About

Hello!! Welcome to my teeny tiny corner of the Internet.

My name is Gemma Bow (or Gem Bow) and I’m the 30-something woman behind Mrs Bow Retro. I’m a Mumma to Frankie, a cheeky toddler, and married to my beautiful wife of four years, Hannah. By trade I am a Psychiatric Nurse and Manager, employed on the front line of the NHS.

This blog initially started out as a place to share my passion for vintage and retro styled fashion. I love shopping on a budget, be that scouring the sales or hunting through my favourite charity shops. I also dabble in a bit of dressmaking on the side and will occasionally write about commercial patterns I have used.

However, over the past couple of years I have allowed myself to branch out a little more, in to areas such a beauty and mental health. The latter I feel i can confidently write about – as someone who has had mental health problems since 17 and has been a qualified psych nurse since 21. I’m still not convinced I’ve any place to write about beauty, but I guess I’ll see where that goes!

Since starting the blog, I was fortunate enough to become a Mumma, through the slightly less conventional method of sperm donation and at home insemination. I have shared some of my experiences of being a non biological mother and hope to continue to do so.

I appreciate that it sounds like my blog has a somewhat chaotic theme, and you’re probably write. But each of these elements hold an important part in my life and are things I feel passionate about.

So in summary; fashion, beauty, mental health and LGBT parenting are my bag.

I’m always excited by the prospect of collaborating with brands, be they the small one man band type affair or the larger more well known brands. Please get in contact so we can chat more about how we might work together.