Former Essex schoolgirl and staff writer at England’s oldest women’s magazine, the Lady, Melonie Clarke is a vintage aficionado.

Here she shares her love of all things retro...

AS well as wardrobe staples, I have a number of items in my make-up bag that I couldn’t be without.

Probably most obviously is my red lipstick and lip liner (and a sharpener). I’m not faithful to any particular brand despite the fact I’m always saying, ‘THIS is the one!’ with certain lipsticks.

To be honest, good colour, staying power and coverage are all I care about.

I’m currently using an Urban Decay number which is great, but when that runs out, who knows!

I also always go for a lip liner that is a different shade of red to my lippie, that way you get real depth to your colour.

Sticking with lips for the moment, I couldn’t live without Lipcote.

Around for more than 50 years I go through it like it’s going out of fashion – which thankfully it isn’t!

No matter what bag I use or where I look on my dress table, I can always find a hairpin. I have hundreds and use them all the time. No handbag is complete without a few floating around.

A good mascara and liquid eyeliner are always near to hand.

Again, I’m not faithful to brands, I think it’s fair to say I’m a bit of a make-up floozy.

I like Benefit mascara, but when I’m watching the pennies I’ve found Aldi’s make-up range is fantastic and really rate the mascara.

And finally to finish it all off, a dash of Chanel No5.

As a devout Marilyn fan, nothing else would do!