Golden vintage hues

Hello my lovely, I have finally stumbled across an internet connection here in beautiful Cape Town, which is wonderful news indeed as I have been wanting to share the third post in our golden vintage hue-series with you.  The first and second ones you can find here:  Messy Side Ponytail with a Vintage Pearl Brooch and Bumped Up Hairstyle with Loose Waves.

White and golden vintage cocktail dress from Vintage Shrewd in Dorking

So it is my turn to feature in this post as I was wearing this white and golden vintage dress with some interwoven silver strands from our favourite shop Vintage Shrewd in Dorking.  The above is a behind-the-scenes-photo where my dear sister is sorting something out on my dress for the shot.

I just love the sweet buttons at the front, and the subtle colours on the dress make it so versatile.  It cost me close to nothing in the Vintage Shrewd sale by the way, so make sure you go and get some fabulous finds of your own in the next sale!!

You might remember that I found this dress last summer at Shrewd, but it was a million sizes too big so Liz the Seamstress worked her wonders on it and made it just perfect!  I thought it would be a fabulous choice for our afternoon tea, and I paired it up with some sparkling ballerinas and a pair of vintage-style pearl earrings as you can see above.

I am wearing a vintage dress from Shrewd, my sister is in a second-hand Topshop dress with a vintage brooch in her hair, and Lady L can be seen wearing her 1920s style sparkling earrings from the Decades of Elegance-collection.

And you know that I very rarely put photos up here on the blog where you can see people’s faces, but the photo above captured the spirit of the day so well with all the vintage pieces, so I couldn’t help but include it!

Alright, a review of the famous Afternoon Tea is indeed coming up shortly, so keep watching this spot my dear!

Sunshine from Cape Town

Lots of love to you my dear from the sunny shores of Cape Town!  Over the next few weeks I will be writing to you a little less frequently – as I have yet to find a perfect internet connection, but I will make sure to send you wonderful updates some wonderful updates also during this time!

False Bay

Here is a little bit of sunshine for you until the next post – a view of the stunning False Bay in Cape Town.  False Bay was given its name over three hundred years ago by sailors who confused the bay with Table Bay to the north.  It reigns from Cape Hangclip in the north to the majestic Cape Point in the south, and in between it presents us with the most picturesque scenery; my favourites being the stunning Casa Labia in Muizenberg, the boho chic Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek with its stunning beach – and Simon’s Town, which makes you feel like you have stepped back into an old Hollywood seaside movie. 

I wish you a lovely Tuesday my dear!

Bumped Up Hairstyle with Loose Waves

Today we are looking at a fabulous and super easy hairdo that my friend Lady L wore to our afternoon tea last week:

Bumped up hairstyle with loose waves

She wanted an elegant look for the occasion and since we love hairstyles that don’t take forever to do, we decided to go for this bumped up look with some gloriously loose waves:

Who needs to create a windswept hairstyle when you can just spend a winter in London?!

Start out using a curling iron to create soft curls that go from the height of your ears and down, and make them approximately two centimeter wide.  When done you can run your fingers through the waves to make them soft and loose, and remember to give them a misting of hairspray.

After that gather a wide part of your hair at the front and tease the underside of it to create a bump on the top of your head – spray some hairspray into the teased part to make it stay.  Pull the whole section up and back softly to get that stunning bump, then twist the ends at the crown of your head and pin with two criss-crossed hair pins (as you can see in the photo below).  Spray liberally with hairspray to make sure that it stays up all day and night!

You can always add a vintage brooch or a hair accessory at the back – it creates such an elegant look!

I just loved the look of this mother-of-pearl coloured dress and these vintage paste earrings!

Our lovely lady here went for a classic makeup look with some light pink lip gloss to perfect her fair complexion.  She also wore a pair of Decades of Elegance 1920’s style sparkling earrings – such a fabulous look for an afternoon tea excursion!

Decades of Elegance Loves…

Good morning to you lovely one!  During the course of our journey here on Decades of Elegance we have dived into the most beautiful antique shops, markets and fairs and attended exciting auctions, which has resulted in an extensive and fascinating collection of vintage places to visit.  To give you the chance to plan your trips to the most fabulous ones we are now launching a ‘We Love’-page, which you can find at the top of the blog:

The ‘We Love’-page on Decades of Elegance

All these wonderful places are categorised under Antique / Vintage Shops, Fairs, Auctions, Eat and Drink, Weddings and Afternoon Tea and under these you will find geographical listings of: Brighton, Cape Town, London and Surrey.  Eventually we will include Stockholm and any other fabulous cities that we rate highly for antique and vintage shopping.  The page will also be updated on a regular basis with new, glorious places to visit.

To give you an idea of what you will find on this page, we are travelling back in time today and visiting a small selection of shops from our We Love-page (all the links below will take you to the blog posts about each shop – on the We Love-page the links will take you to the shop’s own websites).  

Let’s start out at the spectacular vintage scene in Brighton:

Stunning vintage dress at Hope & Harlequin in Brighton

Exciting finds at Kate & Aud in Brighton

… and continue to the sunny coasts of Cape Town, where we were mesmerised by The Jewel Tree‘s sparkling collection:

Antique Gold and Pearl Bracelet at the Jewel Tree in Cape Town

We have visited the hustle and bustle of Spitalfields Market, where we indulged in stunning pieces from Arabella Bianco, not to mention the gorgeous designs by Titania Fisher at the Pop Up Vintage Fair:

Arabella Bianco’s beautiful vintage jewellery collection 

Titania Fisher’s stunning design at the Pop Up Vintage Fair

We have ventured out on the gorgeous English countryside to the antique town of Dorking, where Chantecleer Antiques and Christique Antique Centre bring us antiques in the most perfect condition, and where Vintage Shrewd gets a well-deserved 55th spot in Vogue UK’s 100 Best Shops Outside London:

Chantecleer Antiques in Dorking, Surrey

Christique Antique Center, Dorking, Surrey

The fabulous Vintage Shrewd in Dorking, Surrey

We have visited Portobello Market to the point that a guide to this fabulous road was a must: Your Portobello Market Shopping Guide:

Our favourite Portobello Market in Notting Hill – with its own Decades of Elegance-guide!

Our visits to the Frock Me! Vintage Fair in Chelsea and the Blackbird Tea Rooms in Brighton resulted in a trip to vintage clothing heaven and the most amazing afternoon tea experience:

Frock Me! Vintage Fair in Chelsea Town Hall

Afternoon Tea at the Blackbird Tea Rooms in Brighton

… and the numerous visits to antique auctions have brought on so many interesting facts about antique furniture, accessories, jewellery and furnishing that you will find numerous blog posts about them:

Stunning antique jewellery at Lawrences Auctioneers in Bletchingley

So my dear, I hope that you will find the page of utmost use, and we warmly welcome all your thoughts and comments to make sure that it becomes as useful (and pretty) as possible!

Messy Side Ponytail with a Vintage Pearl Brooch

Over the weekend two lovely ladies, that you already know from the blog, came to London on a surprise visit!  We had a fabulous time with afternoon tea (review coming up – this place is just amazing!), shopping, dinner and cocktails – which obviously called for some dressing up:

Messy side ponytail with a vintage brooch

So for the afternoon tea we had to make ourselves look terribly pretty, so I put my sister’s hair up in a messy side ponytail and we the adorned it all with a vintage pearl brooch with marcasites:

Hide the pins and hairband by wrapping strands on hair around and across them

It is a really easy hairstyle to do as well: curl you hair from the ears down to create some texture, then twist the front part of your hair back above your ears, and fasten with some hair pins.  Gather the whole ponytail on one side and fasten with an elastic, which you then hide with the help of curls and hair pins.  Lastly you add the brooch by securing it behind one of the hair pins.  You can also glimpse a pair of vintage-style marcasite earrings with a faux pearl, as they went perfectly with the brooch.

A romantic detail is always a lovely addition to any hairstyle – in this case we chose a vintage brooch with pearls and marcasites

And here is the full look!  A white lace dress with that fabulous Peter Pan-collar – a second hand bargain from Mary’s Living and Giving Shop in Parsons Green; a pair of black tights and the most stunning black heels – such a lovely mid-winter look on a beautifully sunny day:

Peter Pan-collar dress in white lace with black heels

February Amethyst Allure

The January Garnet-post turned out to be so popular that I will be writing posts about all the twelve fabulous birthstones.  Today we are looking into the February Amethyst, which of course is my personal favourite since I am a February child!

Antique Swedish Amethyst and silver bracelet

The Gregorian calendar – that is our solar calendar which consists of 12 months – has poems that match each one of these months with their birthstones.  These poems were first published in a pamphlet in 1870 by our beloved Tiffany & Co.  Here is lovely February poem:

“The February born shall find
Sincerity and peace of mind,
Freedom from passion and from care,
If they, the amethyst will wear.”

Vintage Amethyst, Marcasite and Silver Cocktail Ring

Now let’s pop over to Greece to hear some fascinating stories about this beautiful gemstone:  the Greeks believed in a God of Wine called Bacchus, and because of the Amethyst’s wine-like colour, the gemstone was associated with him.  Subsequently people believed that wearing an Amethyst prevented drunkeness and they would refer to it as the sobriety stone (1)  (maybe something to keep in mind for the next cocktail evening with the girls!)

I was also delighted to find out that the Amethyst comes with a romantic yet heartbreaking legend of its own:

Dionysus, the God of Intoxication, was one day insulted by a mortal, which angered him so much, that he swore revenge on the next mortal that he encountered.  The unsuspecting, beautiful young maiden Amethyst crossed his path on her way to pay tribute to the goddess Diana, but Diana turned Amethyst into a statute of pure crystalline quartz to protect her from Dionysus’ fury.  When Dionysus saw the beautiful statue he wept tears of wine that stained the quartz purple and created the gem Amethyst.

1920’s Amethyst, Marcasite and Silver Cocktail Ring

The Amethyst has been popular in both religious and royal crown jewels for ages, and legend has that it used to be valued equal to rubies, emeralds and sapphires.  In recent times however it has lost its value because of extensive deposits found in Brazil.  It was also the most common gemstone found in Bishops’ rings – a piece of jewellery worn to show the Bishops’ position.  The dual meaning of drunkenness came about here, as wearing an Amethyst would remind the Bishop not to become “drunken with power”.

We are loving the soft combination of purple and light pink

And I don’t know about you, but my thoughts are automatically drawn to Russia when it comes to amethysts – although I couldn’t put my finger on why!  Well, as it turns out the finest amethyst were historically found in Russia and these fabulous pieces were then featured in a lot of royal European jewelry (2).  English regalia (e.g. crowns and other ornaments used at a coronation) in the Middle Ages were decorated with amethysts to symbolize royalty.

That is the beautiful Amethyst for us and the next in line will be the incredibly beautiful Aquamarine – for all you March Puppies that is!

Sources:

(1) GIA Edu

(2) The American Gem Society

Birthstones of the month of March

 

You might remember this beautiful vintage ring with an Aquamarine and Diamonds 

As you may already know, the Zodiac signs are often given more than just one gemstone, and so Pisces don’t only have Aquamarine as their birthstone; they also responds to Amethyst, Ruby, Bloodstone and Jasper.  As a result of this, the traditional poem for you March-born beauties doesn’t mention the Aquamarine, but the Bloodstone:

“Who in this world of ours their eyes
In March first open shall be wise,
In days of peril firm and brave,
And wear a bloodstone to their grave”

The ancient Bloodstone was used by the Babylonians to make seals and amulets and was believed to have healing powers — especially for blood disorders.  It is sometimes called the martyr’s stone as legend tells that it was created when drops of Christ’s blood stained some jasper at the foot of the cross.  (1)

Antique aquamarine earrings at John Joseph, Grays Antique Centre

I must however admit that my favourite poem for March is this one relating to the Aquamarine:

“A March born shall always be
Soothed by Aqua, gem of sea
This mermaid’s treasured stone you wear
Will bring happiness, love, affection and care.”

Since we love legends that surround gemstones here on the blog we are obviously looking into the mythology of the stone:  Aquamarine is the treasure of mermaids, and had the power to keep sailors safe at sea.  Aquamarine gemstones are know to protect against seasickness and banish fear according to some tales, while others profess the aquamarine to have a charm over married couples, helping them work together and ensuring a long, happy marriage. (2)  What a wonderful reason for your hubby to give you a piece of jewellery with a sparkling aquamarine!

30 karat Aquamarine cocktail ring at Grays Antique Centre

It is so much fun looking through the Decades of Elegance photo archives, as it brings back lovely memories of posts that I have previously written.  In this instance I am realising how many stunning pieces of aquamarine jewellery we have actually had the pleasure of enjoying so far!

Sources:

 (1) American Gem Society

(2) Jewellry Genius

The Simple Things, Blackbird Tea Rooms and Decades of Elegance

So I was beyond excited when this lovely magazine called The Simple Things got in touch with me and requested my photos from the Blackbird Tea Rooms-blog post – that you might remember from last summer.

The magazine came out just a few days ago so yesterday I popped by WH Smith in Selfridges to pick up a copy:

Oh how lovely it is to browse the beautiful Selfridges on any day of the week…

Selfridges London Oxford Street

I hadn’t realised what a huge selection of magazines they actually have in here!

And there it was: The Simple Things magazine on the shelf, just waiting to go home with me!

Decades of Elegance photography in The Simple Things – ‘Tea For Two’

The article that the photos are featured in is called ‘Tea For Two’ and tells us everything we need to know about Afternoon Tea and High Tea.  It also lists 10 Tea Rooms in the UK that they like a lot, and our favourite Blackbird Tea Rooms are of course listed first (no surprise there – an amazing afternoon tea experience awaits you in Brighton dear!).  The article is a staggering five pages long with our photos on every page, which is just wonderful!  This is what their lovely website looks like:

The Simple Things featuring the Blackbird Tea Rooms

When you enter The Simple Things website it is like stepping into a warm embrace of home.  They feature everything we love; from interiors and gardening to cookery and lifestyle,  and the articles remind us to take the time to enjoy all these simple pleasures in life.  I love this quote on the website, which I think encompasses their motto perfectly:

“It is about knowing that there’s no satisfaction like that at the end of a long muddy walk, no pink so pretty as freshly-cut rhubarb, no perfume to compare with your own home-grown flowers. It’s keeping your dad’s old typewriter just because it’s beautiful. It’s an empty beach on a Sunday morning. It’s backpedaling. It’s the Simple Things.” – The Simple Things 

How can we not fall in love with this!?  My favourite colour combination of pink and greys… 

And I am also oh so excited to let you know that the magazine is writing an article about Decades of Elegance, and I will let you know as soon as it is out!

A Decades of Elegance necklace

Happy Monday my dear!  The sun is out and the days are getting longer which is just fabulous, and to bring even more sunshine into my home, I bought these beautiful roses that you can see here are just soaking up the rays of light:

Winter sunshine

Now I have quite a few questions from you guys whether I intend to start designing my own jewellery for Decades of Elegance.  It is definitely something that I would love to do one day, and I can’t imagine anything more amazing than creating a range of jewellery that bring our thoughts to the stunning decades-gone-by: rose gold that subtly shimmers around a pearl, art deco inspired earrings and rows of pearls à la Coco Chanel… yes, that will definitely have to happen one day.

On Saturday however, I found myself with some extra time on my hands and a few scraps of vintage jewellery from one of the Portobello Market-traders, so I started playing around:

Such an inspirational collection of things: vintage jewellery, silk ribbon…

I took a silk ribbon and joined all these beautiful pieces of costume jewellery together and ended up with a statement necklace in silver, gold and rose gold.  I love mixing these metals, as it gives you so much more colour-freedom with the rest of your outfit:

Decades of Elegance-designed necklace

I am wearing it here with a white lace dress and an oversized jumper in a soft mother-of-pearl colour.  This outfit is my absolute favourite, and I just alternate between different coloured jumpers, mostly greys, golds and soft pinks.  I just find that gold jewellery goes so beautifully with whites, although now I suspect that I will be throwing in more silver and rose gold to create this beautiful combination!

I would love to hear your thoughts – is this something you would wear, and if so, what would you wear it with?