Vintage Outfits: Red Vintage Cardigan and a Black and Blue Tea Dress

I'm trying something a little different today as I realised although I frequently post on what I wear to events and the such like, I rarely talk about the things I wear on a day to day basis. Part of that could be to do with the fact I wear a very un-flattering uniform at work but also because I have been a bit of a lazy blogger until recently.

A few weeks ago I decided to start working full time, which means uniform 4-5 days a week from next week onwards *eep* so I thought I could start recording the things I wear on my days off and trying to make them a bit more special. Occasionally I go a bit crazy with what I wear to walk to work too but I'll post on that if it happens.

Welcome to Daily Dresscapades

Last weekend I was off to Scarborough via York to spend the long weekend with my husband. The weather was cool but not cold an looked changeable. I was also packing clothes for 3 days into a very tiny bag so a mix and match capsule wardrobe was a must.

My go to colour for mixing is blue, generally some form of blue print dress, and my favourite colours to match with it with are black (I know shocking!) red and mustard.

I managed to pack up two blue dresses and to travel I wore this lovely black dress with a floral print that looks something between retro/vintage and modern. I really like the shirt dress style and the crepe fabric is lovely, but the very best thing about this dress was that I got it for a newer £4 from eBay (it's originally from Next).

I paired it with a vintage wine red cardigan which has been relegated to the back of the wardrobe all summer as its very warm, but now the weather is turning its ready to come out again. It's feature piece is the lovely crochet collar - but all the labels are removed so I have no idea who made this but it itches a bit so I'm guessing it a rough wool mix.

The best thing was that I could pair the cardigan with the other dresses I had packed for the weekend!

The final part of my capsule weekend wardrobe was my Clarks brogues. They are a lovely wine burgundy colour and patent so they don't scuff much, which is a godsend for me, and they are really comfortable. Having said that - I'm a total sucker for a pair of brogues!

Vintage Outfits: Flapping Around...

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As you know, I recently visited an event in Brighton called Blind Pig (click here to see what I thought of it). The theme of this event was 1920s speakeasy with an electroswing style, which of course means only one thing at Fancy Dresscapades... Flappers!

Flapper is the name given to the Charleston dancing girls that wore drop waisted satin and lace dresses, feathers in their hair, cloche hats and seamed silk stockings that were very popular in the roaring 1920s.

 Image source

The finest of Flappers

Anyone who knows me a little will know that I am a keen lindyhopper and have picked up a fair amount of charleston skill during my time performing with Sussex Swing under the careful instruction of Lizzie Abrahams a few years ago. So this event seemed like a perfect oppertunity to dress the part and put on my dancing shoes again!

Basic costume design

 I have been to a few different events of this type and have worn mainly the more characature style charleston dress that is a box shape and often has some fringing to it. For a change this time I wanted to wear something a little different and went with a navy lace number I picked up at Frock Me in Brighton last year- for a meer £5 I may hasten to add! The dress itself is actually from the 80s, but after pinning in the sleeves I felt it had quite a 20s shape.

 For hair and make up I curled my hair by pinning it up an a pseudo-victory roll style- a hot tip I picked up from my friend Sadie Doherty (reporter extraordinaire for the Vintage News and the former head of the University of Sussex Swing Dance Society) and took them out just before the evening. This meant my hair was lovely and curly and sat underneath my cloche hat rather nicely.

My makeup was a very toned down version of the 20s look with silvery metallic eyes, dark eyeliner and lipstick. I might have pushed this a little further had I had a bit more time to get dressed- woops!

I feel as a costume it worked quite well

Let me know what you think

I’ll have a gallery of some of my former flappers up in the new year too if you’re looking for some more inspiration on the look.