Good news, good shoes

Good news, everyone! A couple of the pieces I've made recently are now for sale at the Swell Vintage shop.

Oh, Sailor bracelet

The Sparrow's Pearl necklace

If you want to have a closer look and see the rest of my things, head on over. I hope you like what you see.

Also, I want to talk a bit about shoes. Who doesn't love shoes? If you're one of those shoe loving types, you'll be pleased to hear that Selfridges will soon be home to the world's largest destination for shoes - The Shoe Galleries.




As if that wasn't enough, the other good news is that the very lovely people at Selfridges are offering you the chance to win a whole years supply of shoes! Can you imagine?!

To enter, all you have to do is tell them your shoe story. Do you have a pair of killer boots that never fail to get you noticed? Do you have some simple ballet pumps that have served you well over the years? Tell Selfridges all about them, upload a picture and you could be in for the prize of a lifetime. But you may have to fight me for it...

That's all for now, folks. Until next time...keep watching the shoes.

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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A moment of silence

My post this week isn't about fashion or jewellery, but it is about one of my other great loves.

I love silent films. I really, really do. Since studying film many years ago, the silent genre has always held a special place in my heart...and my DVD collection. My favourite? The Man Who Laughs. If you can get your hands on a copy, I highly recommend it.

So when I got tickets to see The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, one of Alfred Hitchcock's early silent films, at the BFI with a live piano accompaniment, needless to say I was very excited. I had seen this film many years ago, but I don't think I fully appreciated how brilliant and important it was.

Loosely based on the story of Jack the Ripper, The Lodger is quite a thriller - a serial killer known as "The Avenger" is on the loose in London, murdering fair haired women. Around the same time, a mysterious man arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting, looking for a room to rent...could he be "The Avenger"? And is Daisy, their beautiful fair haired daughter, his next victim?

The Lodger arrives...

The Lodger gets close to the beautiful (and not to mention stylish) Daisy

If you haven't seen this film already, you must. And if you can see it with a live piano accompaniment, then all the better.

Anyway, all of this is in aid of the work the BFI National Archive are doing to "Rescue the Hitchcock 9". To quote from their website, curators of the BFI National Archive have identified a collection of films in desperate need of restoration with nine of Alfred Hitchcock's early silent films being the first to seek rescue through the Support the BFI campaign. Hitchcock's nine surviving silent films are among the most important in British cinema history. But decades of wear and tear have left them in urgent need of restoration.

These films are:

The Pleasure Garden (1925)
The Lodger (1926)
The Ring (1927)
Downhill (1927)
Easy Virtue (1927)
The Farmers Wife (1927)
Champagne (1928)
The Manxman (1929)
Blackmail (1929)

The BFI needs our help to bring these rare films back from the brink of destruction and into the digital age so that future generations can watch and enjoy. As a huge Hitchcock fan myself, I'll definitely be sparing a few pounds. Every little helps, so if you can afford to give a little something, anything, then please do.

Visit the dedicated donation page now and help save Hitchock!

Many thanks,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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More from the House of Swell

I'm afraid this is going to be another quickie post, but the good news is I have some pictures to show you. And everyone prefers looking at pictures to reading words, right? Right.

I've been making more new pieces, and I've really been enjoying it. Here are a couple of my favourites:

Don't go chain-ging! This necklace is a beast. It's made from various different vintage chains, adorned with a cheeky vintage faux pearl.


Oh, sailor! This bracelet is made from an old vintage charm, linked on vintage chain and adorned with freshwater pearls.

So what do you think? Feedback is very welcome, as always. The good news is that both of these items will be available to buy through the Swell Vintage shop soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

In other news, there are some exciting things on the horizon for ol' Swell...but more on that soon.

Thanks for reading!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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Making some swell jewellery

I'm afraid this isn't going to be a very long post, but I wanted to show you a little someting.

I haven't made much new jewellery recently. Considering I am a jewellery maker, this might sound a bit strange, but I promise I haven't just been sat around in my pjs watching Poirot...OK, I might have done a little bit of that, but not all the time. Actual promise this time.

In truth, I have been working on my new collection of glasses chains (hopefully coming to the shop in the next couple of months), so jewellery has taken a backseat recently. However, last night I felt inspired for the first time in a little while, so I made this necklace:

So what do you think? Your feedback is so important to me. Sometimes, when I'm locked away in my little room, I worry that no one will like the jewellery I'm making. It's good to know I have lovely friends on the internet that will let me know when I'm doing ok, so please - any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Until next time...

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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

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