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)

A Vintage Sailor Dress By Laura Ashley

You know what? I adore a sailor dress. From the nautical looks form the early 20th century to a Japanese school uniform. I had three sailor dresses when I was a little girl, not unusual for a child growing up in the 90s as I believe they were pretty trendy at that point in time. Here is a picture of me wearing my red sailor dress c1992.

Now although I loved this dress at the time I don't think a bigger version of it would suit me at all, mainly because it is dropped waist. The dropped waist was very in fashion in the 80s and early 90s (as well as the 1920s) and it was fine for me as a young 'un but it is not something that could work for me with the way my figure is.

When looking for vintage sailor dresses, a lot of them are dropped waist styles, especially if you are looking at an iconic Laura Ashley sailor dress.

The type of thing I was after was something more like this:

This pic is from the Qs Daydream blog, check out this page for loads of gorgeous sailor dress pictures!

I have been through several sailor dresses attempting to find the perfect dress and while it has taken me a long time (around 8 years), I can proudly say, I HAVE FOUND IT!

This dress is from Laura Ashley, and I am completely unsure of when it dates from. Please not that is has a natural waist so it actually works with my figure and it has a beautiful full square bib and sailor collar. Add to this the lovely blue colour and the full skirt and I am in dress heaven.

I did pay quite a lot for this dress, but I have been watching them on eBay for a long time, so I know that £45 is actually a good deal.

Here's a look at the side of the dress too and the back of my hair just in case you were curious :)

The coat was an emergency buy from a charity shop as the weather turned cold quite quickly and I did not have any of my coats with me. It is from M&S, but I think the collar and front looks a little but 60s.

However the coat has a gathered bit at the back to give it a nice full shape. If I'm honest had I seen it in a catalogue of full pice in a shop I may not have looked at it twice, but being in a charity shop I am glad that I gave it a chance. It was in near perfect condition and is a wonderful crapey fabric. Just what I needed to transition through autumn to winter.

Dress: Laura Ashley £45

Coat: M&S via charity shop £9.99

What do you think of my dream sailor dress? Now I just need to find one in red too!

Casual Cospaly: The Day I Tried to Dress Like a Crawley

...or more like a servant on their day off.

Before Downton Abbey came on Netflix I was unsure what all the fuss was about (although I was aware of the very pretty clothes). I have always liked those type of period dramas, things like Upstairs Downstairs, and I know I am pretty easily sold on anything set from 1850 to 1960 simply for the clothes alone. Yet somehow I had managed to miss Downton.

I have now seen the light! For me Downton is a sort of Eastenders in the 1910s-1920s with its social drama, scandal and cliffhangers and I have rapidly become one of the Downton obsessed fans we all know and 'love' to listen to...

My favourite character from her portrayal but also her dress sense is the wonderful Lady Cora Crawley. She always seems to have a mix of prim and proper with the ability to bend society rules to do what she feels is morally right.

That, and she has a fantastic collection of hats:

Not that the other ladies don't wear fantastic hats too, or the men:

I'm not sure why, but more than anything the hats are what drive me wild with envy (as you can probably tell)... I think this may be because I cannot wear drop waist styles so the dresses do little for my figure.

Anywho, after the Christmas special this year I was inspired to take a turn about town and attempted to dress in a way inspired by a bit of the post-Edwardian style featured particularly in Season 1 and 2.




My dress is a vintage Laura Ashley from that period in the 1980s where they made amazing sailor dresses however so many of them are drop waisted, I felt lucky to find one that had a defined waist and an amazingly detailed lace collar. Its a new favourite of mine. My hat is vintage but I'm not sure when from but it has a little label in the back that says 'Miss Caroline of California' which I like for some reason.

Then for the journey outside I wore some lace up boots that remind me very much of that turn of the century era. Eventually I'd love to find the perfect vintage coat to wear with an outfit like this but as of yet I haven't spotted one - let me know if you have any recommendations of places to look for one :)

Dress - Vintage Laura Ashley

Hat - Vintage Miss Caroline

Coat - Vintage Monsoon

Boots - M&S

Anywho, what a show! If you've not seen it yet I highly recommend checking it out.