Showing posts with label psychedelic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychedelic. Show all posts

Saturday 23 March 2013

Would you buy a used car from this woman?

It's gone all Baltic & dreich again but I'm keeping myself upbeat by looking at old commercials and comedy clips on YouTube. 
I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you :)
I remember being mesmerized by commercials when I was a kid. That was back in the day when you only ever saw them when you went to the movies. 
In Sweden we only had two terrestrial TV channels until 1994.
When I was growing up the programs would usually start at half past five and stop just before midnight. There would only be morning & late night telly at the weekends. 
Towards the end of the 80s commercial TV stations mushroomed when cable & satellite TV appeared on the scene.
When I talk to people in their twenties they find it hard to imagine a time before TV on tap and as for the Internet, how did humanity ever cope without it? 
It is quite amazing and perhaps a little bit scary just how important a tool it has become for most of us in such a short space of time. I know I would struggle to cope without it now. 
As for television, there came a point last year when we decided that our brains were cluttered enough without the constant tsunami of reality TV shows, celebrities acting like desperate attention seeking monkeys and commercials, so the old box was unceremoniously binned.
Do I miss having telly in my life? Not one single bit!
I can still watch comedy, documentaries and nature programs on YouTube, when I feel the need.
I have no interest whatsoever in celebrities or soaps, I'd rather watch paint dry.
How about you?
H&M tiger stripe rockstar coat bought in 2000, amazing vintage 60s psychedelic print dress that was a gift from my sister in Denmark, cropped lurex jumper, 99p stores snood, Repro Victorian lace-up boots, layered tights, velvet gloves, hat, faux-amber pendant & Frocktasia earrings.
 In other news...
Here is my favourite stateside boho babe Reva, sporting a fabulous Indian tunic dress that I sent her because I knew she would totally ROCK IT, as is blatantly obvious from these magnificent pics...
What a Babe!
If you are not following Reva already, then I have to say that you are really missing out big time cause she is a true gem in the blogoshere.
You can keep up with the lovely Reva on...
This one is for you Reva...
and just because you are so AWESOME another one :)
I'll finish off with one of my all time comedy heroes Bill Hicks, enjoy ;)
Hope your weekend has got off to a brilliant start.
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx


Thursday 21 March 2013

You make me feel like I am fun again!

Have I told you lately how fabulous you all are and how much I appreciate having you wonderful peeps in my life?
Yes, Jennie stop going on about it or we'll have to make the bucket beside us a permanent feature, K?!
It has to be said though, in the past few months my lust for blogging has returned with a vengeance & a cursory glance at my yearly blog archive spells it out...
...this years post tally is speeding past the previous years at a rate of knots.
I personally put it down to your encouraging continued visits to my little nook of the blogosphere :)
For a long time I isolated myself, I became the silent onlooker to a party that I felt unworthy of part taking in.
I watched you all being fabulous and having fun, interacting with each other and even though I wanted to join in I felt  too craven to do so. 
I felt that through my silence, I'd lost my place in the gang.
Then one day I started taking tentative steps back into the circle and was very happy to find that there were still people there ready to welcome me back with open arms.
Then all of a sudden I felt as if I was fun again!
It was like a flower bomb of colour and warmth had gone off quite unexpectedly.
I started commenting and getting comments in return.
I felt welcomed, encouraged, inspired & enthralled.
I felt like busting open the bags and diving into the drawers to unearth fabulous clobber to wear.
Thank you for rekindling a fire that had all but gone out and thank you for being there for me after my long absence, I guess that is the mark of true friendship, virtual or otherwise.
I just wanted to tell you how much you mean to me...gush over (for now).
Vintage 70s velvet psychedelic print maxi skirt,  60s lace panel top, 70s suede jacket, 50s booties, 60s velvet painters beret, opera gloves, brass bangles & Frocktasia 'Grumpy Suns' earrings.
 Today's tune is 'Lovesong' by The Cure,  enjoy :)
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx


Wednesday 13 March 2013

Plant loving crackpot

If I were able to have a whole house full of rescue dogs, cats, birds and miscellaneous wildlife I totally would but as things are that is sadly not possible.
There is one thing that we can and do rescue and give a new home to and that is abandoned houseplants.
Mark found this yucca plant in a terrible state a while back. 
The previous owner had kept it in a very small terracotta pot and the plant was completely rootbound inside of it. 
You can see how one of the plant trunks is completely warped & that was wrapped onto the rim of the wee pot.
Instead of repotting the plant they had just put it out with the rubbish as it was dying.
As soon as Mark brought him home, I took a hammer to the pot, liberated Mr. Yucca and re-potted him into a big poundland planter and he has thrived with us ever since.
In fact he has been growing so well that the other day I had to venture up to the nature trail in search of a "crutch" for him.
The warped trunk looked as if it was straining under the weight of his marvelous crown, so I found a perfect stick to support it.
We love our houseplants and like Prince Charles we do talk to them.
 Call me a crackpot if you like but my plants make me very happy and I do like to tell them that :)
Once it gets a bit warmer outside, I shall bring them all out on the balcony to repot them into some fresh soil and bigger pots if needed... 
I call this Yucca plant Odie cause when Mark brought him home he reminded me of the dog from Garfield, all long-necked and lanky. The big pic is Odie today and the one to the right is when he first moved in with us ;)
Question time...
Do you keep houseplants or are you lucky enough to have a garden where you grow things?

Today we had rain & sunshine in the morning, snow & strong winds in the afternoon and to finish off, our little corner of London was treated to a lovely pink sunset.

Today's ensemble:
Vintage 50s jacket, 60s psychedelic floral print mini dress, crushed velvet booties, layered tights (plain red and acid orange fishnets), bangles galore & Frocktasia earrings & horse-brass necklace.
I curled my hair this morning but it started snowing & blowing a gale when we were feeding the birds, so by the time these photos were taken you could hardly tell, och!
It was great reading your comments about 'Lucky Dipping' and eBay purchases. 
I know I'm a nosy parker but I just love reading your wee stories, so thank you for taking the time.

Today's song is by Crowded House, enjoy :)
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx


Monday 11 March 2013

Titsicles, winter's back!

What an absolutely freezacious Monday it had been!
Some time ago we set up a bird feeding station on the balcony and earlier today our little feathered friends were sent tumbling when caught by strong and icy cold gusts of wind.
I chopped up a suet & seed ball and stuck in a bowl on the floor, in an attempt to make it slightly easier for them but then it started snowing, och!
I'm chuffed to bits with the amount and variety of birds that are regular visitors now...
blackbird, chaffinch, robin, sparrow, starling, wood pigeon, blue tit and this morning we were even visited by a very inquisitive magpie.
It's lovely to just sit with my cup of coffee, watching the birds pick away at the seed balls outside.
 Yes peeps, it's official, I am a birdwatcher.
We're going through bags of seed every week so it's just as well that you can pick them up from the pound shop. 
I do want to try and make my own seed balls though and I've found a good tutorial on a blog called Dry Seasonings, so I'll give that a bash at the weekend.
Lilo and friends also get their daily visit without fail. 
On a day like today one could be tempted to give the pond a miss but I don't want my angel-winged pretty going hungry especially when it's as Baltic as it has been today.
They were filming something in the park, there were loads of lorries and one of those double decker catering buses parked on the basketball courts. 
I didn't spot anyone famous but I may have done?
 Especially if the celebrity looks like a hairy gaffer, cause there were a fair few of them about.
We were interrupted three times by crew peeps as we were trying to snap the outfit pics. 
I was standing there thinking...
"Excuse me, can you hold on three bleedin' seconds please, I'm getting titsicles standing here!".
'Titsicles' is pretty self explanatory I guess but just in case you are perplexed, it is the word my husband chooses to use for a pair of extremely cold boobies :)
Vintage 60s psychedelic print dress, 90s faux-fur jacket, 80s boots, tights, mohair hat, gloves & Frocktasia earrings & horse brass necklace.
In the pictures above you can see me clocking bearded men just about to walk right in front of the camera... you would have thought being in 'The Biz' they would know bleedin' better but I guess not.
Today's tune is by lovely Leslie's very talented son Erik, enjoy :)
Erik will be playing a six song gig at The Old Queen's Head on Sunday the 24th of March.
Mark and I will be going :)
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx


Thursday 7 March 2013

I'm with the band

Many moons ago when Mark & I lived in Glasgow, we had a band called 'Gretchen'.
The boys (Mark, Jim, Dave & Allen) and myself practiced every Sunday and gigged regularly for a year at intimate venues like 'Nice N Sleazy' and 'The 13th Note'. 
We never got to the recording stage before splitting up but thankfully Mark bought me a four track recorder, so I do have a whole heap of live demos, from various rehearsal sessions, that I like to dust off and listen to every now and again ;)
The band didn't split up because of artistic differences, it was simply life pulling us all in different directions.
Mark and I moved to London, Jim changed career and relocated and Dave became a father.
Allen is still living the rock and roll dream though, playing bass in Maiden Scotland an Iron Maiden tribute band.

I actually still have both the trousers and the jacket that I'm wearing in these pictures...
The striped cami was my mums from the early 80s, the pink boucle jacket was bought from the Benetton sale in '96 (with some tax rebate money), the mad space boots I bagged in Copenhagen in '99, they were originally priced at over £100 but the zip was "bust" so they had been marked down to a mere £20. I took the boots to a cobblers in Copenhagen and he had them fixed in two minutes flat and didn't even charge me for it. The trousers I bought in the Topshop winter sale in 2000.
I'm amazed at how brand spanking these trousers still look cause I've worn them a lot...
I know that I usually harp on about how modern High Street clothing have no longevity because of  poor quality but I may have to eat my hat about this conjecture, cause in some cases it is obviously not true.
I told you the lurex jumper would get a few more outings this month...
number one and counting ;)
It was so nice outside today I didn't even have to wear a jacket or coat.
The fabulous fuchsia pink felt is by St Saviours Hats, these hats usually retail at over £50.
Needless to say I paid rather less than that, cause I am the original bargain bint ;)
00s Topshop trousers, cropped lurex jumper, vintage 60s psychedelic print shirt, Indian block print silk scarf, St Saviours  felt hat, velvet gloves, mini cross & safety-pin earrings & 80s boots.
Before I sign off I'd also like to tell you that I have made a fabulous new addition to my little gang of  Legendary Frockstars, namely Ariane of Style Sud-Est
She always bowls me over with her amazing style! 
If she's unknown to you, go check her out, you won't regret it :) 

I did want to share a song that Mark and I wrote a few years ago but I can't upload it, so here's a tune that we covered back in the gigging days in Glasgow, enjoy :)
Almost weekend again, huzzah!
Lot's of love,
Jennie
xXx


Friday 8 February 2013

Psychedelic salvo


I bought this dress last summer but this is the first time I've actually worn it.
I really love the psychedelic print but every time I tried it on I would always find fault with the ensemble and the dress would go back on the hanger.
Stupid stuff like the colour of the tights didn't quite match or the shoes looked wrong with it. 
Some days I'm the biggest fusspot about, I race around the house trying to get dressed but everything I put on just feels wrong and the house ends up looking like an explosion in a thrift store.
Strangely today it just all seemed to come together.
I’m sure I’ll be back to my old fusspot self tomorrow, sitting in the hallway in front of my  open wardrobe screaming…
“It’s quarter past nine & I’m still only in my frigging pants, what the Mongolian clusterfeck shall I wear”?!


Repro 60s PVC coat, vintage 60s psychedelic dress, vintage 70s boots, layered tights, necklace that I make myself, a sequin beret and gloves, I was clever enough not to leave them behind this time ;)
Now, I have a question to put to you all...
If you had to choose in-between wearing only plain colours or only loud prints for the rest of your life, what would you choose? 
There is no way I could spend the rest of my life wearing only plain colours, I love my prints too much.
I'm sure you've already seen Vix's post and beheld her in all her "fucking blinding" glory.
We have a lot of bland blokes like the one she describes in her post round these parts too.
Personally I can't think of a less inspiring get-up than a grey jersey tracksuit & I kind of feel sorry for those who choose to solely dwell inside such soul destroying clothes when there is so much variety in the world. 
An infinite pick-and-mix of fabulous styles, colours, textures, prints & fabrics...
I can't for the life of me understand why anyone in the face of such abundance would opt for a grey jersey tracksuit?!
Myself, I'm a self-confessed print addict and I much prefer to live my life swathed in loud colours & larger than life prints.
When I'm done here, I want to be buried in a sequin embellished, psychedelic print coffin with rainbow coloured, crushed velvet lining.
Not that I'm hankering for the grave, far from it!
I feel more full of life today than I did ten years ago and as odd as it may sound, getting older has made me feel younger in many ways, I may not look it but you can't have everything ;)
Now I have some exciting news...
I'll be selling my wonderful vintage threads at the boogaloo at the end of this month :)
Jet-Marie the awesome chick who runs the Can't Buy Me Love vintage jumble sale contacted me the other day to say that she still had a space available for this month....HUZZAH!
So if  you happen to be lurking around in the area of 312 Archway Road, North London on Saturday the 23rd please come and see me.
Affordable vintage clobber, retro tunes, beer and cake...what more can you ask for on a Saturday ;) 
I'll do a couple of posts in the near future to show you some of the stuff I'll be bringing with me on the day.
Here's the flyer that I borrowed off  the 'Cant Buy Me Love' website...
I'm chuffed to bits cause this will be my first ever proper vintage jumble, first of many I hope ;)
The weekend is upon us yet again, hasn't this week just swooshed by?!
Have a fabulous Friday peeps and thanks again for all your wonderful comments, they truly warm the cockles of my wee heart so they do.
Lot's of love,
Jennie
xXx 



Friday 5 October 2012

September on speed and Odd Lovin'

What the heck happened to September, eh?
'WHOOSH'...that's what happened...like a rat out of an aqueduct!
October entails a trip to B&Q to get draught excluder tape & tea-lights,  an hour or five up in the loft swearing like trooper whilst trying to locate hats, gloves, woolly scarves and other cold weather related clobber & paraphernalia. 
It is also usually the month when my hot water bottle 'Gino the Giraffe' makes a reappearance in bed and he brings with him at least another duvet, thermal PJ's and bed-socks for my poor frozen feet. 
I take to wearing outdoor clothing indoors & favor wigs to keep my loaf warm.
Don't get me wrong, I love this time of year...the coziness of dark the evenings, rooms lit up by tea-lights and candles, hearty soups and roasted pumpkin.
Soon the park will be on fire with colour and for a few weeks we will be treated to natures very own art display. 
I go for long walks along the urban nature trail near our house, it smells divine, just like the woodlands where we used to go mushrooming when I was a kid.
It would be so lovely to live near a forest, I'd get well into foraging then...
berries, mushies and wild veggies.
One day we will leave this dirty city behind us and to be truthful I am very much looking forward to that day.
I sorted out my wig collection earlier and was reunited with my turquoise cartoon cool wiggy-woo, as soon as I put it on a little dress-up session ensued...
Super funky vintage 60s psychedelic floral dress, lurex tights, Demonia heels, cartoon cool wiggy-woo
Fabulously ladylike vintage 50s leaf print dress labelled 'A Russell Stuart Model' & a gorgeous vintage patent clutch from  Odd Lovin'
Whilst on the subject of  Odd Lovin' I was super lucky a few weeks back when I won their giveaway... 
I don't actually buy make-up very often cause I always get stuff from my mum as pressies so I never really need to but I have to say that these Lily Lolo mineral make-up products really impressed me...
 The vegan friendly eye shadow is lush, the colour is called 'Deep Purple' and it certainly is that.
This is now my favorite eye shadow and I have no doubt whatsoever that it shall remain so for the foreseeable future...sorry FACE Stockholm but I may have to dump you!
Odd Lovin' vintage is the brainchild of Malmoe based stunner Tuva Minna Linn...
"She writes poetry, drinks sweet sherry and listen to 70s records. Tuva Minna Linn is the creative spirit and vintage lover behind Odd Lovin’. Ever since childhood she’s been inspired by clothing, always mixing, trying and falling in love with something new. Her heart beats for the 70s and just the sight of a Ossie Clark dress can make her cry."
Not only is she absolutely gorgeous, she's also a wonderful wordsmith and fabulous stylist to boot.
Here are four of my fave garments from the Odd Lovin' shop...
High Flyin' Bird vintage caftan dress
Soul Sacrifice vintage Indian hippie dress
Somebody To Love vintage embroidered boho dress
What The World Needs Now pre WW2 Japanese Houmongi kimono

Wicked stuff I think you'll agree and if you happen to live in the south of Sweden you can even pop along to their showroom to try before you buy...sweet as!

Have a cracking Friday y'all!
Lot's of love,
Jennie
xXx