Tapping and Tea-ing

This week has been a flurry of rehearsals for Singin' in the Rain the musical, in which I will be playing Kathy one of the leading ladies. In the 1952 film version Kathy was played by the beautiful Debbie Reynolds (first picture below), She was so perfect for the role so I hope I do this wonderful musical justice. The stage version I'm in will be at Hull New Theatre next month (9th-13th June) so its getting very near and last minute preparations are underway so when I was asked to sing at a charity concert for the Lord Mayor of Hull I saw it as a great opportunity for some last minute adverting. The Concert was held at the Guildhall in Hull which is a beautiful building; built in 1907 it is full of history, with its long corridors and giant staircases it was very much how I imagined the Ministry of Magic to be like in Harry Potter and I was almost disappointed that I came across no robbed ministry officials or cloaked witches.

I sung a medley of songs from Singin' in the Rain including Good Morning' and Lucky star to spice things up I also added in a tap routine which sounded great as the hall I performed in had fantastic acoustics... but moving on what did I wear? Due to it being freezing I went wrapped up. My coat is from Primark. I love this coat and think it was wonderful value for money (about £22) it is light in  colour so can get quite dirty but its had a few spins in the washing machine and always comes out looking new. To jazz it up  I added a butterfly broach that I bought at a vintage fair last Christmas. I also got to wear my favourite vintage dress (any opportunity to get it out) I bought it for a wedding last summer and everyone always comments on how much they like it and I have to agree its beautiful. It's from an online vintage boutique named Vintage Lady and I would highly recommended it! Their clothes are beautifully made and I especially love that fact that this dress has three underskirts. To dress it up I wore a string of pearls which used to be my mums when she was my age and some little brown suede heels. To finish off I got to use my new vintage bag. its an original from the 1940's as it was given to me by my Grandma who is now 91 so remembers much of the fashions from the era I'm in love with the most.

 I've also  had some time to relax after all that singing and dancing. Today I had tea with my Mum and sister in law Nina. All three of us love a good rummage in charity shops and luckily for us there are a bundle of Streets called The Avenue's in our city that are crammed full of vintage themed charity shops and cute tearooms. We had a charming afternoon sipping tea and eating cake in our favorites "Just" and "The English Muse" both of which have the best selection of random vintage chairs to choose from as well as delicious cakes. Mum found a lovely Brush and mirror set for her dresser from No.87 a Dovehouse Hospice shop that only sells vintage, whilst Nina and I bought some necklaces.I'm obsessed with tiny stone pendents at the moment. (Pictures below are from shops down Newland Avenue Hull)

Anyway back to work for me as I'm in the middle of creating props for Alice in Wonderland!
Have a great rest of the week...

V for Victory

 

So my write up about this hugely patriotic event comes a few days late.. but hey that's me.
VE Day (8th May 1945)  marks the official end to WW2 in Europe and this year was it's 70th anniversary and I found myself caught up in the celebrations in my hometown of Hull.
Unknown to many Hull was actually the second worst hit city during the blitz so the locals definitely had plenty of reason to relish in Britain winning the war.

With it being such a huge anniversary this year a concert was organised and I was asked to perform some of the classics from the day." Over the Rainbow", "Singin' in the Rain" and the Vera Lynn classic "We'll meet again" were some of my favourites to perform that afternoon. It was also a great opportunity for me to dig out and listen to my all time favourite singer Judy Garland, reminding me of what a truly talented and inspirational performer she was.

 As well as a sing song there was also plenty of flag waving and of course a good old fashion knee's up with many of the audience showing us how they used to waltz and swing back in the day. It was great fun and created a real street party atmosphere.

Of course another exciting part of the day was the clothes and amazingly my mum had an beautiful old RAF uniform (top picture) hanging in her cupboard (which was odd considering she was never in the RAF and in fact hates flying) It was complete with the thick navy coloured jacket and skirt as well as clip on tie and I loved wearing it. It was however very hot and heavy so half way through the show I took off the jacket to reveal what I call my Judy Garland shirt. I think I bought it in the New Look sale about two years ago and I've worn it a real lot. I especially love the velvet tie at the collar. To complete the look I wore my black and white heeled brogues which were kindly donated to me by my musical theatre society. To me they look like the kind of shoes Mary Poppins would love and are practically perfect in everyway!!


Anyway I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and thanks for reading.

.

 

Gingerbread Girl

Hi there...

So starting at the very beginning (supposedly a very good place to start) I'm Elsie.

Here's a quick snap of me and as you can see I'm a proud ginger with a love of pretty vintage dresses and victory rolls.
I'm pretty new to all this blogging stuff but I love babbling on about pretty much anything that interests me. Mainly this involves clothes. I would describe my style as "new vintage" as I love buying new clothes and giving them a vintage twist however I also love a good rummage in charity and vintage shops discovering original items and of course a good bargain.

Another huge part of my life is Musical Theatre (yes I am that annoying person who spontaneously bursts into song) and I have recently been accepted to study BA Musical Theatre at a conservatoire in London in September. (I'm super excited) This means that in a few moths I will be embarking on a new adventure; moving from my small village up north to the big smoke. This is great as it allows me to experience plenty of my favourite London past-time; people watching in Starbucks.


Anyway enough from me for now, please continue to read for plenty of vintage style loveliness topped up with some musical madness!