Last year when I turned 40, my bestie Fiona bought me one of those ‘experiences’. You know the ones? Where you can have a cookery lesson, or drive a fast car, or in my case… have a Vintage Style photoshoot. Well, as you can tell, that was going to be right up my alley!
So, last week, we went along to a wonderful studio in Northamptonshire called Alter Ego Portraits. I had a massive suitcase of all my lovely dresses and accessories, and a very apprehensive Fi. Vintage/50s style fashion is certainly not her cup of tea, and neither is having her photograph taken. But I gave her no choice, and off we went.
We arrived at 9am and met the photographer, a lovely man called Martin, and the hair and makeup artist, Jessica. As it was my birthday treat, I got to be made over first, and whilst I was having my first set of photographs, Fiona had her make-up and hair done.
The studio has an amazing range of clothing, which goes up to a size 22, including Vivian of Holloway and Bettie Page Clothing. Now, as I am a little larger than that, I took a huge selection of my own clothing with me to use. 8 or 9 dresses and around 8 pairs of shoes got dragged out of the magic suitcase. I really had perhaps over packed!
My first set of pictures were taken in the Pin Up Girl Clothing ‘Sea siren’ dress, sadly now out of stock. After what seemed like hundreds of shots, I swapped into my Pin Up Girl Clothing ‘Pele’ dress
Pele dress from Pin Up Girl Clothing
Next came the shots in a crisp white men’s shirt, then a silken dressing gown, then corset and underskirt in a shot very reminiscent of Jack Vettriano’s “Dance for Money” or “Heat Wave” style of art.
After that came some of my favourite shots, in a raincoat, stockings and heels, sitting on a large packing trunk, at the railway station. I felt almost like I was back in the 40’s, and the rainmac was very French Resistance!
I then changed into my Lady Voluptuous “Cosette” dress and the last few pictures were taken of Fi and I together, laughing and smiling around a picnic table. It really was a fantastic time, and both of us couldn’t believe quite how much fun we had. Then came the hard part… choosing the pictures we wanted!
Eventually we managed to narrow it down to our favourites, and have approximately 3 weeks to wait whilst they are processed and put onto digital media. Obviously, both of us are as impatient as hell and want them NOW!
I can’t thank Martin and his team enough for the experience, and the fun we had. It really was a fabulous shoot, with some amazing pictures. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to try something different.
Obviously once I get the photos I will do a further post(s) showing some of my favourites. There really was too many to choose from!
Afterwards we went out for a very late lunch, and chatted about what a great time we had both had, which was especially pleasing as Fiona really didn’t expect to enjoy it at all.
The surprising thing was just how tired we both felt afterwards. That modelling lark really is hard work!
This last picture was taken the morning after, with the effects of the curlers still showing.
For those of you who might like to give it a go:
http://www.alteregoportraits.com/
and the clothes I wore:
- https://ladyvlondon.com/Japanese-Blue-Cosette-Dress/#.VXM3eVJQDTI
- http://ladyvlondon.com/Orange-Petticoat-27/#.VXM4EFJQDTI
