It is my personal belief, that deep down inside every woman, there lies a secretly burning passion for all things that sparkle. After all, isn't that why diamonds are a girl's best friend? I believe that deep down within even the most tomboyish of girls, there is a secret lust for things that twinkle, things that shimmer, things that sparkle, shine, glitter and gleam. No? Okay, just me then...
But seriously, ever since I was a little girl, I've been obsessed with glitter. I recall this one time, when one of my oldest friends (that means you, Leah Rossi!) and I sat in my bathroom, when we were about ten or eleven years old, collecting together all the glitter in my house that we could find. We collected up hair glitter, sparkly body spray, glittery mascara, glitter nail polish, glittery talc, shimmer face powder, you name it (remember all that 90's/early 00's stuff?)
We sampled each of the products, spraying them and puffing them and squeezing them and what have you over the bath, so that it wouldn't go all over the floor, and analysing the different types of glitter. We decided to categorize the different types, to see which was the best. There was glitter with huge shiny bits in it, glitter in tiny particles that gave more of a subtle, shimmery effect...I can still smell the glitter spray now, heady and gluey and with that note of excitement and anticipation on it- it was the spray I put on whenever I was going to a school disco or a year six birthday party or to one of my parents' big new year's eve bashes. I think we thought we were glitter scientists or something. Leah, if you are reading this, you probably don't even recall this weird random memory, but you know what I'm like for having a freakishly good memory when it comes to this stuff! It reminds me of a time even further back, when Leah and I decided to paint all the china ornaments in my room with my gold glittery nail varnish, and the times we used to make 'gems' out of lumps of wet toilet paper left to dry and coloured in with felt-tipped pens and painted with the same glittery nail polish (now I know you remember
that!)
Well, weather or not anyone else shares this particular magpie tendency of mine (and Leah's!) to want to squeal with delight at the sight of glitter, that's what's got me all girlishly excited about my latest look. I'm calling it 'all that glitters' (another Sex and the City Reference, for any of those equally geekily obsessed fans among you). It all started with the outfit that I put together on one of my previous posts, the one with the pink sequined top and the leopard print heels (which I have now bought, and can't WAIT to wear out!) I loved the way the sequins on the top looked like those pink edible cake sparkles you can buy, and the way they winked and flashed and twinkled like stars in the light with my every tiny movement...
I also adored the soft pale pink of it, and the combination of the sparkles and the girlish pastel hue. So, when I came across this GORGEOUS little vintage gem on my travels in Greenwich a few days later, I simply couldn't get it out of my head.
(here is is, pictured with the pink Topshop top)
I was browsing the rails in The Vintage Emporium, to see if there was anything that caught my eye, when I glimpsed it, twinkling softly in the dusty light. It was a pale, mint green, sixties style top, which also happened to be sparkly (insert inward screams of delight). I held it up to myself in the mirror and noticed that it went perfectly with my skin tone and hair colour (don't you just LOVE making those discoveries?) but then quickly told myself that I didn't need yet ANOTHER little sparkly top. I moved on to the next shop, The Beehive, which is a total treasure trove of affordable vintage pieces (not to mention owned by the most lovely, friendly, beautiful lady whom I spent a good long while chatting to about all things fashion) and ended up buying an eighties-tastic jumper, featuring a similar colour of green (which I have been living in all week- thanks Beehive!)
That weekend, I simply couldn't make myself forget the darling little mint green top. It danced tantalizingly in front of my eyes inside my head, calling to me in a sound like crystals twinkling and clinking together (I know I'm getting totally carried away now, but I really did love the top). So, today I went back to The Vintage Emporium and bought it. Did I mention that it was only £15?? Total bargain, I know!
It goes perfectly with the other stuff I bought to go with the pink Topshop top, so that's two outfits I have yet to wear out! In addition to this, I also decided I needed a cream fur coat to complete the outfit, and found this beauty on ebay, which I won (yay!) and which was delivered today:
Don't you just love it!? It's real rabbit fur and sooo luxuriously soft and snuggly. I would just like to point out, that although I would never condone the purchase of new fur, this coat is vintage and therefore second hand. Hence, wearing it is actually a form of recycling, and if no one wore it, it would only be rotting away in some landfill somewhere, polluting the planet. ANYWAY.
The pretty ice cream shades of the tops and the coat got me thinking about Tavi's fantastic Valley of the Dolls posts that I've recently read. If you want to check it out, go to:
http://www.thestylerookie.com/
For anyone who doesn't already know this-Tavi is amazing. Her blog was one of the main things that inspired me to start this. But getting back to my main point, her post was inspired by the 1966 novel, Valley of the Dolls, which was turned into a film in 1967. I have yet to actually see the film (it's on my list of fashionable things to watch, along with The Taxi Driver, which apparently is the film to channel for the current on-trend seventies vibe) but I've seen pictures from it, and am loving the pretty, innocent but plastic doll-like look that's going on. The look is all about pastels, candy colours, pretty-girl makeup and a kind of creepy doll-like perfection. Think of the candy-coloured houses in Edward Scissorhands (Tavi also references this in her post- I give her full credit for it- although I've always loved that image anyway!)
To complete the all-that-glitters-meets-Valley-of-the-Dolls-look that I'm loving right now, I also bought two gorgeous Barry M lipsticks, one in an amazingly bright, shocking, almost fluorescent pink, and one in a beautiful pale chalky coral. I love the totally matte texture of the lipsticks combined with the intense, opaque quality of the colours. I have searched high and low for a reeeaally bright pink lipstick with a totally matte finish, and this is the first one I've found. Thanks Barry M!
I am planning on wearing this look with fun, unexpected twists like leopard print (cue my new heels!), garishly bright lipstick and flashy, gold vintage jewelery to give it a trashy/fun/glam edge. And of course, extra long, doll-like lashes. Pictures of me wearing the outfits will follow (I want you to see them with the full benefit of my two hours of pampering, hair and makeup that I will do when I actually wear them out!)
Here are some pictures that I feel capture the girly/glam vibe of the all that glitters look with it's Valley of the Dolls feel...enjoy!
My magpie collection of sparkly tops! From left: vintage from ebay, vintage from ebay, vintage from Rokit, vintage from a shop in Whitechapel, vintage from The Vintage Emporium Greenwich, and Topshop.
My pretty ice cream shaded tops go perfectly with my gold vintage bag from Rokit which I have actually worn to death!
(clockwise from top) bracelet: Topshop, cuff: Topshop, earrings: from a charity shop in Hunstanton, earrings: also from charity shop in Hunstanton, ring: Topshop, necklace: vintage from Greenwich Market (only 99p!)
My Barry M lipsticks, Topshop glitter, Benefit eyeshadow and Mac eyeshadow. Tutti-fruitti shades like this were seen all over the SS11 catwalks!
I <3 Dolly Mixtures! xxx
Glitter is a girl's best friend...
The Valley of the Dolls Look
Hope you enjoyed the post, and please feel free to leave any comments! Have a sparkly day...
The Porcelain Princes
XOXO
