guest post: aimee & harriett of bright young twins

Here is a final guest post from one of my favorite blogging duos, Aimee and Harriett of Bright Young Twins. I stumbled upon their beautiful blog quite recently and I found myself going back through the entire archive to see every photo because I was so inspired by their head-to-toe vintage style. These girls are too lovely to be true and their 1910's meets 1920's meets 1930's meets a-dash-of-everything-else makes me swoon every time. If I could see their outfits every single day for the rest of my years I would be a happy lady!

Hello there fabulous, we're Aimee and Harriett and we write a blog called Bright Young Twins together. We blog about our lives, clothes and friends with a handful of bitterness and a heathy amount of swearing. When lovely Ashely asked us to blog with the theme of 'Fancy Fine' we had to put our thinking caps on. We're so grateful for what we have but we live in the rather humble surroundings of East London so 'fancy' is not really a word that describes us, contrary to popular belief!

Fortunately my twenty-first Birthday was just around the corner. I'm not really one for fuss or parties so Harriett, our close friend Erika along with my boyfriend Sam accompanied me to Columbia Road Flower Market and the pub. What's fancier than cider and flowers?

Harriett (above) wears:

Edwardian underdress - Spitalfields Market

Nineteen-sixties shirt (worn underneath) - Anna Bo

Nineteen-sixties crocheted cardigan - Charity shop

Edwardian collar - Spitalfields Market

Vintage Lace up boots - Charity Shop

Socks - Primark

Jewellery - Various charity shops

Aimee wears:

Nineteen-twenties kimono - Flea market in Berlin

Nineteen-forties slip - Beyond Retro (Borrowed from Harriett)

Nineteen-twenties Lapis Lazuli necklace - Graduation Present

Fashionable leprosy Tights - Primark

Vintage faux lizard skin Shoes - Anna Bo

Bangles - Anna Bo

Erika wears:

Nineteen-seventies dress - Anna Bo

Converse

Me and Sam

Those guys bought me so many flowers that I struggled to carry them home! I had an amazing day, the only thing that could have made it better was to have had some missing friends here that are currently away from us.

I'm so lucky to have such banging mates!

STAY COOL KITTENS!

Aimee and Harriett

xxx

guest post: jennifer of sally jane vintage

I'm pleased to share another beautiful guest post, this one from the ridiculously stylish Jennifer of Sally Jane Vintage. Hers was one of the first style blogs I started reading regularly and I've been a huge fan of her impeccable vintage collection ever since. I even wrote her a love note of sorts shortly after starting Fancy Fine, basically my nerdy way of thanking her for being so inspiring to me. I'm happy to be living in the same state as Jennifer because it means we can finally meet up for some vintage hunting!

(wearing: 60s lace shorts & top from Hinesite Vintage, Anthropologie sunglasses, 70s jute market tote, 80s Etienne Aigner flats, Julie Nolan zodiac bracelet)

Hi y’all!  It’s Jennifer here from Sally Jane Vintage filling in for Ashley while she settles in from her cross country move.  That’s one thing I have in common with Ashley after my moves from Alabama to California and from California to Pennsylvania.  I’m so glad Ashley is joining the state of PA since that’s bound to mean finally meeting her in 3D after a couple of years of knowing each other through these here interwebs. 

 

My post today is highlighting another thing Ashley and I have in common and that’s a true love of all things vintage.  I’m spotlighting my very favorite vintage shop in Lancaster today A) so you can have a little peek into this magical vintage world and B) as a not-so-subtle ploy to tempt Ashley into making the trek to Lancaster to see it all for herself (ed. note: totally worked!).  So I put on my most Fancy Fine outfit and headed downtown to snap some photos for you to see. 

 

The shop, Hinesite, is within walking distance of my house which is a dangerous thing for my free time and my wallet.  In my travels I’ve been in vintage shops from Los Angeles to New York, from London to Amsterdam and I’m proud to say that the little town of Lancaster houses one of the best vintage shops I’ve ever seen.  It’s full to the brim with vintage dresses, shoes, bags, jewelry and odds & ends.  I looked through my closet and I can tell you that I have thirteen dresses, three blouses, two jackets and a pair of pant from Hinesite and that’s not counting the winter clothes I have stored in the attic.  Yikes!  After snapping these photos I managed to walk out empty handed, which is a rarity, but I already have a mental list of things to go back and check out; a collection of early 80s new-wave tour t-shirts, a Victorian era chain belt, a 30s silk jumpsuit in the most amazing abstract print and the piles of vintage textiles stacked to the ceiling. 

guest post: hannah metz

Today's guest post comes from the always inspiring Hannah Metz, a hair role model and fellow fan of film photography. Hannah blogs with her husband Landon and it was their beautiful corner of the internet that first planted in my mind the notion of having my own blog. She is one of the sweetest gals I know and wears a sparkly catsuit like no one else.

Hello Fancy Fine readers! I thought I would share with you a little bit about my camera collection. My husband and I have always been snap happy but it wasn't until 2008 that we started playing with film cameras (previously playing solely with webcams, cheap digital cameras and polaroids). This is a mini history of our camera collection!

The Pentax K1000 was our first film camera because it's an incredibly simple manual camera and perfect for film beginners. It's pretty much the camera that your moms, dads, uncles and aunts were toting around on their exotic vacations and graduations. I love this camera, it will forever be my favorite.

The photo above was from our second roll shooting with the Pentax. Our scanner had previously been used only for art purposes and had a smear of pastels that added a bit of (perhaps too much) atmosphere to our photos.

It handles both excessive texture and close crops equally brilliantly.

The second camera we acquired was a Rollei 35 which turned out to be, perhaps, a little too ambitious for our amateur ways. A noble attempt was made...

I'm sorry to say we haven't picked this guy up since 2009!

Our third camera was the ever popular Yaschica T4. We spent a jovial summer with this feller. Our first summer in New York is remembered through his little lens.

The Yaschica makes everything look so smooth and soft!

We dabbled a bit with a disposable camera after both of our T4s mysteriously stopped working. The results were shockingly pleasing!

And finally, just this past month, I received the ever coveted Contax G2 as a gift for our sixth year of marriage! We're still learning the ins and outs of this model but I am already achingly in love with it. It performs best with a flash, which is new for us!

And there you have it! All my camera secrets spilled for you! Do you have a favourite film friend that goes everywhere that you do?

guest post: ale of rosaspina vintage

Here is another beautiful guest post, this one courtesy of the adorable Ale of Rosaspina Vintage. She hales from Turin, a dreamy town in northern Italy, and shares my obsession for romantic dresses made of lace. Ale is an illustrator and a kindred spirit and I hope that someday our paths cross because I'm pretty sure we'd have one hell of a tea party together.

When you asked me to come up with something that was related to Fancy Fine, I thought how much I enjoyed seeing San Francisco through your eyes, the eyes of someone who loves the town and knows lots of secret spots and the prettiest places. So this time I wanted to take you for a walk with me and show you a little bit of my town, Turin. Everyone who travels to Italy goes to Milan, Rome, Florence or Venice, which are all beautiful places but Turin is equally as charming, so I definitely thought it deserved to be shown off! I wore my favorite 40's lace dress just in your honor, as I remember lace is your favorite fabric and it happens to be my favorite too. Isn't it just the best invention ever?