Inspiring people, inspiring trends

Everyone has a celebrity icon that they love who's fashion and style they adore and try to emulate.

Here at SVWH we have a few trend icons of our own;

Paloma Faith - quirky, gutsy, honest, talented and renowned for her choice of clothes, we love Paloma's take on vintage clothing with a modern twist.

Florence Welch - another redhead Brit with serious style appeal. She confesses not to be into fashion but she certainly sets the standard for a lot of other celebs to follow.

 

Fearne Cotton - the girl next door who has a few hit and misses with her style choices but the majority of the time she gets it spot on. We love her uber-cool glasses and her laid back attitude to throwing a bit of everything together for effortless chic.

Gwen Stefani - we ADORE Gwen's blonde tresses. (very Marilyn-esque) With lashings of red lipstick and feline eyes she is one to watch.

Retro beauty

We are soooooo into retro beauty items. There has been a real surge in items that have an old-fashioned feel to them.

Soap and Glory Range

 

Sexy Motherpucker - gives you the most gorgeous pin-up pout with zero effort. 

Hair Supply - now who does not want hair that looks that bouffant? Gorgeous! Leaves hair super soft and shiny. A small amount goes a long way.

Arch de Triumph - get killer eyebrows a la Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot and Elizabeth Taylor. This handy kit even comes with eyebrow stencils and a 'how to' guide.

S & G wash bags - perfect for stashing your favourite S & G toiletries and your make-up for a girlie weekend away.

All these items can be picked up at Boots stores or online so what are you waiting for, get shopping!

A few of our favourite things....

Ok so we all have our likes and dislikes and we all have favourite things. Here are some of ours right here;

Farrow and Ball paint is the best paint in the world for restoring old furniture and giving it a new lease of life. This gorgeous green is bang on trend yet can achieve an antique feel to that chest of drawers you've been meaning to do.

Beautiful fairy lights. (Think Nigella's kitchen which is covered in them) This may surprise you to know that these are actually made from recycled egg cartons. Just shows what a bit of creative vintage craft can create.

Draught excluders are great and very easy to make. You can choose any combination of material and colour that you like. They also make good bolster cushions in the bedroom. We particularly love this vintage stripe.

Some people have an entirely vintage home, others like small details. We love this retro 1960s phone. It would look great on a hallway bureau with some beautiful vintage notepads to jot down any messages from your calls.

Roberts radios are a national institution and every home should have one. We say Harry Roberts should even have been knighted. In gorgeous, kitsch colours in their new 1950s Revival range (including Cath Kidston designs!) This is a little piece of vintage history we cannot live without!

Perfume bottle always look fabulous on a dressing table and we can think of no better example than the iconic Chanel No5 brand to get excited about.

Website coming soon!

We are hoping to bring you our fab new website very soon jam-packed with vintage goodies and ideas to get you started. In the meantime, keep checking this blog for more information.

Why vintage?

Some people call it 'vintage', others 'shabby chic', a few prefer the word 'retro'. Whatever you call it, beautiful homeware pieces can transform a room if chosen carefully and there's no better feeling that restoring an unloved, unwanted piece of furniture into something you are proud to have in your home. Going with light and pastel colours is always a good idea or one piece in a strong colour to really stand out.

Ralph Lauren fabric is still beautiful and delicate even with the stronger red colour. It would look great on some cushions or as a tablecloth or if you're feeling handy with a sewing machine you could make your own napkins for a vintage dinner party.

Vintage enables you to add a bit of cheekiness into your life and get away with it! Posters of some retro, busty pin-up girls evoke a sense of glamour and a bygone era where bunny-girls, burlesque and sauciness were queen. A framed poster can add some 'pop' in your bedroom on a lone wall to make it really stand out.

This is a modern take on vintage. These lights are made out of recycled jelly moulds. Now whilst they are not for everyone, they would certainly make a talking point of your kitchen island or breakfast bar without being too in your face.

Life would not be complete without a cup of tea and I personally would not drink without one of these! (Think Lady Gaga last summer who would not go on the road without her precious blue and white china tea cup! She even sent her entourage back to find it when she left it in a hotel!) It smacks of sophistication, my grandma and tea houses which were the shops du jour back in the day.

So why vintage? Because vintage works, vintage needs us and vintage is L-O-V-E.