Holiday Outfit Post # 6: A new favourite?

OK so this is the last of my holiday outfit posts... and I like to think I saved the best 'til last!

These photos were taken in Narbonne and I think the canal makes for a great backdrop for these photos.  Out of all the places I visited on my short holiday in the South of France, I think Narbonne was my favourite - it was just a really lovely town and I would definitely like to go back there.

Now to my outfit... I bought this dress from the lovely Vicki of 'This is Vintage' in Boscombe.  I had seen this dress on a previous visit to her store but for some reason did not like it because I thought the colours made me feel dizzy!  However, I went back to her store a few days before my holiday and decided to give the dress a try - and I loved it!  

It does have a really good fit... perhaps too good because it is a little tight around the ribcage!  Usually if dresses are going to be tight, they are tight around the waist but this has an almost corseted feel to it and it is hard to take deep breaths in it... but with vintage clothing sometimes it is a case of "no pain, no gain."




These are probably one of my favourite pairs of shoes and although they are not vintage, they are a good few years old.  They have been re-soled once and have seen the likes of Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Grand Canyon and Monument Valley... and they are still going strong.

Dress: Vintage from This is Vintage in Boscombe (Vicki also has an etsy shop too This is Vintage Dorset)

Bag: Vintage from the Retro and Jukebox Fair in Brighton

Shoes: Topshop

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban Wayfarers

Holiday Outfit Post # 5: The Carcassonne outfit

So back to the holiday outfits!  It's odd looking back to summer outfits when the weather in the UK has taken a turn for the worse...

This is the outfit that I wore when we spent the day in Carcassonne.  As you can see from the following photos, Carcassonne is straight out of a fairy tale!  Founded in the 5th century, it is an amazing fortified town and has been featured in many movies and TV shows. 

I am not sure if I should have worn the headscarf on this occasion... Do you ever look back at blog photos and regret wearing a certain item?  It's too late because I wanted to show you this 1950s two piece!

As soon as I saw this crop top and skirt combo on Crush Vintage I knew it had to be mine!  I love the cute buttons on the back of the crop top (even if it is a total pain to get done up by yourself *Thank you Alan*) and the bright blue colour.  The crop top is quite low cut so I had to wear a lace top inside (I don't really like low-cut tops or dresses.)

 

 

And here are some better photos of Carcassonne...

 

 

 

Crop top and Skirt: Vintage from Crush Vintage

Shoes: Topshop

Bag: Vintage from a trader at the Jukebox and Retro Fair in Brighton 2013

Headscarf: Vintage, was a free gift with a purchase from Etsy

Necklace: Vintage from Dear Golden Vintage

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban Clubmasters

Holiday Outfit Post # 4: The Montpellier Dress

This is another dress that I wore on my recent holiday to the South of France and these photos were taken in Montpellier. 

I really enjoyed our day in Montpellier, it is a really vibrant city and we walked a fair bit so we managed to see quite a lot.  The photo above is taken in the city's Place de la Comedie (which is the main focus point.)

What impressed me about Montpellier was the transportation system - they are keen to encourage drivers to park on the outskirts of the city and so this is what we did.  We then did a 'Park +Tram' which cost only 4.40 euros for all day parking and for both of us to use the trams in and out of the city!!  I think that is pretty amazing value.

I knew through some prior Internet research that there was at least one vintage shop in Montpellier but I made a point of not remembering where it was, as we were only going to be there for one day and I didn't want to spend the day looking for a vintage shop, which may or may turn out to be good.  Despite this, I happened to stumble upon two vintage shops - both were called 'Absolute Vintage' and this was the store that I had previously found on the Internet.  I guess that my internal GPS is programmed to find vintage stores, even if I am not actively seeking them out!  Neither shop was fantastic for pre-1960s clothes but there was a rather lovely 1950s day dress in one of the stores which fitted really well but I did not think it was well priced at 90 euros, so I did not buy it.   

This next set of photos were all taken at the foot of the Statue of Louis XIV and is near the Promenade du Peyrou.



I call this the "euro pose" as I have seen a number of European girls doing this ladylike pose, not only on this holiday but on previous holidays too, so I thought I would copy it!


This dress is a really lovely lightweight cotton, so perfect for super hot weather (though as these photos demonstrate, at that time of day, it wasn't as hot as we thought it was going to be.)  I had planned to wear my straw hat with this dress but it was just far too windy, so it got left in the car. 

I have about 2-3 more holiday outfit posts planned (depending on if I am brave enough to show you my lovely Esther Williams swimsuit that I wore on the beach...)

Dress: Vintage from Etsy
Camera Bag: Vintage from eBay (unfortunately I do not own a vintage camera to go in the bag!)
Shoes: Aldo
Bag: Vintage from The Retro & Jukebox Fair in Brighton
Cardigan: Zara
Necklace: Vintage from Etsy

Holiday Outfit Post # 3: The Navy Playsuit

I hope you're not getting bored with my holiday outfit posts because I have a few more to post!  This one features an outfit that I wore to Gruissan's beach. 

I am wearing a 1950s navy playsuit (which I suspect could also be worn as a proper swimsuit because of the material and the fact it has inner shorts!) but I am not keen on swimming in the ocean and wouldn't do so in this outfit anyway.

It was incredibly windy on the beach so I am glad that I wore a headscarf!

I also wanted to show you a closer photo of the bodice of the playsuit, as it features some lovely embroiderery.  

Playsuit: Vintage from Etsy

Shirt: Vintage from Greyhound Vintage from Judy's at Spitalfields

Shoes: Office

Headscarf: Vintage from my Grandma

Sunglasses: Ray Ban Wayfarers

Holiday Outfit Post # 2: The Mint Julep dress

This is the next post to feature one of my holiday dresses and I am not uploading these in chronological order, as this was the last dress I wore on holiday.

I have had this dress for a while and it is one of my favourite colours!  I just love all those gelato shades but as there is only a short window of time in which I can wear these summery colours, I don't tend to buy many dresses in shades of mint/ peach/ lemon.  The colour doesn't look quite as mint in these photos but I can assure you it is good enough to make a cocktail with! 

It is also a bit shorter than most of my other 50s dresses (my guy was even surprised that he could see my knees!) and although I usually prefer my dresses to be below the knee, sometimes wearing something a bit different is good.

These photos were taken at the bottom of the Tour Barberousse in Gruissan.  The hat was pretty much redundant on this holiday as it was just too windy to wear it and I probably shouldn't have brought it with me in retrospect (still, it looks nice in these photos!)

 
Dress: Vintage from Crush Vintage on Etsy
Bag: Vintage from Etsy
Shoes: Aldo
Hat: Vintage from a random vintage shop in Brighton
Earrings: Vintage from a trader at Bows and Braces Vintage Fair
Necklace: Vintage from This is Vintage in Bournemouth (she also has an etsy shop This is Vintage)

Holiday Outfit Post # 1: The Vintage LBD

This will be the first in a series of posts featuring my holiday outfits.  They are all outfits that have never been featured on this blog (though I didn't plan it that way when I packed my suitcase!)  When I packed, I tried to be as sensible as possible and left my gloves/ hats at home (apart from my straw hat!)

I visited the South of France and stayed in Gruissan for a few days, as my boyfriend's parents own an apartment on the marina.  These photos below were taken in Gruissan's Old Town on the day that we arrived. 

I am wearing my new wedges and they are great (I will endeavour to get a close-up photo next time!)  They are from Johnsons Shoes so are new but they are made in the style of 1940s wedges and they are so comfortable!  I just love all the heeled shoes on their website and I am hoping to buy some in the near future.  I find it really difficult buying vintage shoes because I don't like to buy them online (due to not knowing for sure if they will fit.)  This leaves me to stumbling across vintage shoes in my size in shops or buying repro shoes or modern shoes in a vintage style.

The dress is also a style that I really like and I just love the cute eyelet detail.

Dress: Vintage from Etsy

Bag: Vintage from Etsy

Shoes: Johnson's Shoes