Swing coat on a rainy bank holiday

The bank holiday on the last weekend of August traditionally signals the beginning of the end of summer for us Brits so naturally bank holiday monday brings rain, yey.

I'm actually not a person that minds rain, I think as long as you're prepared for it then it can be really nice to go for a walk in the rain.

For this rainy bank holiday I decided to wear my new 50p car boot sale coat over the top of a late 50s early 1960s check dress. I also broke out the black tights, that definitely means it is no longer summer.

My shoes are Doc Martens, they are pretty cool with a buckle fastening and a bit of a heel. I bought them in the Office sale for around £40 in about April and its been too hot to wear them so far so I figured this was a good time to break them in. 

You may recognise the umbrella from some previous posts and it was the one that I had at my wedding and my graduation. I would quite like something similar in a darker colour for darker days.

I have been longing for a full skirted coat for a really long time but its not a style that's around a lot. I think the dream would be to one day own a Lilli Ann vintage coat but that is a dream for a day far in the future when I have all the monies.

For now my 50p car boot sale coat will do. It is from Next, although I have no idea when,  I think the fit is so great and it has pockets! Its just a little short. But it will be perfect until I can get hold of a Lilli Ann, or a coat inspired by her (like this one by Hell Bunny).

Since it was raining, I also decided to wear a hat. I got this had in a vintage hat job lot from ebay and I love how snugly it fits on my head.

Here is a picture with the coat open so that you can see the dress underneath.

Outfit details:

Dress: Vintage via Leyburn 1940s weekend

Coat: Next via car boot sale

Shoes: Doc Martens

Hat: Vintage job lot

Umbrella: A shop in Durham that's not shut :(

I have a couple of posts to make about some late summer bits and pieces, but after that I will be busting out the big coats (of which I bought a few vintage ones in the summer for scandalously low prices).

Did you do anything nice on the bank holiday?

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.