A Pinup-Style Stars and Stripes Outfit for the 4th of July

Ah, who doesn’t love a good holiday?! Especially one that you can dress up for. Now I may not be from the USA and maybe it is a weird conflict of interest if a Brit dresses up for 4^th of July but what the heck. I did it anyway.

 

Back in November I made a skirt for my appearance on a panel about women in comic book movies. I dressed as a retro version of Wonder Woman with a blue circle skirt printed with white stars.

It was only during the depths of winter that I accidentally got the skirt out of my wardrobe while wearing a red stripe t shirt. I actually took until I looked at the skirt and the top in the mirror that I realised how much it looked like the ol’ stars and stripes of the USA.

I decided to save the outfit for the 4^th of July for obvious reasons.

So here is my USA themed outfit:

It was rather a lot of fun to wear and I can’t help but feel that I will end up wearing it again.

Outfit Details:

Skirt: Home made

Belt: Charity shop

Top: Primark

Shoes: Lotta from Stockholm

What do you think? Have you ever dressed up as a flag? It seems like a good Eurovision party idea…

Thrifty Vintage: A summer dirndl skirt and a retro jumper

Wow its warm isn't it! I can't decide whether I love the warm whether because it is a chance for me to experiment with new outfits, or whether I hate it because EVERYTHING is too warm.

One day when it wasn't soooooo hot I decided to wear a new to me dirndl skirt in a cotton gingham check. It has a gorgeous gathered skirt that manages to be full, but also quite flattering. I also love the black lace trim at the bottom of the skirt as it add a bit more to the look of the skirt (I am a bit obsessed with border print skirts and that type of thing so I have been on the look out for anything with a border feature).

The best part though is that it only cost £9 from eBay!

 Also on a side note words cannot describe how pleased I was with my hair in these photos!

I have also discovered a new brand of shoes, I am sure lots of you vintage lovers will know of Rocket Originals, but if you haven't you should check them out. Their shoes are not cheap (between £60-80) but they are made in the UK from old vintage designs. I want all of the pairs in EVERY colour.

Outfit details:

Skirt: Vintage

Shoes: Rocket Originals

Top: Wallis

Necklace: Vintage

 

You can always trust Cath Kidston to brighten up a spring day!

 Is it spring yet? Spring and Autumn are my favourite times of year as you don't get the extremes of weather and you can really work on layering. The only problem is that sometimes in those months fashion can get a bit dingy and boring.

With the dregs of my Christmas money I ventured into the Cath Kidston sale and I found this amazing bright floral tea dress and lovely red cardigan. I simply couldn't help my self. Especially when I discovered that the dress had pockets!

I have a couple of Cath Kidston cardigans now and I have to say that I find them to be one of the better fitting styles of cardigans. I find that the yarn is high quality and it doesn't stretch horribly when I inevitably roll the sleeves up and it also is able to be buttoned up fully while also having enough stretch to not hang limp when its open. YEY! Living the cardigan dream!

I continued with the colour theme with some burgundy tights and my vintage moreland boots (that have been so well worn the sole on one of them fell off recently!!).

I decided to wear my vintage camel coat with the dress and cardigan. I think the camel colour is a lovely contrast for the red

What do you think? What brands do you trust for a splash of colour?

Outfit details

Dress: Cath Kidston

Cardigan: Cath Kidston

Shoes: Vintage Morelands

Coat: Vintage

Hat: Accessorize

How long are you allowed to wear Christmas jumpers/cardigans for? Is this even a Christmas cardigan!?

Apologies up front on this one readers, it may be a little ranty... 

I was a work the other day and I was wearing the cardigan featured in this post. A young person (a teenage girl, the font of all fashionable wisdom, after all) said to me; 'why on earth are you wearing that cardigan? Don't you know its not Christmas any more?'

She said it with such conviction that I though I must have committed some kind of heinous crime against fashion. Now I utterly understand that if I was wearing a bright red jumper with Santa on it or a large red nosed reindeer, then sure, that's a bit too Christmassy for February. But a fair isle snowflake cardigan?

Allow me to defend myself for a moment:

1. This cardigan is really very, very warm.

2. It is from Primark (via charity shop, yes I'm that cheap) and it was from about 5 years ago when         Christmas jumpers weren't the phenomenon they are now.

3. It only has little reindeer and snowflakes on it...

4. I was going for this sort of look with a blue pencil skirt and white blouse:

From www.thevintageknittinglady.co.uk

So I suppose I am asking for advice. It this too much for a cold February day? What do you think, does fair isle automatically equal christmassy?

On a side note, I know I've shown this vintage sailor dress before, but now I have a vintage Laura Ashley wool riding coat to go with it!! I honestly can't describe my love affair with this coat this winter, it was one of my better charity shop finds of late (well apart from my 1960s Harrods dress, more on that later) and was an utter steal at only £20!

Red scarf, not so glamorous...

And a further side, side note, look how white my hair is! I am not officially a badger and I'm in my 20s! Late 20s yes, but still. I'm really glad I recently got chosen to work with Vidal Sassoon to trial some new hair dye - more on that later too. If fact, you may have seen a little on this already if you follow my instagram (@fancydresscapades).

So there we have it. Help me out please, should I pack away my fair isle cardigans?

Outfit details:

Cardigan: Primark via charity shop

Dress: Vintage Laura Ashley

Coat: Vintage Laura Ashley

Scaft: Gift

Shoes: Hotter (gift)

The Vivien of Holloway Runaround Sue - For Running Around Durham

I visited my family recently and had a lovely time. Living in the south of England so far away from my family in Durham I occasionally forget how lovely the North East is.

During my visit we all had a walk into Durham and my fantastic mother decided to take some photos!

My parents live about a 10-15 min walk from the very centre of the town and the walk involves a stroll through the wooded park area near the river. I love how green and lush it is despite the fact it was well into Autumn.

For a wander around town I decided to break out my Runaround Sue dress from Vivien of Holloway. Its a dress that I got on eBay in a lucky bid and I don't think the print is available any more - although the Runaround Sue shape is a long term staple of Vivien's stock.

If I'm honest, I'm a little bit in love with this dress. I feel that I would love to have it in every colour under the sun.

I could only take one coat home with me so I had to pick something universal. I went with a black princess coat that I picked up on ebay. It has a superb shawl collar that can be folded up into a hood (useful for the usually terrible weather in the north!) and its so warm. It didn't have a brand on it, but I know it is not vintage at all. Either way, its a current favourite.

Oh I love this view near the river!

We also had a frolic around Durham Cathedral. My mum had this bizarre obsession with the cloisters and the shadows you get there so it was only natural that she wanted to take some pictures there.

 At the Cathedral they are raising money for renovations and to support the cost they have started to make a model of the cathedral out of Lego Bricks.

Which of course is AMAZING!

I was really surprised by how much they've managed to build so far. I decided to donate a brick and got to place it in one of the pillars.

I will leave you know with this image of my husband and I pretending to be Team Rocket. I'm not really sure why. We're nerds...

Dress: Vivien of Holloway

Coat: Unknown

Shoes: Doc Martens

A vintage Laura Ashley pinafore dress

So I have a bit of an obsession with Laura Ashley. I also have an obsession with pinafores, and the colour blue. So what happens if you put all these things together?

I throw my money at it that's what!

Luckily for me this particular blue Laura Ashley pinafore was only £9 on eBay so I couldn't resist. I really like the deck chair stripe and the large pockets on the front.

The only problem is that the waist and bust are not hugely different in size, which I think is to help it slip over your head with ease but being a 'curvy' lady I like things to fit on my waist since that's the smallest part of me.

That was partially solved by adding a waist belt although I'm currently on a hunt for skinnier one as I'm not sure this one does me too many favours. I do adore the combination of the red white and blue though! 

I'm going to try and hold back from whinging about my fringe again today, since its getting a bit old now. These photos were taken on a lazy day so I didn't do much with it, I swept the fringe back with a hairband and rolled the back using a hair elastic.

I put my hair into a ponytail and puled the elastic towards the end and then rolled it up towards my ears forming a roll. I then pinned the loose bits in place.

It is a little bit loose and isn't necessarily the neatest do ever but it was super quick and I think with a bit of tweaking it could be a great work hairstyle.

So I'm a sucker for Laura Ashley.

Do you have any brands you are always drawn too?

Specspost kitten glasses and a thrifty vintage skirt

In a not too distant past I managed to sneak away from work right on finishing time and with the extra hour or so I gained, I decided to go for a search around the local charity shops (since I don't work in the same town as where I live).

One of my favourite shops is Hospice in the Weald as it usually has a god mix of clothing including some vintagey items (although what and when from can vary wildly) and they will almost certainly have a selection of St. Michael somewhere in there.

One such St. Michael find was actually hidden in their £1 sale rail (yet another reason I love it!).

Based on the sizing and label I thing it is early 80s and it is in a really vibrant red-burgundy colour. It is quite a think fabric but has lots of movement and it quite breathable so it's great on a hot day.

Dare I also admit that it has some elastic at the back of the waist? Well it does, although the front is pleated with a lovely gathered detail so I felt like I could embrace to comfort factor... and cover the elastic with a belt ;) 

The blouse I'm wearing also came from the £1 rail, and I don't think its vintage, just 'granny style' (not that there is anything wrong with that.

Possibly best of all however is that the skirt has pockets. I sort of believe that every garment that covers the lower half of the body should have pockets, they are just so useful!

Last but not least comes my glasses. These glasses came from Specspost* and they are their new kitten style.

I was instantly drawn to these kitten glasses for their cats eye shape and their oversize. I have to say I'm a huge fan of the oversize glasses look and I like it when the frames are big enough that they don't get in the way of your peripheral vision.

They were comfortable to wear and a good combination of just sturdy enough while still being really light weight for such large glasses.

I do think they would be EXCELLENT sunglasses...

I actually can't find fault with Specs post. Their service is excellent and the glasses are great value for money these glasses are just £25.99 (including prescription lenses!) and they are currently having a sale with lots of reduced glasses - totally worth a look if you're thinking about new glasses.

Outfit details:

Skirt: Vintage St. Michael

Blouse: Bon Marche via charity shop

Belt: Primark

Beads: Vintage

Glasses: Specspost

*The glasses were sent to me free of charge.

Thrifty Outfit: A Splash of Colour on a Rainy Day

In amongst the scorching days we've had in Tunbridge Wells so far this summer there have also been a few really hellish thunder storms. 

Since its not cold but it is rainy a light rain coat is a must for this time of year. Now rain macs come in all shapes and sizes but my favourite one for brightening up a rainy day at the moment is this blue number from M&S.

I believe this coat is Limited Collection from a few years back and I got it in a second hand shop for under £10 (just). Its shower proof, lined and it has a hood. I think its a slightly too bright colour, but I find that it goes with so many different colours (red/yellow/green/black) that it really isn't a problem.

The jumper was bought online and has a lovely bit of beadwork around the neck. The skirt if old St. Michael stock and is the best shade of green.

Obligatory I'm wearing a hood shot:

Rain Coat: M&S via eBay

Jumper: Unknown via eBay

Skirt: St. Michael via charity shop

Shoes: Clarks

Outfit of the day: Blue and yellow on a windy day

It was my birthday recently and a very well timed Monsoon sale meant that I could get my hands on a lovely tea dress for a bargain price.

This dress is a gorgeous navy crepe with a crochet neckline. Since the colour combination of choice at the moment is blue and yellow I wore the blue dress with this yellow crochet cardigan that I got in the Monsoon sale around this time last year. The neck scarf came from Lush and was wrapped around a gift once upon a time (the best kind of gift wrap).

I wore this outfit for a mini picnic near the sea front at Whitburn near-ish to my home town. It was a glorious day, but boy was it windy!

My feet look a little bit like they are buried in the grass, but look how lush it looks! I love spring, it really brings out the vibrant colours in nature.

I wouldn't say I completely hate the windswept look, however I do think it makes me look a bit like medusa...

I went for a slightly different make up look this time too - slightly more subtle with a rosy lip.

Do you like to be beside the seaside?