Outfit of the day: green flowers and a new camera

Finally another outfit of the day post! I got a bit fed up with always taking kind of crappy photos with my phone, so yesterday I bought a new digital camera!!! Partly to use it for this blog, but also a bit because next week I'm going to Rome and offcourse I need to take lots of photos there :-)

I have bit of a weird way of picking things, I focus on colour more than on functionality... exactly the way I chose my new camera ( it is red and that says it all!!) I also do this searching for new libraby books. I just browse along the backs of the books until one speaks to me. So I probably mis a lot of good books with horrible covers, but so be it ;-) And picking wine in a store also goes by label and colour (nof the wine, but of the label ;-). I admit, I'm a colour oriented freak, haha!

But today I offcourse took a lot of pictures with my new camera and tried all its functions, so I thought why not a new outfit of the day post... Here it is.

This outfit is mainly found in thriftshops. The skirt is originally from Mango, but I bought it secondhand for only a couple of euros. The blouse is a shortened dress, which I noticed today, gapes a little bit at the buttonholes, because it is tightened at the back with two straps. So I have to fix that before wearing it again.
But I love the way it fits and the adorable little flower print on it. The earrings and the brooch give the outfit a lovely late forties / early fifties feel to it.

And I also tried a new hairstyle from my book. In the end it didn't look anything like the original, but I think it looked good anyway;-) It might have something to do with not having washed my hair in a week (it worked the last time as well, haha).

Blouse and skirt: thrifted

Shoes: Bristol

Brooch and belt: H&M

Bag and earrings: thrifted

Hairflower: homemade

Bracelet: clothing swap

New in: let's trade

Last weekend I organised a clothing swap at my place.

For those of you who don't know the concept, here's the idea: you invite lots of friends to join and ask them to also bring a friend, sister, mother, niece etc, so it becomes a mixed group of women. Everyone takes with them their old clothes; the ones that don't fit anymore, are last season, that you don't like and all these clothes end up on a big table. And then the swapping can begin!!

I think clothing swaps are fun, because besides finding new free clothes, you also get a change to talk to each other. So there a only benefits to a clothing swap: you get rid of your old clothes, make other people happy with them, find new free clothes and you can try out lots of different styles!

This is what I got for myself a my clothing swap (and I handed in two big shopper full of clothes, so there is some room in my closet now :-)

Black jersey smocked top

A piece that once already had a place in my closet, but brought it to a previous swap, thought its a shame that I did that, and now it came back to me!!

Bolero jacket, which need to be taken in at the arms and waist, but will become a lovely piece.

Brown jacquard top/dress. I will hem this piece, so it becomes a top and I will change the belt from the front to the back.

Simple black fitting sweater.

These epaulettes I found at a thriftshop a while ago and I have been looking for a black sweater to put the on, so this is a win-win situation!

Lovely blue and white flowery dress. It reminds me a bit of 'Delfts blue' pottery.

Blue dress with white dots.

So I think you agree with me that this swap was a succes!!

Vintage sewing: Piano skirt

After seeing this dress (the piano dress bij Karl Lagerfeld) a couple of years ago in the V&A in London, I have been wanting to make my own version of it.

But until now, I have had no time for it! But this will change, because I need a new sewing project to work on. My poodle skirt is almost finished. The skirt itself is done, I only need to do the poodle. But I really like the skirt the way it is now (outfit photos will follow soon :-), so I might make a second version in the same colour, with the poodle.

I want to make a skirt version of it, with a black waistband and a white full or half circle skirt and the piano bars in black. This because I already have a cocktail dress which is really similair to the Karl Lagerfeld dress.

So I will keep you posted on this new sewing project. I'm planning to buy some fabric for it on saturday, but then I need to find time to actually put it together. Stay tuned! :-)

Vintage hair: two rolls

This post will be a combined post about my outfit of the day and my first attempt to recreate one of the looks from my new hairstyle book.

I tried to make the version that is called Two Rolls from my new book 1940's hairstyles and it looks like this. 

 

And this is my version :-)

 

I chose to wear a flower with this style, partly because I wear it most of the time, but this time also because the sides of my hair are a bit thin, so with this updo that was really showing. So the flower kind of hid that.... ;-)

  

Detail from the side (although my nose is missing, this was the best picture)

And I must say, it is pretty close to the original! Normally I always have problems making the rolls. They turn the wrong way or won't stay in the right place, but this morning it worked the first time I tried it and in literally 5 minutes my hair was pinned up!! Maybe because my hair actually needed a washing, so it was really coarse. The back I kind of hid in the snood (because of the much needed washing ;-) 

And as promised also a couple of shots from the outfit I wore this day. I like this outfit a lot, because it gives me a genuine 1940's feel. So it matches the hair very well!

 

Close-up of my shoes. I love these shoes. Allthough they are not very comfortable to wear all day, I love the look and feel of them.

Top: H&M

Skirt: thrifted

Shoes: C&A

Belt: came with a dress from Hell Bunny

Snood and hairflower: homemade

New in: lovely vintage style books

I have been looking for a long time for some vintage style clothing, sewing and hairstyle books to buy on Amazon, but for some reason I never actually bought them, but last week I finally did :-)

I bought these three lovely books:

And they go very well with my small collection of inspiration books ...

I especially like Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing, because I thought that it was only a book with tips on enhancing your sewing style in a vintage way, but the book also has 14 different patterns included, with tips for variations. So you can make 25 different pieces!! So I have a lot of new projects on my hands.

These I like to make first, but I think I will sew my way all through the book (it might take a while, but I expect to have lots of free time during the summer holidays, haha)

Bow collar blouse

Tiki dress

I also have been wanting to make some more variations on my hairstyle (because I'm a bit stuck on two or three styles), with styles from the 1940's. That is why I bought the other books. But although the styles look great, it seems to me they take a lot of effort and time (and that is something I don't have). Setting, curling, brushing and pinning your hair, but I will definetely try some styles. I just love the drawings and pictures in the book. Here are some gorgeous examples.

So my time if filled with things I have and want to do!

Vintage sewing: circle skirts

Finally I have some time off to work on my sewing projects which have been waiting for me quite a while. I'm planning to make a couple of full circle skirts. I bought the fabric two weeks ago and now I'm ready to begin.

My history with making circle skirts hasn't been a smooth ride :-) The first skirt I ever made was during sewing class and it was not straight at the bottom, so I ended up never wearing it. Some time later I thought I try it again and used a nice cotton fabric with big strawberries I had lying around, with no destination for it. I used elastic for the waistband, because that was the easiest (and I fully admit, I'm a lazy seamstress). But I forgot one thing.... to stretch it while sewing!! So now, this skirt I can only put on over my head ... oops, little mistake!

After that I made a half circle skirt from a lovely fabric I bought at a thriftstore.

The second full circle skirt I made, I used red fabric and I opted for a zipper this time, and I must say, second time around went a lot better! The zipper is still a bit short, so I have to wiggle myself in to it, but hey I'm proud of my creation! 

Now I'm planning to make a simple black full circle skirt from the same material as the red one, because red and black a so versatile. And I bought this gorgeous baby pink fabric with this skirt in mind:

A fifties poodle skirt!! I saw this skirt a while ago in the exhibition 'Fabulous Fifties' at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and I wanted it ever since. So my days off are stacked with things to do and offcourse I will show the poodle skirt when I have finished it. Can't wait to wear it.

New in: Shopping trip to the Primark

Yes, I have to admit it. Today I went on a shopping trip to the Primark. I fell in love with this store on my previous visits to the UK en Ireland, where they are everywhere! But here in Holland these stores are scattered, so today I went to the Primark in Hoofddorp. And came home with lots of lovely things!

Some new thights who were on sale, for only 50 cents each. Because the weather here isn't that warm at all, thights are still needed.

More sunglasses for my ever growing collection (currently about 30/40 pairs)

New hairflowers in summery colours.

A new bag for doing my shopping at the local market and to take to the beach.

 

Two western style blouses with long sleeves. 

 

  

A lovely blue blouse with polkadots and short sleeves, perfect for the summer. And I thought, I'd show you also somes photos of my going-shopping outfit.

Blazer: H&M

Fur shawl, earrings and skirt: thrifted

Sweater: C&A

Hairflower and snood: homemade

Shoes: van Haren

Jewelry: thrifted, vintage market