Vintage Marie Antoinette

This post is in honor of a recent Marie Antoinette kick!

I'm a total sucker for vintage period films, I love the way they mix the aesthetic of the times they were made, with the period they are trying to capture. I recently ran into a new-to-me one the other day when researching some jewelry. L’Affaire du collier de la reine (1946)

Another vastly expensive movie for it's time it has some great costumes, and super hair! I love how they used some of the waving techniques and pompadours of the 1940's, and blended them in with the iconic Antoinette pouf. Leonard would be proud!

Another treat for me was finding the leading actress's name was Viviane Romance! Now there's a name for any neo-burlesque dancer if ever I heard one?! Plus, as a Vivien myself, no matter how it's spelled I always get a thrill finding famous people with the name!


It's supposed to be more historically accurate the the more modern movie "Affair of the Necklace" with Hillary Swank (some of the best 18th century costumes ever in that film though). The one downside is the movie might be tough to find, and even trickier for those who don't speak french, but for fellow fans of vintage period movies, we can still enjoy a little eye candy from the stills!

Win a Choker

Hey guys! Did you know there was a Vivcore giveaway going on right now over at Marie Antoinette's Gossip Blog? If you're a follower of the Queen of Fashion, you can enter to win a coral Empire Choker. Check out contest here... The Give Away

Also to celebrate further we've extended the period fashion sale till the end of the month! So still a chance to save 10% on Marie Antoinette inspired goods!

I hope this will bring some cheer before the weekend.

Time for Elevenses?

So we're both back from our England trip, half way through unpacking and getting back to the business  of being back at home. It's always tough coming back, I miss my family and I miss a lot about jolly old England. Still, give me till lunch time and I'll be in the American swing of things again. (but not before then, because I'll be having elevenses!)

When I was a kid I first experienced the joy of "Elevenses" at brownie camp. It's basically a cup of tea and light snack such as a cupcake or some biscuits (British for cookies), eaten around 11am, like a morning afternoon tea! Mostly because the name is kinda funny, and because it's an excuse for cake after breakfast, we've been deeply into elevenses lately at chez Hoffpauir. After beginning to unpack from the trip it looks like we brought back quite the haul of snacks and tea perfect for the "meal"!

Fox's biscuits, Hob Nobs and a new trifle spin on the Bakewell tart (not to mention a few hard to find baking bits and bobs)! The current star for me though is finding a tea company I'd missed before, Tick Tock rooibos tea. I loved the packaging so much I brought back a big box for the house! It's definitely one of the tastiest rooibos teas I've had too, so tastes as good as it looks. I love the ad they made with various Tick Tock drinkers too (watch for the awesome 1940's lady).

To cater to the harder to find items I miss from the homeland we also picked up a couple of candy making books. Between the 2 there are recipes for some of my favorite sweeties like rose and violet creams, various toffees and rhubarb and custards. Can not wait to try some of these out! I especially love the presentation of the little Life is Sweet book. it's full of quirky personality and some of the cutest retro illustrations!

So there we have it, all our sweet stuffs are unpacked, clothes are in the wash, we're getting back to work and if you can't get hold of me around 11am, I'm probably enjoying some of the above and planning what to have with afternoon tea!

Tasty Teatime Treats

Had a great time baking with my mum! We made a cake from a new recipe she had picked up recently, and 2 of my favorite treats from when I was a little girl, Coffee Kisses and Melting Moments! They are both cookies of sorts, one filled with coffee flavored butter cream, the other covered in coconut with glacé cherries tucked into the top.

The Be-Ro recipes are all online these days. You can check out the links above and give them a shot!

The ingredients are all US friendly, the only thing you might need if you wanted to try them yourself would be a weighing scale. Caster sugar is just regular granulated sugar, and we always use vegetable shortening instead of lard, but you might be more traditionalist with that than me!

Mother Land!

I love getting back over to England, for the next couple of weeks I'm back in old Bighty to see my family, and catch up on some of the little things I always miss since leaving to live in America.

So far we spent an afternoon out in Stratford-Upon-Avon just walking around. I love looking at all the Tudor buildings (including Shakespeare's birthplace) and the Swans along the river. There is a little pastry shop which has the best tea and lunch foods, plus its right next to my favorite sweet shop! I stoked up on my favorite English candies you just cant get in the states floral gums and rose/violet creams. With all the frilly shops and history everywhere it's a great quaintrelle destination! 

The other day was especially lucky! I've been wanting a vintage (faux)fur coat in a blond mink color all winter. Yesterday we found a great 1950's faux fur coat, just my size and a perfect match for my hair in a local antique shop! (They say to buy a fur close to your hair color to get the most complimentary fur shade). With the weather here being rather chilly I was pretty thrilled to not only end the search, but to find it in time for all our big trips around the country next week!

Now for another cup of tea... (Twinings have a couple of great limited edition flavors here right now!)

Quaintrelle Life

A lot of people here might not know, but the Quaintrelle Life blog is actually part of a bigger Quaintrelle Life e-zine! Started up in 2008 under the original name Fancy Girl. Covering anachronistic fashions, crafts and lifestyle.

Things got a little quiet on the main site, but 2011 is the year of the quaintrelle and I'll be updating each month with at least one new feature, and making it a higher priority again.

The first new article of the year just went up today! The subject is vanity sets! I hope this months article will have enough tips and advice to get everyone started a vintage, or even antique vanity set of  their own!

February and March's articles are already in development, so it's looking like a promising start!

Wearing History

I've been getting that period costume itch again, the little voice in my ear that is always saying "panniers are practical, it's those modern narrow doors that are all wrong!" has been speaking up again.

It's no secret I love my fashion old, not just 1950's old but 1780's old and even further back! One thing I love about vintage fashion is how people, even back then liked to play around with styles gone by.

Hero to vintage fashion fans Christian Dior was a big dabbler in all things old school, even in his day. He had dreams of the Belle Epoch before the 1st world war where the houses and people were opulent and more beautifully dressed than in the world he saw around him. His house created some amazing period costume inspired pieces such as the famous Zumire suit which recalls an 18th century riding habbit.

Digby Morton made a huge splash in 1952 with his Tudor inspired evening ensemble.

"He [Digby Morton] designed a cocktail-into-evening jacket that is almost a replica of the swashbuckling sixteenth century jacket. Only the cocktail hour was then non existent they simply started drinking at breakfast!" 1952 newspaper on the collection

The glamorous Lady Alexandra was mistaken for royalty in 1948 wearing a Victorian inspired gown from Jacques Fath. Balenciaga also produced some stunning bustle dresses inspired by the 19th Century. 

"Style that hints at the classic and elegant forms of the past is a characteristic of 1950's fashion"

It's funny how we sometimes think of the current obsession with fashions past as a more beautiful style utopia, to be a modern condition. But I seems people have always idealized and looked wistfully backwards for inspiration. I suppose if any of us really were born back in the 40's-50's we might have been swanning around as fashion eccentrics in Edwardian hats and gowns! I know I certainly like to think so ;-)

Get the look!

Lately I've been getting my fix of vintage period drama with a few of my favorite designs from Candy Violet. My pink silk chemise dress, paired with the drop earrings and necklace in coral. Makes me feel like Norma Shearer!  For any one else out here looking to try out a bit of that vintage take on centuries past we have a sale on a few items this month to help you do just that! We have a selection of dresses and accessories on sale here 10% off till February 1st ! I hope you'll help us spread the word and celebrate centuries of romanticizing the past!