Catch a Thief Glasses........

 

 

Whats not to love about vintage sunnies - especially cats eyes, studded with dimontees in all sorts of colours? And mens wayfareres or clubmasters are the ultimate in old school cool, dont you agree? (You have probably read before how a pair of classic mens wayfarer style reading glasses makes me go weak at the knees !!) But if you are like me, once you have paid a premium for a great vintage pair on ebay, the last thing you want to do is leave them sitting in your car on a 45 degree northern Victorian summers day, or shove them in your handbag amongst all the other gear in there to get scratched and damaged. And if you are lucky enough to have have a retro sunglasses case for your vintage frames, very ofton I find the case just doesn't fit in my dainty and oh so cute vintage hand bag. Well, to me the obvious solution is to purchase a replica pair of vintage frames for every day use, and save the real deal for special occasion dressing. So with that in mind, take a peek at these lovely numbers, available from Catch A Thief Sunglasses (and photography by the beautiful Brooke at Brooke Orchard Photography) Simply classic style !

 

 

Beautiful Readers, I occasionally get asked to host guest posts, or link to other blogs etc for promotional purposes, and I dont always buy into this because a) very often there is no incentive for me to do so, b) the product endorsements have little or no association with the historic theme of my blog or c) I want to steer away from insulting the intellegence of my readership by promoting gimiky crap. If you do see me promoting a service or product on here, you can be sure that I believe in the product, it fits the theme of my blog and I am most likely not receiving any cut from doing so.

Quote of the month - January 2013

 

 

"What the concious mind can't recognise, the heart might know."

 

"A career is wonderful, but you cant curl up with it on a cold night."

 

 

 

Two Marilyn quotes this month for you friends......it's just so hard to chose but one !!

Great heritage houses for sale

My home town, and the districts surrounding it, is peppered with beautiful pre mid century architectural gems, and at the moment there are a nice little selection of them up for sale, at extremely reasonable prices ! If you have ever thought of tree-changing, you would get plenty of bang for your buck. Or as a bargain holiday house, you could enjoy the lakes (and watersports), rivers, forests, cafes and local delights of Golden Rivers Country a simple 3.5 hour jaunt from Melbourne any time of year. What's not to love? Check these beauties out..... (Click on the photograph for a link to the sale sight....)

Six bedroom, 3 bathroom $299,000

Three bedroom, two bathroom, $325,000

Four bedroom, two bathroom, stunning two storied design/reno $245,000

Three bedroom, Seven car parking (5 lock up, 2 undercover), Inground pool, 2.6 acres $245,000

Four bedroom, two bathroom $295,000

Four Bedroom, Open fire place, brilliant reno, Orchard $240,000

Three Bedroom, Two Bathroom, Centrally located $235,000

Four bedroom, two bathroom, three carspaces, 2960 m² $230,000

Three bedroom, two bathroom, beautiful reno $299,000

 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom contemporary reno $260,000

Three bedroom, beautiful reno, $245,000

Three bedroom $179,000

Art Deco, Renovators delight, three bedroom, $289,000

Three Bedrooms, solid renovators delight $168,000

Retro delight, three bedrooms, three carparks $159,000

Five bedroom, two bathroom, $290,00

Three bedroom, two bathroom, six garage $390,000

So, if a tree change is on the agenda for you in 2013, why would you consider Golden Rivers country? Well, here are a few reasons. The area has some great private and public schools, an extremely progressive organic foodie movement happening, it is a resilient and welcoming community with excellent catering to culture and the arts - music, dance, fine art -, sports, education and health care. It is a great place to work as a freelancer, entrepreneur, medical professional, educator, hospitality worker, artist, lawyer, retailer....infact the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

And if a holiday house is more your game, and you love water sports, bushwalking, fishing, or sipping a chai at a cafe, then the tranquility of this area, away from the hustle and bustle of places like Echuca, or Yarrawonga, would suit you down to the ground. With prices like those listed above, what have you got to lose !?

I plan to highlight each of the towns in Golden Rivers Country over the coming months, but I hope you can see the potential in this smattering of residential opportunities in Kerang. Below are a couple of photographs depicting the things my family and I love about living here......happy house hunting my future neighbours !

Fabulous water activities and fun......

Breathtaking sunsets.....

Community Events........

Eating out......

Bushwalking.....

Living Doll January 2013

Living Dolls are mothers, nurses, models, photographers, graphic designers, grandmothers, students, teachers - infact you name it, they come from every walk of life but have this one thing in common - they love and live vintage !

All our Living Dolls are beautiful, but when I spied April's facebook profile pickkie, I knew this lovely lass was totally pulling off her vintage pinup look to perfection, and just had to get to know her a little better. Ladies and gentlemen, our beautiful Miss January 2013, April Towerton......

What does "vintage" mean to you?

Whenever I think of "vintage" I think of all my fabulous "vintage-loving" friends, I think of fashion, music, cars, simplistic living, and strong morals... I think of a "way of life"

What was it that first prompted your interest in vintage culture?

I have always loved old movies and the glamour of vintage "starlets" ( the hair, the make-up, the jewellery, the clothes... What's not to love?)

However, I don't think I completely "embraced" vintage culture until I met my husband Aaron in late 2000 (he plays in various rock and roll, swing, and rockabilly bands around Sydney). This just enhanced my love for the music of yesteryear, and introduced me to the vibrant vintage scene that thrives around Sydney.

What is your favourite era, and do you "live it" everyday? In what ways?

I love so many eras for many different reasons, but as I am a fashion lover I will focus on that! I love the straight lines, and simplicity of the 40s fashion, and I love a beautifully structured 60s wiggle dress, however, my favourite would have to be the 50s fashion. There is something so feminine about the styles of the 50s, this was a time when clothing really flattered a woman's figure, and in many ways a time when glamour was injected into normal women's lives, almost as a post war celebration.

I "live" it everyday in small ways, I may not dress head to toe vintage everyday, but there will always be a little bit of vintage "glamour" in my everyday look whether it's the dress, the hair, a piece of jewellery or just a slick of red lipstick, it is such a feminine way of expressing yourself.

Tell us about your favourite item of vintage clothing, kitchenalia, music, furniture or whatever!

My favourite vintage item would have to be a pair of late 1940s ornate silver and rhinestone shoe clips that I picked up at a market stall about 10years ago.

I was just fascinated by the creativity of the time, this was a time when women couldn't just go out and buy themselves new things, most women only had 1 pair of dress shoes (can you imagine that?!?) so they used shoe clips to change the look of their shoes ( 1 pair becomes many)

I love them so much I don't even wear them anymore as I'm too scared of losing them.

It was my love of these clips that prompted me to start "I Do Shoes" an online bridal shoe and shoe accessories site, specializing in affordable shoes and beautiful shoe clips because every girl should be able to afford something glamourous- it's what being a girl is all about!

Can you share with us why vintage culture continues to hold such appeal for you?

Vintage culture has become a way of life in so many ways. I have made some amazing friends within the vintage scene. People from all walks of life, all professions and industries bond over a shared love of "vintage", whether they have an interest in the music, the fashion, the dancing, the cars (or all of them!) there is something that unites everyone. You can't just walk away from that...

Do you have any tips for people starting out in the vintage scene?

Get out and meet people within the scene (go and support the live bands, go to dance classes, and vintage markets etc). Once you have found friends that share your love and passion for vintage you won't feel like you are just starting out - you will feel like you have been there all along.

Now is your chance to provide us with an overview of who you are and what you do.

I live a very happy (yet very busy) life with my husband on the central coast.

I have always worked in the jewellery industry, and in my current role I am lucky enough to work closely with some amazing Jewellers and gemstone merchants around Sydney. There is something so incredibly satisfying about helping create something you know will become a treasured family heirloom (and I do get just a little bit excited whenever someone requests a vintage reproduction-yay!)

In addition I have my own online business "I Do Shoes" (as I mentioned before) you can check out the website idoshoes.com.au (it's a work in progress) or check out my Facebook page.

I am hoping that 2013 will see me able to invest more time into this, as I am set to launch idorockabilly.com.au, which focuses on vintage and rockabilly style footwear, stocking many popular US brands including pinup couture, pleaser and Bettie page.

Again, this will be predominantly online, however I will be exhibiting at a few vintage markets and festivals throughout 2013.

Between these 2 very "full-on" positions I still always manage to find time to watch my husband perform, go out dancing (rockabilly of course!) and enjoy time on the beach with our beautiful dog "Jack". Life is just one big juggling act!

Finally, what or who inspires you and why?

I could rattle off all of the cliched Hollywood sirens (Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, the list goes on..) which of course is true, they are inspiring. However, I think I am most inspired by people I see everyday. People who stay true to themselves, people who unashamedly embrace vintage into their everyday lives, people who are asked "are you going to a fancy dress party?" (which I'm sure all of us vintage lovers have been asked at some point) yet they aren't discouraged and wear it with pride- I say good on you!!

Music of the Moment - Men into Space

Oh wow Kids - are you in for a Friday night treat !! Captain John from sensational band 'Men into Space' has taken the time out of his busy flight schedule to tell us all about the formation  of the kooky, atomic 50's sci-fi band. Honestly folks, you cant get any better than 'Men into Space' for that sample of the atomic era.....die hard retro muso's and space cadets, you are gonna love this ! AND they are playing at Ballarat Beat this February - get along all you rocketeers ! Now its over to Captain John......

Well, where to start? Like many, as a kid, I loved the old movies the tv stations would play on Friday nights and as 'midday movies' on the weekends. They were very often B-grade 50's sci fi flicks but to me they were a very real 'alternate universe'. I don't know why, but when I learned that these movies were fictional and made as entertainment often on a tight budget, well, for some reason I just liked them more.

I guess when I started the whole transition into 50's-dom as a teenager at school, I was attracted to the normal stuff.. music, cars, fashion but also maintained a real passion for those old sci fi movies. Hollywood made hundreds, maybe even thousands and I think I've seen most of them a few times! At that time, it never occurred to me that cool 50's music and these movies could somehow be mated together.

I was playing electric bass back then, trying to emulate Steve Garvey from the Buzzcocks. Changing to Upright bass in 1987 was a major milestone in my life. Soon after I was playing with fellow Men into Space member, Rupert Jenner in The Shakin' Quavers (Check out this link kids - you Quavers were awesome !). Somewhere in the mid 90's I travelled to to Sydney to attend a gig. Restless were playing with the Space Cadets. I didn't know the Space Cadets at the time, but that was the most fun I had ever had at a show to date. Until then, I hadn't crowd surfed. I'll never forget that show. I think the seed was planted in my mind that evening. At this point I'd like to stress that we're not copying the Space Cadets. We're doing our own thing with this Space/rockabilly genre. It's a genre that is represented by quite a few bands around the world. And more broadly, 'themed costume rock n roll' is huge among our community. Examples are Man or Astroman, Los Straight Jackets, Neanderthals, Go-Nuts, Red Elvises..

Around that time I'd formed The Chrome Daddies and was busy with that for a few years. After that I was playing with different bands but was keen to front a band that was a product of my own imagination. Finally in 2006, Men into Space were formed. We were a three piece back then. Myself, Dan Nosovich (another Chrome Daddy) on guitar and Rupert, a fine guitarist, on drums. Before we could gig, I needed costumes and instruments to suit the theme. Ah, ebay.... Costumes are pilot flight suits with a collection of appropriate space themed patches attached. If anyone took the time to look closely, there's some pretty cool patch-action going on, haha. We always wear black engineering boots on stage, too. The helmets are toy space helmets from 1960. It took quite a few months of searching to acquire enough of them. I had to modify the inside of them considerably as they were designed for children.

Then came the instruments. I wanted them unique yet uniform in theme so they looked like they belonged to Men into Space. Starting with Dan's first guitar, I used a Danelectro he owned. I mixed a metallic blue that I liked and sprayed the guitar using car paint. I added pinstriping and different knobs. It was pretty simple way to get a MIS guitar happening, looking back on it. The bass was a different story. It was in instrument I brought back from the 'States after using it on a Josie Kruezer tour. I decided to give it a 'cutaway' similar to the one found on my favourite model guitar, the Gibson ES 295. I thought it took a lot of guts to take the saw to perfectly good upright bass. I reinforced the neck joint at the same time to compensate for the lack of body around it. The f holes got reshaped and i painted it the same blue. I think the end result is pretty cool. The drums are pretty standard except for the illuminated bass drum. We also use the drum kit to hide the smoke machine and strobe lights behind. Here's an early gig.. Men into Space Live

After a few years I decided to make the band a four piece. Coojee Timms joined on drums and Rupert joined Dan playing guitar. This was another definate turning point for the band. It gave me the opportunity to build some pretty kooky instruments. Dan is a proficient steel player so to his already massively modified Stratocaster (the Danelectro got stolen at a gig) he got a lap steel grafted. Rupert's guitar was 'crafted' from the bones of a death metal ebay item. A signature sound of Men into Space is from the theremin added to Rupert's guitar.

I've always been focused making sure the music is as good as it can be. A band is it's music. It was and still is extremely important to me that the quality of the music comes first. The costumes and associated props and things are an added layer to what I think is a good band. About the music we play... Our bones are absolutely rockabilly but musically we venture a little further out than many trad bands might. A lot of originals. Most our set is original material. We have songs about UFO abduction (or more precisely, using the threat of UFO abduction to woo a girl). A song about being jealous of Spock. A song about a girl made even more attractive due to her exposure to radiation. More about hot rod rockets, building satellites.. three eyed girlfriends... all sorts of fun stuff. We're working on some new songs at present. I think they'll go well.. pretty kooky.

Hey Rocketeers!

Don’t miss the next MEN INTO SPACE show!

We're a full tilt rockabilly act and we're all about havin' a good time.

We use The Space Upright Bass, 

The Astro Guitar/lap steel and the most awesome Thero-guitar!! 

Sparky's on his Drums of Plutonium.

We play hard rockin’ space themed music. 

We wear old-timey space suits and helmets. 

We are an originals band. 

If you really want to know how MIS came about.. 

It’s like this... And here’s no lie...

100 years ago, man climbed from the dusty earth and drove his first automobile. 

Just 50 years later, he threw down the shackles of gravity and conquered SPACE....

While on a routine space flight, The ship "Mr Vanguard" was bombarded with a field of cosmic radiation. Aside from transporting the crew of four instantly into the future, it also gave them super-rockin’ powers. 

With their home far away, MEN into SPACE have no choice but to fly by their instruments alone. MEN into SPACE continue their quest to find home in the unfamiliar world they find themselves in today. In the meantime, they just want to Rock, Rock, Rock. 

These guys sing about the moon and the stars.... not sitting under them... travelling to them! "Give us a girl on Mars and a rocketship to Venus - that’ll be fine!" 

To see MEN into SPACE play, you might think you were on a movie set. " Yes, we do use a lot of things from the ship in our show. Our instruments are all unique (to say the least) and we always play in our space suits and helmets... you never can tell when you are going to play a venue with no atmosphere"

Captain John "Comet" McCauley( Jon Flynn ). Upright bass, Vocals. 

Astronaut Dan Ray ( Dan Nosovich ). Guitar/Lap steel-o-tron, Vocals. 

Space Ace Lance Link ( Rupert Jenner ). Thero-guitar, Vocals. 

Pilot Sparks ( Coojee Timms ). Drums of Plutonium, Vocals. 

All four members of Men Into Space are seasoned Brisbane musos, each with overseas pro touring credentials. Each also has an impressive history in Brisbane live music.

email. menintospace@hotmail.com

Ballarat Beat

I have never been to this shindig, but I do know that Men into Space are the most awesome, quirky, creative mid century style band you will ever see......do get along if you are free and in the area !!

 

And further to the Men Into Space love.....another Feburaru gig if you live Brissy way....