Pour Votre Poitrine, Du Charme!

I recently attended a vintage lingerie exhibit by the Victoria and Albert Museum and my oh my how I feel even more in love with the drawers of decades past than ever, in particular those of the 1960's (of course!).

During the 1960's lingerie styles evolved to reflect the changing fashions and attitudes at the time. Designs were glamourized with new fabrics, laces and fastenings and girdles were on the way out, allowing more freedom of movement and more skin to be showed off. Pantyhose and tights became popular and into the later years of the decade we saw the emergence of colourful sets and fabrics printed with fun and youthful designs. 

Being so inspired I thought I'd share with you some of my very favourite fashion photography from the 1960's featuring designer lingerie. You'll see the work of prominent photographers, such as Terence Donovan and John French, various 1960's models and figures, such as Celia Hammond, Marianne Faithfull, Brigitte Bardot and Jill Kennington, and some vintage advertisements for Christian Dior hosiery. 

Images:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 

New In My Wardrobe

You may have noticed recently that there haven't been many outfit posts published on my blog. Other than not having the time to document what I wear each day, the reason for this is that it is just too hot here in Oz to wear my usual and favoured style of 1960's clothing. I do not particularly like to wear my vintage clothing items during the Summer season. Many of the dresses from my collection were intended for colder climates and seasons, with long sleeves and thick fuzzy fabrics - certainly not appropriate for this weather! In this heat I find myself wearing more weather appropriate clothing that I am not too worried to get damaged from long, hot walks or impulsive leaps out in the rain. That is not to say however that I have not been adding to my vintage collection. I thought I'd share some of the lovely things that I've managed to get my paws on these last couple of months. 

Above is a pair of silver, spangly shoes from the 1960's. They are in very nice condition, surprisingly very comfortable for a size 5 and 1/2 (I am a 7, would you believe?), and they only cost me $1.50 - neato! This psychedelic mini, also spangly and shimmery and from the 1960's, was bought on a bit of a whim. It is a size too big for me but I could not leave it sitting alone tucked away in between a hoard of cheap children's play costumes in a charity shop. It had to come home with me. I mean who can resist bell sleeves like that?

This spotty dotty orange mini sits happily in my wardrobe with an air of cheek about it. I found it in a charity shop, however it looked a little different then. Instantly recognizing it as 1960's vintage from the corner of my eye, I pulled it out from the racks and marched straight to the change rooms without looking at it twice. Upon slipping the dress over my head I realized that someone had recently altered it, I imagine for some sort of fancy dress purpose. The buttons had all been undone and the collar folded right down over them and stitched into place. To describe it as revealing would be an understatement. Sneaky me couldn't wait and wanted to see the dress in its former glory. So out came the keys from my purse and snip! I unpicked those nasty stitches.

 It's okay - I did intend to buy it in the first place anyway!

I cannot quite remember where the blouse with the gold trimmed ruffles and string bow came from, but I have planned a lot of outfits around this one. Pinafore dresses shall become its new best friend come winter time. The black velvety purse was found for a just few cents in a sale bin up north. It was worth the rummage. 

Here we have a 1970's midi length dress with matching cloth belt and a full circle skirt. With a nice and breathable fabric it should be perfect for this autumn and will look fabulous with a pair of black suede knee high boots. Next to it is this beautiful, ruffly, butter yellow prom dress that is from the 1950's. Too tiny for me but it looks just darling hanging up on the inside door of my wardrobe permanently. 

And lastly, perhaps my favourite of the bunch, a late 1960's Merle Stephen maxi dress. Wearing it makes me feel like a BIBA girl. It calls to mind smokey dolly eyes, big floppy felt hats and glossy black nail polish. Lovely. Hopefully these will all make appearances in outfit posts on the blog sometime soon. I'm a little over the blazing heat and am missing my old dollybird get-up. What's something that you have been missing lately?

To see more from my vintage wardrobe click here and here. 

27 Dresses

I thought I'd share a little sneak peek at some of the vintage dresses that I've recently added to my collection, all of which are from the 1960's. The yellow one is Crimplene and was found sitting on a rack just moments before leaving the store it was in. I've been calling it the 'diner's dress', as all it makes me think of are pink diner stools and blueberry pie. The middle one I've nicknamed the 'Blue Hawaii' dress and the black one, a midi length dress, is intended to be cut and hemmed into a mini. I'm very pleased with these latest additions. The fact that they were all under $10 is an added bonus! You can see more of my vintage dress collection here, which now reaches 27!

She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina

I am not a big hat wearer. Really, this is quite silly considering how many hats I have boxed up layer upon layer in my closet. If it weren't for how small the above hat is, this I believe would change almost, if not, immediately. 

I hadn't had any luck for a few weeks in my searches for vintage goodies, nor do I have many vintage hats, so I was very excited to come across this beautiful bright green, velvety, vintage hat complete with decorative ribbon and gold buttons. Upon seeing it I scooped it up quickly and eagerly hurried to the change rooms to see how it looked in the mirror. My face turned from a smile into a frown as I realized that my head was too big for it. Determined, I must have stood in the mirror for about five minutes trying to place the hat perfectly on my head, hoping that with every twist and turn the hat would somehow magically fit. In the end I decided it was too pretty to leave behind. So I bought it home with me. It is now sitting on top of my lampshade looking beautiful. I think my family disagree though (and you might too). They thought it looked like something a leprechaun might wear! 

As mentioned here, hats are something that I've been wanting to wear more of lately, especially as the warmer weather is approaching. So I've shared here some lovely hat-wearing 1960's ladies who have been inspiring me.

What's something that you've been wanting to wear more of lately?

And how cute are those vintage daisy clip-on earrings that I found the other week?!

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

Title: She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina - The Kinks

Dig It: Charles Jourdan

Just another quick Dig It post. How could one not love these shoes? If there was one pair of shoes to represent the fabulous decade that was the 1960's, I'd pick these. Designed in 1965 by the French fashion designer, Charles Jourdan, the patent leather shoes came in four colours. These were green, yellow, pink and red, as seen in this photograph taken by Guy Bourdin for an article in Vogue, 1967. I can picture myself wearing the green pair with (of course) green tights and a beautiful green 1960's romper with a high collar. I can imagine the red shoes being paired with a mod red a-line skirt and a white polo neck sweater. I could sit for an hour just dreaming of the many ways I'd want to wear these beauties.

How would you wear them?

You can see another imagine of the shoes in yellow here on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website. 

Taking Vintage Hunting to the Next Level

As you may have seen on my Twitter, whilst down in Bathurst I came across quite the collection of vintage clothing. The boy and I would be driving through town and I'd been spying out vintage boutiques and charity shops from the passenger seat window, like a PI on the lookout for bandits and fugitives. Can you imagine how I must have looked? Aha! That's one vintage boutique. Position noted. The store was closed as it was the long weekend, but we came back after the public holiday. 

All very lovely it was. They had a great collection of items ranging from clothing and accessories to vinyl records and furniture. There was a lot that I wanted to splurge on such as a gorgeous purple 1960's cape and golden Glomesh evening purse in it's original boxing, but I had to restrain myself and think of the plane ride home. We only had carry-on luggage. But me being me, these thoughts were quickly forgotten as soon as I took a walk up stairs to the second level of the store. 

Nothing seemed too interesting at first as I traveled through the racks. I wasn't expecting to find much as a sign declared that all up stairs items of clothing were $5.00 each, a lot cheaper than what was downstairs. However, all of a sudden a burst of yellow was seen out of the corner of my eye. And if you know your vintage you'll know that this kind of yellow ain't the kind of yellow that appears in clothing stores today. I followed my vintage hunting instincts and grabbed the item off the rack, my heart skipping a beat as I realized it was a beautifully conditioned 1960's maxi dress. All buttons and zips intact and with a sweet empire waist line. Mine. This process repeated subsequently with more and more eagerness and urgency as each dress was discovered.

I ended up getting an entire bag overflowing with vintage maxi dresses. At $5.00 each, and considering how beautiful they all were, I didn't care. Coming home that afternoon however, I still was not satisfied. I kept dreaming of dresses that I'd left behind, thinking that they wouldn't fit me. I had to go back again. They needed to come home with me.

And so a couple of days later I did. And again, I went overboard and bought every dress from the era they had in stock, as well a cream 1960's suit (I wore the jacket here), a woolen skirt, a blue 1970's blouse with the most amazing sleeves and collar I've ever seen and a beautiful embroidered tunic. The gentleman who owned the store was disappointed when he found out I wasn't a local. I think he knew just how often I'd buy from there if I was. 

It wasn't until we began packing for the trip home that I realized how impulsive I'd been. We didn't have any space, but being the determined gal I am I achieved the impossible and packed about half of the load that I bought (which also included quite a few other accessories and such that I haven't shared here). Having to catch a plane the next day and with a ridiculous armful of clothing that wouldn't fit in our luggage I raced around the entire town looking for another carry-on bag. I wasn't having any luck and ended up having to buy a canvas grocery bag to bundle them all up in. As a result of this I think I actually lost one of my dresses at the airport; a beautiful cream 1960's mini with an olive green bow and matching covered buttons. I hope it went to a nice home!

Have you ever taken your vintage hunting to the next level, or gone a bit overboard? 

I'd love to hear your stories!

Prints, Paints and Polka-Dots

Yes, I know. It's been a while. But here I am and hopefully here I'll stay for a bit longer than last time. As I may have mentioned in a previous post, I've been away for good reason! Though that doesn't entirely mean good news. But here I will try and stick to the positives. 

I have recently finished semester at University, and so all you student readers will know how much that can swamp you for time. But it's all been pretty fab. This semester I had been doing a creative arts unit. Two of my assignments consisted of five recorded musical performances and five created artworks. I think I was in my element and got out all my old work and equipment from my art school days. I went nuts with the brayer and indian ink whilst printmaking, and in the end somehow ended up covering myself in acrylic paint as well as the bathroom. Not to mention that I carpeted the lounge almost completely with all the prints. It was good fun to do again. I hadn't created art seriously for a long while. The musical performance on the other hand was a bit of a winged job left to the last minute. Lucky I also have a musical background!

I've gotten some lovely things recently, some bought new and some bought old, such as this lovely vintage perfume bottle and this sweet little manicure set in a heart shaped purse (actually that one was won at an arcade). I hope to do a post showing you all these knick knacks soon, including a new record to add to my collection. In other news, the boy and I may also have a place to ourselves for the next six months. We shall see.

Anyhoo, above is the outfit I wore out to the movies the other day with the boy. The belt is by far my favourite item. It was passed down to me by a close family friend. She had kept it all these years since her youth in the 1960's. It is also perhaps the first ever vintage piece I ever wore out ,about ten years ago. 

Have you been doing any projects lately, work related or for leisure? 

Or do you have a treasured vintage piece that was handed down to you?

Houndstooth, Half Done Hair and Heels From Hell

I suppose you could say that I've been a bit slack on outfit posts this year. But I'm trying! This was what I wore the other day whilst walking out to the bus stop to go up and see the boy. Quite the disaster really. I was running late and only had time to half-'flip' my hair. But because I am a bit of a day-dreamer I forgot to put the spray in to set it. By the time I took this photo my half done hair had half fallen out anyway. But that is not at all what made this outfit disastrous. 

These here that I'm wearing are the shoes that were shown in this last post. They are black patent heels with a cute sixties looking block heel. I have been wearing them about the house lately to break 'em in, and thought that I had successfully done so as I was no longer experiencing any pain. Thus, I decided to wear them out, along with my new houndstooth dress, a vintage green scarf, vintage purse and my sweet little 'Marianne' glasses in my groovy new case. Whilst walking out I felt quite fabulous (despite my heckish hair-do). But halfway there I felt something strange. I looked down and to my complete surprise my feet were covered from heel to toe in blood. Guess I had quite a misjudgment there. What a dill I am. Unluckily having no tissues nor bandaids in my purse, which I usually carry with me all the time, I had to hobble to the nearest 7/11 looking like I'd just stepped out from not only a gruesome crime scene, but one from 45 years ago. What a sight I must have been!

Have you ever had any big wardrobe mishaps? I'd love to hear!

It may make me feel a little bit better about my clumsiness. 

Houndstooth

Goodness it's been a while since I've done a post. I've been very busy lately, trying to dedicate a balanced amount of time to everything and it just doesn't seem to be working out very well. I am hoping that my posts will soon go back to being more frequent. Anyhoo, though things have been quite stressful lately finding these few things in the charity shops in my town this week felt like a lovely sigh of relief. 

This beautiful vintage green and navy houndstooth suit seemed like a gift from the gods when I saw it hanging on the racks in Lifeline. I quickly swiped it up and took it to the change rooms, praying that it would fit me. And what luck! Never has a jacket fit me so well. And for once I can actually see my hands whilst wearing one. With it's cute peterpan collar, pockets and all, I bought it for just $12.00. At the counter the woman next to me said that she had a suit exactly like it in the 60's but with pants instead of a skirt. She would wear it with bright lime green shoes. How perfect. I'm now on the look out for some to go with it. 

This dress was a sweet little thing to find; not vintage but you can't beat a houndstooth pinafore dress for a cute 60's look. I'm thinking a red polo neck with a matching red beret? I nearly flipped when I saw these vintage strap silver shoes from Grace Bros. Ever since I made this post I'd been pining over a pair of silver shoes. The compact was from a few weeks ago. It has little silver flowers and pearl detailing on the top: a nice little addition to my growing vintage mirror/compact collection. 

 And lastly, I acquired this vintage glasses case. It won't fit much, and certainly not any of my sunglasses. But my little 'Marianne' shades fit it in there very nicely. 

(Source)

There She Goes Again - Cynthia Lennon

Here we are again lovely lads and ladies. Another "There She Goes Again" post. This time around the spotlight is on one of my top favourite style icons from the 1960's, Cynthia Lennon, and her trusty black leather bag. Sleek, stylish and with two different lengthed straps for both convenience and versatility, Cynthia used this lovely little bag quite a lot during 1964. I am almost certain too that she can be seen with it in various photographs up to 1967, and it's no wonder. It matched so wonderfully with her outfits.

Many female readers out there may know the annoyance that it can be to constantly have to switch the contents of your bag to another when wanting to match an outfit nicely. I myself also find it a particular nuisance when I can't fit my purse into a different bag properly. Thus I'm sure that many would agree that having that 'perfect' bag like Cynthia just makes everything so much easier, saving a lot of time and fuss. 

For a modern day go-to equivalent of Cynthia's bag I would have to say that the Effie Satchel in Black Spongy Pebbled by Mulberry is the most similar. You can buy it here. You'd have to be pretty keen though. It costs a whopping $1, 100. Has anyone else seen a more affordable modern day equivalent?

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7

My Vintage Dress Collection

The other day the boy and I popped into our local antique store for a quick look around. Whilst in there I came across a very lovely vintage dress from the 1960's. Not usually my choice in colour, but it fit beautifully and I loved the style so I bought it for $35.00. When I got home it inspired me to share with you my growing collection of vintage dresses ranging from the mid 1960's to the mid 1970's. 

I began collecting vintage items of clothing, amongst other knick knacks, about five years ago. I had already been dressing in 1960's inspired fashions several years beforehand but it wasn't until then that I began actually wearing vintage (aside from the odd purse or pair of shoes here and there). I have also never spent more than $35.00 on a vintage dress, as of today. Over the years I have patiently searched through charity store after charity store, sale rack after sale rack and this is what I have slowly compiled. To some of you it may not make much sense: to strenuously search for something so uncommon that can easily be found in flourishes upon the Internet. But in all honesty I feel that if I began buying vintage online I'd become too much of an impulsive buying and end up having enough clothing that I could swim in. It's already getting to that point as it is. So I think by doing it the harder, longer way it is a much more effective way to control my spending and space within my closet. It may not be the biggest collection of dresses, but I am very pleased with what I have. 

1. The only maxi dress within my collection. I bought it last year for $7.00. The fit is lovely and reminds me of an early 70's BIBA design. You can read more about this dress here. 

2. I call this one the 'Jean Shrimpton' dress as the cut reminds me of the dress the model wore to the Melbourne Cup Carnival in Australia, 1965. The fabric has a delicate suede feel to it and it comes with a groovy plastic ring belt. Unfortunately I am unable to fit this dress anymore. It has a very tiny fit and was bought at a time when I was twig-thin for $10.00. 

3. This was one of the first vintage dresses I ever bought. It is a Crimplene dress and I think a wee bit Space Age lookin'. It is really quite big, almost a little too big for me to wear. It was $15.00. 

4. Not really a dress, but a skirt and vest suit set. For $6.00, it had the most beautiful soft texture. I couldn't resist it. The two pieces of fabric that are hanging down wrap around to tie at the back. I always thought this suit looked a bit Bus Stop by Lee Bender.

5. Another dress that I can no longer fit. It is very very tiny. A handmade dress, I bought it from a tiny little charity store way up north whilst visiting my Grandmother on holiday and for just $1.00. It has such a pretty print with pink flowers all over it and the cuffs are divine. I used to live in this dress.







 6. This orange dress with the big chocolate shop bow was bought up north for $12.00 and found within the costume section of a charity store. From that day on I learnt to always look in the costume sections of charity stores and by doing so I have found many other different types of vintage clothing and sleepwear over the years.

7. 'Dolly's Dress' was bought at the beginning of this year for only $6.00. You can read more about her here.

8. This dress was bought for $7.00 just not long ago. It reminds me of something Marianne Faithfull would have worn in the late 60's. You can read more about this dress here.

9. Another one of the first vintage dress I ever bought. It came from a little charity shop that no longer exists. I cannot remember how much I paid for it. I loved the little pocket detailing when I first saw it. The only thing about this dress is its size. It is quite big. Back when I bought it I did not have very good self-perception and for some ridiculous reason thought that it would fit me. Even now, weighing a lot more these days, it is still too big for me to wear. And so it just sits in my closet looking pretty.

10. This is another dress that I bought not long ago. You can read more about this one here.

11. And here is the lovely dress that I just bought! Brown with white stitching and a single silver button on the collar. It is in beautiful condition too.

12. What a silly girl I was. This dress was christened 'The Dentist's Dress' by the boy. Another of the first few vintage items of clothing I ever bought, it was originally a maxi dress. I thought I'd have a shot of hacking the bottom off and hemming it up into a mini dress. Did not turn out well, but that doesn't stop me from wearing it! The belt it comes with is quite damaged. I have to be very careful when wearing it.

13. I think this dress was the very first vintage dress I ever bought. I think. It was $4.00 from a charity shop and by Lady Wrangler. I practically lived in this dress during my art school days.

14. Bought two years ago for $34.00 from our local antique store. Perfect, green and very tiny I could just fit into the beauty. But upon meeting the boy and being gifted with chocolates here and there my hopes of fitting into it became hopeless, ha! You can see the dress more clearly here.

15. This beautiful velvet dress I call the 'Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress' dress. You can read more about it here.

16. And finally, perhaps my favourite in my collection, this psychedelic little mini. You can see it better here.

Polka-Dots and Powder Blue

Here is just a quick little post showing my outfit for today. 

- Vintage powder blue blouse with lace peter-pan collar. 

(You can see it more clearly here)

- New/old red and cream polka-dot skirt

- Vintage maroon handbag

- Vintage maroon t-bar heels

- Cream lace socks

A bit early 60's with a twist today, I think.
And you would not believe the looks that a swarm of
parked bikies gave me today whilst walking to the bus stop! 

Today was a lovely day to be out. Overcast with thick, heavy clouds and a slight cool breeze. Perfect. This type of weather is my very favourite. I feel a lot more motivated to get things done or go out and explore. What sort of days do you like best? Whilst out I picked up these sweet decorations. When the boy and I were at our old unit we never really had anything to decorate the place. Next place we find I am planning to liven it up a lot more, so I've been keeping my eye out for things here and there.  The candle smells quite amazing too. I am tempted to begin burning it now.

Recent Acquisitions

Here are some knick knacks that I have acquired recently. Funnily enough as I was just about to publish this post some more things fell into my hands. But I've decided to leave them for another time. I do apologize for the awful quality of these pictures. I miss having big beautiful windows.

A nightie, pink fabric purse and original 1960's stockings box from Kolotex. All three were little surprises from my mother. There are no stockings in the Kolotox box, but I love it all the same. It looks very nice sitting in my cupboard above all my vintage dresses. It's that poodle cute?

A pair of mary-janes with criss cross straps, a vintage stow-away pocket mirror, a copy of "A Lion Called Christian" and a sheet of vintage body/nail stickers. I was very excited to find the pocket mirror. I now have a small but nice collection of these nifty mirrors. Perhaps I shall share them in a future post. 

The sheet of body/nail stickers was a gift from a close family friend. She had had them from the late 1960's and used to stick them on her manicured nails. She had them sitting in her cosmetics box since and decided to give them to me. I think they are just perfect. 

These are the two latest vintage dresses that I've added to my collection, both from the 1960's. The black dress I bought cheaper than its selling price as there are a few places on it where the seam has been split. I bought it knowing that it could be easily fixed and simply because it was too darn pretty to leave. It fits very nicely and the length of the hem and sleeves are just right for what I look for in a vintage dress. 

The second dress, I actually didn't like on the rack when I spotted it amongst a mass of sale items. The print caught my eye, but I wasn't fond of the style. I thought I'd try it on anyway just to see how it would looked and to my surprise I fell in love with it! The two bits of fabric hanging down wrap around the waist twice to make a sweet little bow under the bust and there are bright orange buttons on the cuffs. It fits perfectly too. It just goes to show that you should always try something on first before buying or leaving!

And lastly this groovy little vintage purse in amazing condition and a cute little red belt. I could never have enough vintage bags or belts. Have you picked up anything snazzy lately? Or have you ever not liked an item of clothing but fell in love with it upon trying it on? I'd love to hear. 

Old Makeup, A Mug, Broken Shoes and A New Table

Not long ago my sister came up from down south to stay with us. Before she went back home we all went to the movies together and saw "12 Years A Slave". Have you seen it? My goodness, what a movie. It certainly makes an impact upon you and I found it very emotional to watch. This here is what I wore. One of my latest wardrobe additions, a mini dress with a pattern on it that I couldn't resist. If you were to look inside my wardrobe you'd find an armful of dresses with curtain-pattern-looking-prints on them. Not only did I give my old signature 60's makeup a whirl but also these fringed, suede sandals. I'm not big on sandals, or flip-flops (or as we Australians call them, 'thongs') for that matter. I'm sure most Australians would call me crazy for that. It's been said before. But I quite like these. Not sure where they came from, they were given to me by my Dad, but I'd never worn them before and thought they'd go well with my outfit.  With just my luck when I came out of the cinemas I discovered the right sandal had been broken whilst we were watching the movie. Drat. Superglue?

In other news I got this gorgeous mug the other day at a local second hand store for 50 cents. It wasn't in a set or anything, just on its own as it has a little chip on the rim, but I thought it looked lonely and deserved a nice home where it could be appreciated so I bought it. It's now been sitting on my desk for a week for I think it's so groovy looking. Are you one for buying things in a set or do you not mind the odd knick knack here and there? The last picture is of the top of a lamp table that my cousin made for me. It is made from camphaloral tree and the patterns in it are so beautiful. 

Dolly's Dress

This was my outfit the other night when going to tea and the movies with the boy. I picked this dress up almost a month ago while I was up north and for a steal at only $6.00. It is a home sewn early 1970's vintage dress, lined and with nice white roped detailing around the collar. It is a bit shorter than what I usually wear and the fit is very unusual. But when I tried it on at the little charity store I bought it from I thought that it was way too nice to pass up just because it didn't fit me quite perfectly. I think it worked alright. I wore it with my trusty vintage white 1960's heels with bows on top and the new vintage beaded bag that I won from the Austin Vintage giveaway last year. Upon being seen by my mother in this outfit I was called "Alice in Wonderland". And upon being seen by the boy I was called "China Doll". Ha! But when I think about it this dress actually reminds me a lot of one of the dresses on a doll that my mother played with in the early 70's as a little girl that she passed on to me in my childhood. I still have her to this day. So I've decided to name the dress "Dolly" after her. I wish I could share a picture of the doll but she is packed away safely in a box with the other dolls of my mother's from the 1970's to protect them from damage. 

In other news, my second year of University has commenced this past week. I am quite excited to be back and hopefully it will not mean that posts on this blog will become less regular. This session I have one class based upon the creative arts so I am quite excited about that. It will involve a solo musical presentation as an assignment. How exciting! So I've pulled the guitars back out and have been trying to get back up to scratch and build my calluses back up. This year will be my tenth of playing guitar, but trust me if you heard me you would not think it! I should have been more consistent with my practicing. Other than that I've been munching on all my chocolate and candy from Valentine's Day. 

What have you been up to? Have you been getting back into any old hobbies lately?

Houndstooth Dress And A Black Beret

Here is the outfit that I wore the other day. You cannot really see it in the picture (as it is a really bad one) but it has a tiny houndstooth print. I bought this dress years ago when I was first beginning to buy vintage and sixties styled clothing. Its label is Revival and it was sold through Dangerfield. Though it may not look it so much, this dress is actually two sizes bigger than what I usually wear. I haven't worn it for a few years because I always felt it was too big. But for some reason upon trying it on the other day it just seemed to work. I was thrilled, for I really missed wearing it. Perhaps it was all those chocolates I had over Christmas, ha!

Recently I've also been having a little dilemma with accessorizing. I used to be nuts about it, wearing vintage beaded necklaces, bangles, rings, earrings, brooches. But I feel like it just hasn't been working for me lately. I barely even wear rings anymore, coming from someone who used to wear them on almost every finger. I wonder what happened. Things just sort of feel empty with my outfits now. Aside from that, I've been trying to re-initiate my old hype for it, giving headbands and hats a test-run here and there. How do you think it worked with this outfit? I think it looks very Cynthia Lennon. Though I suppose it is not the most appropriate for a steaming-hot-Australian-Summer, is it? I ended up having to take it off because my head got way too hot. 

Oh well, enough of my ramblings about clothes. Here are the little knick knacks that I picked up over that week. 

Two vintage glasses and a vintage Avon "Pony Decanter - Wild Country After Shave Lotion" Bottle.  I simply love glassware in this gorgeous amber colour. Whenever I walk into a second hand store or antique store my eyes are always drawn to it almost immediately. Perhaps it is less popular because I never really see any other colours about. I also love any vintage glassware that is green. Beautiful. Do you have a favourite?