Wednesday 22 January 2014

A Mid Century Marvellous Market!

So, you may remember that I mentioned Bettina Scarlett's Mid Century Christmas Market in a previous post? Well this is what I thought of it! (Hint: I thought it was swell!)

After a little journey to London, a long walk down the wrong road and many confused looks at my map, I found the location. Stepping inside I was greeted by Bettina, who was looking like a swan in water gliding around in a gorgeous Bernie Dexter dress, and I signed up the raffle - sadly I did not win, boo!

But, I did certainly come away with some bargains anyway! I had had my eye on a hair ornament (I say ornament because they are far more than just a flower!) from Rosie Alia, so when I saw a trio of silver glittery poinsettias I had to have it! It was pride of place in my hair on Christmas day. Sticking with the sparkly things I got my hands on a late 1950s/early 1960s gold top from Miss Turnstiles. I picked it up off the hanger and immediately fell in love, never did I think it would fit me, but alas it was perfect! I wore it with a pencil skirt to my parents friends' soiree and everyone admired the sparkles like little magpies! My last buy was a pair of bauble earrings; sadly no photos of those, but I loved the novelty of them!

Look at it's beauty!!
It was perfect with my poodle!

It was such a lovely excuse to go to London, and I spent the entire day with friends from all over the south who I didn't think I would get to see again until at least the springtime. Bettina had put so much work and effort into the day, and I'm so happy that it came off swimmingly for her. As London's only Mid Century market it is a refreshing take on the vintage fair that is often plagued with what I think of as charity shop fodder.

Catch Bettina Scarlett presenting her next market on 12th April, at Hammersmith Club, W6 9DH - just in time for Easter!


Thursday 2 January 2014

Spotlight: The Rockabilly Girl Next Door

This is a first for this blog, and I am very excited to include this lovely lady on my page. Who am I talking about? The Rockabilly Miss Next Door of course! I have been a keen reader and fan of her blog for over three years now so it was a great privilege to be asked by Nadia to do a spotlight post on her blog, and feature her on mine. So without further ado here is the little interview!

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My name is Nadia, I am 24 years old and I live in Norway! I am engaged to my boyfriend of 3 years. 
I am a qualified teacher, and I work as a substitute teacher in a primary school. I'm also a student, and I am studying Norwegian as a second language. In addition to that, I am a rockabilly blogger and I blog over at The Rockabilly Girl Next Door. 




1. Why did you start blogging? 

It was 2010 and I started blogging because I wasn't happy with myself. I was not a girly girl at all, and I never felt pretty. I saw these pinup and rockabilly girls online and wanted to be one of them. Through the blog I could be the person I wanted to be, without anyone judging me. I got to live the life I wanted through the blog, and slowly I started gaining the confidence to actually be the person I wanted to be in real life as well. 

2. Favourite blogs?

That's a tricky one, I read a lot of different blogs. I do however love Dolly Cool's blog, and of course Roxie Roulette's :) 

3. Favourite post?

I wrote a tribute post to my favourite teacher this Summer. He passed away to cancer, and I was so upset about it. He meant the world to me. (Here's the link to the post: http://www.therockabillygirlnextdoor.com/2013/07/the-importance-of-role-models.html )

4. Best thing about blogging?

The best thing about blogging must be getting the chance to work with awesome companies. I never in a million years thought I'd be involved with Sourpuss or Classic Hardware when I started out blogging as an insecure young girl. It's also made the world smaller, I feel like I have friends all over the world thanks to blogging.

5. Describe your style

Although I call myself a rockabilly girl, I don't always dress that way. I usually wear clothes that I find comfortable and cute. My overall style is quite normal I guess, but I always add a touch of rockabilly to whatever I wear. I wear a lot of leopard print, stripe and polka dots. I wear Converse pretty much all the time, and I like cardigans to go over cute tops. When it comes to the non-clothing part, I have super red hair and big Bettie bangs, and I usually wear my black cat eyeliner every day :) 

6. Where do you buy your clothes/shoes/accessories?

I rarely buy clothes online, because of taxes in Norway. It's very expensive to get things sent here, and I often have to pay twice the amount just to get my stuff out of the post office. I also like trying the clothes on before buying, and since I can't do that online I shop at random stores in Norway. I go to average stores we have here (they're kinda like H&M), but I'm not afraid to walk into any other random store if I see something I really like. 

7. Who inspires you?

When I first started off in this rockabilly world, I was inspired by burlesque dancer Frostine Shake. I thought she was so beautiful, and I wanted to be like her. I still love her style, but nowadays I take inspiration from many different people. I spend a lot of time on Instagram checking out awesome rockabilly girls and let them inspire me. And who can forget John Water's rockabilly rebel Wanda Woodward?

8. What were your highlights of 2013?

One of my blog highlights must be when I worked with Classic Hardware. That was awesome! Personal life highlights must be finishing arts&crafts in uni (it was horrible) and teaching myself how to run again. I have a serious ankle damage, and haven't been able to run for 7 years. I started working out, and suddenly one day I ran. I couldn't believe it! It was also amazing to go back to Cyprus after 8 years. I've missed my friends and family there so much, and it was great to stay with them for a week. 

9. What are you looking forward to in 2014?

I'm looking forward to see what life brings for me and my boyfriend. I will also finish my very last year in university, so I guess I'm looking forward to finding out what job I'll end up with! I don't want to grow up just yet... 

10. One random fact about yourself.

I can understand 5 different languages; Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, English (duh) and Irish/Gaelic. I can speak all five of them to some extent, some better than others 


For more The Rockabilly Girl Next Door follow her blog, 'like' her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter