Tuesday 26 July 2011

Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Our new fav radio show Peppermint Candy is a fabulous shimmy through all things jazz and swing and we just love it. It's not all nostalgia either as the wonderful Broken Hearts DJs mix it up with a modern interpretation of the genre including our absolute favourite Electro-swing for some serious tuneage! Watch this space for a RMV collaboration soon!

We caught up with the girls, Nisha & Amber, to tell us a bit more about the show, music and their fabulous vintage threads!



RMV: We listened to your first show, it rocked. Tell us a bit about Peppermint Candy and how it’s all going.


Broken Hearts: It's going really well! We're loving doing the show, and we were really happy to get a great review in the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/may/20/radio-review-peppermint-candy-jazz). It's music that we love so it's fantastic to be able to share it with a wider audience. 

What is it about swing and jazz that really excites you?

We grew up listening to a lot of jazz through our parents' record collections; in fact Amber's dad was actually a jazz drummer who played at Ronnie Scotts. Plus our first DJ sets were at 1920s-1940s nights in London where people would dress up and swing dance, so we've had plenty of practice playing jazz at live events and parties!

Could someone who knows nothing about jazz and swing listen to the show?

Yes definitely, it's very inclusive. Quite often people think of jazz radio as only for musos, but we were adamant that we want it to be a celebration of the music with some tidbits of knowledge thrown in.

What would you say to someone who thought that style of music was outdated?

You're wrong! Not only are there swing nights going on across the country, but there are a lot of bands who cross swing samples with hip hop and drum n bass beats - for example the Correspondents (http://www.myspace.com/thecorrespondentsmusic) and also a whole new genre of electro-swing is growing, you can't find out more at Freshly Squeezed (http://www.freshlysqueezedmusic.com/)

You work vintage in a fabulous way, what are your favourite fashion eras and why?

That's tricky as there are good and bad styles from every era, including the present. We like to take inspiration from the past, but also from what's going on today. Our favourite styles from different eras change all the time - we love the decadence of Poiret in the teens and 20s, but also the sludgy colours and beautiful shapes of Biba in the 70s.

Are you all out vintage collectors or do you covet current designers too?

We love current designers as well as collecting vintage - we wouldn't want one without the other as it's great to mix them up. We both started out in fashion working at Beyond Retro vintage clothing store, so we have pretty extensive vintage wardrobes. A lot of our friends are designers so we commission a lot of our costume pieces. But we try to mix up designer and vintage clothing with a bit of high street thrown in. And of course we'd love to be able to dress head to toe in Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen! We’re lucky enough to have five pairs of shoes hand-made by Terry de Havilland, the original rock 'n' roll cobbler. His iconic designs have been around for 5 decades and London streetstyle wouldn't be the same without him. We also love quirky jewellery desingers Tatty Devine who recently made us bespoke 'Peppermint Candy' necklaces which we wear all the time.

What is your most treasured vintage piece?

Amber has a vintage Cirque du Soleil jacket that's pretty incredible - circle cut in loads of crazy bright colours. She also has some vintage Biba from her mum that is incredibly treasured! Nisha has an amazing 1920s wool Jantzen swimsuit and a Victorian mourning jacket that she loves.

Who chooses your outfits for your public appearances and what is important to you when picking what to wear?

We have quite a lot of outfits to choose from but for some reason it doesn't make it any easier to narrow things down! It's definitely better dressing as a pair though as it makes packing for traveling a lot easier. We choose our outfits together as we have a similar aesthetic, it's handy as whenever one of us is shopping alone we can always pick up 2 of any pieces we see.

Who’s style do you most admire (past and current)?

We don’t really have any one style icon in particular but a range of influences… Everything from silent film stars like Theda Bara to Pierrot clowns to the Flintstones. We even designed our first capsule collection (for boutique Beyond the Valley) inspired by a film about a freakshow from the 30s. We can find inspiration anywhere! For us dressing up really is dressing up – it’s about taking on a character and embracing it

Are you festival-ing this summer, if so, where and what will you be wearing?

This summer we're focusing on the radio show (http://www.jazzfm.com/shows/peppermint-candy/) so festivals are taking a bit of a back seat for us. But last year we played at Glastonbury, the Big Chill and Bestival. We managed to avoid the rain at almost all of them, but we had some fantastic Melissa (http://www.melissaplasticdreams.com/) wellies for when we got caught in a flash downpour at Bestival. We are huge fans of Melissa shoes as they're perfect for rainy London days!

Finally, if you could tell the world to listen to just one song, what would it be and why?

It would have to be 'Jump in the Line' by Harry Belafonte - it's such a feel-good song that it even gets Winona Ryder dancing on the ceiling in Beetlejuice! 
Don't miss the next session of Peppermint Candy - Thursday nights 6-7pm on Jazz FM. Make sure you are tuned in on 4th August for your chance to win a wonderful RMV vintage pressie!

Tuesday 19 July 2011

The Last Resort

Now we know that everyone should be thinking Autumn/Winter and with this weather it is actually not that hard to do but we are putting up some last resort resistance and present an overview of the best SS11 Resort collections. Luckily for us vintage lovers, the collections are awash with marvellous mods, sexy boho seventies and even some floral forties twists. This is vintage inspired at it's best. So, sunglasses on (ignore the rain) and think Riviera cool. Viva the summer!



Carolina Herrera Goes All Prom And Proper


Louis Vuitton Does Thirties Glamour With Kitten Heel Appeal


Marni Makes Seventies Boho Seriously Sexy


Missoni Masters The Mod


Rocha Goes Beyond The Pale In Edwardian Lace 



Antonio Marras Does Blue Bell Print With Forties Inspiration 


Prada Does Granny Chic To A T

Friday 15 July 2011

Italian Beauty

If you are in need of a fashion fix this weekend, check out the Masters of Style exhibition at Somerset House in London. The exhibition marks the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy by taking a catwalk though the most influential Italian fashion houses. With contributions from giants D&G, Gucci and Missoni this fabulous show looks back over the history of Italian design by showing casing archived pieces (some of which come from the designers' own collections), iconic fashion moments and personal recollections from the designers too. Expect some incredible vintage pieces and some fantastic fashion fables! *slightly giddy swooning*



The exhibition takes place at the Embankment Galleries in the South Wing and ends 14th August. Adult tickets for Masters of Style at Somerset House cost £5.00 - £6.00, while kids under 12 go free.

Monday 11 July 2011

What Walls Want!

Bring a touch of vintage to your home too with Sanderson's new collection of 1950s prints. The range combines original 1950s designs from the Sanderson archive which were recently showcased at the Fashion and Textiles Museum. These amazingly retro prints have been reworked by contemporary artists who have taken inspiration from the era. The design house has been manufacturing for 150 years so they have a lot of beautiful graphics to choose from! The result is fabulously bold and almost instantly iconic. 

We love:

The Hayward fabric - a nod to 1950s Poole pottery 




The sublime Fifi wallpaper print which was actually discovered in a customer's loft where it had been hidden away for the last 50 years. Now that is a serious find! The design depicts the typical hourglass silhouette often described as 'The New Look', a trend pioneered in 1947 by none other than Christian Dior, one of the most iconic fashion designers. Ladies, DIY just got seriously fashionable so tool belts out!




Thursday 7 July 2011

Top Ten Female Charts!

So, the votes have been counted and the results from a poll by QVC are in for the top ten most beautiful women of all time. Super happy to see lots of lovely vintage pin ups in there too! Apparently the ideal woman is 5 foot 6" tall - rules which unfortunately rules us out (otherwise we would have been on there for sure)! What is nice to see is that there are fabulous real women in this chart -well done lovely ladies...


In at Number 1 - Awesome Audrey 


Taylor Topping Number Two


The Nation's Princess at Number Three


Zesty Zeta In At Four


Wor Cheryl Is Sitting Pretty At Number Five


Kelly Kicking at Number 6


English Rose Knightly Sizzling At Seven


A Cool Number Eight for Kate


Hot Holly In at Number Nine


And Last But No Means Least Tasty Twiggy In at Number Ten




Friday 1 July 2011

It Moss Be Love....

We are super excited about supermodel Kate Moss' wedding to Kills front man Jamie Hince this weekend so we just had to blog about the whole blooming thing. We are loving the first fab frock of the weekend, particularly as this stunning, billowing, blue seventies maxi is certainly rocking the vintage vibe! We will be on frock watch all weekend to see what she steps out in next.



By our reckoning she should be walking down the aisle round about  now and we bet her Galliano dress will knock spots off the Middsters - well it has to doesn't it! It seems entirely appropriate that a lady who has had her fair share on controversy should be dressed by the recently egg-faced designer. 

Our favourite "news" bites from the good old rumour mill surrounding what is now being dubbed "Mossstock" are as follows:

1. Shirley Bassey set to perform at the ceremony - flipping amazing.
2. Naked men sporting tattoos of the newly-weds will great guests to the evening reception - bit odd.
3. Doves will be released at the same time as fireworks - er RSPB anyone?

Whether the above is true or not this is set to be a serious event and we dread to think about the drinks bill at the end of the anticipated 3 day bender! Bring on the photos already!!