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.

Taking Stock

Belated Christmas greetings, Snapettes. I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday full of seasonal blessings of peace and joy, spent with family and loved ones.

I hope also your stockings were filled with good things, not lumps of coal, which would certainly ruin these fine vintage Schiaparelli stockings. I bought them a little while ago in a thrift store, but have not yet dared to wear them for fear of ripping them. They are a size 10½, which I discovered refers to foot length and indicates they are a UK shoe size 7. This is a little bigger than what I wear, but bigger is better than smaller surely! And how pretty is the pink print on one of the stocking tops?

Here’s to continuing festivities as we take stock of what’s passed these last twelve months, and countdown to a new year!

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

Double Happiness

Bluebirds have been a symbol of happiness and hope in many cultures for thousands of years. This little pair are billing and cooing, so they are surely very happy.

I found this in a thrift store quite a while ago; I think it is probably from the 1980s. I collect brooches, but I prefer vintage plastic or enamel over rhinestones. However, when it is a novelty shape as opposed to an abstract, I do like the sparkle of rhinestones.

At the time of purchase, I put it into a zipped compartment of my wallet, and forgot all about it. As I’ve switched back to a tiny vintage crocodile leather wallet that can hold only a couple of plastic cards, I only recently went back to the longer wallet to look for a not-oft-used card, and rediscovered this brooch inside! It’s like being twice-surprised by a sweet find.

Photo: Today

What I Actually Wore #0158

Serial #: 0158
Date: 21/12/2013
Weather: 20°C / 68°F
Time Allowed: 8 minutes

Wide-leg pants with a fun top and colourful accessories are, and forever will be, a staple silhouette for me (in fact I am wearing a version of this ensemble right now as I type). I wore this outfit to work, and then made only minimal changes to my outfit before going to see a play with a friend in the evening.

I no longer own the pants; they were a bit big to start with, and eventually they became too big when I lost a bit of weight. (You know your pants are too big when you can slip them off without undoing the zip!) The blouse is still with me, as are all the other items except for both pairs of shoes. The tan brogued sandals are among the most favourite I have ever owned, but sadly they completely wore out and I had to bin them.

During the day, I wore a vintage 1950s silk cropped jacket in a beautiful shade of blue, and in the evening swapped it for an evening coat of pink slubbed silk or rayon. I love the drama of its maxi length. I walked into the city to the theatre, and chose comfortable leather platform wedges – although the leather of these was so soft they stretched out and became too big as well, and impossible to walk in. I ended up giving them to a friend.

The ceramic jewellery I am wearing is all souvenired from Barcelona. The necklace and earrings have become a bit lost amongst my huge collection of costume jewellery, but I regularly wear the ring, and its companion, a ceramic cluster of green balls. I thought they were great mementoes of the city that Gaudí made particularly his own.

I still remember buying that leather clutch bag with its plastic tortoiseshell frame – maybe 15 or more years ago now – from a vintage boutique that is no longer, in a street that is also no longer what it was, having become gentrified, near my old art college, which also is no longer, having closed down many years ago and subsequently was torn down! What a litany of closures, and memories they conjure up.

I still visit that neighbourhood, and marvel at how much it’s changed, and smile nostalgically at what is still the same. That vintage boutique was the last hold-out of a large number in that cool street (hipster before hipsters existed) that all gradually closed down, sadly, and it was a really good one. I also remember buying there a fantastic pair of vintage 1970s pink metallic kid leather high-heeled strappy sandals by Christian Dior that were a size too small for me for about $15. It hurt to wear them, but … CHRISTIAN DIOR. One day, in a ruthless fit, I donated them to a charity store. No regrets. I since found a pair of silver patent Christian Louboutins for $4 IN my size. Thou givest to the charity store, and the charity store givest back to thee.

Items:

Blouse: Veronika Maine
Jacket (am): vintage 50s
Coat (pm): vintage 50s
Pants: Dizingoff
Sunglasses: MinkPink
Bag: vintage 70s
Sandals (am): Wittner
Wedges (pm): RMK
Earrings: souvenir
Necklace: souvenir
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Ring: souvenir

Photos: January 2014