Splendette's Style Spotlight takes a look at the inspirations and fashions from yesteryear as well as the modern day icons from the vintage world. This time we're taking a peek into the world of The Chronically Overdressed Christine, aka The Glambassador.
You might recognise Christine from the photo shoot for our Autumn 2019 range. It was an absolute blast working with The Glambassador as she brought so many incredible vintage inspired pieces from her own wardrobe and matched it perfectly with our bangles, earrings and necklaces.
To get to know her and her vintage inspired style a little better we sat down for a chat...
Describe your style in five words
Classic, polished, colorful, thoughtful and fun.
What is your must-have accessory from Splendette?
I love the hoop earrings from Splendette. When I was working as a massage therapist and esthetician, I couldn’t wear a lot of jewellery or wear my vintage clothing, however I was able to express my style with my hair and makeup and a few accessories. The hoop earrings are a perfect way to add a splash of color to my look (I always had to wear black), and they are secure enough that they didn’t get in the way of my work.
Where and/or who do you get your style inspiration from?
My mother and her best friend were always my style inspiration growing up, but now I tend to turn to Pinterest and Instagram whenever I need to spark my creativity. I love to look at old photos from the 1930s and 1940s on Pinterest to get inspiration for authentic styles. I have several boards that I keep updated and return to time and time again.
But of course there are a lot of specific people that inspire me as well, such as Dita Von Teese of course. Her polished, classic look is always a winner. I’m also fortunate to be friends with several people who constantly inspire me with their own style. To name a few on Instagram - wardrobe_experience, mariabordoysboudoir, birtheweijkamp, essbdee, and myvintageloveblog are an unending source of inspiration for me. Their sophisticated, comfortable, and authentic styles are what I strive for and the fact that they are all strong, intelligent and supportive women makes me privileged to call them friends.
Which is your favourite piece from our current collection?
Do I really have to choose one?!?!?! Ok, fine…I’m in love with the Alder Fakelite Necklace right now. I recently moved to Hawaii and this necklace goes so well with so many of my tropical outfits. I have to say though, I moved here with a fraction of my wardrobe and accessories in tow (awaiting the rest in a few months) and I received my box of the autumn collection shortly after I arrived in Hawaii. Even though these are scrumptious autumn colors (a season that I miss terribly by the way), everything from this line has gone so beautifully with my more summery and tropical attire. It’s so versatile and can be worn year round.
What made you get into vintage style?
As I mentioned above, my mom was my style icon growing up. She was one of the most glamorous women I’ve ever known. At a young age, she instilled in me a love for vintage garments, everyday glamour and the concept of always being “put together”. When I was about 16 years old, I decided that vintage style just suited me best. I felt the most comfortable and confident in vintage style clothing. I loved shopping in thrift and vintage stores with my mom and knowing that the clothing I wore was not going to be seen on anyone else at school.
From then on, I just continued learning and honing my look and style. Of course it’s evolved quite a bit as I’ve matured and become more comfortable in my body and I’ve learned what looks best on it. I also didn’t grown up with the internet, so having that as a resource now is invaluable.
Tell us something about yourself that we might not know...
Oh boy, that’s a hard one. Well many people don’t know that I wanted to become a police officer and eventually join the FBI. When I was 16 I joined the police department’s cadet program. But unfortunately a knee injury quashed that dream. So after school, I went into public relations and marketing instead and then eventually became a massage therapist, holistic esthetician and holistic health coach. At 43, I feel like I’ve already lived multiple lives.
Do you have a favourite place to buy your clothes from?
I do, however it’s not a typical vintage or reproduction clothing shop, but they do have amazing vintage style clothing at times. It’s eshakti.com. All of their garments can be customized to suit your exact size, or hem length, or sleeve length, etc. And all of the dresses and skirts have pockets! I have a hard time buying a dress or skirt if it doesn’t have pockets. Ladies need their pockets!!!! In addition to eShakti, I adore Emmy Designs, Vivien of Holloway, Scarlet Rage Vintage and I’m always scouring Etsy for volup sizes of vintage dresses.
Do you have a favourite vintage event in your calendar?
I’m embarrassed to say that I actually don’t get to many vintage events. There are several in the UK that I wanted to go to, but it just never worked out. I’ve attended several Dapper Day events at Disneyland in California as well as in Paris and I always enjoy those.
Now that I’m living in Hawaii, I’m hoping to get to a few events in California, or maybe even Viva Las Vegas, as I’ve never been.
How long have you been modelling?
I started modeling when I was about 15, so 28 years ago. I did some catalogue work and a few small fashion shows, but I stopped when I turned 18 and started working full time. I have done a few smaller jobs here and there over the years, but I wouldn’t consider myself a “model” really, as I’ve not done it consistently for any significant amount of time. I would love the chance to do more and help represent the plus-size gals and show that we can wear vintage styles and look amazing. That’s one of the reasons I started my blog. I wasn’t seeing the representation of gals who looked like me anywhere in the vintage scene. So I figured I would be that representation and hopefully someone could see themselves in me and have the confidence to get out there in their own vintage style.
Do you have a party trick?
I’m not sure if you would call it a party trick, but I worked as a voice-over actor for a little while and I’m pretty good with picking up accents. I’m a good mimic and when I spend a bit of time with someone with an accent, I start to sound like them.
You can see more of Christine over on Instagram, Facebook and her blog.
