Wearing a Vintage Cape

So capes are kind of in right? I keep seeing things about 'how to wear capes' popping up around the web. Okay, maybe it was one article on British Style Bloggers but still. Capes. Yes.

Being a huge fan of super heroes I, of course, adore a cape. It can be a shiny red satin one, a long black flowy one or a little red riding hood one. I don't care. They're all good.

Well boy was I in luck! On the way back from Pickering my husband and I stopped off in York to do a little charity shop browsing and I wasn't having a lot of luck. Then I visited Sue Ryder. I adore the Sue Ryder in York, they have a whole upstairs floor dedicated to vintage! It is mostly stuff from the 60s-80s but occasionally there is something a bit special in there.

               

I clocked the vintage cape right away. Its bright blue colour was just my thing and I thought the detail around the clasps was gorgeous - AND IT HAD A HOOD! The only slight downside was that there were no little arm holes, but it was in such great condition and such a vibrant colour that I simply had to have it. It cost £20.

Wandering around on a rainy day in the park made me feel a lot like little red riding hood. But you can probably tell that from the pictures. The cape was surprisingly warm and it is beautifully made, although obviously by hand. The silver lining is beautiful.

Cape: Sue Ryder

Dress: eBay (not sure the brand)

Jumper and Tights: Atmosphere

Shoes: Topshop

Bag: Sue Ryder

I had a bit of a search around and the closest patterns I could find for a cape like this were from the 70s or the 40s... quite a leap there. If you have any idea when it could be from then let me know as I would be eager to find out. I do think it looks older than the 70s though.

Blue and mustard is a favourite colour combination of mine, and it turns out there is a bit of a colour block trend going on too and I think that outfit works for that too. Not that I usually look at what's in, it just happens to match up this time :)

Didn't stop me from getting some very weird looks on the street though. 

Winter is coming: a red autumn leaves print dress

Oh how the weather is changing, longer nights are coming in, the temperature has dropped and as Eddard Stark would say, Winter is coming.

So what does that mean for me? Well it means breaking out the opaque tights, the cardigans, coats and bringing out the winter hats and gloves. I felt I really had the perfect dress for this.

 

I found this 1050s dress on eBay and I absolutely fell in love with it. I thought it was the perfect dress for the autumn but was a little expensive for my budget. I did my best haggling with the seller and managed to get a reduction by £10! Meaning at £35 it is the most expensive vintage dress I own, but I don't think that is a bad price for a 1950s dress.

It is always a bit of a risk when buying anything online when you aren't sure of the fit. I have a fairly good idea of my measurements and I know what style suits my shape so I think I can usually get a fair idea of what should fit. This dress worked out better than I ever hoped, it fit like a dream! I'm not sure it could have been any better - as you can tell from my face, I felt like a million bucks in this dress.

The dress also passes the twirl test as the skirt is huge.

Now because I was wearing such a nice dress, I had to do something nice with my hair. I used a bit of Batiste dry shampoo to clean up my fringe and give the top a bit more texture, but because I hadn't washed in over 2 days it meant it was much easier to work with. I split my hair into sections and had flowing swirls down from above my right ear to the nape of my neck. I added a little flower to the other side to even out the style but I thought it worked out pretty well, its the first time I've managed to do one of those shorter flat curl styles. I need to work on trying to get the look a little more sleek and hair grip placement but I was pretty pleased with the results.

There is, however, a reason that these pictures were taken inside. Outside the weather was rainy and miserable. I only have one coat here as I didn't really expect the weather to turn so quickly. I really need to head home to pick up the others, but luckily the coat I did bring was a black rain coat. Its not the best style to go with this dress, but it kept me dry!

Dress: Vintage

Shoes: Clarks

Coat: M&S

Hair Flower: Accessorize 

If you are eagle eyed you might spot the M&S bag in the above picture? Well in that bag is something I've been after for some time. As part of the Percy Pig anniversary event M&S produced a few styles of piggy banks, my favourite was the matching Percy and Penny set that I thought would be great for my husband and I to get saving!

Naturally I had to have Penny Pig since I had a flower in my hair.

Anywho, that's it for today.