Liebster Blog Award

Last Friday I received a welcome surprise in the form of a Liebster Blog Award from Little Lil of London.  Thank you, Lil, it was very kind of you to pass the award on to me.

I had actually been following this particular award around the blogosphere as it had been bestowed on a couple of blogs I already follow - and, I'm happy to say, helped introduce me to a few more splendid ones too!  It seems to have undergone a slight change since I first received it, courtesy of The Vintage Knitter, back in March 2011.  Now for bloggers with fewer than 300 (or sometimes still 200) followers it also seems to come with 11 questions - devised by the giver - rather than the "7 interesting facts" caveat of before.  Nonetheless I'm still delighted to accept it again and take this opportunity to recognise some of the more recent blogs that I have started following.

Lil didn't provide 11 questions for me to answer, for which I am partly grateful as I had enough trouble before thinking up 7 facts about me that wouldn't send you all into a stupor.  I also could not help but notice a common thread running through the questions on each awarded blog involving enquiries about make-up, high heels, dresses and perfumes - queries I would have found very difficult to answer!  However, to keep in the spirit of the thing, I have decided to crib the eleven best (i.e. answerable) questions from the various bloggers to/from whom the Liebster Blog has been awarded.

1. What are you reading right now?

source

R. J. Mitchell: Schooldays to Spitfire.  A combination of biography and historical narrative it tells the [all too-short] life story Reginald Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire, and the development of that famous fighter aircraft.  Written by his son, Dr. Gordon Mitchell.
 
2. What countries have you travelled to?
Outside those in the United Kingdom, I have been to: America, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium.

3. Which famous person/historical figure would you have dinner with?
If it were just dinner the historical figure would be W. O. Bentley, because then we would be able to "talk shop" and about the cars that still bear his name.  The famous person would be Stephen Fry, who would be able to talk about anything.  If it were more of a party I might choose Bix Beiderbecke historically and Robert Downey Jr. famously.

4. Does wearing or living vintage also affect the way you speak?
Yes, I would say first of all it encourages precise diction and clear speech because one wants to match one's appearance and the expectations it brings.  I also use a fair smattering of old-fashioned slang and exclamations, much to the amusement and mockery of my family and work colleagues - one of whom once observed that everything is "jolly good" with me on account of my saying it so much!

Source: hoopskirts-and-corsets.tumblr.com via Bruce on Pinterest

5. If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
I'd like to be an archivist in a museum or similar institution, in a dusty old library or records room, swotting up on my specialist subject while surrounded by books and folders the contents of which I'd know off the top of my head. ;-)

6. What era inspires and intrigues you the most?
It's almost certainly a dead heat between the inter-war period of 1919-39 or the late Victorian/Edwardian era of around 1875-1918.  Both have their own æsthetic delights, mechanical marvels and sartorial splendours that I'd be hard-pushed to put a pin between the two.

7. What season is the best & what is the worst for wearing vintage?
Personally for this chap the worst season is definitely summer as I just can't be doing with all the heat, which is a challenge when it comes to dressing in the vintage style and retaining an air of coolness.  Best is therefore the opposite - late autumn/winter when unsightly perspiration ceases to become a worry and I can break out even more of my wardrobe: coats, hats, gloves, woollens.

8. What is your most favourite item of clothing that you own?
Properly vintage would be the 1940s Kuppenheimer overcoat that my aunt & uncle brought over from America for me on one of their past visits.  Otherwise I have a pair of navy cords that I've practically worn out, so comfortable and adaptable have they been over the last 5-6 years I've had them.

9. What is your favourite vintage name for a female?
I suppose it depends on the definition of "vintage" in this sense, as a lot of old-fashioned girls' names are still popular today.  Sophie, for instance.  If I were to dig around for something more obscure I might say Georgina (or even Georgiana).

10. What is your favourite vintage name for a male?
Same goes for the chaps.  Daniel has long been a favourite (you can't get more vintage than the Old Testament!), while Clive also appeals for its uncommonness.  Incidentally, as a bonus fact/challenge, my [real] first name comes from the Greek for "victory of the people" (I know, misnamed or what?) if you fancy trying to figure it out from that.

11. When did you discover Vintage?
As a subculture, in that finding there were other people in the world who liked the same things as I did (and more importantly, were of the same peer group) I would say it was probably around late 2005 or thereabouts.  That was when I discovered The Chap magazine and its attendant "chap room", The Sheridan Club, which helped throw a light on the whole vintage scene for me.

There you are, then - a few more tit-bits about yours truly, interesting or not as the case may be.  All that remains now is for me pass this award on to five more deserving blogs [with fewer than 300 followers].  If the owners wish to answer the same questions, pose eleven of their own or provide the old 7 facts (or even none of the above if they're not inclined!) then they are welcome to do so.  Congratulations to:

• Norton of Morton
• Fabulous Miss K
• Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Elegance
• Between Me, You and the Gatepost
• Leopard and Lipstick