Vintage Ramekins......

I love my collection of vintage ramekins.  There is something about holding one in your hands that is full of delectable morsels of yummy food....fabulously cold ice-cream with strawberries and chocolate, fruit salad and yoghurt, yummy leftovers heated up for lunch, piping hot pumpkin soup on a cold Winter's day.... A ramekin holds them all and usually has a little handle to make eating your favourite tidbit on the couch watching a movie all the easier!!Here are some photos of some of my favourites from my own collection...

 I love the black outer and coloured interior of these ones......

 The chunkiness and contrast of these ones....

 Delectable strawberry pink, such a great colour with the blue interior..

These are all from the 1950's, but plenty abound from many different eras - get some and try them out for yourself - I'm sure you'll grow to love them too!!!

Bridge Coat of Printed Velvet....

I go Vintage hunting every day I can..it seems to be an obsession and has been since I was a teenager.  One of the things I love most about it is the thrill of finding what appears to be a very non-descript item and discovering that is full of fabulousness!!! (not sure that's a word but never mind!)

That is exactly what happened a couple of weeks ago when I sighted the blue dustcover of this book on the shelf, and as it looked kind of vintage, I gave it a

peruse.....

The first thing I noticed was that it must have been printed during the Second World War as it was printed to "War Economy Standard", so far so good...

Inside were such visions of loveliness!!! Beautiful 1930's fabric design and dresses and illustrations that set my heart aflutter!

 First a lesson in the difference between machine printed material (on the left) and handprinted (on the right), both divine in my humble opinion!

And then the first dress  - a handprinted voile afternoon frock no less!

Cushions...

Fabulous 30's designs....

A Nursery hanging....

 A handprinted elephant crepe dress....

An amazing wall hanging.....

 An absolutely divine voile afternoon frock......

And finally a bridge coat of printed velvet - who ever heard of a bridge coat - let alone one of handprinted velvet!!!!  Oh my goodness I so want all of these!!!


 So the book stays on my shelf instead of in my stall which is where it should be ...because maybe, one day, I'll use this book to teach myself to do this amazing stuff... or maybe not, but I'm not over looking at it yet.....

Oh I Do Love to Be Beside the Seaside.....

As we here in Australia are celebrating our National Day today, I got to thinking about how enormously blessed we are to live in a part of the world where the beaches are free to sit on and beautifully clean to swim in.  I have lived within a 10 minute drive of a beach my entire life and I sometimes take it for granted, but I know I would find it hard to live without.

My family have been beach lovers from along way back - here is my paternal Grandmother looking fabulous in the 1920's at the beach in Newcastle NSW - she had a great shingle bob and I LOVE her hat!!!


This is a picture of me as a child at the beach as a child in the 60's (now I am showing my age).  I loved the fringe on the top I am wearing in the photo.  My Grandmother (maternal), made the outfit for me.  It was green and white.

In this photo from the 70's my older brother was trying to look cool as was the girl in the yellow halter neck dress who was a family friend and was the same age as my brother.  He had a secret crush on her at the time, and as you can see she was older and much more womanly than myself!!!  We are all with my Father.

And to adulthood where I married my husband in a very mpromtu affair at the surf beach close to our house.  It was just beautiful....... 

Vintage Beach Lovin' Summer Style

As you all know I live in a quiet little beach hamlet on the Mornington Peninsula - well it's normally quiet!!! Yesterday - Boxing Day to be exact - the tourists arrived!!!  My little town of Rye triples in size at this time and becomes a thriving metropolis!!!

People in our town are divided regarding the tourists - love or hate 'em - we have to have them every year, so that we can enjoy the amenities our little town has to offer!!  And anyway we can't be selfish we need to share this little piece of heaven don't you think?

So  in celebration of beach culture I have found some images of vintage bathing costumes that would have been seen on my little beach at some time or another.....

I love my little beach town .......

LITA ROZA - HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGIE IN THE WINDOW. No1 U.K.

When I was a little girl, my Dad used to sing to me while I sat on his knee... it was one of my favourite times, and I squealed with delight everytime  he would sit me up there!!

So imagine my squeals when I found this book while out thrifting the other day and saw that the original singer was no other than Lita Roza - a 50's singer I am ashamed to say I had never heard of!!!

I always thought it was a song from my Father's childhood that he just sang to me - a Number 1 hit - get outta town!!!

Apparently Lita thought it was a "rubbish song" and didn't rate it amongst her best - but I certainly loved it and have been humming it all week!!! (I know, I know!! No I don't have a life!!)

Looking at the lovely Lita, she looks to have been a sexy siren and very beautiful!!

This is one of the many reasons why I love vintage it brings back so many great memories!!!

So watch this and sing along and remember - sometimes things you think are rubbish a real treasures to others!!!

Revelation Luggage

I have always thought that one's luggage tells a lot about you.  Whenever I am at the airport I admire ladies with matching sets of luggage - it looks so chic and stylish. In past decades luggage was very important and made to last much longer than most that is available today.  

When I cam across this gorgeous piece of Revelation Luggage called a Rev-Robe I was so excited!! I had never seen such a wonderful piece of luggage here in Australia.  I have since found out that it was the luggage favoured by James Bond in the 60's films of the same name, and that Revelation Luggage was quite upmarket in it's day, and is still around today under another name.

This bag is silk lined (in an utterly gorgeous salmon pink).  The lid comes completely off and the bag itself can hang on the wall so that you can use it as a "wardrobe"!!!  Oh the joy of finding such a piece! (Please excuse me if this is old news to some of you)

Then I got to wondering.... what kind of clothes this gem held, who was the lady who travelled from England to Hong Kong and Australia with this bag, and why did it end up here on the Mornington Peninsula?  I guess I'll never know, but I'm sure glad it did - it is a wonderful part of our travelling history - a real "ladies" piece of luggage, something to cherish forever.....

Aunty Claire

My Aunty Claire passed away last week.  She was a very warm and caring person, who loved beautiful things - her china cabinet was the envy of many.  She was remembered at her funeral this week by her sons for her fabulous culinary skills (she was an amazing cook), but I remembered her best for her love of pretty feminine things (my Mother had no time for such frippery, she was a beautiful "no nonsense" woman).

I found this magazine my Grandmother gave me many years ago because I loved the dresses in it.  It belonged to my Aunty Claire, and I got to thinking - which dress would she have liked - did she make one (you could send away for the patterns for these dresses).

I guess I'll never know, but I do know how beautiful she was then, and how full of the expectation of life she was - she was just married and building her own home.....


I also know that she was one of those women on our life's journey who teaches us a little bit of how to "be" a woman, how to appreciate beautiful things and pretty dresses, how to sashay when we walk, how to take care of our best assets,and most of all how to love our femininity...