I Drank With A Zombie

This Halloween I'm having a quiet night in with a f(r)iend.



The Zombie Cocktail
Invented in the mid to late 30s by Donn Beach. There are many variations available due to the inventors' secrecy over the ingredients.  I have to say that I had avoided this cocktail until now, mainly because it has too many alcholic ingredients. I prefer 2 or or 3, this has 5. I was quite surprised I had all the ingredients.
The taste is fruity/sour and this hides the high alcoholic content, be careful it is strong enough to wake the Undead.



1 measure White Rum (Bacardi)
1 measure Golden Rum
1 Measure Dark Rum
1 measure lemon or lime juice
4 dashes Apricot Brandy
4 dashes Cherry Brandy
4 dashes orange or passionfruit juice (in fact any tropical fruit that is vaguely orange)
Cracked Ice

Half fill a shaker with ice and add ALL the ingredients, shake well and pour into a long glass with the ice. Add fruit garnishes, straws and an umbrella or something pretty.

Sunday Mirror Adverts (New York) Spring 1948 Part 3

Final selection of adverts from the Sunday Mirror. Lingerie & teen fashions









1948 was the big year of change in the ready to wear fashion world. New Look influences had started to emerge but wartime looks were still hanging on, such as large shoulders, cap sleeves and frills.

Sunday Mirror Adverts (New York) Spring 1948 Part 2

More delicious adverts from the Sunday Mirror.

Sunday Mirror Adverts (New York) Spring 1948 Part 1

I bought recently a pile of Sunday Mirror Newspapers which are chock full of mouth watering adverts for womens fashions in colour.

If You Crochet You Must Make Yourself This Dainty Brassiere !

I bought a few 1933 Home Notes magazines from the other day and tucked inside was a loose leaf from another mag with this delightful crocheted bra

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Perfect Choice

Been hunting round for some shoes and came across a few vintage style bargains along the way, limited sizes available

Irregular Choice Women's Little Miss O Sandal From £25.20


Moda in Pelle Women's Gabriella Wedge From £29.38



Irregular Choice Women's Itsy Bitsy Betsy Peep-toe Heel From £23.31


Poetic Licence Women's Spring Blooms Sandal From £22.64

For The Duration

Many items disappeard from Britain during the war, especially from late 1943
and early 1944 in the run up to D Day.

One casualty was nail varnish, Everwoman magazine recorded it's demise in March 1944 with 'The Unvarnished Truth'


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It's return in February 1946 warranted a 2 page article, just to remind you how it was done.


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Cover of Everywoman Magazine February 1946 WITH polish.

Gangster Cocktail

Another classic recipe from 100 Cocktails by "Bernard"



This one will require some substitutions.

1 measure brandy
1 measure brown curacao
1 dash lemon peel juice
1 cherry
1/2 shaker of broken ice

Put the ice in the shaker and add the brandy and curacao, shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve with a cherry and a dsh of lemon peel juice on top.

Brown curacao doesn't seem to be available any more, but you can use any of the other colours or plain Triple Sec, the only difference between them flavour-wise is degrees of bitterness. A replacement for lemon peel juice would be plain lemon juice, many modern interpretations of old recipes ignore it altogether.

Get the Complete Autumn Look

This beautiful lady originally adorned a paper gift envelope for
fully fashioned stockings in about 1962.



I wonder where she is now?

Wear it like its 1974

Fab spread from Vogue 1974 showing full capes for streetwear.

I really like capes and have a great black jersey hooded version with frogs that used to belong to my Mum, but I find them rather annoying to wear. Perhaps it's because I don't go out much to do nothing.


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But I think I've found the perfect solution in this repro Vogue pattern from 1951

I'm making it out of one of those Fringed blanket style wraps that were so popular in the early 90s.
So.. we'll see.