Spotlight on - Style by Portobello

Aloha everyone, so I recently came across this amazing company called Style by Portobello which is great monthly subscription box. There are a lot of subscription boxes out there at the moment but I just love this one as you get handpicked vintage items from Portobello market straight to your door. I love how each month it's a surprise of what you’re going to get and who doesn’t like surprises right?

So for those of you who don't know, Portobello market is an amazing vintage market in London that sells all kinds of vintage treasures. As I live in sunny old Manchester its quite far away from London so this box for me is pure genius!

 

The company is run by a lovely woman called Nzinga who includes a lovely handwritten card in each box which I liked as I love a personal touch. The website is great too as when you sign up to your box you do a little survey so she can evaluate what kind of things to get for you at the market which I think is fab idea.

 So my first box came the other day and I was so excited to open it. The first item I got was this amazing 70s snake skin bag which I simply adore as I am a massive bag fan! I think this bag is going to be great in the summer and its really versatile so it will go with a lot of my outfits. I also got this really lovely scarf and gold chain which I love, I really cant wait to style them into my outfits! 

The boxes are priced at £35 a month which is a little more pricey than other different subscription boxes but I think for what you get it is definitely worth your money and everything you get is completely unique. If you would like your own Style by Portobello box go to Style by Portobello, I cant wait for my next months box to come :)

Thanks for reading Guys and Dolls x

Spotlight on - Doodad and Fandango

Aloha everyone, so I thought I'd do a post today on a company I came across called Doodad and Fandango. I first became aware of this company because I saw the amazing Tess Holliday wearing them on Instgram and instantly was in love, and its not hard to see why because the earrings are amazing!!

Being the tropical obsessed gal I am I just had to get the pineapple and the flamingo earrings, and I am so in love with them. These are definitely a statement piece but what an amazing statement they make! The earrings are made of acrylic perspex so are made to last and the pineapples have Swarovski crystals on them which makes them extra special.

Nikita Margarita is the mastermind behind this brand and designs and hand assembles them in Sydney Australia, she is one amazing lady! I also love how the pieces are inspired by the costume jewelery heyday of the 1930s to 1950s. If earrings aren't your thing there are also so amazing necklaces and bags on the website too which are just as cool.

I love everything about this brand, they are so fun and cute and being a massive fan of anything novelty these are right up my street. I definitely have my eye on the poodle design that she currently has on her website which come in different colour ways but I think the pink ones have my heart.

Thanks for reading Guys and Gals x

Pinup days out: Temple Newsam

Aloha my lovelies, so today I had a day out at Temple Newsam which is a house and estate situated in Leeds in West Yorkshire. The house is really beautiful as are the grounds that surround it, so I thought I'd do a quick post and share a bit of its history and some of the photos of the place.

If your in the area I'd definitely recommend a stop at the historic house which is a Tudor-Jacobean house which features a lovely stable area that has been converted into a little tea shop. It is a perfect place for a picnic on a warm summers day, there is also a lovely little farm on the estate too which was built in 1694.

So for those history buffs out there I thought I'd write a little a bit of history on the house. Between 1500 and 1520 a Tudor country house was built on the estate by Sir Phillips Darcy and it was described as the Hampton court of the north. Sir Darcy was unfortunately executed and the house was seized by the crown, Henry VIII then gifted the house to his niece Margaret Countess of Lennox. Her son Henry was born in the house and he married Mary Queen of Scots so the house was seized again by the crown in 1565. In 1622 the house was bought by Sir Arthur Ingam for £12,000 and over the next 20 years the mansion was built. The house continued through the family and was then inherited to Hugo Francis Meynell Ingram in 1841, following his death the house went to his wife until her death in 1904. In 1909 the Leeds Corporation bought the property and the Leeds City council now owns the house.

The grounds the surround the house are so beautiful too and are perfect for a stroll in the warm weather. I love historic houses like this as I like to imagine what it would be like to go back in time and live like the Lady of the Manor, hosting balls and taking a horse and carriage ride around the grounds, what a life that would have been like!

Thanks for reading Guys and Dolls x

Atomic Festival

Aloha my lovelies, so this Saturday I attended Atomic Festival at Sywell Aerodrome which is a mid-century vintage festival. I was super excited to go as all the pictures from last year looked fantastic! I'd never been to a vintage festival before so I didn't really know what to expect but when I got there the atmosphere was great and everyone looked amazing dressed up in their finest. So I thought I'd share with you some pictures from the festival and talk a little bit about it.

 So the first place we went was obviously the vintage shopping market. They had some great sellers there like Freddies of Pinewood, Miss Bamboo, Lady K Loves and Campbell Crafts to name but a few. The Campbell Crafts stall really impressed me as they had it all set up in a vintage caravan and had plastic lawn flamingos out which I thought looked great, they were also selling had some great American brands like Bait and Pinup Girl clothing at their stall, they even had the Mary Blair cat print skirt in my size which I instantly snagged! Also inside one of the tents they had samples of the new Bernie Dexter line which was inspired by Atomic, the dress she is bringing out is super cute, I may just have to purchase it in the near future!

After shopping we then went to get some lunch in the restaurant on site which was really awesome as it was all Art Deco style. Then we toddled on down to meet some girls I had met through a vintage meets up page on Facebook. The girls were so lovely and really made the festival for me as it was great to meet people with similar interests. So after meeting we went to check out the jet display by the red arrows which was really cool, I love planes and the sound they make, I feel like I've just stepped back into the 1940s. It was then on to see some drag races which was really fun but made you smell like burnt rubber haha.

While there we also did some Jive lessons which was amazing, it was super fun and has definitely inspired me to look up for Jive lessons closer to home. They also had a Jive competition on which was great fun to watch but it was hard to see as the room was so packed. The festivals also had a classic car display, the cars were absolutely gorgeous, I just wanted to drive away in one. I was a bit disappointed that the poodle display was on the Sunday but happy to see that the owners where walking round so I got to have some cuddles with them! I think I may have developed a love of poodles on the spot as when we went on the second shopping trip Clumsy Kate was selling her own design of poodle printed chiffon scarves, I got so excited and had to buy one!

After grabbing more food at a great hog dog stand and waffle stand, we went to check out some bands. The bands in the afternoon were playing the the big top, the music was great and I loved seeing all the couples taking to the dance floor and jiving along to the music.

In the evening we all went into hangar one which had a bar and live music. This was one of my favourite parts of the day as it really felt like you had been transported back in time. I kept thinking a pilot might ask me to dance haha :P. I even got up and did a bit of dancing myself from the coaxing of one of my new friends and put what I'd learned from the previous dance lesson into practice, I was terrible but it was great fun, we even got a lady to show us how to stroll which was a bit like line dancing. There was great atmosphere at night when everything was all lit up, the caravans some people brought were vintage and looked really lovely, I would have loved to have been staying in one at night or at the hotel on site called the Aviator hotel which looked really Art Deco.

I had a fantastic time and it was amazing experience for my first festival. Some of the things we didn't try was the wall of death which you have to pay extra for, they also had trampoline and roller rink but I didn't fancy rolling and jumping around in my petticoat haha. I would most definitely go to a festival again and fingers crossed I will be attending Twinwood this year.

Thanks for reading Guys and Dolls x