When I first started delving into the world of blogging, Retro Chick was the first vintage lifestyle blog I found and I was entranced by the mix of vintage, retro, reproduction and modern clothing. The blog was started by Gemma Seager all the way back in 2008. She's the girl to help you find the perfect red lipstick and help you get the best out of your thrifting adventures, so let's get to know her...
Despite not living in the city you always seem to find the best sales and events. What's the best way to find on what's going on in your local area? I'd love to try some more thrifting and head to a car boot sale but I just don't know where they are.
The key is just to keep your eyes and ears open. The local free paper often has listings for jumble sales and car boot sales in the back pages. When you're out and about pick up leaflets and free magazines.
Online make sure you join Facebook groups and follow local people and sites on Twitter. It's a good idea to use the lists function on Twitter so you can seperate out people from your local area and keep an on what's on!
On that topic, what are your favourite things about your local area and do you have any top tips for places to go?
I'm live in Norwich and I run a website, Vintage Norwich (www.vintagenorwich.co.uk), that showcases all the best local shops, cafes and bars with a vintage friendly vibe. If you pay us a visit you have to have afternoon tea at Biddy's Tea Room, check out our great vintage shops, Antidote, Prim, Retreat and Lulu's are some of the best, and definitely pay a visit to our huge local Antique Market, Aladdins Cave on Magdalen Street.
When did your love of vintage and retro clothing and style begin?
It's hard to say! When I was little I was obsessed with books about WWII and I loved Poirot! I've always dressed far more smartly than a lot of people do, and taken inspiration from the 40s and 50s but I didn't have what you would really call a proper vintage style until I discovered the internet and found other people who dressed that way! It's like I didn't know you were allowed!
Do you have a favourite vintage era that inspires you, and if so why?
I'm particularly inspired by the mid 30s - mid 50s. Each decade has a different style and I like to pick and mix! The 40s and 50s nipped waists and fuller skirts suit my figure more, but I love the look of the slinky bias cuts from the 1930s.
What is your top tip for buying vintage clothing?
Don't pay too much for it! Keep your wits about you and remember that just because it's in a vintage shop doesn't mean you should pay over the odds for it. Check condition carefully before parting with your money, check seams, buttons and hold it up to the light to check for moth holes.
Bargains can still be found on eBay and in charity shops, if you know what you're looking for.
Do you have a favourite method or style for retro hair? I've become obsessed with rag curls recently.
At the moment I'm favouring a more 30s waved style. I use sponge rollers and setting lotion, rolled forward at the front of my head and then form it into waves with my hands and lots of pins! Keeping curls in my hair has always been a problem for me, so I have to wet set it!
What inspired you to start blogging and has your motivation to carry on changed at all?
Initially I started blogging as a way of promoting my online shop, but it's become more and more the focus of what I do. I love the interaction of blogging and it's the people that read regularly, even those that don't comment, that make me want to carry on!
What the hardest challenges to solve or work around in your early blogging days?
Gosh, it was so long ago now I can't really remember! Finding my own voice and my place in the blogging world was probably the biggest challenge. I wasn't sure whether I was a fashion blogger, a vintage blogger or a lifestyle blogger. Then I realised it didn't really matter. I could just be me! Things really changed when I stopped trying to fit myself into a niche and started only writing about things that inspired me.
What is the very best thing from your blogging experience?
The friends I've made and the people I've met. There are so many other bloggers, commenters, twitter followers and Facebook "likers" that I've got to know and can now count as friends. People are so supportive and helpful, I think it's an amazing online community.
Do you feel your style has evolved at all since you began blogging?
Definitely! I've got so much more confidence now than I had when I started blogging. I feel like I dress how I want now, rather than how I felt I should. I've moved towards a far more "vintage" style, but I still mix things up a bit, I don't restrict myself to what's period correct, I wear what I like.
Could you tell us a little about the Campaign for Clear Clothes Sizing?
I've written about vanity sizing several times, and from the responses I've had it seems a lot of women are incredibly frustrated by the variations they find in clothes sizing between different brands, and sometimes even in the same brand!
The Campaign for Clearer Clothes sizing isn't about making all clothes shops conform to a standard sizing model. Womens proportions vary, so to standardise sizing would make it harder for people with proportions outside of the average to find clothes that fit. The campaign is about asking brands and shops to be clearer about the measurements of the patterns they cut to.
We'd like the measurements the garment is cut to fit printed on the labels, and for shops to clearly display accurate size charts on their websites and in store.
What's the best piece of blogging advice you've been given and would you like to add some wisdom of your own?
The best advice I was given was not to obsess over your stats. They may go up or down, but if you're confident you're writing good content then it's ok.
My advice is to be yourself. People like to read blogs where they feel they connect with the person behind the writing. Think about *why* you like reading the blogs you read on a regular basis and take inspiration from that, rather than the actual content.
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