Hello! I just (didn’t) step out of a time machine.

Greetings again dear readers, those of you who have emigrated with me. Apologies for the long silence as I have been very busy working on populating the professional sections of my website. (Please feel free to have a look at the portfolio.) But for those of you who are here only for the fashion, ta-da! Here is a little ‘fashionistamatic’ taken of me three weeks ago.

Since I last was consistently posting here, my personal style has evolved once more, and it is the 1930s era that I have become enamoured with. I won’t wax lyrical about it just yet, as it deserves lots of paragraphs: I’ve been thinking of writing a little series on why I think the 30s are the most stylish era EVER – perhaps a grandiose claim which will require copious justification to allay some skeptics.

I do own quite a lot of original 1930s garments and accessories, which I have bought both online from vintage boutiques or eBay, and a great many – remarkably – from op shops (thrift stores) right here in Melbourne. I have a theory that most of the volunteer staff, while au fait with 40s or 50s fashion, really do not know how to identify original 30s items because they confuse them with the 1970s. (The Thirties did have a big influence in that era too, via films such as Bonnie & Clyde.)

I’ve always said that I would hate to look like I have stepped out of a period film, or out of a time machine, and one way I have tried to maintain some semblance of modernity is by mixing eras. Hair and makeup styles help too. However, if I could have an entire wardrobe of original 30s garments, I would not hesitate to wear it head to toe, all day, every day. (1930s shoes are the most comfortable I’ve ever worn – they don’t make them like they used to!) Unfortunately, availability and cost hinder me somewhat.

Here I am wearing a 1930s straw hat trimmed with black velvet and celluloid berries, which I bought on eBay. The berries make the cutest clicking sound in my ear as I walk – like billiard balls. The blouse is modern, and the silk scarf is actually from an earlier period – the seller thought either Edwardian or even Victorian. Neckline embellishments such as collars, scarves and bows were huge in the 30s though, literally and figuratively. I’m also wearing a pair of vintage earrings (not sure of era) that match the celluloid berries really well. Those and the blouse were op shop purchases.

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PS You’ll see now I’ve added a blog header, and an archive drop-down menu so you can find things a bit more easily (the section header temporarily enlarges when the menu is opened, which seems to be unavoidable). I have also transferred most if not all of the old Look Book galleries, accessible in the main navigation. Unfortunately something very weird happened to the Ten Commandments on style stories in the migration from my old site, so that is temporarily inaccessible as I will have to lay that out in its entirety afresh when I have time. Please also note that there will be some weird formatting on any posts older than this one; I will try to fix these if and when I have time, but there is ten years’ worth of blogging below here!

Happy New Leaf

Hello! It’s been a while, I know – there’s a year-shaped hole in this blog. At first it was unintentional: I was busy with other creative pursuits, but as 2020 wore on, beginning with fires then floods in Australia, and followed by a global plague and an interminable (or seven months to be exact) lockdown in Melbourne, I came to realise that 2020 was a year that deserved to be finished as quickly as possible and cast post-haste into oblivion. (If only everyone’s post had been haste this year, but I digress!)  So here we are, between my last post of 1 January 2020 and today’s post of 1 January 2021 lies … a blank, and it shall remain that way.

Today I strolled in the Botanic Gardens with one of my sisters, wearing a 1930s dress, parasol and handbag, and a great pair of modern Ray Bans that I bought recently for a song in a thrift store. As we passed this enormous-leafed tree, I asked my sister to photograph me alongside it, as an apt metaphor of New Year’s Day.

As you have no doubt already countless times read or heard elsewhere, may I suggest we now draw the curtain on that horrible year-that-has-passed and look forward – hopefully – to a brighter and healthier 2021. Though we might not be quite out of the woods yet, we can at least turn over a new leaf.

Summer Shade

I am always very chuffed when I manage to find an original 1930s item in a thrift store.

Quite a while back I found this little emerald green leather clutch bag on a lunchtime foray. The handle on the side and the style of the interior coin purse, which is on a separate frame and has a kiss lock are the giveaways that this dates to the 1930s, my favourite vintage fashion era.

I also like the wood-like texture of the leather, and the ruffle across the top. Although it is quite worn about the edges, the interior of the bag is in good condition and very clean. It would definitely benefit from a spit and polish with a good leather conditioner, although I have not yet got round to it because I lost the bag for a while in my closet! I eventually rediscovered it inside another handbag, where I had put it for safekeeping.

These darker shades of green are very appealing to me, especially when paired with white, which reminds me of peppermint candy canes, Christmas, and summer all rolled into one. I have a pair of 30s-style emerald green leather shoes with cut-out patterns, which possibly date to the 1970s, and a white cotton drill A-line skirt with green buttons down the front that, together with this bag, would make a perfect summertime sartorial statement. If only the weather would co-operate!

Photos: September 2019

Wince Less Princess!

I am always on the lookout in thrift stores for good walking shoes as I run through them at a rate of knots, and I always seem to get lucky. One of my latest finds is a pair are leather brogues in a lovely shade of cognac brown, and they were hardly worn to boot.

They turned out to feel a little tight across the toes after a day of wearing them; the ubiquitous ‘they’ do say one should wear new shoes at home for an hour a few times before actually wearing them out, but I omitted this crucial step as the leather was soft and they seemed fine. I guess I know why they were in the op shop to begin with!

However, a good dose of shoe-stretching spray on the inside, and an hour’s wear at home with a thick pair of socks did stretch them out. I could have used a pair of shoe stretchers if I owned some, but using my feet makes more sense to me. I wore them out subsequently with a thinner pair of socks for safety, and they were quite comfortable.

Hooray! They are the perfect pair of shoes for a casual 1930s or 40s look … But they’re more perfect when I am not limping and wincing.

Photos: September 2019

Faux Thirties Style

Lapis lazuli is a metamorphic rock of deep blue that has been prized for its colour since antiquity. In Egypt, lapis lazuli was a favoured stone used in jewellery and ornaments, such as scarabs, and Cleopatra herself used powdered lapis as eyeshadow! Not as surprising as it might seem at first, for the same was used until 1826 to make natural ultramarine pigment for paint.

This little trifle I picked up recently in a thrift store is a double-strand faux lapis lazuli choker. It has no maker’s mark on it, and I can’t imagine it was expensive when it retailed, although the fact that it is knotted between each bead is an indication of better quality.

French postcard: (from left) Irene Wentzel, Miss Russia in Paris in 1930; Ingeborg von Grinberger, Miss Austria; Rie van der Rest, Miss Holland. Image from Pinterest

I’m always on the lookout for 1930s style items, and I am more partial to the costume jewellery styles of the era than the fine jewellery, which often seem too ornate for my taste. I prefer opaque stones in any case.

A lot of 30s daywear was high-necked, featuring interesting necklines, collars and sleeves, so very often women did not wear a lot of jewellery, and it is not easy to find pictorial examples. Here are a couple below, however, of Miss Europe candidates of 1930: Miss Russie is wearing a choker; and the April 1930 cover of Vogue magazine.

Vogue April 1930, illustrated by Jean Pages

Photo: September 2019