Oh to have lived in the golden days of the silver screen (sigh). When women were seductive, men were brooding, dance numbers were obligatory and diamonds were a girl’s best friend. This Friday the V&A will be hosting a celebration of 1950s Hollywood glamour and the reign of Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando. Visitors are encouraged to don their finery and channel the decadence of the era in the classic setting of the V&A…you all know how much I love an excuse to dress up!!

The event includes film screenings, performances by dandy comedians Fitzrovia Radio Hour and a specially devised Alfred Hitchcock & Friends quiz. Illustrator Daisy de Villeneuve will be in residence, creating artwork and you can travel back in time to the age of Technicolor with a visit to a pop-up L’Oréal ’salon’, where coiffeurs will recreate glamorous hairstyles for visitors. Guests can also take a turn around the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition and enjoy exhibition-related talks around the Museum as well as late bars and live music.

Further details available here
http://www.vam.ac.uk/activ_events/events/friday_evenings/friday_late/events/friday-late-aug-2010/index.html

Grace Kelly with her Academy Award for Country Girl, 30 March 1955

Fitzrovia Radio Hour will be performing

Whether it’s Miss America, Miss World, Miss Universe or even the innocent Rose of Tralee we love a good beauty pageant here at Beyond Retro…the glamour, backstabbing, tiaras and tears!!! This September the Fabulous Russella invites you to London’s Next Top Tranny, the original and best tranny talent competition.

Contestants will be judged in various rounds on categories to include performance ability, overall look, catwalking ability and cookery skills.  So whether it’s runway ready dresses, sky scrapper heels, creative wigs or vintage aprons we have everything you need to be Top of the Trannies. The first of three heats being held at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club starts on 8th September with the grand finale on 30th September.

To Enter email – toptranny@googlemail.com for details

The only thing holding the Beyond Retro press team back from entering is that there are no boys on the team…although that may give our entrant a slight advantage.

Look out Tyra here comes London's Next Top Tranny

While I love the image of James Dean brooding in his leather jacket in ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ my heart did a little fashion flip when I saw these cute camel coloured leather trousers calling to me from the Beyond Retro aisles. In fact, I even swapped the traditional motorbike for a vintage pink Raleigh Caprice. With everything from leather trousers, high waisted shorts, waistcoats, skirts and jackets there’s no reason why we can’t all sing along to the words of the Cody Chestnut classic “I look good in leather. And I know you, wish that you, could look like me.”

Raleigh Without a Cause

This weeks Vintage Fox comes in the shape of the wonderful Lene. Brogues, chinos, Bretton stripes, double denim… I don’t know how many more trends she could of piled on in one go (whilst still looking effortlessly cool of course!) Seeing how well Lene pulls off the whole casual look reminds me of those all singing and dancing 90’s Gap ads. Makes me want to put on my dancing shoes and do the khaki swing! Time to get me some vintage Gap and give the sparkles a rest, well maybe just for a day.

I want to do the khaki swing with Lene!