Stop shopping – Make Do and Mend instead

Wardrobe full of clothes, but nothing to wear? Come and learn how to customise and transform tired items of clothing or new but not-quite-right vintage finds with stylist Hannah J at a Make Do and Mend Workshop in London next week.
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New exhibition: Feeding Britain in Wartime

Wartime rationing and British cooking in the Forties is the subject of a brilliant new exhibition, The Ministry of Food,  at the Imperial War Museum in London. The exhibition examines how the British public adapted to food shortages during the Second World War and learnt how to be both frugal and inventive on the ‘Kitchen Front’.
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The Vintage Librarian reviews: Make! by Cath Kidston

This week our lovely Vintage Librarian Claire Pursglove is reviewing a craft book by famous designer Cath Kidston. But is it perhaps a bit too kitsch?
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My grandmother – my style icon

As a vintage lover you can get your style inspiration from many places – books, films, paintings. Yet nothing beats chatting to the people who pioneered the styles we are trying to emulate. Vintage fashion blogger Mia Lane, who writes Used and Abused Vintage, caught up with her style icon and grandmother, Gloria Lane.
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Make do and mend your home with architectural salvage

For years architectural salvage was reserved for the eccentric and the expert – those with an eye for the hidden value of fixtures and fittings ripped from the carcasses of demolished or gutted properties. But today, as modern builds lacking the charm and character of period properties saturate the market, and as an increasingly stoic wartime mentality of ‘make do and mend’ kicks into every aspect of our recession-occupied lifestyles, architectural salvage is enjoying a new popularity. Tara Gardner explains how you can salvage some treasures for your home.
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