Photobooths and Sailor Hats

I went to town to meet up with fellow blogger and vintage lover, Miss Kitty Boo, the other day and had a very lovely time. I wore this new-to-me 1950s dress that I got from Betty Jane Boutique, which now has a physical shop, which you can read about on the site.

 

Outfit details: Sailor hat - Army Surplus; sunglasses - Vintage Garage; earrings - ?; brooch - gift; cardigan - Cotton On; 1950s dress - Betty Jane boutique.

As you can see we had fun playing in the photobooth. I love photobooths (and that there is still one pretty close to me) but I haven't taken many photos in them over the years. I think I may have to start taking more from now on!

 

I was going to wear one of my new hats but then I saw my sailor hat sitting on my hat shelf and thought '...why not?' I've only actually worn it once before and that was as part of a costume! I thought it suited the dress rather well. I only wish I'd got a picture of the dress without the cardigan (which has nothing to do with the hat) - never mind. I shall just have to take more photos the next time I wear it.

I love the shot in the top left corner - we had no idea the flash was going to go off which is why we were caught looking so serious. 

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x

Plaid Flannel & Big Buttons

Gosh, another outfit post. Are you all getting bored of these, yet? I sure hope not because I've got a couple more to come before I break the posting up with something else.

     

So, remember the dress from this post? Well, this is the long sleeved version (also made by my mother). For a little while I was worried that the fabric looked a little too much like I might be wearing pyjamas or a nightie, but once I saw it all made up I knew I didn't have to worry. The fabric is a very soft flannel so it's warm (but not too warm) and very comfortable. I'm very pleased, too, that I chose such large buttons - oversized buttons are so much fun, I think. Oh, and yep...it's another plaid dress! Casey suggested I do a round-up of them all one day, on my last post, and I think I might just have to do that.

   

 I've been trying to get a little fancier with my hair, lately, inspired by finally getting a copy of this book for my birthday. (So far, I've only actually copied one style from there - not this one - but it's still inspiring me). However, photographing dark hair to show the exact style? Not so easy.

   

 I think I might start collecting these sweetheart pins - maybe I'll collect sweethearts to go with them, too. Ha! Perhaps not. This one is a US Marines sweetheart pin and, even though these pins (and other types of Sweetheart jewellery. Also, see Casey's cute collection here) were popular in WWII, but I'd say this is rather later. It just seems too new. But I love it all the same.

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x

Red, more plaid and sweater clips.

In between writing up (yet more) assignments, I've been taking breaks to schedule some outfit posts. Hopefully I'll be able to start writing up some posts that are a bit more interesting sometime soon.

 

It's not often that I wear my hair down in its natural (i.e. uncurled) state but this was just one of those days I didn't want to do anything to it at all. Oh, and yes this is another plaid dress I've added to my collection! I wonder how many I have now?

Outfit details: cashmere cardigan - etsy; 1950s dress - etsy; sweater clip - etsy; belt - My Baby Jo; socks - Happy Socks; shoes - same ol' saddle shoes I always wear.

 

I've loved sweater clips for a while now but these are the first I've bought! They are, as many of my purchases, from etsy. I'll definitely be investing in more as I think they're a lovely touch to an outfit. From a few I've seen on their cards on etsy, I believe they were to keep the sweater from slipping off if you just wore it over your shoulders. But, they're obviously great as something purely decorative, too.

  

A rare smiley full length photo of me (mum took it); I like smiling I just don't like always doing it on cue - one of my pet peeves is when I'm sitting somewhere, thinking or maybe not, and someone comes along and tells me to smile! And I know I'm not alone in this as I've had discussions both online and off about it.

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x

Green Plaid, Red Ribbon & Socks

Gosh, I've just realised it's been over a week since I've blogged! I've had too much on my plate with uni and other things to think about blogging and I'm not sure how soon it's going to let up. It makes me quite sad, actually, as blogging is one of my faovurite things to do but hopefully once the bulk of my assignments are out of the way I can spend a day writing up some posts to schedule to take me through to my break. 

Anyway, I'm sure that's all very dull for everyone else so, until I have the time to write up some scheduled posts, here are the last outfit photos I took nearly two weeks ago, now - I haven't even bothered setting my hair since - I've been hiding it under a scarf!

I bought this dress from etsy and I must say it's nothing short of perfect. Just the right shade of green, it's plaid, it has pockets and it buttons all the way down the front. And it was deadstock, too! (In fact, there's a sister dress, in brown plaid, in the shop at the moment.) I'd all but given up on the dress arriving as it took longer than usual - I hadn't realised that there'd been some holds ups with the mail but it did arrive, safe and sound, and it's gorgeous.

Well, dear readers, I think this may be all I have time to post for the time being but hopefully it won't be long until I have most of my assignments out of the way and I can start posting again regularly!

Love,
Andi B. Goode
x

One, Two, Three

An outfit from another glorious day. I went into town early before my lecture, got some library books, left my book bag in the bathroom with a note saying 'I'm not lost, just too heavy to carry. Please leave me be. Thank-you!' and it actually worked, got one of the best rose chocolate icies from Chocolate Bean I've ever had (extra rose!), bought a copy of On Art and Life from the Penguin Great Ideas series because I'd forgot my book and sat on a bench reading it before my lecture.

This is what happens when I try to pose differently but can't think of anything to do.

And this is what happens when Mum has the camera and won't stop clicking.

Outfit details: beret - gift; sunglasses - Dangerfield; dress - made by mum; belt - Valley Girl; bracelet - Rubi Shoes; socks - We Love Colors; shoes - Payless.

This dress was made using Dubarry 2630, the first vintage pattern mum has ever used for me. Anyway, it's pretty much the perfect '40s dress - at least, it's exactly what I've been looking for for both day-to-day wear and swing dancing so now I know that it looks really great made up I think I may have to have a few more.

As an aside, I had wanted to install a new comment system (was going to go with Intense Debate - I know people who've had trouble with Disqus) because I really hate how little I can interact with you using blogger's comment system. It's the main reason I'm so bad at replying to comments! But the instructions were from before blogger changed their whole layout and some of the instructions seemed impossible, now. Anyway, I don't really have the time at the moment to experiment with other systems so until then blogger's system will have to do. I try to answer any questions left in the comments, though, however if I've not answered one of yours please feel free to email me at andi.b.goode@gmail.com and I'm infinitely more likely to get back to you that way.

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x

Baby's in Black

Thinking back over what I've blogged about these past two years, I'm not sure I've ever written about my deep and unending love for The Beatles and most things related. I also don't think I've written very much about books. So, today I thought I'd write up a little bit about a gorgeous graphic novel I read not too long ago. It's called Baby's in Black by the German comic artist and illustrator Arne Bellstorf and tells the story of the relationship Stuart Sutcliffe (original bassist for The Beatles and John's close friend) and Astrid Kirchherr.

October 1960, Hamburg

Astrid Kirchherr has finished studying fashion and is working as an assistant for her former lecturer, the photographer Reinhart Wolf. Her relationship with Klaus Voormann, a young graphic artist, has long since been punctuated by arguments and is slowly disintegrating. One evening, after yet another fight, Klaus leaves the flat and roams through the city alone. In the might of the night, he's once more standing at Astrid's door, desperate to tell her what he has just discovered in St. Pauli: five young Englishmen playing rock 'n' roll under the name of The Beatles...

---

After a series of conversations with Astrid Kirchherr, Arne Bellstorf developed a pictorial narrative focusing on both the Hamburg subculture of the early sixties and the tragic love story between the young photographer and the musician and artist Stuart Sutcliffe.

I must admit I only knew Astrid and Stuart's story through the 1994 film Backbeat starring Stephen Dorff and Sheryl Lee, which is not entirely historically accurate. I also picked up a little through various texts on The Beatles I read when I first became mega-obsessed with them. But you don't need to know the story at all (in my opinion) to enjoy this book. I should probably also add that I don't read a lot of comics/graphic novels but, every so often, one will grab my attention and, as was the case with Baby's in Black, I'm utterly enchanted.

The illustrations are absolutely, positively gorgeous (if you can't tell already, I tend to be rather effusive in my praise of things I love) and I think Bellstorf has done a wonderful job of capturing the likeness of the people he has drawn - the above picture shows John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Astrid Kirchherr (Pete Best doesn't have much of a presence in the story). There were a couple of Astrid's friends that I kept getting mixed up, though, as they had the same hairdo and all wore black! Oh and there's just the right amount of text. Speaking of text, I know it is available in German and English, but not sure of any other languages.

When I've posted about the '60s or '60s related things on this blog before, it's tended to be the colourful side of the early '60s. As you can already see, you'll find none of that in Baby's in Black - the stark black and white illustrations suit the mood of Hamburg 1960 that Bellstorf has recreated in his work. It also works well with the fact that both The Beatles, influenced by American rock 'n' roll, and Astrid and her friends, influenced by French existentialists, wore a lot of black. (There's a rather amusing quote from Astrid, which I can only find a wikipedia reference for, where she says: "Our philosophy then, because we were only little kids, was wearing black clothes and going around looking moody.")

Above is an illustration, by Bellstorf, of Stuart and Astrid and below is a photo of them both, for anyone who may not have seen them before. I know it's not the best photo to show off their facial features but hopefully you can see what I mean about Bellstorf having captured their likeness well, whilst still sticking to his own distinctive style.

Has anyone else read it? I'd be pleased to know what you thought of it if you have! And if you haven't, hopefully I've inspired you to go seek it out. (I bought my copy from Book Depository but I'm sure it's also available elsewhere).

Bellstorf's official site

Baby's in Black site (I think this is partly in English, partly in German but I've not looked around the whole site.)

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x