Festival Fashion: Vintage Folly

Image: Vintage Folly

The weird and wonderful world of festivals also takes in the glorious act of reviving the past, in particular the increasingly popular vintage festivals.

Now we're not talking raiding the charity shops at Glastonbury for some fancy dress, we mean proper events that delve deep into the fashions and pastimes of the various eras of the Twentieth Century.

These gatherings enable you to do anything your grandparents might have indulged in, such as sip tea dressed like Vera Lynn or getting the chalk out for a night of dancing to Northern Soul.

One of these examples is the Morecambe based Vintage by the Sea, the festival helmed by Red or Dead founder Wayne Hemingway, which this year takes place across the weekend of Saturday 5th to Sunday 6th September.

Lovely ladies showing off designs from @TheHouseofFoxy (I'm on the right) Briliant weekend at @fovintage xx pic.twitter.com/wwJU1s5KAG

— Vintage Folly ® (@vintage_folly) April 26, 2015

Ahead of that we thought we'd get the inside track on some fashion tips, speaking to Vintage Folly blogger Rachel Palmer about what inspires her to look as devilishly demure as she does with her pals above.

What three items of clothing do you take to every festival?

Vintage Festivals aren't like your average music festivals.  There's no mud, no portaloos and no baby wipe showers - yes I've been to a few in my time!

A Vintage Festival is a place to show off your style and call me boring but when I'm wandering around a festival amongst the great and the good of the vintage scene, the last thing I want is to be limping, freezing or looking like I've been dragged through a hedge. So the three items I always have hidden away in my bag are a pair of flat shoes, a cardi, and hair grips. 

Your ultimate fashion icon.. 

It's not even a real person - talk about unreasonable images of beauty! I have a big love for Gil Elvgren's 1950s illustrations. To me the ladies they depict are the ultimate pin-ups and I find myself trying to recreate their style.

I love the fifties but choose to see it through rose tinted glasses. So my hair is big, as are my skirts, and nothing is ever practical!

 

Lipstick break at Vintage by the Sea #20thcenturyfoxy #teatime #1950s #yellowdress #vintagestyle #vintagehair #vintage #retro #dayout #seaside #britishmade #greencar #vintagecar #carshow #vintagebythesea #morecambe #themidlandhotel #artdecohotel #pinup

A photo posted by Rachel Palmer (@vintage_folly) on Sep 8, 2014 at 1:23pm PDT

Ultimate wardrobe staple?

My waist cincher belt (though I'm not wearing it at the moment due to pregnancy tummy). This little beauty can turn a drab outfit into a very sexy one, it can make that slightly loose dress (that you just HAD to have even though it's the wrong size) fit perfectly, hide the all the cupcakes you've put inside you and pull a whole outfit together.

Most expensive item you have bought?

I don't know if I dare tell you ...my husband will read this you know, In all seriousness I'm actually not that bad. I LOVE a bargain and enjoy feeling like I've got a good deal, so big splurges don't happen often.  

Probably the most I've spent on one item is £100 - it was a pair of shoes and I felt guilty for days. Then I stopped feeling guilty ha.

What's the item of clothing you're most embarrassed about? (That you'll admit)

Big granny pants. Anyone who likes a wiggle skirt/dress will be with me on this. You can't wear little panties with a tight outfit.. not unless you're into the three tummies look anyway. Big, smoothing pants are the only way to go.  

It's not fun trying to squeeze in and out of them when you need a wee though and if they start to roll down it's a nightmare. That's when it gets embarrassing - when you have to stop in your tracks to adjust your knickers and try to shuffle then further up your body, without the whole world realising you have serious upholstery underneath that dainty frock!

Finally you can go on the lash and clothes shopping with any three historical figures with an unlimited budget. Who are you taking and what will you all end up wearing at the end? 

Of course my first choice is Marilyn Monroe. I know that's predictable and I really don't care. I think she was beautiful and sweet and I reckon we'd have a great time both shopping and out on the lash - I doubt we'd pay for a single drink!

I'd love to party with Marie Antoinette. I've always been fascinated by her style as well and can imagine we'd leave the stores with empty rails after a royal shopping spree.

And my final choice was difficult and if I'm honest comes less from my knowledge of historical figures and more from my childhood love affair with the movie Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. I'd invite Beethoven. Just imagine taking him to a club!