Glory Days contributor Miss Charlotte Cake stars on Come Dine with Me NZ  this week. Tune into TV3 at 7pm tonight to see the Auckland pinup cook a three-course meal that pays tribute to her love of the Southern States of America. 

Reality TV… something I never, ever thought I would get amongst. However when a good friend of mine told me I should apply for the upcoming Come Dine with Me NZ show I thought nothing of it and submitted my application. I am always up for a challenge, and I really like doing things that may seem a bit scary. So this was a perfect example of putting myself out there. When I applied I actually sent in my Miss Pinup New Zealand 2015 entry video of myself making the Very Vintage Victorian Sponge. I thought it was the perfect piece to showcase who I am and to accompany my entry form – baking + pinup style.

I think being a part of this show will help expose the pinup/vintage scene a little more to the general public. It wasn’t my original intention, but I just think the way I come across, my house, and what I like to wear being on TV will open viewers minds to another personal style and lifestyle.  My look was put together by yours truly- my hair, makeup, my outfits were all just done in the morning before I left for work, then touched up before dinner. I’m just being myself on screen and I think people really like that truth and honesty. I also don’t like to take myself too seriously and love poking fun at myself so it’s been a lot of fun. 

You may have noticed (my boyfriend) Carl's photo on the mantlepiece in the background and that wasn’t actually set up! It sits in that spot normally, and on the other side is a photo of me. They were gifts from Zandy J Photography. My cooking style as you’ll see tonight is all about my love for the Southern States of America. I don’t want to give any more details away so you'll have to tune into TV3 at 7pm tonight to see how the evening pans out!

I hope everyone’s enjoying the show so far; make sure you tune in this evening to watch my hosting night and also tomorrow on Friday evening. You’ll get to see who takes home the prize money for the best night! 

Come Dine With Me is on TV3 from Monday to Friday at 7pm. Click here for all the details.
 

As a serious and passionate vintage clothing collector, I love nothing more than finding a beautiful piece tucked away in a second hand store (sadly rare these days!) and turning it inside out to discover more about its story. I adore vintage clothing labels, that beautiful woven silk/taffeta indicator of location and brand, but what I love even more is discovering that there is, in fact, no label at all. This is indicative of garments that were either manufactured over 80 years ago or were made by hand. There is nothing like a home made garment. Imbued with the spirit of the maker, hand made clothing is unique, thoughtful and cut to fit a particular body shape. What a beautiful feeling it is to purchase a special old piece and find it fits you too like a glove! 

My love for vintage clothing and textiles is part genetic, part environmental. I come from a long line of crafty women. My grandmother owned the local haberdashery store in Whangarei for years, one of my aunties was a school home economics sewing teacher and my mother used to make some of my clothes and bits and pieces to sell at the Avondale markets when I was little to bring in extra money. I started sewing by hand when I was young and still have a tin full of dolls clothes and handmade mini hangers that I treasure. 

My passion for vintage came a little later and stemmed from a teenage grunge phase which required much time spent op shopping and trawling school fair second hand clothing sales for the perfect slip to go over pants. Thankfully I moved on from this and, after studying garment construction and pattern making, went to work for Pearl, a New Zealand label that creates beautiful women's clothing, strongly referencing the past. We often worked with vintage samples and took design inspiration from them.

As is the case with many New Zealanders, that pioneering wanderlust spirit took hold in my mid 20's and I travelled to the UK to stretch my wings and develop my career in fashion. It certainly was an eye opener and an experience that made me question and reassess many things in my life, particularly my career. 

To come from little New Zealand at the bottom of the world and be thrown into one of the biggest fashion markets in the world was a bit of a shock. As a consumer, there was a limitless supply of whatever fashion trend took your fancy. Swimsuits all year around! More than five shoe stores! Shops open later than 6pm on a Monday! The choice was overwhelming and, while I loved hunting down special pieces from vintage stores, I hate to admit that I was was seduced by the bargains that could be snapped up from fast fashion retailers. 

As I worked in the fashion industry, I had a very good idea of how much garments actually cost to produce and there was no way a three pound tee-shirt could be created without some shortfall somewhere. This coupled with the lack of regard for their product left me cold and I started to look at alternative options to mainstream fashion. 

When I moved back to New Zealand I made a conscious decision to buy only second hand, vintage or small run made clothing, and I have to say that this has simplified my life immensely and made me feel empowered. I am no longer part of a system that creates clothing to be worn once and thrown away. I am no longer part of the "fashion industry" that promotes change for change's sake and creates need and insecurity in consumers. And I am no longer beholden to huge brands that create their clothing with the most mainstream normalised purchaser in mind. 

I have been musing on my experience in the fashion industry, as the second anniversary of the Rana Plaza garment factory disaster in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which killed 1,133, and injured over 2,500 people happened recently. While this was caused by myriad factors, to my mind the main issue was the insatiable global demand for "fast fashion" at any cost.

Following this tragedy, Fashion Revolution was formed - "a global coalition of designers, academics, writers, business leaders and parliamentarians calling for systemic reform of the fashion supply chain. The organisation's premise is simple. By asking consumers, designers, brands, and all those who care to ask a simple question “Who Made My Clothes?” they envisage a change in perspective that will lead to a deeper understanding.

Each year they have decided to mark the tragedy with Fashion Revolution Day, where people challenge global fashion brands to demonstrate commitment to transparency across the length of the value chain, from farmers to factory workers, brands to buyers and consumers. It's a simple idea and one that deserves our attention. You can follow Fashion Revolution here and learn about the ways you can help to ensure that all people and products in the fashion industry are treated with respect. 

Another easy way to personally redress this systemic imbalance in the fashion industry is to think of your money as power. You have the power to support exploitative systems by purchasing "cheap fast fashion" or you can chose to use the power of that money to support small local industries and the second hand clothing market - one that by its very nature has  "reduce, reuse, recycle" as its central underpinning.

As the creative director of Glory Days, it's hugely important for me to use this philosophy to guide my selection of companies and brands that we work with. Long time readers of Glory Days will note that we have featured clothing in our fashion shoots that has come from local New Zealand made brands, vintage stores and even the Salvation Army charity shop. I am so proud that in this consumerist day and age, I work for a magazine  that is able to showcase a pair of pants that cost me $2 to purchase, with the profits going directly to help people in need. 

UPDATE FOR 2017

It's been a few years since I wrote this blog, but my philosophy of only buying vintage, secondhand, or small run clothing still holds true.

I'm constantly trawling the internet for vintage inspired exercise gear (I think I am going to start my own line as it doesn't exist!) but I thought I would share some of my favourite brands that fit this criteria with you all... and if I've missed anything out please let me know!

MADE IN NEW ZEALAND
Mintage
Devel Men and Women
Vanessa Kelly Clothing
Vintage Addiction
Pearl
Minnie Cooper Shoes
Alison Hensley Millinery
Mavis & Bob

MADE IN AUSTRALIA
Jack's Daughter
Ginny and Jude

MADE IN THE UK
House of Satin
Rocket Originals
Seamstress of Bloomsbury
Vivien of Holloway
Adele Mildred
Little House of Gorgeousness and Fripperies
Curious Pip
Lou Taylor Studio
Tatty Devine
Emily and Fin*

MADE IN THE USA
Remix Shoes*
Trashy Diva
Joli Jewellery
Everlane*

ONLINE VINTAGE HEAVEN
Der Fuches Vintage
Wildfell Hall Vintage
Dear Golden
Ooh La La 
Fab Gabs
Dethrose Vintage

TO CHECK THE ETHICAL RATING ON A CLOTHING BRAND
Good on You
Fashion Revolution
The Tearfund Ethical Fashion Guide

*Some of their products seem to be made in the source country and they seem to have an ethical approach to working with makers from around the world.

MID-CENTURY MAGIC...

We have to admit that we have become completely obsessed with all things miniature, after featuring a story on US based Maryann Roy and her incredible mid-century modern dollhouse furnishings and dioramas. Make sure you buy yourself a copy of the latest issue to read all about it but while you are waiting for your magazine to arrive, please feast your eyes on just a few of Maryann's mindblowing mid-century modern sets below!

We recently caught up with Rosemary Allen, dollhouse enthusiast based in New Zealand and proprietor of Minis4U, who turned the loss of her favourite toy into a successful business and got her doll’s house back at the same time. 

Aside from recreating the incredible Georgian style dollhouse (pictured above) that her father created and sold on before she got to really enjoy it, Rosemary runs Minis4U as a venue where miniaturists can spend time looking at other peoples projects while also learning valuable tips from each other.  She also sells an extensive range of both mass produced and artisan miniatures to those interested in filling doll’s houses they’ve made or bought.  Both International and New Zealand made products are offered, covering mainly the 1:12 scale, 1:24 and 1:48 scale. 

Rosemary says that she loves the work because, while most miniaturists stick with one style, she likes nothing more than to tackle a style or project slightly out of the ordinary. Like Room Boxes. These are exactly what they say they are, recreations in miniature of particular rooms in a house, such as Peter from Dunedin's incredibly detailed garage Room Box below. For more images you can visit the Minis4U website.

A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY...

We also featured some of the mid-century style miniature designer chairs from Homage in our latest issue (pictured above). We are completely in love with these perfect pint-sized replicas, and while we aren't in a position to own a human scale version at the moment, we can certainly fork out $45 for our dolls to be sitting this pretty!

Do you own a dollshouse or miniatures? Share these with us by commenting below or instagramming a snap of your favourite pieces with the hashtag #miniglorydays

In our Backyard Bliss feature in the latest issue of Glory Days, we were lucky enough to work with award winning chefs Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz from legendary Sydney restaurant Bodega, to bring you a few of their barbecue food favourites. 

To get their top secret recipe for Smoked Wagyu Brisket you will have to buy a copy of our latest issue, but to accompany this delicious meaty goodness we have the perfect Jack Daniels BBQ sauce and slaw to accompany. 

But first a few words from the boys on their love of barbecue...

Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce
250 ml Beef Stock
45 ml Jack Daniels
4 tablespoons tomato Sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha chilli sauce
Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 tablespoon water

• Combine all of the ingredients, except for the potato starch and water, in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat
  
• Mix in the potato starch and water together in a small bowl until the mixture becomes a thick slurry
  
• Whisk that slurry into the boiling sauce then strain, and serve warm
• Makes about 250 ml, and any left overs can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks

Slaw
200 grams shredded cabbage
100 grams shredded carrot
3 tablespoons whole egg mayonnaise 

• Combine cabbage and carrot in a bowl and toss together.  
  
• Add mayonnaise and mix through until well combined.

Sadly we can't fly them over for our mid-winter barbecue that we are hosting on the 5th July, but if you find yourself in Sydney, you can visit their stellar establishment Bodega and try their food first hand. 

For those you wanting more inspiration and culinary guidance from the convenience of your own home, we have a copy of the boys book, Recipes for a Good Time, to give away to one lucky Glory Days reader. To enter visit our Facebook page for all the details!

If you've seen the latest issue of Glory Days magazine, you'll know we've put together a special seven page feature for you with some great ideas for hosting your own mid-winter barbecue, as well as a history of barbecues, written for us by food historian Andre Taber. If you haven't seen it, we can only ask you what you're waiting for and suggest you rush out to any of our stockists listed here or buy it directly from the Emporium without delay.

If, however, after reading our splendid feature we still can't tempt you to the sort of exertion required to play with fire and meat in your own home, we are able to offer you a rather less flammable option. You'll have to travel but we hope you'll be as excited as we are when we tell you that we've teamed up with the Matakana Sunday Sessions to bring to life our very own Mid-winter Barbecue and Market day!

On the 5th July from 10am - 2pm you really should join us for retro market stalls, vintage pampering, classic cars, live bluegrass and vinyl only sounds, rock n roll dancing, hot Sailor Jerry's punch, prizes, giveaways and, of course, delicious flame grilled fare.

Located in the picturesque Matakana Village, a scenic one hour drive north of central Auckland, the Matakana Sunday Sessions have been steadily growing a reputation as the place to discover new live music, vintage treasures and artisanal foods from around the local area. You'd be mad not to join us.

Eat...
Gourmet barbecue fare and delicious Mexican cuisine from local producers

Drink...
Delicious Sailor Jerry's Hot Apple Jerry and Hendricks Hot Gin Punch

Win...
A fabulous New Zealand made raincoat from Mushama and Me worth $289 or a highly collectible Hendrick's Punch Bowl

Wear...
Beautiful genuine or reproduction vintage clothing from one of the fabulous stalls, or a brand new vintage 'do courtesy of the ladies at the Glory Days Pamper Parlour

Look...
At the classic cars and rock n roll dancing displays from the good people at Cruise Night Rockers and Wellsford Rockers.

Listen...
To Hot Diggity - New Zealand's only all female bluegrass band, blending a mix of driving Bluegrass, vintage style and original songwriting and Netti Page - one of New Zealand's best Northern Soul DJ's who will be playing a vinyl only set.

For a full list of stalls involved in this unique event, visit our Experience page and keep up to date with all the news leading up to it by visiting the Matakana Sunday Sessions page on Facebook! 

Interested in having a stall? Please email retrogirlfriday@gmail.com for further details.

And if you would prefer to do your own flame grilling, keep an eye out for our next barbecue post in which we'll feature recipes from the boys at the award winning Sydney based restaurant, Bodega, and a chance to win their cookbook, Recipes for a Good Time.

Around 9 months ago, myself and my husband began the renovation of the last remaining space in our 3 bedroom, '70s something, slice of West Auckland suburbia. Exciting for the designer and retro enthusiast part of me, relief for the part of me that can't stand being in a space that doesn't feel "good" and a nightmare for the part of me that hates mess, things that are left unfinished and delayed gratification. 

Of course, my favourite part of the process was going to be planning and sourcing the design touches that would make our new kitchen not just practical and efficient, but also a beautiful and inspiring space to be in, with plenty of colour and retro personality! But first, we needed to take care of the practical stuff as this was a real "DIY" project. No designer, project manager, contractors or labourers for us. Just me and the hubby and, luckily for us, my amazing Dad. Builder, DIY expert, and both solver of interesting problems and voice of common sense when faced with some of my more challenging ideas! Keeping it close to home, my brother who is also a builder, as well as some good friends in other trades gave their advice, expertise, weekends and trade discounts!

The existing kitchen was not very old. It was a kitset that had been put in by the previous owners shortly before we bought the house 5 years ago. Unfortunately, like many of the existing DIY "features", it just begged the question "WHYYYY???". But, since it was hardly decrepit, it came last on the list. As the rest of the house came along, the kitchen stuck out more and more as lacking a single redeeming feature.

Design details, and some head scratching

The original plan was to retain some of the existing cabinet bases and work from there. Once I sat down and began drawing out some basic ideas, it soon became clear that there wasn't a single part of the old kitchen that worked for us! So our "remodel" quickly became completely gutting the space and starting from scratch, with some serious rethink on budget! 


The good thing about this is I could really think about the best use of the space for us, without working around existing fixtures. That being said, we did have some major constraints! 

• Budget, being a huge one. We wanted a custom kitchen, with high quality finishing and details, without the designer price tag. We wanted to strike a balance between a beautiful kitchen that we would be using for at least the next few years, and over capitalising. 
  
• Size. Our entire home is less than 100 square metres, so maximising space is a big issue. 
• Resale was also a consideration, which is why we decided on a modern and neutral kitchen "base" (cabinets, flooring, appliances), with our personal style brought out in less permanent features - retro wallpaper and backsplash, vintage cabinet pulls and timber open shelving and hanging pot rack to display attractive and useful pieces of vintage kitchenware! 
  
• And, I was not going to be budged on my '50s diner style breakfast bar... despite the many objections and obstacles that arose! Let's just say I am a dog with a bone when it comes to some of my ideas.
  

Getting Stuck In

It's easy to watch shows like The Block, or look at awesome DIY kitchen ideas in home and interior magazines and get some serious inspiration! I'm a guilty as the next person. What is not so obvious, is that serious projects like kitchens, do not really happen in days, or even weeks - unless you have an army of contractors, a big budget, or both!

In our case, it was 3 months before we had a functioning kitchen again, 7 months until the bulk of the work was done, and 9 months on... there are just a few details left to complete, plus the laundry.

U DU IT (Yes, you!)

Clearly, any of the custom design kitchen places were outside our budget. We looked at many different sources of DIY flatpack kitchens and decided on U Du It. For a similar price to flat pack kitchens from Bunnings and Mitre10, of far superior quality and with an excellent online ordering system that allows for many customisable cabinet sizes. Seriously can't recommend these guys highly enough for the real DIYer!

Of course, even with a name like U Du It... it didn't quite sink in until our brand new kitchen arrived on a truck... on a pallet. And in our case, the "U-Du-It" started from the get go. With getting the pallet off the truck, which couldn't reverse up our steep driveway. Luckily, Dad was on hand with a tow rope and his 4WD truck, and combined with some muscle power from my husband, our kitchen made it into the driveway. Which is when the fun of flat pack really began...

The Transformation (Progress So Far)

It is really hard to believe this is the same space! It has been a long journey, but so rewarding to see all these bits and pieces that only existed in my mind before, come together into this wonderful and practical family centre. I am even becoming inspired once again to use my kitchen for cooking! Gasp!

Although, at this time, there are still a few things left to do:

• Install custom breakfast bar (propped up in pictures!)
  
• Floating timber open shelves above rangehood
  
• Tile grouting
  
• Broom cupboard (currently a wall concealing a dead space behind!)
  
• Put up red gloss perspex "white board" as end panel on appliance garage
  
• Appliance garage door

Tips & Advice

One of the biggest pieces of advice I can pass on is don't skimp on the planning! It's all to easy to get caught up on colour schemes, cool ideas on Pinterest, matching canisters... but hold those thoughts and sit down, visualise, brainstorm ALL the ways you are going to use your kitchen. 

What do you do most, or least? Where is EVERYTHING going to live? What things do you struggle to put away or store currently, and what would help? For example - my new kitchen contains almost no cupboards. Almost entirely drawers! 

For me, cupboards become a blackhole of junk so I love drawers. Which might drive someone else batty. Do you have a busy household? Think about ways to keep the benchtop clear of clutter and appliances so several people can use the space together. If you have lovely vintage collectables to display, incorporate open cupboards or shelving into your design. 

Consider vertical spaces - a wall mounted or small ceiling mounted pot rack can fit into almost any kitchen, above doorways are a perfect place for a narrow display shelf, Wall mounted magnetic knife racks, utensil racks and even cookbook racks make clever use of space.

Also, be prepared for everything to be harder and take longer than you expect! You might not get there the way you had planned, but you will get there! 

If you enjoyed this post, I plan to share progress and details of some of the DIY projects involved on my blog - True Confessions of a Vintage Addict!

In a special web edition of Southern Cross Rockabilly, Glory Days regular columnist Kat Creasey says "The family that builds together, stays together" Read on to find out more about the family business.

It's been three years since I first began revamping furniture with my dad as a side business. Together, we've refurbished and restored nearly 250 pieces of vintage and retro furniture. 

We source pieces from all over the place – sometimes we even have people give them to us or we get calls about deceased estate sales and buy bulk lots (I sometimes get awesome clothes too!). We're also very lucky that Dad is in the paint business, so I can choose any colour I want to freshen pieces up and we have constructed a paint-mixing station in the garage.

More recently, my partner, Matt, has started helping us which lets us work on up to three pieces at a time. It's become a real family craft session!

Buffet Boom

In Australia, a common item most families had in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s was the buffet cabinet – we find them everywhere! Some are in good condition, while in others the glass is cracked, or simply in need of a lot of TLC. These old buffets are the perfect height, size and shape to house a modern flat screen TV. IKEA has realised this too with their new range of mid-century-styled TV units.

Step 1: To prep the furniture, lightly sand it back so that you cannot see the shine'of the Laminex. You can do this by hand.

Step 2: Make sure the surface is clean from dust. Tape up the glass and anything you don’t want painted.

Step 3: Buy some Etch Primer in a can, spray an even coat on (make sure you wear a mask) and leave to dry.

Step 4: Pick your colour! You are then free to roll, brush or spray any colour you want. Gloss enamel in a can always looks the most professional and it’s much easier to clean than chalk paint, or house paint. Easy peasey!

Tiki time

Retro tiki bars have always proven very popular. Over the summer months, we restore on average one every weekend and they are quickly snapped up by eager buyers. Tiki bars are all unique; some have lights built into them and others have an underwater display of real sea horses vacuum-sealed into the plastic. How innovative and creative they were! It sure makes the furniture of today seem boring and disposable by comparison.

Kustom Kulture 

I've copped negative comments from the online vintage community in the past for using the term “revamp” because it appears to some that I am damaging vintage pieces by painting them. On the contrary, I like to think I am saving them. A lot of pieces would have been thrown away if I didn't show them some love.

I like original furniture, but we also customise cars to non-original standards, so the furniture we do is going to be bright and have the shine like one of our customised classic cars. My motto is, if the vintage piece is in perfect original condition, don’t touch it and enjoy it as is. If it's worse for wear, sand it back, pick your colour and make it over. Have fun!

Check out Kat Creasey's Facebook page for more inspiration!