Cold weather gear

This past December I bought a fur coat. I never set out for a purchase of this kind, for several reasons: weather in Britain rarely calls for such extreme wrapping, fur coats are generally bulky therefore tend to overwhelm my small frame, and also because, in spite of already owning a couple of collars and a double fox pelt, I remain somewhat ambivalent about fur, albeit vintage. 

So here I am with my impulse purchase, which I tried on out of curiosity for the fit and ended up not being able to leave behind. 

 

Before I carry on, I expect that the caricature above might inspire some of your comments. Whereas I am fully aware that fur is a controversial subject,  I have no desire to entertain a conversation about the moral issues surrounding fur, as justified as they may be,  I am merely sharing an interest in a vintage item of fashion. There are plenty of other outlets to express your moral position should you wish to do so. I would like to remind everyone that my blog is a personal space and I hope that you will respect that. Thank you.

I must say this coat is very cosy, soft and lightweight. The fur is silky and short, the vendor wasn't quite sure as to the type of fur but suggested rabbit. 

With little expertise in this field, after a few hours of research I concluded that it could only be that or some type of weasel. It doesn't feel like a domestic cat, which is apparently one way to identify rabbit fur, but I guess processing can significantly change the texture and appearance of a fur. Rabbit fur is the lowest quality fur out there, and in the 50's they would have shaved it, dyed it, and generally processed the hell out of it  in order to make it look higher end. 

Rabbit fur also sheds badly and has a "life" expectancy of only 3 to 5 years, so if this is rabbit it certainly keeps in fantastic shape, with no bold patches of any kind and no shedding whatsoever. 

 

The coat has not one, but two labels which say "Hopetonella - Furs of Distinction" and "Fashioned exclusively from skins produced by Chapal of Paris". 

I had little luck in researching the first one, but the second bears the name of well known company in the fur and leather industry, going back as far as 1832 and still strong in present day. 

The 1950's adverts above are for Chapal products and both boast the merits  of rabbit (coney) furs. I have borrowed them, together with the previous caricature, from Chapal's website, which has a very consistent section regarding company's history with plenty of photographs if anyone is interested.

 

 While the labels place this item firmly in the 50's, I felt that I could also make it work with my 30's wardrobe. At the end of the day swing shapes were very fashionable as far as mid to late thirties coats go, and other features such as the raglan sleeve, roomier in the middle, as well as the turned cuffs and large collar (that can sit flat or stand up) further contribute to facilitating that impression.

A friend pointed to me that an alteration must have been done to this coat as the bottom row of pelts are significantly shorter then the others. Looking at these pics I am now convinced they are right and the coat would have been longer originally and therefore more aesthetically balanced. Luckily since I am only  5f 4 this hardly constitutes a tragedy.

 

And here is what I wore underneath: a green knit ensemble that I haven't had the chance to show so far on this blog. It was too cold today though to take more photographs of it outside, so I'll just tease you with this one and leave the details for a future post. 

I wore it with: vintage malachite necklace and earrings, embroidered linen blouse from the 70's (used to be ma's), modern croc impressed leather belt, and a most recent purchase - 1930's shoes which I love and suffer for (yes, small is the word).

That's all.

Oranges, greys and another 30's knit

Here is another finished project, a 30's blouse inspired by the above image, fished from this blog, definitely one worth following if you're into vintage 30's to 50's fashions and knitwear, with the host often posting many vintage patterns for free.

I noticed that this specific pattern is actually available for purchase here inf anyone case is interested, my blouse is however only based on its visual clue.

Mother came pretty close this time, with a great trompe l'oeil approximation of a lacy design which is more than convincing. It worked really well with the beautiful mulberry silk yarn used (dk weight) which I'm over the moon with.

On the down side, some things still went wrong, like the arm length. Yep, don't know what happened there. 

Also mother is yet to conquer her fear that I won't be able to get things past my shoulders ( in spite of having been "gifted" with the narrowest ones one could get), and as a result a properly fitted waist continues to elude her knits, which can be a bit of a spoiler when it comes 30's blouses. 

A string has been added to compensate but psychologically speaking is counteractive :).  Still, the weight of the silk makes this fall naturally "blousy " so the result isn't too bad. 

I'm going to be happy wearing it as it is, and I think it looks great paired with the muddy greys of this modern jacket and skirt (nope, not trying to camouflage against dirty carpet, though I might need to come back to this idea in future posts).

Which dress to wear? - 1-

My oldest friend - since second grade - is getting married.
Little more than a week before I'm due to fly over, I am still to make my mind as to what to wear. I'll have no function whatsoever at the ceremony, thus no special importance as a guest, but in homage to a friendship that has lasted two decades now, I would like to make an effort.

Having said that, I will mention that the environment will hold zero interest  for vintage and my choice of dress will be probably regarded as old fashioned at the very best. Which is ok :)

I need to choose 1 out of 3 possibilities, and shall be asking for your opinions in the process (will do separate entries on the blog for the other two outfit choices). My mum and sister need plenty of visuals to assess the matter, and this is one way of doing it.

Here is my first choice, and the dress I've had in mind for quite a while. I'll admit this is the easy, fuss free option. 

It consists of a beige lace overlay on top of a pale pink slip, with puffy sleeves and a nice detail of twenty or so, transparent, cut glass buttons. Sweet and feminine, a typical mid to late 1930's dress that screams garden party while the lace makes it quite wedding minded.

Pros:

- suitable style for a wedding, would take me from church to the afternoon and early evening reception without problem;

- great shape for me ( thinks me);

- easy to wear, I won't be at all self conscious, this dress feels natural to me, I'll forget pretty soon  that I have it on;

- easy to walk and dance in;

- very easy to pack, takes little room in the suitcase and it's also very easy to care for once at destination, no stress involved;

- fairly easy to style hair to go with the dress/period (pic below is NOT an example of this), although sometimes it can look stupid, and yes, matronly.

(you can see the lace detail better here, also the colour is more accurate)

Cons:

- is there a danger this may be considered a bit too "bridal"? 

- a little bit of TLC is  needed in the midriff  section, as the dress is missing the belt and one button;

- husband says  it makes me look older...

- the colour really is shitty on me (I should consider dyeing this if possible, but that's an option for the future, not this event); I've tried to break the colour in with green accessories, but the shoes were a bit heavy and the purse terrible - failing this I had little choice but to return to accessories that fit in with the style of the dress but unfortunately blend in colour wise, so it's all a sea of beige...oh dear, this may well be a deal breaker.

I shall be awaiting your wise words.

Lollipop

Each year the same story: I find winter OK in December, try to be reasonable about it in January - after all it is only mid season -, somehow bear through February, and by March I am at the end of my tether. Simply can't take the cold and greyness any more. As much as I love spring, this isn't exactly it. So far we had 2 or 3 sunny days in March, and for the rest what I call "cement weather". 

Today started pretty much along those lines, but for some shy rays making a weak statement mid day, however the afternoon turned out positively sunny. So I pretended it was warm enough for short sleeve (it wasn't, my sore throat is the proof of that) and took some photos of the latest knit projects completed by mum. 

Here is one of them, in a lovely pink and cream Shetland wool. 

The idea of this project dates a while back, and but the time it was finished I had forgotten how the original pattern looked like. 

I notice now I didn't do my collar up like in the original image - I shall try that next time I wear the blouse, to see how it sits. 

I am pleased with this, it's a sweet little blouse, if anything I would have liked the waist band tighter - mine just hangs there, as opposed to really hugging the waist, but hey, I think I'll live with that. I believe it was a happy choice of colour too, and if anyone thinks I look like a lollipop, so be it. At least I said it first :)

Temptation and fall - knit fashions of 1932

Love at first sight and a long lasting favourite, the magazine illustration above filled me with excitement every time I looked at it - and there were many, many times. Stripes? Check! Bias? Check! Raglan? Check! Add to that billowy sleeves and a cute tie, this surely was going to be a winner... or was it?! 

It certainly was a learning curve, if among the very few to be seen in this dress:). 

One of the big mistakes I made was the choice of knitting wool. Rowan silk cotton was used, in the shades Brick and Fudge, 4.5mm needles suggested. The dress took up a lot of skeins and it is very heavy. As a result it is dragged down by its own weight and instead of adding some welcome roundness to my chest, it flattens this area even more! If we would have picked up on this weight issue in the early days, mother could have knitted this as a 2 piece, which would have been the saving grace for my little chest problem...No such luck though!

The collar too is visibly pulled down, and the weight of the sleeves is such that I have to push up the forearm section where the sleeve is tight quite a lot to sustain the upper fullness, still without achieving much success. So much would be different if this was knitted in a lighter yarn! Why did I have to be so poorly inspired?!...

On a plus note, for those of you who might want to use this yarn (now discontinued, but still crops up here and there), it knits smoothly if somewhat bulky, and has a great drape - it you want it to fall, that is! 

The skirt hangs very nicely (and in this project we seemed to find the right length, Evrika!); was knitted in 6 panels that joined were smoothly and contributed to create what I think is a more authentic look compared to the effect of just two halves, the front and the back. However this method seems to add volume to my lower half, so I need to make sure that when used again I have something on top to balance it (more than just billowy sleeves that fall flat like a bad souffle :)).

Speaking of balance, no more raglan sleeves for me! This acknowledgment was pretty damn painful, especially as I adore this detail, it seems to be part of some of the most aesthetically appealing to me patterns...yet is has proved wrong for me. Particularly in this example - I have a couple of other things where it works better because a single colour is employed and the detail is not so poignant, however here it mercilessly highlights my poor, narrow, shabby little shoulders...bear with me, we are dramatic where I come from :).

To counteract this mother and I thought of shoulder pads (not very thirties - but only if you can see them!) - what do you think? Another option is to redo the top part of the sleeves using only the brick colour thread, like I simulated below. Ok, it sort of spoils the design a bit, but really, the design is rather spoiled on me so far! Any thoughts?

Other corrections will be to redo the collar as it doesn't sit well and lengthen the sleeves so that they actually reach the wrists as they should, allowing for the amount eaten up underneath the fullness of the top sleeve - any ideas to help with this?

One more thing to mind in the future is the belt knitting; this one is double knitted so that the shape is nice and the work is solid, however is on the bulky side...

In terms of my mother's knitting, she has once again surpassed herself, the dress is technically nearly flawless and I was literally in awe to the smoothness of the work and the perfection of the fit, one more reason to feel utterly gutted about my poor choice of design/yarn. And I waited so long to see it completed, not to think about the hours and hours mother spent knitting it! With only a bit more practical thinking rather than day dreaming, all the pitfalls could have been avoided...It was my Christmas present, but I couldn't quite bring myself to post it, especially as mum herself wasn't that impressed when she saw it on me - I know that things don't look so bad in these pics, but that's because they are the best of the lot.

Perhaps it is time to learn to like things that are actually  flattering???...

Channeling Miss Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn, The Lake, 1933

The polo neck or turtleneck, paired with slacks, was a get up much favored by Katharine Hepburn and Greta Garbo.
I am an admirer of both, and most of all, of the slick, casual style they sported with such aplomb.

Outfit:

 Jigsaw silk/angora polo neck;

Hobbs trousers; 

Vintage military map bag;

Alfred Sargent shoes

Same dress, different woman: a mid to late 1930's style outfit

Speaking about putting a base piece to more uses, what do you think about this? It certainly responds to my need of change and "adventure", of starting from the same point but taking a side route and arriving to something altogether different. 

It also gives me that sense of satisfaction that you get when the things in your wardrobe just click together, like a puzzle that falls into place.

For all these reasons and more, I love this outfit. Not bad for a cheap dress that I picked for my shop - it never made it there, fits far too well in my wardrobe - and a cardigan that mum knitted out of remnants from a different project!

.

The forest green and wine red are yummy together, and I like the off center/asymmetric fastening illusion coming from the sides that overlap - they are not meant to, but since the cardigan jacket is quite roomy it allows me to do this. There a a lot of examples of later 1930's style employing this off center, asymmetric closure which for some reason appeals to me.

I have accessorized with a 1930's Robin Hood/Peter Pan style hat, a tiny treasure that comes in dark green velvet. It has a grosgrain bow that is in need of a trim, but even so, it has to be the star of this ensemble.

A Deco hide clutch in two tones of green, one of the favorites in my collection, and just the thing for this outfit!
Finally, another pair of "snakeskin" Poetic Licence shoes, I am a fan of what they produced a few seasons ago.

Magenta, anyone? - a 1930's inspired winter outfit

This is what I wore today; in spite of not involving a lot of actual vintage, I am rather pleased with this outfit. By the way, what looks like crazy hot pink is in fact magenta in real life, and nowhere near that bright. 

You can see a detail of the accessories in the second pic, together with a sneak preview of a seriously big cardigan - about 3 sizes more than I wear, which I picked up today because I couldn't not to.. ahem. 

And now I'm off to check out some more stuff on line, as my over excited shopping mood seems to coincide with  a number of promotions on etsy (see Rhianon's comment to my previous post, to mention just one). 

I must be good though!...So perhaps turn to buttons?!...

Outfit:

 Accessorize wool beret, silk scarf and leather belt;

Laura Ashley cardigan and coat; 

French Connection skirt; 

Van Dal shoes; 

1920s clutch bag.

Here comes the chicken ...or how not to wear a 1930's swing style jacket

 

There is posing...and there is me posing. 

This mid 30's inspired knit is the last in the current series. It is made from a wonderful yarn,75% wool 25% silk, that behaved extremely well and on which both mother and I are hooked.

So much so I can't wait to get more!

This little project started - surprise, surprise! - with a sporty short sleeve blouse, yet another golf little number.
I am not showing this yet as it's waiting for the buttons to arrive (yes, that's right, I bought special 30's green glass buttons to go with it :)).
Then I wanted a skirt to match. When the skirt was done, there was yarn left. So I thought: why not a 3 piece ensemble? That's how the cardigan was born.
And that's the making of one glorious set!

It all turned out wonderfully if I may say so myself, I am beyond happy with this, all pieces fit perfectly, and the work is definitely worthy of its vintage inspiration / counterpart. 

I love you mother, and let me say: we have arrived!
This is the right league.

Magenta, sea green and curls under a head scarf (read: 1930's casual chic)

With the sudden resurgence of summer over here I jumped back into what has become for me a warm season staple: wide legged trousers with some blouse or another.Yep, I could do this forever. Lazy, yet happily so.

As for the colour combination, now I know why I needed that bag I left behind at the vintage shop...darn it!

"Colour me beautiful" in ochre, pumpkin, claret and chocolate

I was not particularly taken by this outfit when I put it together, plus I was having one of those days when you don't know what to do with your hair: not freshly washed so not looking its prime, not vintage curled  therefore making it difficult, if not impossible, to work a vintage outfit...

Having said that, things turned out better than I had thought: one of those cases were phrases like "effortless chic", which normally leave me with a sensation of numbness, start to make a dim half a sense, or at the very least I don't feel like my own clothes hate me. Most of time I try very hard with little success, so it is refreshing no to be crippled by the  effort. 

Yet I can't and will never take a perfect picture - something (such a lowered belt showing a missing button) will rearrange things in their natural order where my best will never be any more than a "good try" nor will it fool anybody. Still, with so many things around to bring one down, little matters a button...

Outfit: vintage crocheted gimp hat, as worn here and here; late 40's suit jacket; vintage knitted wine dress; modern shoes, by Carvela, and modern belt, from TK Max; 40's brown cord bag (was probably a purse); vintage Russian cherry amber brooch and vintage horn bead necklace.

Sudeley Castle - a romantic setting for a 1930's summer outfit

 

The last in the series of outfits worn during those few days spent with my friend is one (finally) fully vintage. 30's dress and bag, 40's Gold Cross Lastex shoes, Soviet amber cherry brooch, and shapeless straw hat of dubious origin (same as here).

We went to Winchcombe and Sudeley Castle for the afternoon where we faced the disappointment of not being able to find all of the 9 extensive gardens they advertise. Still, that wall was worth it. Shame I wasn't inspired enough to make more of it (and the entrance price) photos wise. But hey, some of us are made to live our lives in regret, and that's just that.