Emerging Fervour

Growing up in Monrovia, Liberia was an experience I won’t forget. So, when Vice created a documentary called ‘THE VICE GUIDE TO LIBERIA’ – an 8 part series (see video at the end of this entry), I got a little excited, especially because they noticed something really out of the ordinary…a lot of Liberian kids wearing some pretty cool vintage tees. Naturally, Vice decided to write about it.

LIBERIAN GIRLS AND BOYS have better vintage tees than you

In a country where almost 60% of the population live on around 60p a day, most new clothing is out of budget for the average Liberian; so what they wear come from donations from the US and large used clothing wholesale purchases. Liberia’s economy doesn’t have enough buying power to choose what comes into the country…”demand does not control the goods supplied; it’s the other way around”, Vice mention.

I met Olli one bizarre work-drinks Friday (she’s an ex-colleagues girlfriend) and couldn’t help but perv on her amazing style for the whole night. Luckily she didn’t get too freaked and agreed to help me kick start our new feature that looks inside the wardrobes of non-famous but super trendy people. We know, sounds amazing…and it is, so here is Olli Leivers rocking five different outfits:

SEQUIN DRESS

Olli says: “I love this dress. I think the high street has become a little TOO inundated with sequins recently. They can be a little lairy/tacky at times. I personally love them when they’re used subtly like this. I feel all aquatic and magical in it. Although, I’ll usually dirty up a look that’s too girly – hence the jacket and whopping great big platforms.”

If you like the style and after something slightly different, then check out our suggestions throughout this piece.

What we found

1. Dress £363: Antik Batik from farfetch.com 2. Jacket £519: Preen from fatfetch.com 3. Shoes £140: Ethel by KG at Kurt Geiger

The ones with the cut out and fold-over clothing? Try this digital version for size…

Looklet allows you to create looks out of clothes, shoes and accessories picked by stylists. There are inspiration pages and an area to submit the looks you create. The team are keeping on top of everything from new designers to vintage pieces.

The site doesn’t allow you to buy but it does label every item with the designer and unlike those cardboard cut-outs, you can view the back of the outfit too.

We look forward to seeing the wardrobe grow. Good luck Looklet!

I’ve never wanted to be visually impaired as much as I do right now…Really. The new Fabris Lane A/W 09 optical collection is heading down memory lane and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!  

Launching an optical collection based on nostalgia is brave, but Rod Lane and Mario Fabris know what they’re doing having been in the business for over 35 years. It is clear that passion for quality and originality is what kept the brand strong and turned their 1993 Fabris Lane brand launch into an overnight success. Check out their awesome history here.

With names including Dorothy, Florence, Woody and Winston it’s obvious that there is more to this collection than just the physical. Optical designer, Clare Officer explains that “People like to tap into iconic characters while wearing our more vintage shapes”. It seems a waste not to.

Fabris Lane mention that “inspiration for all the new collections is drawn from iconic eyewear shapes, classic styling through the decades, and an admiration for quintessential modern English style.  2009 is the year Fabris Lane has truly come of age as an international eyewear brand”.

Good vintage websites are hard to come by and if they do attempt the online world, their sites struggle to stand out in the competitive e-commerce world. Their designs and functionality are basic and sadly they are never quite showing off the products very well. That is one of the reasons I have always been hesitant to buy vintage online.

Or this is what I thought until I found the ‘Merchant Archive London’ website. With its amazing product shots, descriptions and easy to navigate shop they easily compete with Net-a-Porter, Matches or other established online stores.

Browsing through the one-off items I can barely contain myself from clicking buy whenever I could. From Victorian Jackets, 1920s capes and 1940s burlesque jumpsuit, it just gets better and better.

It’s great to see how one-off products, that must have experienced so many things in their lifetime, finally have a shop that matches their wonderful uniqueness.

Would you buy vintage online?

Victorian Jacket (£170)

1940s Burlesque Jumpsuit (£265)

Edwardian dress (£520.00)

…for pushing the boundaries of shoe design!

It’s no surprise that the ’Virtual Shoe Museum’ is featuring Beth Levine and her book ‘Beth Levine Shoes‘ by Helene Verin on their homepage.

Beth Levine (31 December 1914 – 20 September 2006) was an American fashion designer most known for her designs from the 1940s through the 1970s.

Referred to as the “The first Lady of American Shoes Design” she was best known American women’s shoe designer from the 1950s to the early 1970s under her husbands label Herbert Levine.

She set out to create designs that would make women with average shoe sizes look more delicate and feminine in their shoes, and in the process changed the silhouettes of American fashion. She experimented with cutting away more and more of the leather to expose more and more of the foot, in the process creating shoes that were regarded as both sexier and more elegant than her predecessors.

It sounds like we should be grateful to her!

…when you enter ‘Radio Days‘, a cute little shop close to Waterloo station in London. They stock vintage clothing, collectables & memrobilia from 1920’s – 1970’s.

I came across it at the end of my lunch hour and had to dash back the next day for a proper look! The goodies in there didn’t disappoint. I’m always on the hunt for 1950’s inspired dresses as they are perfect for my shape and I was so excited seeing the cute prints and shapes they had on offer.

Sadly they didn’t have one in my size (sooo close though) but as I left, the owner checked if I was ok. When I explained I couldn’t quite fit he got a glint in his eye and said “I might have just the thing for you”. Out he pulls two of the most stunning halter neck dresses!! Oh how lovely…  but then came the agonising bit of trying it on to see if it’s meant for you or not. They weren’t but that is half the fun of it as when you do find your vintage piece and it fits, you know it’s meant to be.

Most of you are probably all too familiar with the musty second hand store smell that a lot of vintage clothing places seem to harbour. Walking into Reign on the Cowley Road in Oxford was such a lovely surprise. With a lot of the clothing sourced from continental Europe, you can find some pretty cool stuff, especially if you’re fashion-daring – most of the stuff is bright, loud and definitely makes a statement.

Everything is really well looked after and clean and the prices are reasonable considering the range and the quality of the clothing that’s in this place.

If you’re ever visiting Oxford, pop into Reign on 136 Cowley Road, Oxford. Amazing.