Modern Mid Century Interiors and Tropical Cocktails!

It's that time of year when I'm starting to look at swimsuits and dreaming of getting away for a few days, so I found myself looking at these pictures I took in April when we stayed at QT Hotel on the Gold Coast. A few years ago we came across this hotel while looking for a place to have lunch and I was immediately blown away by the atomic era aesthetic of the hotel. When I got home I made a booking to spend a weekend there right away and the rest is history! Nowadays we like to go back twice a year and always stop by The Stingray for cocktails and something to eat when we're in town.

Guest post: GracefullyVintage

Dress - Trashy Diva
Cropped Jacket - 1950s vintage
Shoes - I Love Billy
Stockings - Ebay
Umbrella - Vintage

Hi, I'm Kayla from GracefullyVintage and I am very excited to be guest posting for the wonderful Harlow!

I wear a range of reproduction and vintage clothing. This dress has been one of my favorites since buying it at the start of the year, it is versatile for both hot and cold weather, and can be easily dressed up too.

I always enjoy wearing warmer clothes during winter but am very excited to bring out summer clothing again!

You can also find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Guest Post - Leah Loverich and The Lady's Book of Manners

 "Good manners are never out of fashion..."

 "Politeness in life is ever more commanding than vulgarity."

"Of all the sinners against the law of politeness, the bragger or the liar is one the greatest."

 "Never be ashamed to acquire the smallest grace by study and practise."

 "Nothing detracts more from the character of a real lady than the exhibition of envy." 

Hello my name is Leah, and I am absolutely delighted to be guest posting here on Vintage at Heart for the most lovely Harlow Darling! Harlow Darling also became a guest on my blog Confessions of a Vintage Hoarder back in July of 2013, her post on wearing Vintage Reproduction can be found here. 

Today I have put together this post in order to show a glimpse into a book I picked up from Kensington Palace on a past visit to London. I bought this book (originally published in London in the 1890s) as a novelty, expecting it to contain the most ridiculous rules for a lady of the 19th century to follow, and though yes there is some rather laughable "advice" within, there is also surprisingly a lot in this book that I feel both women and men of the 21st century should consider bringing back into action and following, some of which is shared above and below in this post. Do let me know if you agree or disagree with any of this 19th century "advice"!

"HOW TO BECOME A PERFECT LADY

Words and actions - Politeness seems to be a certain care, by the manner of our words and actions, to make others pleased with us and themselves.

The grand secret is to have an intention of always doing right.

CONVERSATION 

A lady's guide to talking well  - Do not pretend to be what you are not, for no pretension can hide what you really are.

Warm affections are as necessary to the talker as a clear intellect. Only the words which come from the heart go to the heart.

Giving advice, unasked, is another piece of rudeness. It is, in effect, declaring ourselves wiser than those to whom we give.

LOVE AND COURTSHIP 

Do not permit his attentions - If you cannot love him wholly and solely, do not allow his addresses, however gratifying; do not permit his attentions, if you cannot give him hand an heart; such coquetting is highly blameable, and has frequently marred the happiness of many a worthy man.

In seeking a partner for life, look to it that you be not entrapped by beauty of person merely. Choose a man of intelligence. Seek gentleness of spirit. Seek a lover of home. Let it be whom, to use the beautiful Arabian proverb, "you can make the keeper of your soul.

DRESS

First impressions - First impressions are generally most permanent, it is desired that they should be favourable ones. Be careful, therefore, to dress well, remembering that mental qualities are often judged by exterior.

A girl with neatly and properly dresses feet, with neat, well-fitting gloves, smoothly arranged hair, and a clean, well-made dress, who walks well, and speaks well, and, above all, acts politely and kindly, is a lady, and no wealth is required here.

CHOICE OF FRIENDS

Hold sacred the secrets of others - However candid and explicit you may think proper to be on your own affairs, remember to hold sacred the secrets of others, they belong not to you, therefore you have no right to make use of them.

Distrust and friendship never do well together.

BEWARE OF FLATTERERS

One or Two - Expect not many friends, but think yourself happy, if through life, you meet with one or two who deserve that name. 

Smooth talk is often sweet poison." - The Lady's Book of Manners

This little book is a must for anyone who is intrigued by the sometimes bizarre, insulting, or even sensible etiquette codes and rules of the past, and can be purchased from Waterstones.com

Leah Loverich
xx

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Guest Post - Lovebirds Vintage

Dress - 1960s Vintage from Uncle Sam's Vintage Clothing in Oxford

Hair band - High street (New Look, maybe) | Shoes - Primark | Bracelet - gift

Hi everyone, I'm Helen from Lovebirds Vintage. I'm very happy to be here guest posting for Harlow while she is away.

I picked up this handmade 60s dress in Oxford when I was visiting last year. It's perfect for the hot weather we've been having recently (by English standards at least) as its quite loose fitting and comfortable. The blue and yellow colours make me think of Snow White so I added the red hairband to complete the look. I thought the heart padlock bracelet was a nice nod to the box that is meant for Snow White's heart.

The dress needed a little TLC before I could wear it. One or two of the seams needed mending and a button was missing. It originally had six buttons (so was down to five buttons with the missing one) and since I've so far not found a matching replacement, I just took the odd button off and went down to four buttons instead. I've kept the odd one just in case I ever find a match though!

Find me elsewhere: Facebook / Pinterest 

I hope you have all enjoyed Lovebirds Vintage lovely guest post, it has been a pleasure to be able to share Helen's wonderful blog with you all! Over the next few weeks I am looking forward to sharing with you some of my favorite vintage and retro blogs so keep your eyes peeled for more guest posts!
-Harlow

Freddies of Pinewood Jeans!

Top - Freddies of Pinewood via MisKonduct Klothing
Jeans - Freddies of Pinewood via MisKonduct Klothing
Sunglasses - Mink Pink
Boots - London Rebel

It's true - I rarely ever wear jeans, and as a result I only have one pair, but that is not to say that I don't love (vintage/repro) jeans however! I bought these jeans a few years ago to wear on hikes in Russia so that I could traipse through walls of nettle and blackberry thorns unscathed, and these days I reach for them every time I want to go for a bike ride or do some gardening. Comfortable, practical and very sensible, these jeans have seen their fair share of berry stains and mud and so far they are going strong. Since I buy everything I wear online, jeans can be a bit of a tricky thing to purchase since unlike a dress you can't exactly buy them a size up and have them taken in. However, the sizing for Freddies of Pinewood jeans goes by waist measurement, and since they are not made in the modern "skinny jean" style they are well suited to hour glass figures and the sizing is completely accurate.

I have always wanted to have my own vegetable garden but living in a rental has meant that I can't really have more than a herb garden on the veranda, so recently I finally got myself a tiny allotment at a local communal garden.  At the moment I am only growing small things, like lettuces and kale, but in the future I would love to grow something a bit more impressive, like eggplants, zucchinis and tomatoes - things to make fresh summery salads with and ingredients for lasagna! In these photos you can see all of the other peoples amazing little allotments that inspired me to get into this in the first place.

This time last year...

Dress - Trashy Diva

Do you ever have one of those moments where you stop and think back to where you were and what you were doing on that exact same day last year? I've been looking through a lot of old photos from last year that I never got around to posting, a few snapshots from a beautiful summer day when I picked bluebells and blueberries in the forest.

All of these photos were taken about a five minute walk from where my family lives and where I used to live, in a Moscow suburb about half an hour out of the city. The green domed building as you might have guessed is a (Russian Orthodox) church; the bells used to wake me up every Sunday morning and it's a sound I'd give anything to hear again even though I always complain about the noise when I'm there.

Blue Hawaii

Dress - courtesy of Trashy Diva, get it here!
Shoes - I Love Billy

This week I bid farewell to summer and tropical dresses with this gorgeous Hawaiian print Trashy Diva dress that I have been sent to review. I picked this dress because I adore how glamorous rayon looks and how it feels airy and soft against my skin on a hot summers day. I also love the cut, because when you live in a tropical climate, you can never have enough halterneck dresses!

I consider myself to be a bit of an expert when it comes to dressing for summer, but surprisingly I do not have very many short summer dresses, which is why I thought it would be fun to try one of Trashy Diva's mini dresses. At 5'6" this dress hits me just above the knee making it a perfect length for my conservative taste, but at the same time fun and flirty.

Although summer is now over in my part of the world, in just a few months when its hot again, I know that I will be taking this dress on holiday with me, to wear between the beach and the cocktail bar!