What I Actually Wore #0078

Serial #: 0077
Date: 01/08/2012
Weather: 15°C, a cold day with fitful sunshine
Time Allowed: 15 minutes

It took me about 10–15mins to get dressed this morning, what with searching frantically for my ‘Sweet Cherry’ sky-blue cashmere jumper, only to find (when I finally located it in my darning pile) that it didn't suit the skirt at all, being loose and floppy. So I tried on a strawberry pink silk and wool knit, and that didn't look right either. Finally I went with the layering option.

It wasn’t going to be warm, I knew, so I wore a striped long-sleeved tee from Free People underneath an old well-loved top – a diagonally-striped blouse from one of my favourite Aussie labels, Veronika Maine. The double layer turned out not to be nearly enough, so it was lucky my new ‘Sunset Sails’ cardigan arrived in the post that day. It is so soft, so cosy, so comfy! All the girls at work admired the new arrival. The cardigan is by Anthropologie which I purchased on eBay. I love this label, but it is pricey, so I shop for older season stock in eBay stores at a much-reduced rate.

The 1940s wool felt hat was also purchased online on eBay (the seller has a store, The Mad Hat Lady, on Etsy now), and I absolutely adore its little bows, the cutouts at the back, and the robins egg shade of blue. The colour is such a lovely contrast with the orange stripes, and the shape creates such a lovely silhouette. (Looking at these photos nearly a year on makes me excited that it is autumn and time to bring out the cool weather hats again.)

I’ve matched my jewellery to the hat this time: blue chalcedony earrings made by myself, a chalcedony pendant necklace, my charm necklace and my blue turquoise stone ring bought in Barcelona. The shoes I have deliberately chosen because they are green and don’t match – I love to break conventional fashion rules as much as possible.

Items:

Tee: Free People
Blouse: Veronika Maine
Skirt: Veronika Maine
Cardigan: Lill’s Closet for Anthropologie
Coat: vintage 70s
Hat: vintage 40s
Stockings: Columbine
Earrings: handmade
Necklace: Melbourne jewellery boutique
Rings: souvenir

Lace and Line

Remember poor old Anne Hathaway at the Oscars this year? Her necklace was so wrong for her gown, and she looked like she was being strangled. It is very hard to choose one’s accessories of course, especially when one has a stylist whispering wicked nothings in one’s ear. But fear not, SNAP is here to right fashion wrongs.

A neckline serves to frame one’s face, and there are of course more or less flattering necklines for every figure. In turn, a necklace should enhance a neckline, and draw the eye, and lace and line should certainly not engage in battle.

A case in point: this giant bauble necklace – a statement piece if there ever was one – while complemented by the polka dot vintage 50s blouse, is engulfed by the collar and vee-neckline. It and I need air to breathe.

… lace and line should certainly not engage in battle.

Swap the blouse for a striped kimono top with a slashed neckline and suddenly everything is okay. There is enough skin to frame the necklace and I no longer look like I am being choked. And the baubles look just as cute with a different type of graphic pattern. (The right necklace for the blouse, incidentally, would be something like a delicate and short chain that did not fall below the apex of the vee.)

Right, now go forth and decorate thyself!

Land Girl Goes To The Farm

Today was Anzac Day, a public holiday in Australia, and while all Australians and New Zealanders remember the fallen men and women who fought for their countries, it is also a day that many will spend with their friends and families.

It turned out a gloriously sunny day. I attended a barbeque for a family reunion at one of my cousin’s farms on the outskirts of Greater Melbourne, and that seemed like an appropriate opportunity to dress as Land Girl – cue a beloved old green jumper, over-the-knee woollen socks, houndstooth hat and suede boots, and, controversially, a denim skort. To my indignation my sisters insisted I was ‘dressed-up’; I was moved to protest, “but I’m Land Girl today!”

There was much tramping through long grass (those were good boots to avoid snakes with), exploring dilapidated ruins, flirting with cows in a nearby meadow, and breaking and entering an old hay shed just for the opportunity to quite literally roll in the hay. What a fragrant smell! There was also plenty of eating, drinking and being merry with long-lost cousins. There were so many of us, and so many little offsprings bouncing underfoot we all wore name tags.

All in all, a lovely day. I hope you dear readers have had an equally fun Thursday.

Thanks to Niece #1 for taking the above photo. 

Views of a neighbouring propertyMy cousin’s farm in Narre Warren North

The Volcano Hat

Last year a cream and navy straw hat from the 1940s exploded into my life. I say ‘exploded’ because the online seller at Another Time Vintage Apparel called it her ‘volcano’ hat. I thought this quite an apt description, as the little hat seems to tilt up out of itself, with the navy grosgrain ribbon placed tumbling out of the well in the centre, somewhat like lava pouring out of a volcano.

The tilt hats popular in the 1940s are perhaps my favourite style just because the precarious angle at which they are worn is quite jaunty – and rather saucy! The downturned brim of some of them allows one to perfect the coy upward glance gentleman find so intriguing.

I also love the way the tilts seem to defy gravity and stiff breezes alike – it’s all down to bins and elastics securing these confections to one’s head. This was a lot easier to do when I wore my long hair in a French roll though – there was something to anchor the hats to. Cloches suit my current hairstyle more, but there’s no way I’m giving up my tilt hats any time soon. My flirting technique would be completely crippled.

The Lolliest Beads Of All

A few years ago I came across some of the biggest beads I’d ever seen. Each of those gorgeous gob stoppers was over an inch in diameter. I beheld a glorious vision of a necklace that Betty and Wilma would have been proud to own. 

Since then I have in fact bought bigger beads, overseas and on holiday in Queensland, Australia. But at least I could still say for a fact that these beads were the lolliest I’ve ever seen. Until …

Some time after I made my necklace I came across a vintage 60s Lucite bead necklace on eBay. It was almost exactly the same, apart from a few minor design details, and the colour of course. The chain extender is handy, and the smaller beads at the end would help the necklace sit nicely around the neck. But for all these benefits, and as much as I usually love candy pink and grey, happily I still prefer my own necklace because the colours are much warmer in tone.

And who would want to eat a grey lolly after all?