retro Archives - She and Hem

The Simple Life l Dungarees and Denim Dress

Posted on 13 September, 2019 by She and Hem — No Comments ↓

In 2014 The Guardian stated ‘Dungarees are not something you’re going to wear every day‘. HOW WRONG THEY WERE! I (Victoria) am a long time dungarees fan (evidence) (more evidence). I feel so comfortable in them, much more so than jeans. They are my happy place and if I didn’t think people would call me odd, I would wear them everyday. I know that Jo loves them too and we’ve often unintentionally (and intentionally – here) worn them at the same time. See, we genuinely love them, so on this occasion, sorry Guardian, but you’ve got it wrong.

The Dungarees

My pair of choice at the moment are these Bleecker Indigo Stretch Denim Dugarees* from She and Hem go to gals, Joanie Clothing. On first wear, I felt like I’d stepped back in time to the 1970’s thanks to their retro fit and wide leg. Groovy. Although I do find dungarees quite flattering for my body shape anyway, I have to say I think these looked particularly good due to the hint of stretch around the waist. I am SO here for that.

The Breton Strip Knit

I couldn’t resist getting my hands on the Brittany Breton Stripe Jumper in black. I’ll admit, I do have a few similar stripy jumpers, but I get so much wear out of them thanks to their versatility. The style and colours of this jumper go with almost anything, which I think is the reason why I find myself leaning away from ordering the more novelty jumpers that I used to be all over. Maybe I’m finally growing up.

The Denim Dress

Doesn’t Jo look blooming marvellous in the this Berlin Belted Denim Shirt Dress*, also from Joanie? In an ingenious move, she swapped up the retro buckle belt for a cute thin red one to break up the denim and styled it with her trusty pink Vans*. She’s 100% a style icon for any pregnant ladies out there. If you are a Mama to be, Jo has featured lots of great looks on our Instagram too. This denim dress will never go out of style, so I’ll expect she’ll be wearing it for many months to come thanks to it’s button down top – perfect for breastfeeding her new arrival.

Thank so much to Joanie for hooking us up with these key items for our transitional wardrobe, to see us into Autumn. Keep your eyes peeled over on our Instagram for possibly THE best dinosaur dress ever that Jo will be styling up soon and a pair of fantastic Kareema Classic dungarees in PINK! See, we told you we just can’t get enough!

V&J x

Items kindly gifted from Joanie Clothing but all words and opinions are our own

Yumi by Lilah SS16 Collection

Posted on 30 May, 2016 by She and Hem — 2 Comments ↓

Yumi by Lilah SS16 Collection

How gorgeous is the Yumi by Lilah SS16 capsule collection? We’ve been swooning over those beautiful lace details since it appeared back in March. All the pieces are heavily influenced by 1960’s Paris which has, naturally, proved to be a bit of a winner on the chic front! Tres bien! We think Lilah (Parsons, of modelling and TV fame) has totally nailed the French girl vibe with her first go in the designers chair, with a collection full of pretty feminine silhouettes, denim details, rosy florals and major pops of red. There’s also a nice nod to a more Victorian vibe with a fair share of high collars and long sleeves to be found. As Lilah said herself, “think Paris meets Little House on the Prairie!”. We love it!

As a red lover, I desperately wanted to style the Embroidered Midi Shirt Dress*! It’s so delightfully retro and is giving me serious Orla Kiely vibes. Thankfully it’s just as stunning IRL and I am obsessed with the embroidery. I was a bit worried that the long sleeves (which are sheer and totally beautiful) would mean it wouldn’t really see much action until much later in the year but I should never have doubted the British weather. Turns out this is the perfect between season frock! I’ve been rocking it with a bare leg and flats for weeks. I teamed it with a pink belt (I’m all about the pink and red atm) and my GIANT red bow ballet shoes.

Victoria plumped for the rather lovely Broderie Anglaise Short Sleeve Shirt* which has the sweetest detailing. The 60’s shape with those little short sleeves and neat collar make it marvelously flattering and makes it the perfect ‘goes with anything’ shirt. She teamed it with the Denim A-Line Midi skirt which was a bit of a revelation for us both. We aren’t typical A-Line rockers but it looks such a surprisingly easy style to wear, plus it’s a key SS16 trend and we do like to be trendy. We also love the rose gold details! After much debate, Victoria decided to run with the 60’s theme and wore her Swixities Ball shoes from the V&A for Clarks collection.

Yumi by Lilah SS16 Collection

Basically we don’t have enough superlatives to use when describing this collection, just a whole lot of love for Yumi for inviting us to style these glorious pieces.

J&V

Swimmers and Sunbathers with Laura Ashley

Posted on 1 May, 2016 by She and Hem — No Comments ↓

Swimmers and Sunbathers with Laura Ashley

We didn’t need any encouragement to dip our toes in when Laura Ashley kindly asked us if we would like to style some pieces from their gorgeous St Ives Collection for their blog (which you can read here!). If you read She and Hem regularly you will know that we live for fun prints so naturally we fell hook, line and sinker for all of the Sunbathers and Swimmers pieces. It was love at first sight!

Swimmers and Sunbathers with Laura Ashley

The Sunbathers print with its quirky parasol laden ladies all having a fabulous time at the beach is just the perfect print for Summer. We were both immediately drawn to the Linen Shift Dress* and were not disappointed when it arrived. It really makes a splash! It’s such a lovely easy style to wear and we love that it will look just as fab with sandals and a straw bag as it does with wedges and an evening cocktail. However, whilst we wait for the warmer weather to arrive, we opted to style it with some white polka dot tights from UK Tights*, red and white Boden* flats and a Laura Ashley Classic Crew Neck cardigan*. We think all the pops of red really tie this outfit together and makes for one smashing look.

It’s fair to say that we are both totally obsessed with the Swimmers Print Ankle Grazer Trousers*, which is unusual for a pair of self-confessed dress addicts. They are so beautifully made and, once again, really lend themselves to being dressed up or down. It can be hard to find novelty print trousers that don’t completely dominate an outfit but thanks to the subtly of those lovely swimmers these do the job perfectly. They are definitely a great way of testing the water when it comes to wearing patterned trousers! We love them so much that we are going to be synchronised swimmers having both since picked up a pair! We styled the trousers with the Bather’s Linen Vest* Top (don’t you love it when a great print comes in more than one style?) and some very SS16 silver metallic shoes.

Swimmers and Sunbathers with Laura Ashley

A huge thank you to Laura Ashley for sending us our new Summer looks. We love the retro vibe of these outfits and can’t wait to see what they’ll be making waves with next. See you at the seaside!

J&V x

Love Ur Look

Posted on 5 July, 2015 by She and Hem — 11 Comments ↓

She and Hem | Love Ur Look

One of the many fantastic things that has come from writing She and Hem has been the opportunity to discover, work with, and support new and exciting brands! We were therefore absolutely thrilled when Love Ur Look, who launched their first full collection in 2013, got in touch with us and invited us to style a couple of their dresses. A quick gander at their dream of a website later and we were rather in love with their look!

She and Hem | Love Ur Look

Love Ur Look is the creation of Ronke Fashola, a graduate from the London College of Fashion who has decided to take her love for vintage fashion and put it into her own label. The website is certainly a treasure trove of retro loveliness and we found it rather difficult (as always) to narrow down our choices! We eventually settled on two tea dresses in equally fun prints! Victoria went for the Bluebird* whilst I (Jo) went for the Doll* print. Aren’t the bright colours just lovely? We certainly felt suitably jazzy in them! They are really nice and flattering too with a tie waist, big buttons and even bigger pockets. We ridiculously decided to take these photos on the hottest day of the year so we can also confirm that their relaxed fit also helps to keep you nice and cool too!

She and Hem | Love Ur Look

Due to the heat and the boldness of our frocks we both decided to let our of dresses do the talking but we did both plump for a fun shoe to complete our looks! Victoria’s pink bow pumps are from Primark whilst my heart shoes are from ASOS.

J&V x

I choo-choo-choose this dress!

Posted on 30 May, 2013 by She and Hem — 5 Comments ↓

I thought it was about time I jumped on board the blogging train. First up, I must congratulate Jo on her extremely hard work setting up and starting our blog while I’ve been away in Croatia. It’s not yet a month old, but we love it to bits!

So, hi! I’m Victoria and what you will come to learn is that I really love Cath Kidston. There isn’t an item they sell which I would not like to purchase. I just need a (loco)motive… So, I thought what better place to start than with my current favourite dress, which just so happens to be the Cath Kidston Train Scoop Neck Dress, which I recently wore to Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Don’t be afraid of the print. It’s fun, and unique, with a cute, retro art style to the print and I’ve received so many compliments while wearing it. The style is classic with a flattering nipped in waist, and the length is perfect for both day and night. It wasn’t until the second wear of this dress that I realised, it also has handy pockets. It really is just the ticket!

Before I run out of steam (sorry), I must confess that this print delighted me so much that I HAD to indulge in a little duty free shopping while at Terminal 5, and purchased the matching backpack. Not to be worn together of course!

Do Videnja!

V x