The Last Days of Summer

Today is the last day of summer!!! The quantity of exclamation marks should indicate my shock and horror, for this tragic ending has crept up on me. I had even been thinking about the fact that we actually have an extra day of summer as this is the 29th of February, but the reality had not quite dawned on me because the dear meteorologists (so beloved of Melbourne’s populace because of our fickle climate) have forecast several hot days this week. (They had better be right.)

So really, there are still a few unofficial days of summer out of which we can squeeze maximum enjoyment. But I thought it right to commemorate this sad occasion with a suitable outfit, and what better than one nautically-inspired? A blue and white striped linen tee is as summery as can be, don’t you think? The outfit has a little bit of 1940s flavour too, one of my favourite fashion eras.

Farewell dear summer, see you next year!

Photos: Today

What I Actually Wore #110

Serial #: 0111
Date: 26/03/2013
Weather: 31°C / 88°F
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

What a colourful outfit I wore on this day nearly three years ago! Only the jewellery and hat are in occasional circulation still. The espadrilles died an honest death. I wore them a lot, and remember once attending a recital and an elderly lady asked me in admiration how on earth I managed to walk in them! (They were very comfortable in fact.) The skirt was retired a couple of years ago, and somehow, though it is still hanging in my closet, I never pick up that top to wear anymore – I’m not sure why. (It may not survive the cull at the end of this season.)

I was in a hurry to meet a friend in the city for a drink and a quick gallery visit to view another friend’s exhibition that was about to close. Quickly I picked out a vintage 1980s polka dot skirt and a modern plain red top.

Three colours are certainly enough, and the navy and white espadrilles toned in with the bright tomato red and Delft blue skirt. I decided I needed to add a little extra pizzazz, and because it was probably one of the last hot days of autumn, I wanted to wear a summer hat.

Sometimes I forget I am wearing an unusual vintage hat and wonder why people stare!

I was pleased to use a new app that collates one’s wardrobe a little like Cher’s closet in the film Clueless. I’ve only catalogued my hats, as they are spread out and stored in a lot of hatboxes, so I was able to quickly choose and locate one: the peaked navy and white 1940s straw. It was a little breezy outside, so I had to speedily add in a strap to hold it onto my head.

My jewellery includes a grey mabé pearl ring an old boyfriend bought me years ago, and a pair of earrings I made myself from sterling silver balls with larger blue and silver star enamelled beads – they are very fun.

The hat (no surprise) attracts some attention as I walk into the city. Sometimes I forget I am wearing an unusual vintage hat and wonder why people stare!

Photo: April, 2013

Items:

Top: Veronika Maine
Skirt: Clio, vintage 1980s
Hat: vintage 1940s
Earrings: hand made
Ring: National Gallery of Victoria gift shop
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Shoes: Free People

Red Rogue

The 1940s calot is a small, brimless cap that perches on the back of the head. It was designed specifically to show off freshly styled hair, and was held on the head with combs or bobby pins. To make up for the lack of brim, the calot was decorated instead with large flowers, big bows or ornate appliqué.

I stumbled across a 1940s white and navy hat on a random Google search that I instantly fell in love with and purchased. On the same site I spotted this ‘1940s vintage red novelty hat beanie style with tassels and blue flowers collegiate style New York Creations’, as the seller comprehensively described it.

I am invariably drawn to red, and this wool hat looked just so darned cute I had to have it too.

I am invariably drawn to red, and this wool hat looked just so darned cute I had to have it too. There’s something about the style of it that makes me feel roguish wearing it – it must be because the tassels are just so jaunty! (Tassels and pompoms are two of my favourite things.) It is a pity one of the tassels is missing its blue flower, but one must expect a certain amount of wear and tear on well-loved vintage items.

I must say I’m really looking forward to autumn this year so I can start wearing some of my winter hats again. 

Photo: June 2013

Cinderella’s Sisters’ Closets

When you go op shopping (opportunity shopping, or thrifting), one of the most important things you need to take with you is a large dose of VISION. These days some secondhand stores are highly curated, but every now and then you will stumble across one that has not been rigorously edited.

There, the racks are overstuffed higgledy-piggledy, and it requires a discerning eye to sort the true gems from the dregs of the most puritanical and dowdiest of spinster great-aunties’ moth-eaten, lavender-infused closets. Here most of all it pays to be vigilant. Here you must see past ill-fitting shapes and not-quite-right lengths and ugly embellishments, for with the aid of a pair of scissors or the switch of a few buttons, a dress worn by an ugly step-sister is suddenly worthy of a princess-to-be!

… a dress worn by an ugly step-sister is suddenly worthy of a princess-to-be!

Take this pretty cute dress for instance. It’s black pleated crepe, with a pattern of white and red squares. The skirt has a lovely swishy weight. It’s elegant. But at first glance when I saw it hanging on a rack it was not elegant: it was ugly. It was wearing a modesty collar.

This collar was so frightfully hideous that it would have put off souls made of less sterner stuff than mine: I saw past its cheap cotton frills, its nasty polyester crocheted doily inserts. I saw what it could be with the summary excisement of this excrescence! Also, it was transparent and enormous, and one of the pearl button fasteners on the cuff was hanging by a thread.

I took it into the change room, tucked the collar in, wrapped a belt around my waist, and voila! Sold.

I couldn’t wait to get it home that evening to rip off the abomination around the collar. It was one of the most satisfying uses I had ever put my seam ripper to. I washed it, sewed the button back on, added fun red accessories, a vintage black slip underneath, and subsequently wore it to work, basking in the warm glow of admiration. One more vintage dress saved from oblivion!

Photos: Yesterday

Hell For Leather

I have a love affair with all accessories, but especially unique, vintage items. However—and this should be obvious—vintage textiles can be very fragile, and require more care in wearing, storage, and laundering than new things.

The definition of vintage includes items that are more than 20 years old, while antique items are at least 100 years old. Most of my belts are either new or secondhand, and probably not older than ten years, so they are one accessory I need worry less about. Or so I thought …

What Not to Do

I used to keep my belts neatly rolled up in a drawer, which worked fine for quite a while, until my collection began growing, and the drawer began shrinking. Over a period of time the drawer began to resemble a jumble sale that had been enthusiastically rummaged through.

The disgraceful drawer-cum-jumble sale in question – you can actually see the belt in question in the centre, with one piece of leather already coming away from the buckle! A portent of tragedy to come … and I never noticed at the time.I am always hurrying in the morning to dress, and one day, keen to wear a new secondhand plaited leather belt with a lovely rectangular silver buckle, I went to pull it from the drawer. I could see its end sticking, snake-like out of the tangle, and I pulled. It resisted, and I tugged harder – and a moment’s impatience made this as-yet-unworn belt snap in half! Cue lamentations …

a moment’s impatience made this as-yet-unworn belt snap in half! Cue lamentations …

The belt had clearly become brittle during its short lifetime, and it could not stand the pressure I had put it under. I have since tidied up the drawer, and hung my belts on hooks in my closet, which is much more practical, and less wearing on them.

How to care for leather

Leather can deteriorate if left in the sun: it will dry out and become brittle, making it prone to cracking and eventually breakage, which is probably what had happened to my belt. Combat this by regularly moisturising the leather with a dressing or cream.

Always store leather items in a cool, dry place to prevent mildew growing on its surface (mildew loves a humid, wet basement). Don’t keep leather in plastic either – it needs to have some air to breathe.

Keep abrasives from it that will scuff or mark the leather as much as possible –although wear is inevitable, so there’s no sense in obsessing over it.

Don’t stretch leather (such as over-stuffing a wallet) as it will not go back to its original shape.

You’ll notice the stretching of shoes made from especially soft leather. I had a beloved pair of wedges by Australian label Habbot made from Italian glove leather that eventually took on the shape of my toes! Rather unsightly. That was after they had suffered from water damage after an unexpected shower too.

However, I am firmly of the opinion it is better to use and enjoy these delicate items for as long as they last than to keep them forever wrapped in cottonwool. Let them have their time in the sun – just not too much sunbaking!

Photos: December, August 2015