Blue Ribbon

This past winter I fell in love with a 30s style white silk blouse by label Kinki Gerlinki, from the Victorian boutique Vintage Now. It was patterned with periwinkle blue playing card icons – hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds, but sadly it was missing a belt. Rather than simply finding a modern belt to fit, I decided to take a vintage approach.

Since I was quite on a periwinkle blue kick at the time, I purchased some gorgeous vintage 30s/40s Swiss velvet ribbon from Etsy store Fini Ribbon. All it needed was a vintage buckle. I found that at Wee Sparklies, also on Etsy. Shop owner Carmen refurbishes vintage jewellery, and was sweet enough to include a second buckle as a present (“Oops, it fell into the package,” she told me).

Once both pieces of the belt arrived from America, I put them together. Of course, I might have known the buckle would be too heavy for the ribbon, but I found stick-on Velcro dots that I adhered to the end of the belt. Not the most elegant of solutions, but at least they are invisible, unlike other closures that I may have had to sew on.

The belt looks very sweet on the blouse, and finally Melbourne’s weather is warming up enough so that I can wear it!

Floral frame courtesy of The Graphics Fairy.