Fancy Hat!

Since I have been in a more minimalist phase in the last year or so, I have not been wearing my more fancy vintage hats – I’ve donned the ones with simpler shapes and minimal trimming. However, last week I suddenly declared to the marketing department at large that I was going to wear a crazy vintage hat the next day.

The next morning, in my hurry dressing for work, I almost forgot, but at the very last minute I remembered the previous day’s avowal. Fortunately I have an app cataloguing my many hats (a bit like Cher Horowitz’s computerised closet in the film Clueless), which I can search by style, colour or trim; the app also records in which hatbox I have stored each hat so that I can find them quickly.

I have always thought [this hat] resembled Mickey Mouse ears …

As I was wearing black, I used the colour search filter, scrolled through the selection and voila! This 50s nylon crin hat was perfect. I have always thought it resembled Mickey Mouse ears, and in fact someone said as much that day. I suspect it ought to have three giant pearls, but my 60s pearl bauble earrings are a fabulous substitute.

It always amuses me how much I get stared at on my morning commute whenever I wear an unusual hat – I always want to demand have they never seen a hat before? The girls I work with, however, were delighted.

Photo: May 2013

What I Actually Wore #109

Serial #: 0109
Date: 16/03/2013
Weather: 21°C / 70°F
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

It was a cool and rainy autumn day with intermittent sunshine, and I was attending the Castlemaine Arts Festival on this Saturday with two of my sisters and a brother-in-law. I dressed in what I call a ‘story-book’ style, defined by the inclusion of some striped garment with bold colours.

The orange cardigan is by Anthropologie, and I loved it, although I wished too late that I had bought the oatmeal version instead. I think the neutral colour might have toned down the frivolous ruffle details. However, both my sisters admired it. The matching striped socks amused me because they were tan and clear nylon mesh – sort of now-you-see-me, now-you-don’t tattoo socks.

I chuckle now when I look back at this outfit because it is so colourful, in spirit as well as tone. The socks wore out eventually, and the cardigan was retired from my wardrobe in the Big Cull a year or two ago, but the other items still survive, although admittedly I have not worn them often, except for the bag. However, it’s still a fairly simple outfit, not over-accessorised, even if it is too cute to appeal to me now. I still love the ceramic ring though! It was a souvenir from Barcelona, and looks like a bit of coral.

It was a fun day of food, music, shopping and gallery-hopping.

Photos: April 2013

Items:

Cardigan: Anthropologie
Top: Zara
Skirt: Kokomarina
Necklace: souvenir (various)
Earrings: hand made
Ring: souvenir from Spain
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Bag: vintage
Socks: Kinki Gerlinki
Shoes: John Lewis Women

What I Actually Wore #108

Serial #: 0108
Date: 21/02/2013
Weather: 27°C/ 81°F
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

My very good friend Sapphire invited me to dinner along with some of her other friends to meet her dad while he was visiting the country. It was a warm summer evening and we were going to a Chinese restaurant in the city.

I decided to give my black gladiator boots an outing, since they don’t get to go out very often. They need to be worn with a short dress to really show off, and since I don’t own many minis, the black silk kimono-style was the go. The dress is by Luela – an Australian label which may now be sadly defunct; I can't find any current information about it. I wore it with black onyx jewellery, and carried a black patent bag, so it was a rare occasion that I found myself in an all-black outfit, apart from my pearl ring.

The boots attract a lot of attention during the commute, and from the male guests at the dinner party. After I inform them it's a rare treat for the boots, they all declare they are fabulous and deserve to go out more often.

It always amuses me how excited men get over certain knee-high boots. Of course there are certain obvious connotations, but you can easily offset that by pairing edgy boots with something demure and minimal makeup. Result: wink, rather than kink.

Photo: April 2013

Items:

Dress: Luela
Earrings: hand made
Ring: Autore
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Shoes: Wittner

What I Actually Wore #107

Serial #: 0107
Date: 25/03/2013
Weather: 27°C / 80°F
Time Allowed: 7 minutes

I don’t remember where I first heard the fashion lie that pink and red don’t go together, nor do I recall when I had an epiphany that they in fact look great together – but they do! You may yourself have once come upon the statement that colours within the same family harmonise – perhaps in a fashion magazine – and it cannot be denied that pink and red are in the same ‘colour family’; ie, they sit next to one another on the colour wheel. So I love the bright splash of colour this outfit makes.

I love the bright splash of colour this outfit makes.

It was a fine summer day. As I often do, I decided what to wear while I was in the shower, and the outfit started with the skirt. The skirt is by New Zealand label Obi. While it has since been culled from my closet, I owned and wore it for years until the day I ruthlessly decided that frills no longer gave me thrills. (The frills do not extend to the back however.) For the same reason that tank top also disappeared from my wardrobe. 

The vintage 50s headband is made from velvet, with a net and a decorative bird made from feathers. Apart from this frivolity, I kept my other accessories in simple black. The patent vintage bag is a long-term standby, and the shoes are still in regular circulation.

While I am still firmly against the girlish superfluity of frills, I still like the simplicity of this silhouette – it manages to offset the decoration to a degree almost to the point where I’m wondering: Was I too ruthless after all?! Too late.

Photo: April 2013

Items:

Top: Jump
Skirt: Obi
Headband: Joseph Horne Co., vintage 50s
Earrings: handmade
Rings: onyx – souvenir from Vietnam, silver – jewellery label Roun
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Bag: vintage 70s
Shoes: Gorgeous Shoes

What I Actually Wore #106

Serial #: 0106
Date: 29/01/2013
Weather: 21°C/70°F
Time Allowed: 8 minutes

Fortunately I made notes two years ago when I photographed this outfit. Apparently, I dressed on the premise that just because it's a simple outing, it doesn't mean I need to dress dowdily. That simple rule has always been one of my fashion creeds.

Pleats!

I really love pleated skirts, and have managed to amass a large number of vintage pleated skirts and dresses, most of them in just the last few months. This cream cotton micro-pleated 80s skirt was the first however, and I remember being so excited when I found it. I had been on the hunt particularly for micro-pleats; they weren’t to be found even in retail stores at the time. I really enjoy the midi-length too.

Colour!

Old school sartorialists like to say that red and pink clash and should never be paired, but I think they look delicious together! I do enjoy unusual and startling colour combinations. The strawberry pink top was just an ordinary knit tee, (which has since been donated to charity), and the classically-cut leather jacket I still wear occasionally (because I own a multitude of coats and jackets and can’t possibly wear them all often!).

Many of my leather coats and jackets I have bought second hand, but this was purchased new, and was quite an investment, even on sale. Happily I have worn it enough over the years to have made it worthwhile.

Accessories!

These soft leather brogues are very comfortable, and have only recently really come into their own. I bought them on sale website Ozsale. They had become lost in the bottom of my closet, until I rediscovered them when all my other practical walking shoes wore out at once. Decoratively punctured, and with cutouts on the top, they are cool enough for warmer weather. I’ve worn them so much one of my errands this week is to take them to the shoe repairers for heel touch-ups.

I will be the first to admit that enormous pompom headband that looks like the cherry on top is insane. It was chiefly a fun experiment (I hadn’t made a pompom since primary school), but I have actually worn it out once or twice to festivals and parties. It’s certainly a conversation starter!

My other accessories include my favourite onyx jewellery, and my silver necklace dangling with various charms collected during my travels. The patent handbag is vintage, 60s or 70s, and it has been an excellent little basic for a long time.

Photo: April 2013

Items:

Jacket: Toscana
Top: Elliza Donatein
Skirt: Ricki Reed, vintage
Headband: hand made
Earrings: onyx baubles, hand made
Bangle and ring: onyx, souvenirs
Necklace: silver charm necklace, souvenirs
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Handbag: vintage, 60s/70s
Shoes: Miss S