Vintage Afternoon Tea and Fashion Show

Two hundred of the most fabulous ladies of Dundee recently got together to enjoy a day of vintage clothing and entertainment in the name of charity, and we got to snoop behind the scenes!
A few months ago we were contacted by the Specifically Vintage organizers to attend their Vintage Afternoon Tea and Fashion Show held in The Quay, Dundee. Although Helen was busy with a family gathering, I headed along to model in the vintage fashion show and find out what else was going on. It was a packed event, selling out well in advance!

The event was set up to raise funds for Roxburghe House and Rachel House, and vintage collectors brought along their pieces. Everything was for sale- even the clothes on the models backs, alongside a raffle and silent auction of other goodies. I was walking in two fashion shows, so I only caught a glimpse once the party had started but the constant laughter and cheers tells me the ladies-only party was great fun. I did catch a bit of vocalist Miss Stephanie Mason.  Her pink polkadot dress was amazing! Vocal harmony group The Vintage Girls also sang beautifully together for the dancing crowd. I accidentally happened upon them rehearsing in the changing rooms beforehand, which was a pretty awesome private show while I was trying on last minute options.

The day centered around the two-part fashion show. The first featured 1920's to 1950's clothing and the second was 1960's to 1980's. I walked in both shows, wearing 30's and 80's. I enjoyed the fitting a couple of months ago, where I got to play dress up in the Nicely Eclectic studio with Pat, and April from April's Emporium. They already had a beautiful 1930's pink dressing gown in mind for me, with a floral nightdress underneath. It had lovely quilted trim, and I felt pretty dreamy in it. It must have been good because I heard it was sold before I even took it off!

My second look was very 1980's. The other models had already been fitted in the puffy ball gowns on offer, so I was given a more casual look that reminded me of a few wedding guest outfits my own mum wore back in the day. I was pretty sure I could pull it off... A heavily patterned dress with both shoulder pads and a peplum, along with fuchsia accessories, made for a very Pretty Woman look. To complement the Specifically Vintage clothes, we all had our hair and makeup done by The Beehive. I was especially impressed by the flawless finish of the makeup. Having a bit of a cold and throat infection in the lead up had left me feeling pretty un-glamorous, so this was the injection of sparkle I needed! It's amazing what some fake eyelashes can do.

The 80s hair and makeup, on the other hand, was as mad as the actual era. I laughed quite hard when I first saw it but I guess it is fierce..? All the models looked amazing too, and I was particularly impressed by the poise of the younger girls. They looked so elegant and were total pro's. I'd missed the rehearsals, due to work commitments, and I hadn't quite realised that we'd be walking (and dancing) solo around the whole room (and it was a big room), with a turn in the dance floor. That's a lot of tripping to avoid, especially with a floor littered in balloons. The energy of the room made the whole walk easy though, even if my dressing gown did flap wide open for half of it. Typical Kim!

I was on my own for the day, so had to grab just a few quick snaps in between changes. There were a few photographers on hand to snap all the guests in their outfits. Everyone had gone to such great effort with their looks, it was hard to tell who were guests and who were performers. Below is a small selection of my catwalk looks captured by Derek Gerrard but you can find the full album here.

Photographs by Derek Gerrard

The total raised for the charities is still being totalled but looks like a really healthy amount. You can find out about upcoming vintage events on the Specifically Vintage facebook page. Thanks again for inviting us along!