Beat the Monday blues

Beat the Monday blues by checking out something or someone we love. Here at Your Vintage Life, we feel it is important to share great finds with you all as well as support local business.

So this Monday, I introduce to you to the truly stunning work by Debbie Carlisle from DC Bouquets.

I first met Debbie through the power of social networking..to be honest I can’t remember when we started communicating or how. But we first met at the Vintage Wedding Fair in Leamington Spa. Her stand was next to mine which meant I spent most of the day in awe of her wonderful creations. (Maybe that’s why I didn’t make that much money that day!).

At that point she made beautiful head pieces and clips but it was her bouquets that stole the show. She takes vintage brooches, adds some beads and pearls, ties them together and voila….she makes a bouquet.

Gosh if only it was that simple and believe me it isnt! Her bouquets are simply amazing, each one is bespoke and in my opinion a real work of art. She made one for her wedding which is her signature shot on her postcards and website which I’m sure you will agree is stunning.

What I love is you can choose your own jewellery or let Debbie do it for you. Imagine having a brooch from an older relative within your bouquet as your something old? Imagine having a bouquet you can keep forever? Imagine having a bouquet that can be displayed on your vintage dressing table?

What also sets Debbie apart, as well as the end result, is her dedication to consulting with the bride, working out exactly what will work best considering the person, the dress, the style. She works tirelessly to get it just right.

As well as the bouquets we particularly love her button holes and posies made from vintage buttons. Again, so eye-catching yet so elegant.

Her attention to detail is apparent in her stand at various wedding events throughout the country. She displays her work on cut crystal glass, so that every element on the table simply sparkles. (It is worth adding, if you ever have a stall next to Debbie, you must make sure none of your stock falls on hers! With so  much glass on one table it would be catastrophic!)

Debbie has now taken the leap and given up her full time job to follow her business and passion full time and has just launched a new collection for 2012.

It is a series of headpieces with such a romantic feel to them.

She describes her ribbon pieces on the website:

“The collection includes a selection of  organza ribbon bands which allow brides to indulge in delicate floral fantasies – from woodland nymph to regency ballroom, 60s ingénue, 70s hippy chick to rock n roll goddess.

The bands can be worn as headbands, forehead bands and bun wraps, allowing brides to mix up their look – and wear their headpiece in different ways long after their wedding day.”

They are truly beautiful and I wish her all the luck in the world with the new range.

Here are a few more of our favourites from the collection.

If you are a vintage bride or just want some beauty in your life check out the website by clicking here. Or why not join Debbie on Facebook and Twitter.

Her website gives information on dates of events that she will be appearing at. Go check out all that crystal!


Now all I need is to get married (hint hint!!!!)

We are open!

This week Your Vintage Life opened it’s doors to our new online boutique. We applied sometime back to have a shop on ASOS and were lucky to be accepted straight away. Fast forward quite a few weeks….when we were prepping stock and busy doing student fairs…and we are open!

Our boutique is a vintage accessory shop. Our slogan is “Bags of vintage accessories” and boy do we have bags of vintage accessories!

We have handbags. Lots of handbags.

We have ladylike 60s ones.

We have boho 70s ones.

We have glam 80s ones.

And then we have jewellery.

We have eye catching ones.

We have pretty ones.

We have simply stunning ones.

We also have tonnes of scarves.

We have classic 80s ones.

We have huge paisley ones.

And we have so much more to come, including mens accessories (when I manage to tie Mr YVL down to modelling them). Tie…..get it??

We will have ties, scarves, cravats, bags for men. Plus gloves, hats, belts……..

Why not pay us a visit (maybe follow us???) and let us know what you think! Just press here

Beat the Monday Blues, Part 4

Beat the Monday blues by checking out something or someone we love. Here at Your Vintage Life, we feel it is important to share great finds with you all as well as support local business.

So this Monday I introduce you the fantastic AbiLu Creations owned by Abigail Lucy Bruford.

I first met Abigail at a very rainy Lovebox festival in July. She had the next door stall to me, selling her collection of hand-made necklaces, hair accessories and other gems. I was drawn to her stall like a magpie..infact I seemed to spend more time with her, trying stuff on than on my own stall. I bought a peacock feather head band which I proudly wore watching Blondie with my gold and blue vintage Jean Muir style Grecian dress……sorry I digress!

So back to AbiLu…their handmade charm plectrum necklaces are legendary. She sells them online at http://www.abilucreations.com but also at many markets and festivals across London such as Portobello and Camden.

After studying Costume Design and Fine Art at university, she went on to teach. However, spare time was spent building up her business. Launched in 2005, Abi now sells to boutiques and wholesalers such as NME.com and is part of the amazing Filthy Gorgeous London in Debenhams (along side Now, Voyager who we featured a while back).

We want to share with you, in particularly the fab plectrum charm pendant necklaces. Abi rescues treasures, often vintage and adds her signature branded spectrum. These  hang on a long chain, are eye-catching and whats more unique. Every piece is different, and with Abi’s bespoke service you can have a necklace which is totally personal to you. You can have roses for splash of colour, guitars, microphones even a welly for those muddy festivals.

All are grouped together to give you a rock look, a pirate look..whatever you choose! And the best bit is prices start at only £10. On some you can also choose the length of chain as well as between silver or gold on the snake chains…..great service huh?

Each comes wrapped beautifully and in a little pouch…a perfect gift for yourself (or a loved one if you can bear to part with it!)


Check out some of our favourites

Beautifully British

Pirates of the Caribbean

My rocking Valentine

Singing in the rain

Rock Garden


Check AbiLu out at http://www.abilucreations.com and on Facebook and Twitter!




Truly inspired

I have recently been inspired by another blog..by Louise at Catwalk Creative Vintage. Her blog discussed the humble dress clip which were very fashionable in the 1930s and 40s. Her photos were beautiful with some great original 40s pictures too. Please go have a read!

So here’s how it inspired me….I too have a dress clip, given to me by my partner a few years back. I never actually knew what it was therefore I had never worn it. It is is stunning with brightly coloured stones within and a flower sculpted within the metal. Louise advised me she thought it was probably Czech and from the 1930s. WOW!

Then, coincidently my mum was going through a box of old photos and pulled out this amazing photo of my grandmother Ella, taken in the 1940s. She looks tall and elegant in her leaf design tea dress. She is looking straight at the camera proud of her look.

On closer inspection..she is only wearing a dress clip! Pinned onto the middle of her dress it simply sparkles.

Turning over the photo she has written a description of her look:

Darling,  As this isn’t very clear I’ll describe the dress. It has fullness from the front with two pockets at each side. The neck as you can see is just plain, opened all down the front where i wear my big diamante clip. Everybody likes it very much and i really do, better than any dress I’ve had. Ella

We are not sure who this is written for…but my grandfather was in the Far East during the war so we only presume she sent this photo out to him.

So back to my dress clip. I finally wore it yesterday, worn the same way as my stylish grandma….in the centre of a black 1950s crepe dress.

Alas, not at a happy function, but I’m sure she would have been proud!

Thanks Louise for showing me the way (I think my grandma beat us to it though!)  x