Sixties Brit brand Biba was originally founded by Barbara Hulanicki in 1964. It became hugely popular with its Kensington department store selling everything from fashion to home furnishings and more. Biba played a key role in classifying London as the most fashionable city in the world during the seventies. The store attracted many celebrity customers including Mick and Bianca Jagger, Twiggy, Yoko Ono, Bridgitte Bardot and Raquel Welch. The store were an amazing retail environment that combined Art Decco, Noveau, Victoriana and the golden age of Hollywood. Unfortunately in 1975, the store closed down.In 2006, much to our delight, Biba relaunched at London Fashion Week. The new label has a modern look but still holds onto the bold and innovative design that was it signature back in the days. Biba is distinctly British and manages to combine the legendary rock and roll spirit of its heyday with present day style.The Spring Summer 08 Biba collection is gorgeous. Here are some of my favourites:

This summer one of the best looks for the office or the evening is the Tuxedo. Our old favourite the Tuxedo put in an appearance at Dior by John Galliano and Lanvin. The Tuxedo is fast becoming the new power dressing for this season. The look reminds me of a woman wearing their boyfriends Tuxedo but has a slightly more feminine edge with slim cut trousers and killer heels.

The tuxedo is a man’s dress jacket in a formal or semi formal style. A traditional tuxedo jacket is woollen and single-breasted. The jacket has peaked, shawl, notch, or trick lapels (which includes Mandarin and other non-conventional styles). It is traditionally covered with satin, and more modern styles are trimmed in wool.  I love wearing a Tuxedo for the evening and like to think of it as the little black dress of ladies suits, versatile and classic. Mens formal evening accessories are also hot this summer including  bow ties, cummerbunds and dress shirts.

Yves St Laurent pioneered this look when in 1962 his new label changed the way that women dressed by introducing mannish trouser suits and tuxedo’s. Yves St Laurent kept a feminine side to this androdynous look by adding billowy blouses and brightly coloured gowns. This look has since been copied numerous times and guess what its back again.

Tuxedo Suit by YSL Rive Gauche S/S 2003

This red bow tie makes a great accessory to brighten up a black dress for an evening out.

Everyone’s wearing vintage style from the girl on the high street to A list celebrities. Even high street shops are now following suit with their own ranges of vintage inspired clothes. But why is vintage clothing so popular and how can you get the vintage look?

I love vintage because of it’s individuality. The range of clothing on the high street almost always follows the seasons trends. You are much less likely to see someone wearing the same or a similar outfit if you wear vintage clothing. I like to use one key piece of vintage clothing or an accessory to make an outfit bought on the high street special.  I also love vintage clothing because of the beautiful , delicate and detailed ladylike styles that can be found . Many vintage clothes lovers have a keen interest in the history of fashion and finding vintage clothing is an interesting hobby. Key looks such as 1940’s Dior New Look frequently inspire designer and high street main stream collections and those who wear vintage clothing have the benefit of wearing the ‘real thing’. The beauty of vintage clothing is often in the quality of the garment.

 The celebs are all wearing vintage but with its huge popularity comes a huge price tag. Really beautifully kept genuine vintage pieces are usually fairly expensive. If you would like to try a bit of vintage style but don’t have the time to rummage or can’t afford the real thing, try some of the great vintage style clothes that are available like this Vintage Posy Linen Skirt.

Court of French silk, brocaded with gold and coloured threads dates from around 1770, during the reign of King George III

Corset about 1900

Evening dress 1920’s

 pictures from fashionmuseum.co.uk

Last week in an attempt to amuse the children (and myself) during half term, I decided to visit the fashion museum in Bath. We had a great time and found it really interesting to see the ladies fashion through the ages. Some of the historical clothes looked very uncomfortable and extremely impractical particularly the corsets and the court dress which was so wide, I cannot see how they could fit through the doorway- perhaps they shuffled sideways. In fact in terms of wearable, practical and comfortable clothes, ladies fashion has reached an all time high.

There were some very beautiful dresses and my favourite was the twenties style beaded dresses. The intricate beading was really beautiful and I really love the dropped waist style, as it is so easy to wear. This look is currently having a bit of a revival and I have seen it around quite a bit with some really lovely beading. One of my favourite beaded piece is this gorgeous Hamish Morrow Beaded Tank Top, perfect for a glamorous summer parties.