Fraid she's right mate. You've either taken the retro idea too literally, or not goone with it enough. The red/orange gradient looks rough mate, and the photos of him are awful - try and get some better quality ones.
Have a look through here for inspiration:
http://www.misspato.com/links/style.php?id=5
hope that helps. Your link buttons and text and everything should carry on the retro style, not just the header.