Hi all,

This is the third talk that I have coming up in the next few weeks and it’s dedicated to the wonderful accessories that ladies and gentlemen wore to spruce up their outfits during the ’20s to the ’50s – with a definite Art Deco slant. I might even sneak in some items from the Deco revival in the late ‘60-early ’70s.

What: Nicole presents a talk on Art Deco accessories
When: 7.30pm, Thursday 5th August2010
Where: Racecourse Hotel, cnr Waverley Rd & Princes Highway, East Malvern
Cost: $15 which includes coffee, tea, biscuits and mini-muffins.
Bookings: Complete the booking form on this page and send in no later than 30th July 2010. We also have some booking forms at Circa.

More information at the Art Deco and Modernism Society

Copies of my book “Love Vintage” will be available on the night.

An annual highlight, the Fifties Fair is on again next month in Sydney:

Have a blast and relive the good times at the annual Fifties Fair with live swing and rockin’ hillbilly, DJs & dancing, and vehicle displays set against the backdrop of Rose Seidler House.

Specialist collectors and dealers will sell fabulous 50s pieces including household gadgets, toys, jewellery, knick-knacks, books, clothing and furniture.

What: The Fifties Fair
Where: Rose Seidler House, 71 Clissold Road, Wahroonga, NSW 2076
When: Sunday August 29th, 10am to 5pm
Cost: General $20 | Conc/member $15 | Family $55

More information at the website.

On Sunday, we went to see a great new exhibition on Australian fashion from 1850 to 1960. In particular, there are some extraordinarily well preserved Victorian and Edwardian gowns, some of which have labels from Australian fashion houses or dressmakers – this is quite remarkable: I’ve studied thousands of locally made garments, so can attest to the rarity of labels in clothing made prior to WW2, and especially prior to 1920.

From the website:
Drawing on the NGV Collection of Australian fashion and textiles, this exhibition examines the rise of fashion in Australia from the 1850s to 1950s, while speculating on the fashionable trends and development of an Australian style of fashion. The exhibition will include rare early examples of labelled garments from the mid nineteenth century and a range of dresses, tailored items and accessories that were made and retailed in Australia.

What: Australian Made: 100 years of fashion
Where: National Gallery of Victorian: the Ian Potter Centre, Federation Square
When: May 28th to January 23rd, 10am to 5pm (closed Tuesdays)
Cost: free

For those of us on Gertrude Street, it’s been hard to ignore the Projection Festival. Twice in the last week I’ve walked the street of an evening and the second time (last night) I bravely attempted to take some photos for you – I say “bravely” because without the benefit of a good camera, a nice tripod, a better skillset and images that don’t move quite so fast, it’s been like photographing ghosts.

It’s quite a challenge for an amateur: if you use the flash, the images vanish beneath the shock of light. Without flash, the length of time required in the dim street light produces a blurry image because inevitably, it will change or you will move or both.

I’m sure that the results can tell interesting stories about the ephemeral image and the necessity of living in the moment. Sadly, it doesn’t make for good visual memories though so I encourage you to go and see it before it ends on Sunday night.

If you’ve seen it already, I encourage you to go again: there is much to see, and much that changes – the best example is the Rose Chong window, which features live performers! The first night we were there, two ladies sat, one read and one knitted. Last night was more exciting though: the two (a different two?) were prancing and dancing with animal masks on their heads, whilst two small dogs “ruffed” at a small child with a teddy bear (a threat to their territory perhaps?). Not high art, maybe, but definitely fun.

One of the reasons that I’m enjoying it is because it encourages you to engage with the street in a different way. We walked up both sides of the street looking out for the numbers that would indicate that an exhibit was present, and searched (sometimes in vain) for the artwork. Gertrude Street makes for a good gallery: there are lots of nice spaces to display things and it’s quite dark in bits, well suited to a projection.

This is the third year of the festival and it’s getting better and better – there’s still lots of potential and next year I’d like to see more buildings host artworks, and more information about each artwork displayed. Circa will hopefully be involved again, as a sponsor and venue.

Just the other day a lovely lady at the shop was saying how hard it is to find vintage in Canberra, well perhaps this will help – from the in-box:

Fash ‘n’ Treasure is Canberra’s one and only fashion event, bringing together local wardrobes, fashion designers, fashion shops, milliners and stylists. Held every second month, Canberrans can come along and indulge in a day of shopping for clothes, shoes, bags, hats and accessories, whilst thrifty fashionistas can sell their beloved items to make room for more essential purchases!

What: Fash ‘n’ Treasure fashion market
Where: Old Bus Depot Building, Wentworth Avenue, Kingston, ACT
When: Saturday 17th July, from 10am to 3pm.

More information at the website.

Hi all,

This is the second talk that I have coming up in the next few weeks. I’ll be talking about ladies fashions of the 20th century and will bring original garments from each decade to discuss. topics will include cultural and social history, fabrics, design and construction.

What: Talk on ladies fashions of the 20th century.
Where: Art Gallery of Ballarat, 40 Lydiard St North, Ballarat
When: 12.15pm Wednesday 25 August (talk will go for one hour)
Cost: free

Ballarat is one of my favourite towns, and the Art Gallery is one of the best regional galleries in Australia. I’m honoured to have an opportunity to present a talk there. This one is especially good for vintage lovers in Ballarat and nearby towns.

UPDATE: This event is now sold out. Kingston Library are taking a list of names interested in a future talk.

Hi all,

I have three talks on vintage clothing coming up and this is the first one:

Join Nicole Jenkins, author of Love Vintage and owner of Circa Vintage Clothing in Fitzroy, for afternoon tea and a talk about ladies fashions from 1940 to 1960.

Nicole will bring several original garments to illustrate cultural history, design, fabrics and construction. Bring your own classic garments for discussion too!

What: Talk on ladies fashions 1940-1960.
Where: Kingston Library, Chelsea Library Branch, 1 Chelsea Rd, Chelsea.
When: 2pm Friday July 30th (talk will go for an hour, followed by afternoon tea).
Cost: free
Bookings: Phone the Library on 1300 135 668. Please note that numbers are limited.

Click on the image to see larger.

I’m particularly looking forward to this one, as I usually talk about a century of fashion and this is a rare opportunity to concentrate on my current favourite decades: the 1940s and 1950s, the golden years of couture.

Starting with WW2 “make do and mend” it will go post-war with Dior in ‘47 and the haute couture of the ’50s, through to 1960 when elegance had peaked and begun it’s decline into the youthful fashions of the ’60s.

We had a great time at the Wintersun festival – it was a bit like the best school camp ever: but for grown ups. At our rented apartment, it was Glamour Central as Tim and I shared with the wonderful Candice and Miss Carly of the Lindy Charm School for Girls. Boy do those ladies know how to look fabulous! I’m not used to applying my lipstick before breakfast: good thing I brought spares.

The week was pretty much spent hanging out with gorgeous lovely people wearing vintage clothing, and seeing wonderful ’40s and ’50s style bands, doing lots of walking, admiring amazing cars (more than I’ve ever seen before) and eating and drinking. Dreamy, huh? We were also staying opposite the beach but despite good intentions I didn’t manage to take that long walk along the shore: it served as a beautiful backdrop to all the action.

Soon into the week it was my birthday, so as a treat Candice did my make up and Chrissy from the Lindy Charm School did my hair: the result is my new avatar, I like it so much – of course, now I’m going to have to try harder to have glamourous hair more often, as it makes a big difference.

Highlights were the Circa swimwear parade and the ’50s style Cake Bake – here is a small selection of my pics of the week. Hope it gives you a bit of an idea of how much fun it was, and how much I’m looking forward to the next one.

As always, click on each image to see in full – and if you’d like to see more of my car pics, see Candice’s blog “Super Kawaii Mama” or more of my Cake Bake pics or some pics of the swimwear parade – see my previous post with images from the Goldcoast Bulletin.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped with Circa’s swimwear parade too:
- The wonderful models: Sandy, Nicole, Laura, Candice, Tamara, Beverley, Izzy, Jasmine, Chrissy, Kesenya and Alannah (aged four).
- The gorgeous backstage team: Carly (hair and dressing), Nicole and Jodie (dressing), Ray (music).
- The fabulous Scott Baker for being the best MC and doing improvised Elvis moves when we had a bit of a backstage kerfuffle (can’t wait to see the video).
- The Circa team who repaired and restored and got everything ready: Esther, Victoria, Fiona and Marianne.
- The glamourous ladies of the Lindy Charm School for inviting Circa and helping us get it all together.
- and last but not least: the wonderful Wintersun audience for being there and being a part of it all. Thank you all!

UPDATE: Candice has edited this wonderful video of the swimwear parade – you can see it here!

All three of the July and August Melbourne workshops by the Lindy Charm School for Girls have sold out and now – by popular demand – a fourth one is now scheduled for September. I’m impressed that there are so many of us who wish to learn how to do vintage hair and make up styles!

What: The Lindy Charm School for Girls
Where: The Library, Father Flanagans – 484 Smith Street Collingwood (cnr Alexandra Parade)
When: Saturday 11th September from 1pm to 4pm.
Cost: $60.
Bookings: email Christine@marinaoceanus.com.au or phone 0409 727 888.

Click on the image to see in rather large full and readable detail.

Chrissy, the Principal of the Lindy Charm School did my hair in 1940s style whilst we were up at Wintersun recently – if you sneak a peak at my profile pic (on the right) you can see an example of her art.

Update: second workshop announced
September 11th is booked out but there are vacancies for Sunday September 12th.

A new vintage fair is now happening in Geelong at the Nash Hotel, on the first Saturday of each month.

Lots of stall holders selling Vintage Mens, Womens Clothing and Accessories, Soul DJ’s spinning records, Vintage Giveaways, NASH noodles and delicious South Melbourne market Dim Sims(yum)…plus more!!

What: Frankly My Dear vintage fair
Where: The ‘NASH’ National Hotel, Moorabool st Geelong
When: 11 to 5pm, Saturday 3rd July

Great to see that our regional cousins are being looked after in the vintage department – after all, we all know that some of the best vintage comes from the country!

More information at the Frankly My Dear Facebook page.