Old Fashioned Miss: Auckland Cup parade dressup inspirations!

Well, it has been confirmed: for the Auckland Cup parade in March 2009, GAP people will dress up in 1920s/1930s attire: ladies as flappers and glam art deco ladies , and gentlemen , well as gentlemen from that era :-) Needless to say, kids will be matching their parents too :-)

Now, before you panic and start thinking that you will now have to spend hundreds of dollars on costumes that you will wear for that occasion only - that absolutely does not need to happen!

So you don't need to go online and buy something like this:

We don't want to all look the same, and besides, there is WAY MORE to flapper dressing that the costume above. Having said that -if you like the look above, do go for it!!! There are these costumes on trademe at the moment, they go for $50.

Flappers usually dressed as advertised on this vintage magazine page (click on it to see the full size):

For those who would like an alternative look, don't fear as I am here!

I collect vintage clothes as well as sell them online. On this blog, i will give tips on where to find cheap (but great-looking) pieces and also how to customize your existing pieces for this event. For example, with right accessories you can transform a nice cocktail dress to look very 'flapperish'.

I will post these tips on this blog. Each post related to this topic will be tagged with "GAP" and " Cup Parade", so you just click on that tag and posts will filter for you. You are however most welcome to read through the entire blog as i will be posting general fashion advice (usually relating to how to look glam in everyday life :-), as well as my best vintage finds.

For the Auckland Cup Parade event, I will also offer selected pieces (clothes and accessories) for sale , with 20% of all proceeds going to GAP.

First things first: where did we get inspiration for this theme? There is a lot of vintage ephemera and art depicting flappers and ladies in Art Deco dress with greyhounds (as well as Irish Wolfhounds and Afgan hounds). I was quite inspired by the sheer glamour of all that. Pictures below...

First one ( at the very top of this post) is the antique 1920s pin that i actually own (i bought it ages ago, not even suspecting that one day i would be a proud greyhound owner !!)

And just look at these ladies with all their doggies :

And more art:

By the way, if you want a parasol like the on in the picture above (these were all the rage in 1920s!) they have amazing ones in XIA in Mercury Lane (off K Road) and they cost $25 (adult ones). They have kids' ones too, for a mere $7!