UK High Street Fashion - TV inspired Outfits

Every time I turn on the TV or read the listings (which, if I'm honest, is not very often!) a new retro/vintage style television programme or series seems to jump out at me. The American series Mad Men has almost single handedly brought back late 50's/early 60's fashion. The womanly silhouette has never been more fashionable and luckily for us here in the UK our high street shops have become full of lovely clothes. I'm using the three big ones in this post; New Look, Topshop and River Island to show how you can get the retro TV show look.

Mad Men

I've got to start with this show. It's pretty much the most stylish programme I have ever seen. Christina Hendricks (far right) has become my #1 jealousy fuel. That body is insanely feminine!

A belted in waist, collar details and cute patterns/use of colour are a key look here. This is what I found on the high street...

New Look (apologies for the awful picture quality!!)



This dress has the classic 50s/60's neckline AND the nipped in waist...result!



The Peter Pan collar on this lovely shift dress really gives it an early 60's vibe. Love the colour too.

No retro siren is complete without a good wiggle dress!

River Island

This one almost matched Christina Hendricks' one. And the bow is so cute!

This print is the cutest!

I love this neckline. The bold print is spot on too.

Topshop




This dress would be PERFECT with a nice big underskirt. Pure style.



This dress would be ideal for a summers day.

Capped sleeves - check. Cute collar - check. Flared skirt - check.

I'm going to be hunting for a lot more things on the high street that mimic the styles of our favourite retro TV dames. If you've got any suggestions for TV shows that you think would work then let me know!

Victorian Style Bombshell Boots

First the Doc Martin's plunged me into a Goth/Burlesque mix and now I've just bought myself a pair of gorgeous victorian style boots from Urban Outfitters. I went in there to have a look at the sale books and amusing items but was side-tracked when I saw these beauties.
I've had my eye on these for a while, but at £110 there was no way I could afford them. Today there was one pair left and they just happened to have my size....and they were down to £50! Seeing as I just got a job I thought it was justified.
They're such a gorgeous berry colour - the pic doesn't really do them justice. I'm in love!

Oh the style just a-keeps on morphin'!

My First Blog Award! Hurrah! And Some Random Facts About Moi

Today I was nominated for the Stylish Blogger Award by the oh so lovely Psycho Sue over at Sew Misunderstood: Fatshion For Wayward Girls! I'm so happy about this, especially seeing as my blog is still a bit new and always evolving. At first I wasn't quite sure what form this blog was going to take, but now I'm happy with the fact that it's pretty much a fashion/style based blog that goes along the more alternative route, of course!
The conditions of this award are:
1)Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
2)Share 7 things about yourself
3)Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers.
4)Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

So here are my 7 random things...

1) My name isn't really Kiki La Mer...what? You mean you didn't know that?? =P My actual name is..........Coral Pearce-Mariner. And no, I'm not joking.

2) I am a vegetarian! Don't get me wrong, I believe that meat is seriously tasty and I love the smell of a good steak but I just feel guilty about eating animals. I've worked at farms, animal parks and even a zoo in the past and I've come to learn that every animal, whether it be an elephant or a cockroach - they all have their own personalities. I just can't do it. No food with a face...although if you eat meat near me I will smell it. Mmmm.

3) I used to be a chav. I'm serious. You wanna see a picture?

Terrible. We're talking fake tan, bleached hair (although I did have some blue streaks here), a GOLD car and terrible clothing. The works. This picture was taken on holiday in Magaluf. Thank heavens I found Rockabilly. This is me now...

 4) I have a major girl crush on Dita Von Teese. Seriously, this woman is perfection. Amazing skin and amazing style...she's the epitome of retro gorgeousness.

5) I have 8 tattoos, although it's soon to be 9! I have a butterfly on my left shoulderblade, a hummingbird with really long tail feathers on the right side of my stomach, a Japanese symbol meaning 'Tiger' on the left side, although slightly lower down (I know, I know, Japanese symbols just scream TRAMP STAMP!! but I love it for what it means to me and hey, I used to be a chav!), 3 fuschia flowers on my right foot with 'Dad' written in the vines, a bow on the back of my left ankle, a small skull and crossbones behind my right ear, a yellow button on my right wrist and a bizarre combo of things on my left wrist/arm which can only be explained via a picture:

The key is to do with commemorating my 21st birthday and the year in which I finally got a hold of my life and picked myself up out of some pretty harsh times. The mountain/jungle/sea is to celebrate the first step in getting my life back together - I went to Ecuador for 3months and volunteered with local families. It was awesome - and it made me realise how silly I was for complaining about things - these people lived on $2 a week. Inspirational!

6) I'm going to my very first EVER music festival in July. I'm VERY excited! It's Sonisphere at Knebworth and so far Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Biffy Clyro, Foo Fighters, Slipknot and Motorhead have been confirmed. To say I'm excited would be an understatement. \m/(>.<)\m/ Rock On!

7) When I began this blog, I had no idea how much fun it would be. I feel like you guys are some great new friends in my life and I look forward to reading your blogs every day. Thanks for being so great! You all rock my socks off!


My nominations for this lovely award are as follows!
http://goldengirlofthewest.blogspot.com/
http://www.elbrendel.com/
http://msbitchcakes.blogspot.com/
http://elponk.blogspot.com/
http://havinsomerockinfun.blogspot.com/
http://paigeythevintagedame.blogspot.com/
http://callmelucille.blogspot.com/
http://voodoostitches.blogspot.com/
http://avintagerevival.blogspot.com/
http://littlemissbossysadventures.blogspot.com/

Putting the ROCK in ROCKABILLY

I've recently re-invented myself and the way I dress as I was becoming one of these boring people that just wore a random mix of plain tops teamed with some mediocre jeans. Yawn. I always knew deep down that this wasn't me. When I was 12/13 years old and was just beginning to find my own style and buy my own clothes I was a goth. I, much to my parents horror, dyed my hair black, wore only red, black and purple and clomped around in a pair of deep red Doc Martens. Over the years my style mellowed out until one day I looked in the mirror and thought - 'Bloody hell...who are you?'
I'd come to realise that I'd been dressing according to what pleased others rather than what pleased myself. I have always loved the Rockabilly look and I started to trawl eBay around the middle of last year in the hope of changing my style into something that really gave me some identity. I'm now exactly where I want to be, although I'm finding my style is evolving even now.
For Xmas my gorgeous boyfriend got me a pair of these bad boys -

which I completely ADORE. Up until now I had been wearing cute Mary Janes or T-Bar mid-heels with my pencil skirts. I had begun to follow the 40's and 50's trend quite literally and had stopped adding the Rock or the Psycho to my Billy. With the introduction of these however, I'm falling back into my lovely alternative self again.
It's been about 10 years since I last wore a pair of Doc's and I don't know why I left it so long!
Long live the Doc's!

Brr! Rockabilly Fashion In Freezing Temperatures - Does It Exist?!

I've had to have a serious wardrobe re-think over the last week as England has been hit with such bloody freezing weather! It snowed here last night which was quite nice because it meant that the temperature got above minus for a while! We are not used to this here, it's not so fun...especially when it comes to dressing up for the day.
I love sorting out my outfits now that I'm a self confessed rockabilly/50's/40's/retro chick but during this cold weather I've really struggled! There's only so much a cute cardigan can do for you warmth wise.
My solution at the moment is teaming a warm pencil skirt with double tights, warm innersoles in my mary janes and an extra vest top underneath everything else. To make sure I don't lose the look completely I have taken to wearing more make-up than usual - which I don't really like to do but it keeps my eyes warm (that's my excuse anyway!).
Anyone got any tips on how to keep stylish in the cold? I'm so looking forward to the summer when I can start wearing tea dresses, capri pants and halter neck tops....sigh.

Oooh, my eyes are so warm!