-generation will be able to see how far things have come and can appreciate just how wonderful past technology is... His name is Gerald Wells and he runs The British Wireless and Television Museum.

Stood in the shadow of the Crystal palace aerial, the museum contains approximately 1300 wireless receivers, copious display cabinets of components and wireless associated artifacts, a "mock up" of a period shop, a valve laboratory and fully functional wireless construction workshops.

Gerry behind the counter of the mock up shop

Just a few radios

And just a few more!

A PYE Blackbox record player, with Japanese laquerwork casing... swoon!

 Even the museum premises has a long, rich history encompassing radio. Alfred Rickard-Taylor (an early wireless enthusiast) lived there from 1908 to 1914 and broadcast early radio transmissions from the property. Then, in 1914 Mr. Frank Wells (Gerald's father) purchased the house and Gerald was born there in 1929. From an early age he expressed an interest and fascination for anything electrical, resulting in a love for the wireless. By the time he was 7, Gerald had taken ownership of the bottom of the garden to undertake his experiments with sound and electricity, to the extent his Mother commented...

"If you don't buck your ideas up and conform, you will still be mucking about at the bottom of the garden in fifty years time!"

All I can say is thank heavens Gerald paid no attention. This museum is a living tribute to not only the innovation of radio, but to one man's life long passion. 

If you're planning a trip to South East London you really should swing by. Visits are appointment only, so  check the museum website for booking information. I also highly recommend purchasing Gerald's book "Obsession"... a narrative of his fascinating life and "wireless adventures". I bought a copy yesterday and I'm half way through already!

 G x

Falling poorly and Eltham Palace

Ello all,

Well I came back, splurted out three posts and then vanished... I do have a good excuse, I've got tonsillitis and a cold so have been rather wiped out and snotty. I know I still have a few promised posts but they require brain power and deserve a lot of loving planning so I shall leave those till another day and leave this little featurette I wrote a while back but never got round to posting to keep things ticking along until I feel a bit brighter!

Eltham palace

A wee while ago I went on a trip to Eltham Palace, a deco dream of a place ad well worth a visit. It's extremely deceptive, outside the original Medieval building stands proud, but as you enter you're faced with deco splendour. I have since been swooning over the memory of two of the rooms (and an ex-resident)...

The entrance hall. It's been used in lots of films. And is responsible for haunting my interior decor dreams. Alas my "entrance hall" is roughly 6ft x 5ft so I fear this look is rather inappropriate!

Lady Virginia Courtauld's bathroom... If only I could fit that into my poky little bathing room... Sigh!

The Courtauld's pet Ring Tailed Lemur "Mah-Jongg". I would feel too cruel owning one as a pet (and surely it's illegal now-a-days?), but would love to see one in the wild... what beautiful animals they are! Fly me to Madagascar!

 G x

I've made it to the gig list!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

You are cordially invited to RHS Wisley's Spring Contemporary Craft Fair on Friday 29th and Sat 30th April 2011 (yes, the Royal wedding weekend).

Sample the delights of Wisley gardens in bloom, enjoy a spot of shopping and listen to songs from the '20s and '30s played by "The Panama Cafe Orchestra".

I hear their singer is no other than Ms. Gemma King, who will be donning her finest frock... well, if Ms. Middleton can, why can't she?!

The Panama Cafe Orchestra

It would be great if anyone could come along, I'd love to meet you all. I'm a little nervous as it's my first big public gig, plus I have a smashing 1930s frock to show off and some rather fab tunes on my music stand!

G x