Wednesday Wants -20th Century Foxy

I'm a big fan of 20th Century Foxy designs and I wore my 'Trudy Scrumptious Day Dress' to death on my recent trip to the States. Their dresses fit like a dream, are extremely well made and because they aren't quite as  popular (yet!) as similarly priced brands like Vivien of Holloway or Collectif, it is extremely unlikely that you will bump into another gal wearing the same thing at an event (nightmare, no?).

 

I always have a wish list as long as my arm for this website but here are a few of current favourites. The fuchsia and grey dress is perfect for Autumn/Winter parties all the way through to Christmas. The fabric reminds me of a Pinup Girl Dress I've had my eye on for the last year but with the added bonus of the cover up.

The green dress is just perfect for Autumn accessorised with a pair of Mary-Janes, victory rolls and curls. The candy stripe shirt dress and red 40s dress just scream 'Christmas' to me although they could be worn tall year round (how cute would the striped dress be for a summer picnic?).

The blue summer dress appears to be the same shape as my Trudy Srumptious dress but with a super cute tea-time print featuring little kettles, daisies and spoons. I can't really justify spending so much on a summer dress at this point in the year so I just hope they bring it back next spring time!

Have you bought anything from 20th Century Foxy? I'd love to see your pictures!

Buy direct from 20th Century Foxy here... http://www.20thcenturyfoxy.com/en/index/a1 

Beale Street Beauty

Beale Street attracts tourists in droves. All day, every day bars blast the Blues into the streets and come nightfall, it becomes difficult to move, with hordes of revellers queuing to get onto the street past the police cordons and burly doormen. The atmosphere is laid back, the people friendly and the beer, super-sized.

My very favourite place on Beale Street, without a doubt, is A.Schwab, the most spectacular nostalgia store, museum, soda fountain and ice cream parlour, you will have the good fortune to stumble upon in Memphis. I love everything about this place, the original windows and facade, the wooden floorboards and the wonderful selection of cute tablecloths, toys, shirts and cigar box guitars. The best bit though, is the ice cream parlour and soda fountain, complete with candy coloured tablecloths, striped paper straws and 'create your own' soda fountain.

I went back to A. Schwabs twice. I couldn't leave Memphis without trying the ice cream could I? I also scooped a green floral 30s style tablecloth to remind me of our visit. Next time I'm in memphis, this place will be top of my Beale Street list!

One thing I find that Beale Street -a street in the city that gave birth to rockabilly via Sun Studios- is sometimes lacking, is good old fashioned rock n roll. Modern and old school Blues can be found in abundance throughout the bars along the street, pop and soul are a mainstay of the karaoke but you will have to weave your way through the crowds to the very bottom of Beale Street to hear the music made famous by the Million Dollar Quartet at Jerry Lee Lewis' Cafe and Honky Tonk.  Admittedly, this place can be cheesier than a Papa John's pizza at times and at some point during the night, someone is fairly likely to don an Elvis jumpsuit circa 1976 but there are moments of genius, particularly if you manage to catch one of Jason James' shows.

At this end of the street you will also come across 2 beautiful theatre venues -The New Daisy and the Daisy. During the week, these venues look derelict in the day time but in the evening at weekends the beautiful facades becomes home to a cocktail and beer bar and a make shift stage area for open air performances from blues bands and DJs. I couldn't resist a little spin in my 1950s 20th Century Foxy dress!

Have you been to a city with some hidden gems? I'd love to hear about them!