How to remove THAT smell from your clothes.

I've recently bought an Edwardian antique cape and it's beautiful, velvet with a fox fur trim. Shame it fucking stinks. Honestly it does, it smells really strongly of must and moth balls. This isn't the first time I've had to deal with something like this, but fortunately for you I've decided to share my tips. Over the years I've discovered the little tricks that make the smell disappear and doesn't cost the earth!

Even Robert Smith gets the occasional smoky scented jacket.

The most obvious thing to do is clean your item first to remove as much smell as possible, check the tag first or the type of material before putting in a machine wash. Hand washing is quite safe but always test patch before, preferably near the hem or somewhere easily hidden if it does react badly. Dry cleaning is expensive but does work quite well on minor smells such as food odours or secondhand smoke (such as the one you might experience after a night out).

Washing tricks:

• Add a tablespoon of bicarbonate soda either in your machine wash or directly to your sink/tub/whatever you're handwashing in.

• If it smells mouldy soak in one cup of white vinegar to one gallon warm water to help remove it.

• Instead of dry cleaning your clothes you could try a steaming, it works best for milder smells.

• Soak it in half water half white vinegar for a few hours.

Non washing tricks:

• Airing the garment works quite well if it still smells after being washed, hang it outside for a few hours but turn it outside out first otherwise it might get bleached by the sun.

• Hang it up in the bathroom while you're taking a hot bath, the steam will help remove the smell.

• Layer newpaper down on the floor and shake bicarbonate soda over the top, wrap it up and place in a plastic bag for a few days. Hang it out and gently beat it to remove the bicarbonate soda.

• Spray with febreeze.

• Spray with a homemade remedy of half water half cheap vodka.

• Why not try an old fashioned British trick of hanging your clothes out when you know frost will appear? I haven't tried this one yet but my Nan swears by it.

Sadly I'm still trying to remove the smell from my cape, wish me luck because I bloody need it! If the smell doesn't vanish I might donate it to a museum. Any tricks or tips to share?

Vintage reproduction shops online.

I'm becoming more influenced by vintage styles and I've being looking into (and buying from) reproduction shops, using repro vintage as the basis of my wardrobe seems to make more sense than using actual vintage. Besides it's easier and will last longer, sadly it's much expensive! It took me hunting to find these shops so I've decided to create a list so it's easier, if you ever want to shop for repro vintage you can just pop back to this post. I'll be featuring shops such as Dolly Dagger that stock several vintage themed brands in another post, stay tuned.

Miss Atkins blouse from Puttin' on the Ritz.

Puttin' on the Ritz.
Expensive but the most realistic reproduction designs I've ever seen, I've being eyeing up the above blouse for quite some time!

The Mary dress from Heyday.

Heyday!
Their iconic Swing trousers are seen all over vintage blogs, I'm considering buying some myself. Although their designs are based on favourable eras they come with modern ease.

Black Utility Pedal Pushers from Freddies of Pinewood. 

Freddies of Pinewood.
Why waste money on adjusting on modern jeans you don't even like? Freddies of Pinewood have their own collection of jeans in several styles such as Dungarees and Pedal pushers, complete with matching accessories.

The cigarette pencil skirt from Lady K Loves.

Lady K Loves.
Highly recommend if you're starting to build up a vintage themed wardrobe, their plain but high quality designs deserve a place in everyone's wardrobe.

Sleeveless shirt from Tara Scarlet.

Tara Scarlet.
One of my newest favourites websites to drool over, definitely not cheap but their designs are unique and ethically made.

Halter neck top from Viven of Holloway.

Viven of Holloway.
I'm smitten with their famous circle halter neck dresses and determined to buy their shorts to pair with the halter neck top featured above.

I would love to hear from any experience from these shops or another reproduction one you can recommend.

How to reinvent your wardrobe: Inspiration.

Found via Gothbeauty on Tumblr.

The next step in reinventing your wardrobe is discovering what makes you tick, personal style can be very difficult to pin point. I recommend saving any pictures you particularly like into a folder, scan in any you find offline and add photos of anyone you admire. Eventually a theme should appear, it's not immediately obvious but generally there's a few factors that you love in style. Don't worry if your collection doesn't mix together well, your style is unique to you.

Recommended websites:

• Polyvore - You can create your own outfits using online clothing and view other peoples.
• Tumblr - look for specific tumblrs that fit your desired style, typing in fuckyeah[style].tumblr.com always works for me. Once you've found a tumblr blog you love check out the blogs they follow and go from there, it's also worth creating your own account. Tumblr is like a massive inspiration folder we can share with each other and view whenever we want.
• Blogs - Obviously I can't recommend every blog that could possibly relate to your style, once again it's up to you to discover them. If your style taste is quite mainstream you could easily look on Independent Fashion Bloggers, or if your style is vintage or Gothic I recommend taking a look at who I follow because I personally love these styles.
• Weheartit - Similar to Tumblr.
• Livejournal style communities - for example EGL if you prefer Lolita or 
• Deviantart - art based website but the photography is worth looking at.
• Flickr - a photography website but also look out for scans, this is my go to site for vintage photography.
• Online collections via Vogue, Elle and Harper's Bazaar.

Offline inspiration is easily available as well:

• Style magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Alt Fashion, Gothic Beauty, etc.
• Magazines in general.
• Fashion shows - even if you don't get invited it's great to hang around outside and nosy at the people going in, plenty of bloggers and other stylish people lurk outside hoping to be spotted.
• Films and TV shows - related to your style of course, for example Mad Men would be brilliant for a Vintage girl.
• Books and characters.
• Art galleries.
• Theatre.

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