I hope for many people that this year will be better than the last

And it’s a new decade so let’s hope for the future. Yes 100 years since the 1920s and the Charleston era. People looking hopeful after World War 1. So after years of Austerity in the UK I hope it’s over soon.

I have took down the Christmas decorations but left up my LED Bonzai tree for now. I dont want to feel the holiday season is over yet. But if I dont do it now it wont get done.

I’m going to have a hunt through my boxes of objects relating to my life and see if anything can go to the charity shop too.

I hope everyone is not fed up with mince pies,chocolate and puddings yet. As the diet companies are starting to advertise already.

Oh well I’m off now to get ready for the new year i have made some resolutions in my head and hope i can stick with them.

Bye for now 💋oxo

Hi there folks wishing you a Merry Christmas. I hope those of you who celebrate Christmas will have a lovely time celebrating. Hope you dont have sore heads on Boxing Day. We have the Boxing day curry now a tradition and no it’s not Turkey!

But on a serious note look out for those who live on there own. Any food what’s left over, that’s unopened tins etc that doesn’t perish a shelter or food bank would be grateful . Also any Toiletries that you receive you know you cant use, would be a great donation too. And clothes you dont want that are in good condition could be donated to a charity shop or homeless shelter. There are many homeless people in the UK and other countries who count on us to help.

Happy Christmas and New Year. I will be posting again soon.

Bye for now 💋oxo

Hi as promised I am going to give you a list of online stores that sell vintage and repro clothes and accessories. These stores I follow or follow me so the list is not exhaustive and theres plenty more stores if you look online. They sell from the big brands sometimes at reduced prices. And some of them sell at Vintage Fairs to. Some sell on Etsy which is a great place to look for independent seller. Also some of these independent companies use Facebook pages and Instagram to promote themselves.

Uk

Vintage Hat Boutique – Etsy

Imogens Imagination-Etsy

Arcade Hatters -Etsy

Inspired Vintage Rose

Dolly Peg Vintage

Pretty Kitty Fashion

Hayley Vintage Wear

Tiki lou Hawaii

Cherry Vintage

Mid century missy

Retro Rails by Sam Urquahart

KittiesKabin Rockabilly Boutique

Tiger Milly-Etsy

Rockabilly pinup

Outside UK

Evellon Vintage Nashville USA

Naughty kitty Vintage Springfield Missouri USA.

Intrigueforyouforever Vintage -Etsy

Hope these lists help you rather than going to the main sellers and you find some bargains.

Bye for now 💋oxo

Disclaimer I have not been paid to advertise these companies.

I am listing Vintage Boutiques that I follow or follow me on social media. In these Boutiques which are mainly independent shops but mainly in the UK you will find repro designs from the main brands Collectif, Lindy Bop etc .Some of these shops provide an online service.

I have wrote a list of shops I know and it will be a useful guide to find clothes from and independent retailer, rather than direct from the company’s.

UK

Miss Samantha Vintage Crookes Sheffield

Blue Banana Pinstone Street Sheffield

The Front Parlour Sheffield

Pretty Kitty Fashion Salisbury

Revor Vintage Manchester

Rockers England Manchester

Violet loves Vintage Manchester

Retroesque Arundel

Cherry Vintage Chichester

Outside UK

Obsessia Vintage Israel

If you google any of these then the information on each shop will be there and some offer online shopping.

I will follow up the next post with a list of online only boutiques .

Bye for now 💋oxo

Update Front Parlour in Sheffield and Violet loves Vintage Manchester are now online only from January 2020

Tiki lou Hawaii is now selling from Instagram. You can message them on Instagram.

Disclaimer I have not been paid for this article.

Well I was in a bit of a rut of what to write this week and I saw something on Social media local dancing classes. And I thought yeah I can talk about that.So go on your social media or Google and see what you can find. I will list a few of what I know of or I’ve seen and experienced.

Colin Tenn Brighton

He runs his own dance classes jive and rock n roll down in Brighton with his dance partner Sue.

Brighton jive and UK Rock n roll and jive on Facebook. He has his own event Kalamazoo once a month 40s and 50s dance.

Colin also works with Dawn Gracie in Dawn’s Vintage weekender.

Colin is also a DJ at the Honey hush club and jive station.

If you cant find him on Google or Facebook find Dawn on Dawn’s vintage Do and you will find Colin.

BLITZ JIVE

They run classes in Sheffield and Stockport . I used to go to one of there classes for a few pound per week. You can start in basic class and work your way up you Intermediate

I started in basic then straight up to intermediate. Due to the fact my mum used to dance with me when I was younger. Mum is a great dancer she and her brother entered local competitions when they were teenagers. So as my dad had 2 left feet and she saw I had rythm she seconded me to be her partner in crime. So at an early age I picked up rock n roll which was handy for jive class.

In Blitz jive class you dont need a partner they line you up and each move you dance with a different partner. I used to go with a group of girls from work oh what fun we had. Then you can freestyle, this is where you get picked to dance by the men! When I started going I got called up to dance sometimes after a few week my feet never stopped.

Red and Ginger

Now these guys do the 40s style dance moves and a pleasure to watch. I’ve seen these guys down at Lou lous Vintage Carnival. Where they do displays in one of the tents and they do classes and get as many people involved.

Jive and Rock n roll is so energetic it burns off the calories and is a fun way to keep you fit. I cant list all the dance classes in the uk the list would be too long. So get your fingers tapping on your keyboards 😉.

Bye for now 💋oxo

I have been reading some historical family sagas similar to Catherine Cookson.

They have been based on the 20th century from 1900 to the 1970s. These are by 3 different authors Margaret Dickinson, Maureen Lee and Lyn Andrews.

Margaret Dickinson writes about sagas based in Lincolnshire but also Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. She researches the area that she will write about before she will base her story. She wrote 3 books based in Sheffield and Derbyshire. Clippie girls during World War 2, using actual streets places and events. For instance the Sheffield blitz etc by the time I had finished I felt like I had been through the war. Then I found out later a great aunt had been a clippie girl . For those of you that dont know what a clippie girl is they were tram conductors. She also wrote a book on The Buffer girls in Sheffield too and a sequel to that set in World War 2. I found out more of what buffer girls did and the little mesters of Sheffield than any museum trip in these books. For those of you who are unaware Sheffield produces Steel and during World War 2 it suffered extensive bombings. And Margeret also mentioned floods in Lincolnshire, the mills of Nottingham. She set part of one of her books out at the dams in the peak district whilst bringing into the storyline of the dam busters . I’ve now read most of her books .

Ive read a few of Lyn Andrew’s and Maureen Lee both authors base there books where they come from Liverpool. These stories are based on living on the docks of Liverpool in various decades. Mainly around the two world wars.Lynn Andrew’s and Maureen Lee’s book i feel are more gritty. Maureen Lee’s books are found on Amazon rather than the bookstores or library.

For readers that want to learn about living in the UK and the history they are a good read while learning. And I would readers from other countries would enjoy reading about British history. If you like the Peaky Blinders you will love these books.

Bye for now 💋oxo