There can be only one...

Woah - this is happening this very weekend! Hands up who else is coming?

Hopefully I'll see you there!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Britain's Next Swell Model

I don't know about you, but I am a total sucker for the whole "Next Top Model" franchise. This years Britain's Next Top Model has definitely been the best season so far - the photoshoots have been more high fashion and, let's be honest, the judges were finally people who we could take seriously!

With my passionate love affair with the Top Model world in mind, I am extremely excited and overjoyed to be involved in Britain's Next Top Model Live, taking place at the London Excel Centre from 22nd-24th October. Not only does the event give you the opportunity to see the model girls up close (who doesn't love staring at models?!), but it also promises fashion, shopping and beauty brilliance.

And for some miraculous reason, the wonderful people at Motorola have invited the lovely Natasha Bailie and I to style the vintage section of what promises to be a pretty incredible catwalk show! We're going to be in great company too, as other stylists include the irresistibly dashing Matthew Zorpas, the beautiful Alize Morand, the stunning Reena Rai of Fashion Daydreams and the gorgeous Jenny of The Style PA. The theme of the show is "geek chic", in tribute to the super cool FLIP OUT phone (remember when I modelled for that? I still can't believe that happened!). The word "fun" doesn't even begin to cover it.

There will be a catwalk show every day of the event, so if you fancy the ultimate fashion weekend, why not come and join us? Not only will you get to see beautiful models in (hopefully) amazing clothes, but you'll also get to see all of us blogger types on the stage! If you're not sure who I am, look for the girl with fear in her eyes as she tries desperately not to cock up or swear...hold on, is "cock" a swear word? This doesn't bode well...

At the moment we're all desperately scrambling about to pull together our looks for the show, but I can exclusively reveal that Natasha will be dressing her model in delightfully quirky 50s chic, and I will be nerding up my model 70s style. If you come back next week, I may even show you a sneaky peak at parts of my outfit...sneakily. For now though, here's a little mood board I pulled together. This shows the kind of style and colour palette I'm going for. The inspiration has definitely been Chloe and the amazing colours that come with autumn.

(Please click the image to see the full size...Blogger is awkward)

So what do you think? Is 70s the way to go? Will you be attending the Britain's Next Top Model event? If you do, PLEASE come and say hello! I will be needing to see as many friendly faces as possible!

Until next time!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

It's hip to be swell

The time has come, my lovely friends! FINALLY I can tell you all about the Motorola photoshoot!

Just over two weeks ago, the other four competition winners and I were brought to the glamorous Holborn Studios in the heart of London for a very hip photoshoot. We were there to be snapped with the brand spanking new Motorola FLIPOUT with MOTOBLUR technology and to generally have fun while pretending to be models for the day.

Stu-stu-studio

The FLIPOUT phone of many colours

The shoot was being styled by the gorgeous Alize Morand and Matthew Zorpas of PR Wonderland. I had met Alize and Matthew before, so it was really nice and comforting to see their friendly smiling faces. They did a cracking job sourcing all sorts of dreamy fashion pieces - colour was definitely the theme!

What a pair of beauties - Alize and Morand

All the colours of the rainbow

The INCREDIBLE Georgie Bee shoes I got to wear

Marc Jacobs ring...don't mind if I do!

Not only was the styling amazing, but the rest of the crew were absolutely outstanding. The make up by Becca Harrison was stunning, the hair by John Birchall was totally insane and the photography by Adam Lawrence was mind blowing. In fact, everyone was wonderfully welcoming and talented. It was such a fun day.

Other winners Sabina and Amy get dolled up by Becca and John

Nic gets snapped by Adam

Anyway, I think I've done enough 'behind-the-scenes' stuff. I think it's time to show you the final products:

Lady in blue

Woman in black

So there we have it! What do you think? I'll be honest with you, my dear readers - I was in a state of absolutely terror throughout the whole shoot. As you can see, I am quite obviously not a model, so doing something like this where I was the focus threw my far, far away from my comfort zone. However, I am really pleased with how the photos have come out, and I think it's a testament to how talented all the people behind the scenes are.

I want to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone involved for an amazing day and for giving me this experience. I also want to say special thanks to the gorgeous Nik Thakkar and Milly Hill of JCPR for organising the whole thing and making it so much fun. It's definitely something I will never forget!

To see photos of the other winners, as well as some extra bits about the brilliant FLIPOUT phone, visit http://www.motorolasquare.com/.

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

Blogger love, actually

On Friday I had the distinct pleasure and joy of meeting up with roughly 20 of my closest blogger friends at The Drunken Monkey in Shoreditch. I know it may sound a little strange to have blogger friends to some people, but I believe we have to accept that in this day and age the online world is fast becoming the key place to connect with others. Twitter in particular has introduced me to so many wonderful people that I am extremely proud to now call my friends, and I hope it continues to.

Dim sum was nommed, cocktails were drunk and good chats were in abundance. In short, it was an awesomely fun night. Here's the proof:

My one true love, Natasha Bailie, and I


The lovely Katie of London Plinth, Fiona of Save Our Shoes and Natasha


Alex of Alex Loves, Kate of The Fabric of my Life and Lira Leirner of The Portmanteau


Fiona and the beautiful brain behind Style East


The gorgeous Reena of Fashion Daydreams and I


Maria of mediacation, Mariana of Sketchbook Magazine, Kb of I Want You to Know and the dashing Nik of mediacation

It was geniunely a pleasure to spend the evening in the company of so many brilliant people, and I can't wait for the next opportunity to eat, drink and be merry with them all again. See you there?

In other news, the Motorola shoot went well! I've got behind-the-scenes photos, but I think it'll be better to wait for the final shots...tune in next week if you fancy a look!

Until next time...

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

Phone-a-face

Apologies for the quickie nature of this post. I hope you don't feel cheap or used at all.

I just wanted to say a HUGE "thank you" to everyone who voted for my face in the Motorola #hip2bsquare competition. Turns out I am one of the five lucky winners, and my photoshoot is taking place this very weekend - eeekk! Between you and I, because you're a good friend of mine, I'm absolutely terrified! I'm not a model by ANY stretch of the imagination, but I think the whole experience will be a lot of fun. Please cross your pretty fingers for me?! I'll need all the luck I can get!

Here's the sexy new Motorola phone that my face will soon be associated with:

Photo courtesy of Motorola

If you're nosey or bored on Saturday, you can see how the shoot is going by following me on Twitter (@swellvintage). While you're there, you should also follow the fabulous brains and stylists behind the whole shoot - Nik Thakkar (@nikthakkar), Matthew Zorpas (@prwonderland) and Alize Morand (@alizemorand).

In other news, I'm also very excited to be attending a brilliant blogger meet up on Friday, kindly organised by my dear friend Fiona of Save Our Shoes. I will be taking lots of pictures for your viewing pleasure. Hopefully I shall see you there, lovely ladies and gents!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Swell Vintage loves Oxfam

As any vintage lover will tell you, one of the best places to bag an old school bargain is a charity shop. London is home of some of the UK's very best, and I am extremely fortunate to live just around the corner from the increasingly popular and highly praised Oxfam in Dalston.

One of the things I love about Oxfam Dalston is that it has a unique identity despite being part of a "chain", which embraces and celebrates the surrounding Hackney community and its residents. So when they kindly offered me the opportunity to put together an exhibition for their coveted front window space, needless to say I hopped, skipped and jumped at the chance. I'll be putting up my exhibition bright and early on Monday 28th June.

Oxfam Dalston has had some awesome window displays as of late, including an absolutely cracking one from the visual merchandising girls of Harrods:

Photo courtesy of Dalson Oxfam's blog

The pressure is on, so for the theme I've decided to stick to what I know - vintage. To give the window a sexier, more stylish feel, I'm going with a Mad Men inspired look (no Joan-shaped mannequins I'm afraid though. Sigh...).

Not only will the exhibition feature a couple of official one-of-a-kind Swell Vintage jewellery pieces, but it will also include some very kind donations from some of my favourite vintage sellers - the love of my life, Natasha Bailie, the ever so wonderful Retro Chick and the very brilliant Love Miss Daisy. If you're in the market for some high quality vintage, check out their shops right now! You won't be disappointed.

Today Kevin, one of the brains behind the Dalston Oxfam operation, kindly let me into the basement of the shop to have a rummage through the stock to pick out any extra items I'd like to use. It was absolutely incredible down there! A veritable Aladdin's cave of treasures and wonderment, filled with every possible time of donation you could ever imagine. I don't want to ruin the surprise of what my exhibition will look like, but here are a few photos from behind the scenes to give you a sneaky peek:

Some of the lovely donations from Natasha Bailie and Retro Chick.

Found in the basement - a mint condition men's Christian Dior trench coat

Bargainous brogue beauties

A gorgeous Yves Saint Laurent suit!

A little something I'm putting together...

That's all you're getting for now, folks! Like a drug pusher, the first taste is free, but you'll have to wait till the big day to see more! If you live in London, I highly recommend you pop into Dalston Oxfam. There are so many more gems in there at insanely low prices! Not only that, but the staff are lovely too. What more could you ask?

In other news, you know that Motorola competition I mentioned in my last post? Well, in a moment of pure insanity I decided to enter! If you have a spare couple of seconds, I'd be extremely grateful if you could vote for my geeky face. I doubt I'll win, but it's worth a go!

Thank you for reading, and hopefully I'll see you on 28th June!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x

Jewellery loving

As a "jewellery maker", it's always nice to observe the work of other people who are far more talented than myself! Earlier this week I was lucky enough to attend an event at EC One, a gorgeous jewellery boutique on Exmouth Market, to celebrate the fine work of Nicholas King and Fiona Paxton.


Apologies for my terrible photos! In my defence, I don't think I could capture the true beauty of their pieces on film anyway...and yes, I'm a terrible suck up. Both Nicholas King and Fiona Paxton have such bold styles, but each brings a totally different flavour to their work.

King's chunky cuffs have been published all over the place, and it's easy to see why! This Diamante Knot Cuff is absolutely huge, and is totally worth the extra weight.

Image courtesy of ECOne.co.uk

My dear friend Fiona of Save Our Shoes even treated herself to these rave-tastic bangles. The lovely lady from EC One assured us they also glow under black light - what more could you want for your wrists?


Fiona Paxton's jewellery evoke a strong glamazon-warrior feel that would make any outfit a show-stopper. Needless to say I was ever so jealous of Dolly, the shop's mannequin for getting to wear one!


Not only was the jewellery gorgeous, but I also had the pleasure to meet long-time Twitter buddy Alex of Alex Loves in the three-dimensional flesh! Meeting Twitter friends can be somewhat daunting at times, but Alex is just as charming and lovely in real life as she is online. If you haven't read her brilliant blog yet, I highly recommend that you do. You will fall in love with the things she loves!

The lovely Alex

In other news, my dear friends at Motorola are currently running a fantastic competition to find the new face for their super cool new phone, the Motorola FLIPOUT™ with MOTOBLUR™ technology! The theme is "Hip to be Square", so if you think you've got the perfect geek-chic style to front their campain, head over to www.motorolasquare.com and upload your photo right now! The public will judge the hippest, squarest and best photographs, and the selected winners will become one of the faces of the very hip and square Motorola FLIPOUT. The photoshoot will be styled by some pretty amazing bloggers (names to be revealed soooon), so it should be a lot of fun.

That's all for now, folks! I have something VERY exciting to tell you soon, so watch this space.

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

x