sweet suite: vintage teen-dream bedroom set

as i was randomly wandering around the internet i discovered this amazing bedroom furniture set on retro renovation (i vicariously live through that fab blog)! please click through to see more pictures, its just incredible. the flowers, the typographic details, the awesome telephone booth seat!! excuse me.. i'm having a seizure of furniture related joy.

i see these sorts of vintage things online and just about hyperventilate. australia really doesn't have treasures like this. our small population has always meant a small range of consumer goods and so teenage bedrooms of the 60s were furnished pretty traditionally. there is no way something this far-out and groovy would've been mass produced here. so three cheers for the internet for giving me a peek into the hippest, grooviest teenage room styles of the american teen!

and now, if you'll excuse me, i'll continue that furniture-joy seizure...

images via retro renovation

love list: march wish list

yay! i won the lottery! (not really, but eh... its wednesday, what else am i supposed to be thinking about?) so aside from doing a world tour, and donating a bunch of my many, many, many millions i'm going to buy some of these things from my wishlist with my spare change. and then i'm going to buy us all lunch, ok? so clear your schedule because i'll be calling any moment...

first i would get some miller goodman playshapes because i think its important to buy great toys (because i have to play with them too!!). aren't these nifty? i really love toys with versatility, because well.. they're versatile. as you can see, my imagination needs all the stimulation it can get. yay blocks! image from lark, images and playshapes to buy from lark!

next up, something cute for my house: did you know jonathan adler now does melamine plates? cos he totally does! mmm pretty fishy adler goodness. and none of that fear of breakage. three cheers for melamine! image and plates to buy from jonathan adler.

last winter i got myself a cute raincoat (and it came in handy in california!) but i've jet to find a cute umbrella. but oooh these beauties will brighten your rainy days and keep your hairset nice and dry. who can argue with cheery yellow and polka dots? no one, that's who! images and brollys from dorothy perkins

and of course i'll be needing a bag to carry my wads of cash around in, and what better bag than one that evokes an endless summer holiday of glamor and carefree tanning on yachts and galavanting around the côte d'azur and monte carlo and the greek isles and there's an austrian count and ever so many romantic misunderstandings. image and bag from bonjour mon coussin.

glamourous nails will definitely be required aboard the count's yacht, and what cooler nail varnish than strangebeautiful's volume one varnish collection?

"VOLUME 1

Josef Albers Color Theory, A Mid Century Modern Knoll Fabric, Oscar Wilde, the exuberant paint colors used to decorate the walls of the Federalist period, a color of an Andy Warhol painting at the Dia Museum, the color Puce which I remember mixing when oil painting as a child, a green - winged teal, the dark inky blue of a never ending deep lake at night and the fear of swimming in it, and of course the red Valentine typewriter."

image and nail varnish available from luckyscent

first thing - this design of shoe is called 'ice-cream'. yum. second thing - melissa's are the most comfy jelly shoes you'll ever find. they're so cute, but you think they'll be all blister making and sweaty and gross. none of that here. i own four different styles and they're all really great. but i don't own any 'ice creams' and i shan't rest until i do! images and melissa shoes from here

things pilgrim hearts: my top 5 movies of the 60s and 70s

lets play pretend today. imagine we all live in the same city. and imagine that somehow i've obtained the use of a cinema for a weekend, perhaps through luck, or maybe some kind of bloodless coup took place in front of the concession stand. the point is, i'm holding an imaginary late night film festival! starting late and going til the early morning (and bending the laws of time to fit five movies into one night!), we'll all meet up at this amazing imaginary cinema. you know the kind of cinema i mean: it's falling apart, the seats are hard and lumpy and the term 'flea pit' might not do justice to just what a dive this place is. but it wasn't always that way and there are the faded remnants of this cinema's golden age in unexpected places still. but in the dark, with some excellent company and some fun distractions on the screen none of that matters.

while we wait for our friends to arrive we'll loiter in the foyer admiring the art deco ornamentation and dog-eared coming attractions posters. wait a minute, that concession stand is really a fully stocked bar, and do my eyes deceive me or is that gentleman fixing me a perfect manhatten? he asks what you'd like to drink, and tells us the chef will be arriving soon to take snack orders. do you feel like some nachos? or maybe some kind of outrageously large ice cream sundae? oh and there's pick and mix candy too!

we head into the cinema and find a perfect spot and start to settle in. i've bought extra pillows and blankets and of course the invitations specified a strict pajama dress code! i hope you're comfy. its going to be a long night but such a fun one.

the lights dim and the curtains part. the chatter and giggles die down to a hush as our first feature starts...

brewster mc cloud directed by robert altman, 1970.

starring harold and maude's bud cort and shelley duvall in her first role, brewster mccloud is a quirky and pretty much forgotten movie about a boy obsessed with birds. the absurd action builds to a spectacular finale in houston's astrodome.

how about another drink? maybe get some popcorn, freshen up, have a stretch before returning to see...

bananas directed by woody allen, 1971.

woody allen seems to divide opinions, but i love him, and this film is classic comedy gold. while trying to impress a girl, typical woody allen character fielding mellish gets caught up in a south american revolution only to come out the other side the country's new president. the clip above is fielding on trial in the US. keep an eye out for j edgar hoover, look carefully though: he's in disguise!

ooh your coffee smells good. i think i might go grab some hot chocolate. can i get you anything? i think the chef mentioned something about fresh cookies...

beyond the valley of the dolls directed by russ meyer, 1970.

WARNING: possibly not office friendly! there's a nipple slip & a derriere.

the clip just about makes as much sense as any other part of this film. it really is a completely bonkers classic. taking the 'valley of the dolls girls find fame followed by downfall' plot and running wild in la-la land with it, this movie will delight, horrify and confuse in equal measure. record producer "z man" is apparently very closely based on phil spector and lets just say the ending of this movie could have been a case of art predicting life. if that's a thing. i desperately want a party like the one featured in the clip. where can i get me a pool of mayonnaise?

ok time for another stretch.. i know! time for a 5 minute dance party! let's put something silly on. ready to boogie?:

theme from the blob - burt bacharach

i love you alice b. toklas, directed by hy averback, 1968

peter sellers, bored with his straight life as a lawyer, falls for doe eyed hippie girl leigh taylor-young. she makes brownies. those kind of brownies. hilarity ensues. and another excellent party scene!

we're on the home stretch now, last movie. did i hear some one snoring at the back? oh dear. maybe they ate the brownies too.

barbarella, directed by roger vadim, 1968

its the 40th century. jane fonda must bring dr durand-durand back to earth. on the way she gets to know some new friends (in the biblical sense) meet some ferocious dollies and vanquish an excessive pleasure machine. all in a couple of days work for ms fonda i guess, but it certainly makes for a movie like no other! did you know frank zappa nearly compose the soundtrack? try not to imagine that or your brain might fall off with the wonderfulness of it all. i guess there is a thing as too much perfection!

yawn... what a great night! what say we go find an all-night pancake joint?

thanks so much for coming to my imaginary film festival. we should do this again - i had to narrow my favorites down so much and leave out so many other 'favorites'. what films would you show?

fashion favorite: charm-ing bracelet

my grandmother rowie's charm bracelet is one of my most treasured possessions. she started it herself, as a new beginning and a gift to herself. i loved the jangle she made, and how we would sit and talk with her about the story behind each charm. a lot of the charms were collected on her travels and others were just gifts from my mum to mark occasions.

pictured below are closer views of the bracelet...

a bell (from capri), a lion (from trafalgar square, london), the little mermaid (from denmark), an outback 'dunny' (er, an out-house), a heart, a clog (from the netherlands), an echidna, an easter bunny, the leaning tower of pisa, a dice (from vegas), a christmas tree, a chili

a tasmanian devil, a razor blade, a globe, a bucket of ice and champagne (60th birthday), scissors, an abacus, a bear (from berlin), a bee

a junk boat (from hong kong), a thimble, a pagoda, an apple (from tasmania, australia), buddha, a clover leaf (from ireland), a virgin mary, a horseshoe and clover leaf

rowie was a fabulous woman. she was attractive, witty, and elegant in a style all of her own. she was a hostess to die for, and always loved trying new things. after getting divorced in 1979, at the age of 50 she embarked on a trip around the world and it was on this trip that she collected a lot of her charms. i find that so inspiring, and so typical of rowie, that she up and went out in search of a new adventure. she travelled to america, and mexico, europe, england and ireland, japan and hong kong. i still have the postcards she sent my parents, and she made the most of everywhere she visited. i love that my grandma ate snake and climbed a volcano but then talked about high fashion shopping in new york!

this charm bracelet is a documentation of a chapter in her life that was all about her. these charms weren't for protection, they were to remind her of the good times and achievements all of her own. she seemed fearless, independent, and always did her own thing her way. i think of these qualities when i wear her charm bracelet in hope that it will evoke the same spirit in me. at the very least, the bracelet's jingling brings me right back to sitting on her lap and talking.

from sepharial's book of charms and talismans, published by foulsham, london

a charm bracelet is so simple, but elegant and a beautiful thing to leave behind. do you have one? did you inherit it or are you building it yourself, as a little biography on your wrist? if you don't have one, why not start a new one to celebrate the new decade!

pilgrim's place: 'my place & yours: my collection'

once again i'm joining in for 'my place & yours'. how could i resist this week's theme of 'my collection'! i love having collections of things. i blame my unfulfilled childhood dreams of being a librarian or a curator. i have my own little wunderkammer here in my lounge room, filled with trinkets and toys and objects that make me smile. sure its a pain to dust, but its the only way i can justify having quite so many useless things!

a consistent presence in these shelves and pigeon holes are apples. since the moment i laid eyes on a dick bruna apple illustration at the age of 1, the simple apple has won my heart. i don't mind if its green, but honestly i'd prefer it to be red (unless i have to eat it, in which case the greener and tarter the better!) i really like my apples to be plastic (again, unless i have to eat them) or at least japanese or scandinavian. they seem to have a good hold on the basic apple design. maybe because its such a simple, graphic fruit? none of those frou-frou pineapples for the japanese and scandinavians! i really, really like it if my apple is some form of container: jug, mug, box, canister etc. now, that's satisfaction: apple storage!

in the picture you'll see an apple desktop trashcan, an apple bottle, an apple bento box, an apple suitcase (not quite full of japanese candy!! nom nom nom) an apple mug in an apple bowl, an apple patch, apple hair bobbles, an apple box, and a fisher price happy apple that makes the sweetest chimes. not pictured above are the BIG apples that hold my son's toys in the lounge room. unfortunately thats as close as he'll peacefully get to fruit.

thanks to an ambiguous bible translation from ancient greek, apples have had a bad wrap as being the sinful forbidden fruit. how could a beautiful simple little apple be responsible for all that drama? but maybe its their simple beauty that is precisely their problem, maybe my insatiable lust for anything apple will be my down fall? probably not. but if it is, i'll happily be the world's first crazy apple lady.

fashion favorite: lovely 'lashes

1. newyorker ad germaine monteil, 2. g0012-ac1, 3. Twiggy,

4. i will forget it when the tear dry (part II), 5. Shelley Duvall, 6. shu_uemura_lashes

a homage to lovely falsies, and the beauties who wear them! this post is dedicated to my lovely friend andie, who rocks an eyelash like nobodies business!

i tried to dig up some history on false eyelashes, but all i could find is the following, on several different sites:

False eyelashes were invented by the American film director D.W. Griffith while he was making his 1916 epic, "Intolerance". Griffith wanted actress Seena Owen to have lashes that brushed her cheeks, to make her eyes shine larger than life. A wigmaker wove human hair through fine gauze, which was then gummed to Owen's eyelids. "Intolerance" was critically acclaimed but flopped financially, leaving Griffith with huge debts that he might have been able to settle easily - had he only thought to patent the eyelashes.

via useless facts

shu uemura has become synonymous with lashes (though the range on the website isn't nearly as big as what's in store! where are the holographic and rainbow ones?!)

and here's a video on applying false lashes

so, do you wear false eyelashes? i must admit, as much as i love them, i'm rubbish at applying them (despite much practice) and tend to look more drag than fab. sigh. why is it the things we love most, are the things that don't suit us!? (see also shift dresses and wide leg jeans)

book pile: my current reading list

just look at that great pile of books, would you?! and these are just the big glossy picture books awaiting my loving attention. lets not even mention the threatening tower of novels teetering next to the bed, ready to brain me as i sleep! one of my new year's resolutions this year was to read more. i was doing well until a month ago. i got busy and a bit of a backlog (or should that be booklog) occurred. i've enjoyed a cursory flick through these, but its just not enough! each one of these beauties demands an hour or two, languishing in its pages and soaking up all the glossy, glossy images. so join me for a quick tour through the pile, and maybe my pile can inspire you to construct your own monument to the glory of not-having-enough-hours-in-the-day!


overspray: riding high with the kings of california airbrush art

airbrush is one of those mediums i think of as something akin to a guilty pleasure. i always think of it being used on bad car murals, or t-shirts you'd see at the wrong kind of market (you know, those markets that sell knock off band shirts and glow in the dark religious figurines - yeah, i love them too.) or the signage for adult bookstores. i know, i know - its incredibly labour intensive, and takes huge skill, but when it goes wrong, it goes uncanny valley wrong. but 'overspray' doesn't cover these crimes against good taste, its about the golden age of airbrush - 1970's LA. specifically, charles e. white III, peter palombi, dave willardson and peter lloyd who are considered the men at the centre of the scene and whose work was used for playboy, levi's, the rolling stones, rod stewart, american graffiti and tron. (incidently my childhood wasn't completely filled with terrible airbrush art, i also loved looking at my mum's copy of rock dreamsby guy peelaert)

british animation: the channel 4 factor

after enjoying the channel 4 UK retrospective that was part of the melbourne international animation festival this year, i was pretty excited to unwrap this book on my birthday (yes, i know, i'm a nerd). written by clare kitson, who was the commissioning editor at channel 4 from 1989 to 1999, this book promises a peek behind the scenes of an amazingly creative environment. thanks to my mum taking me along to (age inappropriate) animation festivals when i was small, i have a real obsession with animation, and i really look forward to learning more about the prime of british animation (they had an animator in residence at ch. 4! can you imagine that now?! no. sad, really.)


tales designed to thrizzle vol. 1

anyone who follows michael kupperman on twitter (@mkupperman) knows his sense of humour defies description. its silly, but clever and very absurd. mere words won't do it justice! if you don't know his work, watch this clip from adult swim's snake and bacon and either get it or don't. either way, i'll be over here giggling at the toad and his mistress, snake and bacon ("ssssss!" "crumble me over a salad!") & district attorney of 1000 faces.



late 60's fashion style and swinging 60's fashion style

pie books, please, stop it. you're sending me broke! (please don't stop!) these books are no words, all pictures. as soon as i'm done drooling on them i'll wipe 'em down and share some pics. you guys like pretty pics, right? yep! i thought so! brace yourselves. its gonna be "groovy, baby" (let's never mention that again)

1960s floral fashion print

from my brief peek at this book, i can tell you, its like all those ebay/etsy/thrift store fabrics you always wanted but never scored. and florals, so many florals. though i am particularly looking forward to reading this (and not just ogling the fabric porn) because (in case it wasn't already obvious enough) i'm fascinated with the 60's and what a departure it was from previous decades' styles, and how the counterculture crossed into mainstream culture resulting in one eye-searing, mind-freaking collection of fabrics, design, and decor.


boutique - a 60s cultural phenomenon

as with the previous book, boutique is written by marnie fogg (who clearly needs to adopt me and take me on her time traveling adventures) and contains a highly detailed account of the rise and impact of boutique culture in 60's london. all the names are here, mary quant, barbara hulanicki, paul smith etc and it is packed with photos and illustrations that i am dying to pour over! this one seems like a compulsory text for any vintage fashion enthusiast.


cartoon modern

yep. its more animations. but this time its mid-century animations! this style has seen such resurgence in the last few years, and its charming graphic simplicity is hard to resist. cartoon modern is filled with sketches, model boards, cels, and film stills of edgy, modern characters. if you like this kinda thing, check out Surogat/Ersatz by Dušan Vukotić

100 flowers to knit & crochet and beyond-the-square crochet motifs

thanks to pip and the meet me at mike's book, i am now a crochet artiste! i struggled and i cursed and by the end of the week i had made a (slightly wonky) granny square. some fine tuning of my skills with shelley at little sparrow and i am now an unstoppable crochet machine. i've made a tonne of squares for a blanket, 3 hats, 1/2 a scarf and 2 bunnies. but my insatiable lust for new challenges knows no bounds, and so i'm quickly emassing a library of crochet books. the downside to this is the crochet is cutting into my reading time, and so i have this big pile of books, and the big pile of books consists of more crochet times, and so... at this point in the circle, i leave you.

what's in your reading pile? and who can i write to about getting more hours in a day?

vintage children's book: wings on wednesday

'wings on wednesday'

written by natalie scott

illustrated by sandra smith

published by paul hamlyn 1969

ISBN 0600039714

(click images to enlarge)

wings on wednesday tells the story of a little girl named hatty. every wednesday, hatty and her mother spend the day with aunt zoe. 'fly out of the room like a good little bird and let me have a nice long chat with your mother' aunt zoe would say to hatty.

hatty would go out to the garden, where a squawking cocky (a parrot) lived. hatty didn't like the cocky, but she did like the feathers it dropped and so she began collecting them each week.

finally, when she had collected enough, she made her self a pair of wings... and off she flew (much to the envy of the caged cocky!) each week, hatty flies off, over the town, until one week she sees a forest. she lands in the forest to find it full of different species of birds who find her fascinating and rare...

all the birds want to talk to hatty, and so each week she returns to talk to a different kind. they all tell her what species they are, and what makes them special or rare.

"but all the birds were certain that hatty, who could take off her wings and leave them on the ground was the rarest of them all"

then her aunt moves away, (apologies for the patchy job of scanning it) and though her parents joke about it, hatty knows what it is like to 'fly out of the room like a good little bird'

i'm not sure where this book came from - i've always had it and i've always been fascinated with the illustrations. my copy is dogeared and missing a cover and back page and i haven't been able to find any information on author natalie scott or illustrator sandra smith, but i love the psychedelic magic marker illustrations with art nouveau overtones. the publisher, paul hamlyn seem to have been behind a number of really fab picture books of that era, lots of psychedelia.

i also own 'firebrand, push your hair out of your eyes' and 'please sit still', also by scott and smith, and although both are excellent i love 'wings' best. if anyone can offer any further information, please comment below. this book has played such a huge part in developing my aesthetic, i would really love to know anything about the ladies who created it.

droolry: jewelry that makes me drool

... perfection, i believe is the word you're after. Victoire de Castellane's diorette collection for dior include these breathtakingly bold enamel and jewel encrusted rings. they've been around for about a year now, but i just can't stop looking at them. they really are tiny works of art. well, tiny is perhaps an understatement! the price tags certainly aren't tiny, and the cheapest little daisy one is $1137. let's not mention the other prices.

i've always felt like i should like Tarina Tarantino. a lot more than i do. i love sparkly, slightly crazy stuff, but nothing of hers has ever really grabbed me until now: the electric koolade bib necklace! and i'm ready to take it all back. just look at it, the colors, the jewels - like dew drops on the flower petals. its like some futuristic mexican art work. too good. in conclusion: yes sir, i like it!

literal cocktail rings! but be warned ladies, if a smooth talking gent presents you with one of piaget's sex on the beach rings (from their limelight paradise collection) he may be giving you a subtle hint as to what he expects in return! and its not served in a martini glass. and its going to be sandy.