Spring

 

Blackbird tie

This last Sunday I went to London to meet my friend. We were shopping for a bag for her when I came across this tie in a stall in the Spitalfields market. You may know already that I like a good tie therefore you won't be surprised by this latest instance of impulse shopping. 

Well, I don't know how anyone could resist a tie with what I initially thought to be a generic bird or even a crow print, and there are decidedly fewer arguments against blackbirds! To cut a long story short, I thought it was too cute to leave, even if it meant adding to the non vintage part of my wardrobe (which reminds me, one of these days I have to show you my 1920's stripey tie). 

You will have to excuse my bulky knot - I had to watch a You Tube tutorial even to produce this! The fact that the tie is woolen and very thick doesn't help either. It looks so big in some of the pics - almost like a scarf - I start wondering if it really was such a good idea after all...On the plus side, it does keep one warmer than the ordinary tie would :)...of course, if warmth was an issue one could wear an actual scarf to that purpose, hmm...

The rest of the outfit consists of a Seeberger wool cloche, vintage acorn pin, mother's old jumper  Hobbs wide leg trousers, modern brogues and my 16 year old chunky cardigan/coat. Mum knitted this for me when I was in high school and it's still going strong.

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 photo by Gerd Rossen

Great-mother's blouse and a sporty outfit

 

Outfit:

 Linen blouse, homespun, woven, sewn and embroidered by my great-mother in 1910's (the purpose of this post was to show this off);

miniature ceramic jugs from a shop in Budapest, worn as pendants;

not worn here, but pictured with the jugs there is a woven belt, part of the Romanian traditional folk costume and which I intend to pair with these trousers in a future ensemble;

LK Bennett linen trousers, just acquired on ebay where they were advertised as a 30's "Follow the Fleet" style - I don't know about that but I was disappointed with both the cut and the fit; after having taken them in a little bit at the waist and the back (and employing my poor hand sewing skills in the process) they do seem to work; for the future though I simply have to have something wider...

Primark navy tennis shoes, I have them in 3 colors and will go back for a forth, they are that comfortable. 

Finally, you wouldn't tell, but I made an effort with the hair - it did in fact look lovely, shame I can't prove it.