Tassels for a Fine Lady

There’s an old Mother Goose nursery rhyme called ‘Ride a Cockhorse to Banbury Cross’, where the lines go, Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, She shall have music wherever she goes. … I feel like they did the ‘fine lady’ a disservice by ignoring her ears. May I put forward tassels, with perhaps little tinkling bells on the ends, as a suitable decoration?

One of my favourite pairs of earrings to wear of late are these giant ballerina pink tassels made from seed beads that I bought a few months ago. You might have counted these as frivolous purchase as any fine lady upon a white horse of yore might have made, but amazingly, they seem to go with everything! I think it’s because this pale shade of pink works like a neutral in the same way as does beige, tan or camel.

Another pair, also a recent purchase, are tassel-esque in design but are white rhinestones set in rose-gold metal. They are equally long and swingy. Because they are so blingy, they seem more fitted for evening – I last wore them out for cocktails, celebrating my birthday with friends. (Not that I disapprove of sparkles for day on the right any occasion.)

Both of these sets were bought in the jewellery department of David Jones, an up-market department store here in Australia. The enormous proportions and the sheer fun of tassels make each pair a joy to wear day and night. And I feel quite the fine lady too, I may add!

Photos: May 2018

Go-to, tally-ho!

Here are a couple of hats I bought late last year. One of them I call a ‘go-to’ hat because it’s so versatile and easy to wear – that would be the pink 70s-style oversize newsboy cap. It’s one I reach for often on casual weekends when I run out the door to go shopping for instance, because it seems to go with lots of my outfits and I don’t need to think about it.

The other hat is a vintage 50s hunting cap (with a visor on front and back), complete with ear-flaps that can be tied down under the chin with the grosgrain ribbon. It is quite amusing and cute, but definitely has a louder personality!

These were both bought in thrift stores for a song or two, and each bring a lot of colour to dreary winter days – that’s what makes hats so much fun to wear.  

Liza Doolittle Day

Liza Doolittle Day

It’s Eliza Doolittle Day, did you know? It’s a long time since I have seen the film My Fair Lady, I must admit, and the thing I love most about it is that it’s Audrey Hepburn playing the title role, and Cecil Beaton designed the costumes.

A while back I was reminded that in a scene where Eliza daydreams about meeting the king, she sings these words:

One evening the king will say:
“Oh, Liza, old thing,
I want all of England your praises to sing.
Next week on the twentieth of May
I proclaim Liza Doolittle Day!
All the people will celebrate the glory of you
And whatever you wish and want I gladly will do.”

At that point in the story, Eliza wished ’Enry ’Iggins dead!

However, my sartorial homage here is to her famous black and white racing outfit. I’m wearing a mix of vintage and more contemporary items. The screw-on earrings are 40s; the gloves – trimmed in bows – are 50s; the skirt and belt 80s, and the Edwardian hat is from the late 90s (the milliner was inspired by Kate Winslet’s hat at the start of the film Titanic). The jabot and striped shirt are more modern numbers.

Here’s to you Liza!

Photo: May 2018

Knit One, Pearl Seven

I picked up this mohair beret at the start of spring last year from an op shop (thrift store). I am a sort of connoisseur of berets, and this mauve number was unlike any I already owned. Someone had clearly donated it because it was missing quite a number of the pearls decorating its top, so it was priced accordingly, but this I knew was an easy fix if I could find matching pearl beads.

The warm weather was coming up, and knowing I was unlikely to wear it for many months, the hat languished on the mending pile for some time before I attended to it. I found Swarovski pearls that matched closely enough, and one day on a mending frenzy, I finally attached them.

And voilà! Someone else did not make do, but I mended, and I now have a rather cute little hat to wear in the coming cold weather.

Photos: March 2018

What I Actually Wore #0138

Serial #: 0138
Date: 15/08/2013
Weather: 18°C / 64°F
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

Often my winter outfits start out by assessing the forecast temperature, and whether I can be bothered wearing tights. Usually the answer is ‘no’ to that question (I generally hate tights). I then toss up between over-the-knee socks (will they keep me warm?) and trousers (do I feel like wearing pants, and if I do, which length will work with comfortable walking shoes? … I should draw an infographic for this process!). This morning, these wool-blend OTK socks were appealing, although according to my notes I wore the dark brown pair, not the beige ones in the photograph.

When I saw [the suit] in the boutique I was immediately enamoured of the jacket because of the sleeves.

I chose the Spanish designer suit I bought as a souvenir from Sitges, in the northern Catalonian region in Spain a couple of years earlier. When I saw it in the boutique I was immediately enamoured of the jacket because of the sleeves. There are various influences at play: vaguely Renaissance-look sleeves, a Regency cropped length, a Mandarin collar and cheongsam-inspired fastening – a very interesting mix! I would have preferred a longer waist-length however as the crop can make it difficult to wear.

I also love the herringbone fabric, a type of tweed that always fools me into thinking it is winter weight, but in fact it is a linen/viscose blend. As it was a cool day, I also wore my 1970s suede Zhivago coat on top.

Although even on the half-off sale, the suit was a splurge, I still – five years on – have it hanging in my closet.

Underneath I am wearing a wool/silk knit. Out of the accessories, only the raspberry suede peeptoes have survived – the very soft socks sadly wore out to the point the feet were nothing but darns (although I still have the dark brown version and wore them last week in fact), and the modern fedora has a nicer vintage 1970s successor. I still have all the jewellery too. As for the sunglasses … I look at them now and hate them! I instantly thought ‘fly’s eyes’! If I find they are still in the box I store my plethora of sunglasses in, they shall be immediately expelled.

I’m pleased to also read in my notes that I received lots of compliments for this outfit – at work, on the street and in the theatre when I went out in the evening. If I wore it today, I probably would not style it very differently.

Items:

Suit: Celia Velo
Top: secondhand
Socks: Philippe Matignon
Hat: Milana
Earrings: Baku (now defunct)
Ring: Autore
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Sunglasses: MinkPink
Shoes: Wittner

Photos: Septemer 2013