one 1950s dress and one plan of action

Brrrr today it was freezing again! I wore a vintage blue dress (third in a row) that I looooove – and it has little red buttons! – along with (I did NOT wear it back with/work it back with etc. thank you very much :D ) red shoes and belt, a not so wintery pair of sheer-ish cream tights, and suitably wintery leather jacket, red scarf, and a cream wool beret.





My hair has been driving me nuts lately.

No, srsly! So I have given it some hard thought...

... hmmmm ...


... and have finally made a decision...

... and can stop thinking about it now. And relax.

And start thinking about just what shade long leather gloves I would like... oh yes, I wrestle with some big thoughts!

cream wool beret – barkins.com (having read lovely strike.match's positive post of their shoes; I hadn't heard of Barkins before, and can now recommend their hats and their online service! Unlike one particular Aussie store's online service... harrumph)

red pom pom scarf – topshop, c. 2002 – back when I was a London gel

leather jacket – just jeans, two winters ago – and I love it to bits

vintage cotton dress – etsy.com and I shorterned it a little. I am quite small, and not into crinolines, but who knows..?

cream tights – thrifted new, in the packet

red shoes – topshop.com

music sixfthick white light, wet heat

another new old dress...

and shoe love



This time it is a '70s dres, thrifted aaaages ago (before Christmas) and worn for the first time today. I love the colours and the stripes, and the little buttons on the shoulders. As it was freezing, very windy and raining today, and so I am very pleased to have found some closed toe shoes: faux patent leather t-bars with mid-height heels, which are an awesome triangular shape (hello, Chloe) – I'm chuffed!



I wore this dress with a big knitted beret (for both warmth and hair hiding; I NEED to do something!) and, for a few moments at least, my cat. This is Babycat, also known as Little Lou Lou, and she isn't actually this enormous in real life – it's just that she is very fluffy, and this, perhaps like thick ribbed cream tights, is not necessarily that flattering in photos!




I was meant to go into town today, but decided instead to stay close to home. The furthest I ventured was to get a coffee, and then to the second hand book shop on the way home, where I picked up a biography on Nancy Wake (quite fitting for the Anzac weekend) – you can see it on the sofa. Actually, perhaps one of you can help me – I was going to town to get a compact foundation. I am after a really matt one, and, of course, really pale. I love my Chanel vital lumiere, but want a much less dewey effect for winter. Can you tell me any good ones?

music – the von bondies lack of communication – the whole album, it's amazing!

old camera flash!

I have thought about this for a little while, and decided to give it a go. I don't get home til after dark, but I really, really miss posting outfits – it's what I usually enjoy most in other blogs – and so here are some really bad pics from my old camera, using the dreaded flash... far from ideal – and so fuzzy! – but I wanted to post this dress, as I love it :) The rubbish-ness of the pictures made me laugh in all of them :D Please bear with me!



BUT here is a new old dress. It is from the '40s, and I picked it up for super-super-cheap as it had some damage. But I loved the print, and thought I'd see if I could repair it. And I could! Even with my very basic sewing skills (and having to do it twice, as the first time I somehow managed to sew it from the wrong side – der! :D I think I was really tired) it is now good to go, and a new favourite of mine already. It was also really long – calf length – which felt really frumpy on me. A large part of the hem's fabric was damaged, and had split, and gone kind of crispy, so I didn't feel bad about lopping off a good 8 inches, and doing the hem with hem tape (hem tape, I love you!) I am happier with the result than I expected.


The collar is velvet with a silver trim, and I (albeit very carefully) handwashed the dress – it made it through with flying colours. I hate dry cleaning, and like the smell of freshly laundered clothes... what can I say?! Oh and I also have finally got some black nail varnish. I have ahd it on my mind for ages, but wasn't convinced, but since putting it on on Sunday night (and updating every couple of days, it's a cheapo brand and chips easily, and chipped black nails is a bit too teenage lazy-goth for me!) I have loved it. I've been thinking about really dark, almost black lipstick too... we'll see.



Today I wore it with a cardigan-coat-thing that has something of a '40s shape, and my chunky, very comfortable and very loved-by-me black peep toes – and it is raining now! Luckily it didn't rain on my way home or I would have got soggy feet :) yet more proof I need to get me some more closed toe shoes..!

vintage dress – etsy.com
vintage (or at least retro) cardigan – ebay.com
shoes – zu, via their fantastic online service.

music – the detroit cobras hey sailor

fragile

... is how I am feeling now, having just – just – missed out on my DREAM dress on ebay. The internet at work decided to craa.aa.aaa.a.w.llll during the crucial last minutes, and I was out bidded by all of about $2.50...

Cruel.

Whoever got the (my!) APC brown plaid sack (potato sack, according to my Mr) dress, enjoy... in my mind, it was already mine. :(

Yesterday, our strange weather gave us a warm, sunny day. Today, we had cold winds and rain, but yesterday I think I had one last stretch out in the sun. We went rowing...

silk top – witchery
dress and belt – thrifted
socks – levante
shoes – sportsgirl

new red shoes

I wanted a pair of red, ankle strap, chunky heeled shoes for sooooo long, and finally saw my dream pair on Topshop.com. A week later, and they arrived – their shipping is fantastic. I am so happy with them. There really is something about red shoes...

shoes – topshop.com
dress – vintage, etsy.com
tights – thrifted new

bike ride

We have had some lovely Autumn days, a lot more like the English summers I remember; still warm, and not as harsh as the actual summer here, when it feels as though your skin is being scrubbed off every time you step outside. Blerk. Do not care for that. So, I love Autumn here, when the rain makes the dead-looking grass grow back, the flowers bloom, and the cooler temperatures put a smile back on my face. I can also enjoy being outside during the day again.




I love my bike. I found it almost two years ago, and, touch wood, it is still going strong. I took it our the other day, and also got to test ride (ahem) my new old shoes, which recently arrived from Etsy. I was looking for a pair of flat red tbars for ages, and finally found them there. With high waisted denim shorts and a silk polka dot blouse, they were perfect for enjoy a sunny afternoon on two wheels.

silk cami – thrifted
high waisted shorts – ebay
'80s shoes – etsy

hibernating

Wow! We are half way into Autumn already... and what have I been doing? I think I've been hibernating, in an up-side-down kind of way; hiding from the heat rather than the cold. Anyway, summer seems to have finally gone for another year. At last!


What I have been doing includes a bit of sewing, a bit of shopping, a good bit of watching some old movies... and lots of reading your blogs from a not signed-in computer – so I couldn't leave any comments (boooo). Haven't things changed... there are two blogs that have ended that I will really miss, and some new discoveries that have me hooked. It actually feels a bit strange to be posting, and I feel a bit nervous about it all :) Still, I have missed it HEAPS, and I'm looking forward to blowing the cobwebs away, and getting back into the swing of things...

pale blue dress and my favourite strappy shoes <3 that, erm, can't be seen –
thrifted and Forever New (back in Jan!) respectively.

music – fever ray