Swell bloggers

This week I had the absolute pleasure of being invited to the Motorola Fashion Blogger dinner. Organised by the wonderful Nik Thakkar and Fiona of Save Our Shoes, the dinner was a fantastic opportunity to meet fellow bloggers and learn more about how Motorola technology can help improve social networking.

Although it was lovely to hang out with my good friends Fiona of Save Our Shoes, Reena of Fashion Daydreams, Sarah of The Enchanted Hunters and Jenny of The Style PA, it was also really nice to meet new people and put some faces to blogger names! Maria (aka Ruby Cadillac), Alize of Alize Morand, Steve Salter of Style Salvage and Matthew from PR Wonderland are all very lovely and friendly.

Here are some photos from the evening:

Fiona of Save Our Shoes and Sarah of The Enchanted Hunters

Bloggers and Fraser King, a product developer for Motorola

Blogger chatter

Maria (aka Ruby Cadillac) and a lovely lady from Motorola

Reena of Fashion Daydreams and I

As part of my Polaroid heart project (more on that sooooon), I also took a couple of Polaroids. Totally worth lugging that beast of a camera out for!

Sarah of The Enchanted Hunters, Reena of Fashion Daydreams and Fiona of Save Our Shoes

All of the above, plus me and Jenny of The Style PA

I had such a fun night, and I look forward to future meet ups. I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to Nik, Fiona and all of the Motorola team for a lovely dinner and an excellent night!

In other news, Swell Vintage jewellery is now officially for sale over in Sweden! I'm ever so excited. Visit the Fanny & Magdalena Kellerman Vintage & Mint boutique blog for more information.

That's all for now.

Many thanks,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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The Swell Family album

Oh my goodness, it's been a while! Apologies for the unprecedented absense. Life just gets in the way sometimes, you know?

I've blogged about my family before, but now I want to share some of my favourite family photos with you. I've wanted to do this post for SUCH a long time, and I'm feeling extra nostalgic today. I am very proud of my family, and I am especially proud of my English/Egyptian/Italian heritage. My age-defying Nana and my Mother have always been a huge inspiration to me. Both of them modelled when they were younger, and both them were (and actually, still are) incredibly beautiful. Not only that, but when I was looking back through these photos, I was struck by the incredible fashions of the time and how many of them can still be found on the catwalks today. There are so many people out there who desperately try to emulate these looks, but back then it all came very naturally to my Mum and Nana. It was just a part of who they were.

Here are a few of my vintage family photos, including some of my favourite looks:

My Nana
Despite having Italian parents, my Nana grew up in Egypt. It's no wonder she caught the eye of my Granddad, son of the famous Egyptian actor Abbas Fares. I absolutely adore these photos, and amazingly she still looks gorgeous and young today at 80 years old!

No, that's not Rita Hayworth - that's my Nana! I love the cheeky hint of nautical glamour here - perfect for spring/summer 10!

No, that's not Raquel Welch - that's my Nana! Long gold chains are huge at the moment, just as they were then.

Classic vintage style and beauty. I think it's time to dig the heated rollers out!

Looking every inch the exotic beauty. And this was in the days before photoshop! Look at that skin...sigh.

My Mum
She tends to down-play her modelling past, but the fact is my Mum looks amazing in all of her photographs. She worked on Carnaby Street in the Sixties, where she used to do the charts for Music Week - can you get much cooler than that?! I have so many amazing photos of her, but these are my ultimate favourites.

Bond-girl chic with bow detailing - what a stunner. The metallic bikini makes for a hot poolside look. My Mum proves that you don't have to be skin and bones to model swimwear. She's got hips, and she's not afraid to use them. As Tyra would say, she's modelling "H to T" (look at that pointed toe!).

Fresh faced and fancy-free. Is that a jumpsuit, I spy? I've loved to have a good feel of that fabric...looks interesting to say the least!

This is my Mum with my step-grandmother, Bobbie (she was also an amazing person. I miss you, Bobbie!). Hello, statement jacket! Look at that sequin detailing. You can find jackets like this in Topshop and other high street shops for around £100, but this is the real deal. If she's thrown this away, I will be seriously upset...


Big hat - check. Seventies fur trim - check. Patent leather handbag - check. Can you think of a more perfect look for Autumn/Winter 10?


Now this isn't really a look that I would personally wear - in fact, my Mum herself always cringes at this photo - but to me, this photo is all about individuality. Fashion should be about experimenting and trying different looks that are unique to you, and that is exactly what my Mum is doing here. Be brave and create some fashion memories of your very own!

Last but not least, I want to show you a couple of photos of my Granddad, Gamal Fares. I met my Granddad when I was only a few months old (he died of cancer shortly after) so I do not remember him, but I am always told that he was a deeply interesting man. I love these photos of him because they show what a stylish man and powerful man he was. My Granddad wasn't always good to the women in his life, but he certainly had a lot of them!

This is my Granddad with Bobbie, who he left my Nana for. You can see glasses like that on men all over East London, but very few of them can wear this look with the same natural style as my Granddad. Look how enamoured Bobbie was with him in this photo. It's amazing how a photograph can capture an emotion like that.

This is a photo of my Mum, Granddad and his mistress! No word of a lie! Shockingly, there are a number of photos like this mixed in with our family collection. I wonder how Bobbie felt about that! That being said, look at the print his mistress is wearing - with bold prints being huge this season, that outfit wouldn't look out of place on the high street.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed the Swell Family album! Would you like to see more? Just let me know and I might do another post. In other news, I've been beavering away to make more glasses chains, so expect to see a post on that soon.

Until then, have a lovely long weekend!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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Swell spectacle

You may not know this (or even care to know this), but I do in fact wear glasses. I'm horribly short sighted, and it's definitely getting worse. For the past year or so, I've been in massive denile about my apalling eyesight, insisting that I only need to wear my glasses at the cinema or when looking at presentations.

I think it's because glasses are annoying to carry around, and most of the time I forget them. This has lead to a new idea for Swell Vintage - glasses chains! Although glasses chains are normally associated with librarians and - let's be honest - the elderly, I don't think they have to be mumsy or cheap looking as they so often are.




This is my prototype! It's made with vintage chain and adorned with freshwater pearls. I'm planning on doing a whole range, using different vintage chains to create one-of-a-kind designs.

So what do you think? Do you think it's a bit too old lady-esque, or is it something you'd considering wearing? I'd love to know what you think, so please let me know - all feedback is welcome, good and bad!

In other news, I was recently interviewed by the wonderful people at DEER BRAINS. If you fancy a read, hop over to their brilliant blog.

That's all for now, folks!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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Swell spring

Hello everyone!

How are you? Did you have a lovely Easter holiday?

I spent my Bank Holiday Monday beavering away, making some new pieces that I'd love your feedback on:


Apologies for my terrible photography! This necklace is made from a vintage brooch, tweaked and altered with vintage faux pearls, hung on vintage chain with freshwater pearls. It took a looooong time to link all of those pearls individually on sterling silver wire, although it was a labour of love!

This is one of my simpler necklaces, made from a vintage pendant and hung on vintage chain with freshwater pearls.



This necklace is made from a vintage brooch, mounted on a vintage brass locket and linked with vintage chain and freshwater pearls.


So what do you think? These pieces are part of my collection for Fru & Fröken Kellerman, a wonderful boutique in Stockholm, Sweden. I love to hear your thoughts, so please let me know!

Also, I know have one of those Formspring account thingies. If you don't know already, Formspring allows you to ask questions anonymously (or you can be named - it's up to you). You can ask me anything! Just hop on over to the Swell Vintage Formspring profile page.

Anyway, that's enough for one evening. Have a good week, lovely people!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell family

I'm back!

Apologies for the impromptu break, but I had a very good reason...

Over the last few months, my family and I have been planning a HUGE surprise for my Nana's 80th birthday. My Nana is a brilliantly wonderful and sweet woman, but she is also incredibly modest. When asked what she'd like to do for her birthday, she replied without hesitation, "Nothing. And if you plan anything, I'll kill you."

Undeterred by the (hopefully) light-hearted death threat, we continued with our sneaky birthday planning. My Nana, Aunty, Uncle and three of my little cousins all live in the south of Spain. While we visit when we can, it doesn't happen often, so we knew she'd never expect the British contingent of our family to be there for her big day!

It's always hard to know what to give someone for such a milestone of a birthday. I knew that other family members were planning photo albums and other personal gifts, so I was thrown for a while. "Why don't you make her a necklace?" my Mum suggested.

It took a lot of planning on my part, because I wanted to make my Nana something as beautiful and unique as she is, but she doesn't really like the vintage style. This is the first piece of jewellery I've ever made that contains no vintage or antique parts, but I'm still pretty pleased with how it turned out:


The 'Mirella' necklace is made from freshwater pearls, individually linked with sterling silver and adorned with a nice big swarovski crystal. I wanted to do something a bit different from just pearls, as they can look quite aging and samey.

Luckily, my Nana loved it and she looked absolutely stunning:

She doesn't look 80, does she?! Fingers crossed I've inherited these good genes!

So what do you think of the necklace? Do you prefer a more vintage style, or should I expand Swell to include new styles? I'd love to know what you think.

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell break

Swell Vintage is taking some time out...

(Times, they are a-changing - available at www.swell-vintage.com)

...but I'll be back soon!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell Sweden

I've mentioned Fru & Fröken Kellerman in past blog posts, but I think it's time to go into a bit more detail...

The lovely Fanny of Fru & Fröken Kellerman, a new boutique in the stunning city of Stockholm, got in touch a little while back to ask about selling some of my jewellery. Of course, I jumped over the moon and back at the chance - not just because it's a new stockist, but also because I could tell that Fanny and her talented Mother, who are the brains behind Fru & Fröken Kellerman, share my love and passion for vintage and fashion (hey, that rhymes!).

Fru & Fröken Kellerman is a lifestyle shop that stocks a mix of vintage, vintage-inspired goods and new designs, so I have no doubt that Swell Vintage will fit in perfectly. I've already shown you some of the pieces that will be Sweden-bound soon, but here's my latest one:



The Goddess Locket: a locket necklace made from a vintage brass locket and vintage cameo, hung on vintage faux pearl and brass chain.

So what do you think? Do you like it? I want to make my collection for Fru & Fröken Kellerman really special, so any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated!

If you fancy reading more about Fanny and Fru & Fröken Kellerman, you should pop over to her lovely blog. It's full of lovely things, news and gorgeous fashion!

That's all for now, folks!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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