The Professional Pinup: What To Wear?

Aloha, plums! I have decided to start a blog series all about 'The Professional Pinup' where I give you my personal advice on how to incorporate pinup style in circumstances where you have to be a bit more 'conservative' with how you dress, for example in the work place... Because sometimes a bright coloured swing dress with a petticoat isn't always 'work appropriate' ;-) (Don't we wish it was!!).
This first post, as you will have guessed from the title, is all about clothing. Just because you're at work doesn't mean you need to loose your retro sass! A few pointers on dressing for the work place are keep skirt length knee-length or below (which most of us vintage gals do anyway!), be careful with necklines - you don't want anything too revealing, but a subtle scoop neck or boat neck work really well too. I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with a *bit* of cleavage, just keep it to a *bit* and maybe save your super mega push up bra for the weekend ;-)! I know us Pinup Dolls love form fitting clothing and I personally think that is fine as long as you stick to the above rules about length and boobage. I would say a great basic casual/smart work outfit would be a pencil skirt, a scoop neck black t-shirt and a pair of mary janes, but you could always smarten it up by adding a nice button up shirt. Here are a couple of work-wear essentials that every pinup should have! I've stuck to dark colours as most work places require you to dress quite monotone (yawn!). Depending on how strict your work place are I'd add a pop of colour with touches of colour on your shoes, belt or maybe a nice hair ribbon.

How To Embrace Retro EVERY DAY? Casual Pin Up!

Today's post is going to be about how to achieve that polished Pin Up look every single day. I lot of people are shocked when I tell them that I dress this way all the time. To be honest, a lot of people are shocked when I tell them I'm not in fancy dress! (I'm just fancy;D!) So I've put together this little guide about how to be recognizably 'Pin Up' or Rockabilly whether you're just going out to the post office or you're going to take the dog for a walk. Always dress as if you're going to see your worst enemy! As they say! Now, I have a puppy myself so I know what it's like - you don't want to be hauling yourself through a field with a dog in a wiggle dress (If you do then POWER TO YOU, girl!) but you also don't want to completely loose the style that you love by wearing dodgy leggings and a t-shirt! However, you can wear a t-shirt and leggings... Just the right ones!

The blog post is definitely catered for the more Pin Up/Rockabilly gals out there opposed to the Classic Vintage beauties, so bear that in mind... I embrace a bit of both, so let's go!

My Guide To Pin Up Finds On eBay: How To

Now, not to blow my own trumpet, but I do regard myself as quite an eBay connoisseur and have been using eBay for over 5 years. Whenever I post my 'eBay finds' posts or post a treasure I've found online on Instagram, I seem to get asked 'how do you find these things?' or 'what do I search to find things like this?' so I thought I'd just make it easier and do a blog post on how to find the best things on eBay because it isn't always as easy as just searching 'Vintage dress'! I tend to go for the more Buy It Now option as opposed to Auction and I normally am looking for more Pin Up/Reproduction over authentic vintage (which is typically easier to find in Auctions).
So, here is my collection of best tips on finding the best bargains on eBay!

I think one of the best things to know is keywords - Know what you're searching for

Think outside of the box. Not all dresses are going to be listed as 'Pin Up' or 'Rockabilly'... However if you click the 'Search in description' box when using these words your search will be a lot more productive. A lot of my purchases and best finds are going to come from Hong Kong and similar countries - shipping is usually free or very cheap so if you don't mind waiting an extra week or two and would rather pay less then I suggest filtering your search to sellers just outside the UK.

Vintage Style On A Budget: eBay/Amazon Edition

Goodness me! You girls must be getting sick of my bargain ramblings BUT I just can't help myself. I just know that if there was another blog like this I would read it all the time (Is that vain?) - because I am forever on the hunt for vintage/pin up-style clothes for a fraction of the price as brands like Collectif and Hell Bunny. Let's face it- it is coming up to Christmas and I cannot be treating myself to dresses, let alone expensive ones!

I have shopping (and selling!) on eBay for YEAARS! I am the Queen. I can spend hours flicking from page to page and am known to take bidding wars quite seriously. There are a LOT of gems on there and it is just a matter of finding them by using the right key words and search techniques. Don't worry I am not going to post anything that is an 'Auction' because that would be a bit silly as by the time you will have read this, the listing will have probably ended! Also it wouldn't be fair if three girls were after the same dress as only one could be the winner! So I have only chosen modern clothing that is new, have Buy It Now prices and multiple sizes and stock.

Most-Lusted Autumn/Winter Shoes

Hola! Now, I think that a lot of Girls find it hard to locate shoes that look good, are affordable, comfortable AND fit in with their vintage style clothes... So here is my wish list of Autumn/Winter shoes - Which are all readily in the UK!

Vintage Style On A Budget: Part 1

So, I have been meaning to do this post for a while as it incorporates two things that I completely adore - Vintage style AND affordability. Now, when I say 'vintage style' that can range from rockabilly to pin up to classic vintage as I feel my fashion spreads across all of those (However, I have spoken about that in a previous post!) so I should have at least SOMETHING that suits your taste here! I am an avid eBay shopper so a lot of my bargains will be from there. Although, I have only listed things that are Buy It Now from sellers that have a large stock of the items and the listing has a very long time left (In most cases, when the item finishes, the seller usually just relists again). I have been shopping second hand for years now and there are fewer things in life that get me as excited as discovering a perfect find for a perfect price (£4 and under, hehe!). I found a Collectif Anchor Skirt in my size in a charity shop for £2. I am rather lucky when it comes to charity shopping, but good things come to those who wait!