Picture the scene: an old RAF Airfield in the heart of some idyllically beautiful English countryside, a bank holiday weekend full of sun, cloudless skies and jugs of pimms…

Well a girl can dream!

I had the distinct pleasure of visiting the Annual Twinwood Vintage Festival on Bank Holiday Monday with my Vintage Bestie, Penny. As is common for British Bank Holidays, it was heavily persisting down ALL DAY.

This did not deter people from turning up in their droves, to have a marvellous day, full of vintage stalls, dance classes, amazing bands, all full of people wearing the most fabulous clothing.

There were sailors, airmen, land girls, rockers, vixens, 40’s housewives and dapper suit clad men.

Hats, gloves, furs, handbags and parasols ruled the day and the hairstyles were just sublime.

The men were splendid in their uniforms, suits, plus fours and even their leather jackets. It really was a sight for sore eyes.

We started off the day (after a breakfast bap) by visiting one of the main sponsors, “Vintage Life Magazine” where we gossiped about boobs, dresses, sellers and other girly things with the lovely Rosie Astbury, Lisa Harrison and Rae Egglestone-Evans. I came away with the perfect waterproof goody bag, which kept all my purchases lovely and dry.

We then had a fabulous couple of hours browsing the vintage items on sale, and I bought myself the most amazing pale blue velvet hat from the 40’s, which matched my outfit perfectly. I just fell in love and HAD to have it.

Walking around a bit more, we found ourselves taking part in a Shim-Sham class with about a hundred others. I can’t say I was very good at it, but it was terribly good fun.

We then made our way to the 50’s stage and met up with the lovely Emma, the founder of the Facebook group “40’s and 50’s Most Marvellous Meet Ups” and had a listen to the “Heartbeats” playing. They were a fabulous band, and it was really novel to be strolling and jiving in the open air under just a marquee type cover.

Being a buxom lady, real vintage clothing is pretty much non-existent as they were so tiny back then, so I usually wear a lot of reproduction clothing. I decided to wear my faithful Pin Up Girl Clothing Malibu Tiki dress in Blue and Burgundy, a current favourite, and I paired it with burgundy patent ballet flats from Primark and a Collectif Rosie Hat. I had an old burgundy bag from New Look which fit the bill perfectly and I was good to go.

I changed hats during the course of the day to mix it up a little – And I simply couldn’t resist having something that was truly vintage to wear.

My other purchase of the day was the most amazing Silly Old Seadog red poodle dress and matching headscarf. A wonderful company run by the lovely Alison, who has the most impeccable style and taste, and even better prints!

A full review of the outfit is coming soon, but here is a quick sneak preview!

We meandered down to the main stage around 3pm to catch a performance by “The Hotsie Totsies” and for around 30 minutes it actually stopped raining. A bit of a Charleston Stroll on the dancefloor with some beautifully clad ladies, and I was in my element.

How did we top it off? With luxury hot chocolate and piping hot sugared donuts – A perfect end to a perfect (if very wet) day!

Thanks Twinwood, See you next year!