Princesa Tatiana

Francisco Goya’s Doña Isabel de Porcel, c. 1805Many years ago in a grade 9 art class our teacher gave us the task to copy an old painting. He opened the drawers of a plan press full of prints of old masters, and I pulled out Francisco Goya’s Dona Isabel de Porcel. I thought she was beautiful, with her creamy skin and all the drama of that luscious black lace. I rendered her in soft pastels, and impressed my teacher.

So when I was in Barcelona last year, I hoped to find a few traditional garments: a mantilla and comb, a flamenco skirt and fan, perhaps a piano shawl, but I was sorely disappointed.

The only flamenco skirt I found was made in cheap and nasty polyester, and was expensive to boot. On the last afternoon I discovered a little boutique specialising in Spanish shawls. Of course the ones I liked most were antiques, costing over €500 apiece. I did find a little vintage fan however (I assume it was vintage by the very old box it came in), although I doubt it is any older than the 50s or 60s. 

At home, I researched paintings of Spanish women and cobbled together an outfit from the depths of my closet. The taffeta skirt is vintage 50s; I had found it on eBay some time before and forgotten I had it – I thought it was perfect for a Spanish lady. The blouse is an old favourite, the 40s gloves have been with me for years, and my white ‘mantilla’ is a souvenir from Vietnam. The filigree earrings are actually from Portugal, a cheap imitation of the extremely beautiful sterling silver pieces I admired but didn’t buy.

The crowning touch is the flowers in my hair. I found a wonderful blog entry focussing on strong Spanish women in the art of the 19th and 20th centuries. They don’t all wear black lace, but nearly all are adorned with a flower or three of some sort. Click through to admire them at It’s About Time.

(The backdrop in my image is of the Palácio Nacional de Sintra, Portugal, the only palace in Sintra in which one was permitted to take photographs.)

What I Actually Wore #0060

Serial #: 0060
Date: 25/12/2011
Weather: forecast 29°
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

So often I build my outfits around my shoes. Sometimes the weather, but mostly the shoes or the hat. Christmas last year was no exception. I bought the red glittery Mary-Janes especially for the day. Of course I loved them anyway: red, glitter, 20s style, Wizard of Oz – need I say more?

So it was an easy decision to wear a white dress to truly offset the red shoes. I love the contrast of red and white together – such a joyous combination, probably because it makes me think of holidays and sunshine, and beaches. The dress is something I’ve had in storage for a while. I’d been thinking of selling it, but I decided to give it another go. It’s a kind of broderie anglaise or cutwork type of fabric, for there are tiny holes cut out in a grid-like pattern all over.

On the day, I proudly pulled out the red heels, only to find out the girl in the store had bagged the wrong pair! She had sold me a size too small! Naughtily I wore them anyway, for I wasn’t about to let her be the Grinch to spoil my Christmas. On Boxing Day I made sure the soles weren’t scratched or dirty and took them back to the store for a swap. The shoes weren’t a cheap purchase, but I have worn them countless times, and every single time I wear them, without fail, someone exclaims in delight at the sight of them. It’s always nice to bring a little bit of fashion happiness into other people’s lives too.

Items:

Dress: Jigsaw
Bracelet: silver baubles, eBay
Earrings: silver baubles, handmade
Ring: pearl ring, Autore
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Shoes: Zoe Wittner

NQR and Fabulous

I’ve been searching for a classic pair of 60s style black slingback kitten heels for a long time. Do you know how hard they are to find in this age of stomping platforms and aggressive pumps that bare their teeth and all but snap at the ankles of innocent passers-by? Not that I don’t love these fierce heels, but sometimes I long to trip lightly.

So I decided there was nothing for it but to shop vintage. I searched high and low and came upon these little French ladies by Bleu.C on eBay that were going for a song (really – I think I paid something like $11 for them). The original owner was English, and her aunt had bought them on the Continent for her, but they were just too low. She balked at wearing anything less than four inches.

Well I was just charmed by the black and tan leather, thin strips woven in a cross between Art Deco geometry and Incan zigzags. They remind me of the woven accessories by Bottega Veneta, a label I drool over. The colour combination is classic too, but I suppose you noticed they aren’t exactly what I was looking for? I guess I’ll just have to keep looking, and be forced to buy another pair of shoes. Darn it.

Kit & Kip

One of my favourite photographers, Raymond Meier, specialises in photographing fashion accessories. And since I also love the latter, when I was flicking through an old magazine today, this editorial caught my eye. Specifically, the woven tan leather boots by Gucci (above) made me ooh and ahh. (The price made me gasp and wince too.)

It’s a very cute concept for a story on travel kit, and it’s full of delicious eye candy too, isn’t it? The pages are from British Vogue, either 2010 or 2011. (I’ve already thrown the magazine out after dissecting it. I do wish Vogue would include the issue number in their folios, which would make archiving that much easier). Scroll down for more – and try not to drool on your keyboard while doing so.

The Vintage Gauntlet

In light of the fact that I have in the past spoken scathingly against sinnamay hats, I thought it only fair to show that even I can slip up occasionally. But there were extenuating circumstances: I was indulging a little obsession with fedoras, and it was sales time. These were the only reasons I was able to purchase this straw hat with its sinnamay brim without stabbing myself in the eye afterwards with a hatpin.

I also thought the colours were quite pretty: an indeterminate blue floating somewhere between French and robin’s egg, and cream. So while it was a wrench (emotionally speaking), I bought the hat. I am only able to forgive myself because at least it is a rather strong, masculine shape and doesn’t inspire me to rip it off my head and stamp on it in hat rage. (I have mentioned I loathe sinnamay, haven’t I?)

Actually, I believe the purchase of this hat was a sop, because I was lusting after a Philip Treacy wool-felt fedora, also blue – baby blue to be precise. Unfortunately there were two things wrong with it: it was far too big in size and price.

The vintage gloves, on the other hand, were a very determined purchase. I had to go through a lot to get them. Hankering after these robin’s egg blue gloves for quite some time, I purchased them at last from Etsy, shortly before I departed for foreign climes last May. The seller did not ship to Australia, so I had to organise delivery with a forward-shipping company. There was a hitch though. While overseas I received an email that the package had been returned undelivered for reasons unknown, and I had to pay for shipping all over again. I was quite willing to go the extra mile because gloves like that don’t grow on trees these days.

Hats and gloves though are literally remnants of a more elegant past, when they were part of the de rigueur arsenal of the woman of style. They’ve since been flung away by the majority, but I am happy to pick up the vintage gauntlet. I wonder if I would have passed muster and been allowed in the Royal Enclosure at Ascot?