{Nostalgia} A Bit of Biba!

Let me take you to a place, an enchanting place that exists now only in the minds and hearts of those that lived at the time, who were lucky enough to experience it's short life....who can say, 'I was there'....a place that now only lives in the memories and sought after nostalgia of those who wish they had been living at the time....only in existence for a few years in London...known by the name of Biba. To walk inside, you would have thought you were walking into some lavish boudoir of a big movie star, but it was actually a shop....Happy Monday dolls....welcome to Biba!! 

*Note this post is more picture heavy than words, there is so much more you can learn about Biba through books & video available on Amazon. I hope you enjoy it, as Biba is a huge love of mine & I wanted to share it with you all! Have a wonderful Monday!!

xoxoxoxoxoxo


I don’t like modern things. They’re cold.” Barbara Hulanicki!


*History*

BIBA was a clothing label created by Polish designer Barbara Hulanicki and her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon in 1963 in London. What started as a small mail order business, soon turned into a cult brand in 1964, one of her dresses (a pink gingham number in the style of Bridget Bardot) was featured in the Daily Mirror; After that, business boomed. The shop eventually became too small for the masses of customers - who often included celebrities (such as Sonny & Cher, Julie Christie & model Twiggy) and in 1965 a new space was discovered, a former grocery store on Kensington High street (numbers 124-126)



(I'll have more specifically about her in a featured 'Wonder Woman' Post soon!)




*The Decadent Nostalgia Look*

Biba was basically a clothing line for women such as many others, but it became most famous and that churned into mania. Why is that? Because the difference between Biba and other clothing lines was the complete concept: the whole success of this super empire depends on the taste and flair of one person. It was run like small businesses are...with only one person in charge, one person approving everything. Everything was personally chosen and approved by Hulanicki herself, who had a flair for combining retrophilia & decadent nostalgia - which ranged from Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Victoriana and Hollywood glamour. The pointlessly beautiful, the sexiness of it all. Upon entering the BIBA store, was entering a fantasy, another world, going back in time, a place to be separated from real life. The Biba style was characterized by it's Art Deco gilded logo and included maxi coats, feather boas, dusky colours, velvet and satin gowns, Art Nouveau prints, platform shoes and much more, I could go on and on about the BIBA style for a long time!
















*Big Biba*

Anxious to expand their dream, Hulanicki and Fitz-Simon found a much larger vacant building on Kensington High street in 1971, it was formerly known as Derry & Tom's department store. What had begun as a tiny boutique with one dress available - in one size evolved into a fully fledged department store, with thousands of products bearing the official Biba stamp within a decade. Biba had turned into a complete lifestyle.



The new building was like twenty times the size of the current shop and was called Big Biba. Whitmore and Thomas were the designers chosen to work on the new store and to expand the image of Biba. The main idea was Art Nouveau but they added the kitsch touch. The seven-department store was like a theme park devoted to elegantly wasted decadence. This place was not just to be somewhere for people to shop, but a place for people to live. It also included roof gardens that are still there today.













The fabulously Art Deco room dubbed, 'The Rainbow Room', this was where legendary performances were held, the New York Dolls being amongst those performers.


*The End*

The fall and decay of Biba happened for several reasons. First, all of the changes to the managing group and of course the economy in Britain didn't help, but I think it would have happened eventually as sometimes dreams don't last forever & with the changing styles and people, things always go in and out of fashion as quick as one blinks. Big Biba was a huge responsibility in terms of expense and organisation  but Hulanicki and Fitz felt they needed to keep moving forward. And because of this massive undertaking, Hulanicki said, 'Every time I went into the shop, I was afraid it would be for the last time.'' No one was aware of how serious the financial difficulties were going to be & they eventually proved too much for these two. After disagreements with the board over creative control, Hulanicki left the comp[any and shortly afterwards in 1975, Biba closed. There have been several relaunches of the brand over the years, including one in 2006 under designer Bella Freud, which has not been a success. The latest attempts were by British chain House of Fraser in 2009, which has been highly successful, you can view the line on their website

{All the info and pictures are from the books “The Biba experience” by Alwyn Turner and from “Big Biba” by A. Turner and Steven Thomas (one of the Biba designer). Here an interesting interview to Barbara Hulanicki by Vice.}







Vedette Giveaway & Happy Fridays!

Happy Friday dolls!! I hope the week was bliss for you!! Here we are, my last Vedette post for you, thank you for all the great comments on the last one, am glad you enjoyed it. With my second Vedette piece, which I must say was my favourite of the two. It's really gorgeous and for those of you that wouldn't want something too restrictive, like the last piece, this is the perfect choice for you, as it isn't made to be as fitting, but it's still supportive. I found it kept me in place, but showed off my natural shape, which I liked. Plus, the design is stunning and I loved the colour. It's very soft to the touch and easy to wear without it restricting you in any way. Like the first piece, this also unhooks between the legs, so you have no worries there, the straps adjust to suit your needs also. It also unhooks in the back, making it lots easier to get in and out of. Great support up top without you feeling squashed in. As you can see below, I am wearing the  Lea bodysuit in black and their Rosina bodysuit in Persian red and I just love it. The design also has trimmings of lace details around the legs and top areas. It moves completely with you, easy to wear under your clothes or even to sleep as I fell asleep in mine ;)  If your daring enough, one could even wear this as part of their outfit also. It would fit in perfectly. I would most definitely recommend this to anyone. The range is marvellous as you can see below.





So, there you are! I hope you enjoyed the Vedette wear that I've showed you in both posts, so now the good news. Vedette is offering to give away one of their pieces to 3 lucky winners...I think it's super nice of them. I love the two pieces I received and would recommend them very much. And the people are so kind and very willing to help you with all your needs. If you would like to win one of your very own pieces, just complete the following tasks below for your entry! I wish you all a great & happy weekend!!

Love loves to you all!

xoxoxoxoxo



Rules to win

To win your very own piece of Vedette wear, please do the following:

You must follow Vedette's Facebook page & Twitter page. 

I will pick 3 winners and each of them will win their very own Vedette piece.

This giveaway is open internationally (except from the Philippines - as Vedette are experiencing problems shipping there just now). All entries will be checked and verified and I will be picking the winners at random from a hat ;)

Giveaway ends: May 3rd, 2011.


Optional Extra Entries

Follow me on Facebook or on Twitter! Be sure to say hello!


 Let me know which steps you've completed in your comment!!



Good luck dolls!!



{I've Got Nothing to Hide} Vedette Shapewear

Some weeks ago on Twitter, I noticed Vedette, a company that specialises in shape wear for women of all sizes and needs asking for mummy bloggers, so I took a chance & volunteered, I usually only wear vintage shape wear, but I decided to give it a go. What I put myself up for was to take part in their ‘ I've Got Nothing to Hide’ category aimed specifically for Mums. Vedette believes Mummies deserve to look their best as they tend to forget about themselves sometimes.  And with Vedette shape wear, she’ll be feeling fabulous at any size and at any age. Vedette graciously allowed me to choose two - yes two body wear range pieces from their website to try at home & review. I thought their idea behind the campaign was great, that it doesn't matter your size or if you’re a mummy, you too can feel great about yourself and look fantastic. 

After a good long browse at their website - there was too many that I could have chosen, I decided on their Lea bodysuit in black and their Rosina bodysuit in Persian red from their Sensuale range (which you will see in the next post). It was very easy, I just gave them my measurements and the wonderful team pick the right size for me, they are so nice and helpful, I was really appreciative of this, as I usually get the opposite when ordering online. My order came quite quickly, all safely packaged up which was super as overseas ordering doesn't always go to plan.




The first one I decided to try was the Lea bodysuit in black (as seen above); I chose to wear it as part of my outfit since I liked the look of it so much. The Lea bodysuit gives you control in the abdominal area, while looking like a top, it has a built in bra for control and it slims the waist area as well.  I would say make sure you have someone present to help you in getting into this piece and I hilariously got stuck and had to have my husband come and pull the bodysuit over my arms so I could continue putting it on. Made me laugh hysterically, but I figured for this piece, putting my feet in first and bringing it up from the bottom worked best. My husband asked if I was sure I was going to be able to breathe in such a thing, but I assure you once it’s on and in place, it’s actually one of the most comfortable things I've ever worn.  It’s as if it becomes part of your body, moving when you do, felt like a second skin. I've worn it a few times since it came and it never looses shape or lacks in shape control. I've been left quite impressed; I would wear this under clothes for support or show it off as a top with a cute skirt or whatever outfit you desire to create. The straps are removable and adjustable; it fastens in between the legs for quick and easy access to bathroom, so you don’t have to worry about struggling to take it up and down in a crisis, haha! I also think for the ladies who want to start wearing proper corsets, this is a great training piece to wear, because if you can't get used to this, you should avoid a corset ;)




As you can see above here, my before and after shot…I'm hardly in need of loosing weight…but after two children, my body isn't as toned as it used to be & that's perfectly fine for me - I love my body as it is, but I know there are a lot of women who are not ok with this extra weight you gain after child birth & this in my opinion is a healthy way of dealing with that, to give your body time to adjust and heal. No stress of loosing weight  just enjoying your body as it is. Instead of crazy diets, surgeries or other harmful ways of loosing the weight you put on.  You can see in the before shot, my stomach isn't as toned, but not bad either. I didn't think at first the shape wear was going to be able to really show a difference seeing as I don't have any more after-baby belly flab really….but seeing the after picture, it really did smooth out my stomach and sides to make them appear more streamlined than they do without the shape wear. For someone who tends to look like a flat board any ways, I welcomed the new found shape the piece gave me. Everything was lifted and my posture also rose a bit too. I was very impressed and best of all, it wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest, as I said before, it moves with you.  And here below, you can see me wearing the body wear piece as part of my every day outfit, no one would know unless you told them it was a body wear piece, it blends right in with your clothes. 



Ok fellow mums - all ladies even, there is no more reasons to worry about loosing that baby weight or having an excuse not to dress up and look as beautiful as you want to. You can just wear one of these Vedette shape wear pieces underneath your outfit and look as good as you feel and take that gorgeous baby out (or off with your friends) and show yourselves off! I also wish I had, had one of these straight after having my children as it would have helped in keeping my abdomen in place as my womb went down & saved me from those ghastly medical bands, haha. So, what do you think!?! Eager to try one out for yourself!?! I would be! Because I have great news…Vedette has offered to give a surprise shape-wear piece away to not just one winner, but 3 winners - I told you they were so kind! How cool is that!?! So, pleased stay tuned for my next post featuring my last Vedette piece as I will be hosting my very first giveaway and sharing what you will need to do to be one of these lucky dolls to win your very own Vedette shape wear piece!! Have a great day dolls!!


Lots of loves



Dainty Boudoir
top - Vedette piece worn as a top
Jacket - (old) New Look
Skirt & shoes - Ebay







*Disclosure: I was not paid for this review. The two pieces were gifted by Vedette to try.  All opinions are fully my own. 









Go Confidently in the Direction of your Dreams & Live the life you've Imagined!



Beautiful Monday to you sweethearts! Another weekend behind us & a week full of possibilities to look forward to. I'm finally used to this laptop after using a desk computer for years, it's quite nice to be able to go anywhere with it. It was a calm weekend, the weather was beautiful and relaxing. I wandered outside with family, bought another vintage dress, cleared some things away and started the latest series of Game of Thrones finally, love this show :) I hope you all have a gorgeous week ahead....be well & stay smiling!!

Loves & feathers

xoxox


P.S. After being asked, some of you will notice that I change the comments, so I can reply to you on here & you can reply to others if you choose to respond to their comments too, I'd like to have that open, so all of us are able to converse with each other more freely and respond to one another, so feel free to, if you wish ;)

























{all pics found via pinterest}
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