Just The Tonic

The Vintiquery team like a bit of nostalgia. Lately, we've been reminiscing about the Seventies.  We love all the glitter of Glam Rock, Double Denim and Hippy, floaty clothes.  We thought we'd take a trip down memory lane and look out some of the clothes from Vintiquery's Seventies' wardrobe.

This fabulous Ball Gown is made up of dozens of multicoloured scarves, falling in handkerchief points, it has that great summer, festival, bo-ho vibe. 

It also makes us think of scarves hanging up on market stalls on the hippy trail of Morocco and India.

We've dug out the platform shoes and flared denim jeans and jackets with lots of glitter and studs, rocking the double denim look!

Remember Tonic Suits? This berry red tonic jacket might have been part of a suit but it looks good on its own.  Tonic fabric is so pretty as it changes colour with the light.  

Our clever stylist found this beautiful handmade bag in Covent Garden Market which goes beautifully with the jacket.

This unique tonic suit isn't the normal tight fitting tailored style but very hippy, floaty, flouncy, we think it looks like something out of Stevie Nicks' wardrobe, just makes you want to get out your tambourine and dance!

 

Seventies' textiles are so colourful and vibrant, here's some turquoise tie-dye floaty hippy skirts that capture the essence of the era.

Vintiquery's Buyers have been inspired by this look back to the Seventies and have put together Vintiquery's first online collection, which will be launched very soon.  As a taster, here are some of our favourites to give you an idea of what you will find in our store.

Shades Of Green

Original 1970's Maxi Dress

Vintage Neutrals

If you like the look of our First Collection and would like to see and hear more about it, then please 

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You've Got The Look

The great thing about shopping for vintage fashion is that you never know what treasures you're going to find. Searching through rails, of clothes, or looking through boxes of accessories your eye will be drawn to something, whether it's the fabric, colour or design, you simply have to pick it up and see what it is. In that instant you can fall in love and know that you were meant to be together.  It's like writing another chapter of a book.  Who made that pretty dress? Who wore it? How many people have owned it? Now you and the dress are going to continue the story.  When we buy and sell items we always try to find out the provenance of clothes, so that we can pass on the history to the new owner and hope that they will keep the story going.

The Vintiquery team can't resist eye-catching textiles and we have found some amazing clothes by spotting a pretty or unusual piece of fabric.

This shimmering opera skirt turned out to be part of a wedding sari. Thousands of beads shining in the sunlight as it hung above a stall caught our eye. The skirt is heavy and swishy and wearing it makes you feel like a princess.

We found another great example of beading on this cute purple 20s Charleston dress, with hundreds of mirror sequins round the hem, that jingle during dancing

The most amazing dress we have ever discovered shone like a diamond amongst a rail of plain dresses.  This beautiful Canadian vintage dress is sprinkled with glitter like fairy dust.  It's so stunning that the wearer is guaranteed to be the Belle of the Ball.

We recently found the perfect accessory for our favourite sparkly dress in the unlikeliest of places for the vintage shopper, Sainsburys! This gossamer fine,  filigree, lurex knit cardy, with pretty vintage look buttons from the Gok Wan range goes so well with the dress, it seems like a match made in heaven!

  

We have a real passion for lace and love this vintage look nude cocktail dress covered in black net, lace and flock design on hem.

There's nothing like summer florals for that vintage look.  Laura Ashley has always done this better than anyone and her designs are so timeless they never go out of fashion. 

We love this ashes of roses pink dress with soft, smokey grey  rose design and our clever stylist found the perfect handbag to go with it, a pretty vintage inspired design by Next.

Vintage style embraces all that is quirky, unique and unusual.  This cutesy, pretty little flowerpot dress is vintage with a contemporary twist.  It's fifties style, with dinky little buttons and a full circle skirt.  Add a plain green cardy and some flowery sandals and you have the perfect modern fifties look!

These pretty country florals are so fresh and pretty; contemporary, yet lovely vintage designs.

Vintiquery is all about mixing vintage, antique, retro and contemporary styles to get a look that is totally unique to you.  If you're looking for inspiration and for some hidden vintage treasures, then please follow our Blog like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all our latest news and updates.

Them There Be Treasure!

We promised to write more about our passion for shiny pretty things, so here are some pictures of past treasures; two wooden caskets full of vintage brooches, now scattered far and wide having been re-homed with other vintage lovers, adding that special touch to hats, scarves, coats and dresses.  First up is the Pandora's Box of Brooches:

A rainbow of crystals, stones and lots of sparkle and shininess!

Next, we have the elegance of a velvet lined jewellery box housing the creme-de-la-creme of the Magpie's Nest of Brooches:

All that glitters may not be gold, but in this box we have shades of topaz, copper, bronze, citrine and autumnal shades of russet brown. Can you spot our superstar brooch?

Humdinger Brooch

Well done, if this was the one you chose! This was a Vintiquery purchase from a Bath antique market and the lady seller in her sales pitch called it "one humdinger of a brooch!", how could we resist such a showstopper?! It was always affectionately known as the humdinger brooch and we've yet to find one that matches its size and beauty.

Another little gem spotted amongst a heap of jewellery was this very pretty margasite three-in-one piece. Consisting of a brooch and clip on earrings, it cleverly turns into a belt buckle by clipping the earrings on to each side of the brooch!  Voila! Very quirky and unusual!

 We'd love to know if you have found anything similar.

Talking of sparkly things, snow is here tonight and in celebration of this it seems the perfect moment to adorn one of our favourite winter warmers, a cute Christmas snowflake cardy, with snowflake brooches!

 

Vintage Winter Warmers

There is nothing like good old fashioned home comforts when it's cold outside.  Who can resist the warmth and cheeriness of a real log fire?  Imagine sitting at the fireside, snuggled up in a comfy chair, wearing a homemade knitted jumper, cuddling a hot water bottle, with a granny blanket swaddled around you and a nice warming cup of tea or hot chocolate and toasted teacakes on a tray.  Sound good to you?  Well here are some ideas to get you started on this picture of bliss! (If you haven't got a log fire, then here's an open coal fire to keep you warm this winter.  (With thanks to Flock 92 Productions).

Here at Vintiquery we love textiles, especially ones that look and feel good.  Wool is a versatile and natural material and we adore old fashioned blankets, especially ones in pretty colours, or with romantic flower designs.  Welsh blankets and Scottish tartan blankets, can be very colourful and double up in the summer as picnic blankets.  

Vintage English & Spanish Blankets

In the winter months it's time to get the knitting needles out and make some lovely woolly items!  If you've never knitted before, it is really easy and once you start, you will soon be inspired to upgrade your skills from knitting a simple scarf to a pretty 1950s style twin set.  There is a wonderful sense of achievement in making something for yourself or your home.  We are currently knitting hundreds of squares to make a huge granny blanket and love these retro turquoise plastic knitting needles.

 As soon as the granny blanket is complete, we thought it would be fun using a vintage knitting pattern to make an item of clothing.  At the present time we are trying to decide whether to make the Jaeger jacket/cardigan, or the His and Hers matching cardigans! Using modern wool there could be a very interesting result!!! We'd love to know if you've used retro knitting patterns to make a modern garment and if it was successful or not.

These vintage knitting patterns are a reminder of the days when Mum would knit clothes for all her family and Granny would knit Christening shawls, blankets, cushions and slippers! They look pretty old fashioned now, but are a cheap and cheerful way of creating a bespoke vintage item of clothing, either true to the pattern, or with a contemporary twist by using modern yarn.

We mentioned the good old fashioned hot water bottle, still popular today as a means of keeping warm.  We've found some pretty vintage style and woolly hot water bottle covers for added cosiness.  Which one would you choose? 

Years ago a warm winter's coat would have been an expensive item and therefore the same coat would have been worn for many years. There's something about wearing a heavy wool coat that takes you back to childhood, when you would have had a "best coat".  A winter's coat is still a great investment and vintage is much more affordable, better quality and best of all you can find something really unusual and unique.  Our Vintiquery Team have chosen their favourite vintage coats.

Fabulous show-stopping 1970s style full length cashmere maxi coat, it really has the wow factor and is much admired by fans of Barbie, Lady Penelope and Legally Blonde!

 Oh-so-retro 1980s calf length wool coat, Santa red with black velvet trimmings. Very Dynasty/Dallas with padded shoulders and great tailoring.

 This absolutely adorable handmade 1950s wool swing coat in fabulous fleck with vintage purple shiny buttons is so amazing the photo does not do it justice.  A happy find from the vintage heaven that is Beyond Retro  My Nan used to have a coat very similar and always wore a blue brooch on it, as all self respecting ladies used to do! Brooches are the perfect finishing touch to a winter's coat and we have found just the right brooches to go with our coats.

 Is it a coat? Or is it a cardigan? Or even a jacket? Whatever it is this truly quirky unique coat is a great talking point.  Much admired and swooned over, the wearer is guaranteed attention! This wool coat from designer Critical Mass was a lucky find hunting through rails of vintage clothes in St Nicholas' Market, Bristol.  It has a French and a Vivienne Westwood feel to it.  Our stylists found the perfect snood scarf and clutch bag to match it, just what we love, a mix of textiles all from the same palette!

 Vintiquery is a bit of a magpie's nest when it comes to jewellery, we just can't resist anything shiny, sparkly or bling-bling! We will write more about our treasure trove of jewellery, but in the meantime, here are our coats with a brooch chosen to be the perfect accompaniment to each.

Pretty Pink Pearl surrounded by Diamante.

Floral Aurora Borealis glass stones reflecting all the colours in the coat.

Swirls of silver metal, surrounded by tiny black and silver crystals in a silver frame. French Marie Antoinette Style.

Black metal, margasites and seed pearls, surrounding a large oval pearl.

We hope that we have inspired you to keep warm this winter, with these vintage ideas.