Which dress to wear? -2-

 

Here is the second option I was telling you about in my previous post. 

This is a modern dress that is very much 1920's inspired, beautiful quality and rather fancy, which is why it hasn't yet been worn in the year or so since it has made it into my wardrobe.

 The pics are particularly bad this time - my camera hates all reds and goes crazy on them. This dress is a deep coral shade, but nowhere as loud as my camera makes it out to be.

Pros:

- good colour on me;
- light and airy (it will be hot where I go);

- easy to move and dance in;

- ties in with my 20's mood of late;

- very much on trend at the moment, if that can be a pro...

- ...??...

Cons:

- not that suitable for the church ceremony I think, will have to wear something else at the church, perhaps this dress , (a shorter version of my option 1) - not a real con if you like clothes like I do, but 2 dresses require more room in the suitcase;

- I look terribly skinny in this dress which is corresponding to reality but not a very good look at all...

- haven't worn such a short dress in quite a while now so I am not sure how confident I'll be or indeed whether I should be showing my knees at all; moreover, the thought of leg makeup to cover up some broken capillaries behind my knee is a bit off putting...

- more care needed in transit compared to option 1, and not quite sure what to do if things get really crumpled, although I have a feeling this won't necessarily be the case (it's been doing very well packed flat with tissue in a box).

- hair will be extremely challenging - great if I manage it, terrible if I don't; it is not easy to get 1920's looking hair with my long locks (see lame result above) and, if I go for this option of dress, it will be the hardest hair style to achieve out of the three.  

You've seen option 2, now tell me what you think!

Variations on teal and vintage silhoettes

 

Today I played in my wardrobe. I do this sometimes, living some sort of late childhood I guess. Perhaps all things not done in due time come back with a vengeance and haunt one later in life? If so, it is so far a case of enjoyable haunting, because this game is rather fun. There are no rules to it, no system, it starts differently each time. I may try to build an outfit around a bag, reconstruct a vintage silhouette with improvised, modern means, absolutely die if I don't try out the latest hat to come in the post with everything I have, or simply be bugged by a tenth of an idea that I've picked somewhere, without remember where, or what exactly is that made me feel inspired. So I play...and today is teal.

The outfit above I struggled a bit with. Modern fashions do fall short of their vintage counterpart, and this 20's style outfit smells wannabe from a distance. The only old thing is the coral necklace, so that's fair enough. The rest consists of a modern turtleneck (the only thing bought new) with a silk short sleeve top from French Connection layered on top, a home made knitted skirt, and Pas de Rouge shoes. These I had been drooling over for a couple of years in a local store, thinking how wonderfully comfortable yet stylish and vintage looking they were, only to be so lucky as to find them at some point on ebay, good as new, in my size! I still paid a fair amount for them but nothing compared to what they retail at.

Here I'm wearing the 20's bag shown in a previous post with a Jigsaw hat that matches in colour, which I have reshaped into a cloche, the same basic top and a 70's skirt with a pleated detail at the front picked on etsy, thick ribbed tights from TK Maxx, a Hobbs belt and my Alfred Sargent shoes which were again a very lucky buy. They were an ebay buy in fact, the same as the belt, bag and hat (I know, I'm a junkie!). I like this outfit, but somehow I don't think I've quite managed to shake the 70's out of it.

 

  

Not a lot of changes, yet a different look with a beret and scarf from Accessorize, and a Deco lizard skin bag which I am very determinately clutching, although in spite of what the picture may suggest, not with something like 6 fingers :). I have worn this outfit to work since (without the bag), and I am pretty much sold on it. 

I was finding quite difficult to integrate this skirt in my wardrobe, as everything that I was trying to pair it with screamed old lady, but this seems to work. My husbands still hates the skirt with a passion though.

Finally getting out of the teal top only to throw it over the shoulders and swap it with another turtleneck , this time from Jigsaw (it's Garbo's fault!). And blimey, I have some tights in the same shade! I love it when this happens, as opposed to the usual frustration of not being able to match things (see how the hat and the teal jumper clash?!...). I went for another 20's look, inspired by the colours in my newest hat, a Mad Hatters creation in teal with cute wine velvet bows.

And right at the end of the game, guess what came out of the wardrobe? A 50's wool plaid skirt that  I am having forever trouble accessorizing - but not anymore! - and a Karen Millen velvet vest. All but the tights were second hand buys, and this unlikely pairing produced the most delightful and bizarrely quite authentic looking 20's ensemble. I was so happy with this I took numerous pics which I will share with you in my next post. 

So if you hate it, this a good time to look away :)!

Naughty spot for a 1920's child

 

 ...I had to sit there for a little while until the tantrum passed. 

I'm not going to go into details, suffice to say that - explained or not - mood swings are part of my lovely personality. 

The deep well of calm of my childhood and teenage years must have spared wast energy resources which I spend nowadays flaring up at the smallest opportunity. Add to that the strong call of the genes claiming what's theirs and the (not so) funny way life has of transforming bland children into angry adults. In any case, in my menopausal years I expect to be a walking tempest.  

 

But for now the tempest passed and I was able to enjoy what was left of an otherwise wonderful summer day, together with the shredded remnants of the initial good mood that had prompted me to put that outfit on (vintage skirt and blouse ensemble from etsy, vintage crochet bag, modern shoes and charity shop dumped hat). 

We had gone for a walk in Tewkesbury, my friend and I,  and you can see the Mill building behind us, and a bit of the canal. The highlight of the afternoon was the visit to the Abbey, where at 6 o'clock I was asked to relieve them of my presence under the pretext of having to close the grounds. I can't keep wondering though if my eating away (I mean, prolonged) from their mulberry tree could have possibly had anything to do with it...

Red handed, purple tongued, naughty and shameless... Yours, truly.