Vintage lovers, I spend a certain amount of time online and one of my favourite occupations is in the perusal of blogs – especially those from ladies who like nothing better than to frock up and show the world how fabulous and stylish they are.

Here are some of my favourites:

Alice Jean’s – vintage living in a modern world
Kesenya is a lady from another age, and like me, prefers the pre-1965 world (in most but not all ways). Her blog is an ode to vintage living, complete with handsome husband.

Esme and the laneway.
I love everything about Marianne’s style – from the red and white polka dots to the victory rolls. Mixing vintage with modern, her style is feminine and whimsical.

Fleur de Guerre – diary of a vintage girl
Fleur is based in England – as she puts it, “part-time pinup girl and full-time Forties enthusiast” and her blog is full of great images depicting her glamourous life.

Super Kawaii Mama
Circa’s favourite glamourpuss, Candice updates frequently with fashion, style tips, make-up and hair tutorials as well reflections on life as mother to two (inevitably stylish) young daughters. Like Marianne, Candice mixes real vintage with more modern styles to produce an individual look.

I’m a bit behind with things at the moment – mostly I’ve been in the shop, so there hasn’t been as much time as I like for getting new stock ready, or answering emails or catching up on various things – I still haven’t finished setting up my new stockroom after moving last November.

In the meantime, I thought you might like to see some lovely 1960s photos by John French of Jean Shrimpton – after Twiggy, perhaps the most successful face of English fashion from the elegance of the early ’sixties to the Mod era of Carnaby Street. Personally, I love her fresh face, fine bone structure and thick hair.

Jeannie holds a special place in Australian fashion history – in 1965 she shocked Melbourne society by turning up on Derby Day (during the Spring racing carnival) in a mini dress with no hat, no gloves and no stockings. It was a small thing, and she didn’t intend to ruffle feathers, but it was a big step in our evolving fashion styles.

Apparently she didn’t care much for fashion, and perhaps that’s why she wears clothes so well – she looks as much at home in an evening dress as she does in a simple shift. Aged 67 now, I’m sure she still looks fabulous.

As the decade draws to a close, I thought it might be nice to revisit some of the best frocks of the era. Naturally, they’re all either vintage or vintage inspired – glamour is so often influenced by the Golden years of the 20th century, isn’t it?

The dress that started it all – when Julia Roberts chose a 1982 Valentino frock to accept her Oscar for Erin Brockovich, the power of vintage to impress was there for all to see. Has she ever looked more elegant? Photo credit by Chris Weeks/Getty Images.

Penelope Cruz at the Oscars, 2007 in a glamourous Atelier Versace gown. This one reminds me of Grace Kelly – pulling out all the stops. Photo credit by Sara De Boer/Retna.

Kate Winslet at the Oscars, 2002 in a beautiful gown by Ben de Lisi. I can see Dorothy Lamour in this striking ’40s inspired gown. Photo credit by Tammie Arroyo/Retna.

Emma Watson at the London premiere of “Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince” in 2009. Original ’70s dress by Ossie Clark, it still looked fabulous when she got drenched in the rain on the red carpet. Photo credit by James Veysey/Camera Press/Retna.

Keira Knightley in “Atonement” 2007, wearing the fabulous emerald silk gown that helped to sway modern brides from fluffy strapless meringues to a more elegant and sexy movie star look inspired by the 1930s.

Sarah Jessica Parker wearing the gown that inspired a generation to seek the perfect vintage frock – in the final TV episode of “Sex and the City” 2004. Although looking very much like a ’50s prom dress, this version was designed by Versace. Photo credit by HBO.

On Saturday, local burlesque star Foxtrot India aka Fiona Hamilton, came to visit us at Circa – her ’50s floral dress caught my eye and I thought you might like to see it too. She bought it at a great little vintage shop at Covent Garden in London, perhaps when she was studying at the London School of Striptease?

Fiona knows how to wear her vintage – she was also one of the models at the recent Circa vintage fashion parade.

I buy a lot of vintage clothing but it’s a special treat to buy it from the original owner – a personal wardrobe reveals a lot about a woman and her life. It holds together with a consistency and is often more than the sum of its parts.

Audrey Hepburn, one of the great beauties and style icons of the 20th century was also the muse of Givenchy and a woman of exceptional grace and elegance. A couple of days ago Kerry Taylor Auctions in London had the privilege of auctioning a collection of her personal gowns.

Covering the decades from the 1950s to the 1970s, they show a continuing sense of elegance. Their simple but feminine shapes effectively convey the woman we knew and loved – and they show how strong her sense of style was despite all the rapid changes of fashions during the late ’60s and early ’70s when she continued to wear the sort of dresses and gowns she wore in the earlier time.

It’s an exceptional collection – here are some highlights:

One of my final tasks for The Book is to write small pieces on the major fashion designers of the 20th century – it’s been both pleasurable and frustrating because I love them so much, it’s a struggle to write only one paragraph. So I’ve been writing three – to do less seems insulting, these men and women have contributed so much to my world of vintage clothing.

Today I considered one of my favourites, the incomparable Elsa Schiaparelli. Not only did she have the good fortune to be operating at a very interesting (and glamourous) time in fashion (the ’20s and ’30s), but she was able to count amongst her many friends some of the most important artists, including Jean Cocteau, Man Ray, Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso.

Schiaparelli collaborated with some of these men, whilst others merely inspired her – and the results were witty and fun, challenging and controversial. Here are some of her most talked about creations…they all date from the late ’30s and I love them all.

When I was fifteen I had that poster of you on my bedroom wall – along with many others of my favourite, Marilyn Monroe.

Since then I’ve read hundreds of books on you (and boy are there a lot). I think I own about fifty or so including the fabulous catalogue of your private possessions, auctioned at Christie’s in 1999. Pity I couldn’t have been there, but it must have been a sad day when people eagerly bid for every small piece of your life from the book you read (and scribbled on) as a five year old to your dog licence (which, I recall, went for an awfully high price).

The clothes of course are my favourites – the glittery red heels you wore in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, the long blue gown you gaffer-taped up so the troops in Korea could see your legs better. The silk souffle piece of nothing you were sewn into, to sing for a President.

Still the greatest – happy birthday wonderful, golden lady. You’ll always be in my heart (and my bookshelf).

I think I’ve recovered from my little passion for Fred Astaire – did you enjoy the clips of him dancing? Poor me, I had to watch through so many to find the right ones to share with you. He was a wonderful man, one of the true old school. It’s a pity that dance isn’t as respected an artform as many others.

It’s back to the near past now – or so it seems as the mid to late 1970s have been influencing fashion quite a bit of late. Here is Jerry Hall, looking glamourous at the height of her modelling fame, dating Bryan Ferry (pre-Mick Jagger) and jetting to exotic locations. These photos are all from a Vogue pattern book, circa 1975 – they reveal how much home sewing has fallen from grace, and how large the market was for dressmaking patterns to be able to afford the sort of budget a shoot like this would need.

One of the great things about this spread is that it clearly shows the different trends of the day – the flowing goddess gowns, the exotically Eastern caftans and the Edwardian influenced romantic white dresses with upswept hair. Jerry’s tall frame suits the styles well and she looks at home amongst the wonderful locations (as well as in the arms of a well dressed man).

As always, click on an image to see in full.

Were we still fortunate enough to have him with us, Fred Astaire would be 110 years old today.

A true gentleman and always immaculately dressed, Fred was an entertainer from the old world – a professional dancer from the age of 6, he sang, danced and acted his way into the hearts of movie lovers around the world during the ’30s to the ’70s.

I once saw him on Parkinson: he sat at the piano and pulled out sheets of music handwritten for him by Ira Gershwin. Many of the songs we now consider “standards” were originally written for Fred to sing – “Night and Day” by Cole Porter, “Top Hat” by Irving Berlin and of course the Gershwin brothers with “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” and others.

We play a lot of Fred’s music at Circa – not bad for a man who claimed that he “couldn’t sing”. By the back door is a life-sized poster of Fred and Ginger Rogers. Every morning I open up, I meet his gleaming eye and glance at Ginger, reclining in his arms – she looks like the luckiest woman in the world. Yep, they sure don’t make them like they used to.

Happy birthday Fred!

Fred and Ginger: Too Hot to Handle (1935).

Fred: Puttin’ On the Ritz (Blue Skies 1946).

This week we’ve been busy at Circa, getting ready for Thursday’s Robert Fritzlaff fashion parade at Como House – Shaping Elegance Salon Show. Circa is styling and providing accessories to accompany the beautiful couture gowns.

Photo courtesy Keith Glennan.

There are two professional models who will be parading – here is Candice DeVille, a.k.a. Super Kawaii Mama doing a little pre-Salon modelling for the press.

Both photos courtesy Jeff Paine.

Especially interesting for students of fashion, is this great video of Mr Fritzlaff designing and making some of the gowns we’ll be seeing.

Tickets are still available, although selling fast – book now on 9827 2500.