Candy Cane Christmas

Yes, this is the actual jewellery I wore today at Christmas lunch with my family. Isn’t it wonderful? More Christmassy jewellery you could not wish for.

I bought these both from thrift stores: the necklace came from a Vinnies op shop in Geelong when I was visiting my cousin in October; she didn’t like it because it was too Christmassy and reminded her of candy canes – I retorted that was exactly why I loved it. I also love red and white together in general.

The candy cane earrings I found a week or two after that, in an Animal Aid op shop – rather amusingly after a trip to the dentist. The necklace is vintage I think, though I’m not sure on the age of either it, or the earrings. They were both greatly admired today anyway.

I hope you all have a wonderful day with your loved ones. I wish you all peace and joy this Christmas season.

In the Nick of Time!

Eeek! Princess Tatiana’s back – just in the nick of time (somewhat like the revered Saint Nick) – with Christmas Eve greetings! I have been taking an inadvertently long hiatus from SNAP, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been taking a holiday from collecting stories to tell, and snapping up vintage bargains along the way.

I’ve decided I shall celebrate this season with a selection of vintage, new and hand-made earrings – because we’re looking forward to ringing in the New Year after all, and because I haven’t had enough time to take some proper photos.

I wore this pair of diamanté (or rhinestone, if you prefer) earrings today to do my marketing for the dishes I’ll be taking to my family’s Christmas lunch tomorrow. They swing jauntily and put one in a festive spirit.

I hope you have all been enjoying your Christmas Eve, and that you have been very, very good this year, for there’s less than an hour to go before Saint Nick starts making his deliveries. But don’t forget, if you do get a lump of coal in your Christmas stocking, it’s almost like getting a diamond … if you add a few thousand years plus a bit of heat and compression and whatnot!

A Grecian (T)urn

A few years ago I befriended an artist and craftmaker through Instagram (Crude Things), and while our aesthetic is quite different in many ways, we share a love of dressing-up. Lana asked if I would be interested in photographing some of her items and featuring them on my blog – of course I said yes, I would love to.

I used a textile rope that could be wrapped around the body in any way one pleased, and took a Grecian direction with matching turquoise jewellery and a long white dress, which you can see here.

Here are some of my unpublished out-takes, taken with my Hipstamatic app.

Photos: May 2013

Good Enough to Eat

What are these delicious little trifles – bonbons or sweet treats for ears? These are the kind of earrings to keep far, far away from infants because they do look good enough to eat!

The green ovals I call my peppermint patty earrings – they look just like they are wrapped in green foil like the classic chocolate bars. The sparkly blue pair is imitation druzy, but they sparkle almost as much as real ones would, and the purple pearls are like grapes dangling from my ears.

All of the earrings were bought in thrift stores, and happened to be sitting together on my bathroom bench because I had worn the green and blue pairs in the last couple of days, while the pearls I only bought yesterday. They make a great colour combination, don’t they?

Photo: Today

What I Actually Wore #0136

Serial #: 0136
Date: 05/08/2013
Weather: 16°C / 61.5°F
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

This outfit is making me sad, because I’m looking at the list of items and seeing just how many of them broke or wore out: almost everything! What is left and still in circulation is the vintage 40s hat (I love its detailing; you can see it in the close-up below), the Chinese red carved jade bangle and ring (featured just recently) and the grey wool jumper – although the boutique I bought it from closed down a few years ago, which is a shame, because they always had a great selection of Australian and international labels.

The wide-leg wool pants with the self-tie belt were a favourite of mine for years, and just became too worn and threadbare in patches, so they were culled, and of course the brogues which I wrote about a couple of days ago also wore out, but here they are in all their beribboned glory. (I noted the outfit started with the shoes in fact, as I wanted flat shoes because my calves were tight from martial arts training.)

Not seen are two other items I wore that day: my white leather trench, and a white leather tote – I was actually donated the bag only a couple of weeks ago, as not only was the leather very cracked and worn, but the zip had broken – you can see it in the A Few Things I Heart picture gallery. I’m never sure whether I should donate such items, but someone might have a use for them instead of adding them to landfill. I’m doubly sad over the bag because the label is now defunct too.

I am actually still quite fond of this outfit, which is inspired by 40s fashion, although the pants are very low-waisted rather than high, in proper 40s style. There are a lot of bow-ties in this outfit too, which amused me – on the hat, the jumper, the pants and the shoes. Also funnily, four years on, I am wearing my hair like that again. It is curlier however, because of the layers from the grown-out pixie cut. My style in general really hasn’t changed a great deal since I wore this outfit.

Items:

Jumper: ink
Pants: id4
Hat: vintage 40s
Coat: vintage 70s, Leda Spain by Gropper
Earrings: handmade
Bangle and ring: souvenirs
Tote: Elise Carrels
Shoes: Urge