Farewell to the Fifties Fair at 21!
By Kitty Von Tastique
Sydney turned on some fabulous weather for the 21st, and unexpectedly, final edition of Sydney Living Museums' 'Rose Seidler House Fifties Fair'! The iconic Bauhaus-style home, which has played host to the fair, was designed by Harry Seidler and named after his mother, Rose. Finished in 1950, the spacious home was obviously very ahead of its time with wizz-bang appliances including a dishwasher! Now a museum, the house is a huge mecca for fans of mid-century-modern architecture.
Even though Rose Seidler House is itself a stylish icon, there were also crowds of gorgeous vintage-lovers to be admired on the day as well. The fair has always been a huge attraction on the Sydney vintage calendar and it was definitely a place to 'be seen'. Everyone frocked up in their finest and it was the perfect place to go with your vintage squad!
Fairgoers got to shop at some amazing vintage stalls, which included many of my favs like 'The Vintage Drawer', run by authentic vintage-lover Deborah, who specialises in high-end vintage clothing; beautiful accessories handmade by Loretta at Bluebelle Vintage (I actually wore one of her pieces in my hair as well) plus some great fifties-style diner food was available courtesy of 'Doughbox Diner', served by the amazing Fiona, who always dons full fifties waitress attire. The popular diner is normally located in the hip inner-city suburb of Enmore. The fair also featured a vintage barber, live music, stalls full of vintage homewares and those who brought picnics to enjoy on the lawn were afforded a great view of the dancers.
There were also the usual 'Best Dressed' competitions and in this final year, a lot of the titles were taken out by people I know, which was lovely! Miss Polly Polkadot took out Best Dressed for the ladies, and two beautiful, vintage-loving, families tied for first place in the family category – my friend Cola and her two adorable little girls, and the vivacious Miss Pearly Shells with her mum Elaine and sister Chloe.
Author and advocate Tara Moss also attended, and gave her nod to 'Tara's Pick', who were the couple she most admired on the day.
The sun shone for the entire day, which was a welcome relief, as the previous year the celebrations had to be cancelled due to a huge storm that made the site too dangerous for fairgoers. The day felt golden from start to finish and, as always, I was glad to share it with my #vintagesquad
I am sad that the Fair will reportedly not return for 2017 but it will long stay in the memories of the Sydney vintage scene.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN VINTAGE LIFE MAGAZINE - APRIL, 2017
