Portrait photography - old school!

Portrait photography has been around virtually since cameras themselves were invented.
 I love old photographs, the colour and character are so different from modern photography. Now there are a million and one camera phone apps and easy to use photo editing treatments that can recreate the style of these shots but I still love the original printed photographs, particularly the earlier ones which tend to have beautiful ivory serrated or crimped edges. 

I have selected a few interesting studio portraits where the sitter is in formal costume of some kind, If you have ever been anywhere where they are doing these shoots I recommend you try it out for a bit of fun!  I am including a couple I have done over the years too!

First up! This is Oscar Wilde in traditional Greek costume in 1877

This group of 4 girls, taken in 1875, has some odd props! The first time I saw it I thought they were dressed as witches but if you look again there are no actual pointed hats it just seems that there are! Also the broom and taxidermy all add to the intrigue! If you consider the fact that this photo was taken 138 years ago I think the girls look extremely modern!

This one was also taken in the 1800s, it's a very striking look and I'm sure she would have chosen the very finest outfit she owned for the portrait. (I'm not sure how practical  her hat would be now!)

(via www.myvintagevogue.com)

This is myself and my husband Peter taken in the Josef Seidl photographic studio in Český Krumlov during our honeymoon last year.

This is myself and Kathy in Miss Moon's vintage portrait parlour, taken at Electric Picnic a number of years ago....

And this is myself and the menfolk of my family decked out for the wild west! This was taken at the Ulster American folk park outside Omagh if I remember correctly circa 1983 ish.

 I love the ridiculousness of these photographs! It's good to poke fun at yourself and not take life too seriously all the time.

x Caroline x 

Behind The Candelabra Dirty Fabulous Stylee!

We had a Liberace themed night on Monday in preparation of seeing Behind The Candelabra.

If you've missed the hype about this film then be prepared for an awesome rhinestone and feather spectacle.

The film delves in to the relationship between the infamous Liberace and his boy toy Scott, played to perfection by Matt Damon.

It's hard to believe at times that you are watching Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, in fact the whole film is brilliantly cast.

Liberace was an insanely eccentric, extremely wealthy performer and his relationships were less than conventional.

I won't say any more on the film but I'd definitely recommend it and our whole group loved it!

Rob Lowe's character was hilarious!

"Can you see me now?"

To make the most of the evening we dressed up in every rhinestone sparkle we could put our hands to!

I provided some camp and retro nibbles for the evening and plied my guests with not one but three boozy cocktails (mocktails for me only!) which included 

Cucumber and Mint Lemonade Cocktails

A Badly Behaved Shirley Temple

and 

Pink Sugar rimmed Pomegranate Champagne Cocktails

After all this I took the easy way out for dessert and built a fabulously retro tower of Ferrero Rocher and After Eight Mints!!!

SUMMER HOLIDAYS!!!!

Helloooooo, well Summer is here with a bang! Loving this weather, loving it! 

So, we had a really lovely mini break in West Cork last weekend and I thought I would share a few photos.

We rented a lovely farmhouse outside Skibbereen, myself & Kathy, our husbands and Kathy's little boy Ruben. It was very idyllic, lovely wild gardens, with lots of random little swings among the trees and bluebells.

We had brought our laptops with us to work while we were there but unfortunately there was no Internet and virtually no phone coverage! If you were looking for somewhere to totally unwind, you would be hard pushed to find a nicer spot!

Ruben was very keen to do the driving!

Here are a few shots of in and around the house, it would be a great place for a big family get together. 

We are already planning our next visit!

 Kathy having quiet time while Ruben snoozes!

I want a trampoline!

The Innishannon Vintage Steam Rally Wuhoooooo!

We went here on our way home on bank holiday Monday, it was brilliant!! It was all in aid of the Irish Cancer Society. Now I am a big fan of vintage cars and vintage industrial paraphernalia in general but even if you aren't it's a brilliant day out! There are a number of these rally's all around the country over the summer months so if you see one I would highly recommend you check it out.

And now some awesome steam powered tractors!

   

I had to restrain myself from buying this antique sewing machine

(I have 4 already and really, really don't need another one!)

 I don't know what this was but I really wanted it!

Some vintage cars? Well yes please, I'll have that one, oh and that one, oh and I really want that one.....

Ruben's head nearly exploded with tractor excitement. 

This tractor was by Porsche!! It was very swish!

 So that was our Bank Holiday holiday! It made us all want to have a house in the country with a vintage tractor in the field and a classic car for trips to the village to eat fresh seafood! I think that's the point of holidays, they should be both aspirational and inspirational!

x Caroline x

Closed for a little R n' R from Wednesday 26th of May until Monday 3rd of June

(image courtesy of www.mode.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/)

Dirty Fabulous is off on a little holiday to West Cork for a few days so I'm afraid we won't be able to see you for appointments until Tuesday 4th of June.

We've packed our vintage cossies, wellies and macs and we're praying for a good dash of sunshine!

We'll be checking emails and booking in appointments while we're away so feel free to contact us at info@dirtyfabulous.com or you can of course leave a voicemail on 01 6111842.

See you when we get back...Now sing it with us..."We're all going on a..."

A sneaky peak at our vintage bridal collection shoot...

Here are a few teaser images of the stunning bridal collection shoot that we did on Sunday.

We shot a massive range of dresses and headpieces from the 1920's to 1970's and we were blissfully happy with outcome.

With over 1000 images to sift through it will be a few weeks before we can show you the results but hope you like these teasers.

The day was made thoroughly enjoyable with the help of photographer David Frain, vintage hair and make-up artist Rosa Ospina and model Kim