Ms Frangipani Presents.....: Sydney Life #1

Me and vintage go wayyyyyyy back.Back before op-shopping was cool and vintage was everywhere.Back before all the shops in Newtown raised their prices ridiculously and everyone was into sustainable fashion.

Mama Frangipani is an avid lover of all the old classic films and film stars.Papa Barchen's all time favourite actor is James Dean and his fave movie Rebel Without a Cause.I grew up with several very camp,gay Uncles who would lend Mama F 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane' , 'Victor Victoria', 'The King & I', 'West Side Story' (Mama's 2 favourite films) and we would watch them on the weekends curled up on the sofa.Oh and on video of course as it was the 80's.I had the hugest crush on Ms Marilyn Monroe (and She Ra and her purple friend.) Mama and I watched a telemovie of Marilyn's life and I think seeing her tragic story and vulnerability made me fall in love with her there and then.Even at such a young age I was a sucker for a tragic love story (The original Little Mermaid was my my favourite fairy tale growing up) and till this day I remember vividly the scene of her all alone with her pills,just wanting to be loved.

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane

Anyways,in happier subjects I fell in love with not only the beautiful women,but the gorgeous dresses, make up and shoes of that era too.In fact I managed to find a vintage reproduction Handfasting dress that was a cross between Marilyn's/Jane Russells 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' wedding dress and Grace Kelly's 'Rear Window' dress,but that's a post for another time.

Les Miserables,Phantom of the Opera and other musicals would blast from our cassette player while Mama cooked on the weekends.Thinking about it now,there were concepts that were probably too advanced for a child.I remember my Mama trying to explain to me what a whore was when I 'Lovely Ladies' came on one time.

I was obsessed with Les Mis and Phantom and devoured them in all forms when I was a kid - the musicals,all the different film versions and the children's versions of the books till I grew old enough to read the actual novels myself.

When I started earning my own $$$ in high school,weekends off were spent trawling through Newtown's King St,Glebe Markets and an old favourite,Mister Stinky's although it seems to have become more of a costume hire shop now as opposed to the treasure trove of awesome vintage-second hand clothes it used to be.

All in all I was a camp,female loving,vintage adoring,semi goth weirdo bookworm as a kid.And that's pretty much continued all my life. (Side note:I thought Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers were married when I was young - like 7 or 8 years old.I was absolutely devastated when I found out they weren't)

Although,I only recently really started indulging in dressing how I wanted as vintage is very few and far between in fat sizes and only the last few years or so have the vintage reproduction companies cottoned on to the fact that we fat chicks not only LOVE vintage stylings but they are very flattering to our figures.Although at $90 upwards a pop,my wardrobe has to accommodate for modern fashion too :( LE sigh.

Anyways,I've digressed a whole heap.The point is anything retro - vintage and I'm there.So when the Princess texted me to say there was a Vintage Fair on at Redfern,we were there!

We went on the last day,which was a Sunday.Unfortunately I went home empty handed,possibly because all the good stuff was gone already,or because vintage plus size is very slim pickings.Oh and everything I did like was wayyyyyyy outta my budget ($200 necklace anyone?) The Princess did pick up an awesome vintage PINK trunk.Collecting vintage trunks is her 'thing' and she even hauled a few over from her 3 year stint of living in the UK.Oh,and the pink trunk features in this post.

I still had an awesome time browsing the stalls,watching the fashion shows,lusting over the cars and dresses,people watching and virtual shopping all the things that were out of my budget/size range.

The lovely Nora of Nora Finds

I didn't remember the names of everyone else,except Emma as I know her from her blog.If anyone knows who these lovely ladies and gents are please let me know so I can link back to them,if they have blogs/websites/businesses.