Hi everyone, it's been a while! Ever since I have been writing Lovebirds Vintage I have written a 'Year in Review' post as the New Year rolls around where I feature some of my favourite outfits from blog posts in previous months.

This year has been a bit difficult for me in terms of finding the time to take photographs and write for the blog, and as such I decided to take a break back in May to allow myself time to focus on other things. Since then I have only posted to Lovebirds a handful of times, although I hope I will be able to get back to a more regular schedule over the upcoming months.

Unfortunately this means I have far fewer outfits to share than usual, but if you're still interested in seeing slightly more regular photos, I do post a bit more often on Instagram. You can find my Instagram account here.

In the meantime here are a few outfits from 2018. As usual you can click on the links underneath the images to read the original posts, and as usual if you'd like to see similar posts from previous years, you can do so here: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.

Well here's a throwback - all the way to summer when I actually had some time to take some photos.

This is a sweet original 1950s dress paired with modern cardigan and accessories. It's just recently started to show its age in a few places but it's still one of my favourites.

Hi everyone! Here are some photos from a shoot I did aaaaages ago and never got around to posting because life got in the way. Apparently it's too long since I modelled because the poses are all the same, haha.

I will have a few other posts coming soon but I won't actually be back for a while yet - I have found some time to queue a few posts up so I hope you enjoy those until I can actually get back to blogging.

I'm wearing two of my favourite dresses in these photos, both original 1940s and such a lovely shape. I don't get the opportunity to wear them as much as I'd like so it was lovely for them to get out of the wardrobe for a while.

Photos by Steve Bond.





 
 


 

Hi everyone! Just a quick little update as I'm still in the midst of having some other stuff happening and won't be back here full time for a while yet.

Last month I was contacted by Feedspot to let me know that Lovebirds Vintage is of the top 10 UK vintage fashion blogs, based on a number of criteria including influence on social media and quality of posts.

While I'm not quite sure how I managed this as I constantly feel like really small fry in the blogging world, I'm very grateful to Feedspot for including me and of course to all my readers for supporting me throughout the time I've been blogging.

You can find the complete top 10 list including more details about selection criteria and some stats on Lovebirds Vintage here.

If you don't already follow me on social media and you'd like to, I am available  in all of the following places and currently most active on Facebook and Instagram while I'm not updating the blog on a regular basis:

Hello everyone.

This is just a quick note to let you know that due to various 'real life' commitments, I will be taking a break from Lovebirds Vintage. I will still try to post updates where possible, and I expect to be back here on my usual upload schedule late 2018 or early 2019.

In the meantime, I will remain active on my social media. I'm most present on Instagram but I am also on Facebook and Twitter. Please drop me a DM/comment to say hello if you join me there.

I have several sets of photos waiting to be posted, so I hope to get to some of these in the next few weeks.

Best wishes and see you all soon,

Helen

These photos were taken at the same time as the ones in my previous post, but in the end I decided to let the Pearl coat have it's own post because it's just so pretty.

Anyway, this is the outfit I was wearing underneath the coat, which is formed mostly of components I've had for at least 5 years - in fact here is me wearing practically the same outfit (in much warmer weather) in 2013.



All of the items are from the high street, but styled in the right way they lend themselves well to a vintage wardrobe. The skirt in particular is very reminiscent of some of the border-print 1950s style skirts available from lots of retro and repro shops but in fact came from Primark. If I remember rightly they also had a few different patterns available in the style at the time, which I am sad to this day I didn't buy. Of course this purple one is so pretty (and even has it's own built-in petticoat) and it honestly deserves to get worn a lot more often than I reach for it. I think because I no longer have that many other things in my wardrobe that match it colour-wise, but this keeps surviving any wardrobe culls because deep down I really love it.





Recently I'm really loving my hair in a roll; it's very practical for bad weather and as a bonus it doesn't matter whether or not I have curled my hair. I use a hair rat, and just twist the sides a little bit then hide any mistakes or messy bits with hair flowers, which is pretty much one of the most useful hair tricks I know. I'll definitely be rocking this as a fairly quick and easy hairstyle for early mornings this Spring.

It's still pretty cold here even though little signs of Spring are starting to show, and we might even be due more snow. Although that's not exactly what I'd like to see as we head into April, it does give me the opportunity to wear my gorgeous new Collectif Pearl Coat, which is something I've had my eye on for years. After I managed to get my hands on the Hell Bunny Elvira coat in black at the end of last year I knew I wanted to get at least one more in a shade of brown so that I'd be sorted for pretty much any outfit. I actually would particularly like one in camel, but I also think this tan one will be very useful and to be honest I was a bit restricted in choice because there is just no way I can afford one of these full price. At least I have quite a lot of tan accessories to go with it.



I was so excited about being able to photograph the coat that I completely forgot to steam out the creases from shipping, but I still really enjoyed twirling around in the daffodils and having myself a Jon Snow moment with the fur collar. I really like how the collar on this one has a hook and eye underneath so you can wear it either open like I am here, or like a little muff. (Are they even called muffs if you wear them around your neck? You know what I mean though!).

This has all the same perks as the Hell Bunny coat, so of course I love it. You can read my full blog post about the Elvira coat here, but I think all these 1950s-style coats have a great flattering shape and glamorous look, as well as being long enough and wide enough to fully cover my swing skirts/dresses.



I opted for a UK size 10 in the hope that I would be able to fit a couple of layers underneath, but I could easily have sized up to a 12 to get some extra space. I'd say the 10 fits more like what I'd expect a size 8 to fit like so depending on your fit preference you may wish to size up by 1-2 sizes. Of course this isn't the sort of style where you'd want a baggy fit, but I do have some quite thick jumpers (necessary for the weather here!) that I do want to be able to fit under my coat without feeling uncomfortable and bulky all day.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Steampunk Saturdays. Today's outfit features a few items that I'm really excited about, and what I hope might be the last snow of the season (unless we get a white Easter like some are predicting), which arrived last weekend. We took the opportunity to shoot some photos that I've been excited about for absolutely ages and it's been a while in the planning so I hope you enjoy the results.

The outfit began after I attended the Subaquatic Steampunk Weekend where I wore a gorgeous black Victorian-style skirt that I purchased from Corsets UK. After I got back from the event I noticed that the skirt was starting to come apart at the seams, so I emailed Corsets UK's customer support. The customer service was absolutely excellent - something that I find is becoming more and more unusual - and they offered to send me out a new skirt as a replacement. As the original skirt was now sold out, I opted for this tiered brown satin number which I thought would make some pretty cool outfits. I also wasn't required to send the original skirt back, so if I can figure out a way to mend or alter it, I will be using it again for steampunk costumes in the future.



One of the things that particularly drew me to this skirt is the really cool beadwork on the waistband, which I think adds a very unique touch. It also has an interesting chain detail which looks great, but me being the clumsy person that I am, I keep getting it caught on door handles and things as I go past!

Unfortunately the skirt is quite a lot too big for me on the waist, and with no option to wear a belt due to the beading, the only way I can make it sort of fit is by wearing something a bit bulky underneath. I'm wearing the smallest size that was available (UK 8) but I'd say it fits more like a 10 if not even a 12. I can't see it on the website any more but if it does ever become available again (or if you see it for sale elsewhere), I'd definitely recommend sizing down if possible.



The next item is my really seriously cool Alchemy Gothic Aetheric Inclinometer Attache Bag from Blue Banana. I love the design with the compass, and it's made of a really sturdy canvass material with leather accents. It really adds to an Aethernaut inspired outfit, and would probably be good for an explorer style as well. The only thing I don't like is the size - it's not even big enough to fit my phone in, which makes it not particularly useful to take to events. I can fit small items such as makeup, tissues, money etc, but I will definitely need a larger bag for taking out with me.





The last item for today's post is this gorgeous pistol that I borrowed from my other half. We got it from Head Case Curios in Southsea, and it's absolutely beautiful. I'd definitely like my own at some point, especially as you can get all sorts of different ones. I'm tempted by a little handbag pistol, something I can fit in a thigh holster, or a great big blunderbuss or something.

Anyway, that's pretty much it for today. Let me know in the comments which is your favourite item from today's post and I'll see you all soon.

I love those Spring days when the sun comes out even though it's still pretty cold. It makes it feel as though nicer weather is on its way and I start looking forward to being able to wear my lighter weight dresses that don't come out during the winter. At the moment most days I'm still wrapped in a few layers (I love this oversized cardigan; it's so warm) but at least I'm able to start bringing more skirts and sheer stockings and tights into my outfits. This outfit ended up making me feel slightly librarian-esque in an Evie O'Connell kind of way, even though I don't really see that come across on the photos. I actually think the cardigan changes the whole look of it as I originally tried the outfit on without it. It was quite chilly taking the photos though so: cardigan. Although it ended up being so sunny that I am looking down in pretty much all the photos.



One thing I've been saying for ages that I must get better at doing is accessorising. I have a lot of lovely jewellery but a combination of my jewellery storage not really working for me, and laziness, means that I tend to stick to the same few items all the time and so some of my things just don't get the love they deserve. This cameo necklace is a new addition to my collection courtesy of Blue Banana and I'm definitely not letting this end up at the bottom of my jewellery box. For a start, it perfectly straddles my interests in both vintage and steampunk fashion and I will certainly be wearing it with both styles. But also, look what happens when you open it up:




How flipping cool is it that it's also a watch?! Pretty great if you ask me, and I do actually use it to tell the time when I'm wearing it so it's also super handy. I can't actually find it on the website at the moment so it's probably sold out, but you can find some other watches from Blue Banana here and if you like things a bit on the gothic side they also currently have this one which is on a necklace. If it's cameos you like, they also have this choker and a cuff, both of which are really affordable and I'm really tempted to pick them up.

Anyway, I like the nice long chain on the necklace though I have also been able to put it back through the loop to double it up so I can wear it with any outfits where the longer chain doesn't look right. I also *think* I can replace the battery when it goes, because I did once manage to get the back to pop off (though I haven't attempted to actually get the battery out).