What I Actually Wore #0033
Serial #: 0033
Date: 25/11/2009
Weather: forecast 25°, a lovely spring day in the city
Time Allowed: 10 minutes
Here is an outfit that is a real mix of eras. I had such fun putting it together, and it definitely started with the dress. From top to toe we have:
- 1940s straw hat, trimmed in dove grey grosgrain ribbon and netting. Utterly adorable with its turned-back brim; the twist on the side is accented with a jaunty bow. I bought this on eBay from an American seller, and just learned Marshall Field & Co was a famous Chicago department store.
- Laser-cut lattice wooden earrings, a birthday gift two or three years ago from good friends.
- Mint condition 1950s crisp (but not crunchy) linen dress, with black piping. I totally fell in love with this printed fabric when I saw it at the Salvos. The only problem with the dress is that while the waist fits nicely, the belt that comes with it (made from the same fabric and finished with a bow) is too tight. I could move the snaps I guess, but in the meantime…
- Oh! A patent leather, warm grey belt with a fine, upstanding bow (sensing a theme here). After seeing it in a retail store and mourning the price, I managed to find this in a sale shop a few months later, drastically reduced. Score!
- Another extraordinary find from an op-shop, this fab 1970s bag is made from hard white plastic. The inset panel is real snakeskin, and it dangles on a fine gold chain. I was positively drooling over it, but was held in check by the fact that another shopper had put it on hold whilst she wandered around the store. The salesperson suggested I go ask her if she wanted to take it or not, but I didn’t want to precipitate a crisis: the woman might have snapped it up after all if she scented competition. I had to loiter around the counter for ten or fifteen minutes, and whiled away the time trying on all the jewellery in the cabinet.
- These flamingo pink shoes, also patent, have featured on SNAP pages before. I like the scrolldown with its startling finish: neutral, neutral, neutral, SURPRISE! Much less sensible than wearing, say, dove grey courts that matched my belt, like a staid Fifties matron.
I tripped into the city on a lovely spring day to meet a friend for an afternoon of gallery-hopping, followed by coffee and cakes. Lovely.
Items:
Hat: ‘The French Room’ by Marshall Field & Co.
Dress: Sharene Creations
Belt: David Lawrence
Earrings: Moyou, from Design A Space
Bag: vintage (no label)
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Shoes: Jane Debster