Tag: Paper Dress

Launch of The Powderpuff Girls On Tour

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You probably know I’m a massive fan of The Powderpuff Girls – I’ve hair my hair done by them on many occasions in the past, whether it was at the salon on Columbia Road, or at a pop-up shop during an event!

Well, whilst The Powder Room on Columbia Road has closed its doors, The Powderpuff Girls will be bringing the beauty on tour to a venue near you. The pop-ups will be packed full of exciting new packages for all your girly celebrations, plus all your old favourites too! The Powder Room will also be making appearances at Paper Dress every Saturday – and The Powderpuff Girls were kind enough to invite me to their launch on 26 January for a complimentary pamper. How could I say no?!

Paper Dress

Paper Dress is an amazing vintage clothes and accessories shop that also has a bar to serve cocktails, cakes and coffee (the ultimate three Cs), so this is an amazing venue to visit, even if you’re not getting your hair or make-up done!

Paper Dress board 1

The Powderpuff Girls have a pretty little section at the back of the shop, stocked with all the goodies you’ll ever need for your transformation into a retro beauty queen.

Powderpuff Girls 1

Flicking through their gorgeous look book for Speedy Hair, I plumped for victory rolls (again!) but this time decided to go for a rolled fringe!

Hair

Even though it’s my own hair, I have to admit, it looks amazing – and I can say that with complete modesty, as I had nothing to do with it other than to grow it out of my head! One day I’ll be able to style my hair like this, but until then I’ll leave it in the hands of the professionals…

Back of hair detail

Speedy Hair costs £25, In A Jiffy Make-up costs £20, and you can get a package deal for both for £40 (very reasonable – and they do such an amazing job; I’ve had them do my hair and make-up for my hen party and a very important work event too). The fact that the back of my head is shaped like a heart leads me nicely on to mentioning that appointments are available for pampering sessions for a weekend Valentine’s date on Saturday 16th February. You can also celebrate London Fashion Week with The Powderpuff Girls at The Hoxton, too!

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After getting my hair done, I popped on over to see the new painting of Kate Middleton at The National Portrait Gallery (my opinion: I’m obviously not an art connoisseur), which gave me the perfect chance to take some snaps of my hair in Trafalgar Square!

Top of hair Side hair in Trafalgar Square 3

Side hair in Trafalgar Square 2

(In case you didn’t see my post earlier in the week, I’m wearing the Gretel Coat from Collectif. Sunglasses from eBay, and my earrings are from my nan!)

When I got home, I realised that my hairstyle was actually pretty similar to Rachael’s from Blade Runner, so I decided to break out the navy jacket and shoulder pads and do my best ‘I’ve just discovered I’m a replicant’ expression (sorry, spoiler!).

Rachael Blade Runner

It’s actually really hard to have an existential crisis in front of the camera and not look like a bit of an emo, so I decided to bring out my cat, Saffy, to lighten the mood. A juxtapositioning of the sadness of a robotic lifeform yearning after the simple pleasure that an animal enjoys merely by being alive? Or just a self-portrait of woman and cat?

Gemma and Saffy

Or is she a… (wait for it…) REPLICAT?

Badum tssssh.

Visit The Powderpuff Girls online at www.thepowderpuffgirls.com. You can call them to book on 0844 879 4928, or email shop@thepowderpuffgirls.com!

Little Red Riding Hood in Trafalgar Square: The Collectif Gretel Coat Unleashed!

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Way back on Christmas Day last year, I was a tiny bit bored with all the rubbish TV, so I decided to download issue 25 of Vintage Life. Scrolling through, I found the Christmas Wishlist feature and immediately fell in love with the Collectif Gretel Coat.

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Page from Vintage Life magazine.

Well, who wouldn’t? It’s an amazingly extravagant coat, straight out of Little Red Riding Hood – and a beautiful colour to boot. Unfortunately, at £160 it was definitely out of my price range – but then, a Christmas miracle happened. I checked out Collectif’s Facebook page and discovered that the company was running a 40% off discount… And they had one Gretel coat left, in my size. It was certainly fate, and who am I to fly in the face of the cosmos’ mysterious ways?

I ordered immediately, and when the coat arrived I fell in love all over again – but to be honest, I’ve chickened out of wearing it until last weekend. This is not a coat for the faint hearted. I was originally going to wear it last weekend, but with all the snow and ice I figured it would be just my luck to skid on the ice and fall over – embarrassing enough, but even worse when you’re dolled up to the nines. So when I was invited to the launch of The Powder Room on tour (more on that later!) I knew this was the perfect opportunity to wear my coat!

Gretel coat 2

Coat: Gretel by Collectif. Hair: The Powder Room @ Paper Dress*

As you can see, you certainly wouldn’t be lost in the crowd wearing this beauty! Sometimes, I wish I’d gone for the more subtle black version (but there weren’t any in stock, so it’s a moot point!), which would be more wearable, but then again, if you want to make an impact, this is certainly the go-to coat! Check out those beautiful pleats on the skirt, and the pretty pom-poms! The fabric has a gorgeous texture to it, and although the coat is very heavy, that makes it all the more snug for cold weather.

I thought I’d give you some behind the scenes info on taking this photo too. I employed a technique called ‘faith in humanity’, which involves setting your very expensive DSLR camera on timer mode in the middle of central London on a Saturday, and then running off so you can get as much of your body in shot without risking a heart attack. I also used another technique called ‘looking casually at buttons pretending to be doing important stuff’ which is useful when someone starts hanging around near you and looking suspiciously like they’ve mastered the art of ‘nicking someone’s camera when they’re taking photos of themselves in public by leaving their camera on the side’. Just a little insight there, in case you guys were students of photography like myself. (Please note, I have no idea what to do with my camera yet other than timer mode and no flash mode… But I am learning many techniques, which I am happy to humbly share with you!)

* My hair styling session at The Powder Room was complimentary for the purposes of revew on my blog – I’ll be posting a proper write-up later this week!