Whether you go all out with a party or get the blues as you face your own mortality (#mood), is there a more personal and complicated celebration than a birthday? Each year is a fresh chance to indulge in some nostalgia, reflect and take stock of goals and dreams, have fun with loved ones - and dress up in your most fabulous party outfit.

As Ensemble celebrates its second birthday, we asked some stylish people to share their vintage birthday party photos and nostalgic memories - from a 1st birthday at a funeral to a 40th channeling the best of the 90s, and plenty of frothy retro cakes.

Natasha Ovely, founder and designer of Starving Artists Fund

Me on my fifth birthday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I remember being very excited about the tiny hat clip but on the fence about the dress. I loved the velvet but the lace yolk reminded me of our PVC white lace tablecloth. It's giving Kermit does high tea and in retrospect, I stan.

Kylie McKenzie, founder of Dear Prudence 

This is from my 40th birthday, in 2021. It was a crazy time, we had all just come out of lockdown, I had dreams of being in Greece for my 40th but Covid had other ideas.

I decided to throw a little party, and in my head I wanted a decadent mediaeval style dinner party or The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover vibes. I did my best with what I had to recreate this. I wore my wedding pleasers boots, cute secondhand pink dress (which I think is some kind of bridesmaid dress) and my amazing handmade corset I had got over lockdown.

I had a cake shop in Ōtāhuhu do my amazing cake and also had some little ones from The Caker. It was so fun and we danced the night away.

‍Gussie Larkin, musician (Mermaidens & Earth Tongue) 

Behold, the glory days of Dolly magazine, Nikki Webster, lip smackers and jelly bracelets. Here I am channelling all those things on my 8th birthday, aka my peak in the year 2001.

We were on a family holiday in the Gold Coast, getting ready for a big day out at Dreamworld. I remember sitting for a good two hours while my mum perfected this iconic hairstyle. The sparkly scarf was a freebie from a Girlfriend magazine and I think the frosted lipstick was from the $2 shop. I remember being so stoked with this look, as you can see from the fact that I am mid shimmy in this pic.

This photo brings up a lot of nostalgia for me and my sense of style. I think I'd probably just started getting a little bit of pocket money which would have been spent on the aforementioned lipstick and things like those hair clips with the fluttery butterflies on them. There was no going back from here, I was bound to a life of obsessing over each and every detail of an outfit. If you need me I'll be in my room attempting to bring this hairstyle back.

Harry Reid, AKA @himbodiaries

I always like to think that I’m the kind of person that isn’t fussed about my birthday when in reality the minute Pisces season comes around, I’m planning multiple celebrations and justifying every purchase under the guise of it being a “birthday treat”. Take this photo from my birthday this year: the shirt and glasses were two of said birthday treats, the bag was a present from my partner, I had my hair done specially, and the photo itself was taken just before heading to a dinner with friends. But like I said, I’m not fussed. 

Tyson Beckett, Ensemble and Stuff style reporter

My great grandfather died shortly before my first birthday and his funeral fell on the same day so there wasn't a big hullabaloo, but you can probably deduce that from the single candle shoved into a fruit muffin. Judging from my wide gummy smile, I was absolutely thrilled regardless. Nowadays I'm a spoiled brat who gets crippling birthday blues, so this is a nice reminder that once upon a time even I appreciated a simple pleasure.

Olivia Shivas, Stuff Pou Tiaki reporter

The most iconic fashion feature in this photo (apart from my lolly-pink stained lips) is the Barbie cake dress. My grandma made each royal icing rose by hand. I don't actually remember much from my 5th birthday, but that cake is a core memory from my childhood. 

Taualofa Totua, feature writer

I think we are celebrating my Nana’s birthday in this photo, and it looks like I’m pretty excited. My Nana must have decorated the cake with M&Ms and lollies for my enjoyment.  In the left hand corner is a KFC container of coleslaw and on the counter behind us, fizzys, a classic birthday spread at our fale. 

Jordan Rondel, founder of The Caker

I can't remember this far back on a visceral level, but you can tell from my expression that I'm VERY stoked on the chocolate house cake that my mum made for my birthday. I think I still have that same gleam in my eye when I see a cake I'm excited to eat and I'm still addicted to chocolate, so clearly not much has changed since I was a kid. I love, what must be, my little sister Anouk's hand sneaking into frame to get a taste of the icing.

‍Rebecca Wadey, Ensemble co-founder 

I turned 40 a couple of months after my husband turned 50, which was really just the perfect excuse to have a 90s party with amazing music and dress ups. Ingrid Starnes made me this amazing replica Versace dress so I could go as the iconic Liz Hurley red carpet moment (she dressed as a pitch perfect Fran Fine).

Sam Brooks, The Spinoff feature writer

I am extra about my birthday. Anybody who knows me knows this. It might be a result of me sharing a birthday with one of the most significant historical events of the 21st century, it might be because I love the chance to throw a party and get a group of people who barely see each other together, or it might be main character syndrome. At any rate, I planned an absolutely wild 30th birthday. I would hire out a hotel room for me, me and my 10 closest friends would do bottomless brunch, espresso martinis, then take a ride in a Hummerzine to Metrolanes. There would be speeches, a massive bar tab, and lots and lots of wine. Then... we went into level 2 (remember level 2?!), which capped gatherings at 10. My birthday was slated for less than a week later.

I was depressed for a full week about this, although it might well have just been general Covid anxiety. Then I made a choice: If I couldn't have my dream birthday party, I would have four. The first: A proper dinner at SPQR, where I ordered my favourite meal in the world: mashed potatoes. I ate literally nothing else that night.

The second: a wild hotel night, which involved a bottomless brunch and espresso martinis beforehand, a room that overlooked the entire harbour (where we saw a pod of dolphins cross the harbour), and enough wine/vibes to last us until sunrise. We told stories, we talked shit, we leaned off the balcony. It's one of the best days of my life.

The third: A party at Dirty Little Secret in Wellington, where I could party with my Wellington loved ones who couldn't make it up to Auckland. This ended up at the Welsh Dragon, the famous Wellington bar that used to be a public toilet.

Finally: my Metrolanes dream party (no Hummerzine), with as many loved ones as I could fit. There were speeches, there was a lot of wine, and even karaoke, because yes, Metrolanes has multiple karaoke rooms. The night ended up with us singing along with a band at Father Ted's (video never to surface on the internet) at 3am. The only good time a night got better after arriving at Father Ted's.

The photo above is on the morning of my second 30th (a hot tip is that you can no longer fake being in your 20s if you have four very public 30th birthday parties). I'm wearing my favourite matching Jaded London tracksuit, my friends are wearing their most fabulous clothes, and we're looking like the cast of a South Pacific Pictures show circa 2002. It's after a redacted amount of mimosas, after at least one espresso martini each, and taken by a passer-by who really should have taken more than one photo. I love it deeply.

Eda Tang, Stuff Pou Tiaki reporter

I couldn't help but feel envious of my friends who got to have fudgey chocolate cakes with a thick layer of Polly Pocket fondant because I had the same cake. Every. Single. Year. But I learnt much later in my life that this cake is an institution in many households of Asian diaspora. It's a light chiffon sponge with a layer of whipped cream and fresh fruit. It's the kind of dessert that would make my grandma smack her lips and say "mmm, not too sweet", the highest form of a compliment for any dessert. 

Zoe Walker Ahwa, Ensemble co-founder

Birthdays have always been about cake, and I have very specific nostalgic favourites: Mooloo ice cream cakes (RIP), banana cake with lemon icing made by my Mum, and chocolate logs made by my Aunty. This photo, with my sister and cousin, is from a family dinner for my 7th birthday in 1991; I was clearly giddy with excitement at the sight of TWO chocolate logs. I’m wearing matching tie-dye top and shorts and I remember feeling shit hot in this look, with this bob and blunt fringe. (Fun fact: this was inside that amazing old house on the corner of Victoria Park - now a cafe - where my chocolate log making aunt and uncle lived for a few years)

Zoe Radford Scott, stylist

My 13th birthday party, I’m in the pink dress in the middle. I can’t remember the theme but I had a polka dot handbag cake to match. I was a huge tomboy and this was so random. Wish I still had the dress!

Kristine Crabb, designer

This was a real coming of age dress (the pic is a bit faded, but it was a stunning red!). My mum bought it for me from the mall in Hamilton, I was about 14 or 15 here. It made me realise that I love red. Dresses with Docs was such a thing in the 90s!

My dear friend Amy is wearing one of my first designs: a wrap around halter dress, with an oversized 50s twinset jacket from the op shop.

Shandelle Battersby, NZ House & Garden journalist

Taken on my 4th birthday during the 80s and featuring a budget approximation of something – a hedgehog? – from the pages of the Australian Women's Weekly Birthday Cake Book perched atop our battered toy train, the expression on my face in this photo is a perfect summation of how I feel about birthdays today: equal parts shy and quietly chuffed.

Alongside the cake, the other things my mother was responsible for in this photo include my wonky haircut and my outfit – she cleverly made all of the clothes my sister and I wore, even down to our underwear. On my feet would have been my little gumboots – the only footwear any self-respecting preschooler gads about in on a farm in the backblocks of Taihape.

Lara Daly, Ensemble publishing coordinator

I planned for my 11th birthday limo party like it was my damn wedding day. I originally wanted a modern black limousine, but this white vintage wedding-y one was all that was available to take me and my friends around the ‘burbs of Island Bay while we got lit on sparkling grape juice.

The dress was a present from my dad - a sparkly black number from a random shop in Old Bank Arcade. I wore my mum’s orange silk shawl over it the entire time. The shoes were from an op shop, I was obsessed with the gold heel. I remember being a bit disappointed with some of my friends' footwear choices - I didn’t think jandals or Etnies skate shoes were very limo appropriate.

Note the diamante nose stud I have here, my first piercing which I believe was a 9th birthday present I spent a lot of time convincing my mum on. I was a very stubborn and persuasive child. Also note the plate of potato chips I am enjoying with a singular grape. That’s balance. 

Kaarina Parker, writer and model

This photo was taken on the morning of my 16th birthday. If you can’t tell from the haircut (I still cannot believe I was allowed to do that), I was a huge fan of the Beatles as a teenager. My parents gave me this framed album cover of Abbey Road, signed by George Harrison and Ringo Starr that they found at an auction. I vividly remember bursting into happy tears when I unwrapped it. I still have it on the wall in my office.