Sheer Amusement

Once upon a time it was considered totally apropos to wear sheer pantyhose with sandals. Here is the evidence: vintage 80s Holeproof Sheer Tops with sheer toes. Clearly, however, the original owner of this pair spotted in a thrift store thought better of donning them.

I have kicked about this sartorial dilemma previously: what kind of foot covering ought to be worn with open-toed shoes? Obvious socks and hosiery seem to work better because they become part and parcel of an entire look, whereas sheer hosiery pretending to be naked skin just looks wrong, with or without the seam in the toe. With so many other options (other types of tights, or, at a pinch, a closed shoe) its unseemly not to toe the line.

Berets Two Ways

Berets are the easiest hats in the world to wear! Let me qualify that by adding ‘the easiest and most flattering’, because anyone can wear a beanie, but let’s face it they do ruin your do!  

I love berets, and I have numerous styles in my collection. You can wear them various ways, but here are two on a red theme worn on the back of the head: a vintage 40s soft woven fabric hat in a dramatic platter style, and a modern wool felt. The former is worn with a silk Guess blouse (I love gingham!), and the latter with a striped Sonia Rykiel knit.

Jewellery: Where and Wear

Burke // Shilshole // No flashRecently I have been tidying up my accessories storage at home. I seem to own a lot of everything, which makes many people wonder how on earth I store it all in my tiny studio apartment.

Luckily I have a walk-in closet (which doubles as storage for other household items, such as the vacuum cleaner, etc), and while it is jam-packed, it is fairly organised. It’s about 3 metres wide by 1.5 metres deep, so it’s not huge. Here is my jewellery nook above my tallboy, with a tray of bangles, lots of hooks for necklaces, and sundry vintage boxes that hold other items such as sunglasses and hair clips and bands. I’ve since acquired a long wooden tray with a sliding lid in which I’ve put my earrings.

At least I can see everything now, and it’s much easier to choose jewellery each morning. The only problem is finding time to wear it all!

Where Hat Magic Happens

It will come as no surprise to any regular reader of the SNAP Journal how much I love hats, and what a rather large collection I own. Today, while organising the wardrobe for a photoshoot next week, I flitted through the millinery workroom where I work at Melbourne Theatre Company, and paused to breathe the rarefied air and take a few snaps.

It is really like an Aladdin’s Cave of millinery delights!

It is really like an Aladdin’s Cave of millinery delights! There are wooden hat blocks in a multitude of shapes; feathers, ribbons, tulle and other trimmings galore scattered all over; and vintage hats and cuttings provide inspiration.

This is where hat magic happens!

 

Shoe Bonanza

Lowy // DreamCanvas // No flashIf you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might have noticed that I have a particular fondness for shoes. This is an understatement – my friends have been wont to call me Imelda from time to time.

I also have the good fortune to live within walking distance to Wittner’s warehouse shop: I pass it every time I go to the supermarket. (This is very dangerous for my budget.) However, most of the shoes there are greatly reduced, and one day I had an extraordinary bonanza there: three pairs of shoes for around $50!

Silver patent, black studded suede, and spiked buff leather – those are quite dangerous to wear in fact: I’ve injured my ankles merely crossing my legs! They had been reduced to a mere $10. How could I possibly resist such bargains? I didn’t of course. I wore them all to work in the following week. Here they are in all their glory.

Spikes! :: Lowy // DreamCanvas // No flashShiny! :: Lowy // DreamCanvas // No flashStuds! :: Lowy // DreamCanvas // No flash