A festive outfit for work

First and foremost, I wish all my blog readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

This will be the last post of the year and I decided to make it a festive one.  I have wanted to do some work outfit posts for a while but it is difficult because I leave for work early in the morning and I'm too tired by the time I get home.  I'm not a vintage purist when it comes to work clothes either - comfort and practicality is important for me - so I mix vintage with repro and mostly wear separates.

 

Whilst I don't buy repro dresses, I am a fan of certain repro separates and I cannot get enough of this Collectif skirt.  In fact, I did a swap with my friend Vicki exchanging one of my vintage plaid skirts to get this one!  Swapping vintage for repro, crazy isn't it?!  Except the vintage one was a little too big for me and this one fits quite nicely so it was a good swap. 

 

 

I wish they did this skirt in other colours, I would definitely get more!  It has easily become my go-to work skirt this festive season.

 

 

I don't own many Christmas specific vintage items but I just love these holly leaf screw back earrings!

 





Do you wear purely vintage to work or do you like to mix vintage and reproduction clothing?

 

 

Top: Vintage sweater from I can't remember where!

Skirt: Collectif

Shoes: Clarks

Necklace: Vintage from trader at Bows and Braces Fair

Earrings: Vintage from Etsy

 

When in Bath...

... do as the Romans did and visit the Roman Baths!  And this is exactly what we did when we visited Bath back in October.  Bath is one of my favourite cities in the UK and I have blogged about it before. 

 

Here are some photos of my outfit before we set off.  I had gone for an early 1950s dress (which you can't really see as it is hidden) and jacket.  My favourite era is the mid 1950s - early 1960s but it was nice to go for an earlier look this time.  This dress was purchased on eBay for a bargain price, with the intention that I would wear it to work as it was so cheap.  But when it arrived, I really liked the pattern and decided it was "too nice" for my work.  This often is the case when I purchase vintage clothing for work.  As a result, I wear a mix of repro and vintage to work.

 



And here are some photos taken at the Roman Baths.  I have visited the Baths before but many years ago so it was nice to go again.  I always find it difficult to take outfit photos for this blog whilst I am out and about, as we often need to take a few with different poses and I do wonder what the other people around me must think!

Dress: Vintage from eBay
Jacket: Vintage from Blackout 2 in London
Bag: Vintage from eBay
Shoes: Office (but they have a great vintage style and are so comfortable!)
Earrings: Vintage from the Clerkenwell Fair

A taste of the good life

I am still trying to catch up with my outfits from the summer and this outfit was worn on a day spent in Bournemouth and Poole.

 

 

I purchased this Jonathan Logan dress on the Facebook group "Ooh La La."  Whilst I don't find a lot to purchase on this group, I do feel particularly pleased when I get a good bargain like this (£25!) from a UK seller.  Jonathan Logan is one of my favourite 1950s designers and there is a plethora of dresses on Etsy with this label.  I have a couple more Jonathan Logan dresses, which I aim to feature on this blog soon! 

 

 

This last photo was taken in Sandbanks -  the fourth most expensive place to live in the world!  It was lovely strolling around and taking a peek through the big gates of these mansions.

 

Dress: Vintage from OLL on Facebook

Shoes: Marks and Spencer

Bag: Vintage from eBay

Necklace: Vintage from Bows and Braces Vintage Fair

Earrings: Vintage from Clerkenwell Fair

Bracelet: Vintage from Rhythm Riot

Sunglasses: Vintage from Vera Mode (at the Midcentury Market)



Back when it was warm...

We have been blessed with some unseasonably warm weather as of late in England but this past week there has been a sudden drop in temperature!

These photos were taken a few weeks back when it was still warm enough to wear summer dresses and sandals.

 

 

I have had this early 1960s L'Aiglon dress for some time even though this is its first outing on the blog.  It's colours are perhaps more suited to Spring rather than Autumn.



 

I don't own many of these 1950s beaded cardigans but this one matches the dress pretty well. 

 

 

When I purchased this wicker bag, I never thought about pairing it with this dress but it matches the colours perfectly.  So much so that I think it was destined to be worn with this dress!  I now can't wait until next Summer when I can wear this dress (and bag) again.

 

 

Dress: Vintage from eBay

Bag: Vintage from eBay

Sunglasses: Vintage from Vera Mode on Etsy

Shoes: Next

Cardigan: Vintage from eBay

Bracelet: Vintage from eBay

Earrings: Vintage from Etsy

 

 

 

 





The dress that almost made it to Goodwood

In my last post, I showed you the outfit that I wore to the Goodwood Revival but that was not the outfit that I had planned to wear all along, this dress was the one I had wanted to wear...

I had originally planned to wear this dress with my straw tilt hat but the weather report suggested there might be some rain.  I am definitely one for wearing weather appropriate clothing and a straw hat with the possibility of rain did not sound like a good idea, which is why I made the change to my navy dress and hat.

I did not get to wear it to Goodwood this year but I am glad I got to wear it this Summer.  It has the perfect fit and works well with my white accessories.  Although black and white gingham is quite a popular print, I love how the white embroidery makes the dress a bit different.

I am always very happy to promote vintage shops that I have had good service from and this dress came from one of those shops - Cut + Paste on Etsy.  I bought another Jonathan Logan from this shop a few months ago (which is yet to feature on this blog but it will do some day!) and this dress has been my second purchase.


Dress: Vintage from Cut + Paste on Etsy
Belt: Vintage from eBay
Shoes: Vintage from many years ago!
Bag: Vintage from eBay
Necklace: Vintage from trader at Bows and Braces Vintage Fair
Earrings: Vintage from Etsy
Sunglasses: Vintage from Vera Mode Vintage

Goodwood Revival 2014

Last Sunday, my boyfriend and I attended the Goodwood Revival.  You may remember I blogged about the 2012 Revival here. 

As the weather looked like it was going to be somewhat unsettled for the Sunday, I decided not to wear the outfit that I had originally planned and went with a different outfit which you have already seen on this blog here.  So this post is more about the event rather than my outfit (although I did choose some different accessories to go with the dress this time!)

This year's event was bigger and better than 2012!!  As I didn't attend the 2013 event, I do not know if the changes made were present last year or were new to this year.  For instance, the "Over the Road" area was much bigger and they made more of a feature of the Car Show.  There were just so many cars that we didn't get to see all of them!

Pretty much my favourite car colour!

There was also a dedicated 1950s area this year (which I don't recall there being in 2012) which had hot rods, airstream food vendors and a stage with Rock 'n' Roll bands playing.  Despite our intentions to do some jiving during the day, we were just too tired from all the walking/ standing that we didn't get to do any!

I also managed to meet up with my friends Vicki and Nicky who went for the day.  Vicki runs the awesome vintage shop This is Vintage in Bournemouth.

When I went in 2012, the planes were behind the fence in the airfield but this year you could get up close and touch them!  This was definitely one of the highlights of the day!  You often see classic cars at events but you don't normally get to see these types of planes, so it was good to get some photos!

Another minty dream machine!

And as with 2012, I managed to get to the Best Dressed Finals but did not win...

You can see fellow Vintage blogger Alex from The Forties Floozy in front of me during the parade!

Photo taken from the Goodwood Revival website

Photo taken by Men's File photographer Matt Hind (my serious face is also my moody face!)

All in all, it was a great day out!  My legs hurt so much by the end of the day (I changed in to ballet flats at lunch time but even that didn't really help) - there is just so much walking around and not many places to sit down and relax!  You may also be surprised to hear that I did not even look at any vintage clothes shops!  There were a lot of vendors but I really couldn't be bothered to sift through racks of vintage when there was so much more to see and do.  My boyfriend also enjoyed his first Revival so I think we will probably go next year.

I would love to know if you went to this year's event or have been to previous events!



Seeing spots

I never buy dresses or skirts with polka dots on them.  Polka dots are so ubiquitous on reproduction 1950s dresses that when I see them on vintage 1950s dresses, they just don't appeal to me.  That's not to say that I don't like polka dots because I actually do!  So when I saw this dress in a shop in London recently, I was very much drawn to it, even though I had reservations over the polka dots!

 

 In the end, I decided that I needed to buy it as it was just too cute to pass up!  It was deadstock with the labels still attached, my size and the seller gave me a really good price that I simply could not turn this down.

 



 

One of the reasons (but certainly not the main reason) that I wear vintage is because I like that it is a more uncommon way of dressing.  But as there are now a lot more people wearing and sourcing vintage (which is definitely a great thing!) you often find that the vintage dress you love to wear because of its unusual print is popping up on Etsy again and again. 

 

When my Mum saw my Stylecraft Miami wicker and lucite bag she loved it so much that she said she wanted one herself!  I reasoned that because it was vintage, I was unlikely to be able to find her one.  But I was determined to have a look and on my first Etsy search, I found another one so I bought it for her!  It is actually a little bigger than mine but it is still Stylecraft Miami and the same style of bag, as you can see.  In fact, in the last couple of weeks, I have seen a third bag on eBay in this style!  Vintage, yes.  Unique, certainly not!

 

Vintage twins!

 

Dress: Vintage from Dreamtime in London (one of the best vintage shops in London!)

Shoes: Rocket Originals

Bag: Vintage from eBay (Mum's bag is via Etsy)

Earrings: Vintage from trader at Clerkenwell Vintage Fair