Five fantastic detective duos

What's better than a good detective? Two good detectives!  I love a good mystery story at this time of year, when it's too wet for spending much time outside. Here are five of my favourite prying pairs: three super-stylish mixed doubles from days of yore, and two pairs of irresistible old codgers who were written about this century, but loaded with last-century appeal.

Merry Christmas!

The one bad thing about Christmas: SO MUCH WASHING UP!

Mending…

 I am an admitted clothes hoarder. For the past couple of winters I've been resigned to the fact that the cranberry-coloured lambswool cardigan that I bought just before going to university has been wearing out at the cuffs. It wasn't an especially expensive cardigan, coming from Littlewoods (even the cheap end of the high street sold knitwear in natural fibres back in the early 1990s), but it's lasted 23 years so far. I've stitched up the loose edge of the cuffs in past autumns, but they are fraying rather more now. If it were more fitted, I'd shorten the sleeves for a 1940s look, but that struck me as a bad idea with this boxier shape. So the poor old cardigan was put on the pile for rag recycling.

Go go gadget hoarding instinct!

I couldn't send the cardigan away. 'Look at me,' it seemed to be calling, 'I've kept you warm all these winters and so much of me is good! Surely you can salvage me...'

Nothing to see here, move along

Mulled wine at my desk. Oh yes!

I'm sorry, I'm being very boring at the moment. I'd like to share lots of gorgeous vintage goings-on with you, but I've been up to my ears in work as we have a short deadline in December, plus people like to finish early if they can. Wearing clean clothes and not eating too much junk food counts as an achievement with me this week. To be fair to work, we did have a Christmas party at the Roman Baths early in December, and a free lunch of turkey ciabattas and mulled wine this week (we were asked to make donations to Bath Food Bank), and we got given goodie bags including a bottle of Prosecco, so a few late nights is hardly turning me into a hard-done-by modern Bob Cratchit.

Oh kit-mas tree

Every year we buy new decorations for the tree, but fewer old favourites are coming out this year. Why? I wonder...

Christmas 2015 telly and radio highlights

Watching the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings films is a Christmas tradition chez Robot, as is watching Muppets Christmas Carol (the complete version, with Belle's song 'The Love Has Gone', but I've probably ranted about that before so shall spare you a repeat). Anyway, here's my brief roundup of what looks interesting over Christmas. I've left off showings of classic films as there are so many.

Back in Time for Christmas

Back in Time for Christmas (BBC 2, 14 and 15 December, 9pm)
I loved Back in Time for Dinner when it was on (writeups here and here) so as you can imagine, I'm jolly excited about this. I'm not sure how much traditional British Christmas food has changed over the years, but the team behind the show rely on the menus real people recorded for each decade, so this should show us what changes have come about – perhaps different ways of doing turkey, or more bought ready-made items, or different chocolates over the years. And, more importantly still, will Rochelle have mastered the use of the tin opener? The first show covers the 1940s-1960s, and the second the 1970s-90s.

A happy Herb Alpert Christmas to you! Plus bonus Elvis

Actually, it's a happy Herb Alpert Christmas to Mr Robot and myself, as he mentioned Tijuana Brass Christmas tunes the other day (probably in the pub) and I immediately thought DO WANT. Because nothing says 'Christmas' like Herb Alpert's not-actually-Mexican midcentury style, inorite?

Crime at Christmas

Ho ho ho! Don't let your relatives drive you to murder this holiday season; read this instead.

The Hog's Back Mystery, Freeman Wills Crofts

Back in 2011 I wrote a post entitled The Disappearance of Freeman Wills Crofts, musing on the way one of the biggest names in 1930s crime fiction had seemingly been lost, with what remained of his work in print being very pricy. Well, hooray for the British Library, as they've started including some of Crofts' work in their Crime Classics series.

My outfit posts are a lie (sort of)

Gemma recently did a post on the history of her outfit shots, and how it showed her personal style changing and evolving. It was fascinating. (Annoyingly, I can't seem to find it to link directly to it.) As someone who's floundered a bit with style since my early 30s, which was when I stopped dressing as gothily as I had in my 20s, I was interested to see how my look had evolved on my blog. I don't feel as though I'm floundering so much any more, and I do feel as though I have a more coherent look – but would this be reflected in my photos? A quick check back surprised me rather.

Rat Pack Vegas Spectacular Show

My mum and her partner came to visit last weekend, and we took them to see the Rat Pack Vegas Spectacular Show at Trowbridge's Civic Centre. I don't have photos for you as they asked us not to take photos or video, otherwise I'd have sneaked one or two. We all love the music of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr, and it gave us all something fun to do for the night.

Jekyll and spies

Gorsh, time for a session of SPEAK MY BRANES. And I warn you, if you click on the link, I have a lot to waffle about, starting with some musings on ITV's 1930s-set Jekyll and Hyde.

I met Vix!

I don't know what the weather's like where you are, but here in Darkest Wiltshire is has been utterly putrid (as they'd say in the Wilds of Norfolk, where I grew up*). Leaving the house for my Saturday morning trip to the butcher was bad enough, and Mr Robot and I got soaked through. I'd never have left the house again, only there was a Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair in Bath, and Vix and Jon were bringing Kinky Melon's stall. I really wanted to meet Vix, and had high hopes of finding some new clothes too. Since coming to realise that late 50s/early 60s stuff suits me best, I've been slowly shifting my wardrobe in that direction, and Kinky Melon struck me as the ideal place to look for things.

Looking at this photo, our frocks work pretty well together!

Adventures in Burlesque: the naming of cats

You only get to call yourself Kitten if you can live up to it...

I got very stressed by burlesque a while back. Actually, that's not true: I think I was disappointed at the show I was due to be in getting cancelled, and then pressure in other parts of my life manifested as a dissatisfaction with burlesque because that was about the only part of my life I could just drop, so I seriously considered dropping it. However, it seemed stupid to give up when I'd spent so long learning, so I decided to stick with it, and I'm so glad I did. I'm really enjoying classes again.

I think part of it is getting to know my fellow students better. I find the room full of people less intimidating, and I feel more part of things. Also, we've moved on to developing our stage personae. I've enjoyed that immensely, though coming up with a name was hard – T S Eliot may have written 'The naming of cats is a difficult matter', but he'd never tried to name a burlesquer. That's a difficult matter. In a way, you're bringing out your fantasy self, which is hard enough, before you start piling other significances onto your choice of name.

Who's Queen?

Okay, this is Princess Anne's.
But look at the beading!

I make no secret of the fact that Her Madge is one of my style icons - nantastic suits with giant brooches and always a boxy bag, how could she be anything else? I first really started to appreciate her clothes when I saw a small exhibition of some of them at the Fashion Museum in Bath. Besides the petite size, what really struck me was the workmanship, especially in some of the Norman Hartnell gowns. Needless to say, when I saw that there was going to be an exhibition of 150 items from the Queen's wardrobe next year, my first thought was that I had to see them.

The other Dracula

Back in 1931, Universal made a film version of Dracula.

And back in 1931, Universal made another film version of Dracula.

Are you a winner?

If you're Paul Starkey, then congrats, you are! You've won a vintage copy of The Second Pan Book of Horror Stories, plus some other bits and bobs. (Frankly, you're lucky the gingerbread mummies are making it into the parcel, as I was tempted to eat those myself.)

I posted some Halloween cards off to relatives on Saturday, but still need to make my Halloween cake for work. I'm planning on making a mummy-head carrot cake this year, and bought a special nozzle so I could pipe the cream cheese icing into 'bandages'. I hope it works!

Today is the second day of Thadingyut, which Mr Robot and I mark.

The Pan Books of Horror - GIVEAWAY!

When I was a teenager (in the 1980s-1990s), battered old copies of the Pan Books of Horror Stories were everywhere. Secondhand bookshops had loads, as did just about every jumble sale or car boot stall. Anywhere that sold secondhand books, it seemed, would have one of the volumes.

The desire to hibernate

I don't know if it's the weather, or the nights drawing in, but I'm feeling rather less outgoing than usual right now – I just want to hide at home and cook and make things. Having had sore ears hasn't helped. I've definitely not been in the mood to go places or do anything exciting (ie bloggable). Unfortunately by the time I've got in from work and have done all the things that have to be done any enthusiasm for intricate projects has drained away and all I'm really good for is watching telly*. At least when you're a knitter telly time can still be productive.

Halloween cards with vintage elements

My cards! And the cobweb bowls are from Lidl, if you're interested...

The Robot has been rather light on Halloween content this year, for which I apologise. But look, cards!

Confessions of a hoarder

This blouse was one of this year's purchases

My name is Mim and I'm a hoarder. Oh, not to the point where you'll see me pop up on one of those horrible exploitative reality programmes on telly, but I do have a problem letting go of things. I think it has two main root causes: moving around a lot when I was very young (I think my mum threw out stuff when we moved thinking I'd never miss it, but of course I did - and for years couldn't understand how I'd been so careless as to lose so many things!) and then the time a few years later when we were very hard up and I didn't like getting rid of things because there was no guarantee I'd ever be able to replace them.

Three novels by Francis Durbridge

It's funny where you find things. We've got a couple of bookshops in Trow, Waterstones and then Super Book, a place that sells cheap books. Usually their stock is stuff that's been on sale for full price elsewhere, but I've honestly never seen Arcturus Crime Classics on sale anywhere. The bookshop was selling them at two for a fiver, which makes them less than half the price of the British Library classic crime reprints. What really attracted me was that three of them are by Francis Durbridge, creator of Paul Temple!

A trip to Guerlain

Guerlain has a restaurant. A RESTAURANT.

As a perfume lover, when I went to Paris recently the flagship shops of some of my favourite perfume manufacturers were high on my list of places to visit. Most of my favourite fragrances are made by firms which specialise in scents and beauty products; while when the likes of Coco Chanel and Christian Dior ran their businesses they seemed to release scents that were the olfactory equivalent of their dresses – stylish, impeccably made, desirable – nowadays the perfumes seem horribly mass-market, designed to give people into the idea of the brand a way to wear it even if the cost of a top would be out of their reach. As such, what's in the bottle doesn't matter as much as what label's on the outside.

Judy in Paris

After all my agonising about what to wear in Paris, I ended up falling back on a few favourites. I haven't blogged about it yet, but I bought this 'Judy' dress in the 'wonky wedges' colourway from Heyday! at the Vintage Nostalgia Show, and it's already become a wardrobe staple. I hadn't planned to take it on holiday, but popped it in the case at the last minute and it was perfect.

New faces / old hobbies

Pippin is crosseyed; she does look funny!

I've just had a packed weekend: on top of various work deadlines, I've had these little moppets to distract me. We've just adopted Pippin formerly called Dizzy) and Ziggy from our local Cats' Protection.

Bloofer gent: Christopher Lee

 Every October I salute a Vintage Hottie of Horror – lady or gent doesn't matter, all that counts is that they are creeptacular retro-crumpet – and this year there can only be one candidate: Christopher Lee.

Vintage fair isle, off and on the needles

Off to work I go!

It's about time I gave you a look at my fair isle cardigan, isn't it? Here is is paired with an old Collectif 'Wilhelmina' dress and my everyday handbag. (Out of sight: my new brogues. And for anyone who's interested - probably only Goody - the perfume is vintage Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass Flower Mist.)

Five brilliantly bonkers British TV series

Something weird happened in British telly in the 1960s. I'm not sure what drove it - the euphoria of leaving the ration-blighted 1950s behind, perhaps, or the increasingly multicultural nature of the place, or even the growth of the free-love-and-drugs culture. Who knows? At any rate, as far as weird programmes go, the decade was a goldmine.

Bonjour, gorgeous people!

Mr Robot and I are in Paris and it is wonderful. We first came about 15 years ago when we didn't have two pennies to rub together and said we'd like to come back when we could spend a bit more. Though actually, all we've spent on so far is a six-day museum pass (worth getting if you're non-EU citizen or over 26 as it gets you in loads of places and you can bypass a lot of the queues too) and food and drink.

I nearly wrote 'foof and drink' there. It's not that sort of trip!

Here's our hotel room. We're staying in a little 12-room place in the Marais, the converted Presbytery of the St Merri church, just round the back of the Pompidou centre. When we stayed here all those years ago it was very cheap. It isn't cheap any more, but it is lovely.

Yup, that's a flying buttress over the bed!

Spooky vintage telly times ahead

October is not far away, and one of the treats to look forward to is ITV's Jekyll and Hyde. They haven't announced firmer dates than October yet, but it's definitely one to look out for.

Why should you care? For the following reasons:

Sensible shoes for serious walking

My shoes are boring and I like them that way!

Last year, with vouchers to spend and no idea what to spend them on, I bought a pair of penny loafers. FOOTWEAR REVELATION! I've always veered between clumpy boots and ladylike-but-bland shoes. (I think a really distinctive pair of shoes would send the matchy-matchy part of me into panic trying to find things that would look right with them.) My penny loafers were still great for tramping around in, but rather less casual looking. I wore them so much, I wore them out.

My Queen brings all the bling to the yard...

First up, thank you so much for the lovely comments about Boycie. We miss her terribly, but we know we were right to let her go. It's funny how such a scrap of fluff can leave such a big hole in your life.

Now, happier things. Queen Elizabeth II has become the longest-serving British monarch! I'm not a royalist per se - I'm not sure I approve of the concept of heads of state or leaders at all, frankly  - but if we absolutely have to have someone in that position, I'd rather have her than elect one of our politicians. For one thing, Boris would look rubbish in a tiara (though he does at least have big hair). Joking aside, after the result of the last general election, I'm not sure I trust the rest of the electorate to get things right. So I'll stick with her Madge.

Snif

Well, 2015 has proved itself to be indescribably crap. I might not post for a week or two as our pusscat, Boycie, who we knew was a bit elderly and frail, now has kidney failure, so we're planning to give her lots and lots of love (and salmon, and her favourite Chinese chicken balls – meat part only) for the next couple of days before we say goodbye to her. Coming in the same year as losing my mother-in-law, it's all a bit sad in the House of Robots and we'd quite like the unhappy stuff to stop.

Boycie couldn't care less about vintage – she did wreck the satin skirt on a 1980s dress I'd owned from new, but I think that was general naughtiness rather than an aesthetic judgement on her part. And, as you can see here, she did take time out from her busy schedule to assess the midcentury dresses I was planning to wear at Vintage Nostalgia earlier this year. (Note: cotton dresses are safer around cats than satin ones!)

I love my kitty, and I am going to miss her terribly.

Costume time: Partners in Crime - N or M?

Partners in Crime has finished, and the second three-episode story, N or M, served up as much costumey goodness as the first. (If you'd like to see my costume writeup, it's here: The Secret Adversary.) Walliams and Raine have won me over. I do like this programme. It's fluff, and it's not faithful to the original books, but it's entertaining and feels done with genuine love of the source material even as it deviates from it. Agatha Christie didn't write masses of novels about Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, and I do hope that when they've run out of books to adapt, the programme makers carry on.

Mild spoilers ahead - I won't reveal whodunnit or whohaditduntoem, but I will tell you a little of what the Beresfords do in this story.

Autumn approaches...

This dress should be good for autumn

Autumn approaches – the light has changed, and the cat has decided to come inside the house again after months living on the patio, which is all the proof you need – and my thoughts are turning to WOOL. I like changing seasons. Just as summer's lightweight things are becoming too familiar, along comes autumn and it's time to dig out all sorts of woolly favourites and enjoy them all over again. Then after Christmas winter woollies seem boring, spring comes along and there's the delight of rediscovering those summery garments. I've been quite naughty this year and have spent far more money than usual on summer clothes, so I haven't actually got bored of them, but I am looking forward to wearing my tweed skirts again, and digging out my felt hats.

'Mixing It: The Changing Faces of Wartime Britain' at IWM North

If you've read Crinoline Robot for any length of time, you'll know I get a bit of a bee in my bonnet about our nation's multicultural history being forgotten or ignored, especially around November when the 'My granddad didn't fight for [insert minority group here]' brigade get going in the run up to Remembrance Day. Because of that, I was really pleased to see that from the 12th of September 2015 IWM North, part of the Imperial War Museum, is going to be running a display entitled 'Mixing It: The Changing Faces of Wartime Britain'. It's showing research conducted by the University of Huddersfield into the stories of people who came to Britain because of the Second World War: a Jewish teenager, a tot from the Kindertransport, the first Nigerian pilot to serve with the RAF, Czech airmen and more.

Outfit post: Potty Lotty

A few people have asked for a closer look at this yellow dress, so here you go. I thought I'd take advantage of the heatwave and get Mr Robot to take some photos.

Who wants to be a badly-dressed tourist?

Grey waterproof. Practical, not stylish!

Mr Robot and I are going to Paris next month. Holidays always cause me a bit of a dilemma, as I'm never entirely sure what to pack, hence the fact I'm starting to think about it now. (This also gives me time to get any essential dry cleaning done, and ensures I don't stuff random items into the suitcase at the last minute, only to arrive at my destination without socks or moisturiser.)

The Man From UNCLE

I finally got round to seeing the new The Man From UNCLE film and I loved it. However, the verdict in the Robot household wasn't unanimous; the film has had mixed reviews, and my husband wasn't massively keen on it.

I'd had high hopes from the first trailer. The film was set in the 1960s, like the original television programme, and I'd really hoped they'd pull it off. Well, they did. The story starts in Berlin, and it looks like 1960s Berlin, and the film looks like a 1960s film - the colours look like those of a movie shot then. Even the font used for the titles looks like a 1960s font. The music is fantastic, and sounds very 1960s even though much of it was composed especially for the film.

Costume time – Partners in Crime: The Secret Adversary

It seems like ages since I've done a costume breakdown for a telly programme, but the outfits in the first Partners in Crime story were so striking that I really wanted to. I really wasn't sure how I felt about the show after the first episode, nor did I like Tuppence's hats. Well, three episodes in, with the first story complete, I like the show and have come to accept the titfers.

Tuppence
You can't really avoid looking at the hats. In the first episode, I was particularly startled by Tuppence pairing a chestnut hat with a black bag and chocolate gloves. That's the point, I guess: Tuppence's hats are supposed to be over-the-top and frivolous.

The Man from UNCLE: One of Our Spies is Missing

While we're all waiting for the new Man from UNCLE film to hit the cinemas on the 14th (or am I the only one bouncing in anticipation?), why not enjoy one of the original films?

Recent purchases and a good read

Finally the charity shops have started yielding some goodies again. I would say 'not much in the way of clothes', but today I found exactly what I needed (modern) to adapt for my burlesque costume in Oxfam for £8. (I'll probably do a proper post on my costume purchases/work at a later date, though without revealing the exact theme.) Last week I gave a couple of 1940s dresses to a local chazza with a specialist vintage section - I explained to the manageress what they were, so hopefully they will get a decent price for them - and perhaps that's topped up my charity shop luck.

Losing the 1960s

Cilla!

 For the first time in my life, I feel as though I'm watching a decade disappear, as though links to that time are disappearing before my eyes. I never felt that way about the 1940s and 1950s – I guess to a child's eyes, those things were 'old'. But the 1960s was my mum's decade. The 1960s weren't 'old'. Okay, as youngster in the 1980s they seemed horribly fuddy-duddy, but they were dated, they weren't actually old.

My five current favourite Etsy clothes shops

I've bought some lovely pieces off Etsy over the past 12 months, so I thought I'd share my five favourite Etsy clothes shops with you. These are all shops I look at regularly, because I know they have great stock, in a good choice of sizes, and they're not massively expensive – though everyone has a different definition of expensive, and I'm lucky enough to have a full-time job; you might feel differently. Being fuller of figure, as much as I love a chazza bargain I'd spend a lot of time naked if I didn't fill in with stuff from vintage dealers or modern manufacturers. I've stated what I've bought from each one not to be boastful, but to reassure you that I do put my money where my mouth is – I've bought from them as a regular punter and had good experiences.

And the winner is...

The random number generator picked out number six, LOUISE NORMAN!

Louise, please email a postal address for me to send the box of robotness to - my email address is crinolinerobot AT yahoo DOT com.

Congratulations!

Everyone else, I've got a huge pile of wool at home, so I'm thinking of doing a winter woolly giveaway later in the year when I get my knit together. If I do find time to make some nice hats and gloves, what are people's preferred eras/colours? I won't do those as a draw, I'll do them on a 'first comment wanting it gets it' basis.

Birmingham with a toy robot

Every blogger looks at the search terms people use to find their blog. As I've covered both Chrystabel Leighton-Porter (the model for risque wartime cartoon strip 'Jane') and the astonishingly buxom Sabrina (no surname needed, back in the 1950s) in my 'Forgotten Bombshells' pieces, I get a fair few people looking for them, usually either their measurements or in the nude. Oh, internet*. However, a while back someone searching for 'Nice places to go with a toy robot' found my blog. Were they looking for nice places to go that already had a toy robot for them to meet, or nice places where their toy robot would be welcome? Sadly, I had no way of knowing.

Partners In Crime [television]

 I had a mixture of hopes and fears for the new TV version of Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime stories. On reflection, it wasn't awful, but I didn't fall immediately in love with the programme.

Win a box of robotness!

Yes, it's a little later than I'd have liked, but it is time for my annual blogoversary giveaway. In case you're not familiar with them, to celebrate another year of speaking my branes I give away a box full of things I like in the hopes that you might like them too. They're always all things I've bought or made, I'm not simply passing on promotional freebies. Anyone from anywhere in the world can enter. All you have to do is leave ONE comment, and then I'll pick a winner using a random number generator. Dead simple, eh?

New old dresses, old old dresses

1970s-does-Edwardian. Gorgeous.

I took delivery of a new old dress at the weekend - a grey wool late 1950s jobbie with a slim skirt and 3/4 sleeves. This is an odd time of year to be buying wool dresses, I suppose, but I got it because it was on sale on Etsy and the price was too good to resist.. It'll be just as wearable in three or four months' time. With that and my new 1960s pink cutwork shift (swapped for a silk Trashydiva dress I'd outgrown) I'm doing quite well for frocks this month.

In which I apologise for being rubbish

I have not been eating cake. I spent seven days
living on soup, and can now manage mash.

I would like to claim to have been bimbling again, hence the lack of interesting activities on my part, but the truth is that with print deadline next week – my magazine recently went up in pagination, so there's loads more work and I went into the office yesterday (Saturday) – and my hideous dental infection sapping my will to do anything I've done very little of any interest. But here's what has gone on/ is coming up...

Britain on Film

Britain on Film is a new digitisation project led by the British Film Institute, aiming to show the lives of British people over the past century. You can search the collection by location, decade or subject (for example, Factories, Street Scenes or even State Visits!). It includes classic TV programmes and feature films, but also documentary footage and home movies. Not all of the content is free to watch -  you'll need to pay for some of the films - but a good portion of it is. Also, you have to be in the UK to see the films.

Explorer style

 Have you ever wanted a particular style of home? I always wanted an art deco home, and this year I've really been enjoying Porcelina's posts about restoring her home to its moderne-era best, Cate's (Vintage Gal) renovations and Marija's (Pinky Purple Honey) notes on decoration. The thing is, I'm never going to have an art deco home because I'm never going to have those uncluttered surfaces. I have too many books and knick-knacks.