It's Bank Holiday Monday and, of course, it's raining, heavily. We have come to expect it so have stayed tucked up in the comfort of home. Far too wet to work in the garden but I'm in my old kick- about clothes because the dog still needs her walk, whatever the weather.
I'm wearing a pink linen blouse from Boden that has a frill down either side of the front buttons, very old Gap crops that were once navy, a ballet cardi from Monsoon and suede flats that were made for me about thirty years ago and which hopefully will never wear out.
But my watch is brand new!
I wanted something cheap and cheerful to wear whilst working in the garden. £15 from Casio and it has a face large enough for me to read without putting on my glasses. I love the colour lilac, and that is the 'cheerful' bit.
For Patti's Visible Monday at
Not Dead Yet Style.
At the 'Dig for Victory' event last weekend I bought a fifties vintage dress. It wasn't cheap, quite the reverse. It isn't in particularly good condition. There are holes in the skirt, a tear, patched, in the bodice, and the metal beneath the covered buttons has rusted through. I wasn't going to buy it. The stall holder at 'Cock-a-Doodle Vintage' said it's a lovely dress but very small in the waist. My friend Janet told me to try it on. "Not if I can't get into it, I said. The waist of the dress was measured, I was measured. The fabric is unforgiving, some sort of gingham taffeta that doesn't give an inch. If I gain that inch the dress will no longer fit!
So why did I buy it?
It is the Dior 'New Look' style from the late forties, early fifties that I remember my mother loved, dresses with a neat waist and, after years of rationing, a very full skirt. I love this style, so utterly feminine.
Velvet coat, 1955
The cut of my dress is clever,
with a triangular design repeated on the cuffs, pockets and bodice.
And it works very well with my £8 vintage hat!
Which can be worn at a rakish angle thanks to a piece of elastic.
Now all I need is a wedding invitation!
