Mission Brown

A while back I had bought a little leather crossbody bag to replace a very similar one that after many years of use had worn out. It’s a convenient, lightweight and tiny bag I like to use shopping when I don’t need a tote. The replacement bag is lovely Italian leather, soft and supple, but there’s just one thing wrong with it: it’s red. Scarlet. Pillbox. Bright, in-your-face, lipstick red.

Now, I love red, and it is one of my favourite colours, but in these more minimalist days I came to realise that what I really needed was a tan leather bag. A red crossbody bag had become just too cute for me. I wanted something that was more discreet, neutral; something that went with everything.

… in these more minimalist days I came to realise that what I really needed was a tan leather bag

It became my mission to find a new one. Because I felt a little guilty buying another new bag when for all practical purposes there was nothing wrong with the red one, I decided I would hit the op shops (thrift stores) first. Some weeks of desultory searching went by, and then last week I hit paydirt. Sort of.

I found this tan leather wallet with a wrist strap in an op shop. It is by Roxy, unused, fits my phone inside, and cost only $8. I don’t love it, particularly not the embossed logo on the front (which friends assure me is discreet and barely noticeable), but it is perfect for use as a lunchtime purse (if not for marketing), and will do until something better comes along.

Ironically, it is too big to fit in some of my smaller handbags, so I have to decant the bare necessities into a coin purse.

The mission continues!

(Photo: December 2015)

What I Actually Wore #105

Serial #: 0105
Date: 10/01/2013
Weather: 27°, balmy evening
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

The amusing thing about writing stories about outfits from so long ago is firstly, being startled by my hairstyles, and secondly, rediscovering clothes which have since passed out of my closet. In the case of the latter, the shoes, which I loved, wore out. All the other pieces are still there however.

I remember this evening, dressing quickly after hurrying home from work, only to rush back into the city to go out for dinner with a friend to celebrate her birthday. We ate Korean barbecue.

It was a warm and sticky evening, hence the lightness of the silk chiffon top – still festive with that delicate beading. It is a very pale pink, and with that cream micro-pleated cotton skirt, the overall effect is light and sugary, which is why I offset with the contrasting black accessories and the burst of strong colour on the feet.

Those yellow suede wedges were so soft and comfortable, and easy to walk in despite their height. I was sad when the tan leather around the platform wore out so badly, but I am ruthless about turfing shoes that have seen better days. All the other items are still in circulation however.

(Photo: January, 2013)

Items:

Top: Sportsgirl
Skirt: Ricki Reed, vintage 80s
Earrings: hand made
Bangle and ring: souvenirs
Bag: vintage
Shoes: Sole Society

I'm Back!

Serial #: N/A
Date: 05/12/2015
Weather: 22°C / 72°F, (forecast 31°C / 88°F) – a sultry morning
Time Allowed: 5 minutes

Hellooooo! I’m back! (Do you love the pun?) After a very long hiatus from Snapping, I am staging a comeback (additional pun below: see brand name of top). I can’t promise how often I will post every week, but I shall try for at least once.

I was preparing to post a What I Actually Wore story, picking up where I left off, but I realised that it was so old that I really felt I needed a little interjection first. I am so far behind (more puns) with these – two years! Since then, my style has evolved a little. I tend to swing between two extremes: minimalism, and maximalism, and the pendulum has swung once more to the former.

While I still wear vintage clothing, I style my garments quite differently to how I used to. For quite some time I was, inspired by the Ballet Russes, obsessed with pattern on pattern on pattern; now, not so much. My colour palette is simpler, my clothes more streamlined, and my accessories limited. I find myself gravitating often to white, grey, navy, tan, and sometimes black, alleviated with shots of colour. Occasionally I still bust out the big guns and go bold, like yesterday, when I wore a vintage 70s yellow dress (with tan accessories). I wear prints and patterns rarely.

Fashion is still a joy though, a way to inject some beauty, colour and fun into life, and I enjoy all sorts of looks (my own past style, other people’s), even if they don’t feel quite myself today.

I still have a huge backlog of stories and photoshoots I have not yet posted, so I will take care to note when images were shot.

(Photo: Today)

Items:

Top: Backstage
Skirt: Gerard Darel
Earrings: Mimco
Lipstick: #840 Poinsettia, Revlon

Why Don’t People Dress Up for the Opera Anymore?

I first started op shopping (thrift shopping) when I was at art school. My campus was located in a neighbourhood surrounded by second hand and vintage stores, so I had ample opportunity to scour them for treasure. Back then, fewer people frequented op shops, so I had less competition too. Oh, the stories of glorious discoveries I could dazzle you with!

Once such item was this vintage oyster satin opera cloak. I pounced on that with great excitement. Such rich gleaming fabric, falling in luxurious folds, and trimmed lavishly with embroidered ribbon! I couldn’t resist. It was $30, and I did not hesitate to purchase it even though even then I had a latent suspicion that I would never wear it.

That must have been precognition, for in over 20 years I have never once worn it, not even to a dress up party! It’s just so ridiculously melodramatic, and utterly impractical. I never went to the opera, so where would I wear such a frivolous garment? However, I have never been able to part with it, so it still hangs in my storage room. Nowadays I do go to the theatre often, and though very few people wear real evening dress, perhaps I ought to show them how it’s done.

(Photo: March, 2014)

The Gloves are On!

Vintage 60s periwinkle nylon gloves, worn with modern silk blouse Except in winter, or other special occasions, gloves have long since been a discarded accessory. Once upon a time, they were an indispensible component of a woman’s sartorial arsenal. And then decades ago, women became emancipated from fashion diktats, and the gloves – along with the hats and stockings – were joyfully tossed aside.

What a pity! All these additional accessories are one of the main reasons I welcome cooler weather: so many more opportunities to express oneself through fashion! Of course in summer there are still hats, and I’ve adopted the parasol too for pragmatic reasons, but in hot, sultry weather as we often have here in summer in my hometown of Melbourne, I am reluctant to load myself down with decorative accessories, such as scarves, or gloves.

Once upon a time, [gloves] were an indispensible component of a woman’s sartorial arsenal.

However, I really have no such excuse in spring, for this season is one of the most changeable in this climate. One day in the last month we literally went from morning sunshine, to noon thunderstorms and imminent hurricanes, and then less than half an hour later, the sun was gloriously shining again. In such a climate, it really is necessary to be prepared for anything, every day. So why not gloves?

Vintage 1940s buff leather gloves, worn with 1940s hat and 1970s dressIt is difficult, I have discovered, to find new gloves that are anything more than pedestrian or basic in design. Colours, lengths, styles, trims – everything is extremely limited. Even in Spain and Portugal a few years ago I found nothing very unusual, and I visited a specialist glove store in Lisbon only to be bitterly disappointed.

So I have turned to vintage gloves. I am lucky that I have quite small hands (about a size 7), so that I can find many that actually fit me. As Valerie Cummings, author of Gloves (B. T. Batsford, 1982) writes in her introduction: For several hundred years gloves were worn throughout the year, they were bought in dozens rather than pairs, and they came in a wide range of materials, colours, styles and sizes. This is why there are so many to choose from when purchasing vintage, although you’ll probably have more luck finding gloves that fit from the last five or six decades of the twentieth century.

I have amassed quite a large collection of really lovely vintage gloves; here are two pairs: buff kid leather 1940s French gloves – never worn – bought on Etsy, and a pair of periwinkle 1960s nylon gloves made in Hong Kong, purchased in a vintage bazaar in Geelong (a small city not far from Melbourne). Admittedly, I have not worn my collection as often as I should: just for fun, and at least occasionally. This must change – like the weather!

(Photo: March, 2014)