Lili gets shot!

Tags

clothing, Deadly is the Female, Edinburgh Fringe, edinburgh fringe festival, etsy, Fashion, jema hewitt, killer curves, milady de winter, millinery, photographer, showgirl, style, Vintage, vintage lovers, What Katie Did

This week, I was lucky enough to shoot with one of my favourite photographers, Ian Treherne. It was my first shoot back after having Rafferty and I’m still feeling a little bit curvy, so I was concerned about my double chin and lack of cheek bones – thank heavens for shading and contouring.
I needed some photos for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and also for a couple of shows I’m working on so I threw together some costumes (the ones that fit me, anyway!) and went to Ian’s fab little studio about 20 minutes from my house.
Ian shot a photo of me last year which made it onto the front cover of Level 4 Magazine, a mag for local music and other artistic what-not. I adored that picture, so he was a natural choice for me. I also wanted something which wasn’t completely ‘vintage-styled’.
I find that it takes me about 10 minutes to warm up into a shooting rhythm and Ian takes a pause roughly every seven pictures or so but we soon found our way and started to come up with some really fabulous images.
I took along a dress from Deadly Is The Female, a black ruched number which when paired with a What Katie Did Morticia corset, provided me with some killer curves. I also flung on an awesome vintage statement necklace and earrings set. I imagine the photos will have a Mafia Mama attitude to them, as I was channelling ‘Don’t F*ck With Mama la Scala’!! I think that Ian really enjoyed shooting that dress and it’s really interesting how something so simple and black can ooze sexuality.
Then we shot my fabulous purple and green hosting frock which was made for me by the incredible Jema Hewitt.

It’s thoroughly boned which makes sitting down nigh impossible as is bending, turning or even just walking. This made shooting in it quite tricky, but I do hope that we got something amazing, the colours are incredible and the style is great. I wanted something which channelled Milady de Winter from the Three Musketeers and Jema created it perfectly.

Our final pictures featured the most incredible piece of millinery – a hat with a ship a la Marie Antoinette. It’s common knowledge that I adore a tricorn and this is a spectacular example. I found it on Etsy, my gosh, that site is a treasure trove of delicious handmade allsorts! I wanted to use the hat for an image for a new show I’m working on called Siren, it’s a collection of nautically inspired music. I wanted a soft but strong image with the hat centre stage and here is a sneak peek.

I can’t wait to see the rest of the images that Ian took, especially the amazing black dress and I look forward to sharing them with you, too. So for now, this blog is to be continued…
Love Lili

Lili’s Down Under Vintage Adventure

Tags

clothing, music, songs, style, Vintage, vivien of holloway

Every vintage collector has a story about a treasure trove that they have discovered, or the day they stumbled across something incredible. Mine happened at the Adelaide Fringe  in Australia in 2010.
I sing vintage songs from between 1920 and 1950 so it follows that my audiences are often of a slightly older demographic or vintage lovers themselves. One afternoon I was flyering for my show outside my venue and I was wearing a lovely Vivien of Holloway full circle dress with a big red petticoat. Two ladies stopped by me and commented how pretty the dress was, one said how she still had dresses from when she was young. She went on to say that she was just planning to put them in the rubbish, after all, who would want old dresses? Who indeed? Me. Me. Me. That’s who. I offered them free tickets to my show, if they would just pop the dresses into bags and drop them off to me at the Spiegeltent.

The following week, imagine my surprise when they turned up with bags and bags of gorgeous 50’s dresses. One of the ladies, Jean, had a mother who was a dress maker. So all the dresses were handmade and homemade in England before she emigrated to Australia. More excitingly, they all fitted me as if they had been made for me.

It was the sort of vintage treasure trove that I’ve only ever heard about from other people. Dresses of every hue, with layers of tulle and sequins. A white petticoat so stiff and big that it stands on its own in the middle of the floor. A divine late 40’s dress and matching jacket in apple green. A dress which, if I didn’t know better, I’d say was made by the amazing ladies at Whirling Turban. I was just amazed, again and again, as I pulled each item out of the bag. Each dress has been in a bag in a cupboard, so they were all in great condition. My only problem was how to get them home? Cue two extra suitcases and a huge excess baggage bill!
On my final weekend at the Adelaide Fringe that year, I had a lovely couple bring their 93 year old mother to the show. She was so beautiful, and reminded me so much of my favourite great aunt. She absolutely loved the show, and afterwards she came to tell me how much she enjoyed it. She said that she still had her going away gloves from her wedding in 1953, and she wondered whether I would like them? She didn’t think that her children would want them, and she’d love them to go to a good home where they would be loved. I almost cried at her generosity. Her daughter-in-law dropped them off to me and when I opened them I was stunned. Navy blue, butter soft suede, softly ruched at the wrist and made in France and in absolutely perfect condition, and they fitted me perfectly. So, so incredibly beautiful.
I’m planning to go back in 2014 with my brand new show that I’m previewing in Edinburgh this year (Lili la Scala Sings Songs She Likes and Hopes You Like too!) and I hope there is more glorious vintage just waiting for me.
What exciting vintage treasure trove stories do you have? I’d love to hear them.

Love Lili.

Lili’s Got Vintage Guilt at Victorian Gilt

Tags

1950s, clothing, Fashion, New Zealand, Shopping, style, Travel, Victorian Gilt, Vintage, vintage shop

My name is Lili and I am a vintage addict, I’m always searching for treasures to squirrel away into my collection.

One of my favourite places to search used to be a tiny vintage shop in Auckland. Called Victorian Gilt, it was in the very stylish suburb of Remuera. From the outside, a little shabby but once inside the shop was a veritable treasure trove of wonders. Stuffed with clothing and accessories from the late Victorian, all the way to the 1950’s, it was a heaven for someone like me! Dresses from all eras hung five deep around the walls (a moth’s dream!) and it was a tough job searching through and frequently I’d work up a glow. Everywhere I looked, my eyes fell upon 1930’s evening dresses, cabinets filled with rhinestone jewellery and piles of vintage linen. If you wanted furs, she had it. You wanted a prom dress from the 1950’s made of chiffon, she had it. You wanted a 1920’s, fully mink lined, bright orange, chinoiserie silk, full length evening cloak, she had it (honestly!).
Once last year, as I was searching, my eye was caught by a flash of pale pink, pleated satin. My heart leapt. When I first went to New Zealand, five years ago, my husband (then boyfriend) took me to Victorian Gilt and I fell head-over-heels in love with the most stunning ball gown. Handmade in the 1950’s, she was curvy and made of heavy satin in the palest oyster pink. The front was hand-appliquéd with swirls of purple and grey ruffled velvet and the skirt adorned with rhinestones and sequins. A consummate beauty, she made me feel a million dollars. Sadly, she also had the most fantastic price tag and I could only dream of taking her home. This beauty had waited for me for five years, hidden beneath several other vintage dresses. I lifted her down and put her on. She was a little dusty, and there were some areas which needed attending to, but she was as lovely as I remembered her.
Sadly, at that time, she was still outside my price range, but I was ever hopeful that I may get to take her home one day.
I consoled myself by trying on heaps of other wonderful dresses. I tried on a fabulous 1940’s coral red dress, with beautiful square shoulders and a gracefully falling crepe skirt, which I then hid at the back of a rack, so that I could go back and get it another day! I ended up taking home with me the quirkiest green dress. It’s 50s, Chinoiserie design silk and designed so that the top looks like a dressing gown, with wonderful lapels and an Obi-style belt which really nips in the waist. It’s become a favourite in my collection.

So ladies (and gents), if you do get the chance to go to Auckland, I insist you go to Victorian Gilt, now situated on Waiheke Island. Spend plenty of time ferreting around I guarantee you’ll come out with a treasure or two.
When you get there, if you are looking for an oyster pink ball gown, you are too late. My husband came home from his last visit with a very special parcel for my birthday…