A Twenties Cameo

Celebrating the Roaring Twenties in a Special Series

I was very excited the week before last to have my hair expertly cut again by the fabulous Alex at Lady Marmalade. Although I still wanted to keep some form of a bob, we both agreed it was time for a change. After some discussion we decided this time to cut the back quite short and keep the front longer – the opposite of my last two cuts, which Alex told me was a concave bob. (So I guess this might be a convex bob?)

I love how short it is! Yet it is still feminine. I really feel like a boy head now though with my neck utterly bared. I made a little complaint about frigid winter temperatures, and Alex (with a suspicious amount of glee in his tone) unsympathetically told me to buy a scarf.

He also suggested for a change I could style it with some texture, blowing upwards with the hair dryer to achieve a tousled look à la Audrey Tatou in Amelie. This turns out to be fabulously easy – much more than achieving a sleek flat style (why is this almost impossible to achieve at home?) – and negates the effect of the mischievous wind on my way to work of a morning. (I’ll leave this picture for another time.)

The same night of my haircut I had also been shopping in jewellery boutique Lovisa, and had almost literally pounced on this diamante cat ear headband. It was too darling to resist. I wore it to the theatre two evenings later and caused a sensation – very much in keeping with the Twenties, I feel, and ssssuits my new do purrrfectly! 

Queen of the May

Did you know it’s May Day today? In the northern hemisphere this time of year was traditionally celebrated with dancing around maypoles and the crowning of a May Queen in honour of springtime fertility. The origin of May Day holidays lie in the festivals of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and the Gaelic Beltane.

I am crowning myself Queen of the May today with a vintage 1950s red velvet bandeau bedecked in silk flowers. This gathering of red and white carnations is over-the-top in both senses of the word. 

Queen Guinevere’s Maying, John Collier, 1900

May Day, being a spring festival, is not celebrated in Australia since May falls in autumn (pardon the pun). What a pity, because what silly fun it must be to skip around a flower-bedecked maypole like Guinevere. Amusingly, Wikipedia describes a May Day procession as ‘cheerfully pointless’ – but that’s the point surely? Everyone feels more lighthearted when the sun shines, and when better to throw an alfresco party!

Land Girl Goes To The Farm

Today was Anzac Day, a public holiday in Australia, and while all Australians and New Zealanders remember the fallen men and women who fought for their countries, it is also a day that many will spend with their friends and families.

It turned out a gloriously sunny day. I attended a barbeque for a family reunion at one of my cousin’s farms on the outskirts of Greater Melbourne, and that seemed like an appropriate opportunity to dress as Land Girl – cue a beloved old green jumper, over-the-knee woollen socks, houndstooth hat and suede boots, and, controversially, a denim skort. To my indignation my sisters insisted I was ‘dressed-up’; I was moved to protest, “but I’m Land Girl today!”

There was much tramping through long grass (those were good boots to avoid snakes with), exploring dilapidated ruins, flirting with cows in a nearby meadow, and breaking and entering an old hay shed just for the opportunity to quite literally roll in the hay. What a fragrant smell! There was also plenty of eating, drinking and being merry with long-lost cousins. There were so many of us, and so many little offsprings bouncing underfoot we all wore name tags.

All in all, a lovely day. I hope you dear readers have had an equally fun Thursday.

Thanks to Niece #1 for taking the above photo. 

Views of a neighbouring propertyMy cousin’s farm in Narre Warren North

Autumnal Tunes

Autumn seems finally to have really and truly arrived here in Melbourne. The temperature has dropped to lovely mid-20s; the sun shines gloriously with that special golden tone you see in autumn; leaves are slowly beginning to turn and the birds chirp busily about their business.

Inspired by the season, I’ve styled an outfit here I’ve never worn before. It’s all cosy knits in tones of warm greys and pinks and peach (ugh, never thought the day would come that I donned peach – summer fruit season is over!).

The newsboy cap – a style I almost never wear – has an asymmetrical cut in peach coloured velvet, and is designed to sit on a jaunty angle. So here is a hat with two crosses against it: newsboy and peach, and yet I’m rather fond of it. The vintage cap is from Georges, Melbourne, a posh department store that has opened and closed over the decades.

From Pony Clothing is a sugary pink scarf knit with random ribbons and tinkling shells. It’s extremely long so can be wound round and round the neck, which epitomises the perfect winter scarf, don’t you think?

The cardigan was bought last winter, by Lili’s Closet for Anthropologie, and the grey knit tee underneath is Italian merino, bought many years ago. Some basics really do last the distance. My beautiful cream leather gloves with a lace insert are vintage, and were bought on Etsy, also last year.

Excuse me while I commune with my little Robin Red breast now. 

April Fish!

One of the silliest holidays on the calendar celebrated by many countries around the world is April Fool’s Day, with the media of many countries often getting in on the act too for grand scale pranks.

Quite a different custom prevails in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy. Children and adults take part in this tradition of attaching paper fish to one another’s backs and shouting, “April fish!” One Swiss work colleague of mine has fond childhood memories of this innocent pastime. The custom possibly harks back to a French poet of the sixteenth century who referred to a poisson d’avril – an April fool, which literally translates as April fish. 

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries April fish postcards became popular in France, a charming excuse to send quaint greetings to a friend. And it’s a fair excuse to eat fish for dinner tonight too.

Scroll down for more April smiles.

Click on image to see more vintage April fish postcardsClick through to buy a set of 25 antique French postcards, at Etsy store French Country Life