Long Live Queen Liz!

So I said that I am all busy at the moment preparing for one thing and another, and I did not lie!  I have booked Betty Blue's Loungerie a stall for the forthcoming Jubilee weekend of our dear Queenie.  You may have seen various posts from other bloggers about said particular event.  Well it is with my pleasure, that I am able to tell you I am taking part in:

Victorious Vintage at Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard

Photo courtesy of Hamilton Studios

This fabulous event takes place the Jubilee weekend so that is  2nd and 3rd June 2012, from 10am - 10pm.  There will be music, stalls and lots lots more fun stuff, so if you are a local yocal make sure you come on down!  The Betty Blue's stall will be in the Boutique Market Area and I will be sharing it with the lovely lady at Katie Vale Designs, a fabulous Milliner.  The event is free to get in to so you have no excuses to come and say hello to us!

Photo courtesy of Hamilton Studios

I personally can't wait.  Not only is it an excellent excuse for a tipple (or two or three!) in honour of her maj, I will have the beautiful new Nell Robe in Black IN STOCK!!!  Fresh from my lovely factory!  So you can be one of the first to get your hands on one.  The Nell in Red sold out very quickly in Small, and I have limited stock in Medium and Large, so don't miss out on the Black version!

Also in honour of the event I'm sure I will be doing some kind of promotion or give away, so it really will be a fantastic opportunity to visit the stall and take away some beautiful loungerie!  Make sure you stay tuned here, on my facebook page or on twitter for more details :)

Lots of Love 

Betty xxx

Scary Challenges

This post isn't going to have any pretty pictures so here is a funny picture of my dog, just to keep you all entertained.

Frank often sleeps with his nose all squished like this :)

So May is upon us and how quickly it has come around!  A lot has been happening at Blue's HQ which has panicked me into a frenzy of productivity.  The reason?  Because I have booked myself a photo shoot.

I have booked a session with the fabulous photographer/make up artist/model/creative genius that is known as Morgana.  The model is to be no other than little old me.  The thought totally petrifies me but I have decided to do it for a number of reasons which I will now list to try and convince myself and you that I am doing the right thing.

1)  As a brand on a crowded "Retro Repro Scene" it can be difficult to set oneself apart from others.  There are several pin up models that do the rounds so to speak and you see them being used from company to company.  This is because it is hard to find a really good model that is easy to work with and delivers a version of your vision, so when you find one you tend to use them over and over as you know they won't waste time and money.  Good models are like gold dust!  I ummed and ahhed over model choice and who to use, who hasn't been used by my competitors, a blond, a brunette all that sort of thing but really everyone has been used.  I need a new face, someone who hasn't been used and can crawl inside my brain and know what I want without me having to tell them. I need a mind reader!  At the same time I have had several people tell me I should try doing pin up modelling.  I have been told this by a few people now so I'm starting to think maybe there is something in it, and apparently I have a "vintage" face.  So I had a light bulb moment.  Which leads me to my next point:

2)  In life it is good to scare yourself.  I was once told that it is a good exercise to scare yourself by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.  By pushing yourself you can achieve bigger and better things than you ever imagined.  My first pant wettingly scary thing was to start my own business.  Scary in lots and lots of ways but I did it, and here I am with my own clothing brand.  The though of modelling is a wee bit scary to me.  I have always been a quiet person and would rather sit in the background than be the centre of attention, but that kind of doesn't work when you have a business that involves selling your product to people.  I have had to get over my quietness and approach people and engage with them in order to convince them to part with their hard earned cash.  It also scares me because modelling is actually very hard - well at least modelling well is hard.  Not everyone can do it effortlessly.  It may sound easy to just stand there and look pretty, but there are lots and lots of things to think about.  This leads me on to my third reason to model.

3) As the designer of my garments, I know what I want the images to look like.  Product images can make or break a company.  If you have dodgy models or photography, no matter how good your product is, it can come across as amateur or just plain wrong.  Especially in the lingerie industry there is a very fine line between classy and sleazy.  So it would be perfect for me to model because I know what the garments should look like and I know which design details I want to highlight.

4) The last reason I convinced myself I should be the model is for financial reasons.  I don't have to pay myself if I do it!  Instead I can spend the money on frivolous things like cake and cocktails :-) or sensible things like fabric or manufacturing..........I know which I'll be going with ;-)

The only drawback in my grand master plan is, what if I am really shit?!  I'm hoping this isn't the case as I have looked at lots of inspirational images to prepare myself, observed others in action and done a little bit of practise.  I'm approaching it as I might if I was playing a character in a play.  If I take on another personality of someone confident and pin up like, then I may just pull it off.  If in doubt, fake it!  And I am in good hands.  Morgana has been doing a series of make over shoots and without exception she has made EVERYONE look amazing.  Take a look at her blog for the before and after shots.  And at worse it will just be a fun day dressing up in pretty clothes and having my hair and make up done.  In the words of Dr Pepper, what's the worst that could happen?!

Over to you lot!  Any hints, tips and so forth would be much appreciated :)

And to finish another fun picture of no relevance just because

Kitty did not want me to do a jigsaw, also can I just point out the cheeses of France plate in the background AMAZING!

Love
Betty xxx

Old Lady Hobbies

So this week I have been as busy as a bee sewing up new designs and organising production (whats new!).  I also received a special little sparkly parcel - 50, 000 crystals to be precise - for a beautiful little something for the model Morgana.  You will get to see it very soon as she is doing the product shots for me on this special little number, but I spent the best part of 4 days sparklising it for her.  Now I know how all you Burly girls feel!  I can't wait for the images so I can show you all :-).  So now you are all up to date on Betty Blue's HQ news, on to the frivolous stuff!

I have many an old lady hobby as I have expressed on this blog before.  I think though, that knitting was my first old lady hobby.  I first learnt to knit when I was a little girl, I think I must have been taught it at school or something.  Then I completely forgot about the joys of knitting till two years ago.  On finishing my degree, I suddenly had time on my hands again and went about trying out new hobbies.  Knitting was one and when I was interning in London I did it on the commuter train to pass the time.

I am yet to complete a knitting project, but I am very enthusiastic.  When I learnt that my friend Ellen, of B Millinery, also loves knitting we decided we should have a meet up for a knit and a natter.  It might even help us to finish off some of our knitting projects.  So a date was set and a newbie knitter/crocheter joined in.

Our coooooool knitting bags ;-)

Miss Honey Bear joined us as she wants to learn how to knit and crochet, perfect as Ellen is the Queen of all things knitted.  Our venue was Drink, Shop, Do just around the corner from Kings Cross.

Of course much tea was needed, a vital morale booster, energy giver and thirst quencher.  And what do old ladies like most in the world?  A nice cup of tea!!!

Obviously cake was needed too.

Ellen and I brought some of our knitting patterns and books with us to show Kelly and just generally because we like to geek out over them.  The above book Ellen brought with her which I have not seen before but MUST HAVE.  I am assured they are available on ebay and the likes.  You can just see underneath it the baby blue of my first crocheting attempt.  I am crocheting a snood from a pattern in a book I have on the 1940's I have.

This picture is of Kelly trying to get to grips with crocheting.  I find knitting is a lot easier for beginners as it is more stable to hold and less fiddly, but Kelly is a sewing pro so she attempted crocheting for her first project.  She was going to make a pot stand/trivet, but it turned out a little wonky so she made it into a monsters head, teehee.

We had a great time knitting and crocheting and nattering away (mostly nattering teehee) and all agreed we should do it more often.  Like I said before I have yet to finish a knitting/crochet project so meeting up every once in a while is sure to help us finish off those pesky items.  I have very nearly finished my snood, though not quite, but I will be sure to show you all when I do :).

I think everyone should have a hobby like knitting.  It struck me that knitting a jumper or a cardigan would have been an affordable way for people in the past to get a new outfit.  And if they didn't like that jumper any more or it became an unfashionable shape; just unravel the yarn and start again!  Et voila a new jumper could be made.  Perfect for these ''recessional times''.

Until next time - why not take up a new old lady hobby and tell me about it :)
Betty xxxx

The Crooked Book

Yesterday it was my Mummy's Birthday so whilst on a trip dpwn to Bournemouth to see my sister, we took her out for a lovely cup of tea and light bite to eat.  We took her to my new favourite place, The Crooked Book, in Boscombe.

I first went to The Crooked Book about two weeks ago.  I had heard that Boscombe/Pokesdown was the Vintage quater of Bournemouth so went there with my sister and a couple of her friends.  Them not being as cool as me and not really into Vintagy stuff, I couldn't really explore properly (they stood outside the shop looking all moody and irritable that I was taking so long whilst my sister and I had a nosey).  And I completely forgot to take pictures.  So this time I took pictures to show you all how cool this place is.

I forgot to take a pic of the outside of the shop so here is a picture of me instead, enjoying myself muchly.

The outside of the shop/cafe, providing the weather is good, has vintage chairs and all sorts so it sort of advertises the delights within and also helps you spot it whilst you walk along the street.  It is a short distance down the road from Boscombe's main high street, but totally worth the walk (even if in your heels).

As you walk in you are met by the wondrous sight of vintage furniture and all sorts of crockery and nick nacs.  Oh there was also a sign on the door saying "Dogs Welcome" which makes me very happy and a poster saying "Knit and Natter on a Tuesday" which tickled me and I may nick that saying (I am meeting up with some friends to knit and have a gossip so will now adopt this saying ;-)).

When I grow up, and have my own house, I will furnish it with items from this shop!  I particularly like the 1940's Oak Cabinet in the first picture, the pink sofa in the above second photo and both Kitchen cabinets in the below photo (one in the background you can just see and tall skinny one on the right hand side)

What struck me is how good the prices are in this shop.  For example the two seater pink sofa was £95 and the large Kitchen Dresser was £140 I think or thereabouts.  If this shop/cafe was in London you could add a 1 in front of the £95 at least for the sofa and the Kitchen Dresser I hate to think how much it would be.  There were also lots of 1930's/1940's style mirrors from as little as £12 so if you have a root around you can get some bargains!!

I particularly liked this mock croc 1950's redy brown handbag.  A snip at £18.  But alas I was in sensible mode (and my mother was with me so I felt compelled not to spend any money) so I didn't buy it, something I may regret later!

Down the back of the shop, past the cafe, is the book shop part of the establishment.  Don't you just love the piano!!  I would also buy this for my house should I ever own one.  (Yes I can play it, basics, not just for it to look pretty in my house!).  This is a dream for any book lovers, they have books both old and new on pretty much anything.  My Mum even found a couple of old Patchwork Quilting books which made her day!  The book part doesn't really interest me, and there were some very serious arty book worm types in the cafe which adds to the atmosphere (if not a little intimidating for a book novice like me).  I image the arty types from The Arts Institute at Bournemouth frequent this place, which I incidentally attended when I did my Art Foundation year.  I really wish this place had existed back then as I would have been a regular!

All in all I had a fabulous afternoon there with a nice cup of tea and a bowl of homemade Chickpea and Lemon Soup with a crusty roll.  I just sat there and looked around as there was so much cool stuff to take in.  Now I just need a house so I can buy all the cool stuff and stare at them some more.

The day wasn't entirely a frivolous one spend perusing vintage assortments, I did make a trip to pick up a photo shoot prop I bought on Ebay.

I have been looking for a little Boudoir Chair/Slipper Chair/Tub Chair for a while on Ebay, and when I saw this one it was like fate.  It was the right price and in the right place for collection, the very same town my sister lives in only a few roads away!  So this will be used in an upcoming photo shoot that I have planned.  The lady who sold it to me was very excited that it was going to be used for something exciting like a photo shoot and said her daughters had been practising posing on it a la Banbury Cross, after viewing my website :-).  Even better this will fit nicely in a corner of my bedroom after I have used it in a photo shoot ;-).


Lastly, in other Betty Blue's news, I made a trip to my factory last week to get the ball rolling for production of the (Bestseller!) Nell Robe Black version.  Here is a sneaky peek of the sample.

The Nell Robe in Red sold out very quickly in size Small and I have very limited stock in Medium and Large.  So if you don't want to miss out on the black version, click here to preorder!!!



Lots of Love
Betty xxx

Swiss Handkerchiefs

There isn't much news at Betty Blue's HQ at the moment.  I am busy organising production on the Nell Robe in Black and designing new lovelies for you all, so I don't have much to report to you at the moment.  So to keep this ol' blog going I have found some items that I thought I would show you.

With the death of my Uncle and the subsequent clear out of his house, it has made me reflect rather a lot about my family history.  As my parents met and had children later in life, my Grandparents were that little bit older and so died when I was very young.  On clearing out a few things we found a great big bag of beautiful handkerchiefs.  My Dad's, Dad (my Grandpa) was a Handkerchief salesman when he was alive.  He imported beautiful Swiss handkerchiefs and sold them to various department stores all over the country.  When he died it seemed a shame to throw them all away as they were so beautiful so we kept them.  I have no idea what we are going to do with them all as there are hundreds but each one is so beautiful and intricate it seems a shame to throw them.  I might have a few framed so I can put them up on my office wall as inspiration as they truly are a sight to behold.  I have picked out a few that I particularly like.

This is what I would call a traditional white hankie.  100% cotton, it features a beautiful 'Deco-esque' embroidery on all four corners.  Oh I forgot to mention that I photographed these hankies on a dark background to try and highlight the decorative nature of them as they are mostly white patterns on white hankies so a little hard to photograph well.  They are also A LOT more stunning in person.  I also ironed all the hankies but after years of being folded the lines are somewhat impressed into the fabric.

Another white 100% cotton hankie, this time it has a beautiful lace surround.  I love how the main material of the hankie has been cut away from lace to make a pretty scalloped pattern - a little like my Nell Robe!  It is almost too beautiful to think that anyone would ever blow their nose on it!

This fine cotton hankie has a pretty little Valentines themed embroidery.  I like to think that a smart young gentleman would buy this to give to his Valentine.  That little gold splodge on it is just a little sticker saying that it is a Swiss hankie - original to the hankie of course :-).

I didn't know that hankies could be so cool!  I love the shape of this floral delight and it would go perfectly with a cute 50's summer dress.  Of my collection this is the only one that isn't the traditional square shaped hankie.

This hankie is absolutely stunning in real life.  It is completely covered in a tiny floral embroidery that shows machine embroidery off to its fullest.  I can't imagine anyone actually using these beautiful hankies, maybe ones like this were only used on special occasions like at a wedding.

Please excuse the flash in this photo.  Most of the hankies that I have are white with either a white motif or even a coloured embroidery, so this red hankie was a great find in the collection.  It is a bright red cotton with a beautiful heavy lace around the edges that reminds me of a Guipure lace.  I imagine it would have been more pricey than some of the other hankies.  I have some sets of 4 or 6 hankies pinned to a paper sleeve that still have the price tag on.  The price sticker has £1.45 on it, which I'm not sure if it meant £1.45 for the whole sleeve of hankies or £1.45 individually.  These would have been the price to the shop so they would then have added their margin.  Either way in 1940 these types of hankies would have been a fairly expensive item, and it is easy to see why with the beautiful and delicate embroideries, lace and motifs.

Seeing all these handkerchiefs made me think of lost industries.  As with clothes manufacturing in the UK becoming rarer and rarer, with the invention of disposable tissues a whole industry must have been lost.  These handkerchiefs were all made and embroidered in Switzerland so a whole industry in Switzerland must have all but disappeared.  It's a shame as they are exquisite and unlike tissues, last for years!!  I guess it just reinforces the fact that Betty Blue's Loungerie manufactures in the UK, is a really good thing!  The British garment manufacturing industry is beginning to grow as more and more UK designers make the decision to manufacture here.  Mary Portas would have us believe that she is single handedly bringing back UK manufacturing, but we know better.  Here is a list of awesome companies that make some, if not all of their clothing right here in the British Isles:




Betty Blue's Loungerie (of course!)
Kiss Me Deadly
Ayton Gasson
Made by Niki
Lascivious Lingerie
Lady K Loves
Boo Boo Kitty Couture
Tara Starlet
Miss Fortune

So don't let our garment industry go the way of the Swiss hankie industry!!!  Next time you are in Primarni PUT THE CHEAP TAT DOWN AND WALK AWAY ;-).  Like the pretty Swiss hankies; loungewear, lingerie and outerwear from the above companies will stand the test of time and last a lifetime.  Maybe in 60 or 70 years time your grandchildren will come across your collection of loungerie and find the items as captivating and beautiful as I find my Grandpa's handkerchiefs ;-).



Lots of Love
Betty xxx

Spring/Summer 'Luna' 100% Silk Scarves

Well as promised this blog post is going to reveal some brand spanking new Betty Blue's Loungerie products!!  Thanks so much to everyone who has been so patient in waiting for me to get my act together these past few months.  I am now back and ready to get this show on the road one more time!

The new Betty Blue's Loungerie products are the last two 100% Silk printed (in the UK!) scarves in the Luna series; Spring Ditsy Floral and Summer Daisy.  So to remind you all I will quickly recap on the story of these beautiful silk scarves.

I met Luna de Lovely ooo must be a year and a half to two years ago by chance.  We quickly became friends as we share a lot of hobbies and design inspirations.  When I started up Betty Blue's Loungerie, this UBER talented lady agreed to collaborate with me on a print collection - one of her specialities.  Luna is a songstress, Burlesque artiste, model and freelance print designer on top of having a very prestigious full time job.  In other words she is superwoman! 

The first two prints, as part of an extremely limited edition four print set, were released for Autumn/Winter 2011/2012.  Back in August/September 2011 they were shot along with other items at Tigz Rice Studios and upon my grand opening of business, released.  To remind you here they are:

Autumn Poppies

Winter Rose

There is nothing more luxurious than a silk scarf.  Silk is one of those magic materials, it keeps you cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather.  How?!  I have no idea, but it really is magic :-).  And to remind you how versatile they are here are the product snaps on the lovely Fleur de Guerre.

'Doo - Rag' styley or covering up your rollers

1950's neckerchief styley

These scrumptious scarves are seriously limited edition so I can 99% guarantee that no one else will be seen out and about wearing one of these beauties.  There are only a few left of the Autumn/Winter designs left so snap them up whilst you can!!!!!

So now onto the much anticipated new prints!  As with the last two prints, Luna was inspired by Vintage floral patterns.  The Spring design is a gorgeous ditsy floral in lilacs, corals and greens.  VERY on trend this Spring/Summer!

Spring Ditsy Floral

And to put it into context so you can see how gorgeous it is about the persons, here is Miss Banbury Cross channelling Ms Monroe ;-)

Perfect pastels against alabaster skin!

Draped elegantly against ones skin, one will look oh so irresistible!

And then the final silk scarf in this series, and perhaps my all time favourite, the Summer Daisy print.  Pretty pinks highlighted with a pop of green leaves on a dotty background; stunning!!

Summer Daisy

And again to make you want this baby even more, here is what it looks like on the stunning Banbury Cross

Pretty in Pink - please note that I cannot guarantee that you will look like Banbury ;-)

You may have already seen this one on the Tigz Rice Studios website.  Can't you just imagine yourself cruising down a country lane in a classic convertible car?!  Well I can!!  And what a perfect way to protect your hair from the wind, whilst looking like a movie star!

There you have it my darlings, two brand new products for you.  I know that these may seem slightly on the pricey side, but for 100% silk, printed and made in the UK, limited edition, these are a steal at £70 each!  You only have to go to the scarf hall at Liberties to compare the prices of the many silken lovelies on display, to see how brilliant my price point is!  And to help you see how versatile a little luxurious silk scarf is, I made a little video on my favourite ways to wear a silk scarf.  This video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG2ubMJEAyM 

AND FINALLY I have a special little offer for you all as a little thank you for your support and kindness over the past few months.  All four scarves in the series will have a whopping £20 discount until midday Tuesday 3rd April.  So they are just a minuscule £50 each (plus P&P).  I am working my little socks off today to try and have the website page up with the new scarves added - but just in case it takes me longer than expected, if you would like to reserve your scarf please drop me an e-mail and I can pop your name down so you will definitely get one.  betty@bettybluesloungerie.com *Remember they are SUPER LIMITED EDITION so quickly quickly peeps!*.  The Autumn/Winter scarves have been adjusted already and the price change should show up in your basket.  They can be bought here: http://www.bettybluesloungerie.com/2011/luna.html

Lots of Love
Betty xxx

The big 'C' word

No not the rude one ;-), I mean Cancer.  Things have been a little quiet on my social media front of late.  This is partly due to the fact I have a new phone and have somehow not configured it correctly so can't use Internet based things whilst on the go ie twitter.  But mostly due to the fact I haven't felt up to it.  My Uncle has just recently been diagnosed with terminal Lung Cancer at just 69 years old - doubly heartbreaking as he has never smoked in his life.  One tends to assume that if you don't smoke then you won't get Lung Cancer.  I have tried to blog about it before now but it has turned into a bit of a long rambly self pitying post not really relevant to my business so I spared you all the details.  It was however really helpful just the act of writing down my feelings so I feel that I have now better dealt with the news and can now forget about the sadness and concentrate on just being there for my Uncle.

The whole process has made me realise how little I really know about my family.  My parents met and had children later in life, which was not usual for the time in the 1980's.  As a result of this their parents and my subsequent relatives are that little bit older than usual.  For example, I have no grandparents, the last died when I was 10 years old.  So as I grew older and appreciated them and their stories more, they weren't around to tell me.  With my Uncles imminent passing, it will be the end of one chapter of my life as he is the last of my Dads side of the family that are blood relations.

My Uncle lives in a beautiful old house in East Sussex.  Most of my fond childhood memories are from the times that we visited him and my Grandma at the house, particularly at Christmas and in the Summer.  So for it to suddenly end it has filled me with great sadness.  One of the positives from these past few weeks however has been the discovery of some of my Grandparents furniture that my Uncle has kept.  I have a very rose tinted view of my Nanna as she was the only Grandparent I knew, so to be able to see some of her possessions is really exciting;  Most of her large possessions such as furniture were sold or thrown when she died in 1998 when I was too young to know that I may want them later in my life.  Or so I thought anyway!  Turns out my Uncle had kept them!!  I happened upon a few things whilst I stayed with him a couple of weeks ago, just before he went into hospital.

This is what I like to call her 'Boudoir Couch'.  It is a beautiful dusky pink sofa with a cream pattern all over it.  It has a little wear to one of the arms, but other than that is in completely pristine condition.  It is super soft as well, I imagine it is feather filled rather than foam.  But it reminds me of beautiful 40's stars reclining in fluffy robes........hmmmm may have to borrow this so it can appear as a photo shoot prop in the future ;-)

Excuse the sofa, radiator and bed in this picture!  This dresser and wardrobe belonged to my Nanna and Grandpa.  It was their bedroom suite that they bought in 1939 the year they got married.  My Dad believes that it may have been WW2 Utility Furniture which would fit in with the date of their marriage.  My Dad also thinks that the stool in this pic was my Nanna's although it may have since been reupholstered.

I closed the curtains here to show you the depth of colour this furniture has.  Again speculation, but my Dad seems to think it is Walnut veneer on ply wood.  Whatever it is, I think it is pretty :-).  Oh and it wouldn't surprise me if the vase of silk flowers and the table lamp were my Grandparents too.

The wardrobe is a little tatty inside and it does seem a little unsteady, but this is well used furniture (my Uncle runs a B&B and this is in one of the guest rooms).  The other door which is open but cannot be seen has a full length mirror on it, ever so handy to check ones outfit full length!

I have to say this is my favourite piece, the dresser.  It looks to me the perfect size to hold and store ones beauty items.  I love the fact that my Nanna would sit with this very glamorous dresser and perfect her pin curls!

Another view for you.  It is nice to know that these items are still in the family and not either chopped up for fire wood or sold/thrown away.  Whilst I was there I did take the opportunity to have my photo taken with these items for a new product I shall be popping up on my website soon.  I wasn't sure if I liked the photos though as the product wasn't that visible - I was taking the photos myself using a tripod, the self timer and trying to pose at the same time haha, but we shall see!

The final item that was my Grandparents was the matching bed surround.  It isn't in its original form which is a shame, but it has a lovely story to its current form.  The bedhead was quite large and bulky, so my Grandpa took it apart.  He moved the foot panel to become the bedhead and used the wood from the large head to create two bedside tables.  Et voila!

Anyway I could go on and on about this furniture as I love it so much, but I shall save you the rambling.  All I have left to say this post is, talk to your relatives whilst they are around and able to respond.  I feel a great sadness that I don't know much about my Grandparents, or my Uncle really.  I know the little that I remember and what my Dad can tell me, but my Uncle is now too weak to hold a conversation of any great length.  So there are probably lots of things I will never know about him or his parents.

I hope to add some new products in the next few weeks, but this is dependant on my Uncle's condition.  But either way I shall keep you all updated :-)

Betty xxx