Pink Epiphany

It’s funny how I discovered a love for pink as an adult. I never took to it as a child. Although I loved to dress up, I was a bit of a tomboy, and always had scraped or bruised knees because I didn’t really like trousers. I preferred to climb trees and people’s roofs in skirts.

I had my pink epiphany in Australian chain store Sussan’s when in my early 20s I tried on a true cotton candy pink shirt and to my shock (and the sales girl’s delighted amazement), discovered how well it suited me. That was when I realised bright, clean colours suited me more than the subtle, muted tones I had always preferred. Now my wardrobe is exploding with colour.

In this homage to cotton candy I am wearing a knitted tee from Zara, an indulgent satin and straw swirl of a vintage hat bought on eBay from the UK, and an expensive Betty Jackson necklace I purchased online earlier this year. 

In Australia, cotton candy is called fairy floss, a somewhat unfortunate name since it conjures up images of fairies flossing their teeth dutifully before paying visits to the fairy dentist. I used a vintage silk scarf to conjure up my cotton candy. It’s always fun to play photographically with silk fabric too – it floats so beautifully. And tis the season to enjoy some sweets too. Happy Saturday!

Just the Right Side of Purple

Ah, that lovely shade of blue somewhere between violet and blue. Real periwinkle flowers of the myrtle herb range in shades from a rather fake candy pink that makes my teeth hurt, to lovely celestial blues, and hues just on the wrong side of purple. Wikipedia places it exactly at #ccccff which is a disgusting sickly sweet lilac colour. I’m putting it somewhere like #6989e5.

From left: hyacinths (from edenbrothers.com); periwinkle (from flowerinfo.org); hydrangeas (from Wikipedia)The first recorded use of periwinkle as a colour name in English was in 1922, although it seems to be used more often in American English than Australian in my somewhat limited experience – I only discovered this evocative name fairly recently via Etsy. I would have formerly associated the shade with hydrangeas, or hyacinths – both flowers I love and certainly more majestic looking than the humble myrtle herb.

The common periwinkle, a marine molluscThere is also a little marine gastropod – or mollusc – that moonlights under the name of periwinkle. It is pointy and cute looking, and apparently a rather tasty sea snail. It is believed that they have been a common food source in Scotland since 7500 BC (where they are called simply winkles), and are considered a delicacy in Africa and Asia today. They were introduced to North America in the mid nineteenth century, but I don’t believe they have emigrated to Australia as yet.

Fashion Notes

My lovely 30s style blouse came from Rosebud store Vintage Now. By Melbourne label Kinki Gerlinki, it is made from white silk, and I fell in love with the polka-dotted pattern of playing card suits – too sweet! There is a little ruffle down the front closure. The only drawback was the fact the belt was missing, but I soon fixed that.

The velvet bandeau is vintage 50s, and I utterly fell in love with it just for its colour when I stumbled across it at Etsy store Izzy’s Vintage Garden. The chandelier earrings I bought in Bijou Brigitte, a cute jewellery boutique in Lisbon last year – they are just cheap tin, but they create a lovely circusy tinkle when I wear them. The belt I made myself from vintage Swiss ribbon and a refurbished rhinestone vintage buckle, and the ring is almost vintage too, being a repro of 1920s jewellery designer Rhoda Wager. 

A Periwinkle Gallery

Here is a gallery of other periwinkle tinted things that also look almost good enough to eat.

(Left) Buttons from Etsy store Becall Jewels (sold); (right) Leaf series necklace in periwinkle blue by Jess Dare, from http://jessdare.com/w/leaf-series/43(Clockwise from left) Banjo & Matilda top in periwinkle, available in other colourways at www.banjoandmatilda.com; Macau cushion in periwinkle, from www.ecochic.com.au; vintage dress from Etsy (since sold) seen at Oh So Lovely Vintage at ohsolovelyvintage.blogspot.com.auThe jaw-dropping Mondrian Soho, New York, inspired by Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête

Raspberry Swirl

CELEBRATING THE ROARING TWENTIES IN A SPECIAL SERIES

Raspberries: delicious to eat own their own, on top of pavlova, poured over with cream, swirled into icecream … the list is endless. It’s even a beautiful-sounding word, and totally hooked me when I stumbled upon this cloche hat on eBay a few months ago. It was described as a ‘raspberry swirl’ of a hat, and I won it at auction at the unbelievable price of $6.55. It is vintage 1950s, and the seller did not in fact describe or photograph it as a cloche. However, pulled down over the head mimics the classic 20s flapper hat wonderfully.

The striped long-sleeved cotton tee and the Moschino Cheap & Chic skirt combination are a perfect match, and worn together resemble the dropwaist silhouette popular in the 1920s. Stripes were of course popular in this decade too. A cute summer outfit to wear by the beach.

The first recorded use of raspberry as a colour name was in 1892, and there are many shades, ranging from a vibrant cool pink to rose, to a duller glace that more exactly resembles puce. French raspberry is comparatively quite a warm tone.

Scroll down for an inspiring gallery of deliciousness. 

1920s silk evening dress from Fab Gabs on Etsy1920s evening gownsFind them at: Sequinned gown (left) and beaded gown (right)

Adorable, sweet and sexy, this Kitty lingerie set in Raspberry is by LasciviousRaspberry threads by Esme Living ColourRaspberry rug at Modern RugsAnd last, but certainly not least, raspberries and cream

Feeling Blue

Girls in Red :: Lucas AB2 // Dylan // No flashLast week Upsie-Daisy finished up working at the theatre after something like six years. We were all very sad to see her go of course, but happy she was going on to something exciting, and still in the arts precinct so she wouldn’t be too far away for lunchtime reunions.

In celebration, she suggested we (in our respected departments) all dress up in different colours each day in the ten days leading up to her departure. She set up a spreadsheet immediately indicating which colours were to be worn on which day. I don’t work Mondays, so missed out on yellow (which I was very disappointed about), and Upsie-Daisy herself was a fail on the day! She had forgotten to account for the fact she actually had no yellow in her wardrobe. One day was allocated for spots or stripes – I was pleased to combine the two, although stripes proved to be more popular.

Here we all are on red day, her penultimate – by this time the rest of the company had twigged to what was going on. On her last day we all, aptly, wore blue.

Jazz Girls in Red :: Lucas AB2 // Dylan // No flash

They Want You in the Navy

CELEBRATING THE ROARING TWENTIES IN A SPECIAL SERIES

Forward view: 1920s navy straw hat trimmed with velvet piping and pearls, from the Vintage Hat Series

I rarely wear navy. Probably because it has such dull, conservative connotations of business suits and sensible court shoes. That’s not me, you won’t be surprised to hear. Recently though, I’ve discovered a few special pieces that have made me like navy more.

The hue inherited its name from the dark blue and white uniforms worn by officers in the British Royal Navy since 1748. Navies around the world subsequently followed suit. Initially the shade was called marine blue, but close association with the navy soon changed that.

Woman in navy uniform, 1919; vintage 20s military jacket1920s bathing suit and bathing boots(Clockwise from top left) A navy interior; vintage inspired nautical dress; 1920s Remington Monarch typewriterNavy and white was a classic combination for swimsuits in the 1910s and 20s, and of course there is the sailor-inspired dress that will never, ever go out of fashion entirely.

As for my little 1920s hat, I saw it on Etsy and immediately fell in love with it, especially the tiny pearls scattered in an orderly (one could even say military) fashion across the top – they’re like polka dots. Navy is actually part of the winter colour palette (which is me), so I might just fall in line and join the ranks.

Aft view: 1920s navy straw hat trimmed with velvet piping and pearls, from the Vintage Hat Series

Find them at: Vintage photograph from Two Digging Divas; vintage 20s military jacket image sourced from My Fashion Power; framed bathing suit image sourced from Bronson Design; see the bathing boots at Salon of the Dames; navy interior sourced from Daily Design Elixir; Fedora nautical dress still available in some sizes; typewriter seen at Fab.