༺ Bluebells & The 1940’s Fashion Calender ༻

This week I really wanted to make up Brittany’s 1940’s Fashion Calender challenge for January: a fabulous Flower Brooch DIY.  Try as I might, however, I couldn’t find the craft supplies I knew I had lying around. The fabric flowers I wanted eluded me in spite of three days of searching my shed and going through boxes of stuff several times over!
(╯ ^ ╰) *sniff*

So in true “Make Do and Mend” fashion, I decided to do what I could with what I had on hand ~ felt.  Inspired by some lovely felt flower brooches on the internet I came up with this royal blue three piece corsage. 

It took quite a while to make, but that’s because I was busy creating a tutorial at the same time, so look for that coming up on the blog soon!  In the mean time, I am really pleased with how it all came out.

When I was making it up, I was a bit worried that the dimensions of the brooch would be to big to wear on a dress ~ sort of more of a coat sized brooch if you know what I mean?

After I pinned it to my dress though, I decided I really liked the larger size!  It means that the flowers show up nicely. So many of my brooches are gorgeous, but get a bit lost on my clothes ~ particularly if I’m wearing a print fabric.

I think it’s nice to have a larger pin that really gets to be a statement piece rather than just an accessory.  (◕‿◕ ✿)

What do you think? Do you prefer larger or smaller brooches?  Or are you in favour of ditching the brooch altogether?  Personally, I adore brooches ~ they’ve become my most favourite vintage accessory! (❤ヮ❤)

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Royal Bluebells Felt Flower Corsage | Me Made, Jan 2015
Swept Away Vintage Dress | Thrifted
Harvest Brown Gauntlet Gloves | Etsy
Rose & Thorn Tooled Leather Purse | Frock Up Vintage Fair, 2012
All Around Brown Heels | Rivers, Current

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Stroll The Laneway ༻

Outfit posts are a little scarce at the moment, because I’m really not feeling the urge to pull together cohesive outfits. Then, if I do manage to do it, I usually don’t have the time to snap photos… 

Oh well, if this is the last outfit shoot before baby arrives, that’s ok too. Which, incidentally, could be at anytime now! We’re in week 38, so if I suddenly drop off the radar, you can all guess the reason why.  (＾-＾)

Today I took myself off to get a pre-baby hair cut, and I decided to go back to a Middy Plus length because my hair has been so flat and un-curly! It’s funny, I haven’t touched a straightening iron in months, but my hair looked like I’d been straightening every day for ages.  It’s the first time I’ve never had any curl at all and I had no idea what to do with it!  (◉ Д ◉) *le gasp* I told my hairdresser to lop it all off, and was so happy when my curl came back almost instantly.

I also bought some new glasses frames recently, but I’m not sure that the shape is “vintage” enough for me.  It’s kind of hard to say… I am never quite perfectly happy with any of the glasses I end up buying. I think I’m just super fussy and don’t really like how glasses look on me. 

But I do absolutely love the new-to-me vintage brooch that I received from my Vintage Secret Santa! The sparkly bow is topped off by a tiny, colourful bouquet ~ it’s so perfect. I think Jessica from Chronically Vintage did such a wonderful job organizing this Christmas gift exchange, and I had a lot of fun participating. Who wouldn’t enjoy shopping for vintage treasures to share? I know I did!

Did you participate in the vintage secret Santa gift exchange?  What was your most favourite thing that you bought to give away? I found a gorgeous wooden brooch that had hand painted daisies on it, and I really hope that my secret Santa recipient liked it as much as I did.  ( ´･ω･`) ~ ♡

Will you do the VSS next year?  I am planning too!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

White & Gold Chain Frames | Zenni Optical
Bouquet Bow Brooch | Gifted, Christmas 2014
Dear Daisy Blue Maternity Dress | Me Made, 2012
Pearl Heart Charm Bracelet | Proud’s, Current
Tan & Canvas Satchel Purse | E-Spirit, Old
Bow Lace Wedge | Modcloth, Old

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Lavender Lace ༻

I only have one vintage maternity dress {they are fairly rare and hard to find as you can imagine!} and this is it.  It’s a little too big for me ~ particularly across the shoulders, but beggars can’t be choosers. Plus, it’s such a pretty dress. (✿◠‿◠)

I really love the lace work that creates a square neckline around the v-collar, and that the little lace bands on the skirt help draw the eye down past your belly. I think that this such a cleverly thought out detail that gives this dress a more ‘slim-lined’ feel. And every pregnant lady knows that slim in the latter stages of carrying a baby is definitely a bonus!

I almost wish I could wear it when I’m not pregnant, but at the same time it is nice to have some special clothes that make you feel pretty when when you are at such a… shall we say limited?… stage of style choices.  (＾∇＾)

Mind you, as pretty as it is, wearing vintage does have it draw backs. I think I have resewn all the back seams of the bodice in this dress because the cotton was rotten with age, and would simply pop when I moved. I had the whole back of my sleeve come away at one point!  The rest of the stitching does seem to be holding up now though, which is very nice.

I tend find seams pop in vintage clothing fairly frequently ~ mending your vintage dresses seems to go hand in hand with wearing them. So do you have an handy tips for mending, repairing or preventing tears in your vintage pieces? I’d love to hear all about them if you do. ❤

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Lace & Pearl Hair Flower | Equip, Old
White Rose Wreath Brooch | Va-VaVoom Vintage, Instagram Sale
Lavender Lace 1940’s Vintage Maternity Dress | Etsy
Pearl Heart Charm Bracelet | Proud’s, Current
Pandora Charm Bracelet | Pandora
Lovelace Purse | Thrifted
All Around Brown Heels | Rivers, Current

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Sassy Pants ༻

 
    

This is what I wore to take my children to the dentist for their very first checkups. Then we had to hustle around for some Christmas shopping, spend some time at the post office, and well, just generally bustle about.

Sometimes I feel that as an expecting mother, I shouldn’t be running around in heels and red lipstick. After all, I have one large bump and two little ones in tow. Somehow it just doesn’t feel like I *should* be wearing an outfit like that. Then I put on my sassy pants and trot it out anyway. Vintage style is always elegant, no matter what you look like!

But I must confess, even though these shoes look great with this outfit, they really weren’t the best choice for all that running about…

Oops!  Ever done that before?

It’s like “Ooooh! My feet are killing me - (> O <)’… Aren’t these shoes fabulous though??”

Haha! (=´ ‿ `=)

To be completely honest, I tend to go for a medium heel a lot more frequently these days, and my flats collection is steadily growing larger and larger.  I guess I just don’t have many places to wear super high heels too, so they’ve sort of fallen by the wayside in terms of placement in my shoe collection.

My collection is about 40% flat, 30% medium heel and 20% high heel ~ and I probably shouldn’t say how many pairs I have….

Oh, all right….

You’ve convinced me.

The count is currently at 47 pairs.  This doesn’t include specialty pairs like snowboarding boots, riding boots, soccer shoes, etc.

But I love them all!  ♥ ♥ ♥   Heehee….

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Glam Up Sunglasses |  Zenni Optical
Vintage Silver Bows Necklace | Etsy
Gingham Baby Doll Top | Kmart, Current
Basic Denim Capris | Crossroads, Old
Gingham Picnic Wedges | Modcloth, Old

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Mother & Daughter: In Prints ༻

 
       

This wasn’t supposed to be a regular thing, but…  (=◠。◠=)”

She’s too cute not to take photos of, and then too cute not to share the photos taken. She’s so cute she even gets away posting outfit photos without any shoes on, or her hair done!

I love the little white flower print on Isabelle’s denim dress, and yes, she likes to twirl the skirt around when I put her in it.  Full skirts are very popular with both girls in this household!

So are purses, shoes, and pretties for your hair and…. We have a lot of fun together.
♡｡ﾟ.(*♡´‿` 人´‿` ♡*)ﾟ♡ °・

Speaking of fun ~ I do so like the plaid fabric of this vintage maternity top. I generally tend to feel plaid is more of an autumn or winter print, and gingham is for spring and summer, but I just love this cute piece with the little bows and lace at the neck, so of course I’ll wear it anyway!

Isn’t it funny though how you can associate certain prints with certain seasons? I mean, there are some that just make sense ~ like a print with autumn leaves all over it ~ but I don’t know where I get the “Plaid = Autumn/Winter” and “Gingham = Spring/Summer” thing from.

Maybe it has to do with the strength of the pattern, or the saturation of the colors. Because a pastel plaid would definitely be a spring or summer thing!

What do you think about the “Plaid = Autumn/Winter” and “Gingham = Spring/Summer” fashion philosophy? Yay or nay? Maybe you can shed some light on this particular style “do/don’t” I appear to have picked up.

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Dragonfly Pendant |  Christmas Present, 2009
It’s Plaid Baby Vintage Top | Etsy
Basic Denim Capris | Crossroads, Old
Strawberry Fields Purse | Nikki B’s, Milton
White Plimsols | Woolworths, Old

༺ ♡ ༻
Isabelle wears ~

Dainty Daisy Dress | Kmart, Current
Blue Peasant Top | Gifted
Strawberry Fields Purse | Nikki B’s, Milton

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Mother & Daughter: In Stripes ༻

I don’t know if I want to make this a ‘once-in-awhile’ feature, but just this one time at least I couldn’t resist snapping a few shots of my daughter Isabelle to share on the blog. It’s partly an ‘little girls’ outfit look, but mostly because, like all mothers, I happen to think my daughter is the cutest thing out there, and if I can’t resist her, how can anyone else?  (≧ ω ≦) ~ ♡

Plus, we’re both in stripes, so you know…  : P

I wanted to stick with a strictly casual vintage vibe for this outfit. It’s hard to resist the temptation to dress an outfit up ~ you know, add heels or a strand of pearls, but I felt like this was a good opportunity for a more comfortable, casual maternity look.

Let’s face it, there are some days where the thought of nylons, heels or belts is just beyond an expecting mother and you just want to be able to be comfortable as well as presentable! Hence my nautical themed 1950’s-ish look.

The jersey tunic is the star of this style, and combined with stretch denim capris has the ‘all day’ comfort factor that makes this outfit so wearable. Just because it’s simple and cozy doesn’t mean it can’t have a vintage flair though; I love how the navy and white stripes add interest and of course, the peter pan collar wins at all the things. I adore peter pan collars!

Add some cute boater-style canvas flats and an adorable daughter, and you are good to go…  ꒰｡• ◡ –｡꒱

Don’t have an adorable daughter? Borrow someone else’s for the day ~ I’m sure they’d love the free babysitting, and you’ll look fabulous! {Haha, jokes you know!}

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Silver Twist Headband |  Equip, Old
Nautical Navy Tunic | Thrifted
Long Line Bluebell Cardigan | SES, Old
Basic Denim Capris | Crossroads, Old
A Navy Flat | Thrifted

༺ ♡ ༻
Isabelle wears ~

Gingham Bow Hat | Gift
Ruffle & Stripes Dress | Kmart, Current
Coral Tights | Kmart, Current
Spotty Socks | Kmart, Current
Summer Flower Soft Sole Baby Shoes | Softies Baby Shoes

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Pink Petal ༻

This fabulous 1950’s reproduction tea rose dress never fails to brighten my day with it’s perfect profusion of petals and pink fabric! I wore it to church this Sunday, and I’m so happy it still fits over the baby bump. Not many of my ‘regular’ dresses do any more, but that’s hardly surprising I suppose! (*◠。◠*)

What I am also loving are all the wonderful roses I have blooming in my garden at the moment. That’s why you are being treated with lots of different angles of my front yard ~ rose bushes included. (- ヮ •) ~ ❤

It also means I can wander out my front door whenever I choose and cut as many roses as I please to sprinkle throughout my house.

This makes me even more sure that I am a ‘flower’ gardener, and not a vegetable gardener…

So the story goes that for my birthday last year I was given a vegetable garden from my in-laws. They helped dig, build and plant the garden for me as well as supplying the vegetable plants.

My veggie patch looked so grand and well organized for a least a month or so, but then…

The weeds came!

This happened while I was away for two weeks in a row, so lo and behold, I come home to a veritable jungle.

Then I was saying “Okay, I need to weed the veggie patch” for about five weekends in a row, and well…. I gave up before I got there….  (#￣Д ￣#)  *mega embarrassment*

A combination of having no idea how or where to start, plus having let it get so far away from me, meant I never really got into the veggie garden idea and discovered that I’m much better with bushes, trees or flowers.

Give me some secateurs and I’ll prune all the things, but weekly weeding is beyond me apparently. After all, you do only need to trim and shape maybe once or twice a year, so there is the whole time factor, not just “Weeds are scary!”   (¬_¬)

So what are your favorite things to grow?  Flowers, pot plants, herbs, plastic plants? A little bit of green is such a nice thing to have around I think…

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Pearl & Pink Bow Headband | Old, Woolworths
50’s Tea Rose Dress in Pink | eBay
Floppy Straw Lace Band Hat | Kmart, Current
Pink Summer Gloves | Vintage, Etsy
Lace Petticoat | Thrifted
Summer Straw Wedge | Old, Big W

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Cherry & Rose ༻

I love rocking a short baby doll dress when I’m pregnant ~ the empire waist, floaty skirt and shorter length {that I only wear with capris or jeans for modesty’s sake} are perfect for feeling feminine and cute when you are ‘increasing’  ~ as they used to say!

Actually, ‘increasing’ sums it up perfectly. I’m feeling rather large and well, larger{!} these days, and that makes it hard to do much in the way of taking photos.

But fun odds and ends like my new mint satchel purse, and matching mint nails with pink cherry blossom nail art are the very thing to give me a kick in the pants and snap a few shots.
・° ♡ ✿ ✿ ✿ ♡ ° ・

I’ve had my satchel for a while now, but still think of it as new because every time I pick it up to go out the door it makes me smile! I’ve been yearning after satchel styled handbags ever since they started to make a come back, so finally getting my hands on one ~ and in such a gorgeous color ~ only makes it that much nicer.

Funny how little things like that can make you so happy.  What’s a sweet little thing that’s made you smile recently?  (≧ ◡ ≦) ~ ♡

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Cherry Red Baby Doll Dress | Kmart, Current
Mint Satchel | Typo, Current
Blue Jeans | Kmart, Current
White Plimsolls | Woolworths, Old

༺ ♡ ༻


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༺ A Field Day ༻

The glorious spring weather we’ve been experiencing makes me long to break out into a rainbow of pastels and sun dresses{not that I’m ever not in the mood for pastels really (♡ ▽ ♡) ~ ❤}. So when this new-to-me, retro 80’s-does-50’s beauty landed on my doorstep recently, you can bet your buttons I was reaching for it first thing this weekend!

As far as the dress goes, it’s really only construction technique that gives it away as an 1980s piece; it has an elastic waistband, overlocking on the seams, and a polyester fabric. As for the styling?

*squee!* I love it! It feels so sock hop-sports day-cheerleader-ish!

It’s one of those super finds that not only came at the right price, but makes you feel right at home when wearing it. I can see myself reaching for this dress a lot over summer, it’s just so me right now. I think it’s the pastel blue, combined with the white accent and stripes. That, and it’s really easy to wear, and doesn’t feel too fragile. Both thumbs up! ヽ(*^ｰ^)ノ

I seem to have had an unusual run of good luck on eBay recently; I picked up three vintage pieces for great prices, and the shipping wasn’t that much either. Two dresses; one summer {this one}, one winter, and then a darling 1950’s beaded navy purse which was an awesome $14.00 including shipping!

I’ve got say though, this does seems like a rare streak of good luck to me, as I never seem to find that many decent, really-truly vintage items on eBay that are within budget, or that don’t have exorbitant shipping fees. (~￣0 ￣)~

How about you? Do you have any eBay hunting tips?  I sure could use them. I think I could get used to finding more vintage on eBay that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg like most of what you find on Etsy!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Cream Angora Cardigan | Thrifted
Rainbow Sweater Clips | Sweet & Lovely
The Sock Hop Dress | eBay
Lacey Blue Socks | Dollar Shop
'Mel' by Melissa Bow Flat |  ASOS

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Green Way ༻

I adore the slimmer silhouette of the 1940’s attire, but let’s face it. You ain’t gonna squeeze this bump into the tiny waists and slender hip-skimming skirts that were so popular to that era. So I end up diving into the 1950’s for most of my maternity looks ~ particularly towards the latter end of the pregnancy.

Like this boxy knit cardigan I picked up just the other day. It’s totally modern retail, but with that delightful “swing” jacket look that just speaks 1950s and does wonders for covering over growing babies.  (⁎＾ᴗ＾⁎)    I’ve been wearing it non-stop, but not for too much longer, because the weather is surely starting to warm up.

With summer on the way, it’s become quite clear to me that there is one wardrobe gap I need to fill ~ circle skirts! Elastic waists provide a lot of comfort for as long as they can slip over the baby bump, but I am thinking the way to go might be elastic waists with a clasp. It’s the best of both worlds, and it’ll keep me in the skirts for that much longer.

I’m now hoping that I can add ‘sewing two circle skirts for summer’ to my list of things to do, and at about 3 hours to whip up from woe to go, I might just be able get them done. Though I still have Isabelle’s baby blanket to finish crocheting and I haven’t started on the blanket for bubba number 3! 

….Oh dear…  ﴾͡๏ ̯͡ ๏﴿ 

Time for a quick quilting project methinks. I’ve never pieced a quilt before, but surely quilting a baby blanket will be quicker than knitting or crocheting one? Right??! ….

One can only hope! (๑￫ υ ￩)

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Beige Box Swing Cardigan | Rivers, Current
’Mother’ Pearl Script Brooch | Va-VaVoom Vintage, Instagram Sale
Pink Knit Bow | Dollar Shop
Dotty Delight Cupcake Pendant | Me Made, ‘12
Pink Knit Top | Thrifted
Picnic Rose Skirt | Me Made, Jan ‘13
Cream Tights | Old
Wine Red Wedges | Rivers, 2013

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ The White House ༻

 







First outfit post from the new house! Literally!

Oh yes, the location is not particularly glamorous, but I’ve always had a thing for blank wall spaces, and I thought it would be nice to commemorate our move with some pictures from our new house.
(｡◕‿◕｡) ♡

So this is the driveway side of The White House {in all it’s white brick glory!}.

To be honest, I’m finding outfit shooting particularly challenging at the moment. Mostly because we’ve been so sick this winter that we have hardly gone out and done anything unless it’s a quick dash to the grocery shops because our fridge is empty!

That, and the lack of easily accessible photogenic locations from our new place has really served put a dampener on blogging type activities…   

So currently I’m sort of at a stand still for good content that doesn’t take hours and way more brain power than what I have. But you know what, I’m okay with it.

We are working away at restoring family health from the recurring bugs that keep striking us down, and with the blossoming advent of spring {which is taunting us by playing peek-a-boo with the weather!} I am quietly anticipating that we shall be on our feet again sometime soon. 

I do miss blogging though. There seems to be little time {and energy} for my hobbies at present. And time goes by so fast! I am around 5 months ~ 18 weeks ~ pregnant in these pictures. Hopefully it won’t be too long until the next shoot or who knows, I could be making a “Such and such has joined the family!” type of post next time… Lol.  (´- σ ・)

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Sailor Me Away Cardigan | eBay
Stone Cast Peonies Brooch | Gold Creek Square
Vintage Pearl Strand | Gift from my Mother
Grey Knit Peasant Top | Old
Butterfly Clasp Belt | New Look, Old
Houndstooth Pleated Skirt | Thrifted
Grey Tights | Old
Around Town Mary Janes | Old

༺ ♡ ༻

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