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 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?

Laura Ashley nautical themed beach hut dress and some car booty

You know when you see something you really like, and then in an instant it is gone? I had that experience with this dress.

After something like that I typically resort to ebay's 'saved search' function in the hope that one day it will pop up, and you know what? It usually does as long as the item is not from too long ago.

Part of the reason I loved this dress so much was because the beach hut print reminded me of Brighton and the blue, red and white are some of my go to colours so I felt that it I was meant to have it. And I'm a total sucker for anything nautical...

I matched the dress with a red cardigan, sunglasses and a pair of clogs from Lotta from Stockholm.

And without the cardigan...

I wore this outfit to a car boot sale to go for a rummage and these pictures were taken after so my hair is what can best be described as 'all over the shop'.

I had a pretty good haul at the car boot, I got a load of buttons for dressmaking, they only cost £3 for all of them which is considerably cheaper than buying them new.

I also got a vintage Kigu compact, a pearl necklace, an early plastics bead necklace and a bangle that looks a little like bakelite to me so I need to investigate it more...

...and I also got a full skirted coat for 50p!

Have you ever been to a car boot sale? Did you find any bargains?

A modern Laura Ashley dress

From some of my previous posts, you might have figured out that I am a fan of Laura Ashley, especially the vintage style numbers from the late 1980s, however this time I've been wearing a floral dress that is a little more recent.

This dress is fairly recent Laura Ashley, although I'm not sure when exactly it is from as I bought it from eBay (as always). I originally saw it about 5 years ago and have been watching out for it ever since. I thought the shape looked pretty flattering with a fitted waist and a slightly flared skirt. The shoulders and arms are a little big for me, but I  so regularly have this problem I've learned where to sew to fix it.

Since it is cold lately however I added a long sleeve shirt underneath the dress but I think it works okay.

I really love the colours of this dress, the shades of pink and yellow remind me of the psychadellic 60s, but with a more subtle style floral version...

I decided to wear one of my favourite beret with this outfit. The colour doesn't quite match, but I think I just about get away with it. I'm not sure I like my hair in this straight way, I think it looks better a bit curlier, but hey, we have to experiment with these things.

Finally I had to do the swish test, although the skirt is a little bit slim to get a good swirl with...

80s Laura Ashley vs. now, what do you think?

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!

Last days of summer in Tunbridge Wells

Ah September, officially autumn and the weather is changing, working its was to winter and my posting has been a little back logged lately what with starting a new job and moving house AND having to survive without any internet. Cries. Its been a tough ol' time.

But on the bright side, I am not fairly settled into a work routine and have a cute little flat with my husband in Tunbridge Wells. Which I LOVE! I've lived in the south before so its not too weird for me but Tunbridge Wells is very different to Brighton and Hove. We have a little flat close to the station as I need to get a train to work, but the city isn't too big so we can walk pretty much everywhere. Across the road from our flat there is a short cut to the shops through a park which is quite pretty.

The slightly dried out grass made me think of another country, somewhere warmer probably. There is a more conventional park attached as well a little further down the hill and one close to the road on the other side of the building our flat is in. Park life it would seem...

I have to say I am really enjoying being in Tunbridge Wells, I haven't taken a lot of photos of the area yet but I will post more as I find new and exciting things :)

That stride is me feeling happy to have a few moments to walk in the park!

This dress is Laura Ashley and is fairly typical of their 1980s styles but I think what makes this one special is that the print is so wearable. It is navy with a red flowers and hints of green in the leaves but they are pretty small which makes the whole dress a bit simpler.

What do you think of the shoes?! They are from Topshop and I have not bought anything from that shop for at least 4 years, and I am pretty sure I have never bought anything full price before... but these shoes were the thing that broke me. They are lovely little red flatties with a T-bar and remind me of school shoes (that I hated at the time!) and are pretty much the most adorable footwear I've had for a while. 

One place I did manage to get a little bit of a look at was the Pantiles it has really pretty architecture and is an area full of cafes and shops with things for houses. Sadly right now I can't afford much of the latter but I will be making an effort to try some of those restaurants!

Here is me sitting in the Pantiles, you can get a better look at the colours of the dress is this picture. I have to say that the side bits of my bangs that I am growing out are driving me a bit mad though...

Dress: Vintage Laura Ashley

Shoes: Topshop

Headband: Accessorize

Sunglasses: Brighton stall

Satchel: Yoshi

Anywho, hopefully I will be able to keep you updated on some of my southern adventures and since it is coming up to October I can reveal that I have started working on some costumes :P but there will be more on that later on.

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.

Altering Vintage: A Pretty Red Vintage Laura Ashley Dress

I am quite a fan of the brand Laura Ashley. I suspect that it has something to do with the fact that my Mum used to wear these dresses when I was a little girl and to me they have always seemed warm and feminine. I adore their large skirts, floral prints, poofy sleeves but I sometimes wonder if they can look a little frumpy when compared to todays fashion?

Their dresses are iconic and the modern styles are not quite the same as those designed in the 1980s so some of the vintage dresses are quite sought after in second hand retailers.

I got this beautiful red dress from eBay for a pittance price of £7.50. It has a gorgeous red and green ditsy print and I love the sleeves however it was just a bit too long when it arrived.

This seemed ironic given that I usually winge about skirts being too short!

I decided to take it up by a few inches using my sewing machine (a lovely easy task thank goodness!) and I think it looks much better now. Sorry for the rare glimpse of me sans make up!

Let me know what you think.

Any who, what do you think of vintage Laura Ashley? Pretty and feminine or overrated?