༺ Is That Dior? ༻

Of course, when one galivants off to view daring ensembles and darling frocks, one also has to pull out a fabulous ensemble to suit the occasion…

For my visit to The Dressmaker costume exhibition I tried tor a Dior New Look inspired outfit ~ I feel like it really is the silhouette and style to go for if you ever want to look instantly glamourous and Parisian chic ~ as you see in the movie with all those jaw-dropping ensembles.

I think it worked out to some degree. I do wish I had a cream or white Lilli Ann or Suzy Perette suit jacket to really finalize the silhouette properly. However, the biggest niggle for me was that I must of packed my glove collection away in storage because I cannot find hide nor hair of them, and that meant I had to wear navy gloves with my black accessories and it was the worst. The WORST I tell you!

Except for the fact that my pin curls wouldn’t brush out properly ~ and I was stuck in the 80’s…

So Fluff. Much Pooff.

And that was the WORST ~ the absolute WORST I tell you!

#vintagegirlproblems anyone?

Haha!

I think the best thing about this outfit is that some of the pieces I’ve had since my very first thrift shop for vintage style pieces, and some of them literally arrived in the mail that week…

Believe it or not, the Mary Jane heels predate my vintage style. I’ve had them since 2007 when I first started a full time job. They caught my eye when I was looking for work shoes and I’m glad they did as they are my favourite pair of black shoes with the dainty heel and strap.

My black top I’ve had since 2010 ~ I think? I’m pretty sure I found it the very first time I ever went “shopping” for vintage at the op shops, and it’s stayed with me ever since. Even though I don’t wear black all that often, it’s such a classic, timeless piece that it’s survived many culls that most of my older wardrobe hasn’t. Miraculously it even fits through all the weight gain with my thyroid disease!

The next oldest piece is my faux fur jacket which I bought in 2012 at the Frock It Up Vintage fair and it’s been a heavy staple in my wardrobe every winter. You can dress it up, dress it down ~ I often throw it on with jeans and a plain top, and it’s just been such a fabulous buy.

The handbag was gifted to me from a friend who thought of me when his mother was passing on some handbags. It’s an 80’s piece, but I loved the classic vibe it has and thought it fit so well with this look.

The velvet platter chapeau from 2015 is somewhat faded and misshapen as it’s that dusty brown rather than a true black at some angles, but I really love it because I feel like this hat was worn and loved during it’s lifetime. I’m just continuing the trend of doting on it as it’s a charming, not-too-out-there-but-still-a-statement-piece style. I actually have no clue what era it’s from, but my best guess would be the 1940’s.

I’m wearing my one and only piece of Miriam Haskell jewellery ~ and if you get into vintage jewellery collection, that’s name you will see a lot. She was a very prolific designer, and her pieces are much sort after for statement jewellery. This feather brooch is one of her more demure designs, but it suits my style so well, I’m glad it joined my collection in 2018.

The pleated skirt ~ well, you might have guessed by the long run down that it’s the piece that arrived that week in the mail! An incredibly lucky eBay find that was way prettier in person than I was expecting, this one made me gasp when I opened the parcel.

It’s so long and full, and swishes so beautifully. I was absolutely chuffed to find out that I could fit my biggest, flouffiest cupcake petticoat under there ~ my Doris petticoat in peach. I haven’t worn such a copious amount of pouf in way too long, and let me tell you ~ I was grinning from ear to ear as I spun around in the kitchen showing my mister how epic the fluff was!

Almost a full decade {!!} of collecting vintage and this is the perfect outfit to really showcase the beauty of classic, timeless fashion. All the pieces fit together no matter how far apart I’ve collected them, and in a way, it’s completely ageless. It’s so cool, and a wee bit surreal to think that I’ve been wearing vintage for almost ten years, but at the same time, I’m so happy.

This is so me, even after all this time.

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Vintage Velvet Double Rose Platter Hat | Can’t remember where I purchased it!
1950s Faux Fur Swing Jacket | Frock It Up Vintage Fair
Black Embroidered Top | Thrifted
1940’s Navy Gloves | eBay
Miriam Haskell Pearl Embellished Brass Feather Brooch | Instagram
80’s Bottle Purse | Gift
Vintage Pleated Skirt | eBay
Fish Net Stockings | Kmart
Crinoline | Doris Designs Adult 26" Petticoat in Peach
Suede Mary Jane Heels | Payless (Old)

༺ ♡ ༻
Find me:

Facebook | Lavender & Twill
Instagram | lavenderandtwill
Pinterest | lavender_twill
YouTube | Lavender & Twill

༺ In the Courtyard ༻

One of the prettiest places that I really enjoyed visiting in Chiang Mai was Nimman One. A group of buildings in Nimman {the district} just outside of the Old City that are arranged around the loveliest courtyard.

I fell in love with this place the moment I laid eyes on it, and instantly knew it had to be featured on the blog!

Of course, it’s difficult to fully portray the beauty of the architecture and surroundings ~ there are lovely tall green trees in the courtyard, and outside of the building ~ and it’s a very popular place. Lots of people walking through to visit the tiny shops tucked away in the walls, my favourite of these being the Monsoon Tea Shop which stock local teas made up into a huge range of delicious blends and flavours.

While we were there, another group was also taking photos ~ but they had set up a mannequin and were taking stock photos. Which was certainly easier than trying to figure out the timing for taking some of the pictures we did!

At night time the whole area is just as gorgeous, as the lanterns light up the clock tower, and the fairy lights that are strung all over the courtyard in the shape of a marque make the cobblestones glow.

Story time though, ‘coz the unexpected can still happen in the prettiest of surrounds!

…So to start at the beginning: I’m wearing a stunning true vintage dress in these pictures, and I just love it. It’s homemade I think ~ no label, and the waist is sewn shut with no opening or fastening so it’s a bit impossible to put on. It’s one of those “wiggle gingerly and smoosh through one boob at a time” kind of dresses ~ and if you’ve ever had one of those you’ll know exactly what I mean!

And all is going fine and dandy with the shoot, I’m so happy with how the whole ensemble looks in this location ~ but of course, it’s tropical heat so I’m “glowing” in no time at all.

And unbeknownst to me, this had caused my dress to stick horribly!

Most of the way through the shoot, and I do is put down my handbag… Then I hear that dreaded ripping sound that is every vintage wearer’s nightmare. Uh-oh…!

Of course, I can’t actually see where the rip is located at first, but that won’t be a problem for long because the more I’m moving around, the more ripping I hear ~ *le GASP*

Obviously, I’m doing my best to minimise my motion, I’m keeping my arms glued down, so I really didn’t think it was that bad until I tried to adjust my hair, and not one, but BOTH armpits had blown out significantly ~ yes, you could totally see almost all of the side of my long line bra through the holes! *cringe*

So now I’m tucking in fluttering shreds of fabric, smiling for photos and trying to make sure no one sees my bra, because OF COURSE everyone’s looking at the strange lady dancing around in the middle of the courtyard.

Thankfully, we finished the photoshoot and walked back to the closest shopping mall, which is Maya. On the way I noticed that there was a tiny clothing stall selling dresses and I stopped immediately to pick up an emergency dress.

It was only when I got changed in the bathroom at Maya that the full extent of the damage was revealed ~ unfortunately it was the worst I’ve ever seen happen in a vintage dress. On one side it was the fabric right next to the underarm seam that had popped, which is perfectly fixable, but on the other side, underneath the sleeve had shredded, and this giant tear went straight across to the apex of the bust, and down the side of the bodice. Somehow that tear had decimated the sleeve completely. 

So there went my hope of an easy fix, but there’s enough fabric left in the sleeves to mend the bodice, so thankfully I can repurpose the sleeves for that. Then I’m going to purchase some black velvet and make replacement cap sleeves for the dress. And I’m also going to fix the waist and create some sort of waist opening because it’s just a pain to put on. But now I know why such a stunning dress was priced so cheaply… Haha!

So all’s well that probably ends well, and I’ll almost have a different dress to wear out of the whole ordeal.

But gosh! I've never had a vintage dress {or any other kind of vintage} disintegrate so completely while I’m wearing it, and I really hope it never happens again. I should say that it doesn’t deter me from wearing vintage in any way whatsoever, because even while my dress was literally falling apart on my back, I still felt so elegant in this frock. I loved the way it moved, and the pleated skirt was so swishy. Plus, that little black velvet touch at the lapel really adds that extra detail that I do so adore. So while I might have had the worst experience vintage has to offer with this dress, I also had the best experience at the same time ~ and I love it!

Of course, now I want to hear what’s your worst {or best} experience with wearing vintage. Do you have any fun stories? Let us know if you do, I’m keen to hear them!

xox,
bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Signature Double Rose in “Blue”  | Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Vintage Milk Glass Rosette Brooch | eBay
1950’s Chariot Dress | FB Group
Black Skinny Belt | Came with another dress
Traditional Thai Embroidered Purse | Wararot Street Market
Satin 50s Court Heels | Friendly Panda

༺ ♡ ༻
Find me:

Facebook | Lavender & Twill
Instagram | lavenderandtwill
Pinterest | lavender_twill
YouTube | Lavender & Twill

༺ Peppy Robins & Navy Plaid ༻

Two things you need when blogging in the tropics ~ mozzie spray and a water bottle!

Oh gosh, I got eaten alive taking these pictures, and it’s a bit silly because I have had this happen before when doing a blog shoot, but it was so long ago that I completely forgot about the necessity of mosquito repellent! D’oh!

Also, I’m super glad I took a chance on doing this shoot. It’s the first time I’ve taken photos by myself since getting my 50mm lens for my birthday last year.

Because the depth of field is so shallow, it’s really easy to get the focus wrong and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get the camera to focus correctly and stay focused while running into place before the self-timer goes off!

I have been severely psyching myself out for the last month. I was so certain I needed the Mister to take the pictures for me, and that I couldn’t do it myself.  Of course, with the whole family being so busy that means I have to wait for weeks and weeks and weeks because every time I think we might be able to shoot *this* weekend, something comes up without fail! Or the children are crazy, or need naps, or I need a nap, etc…. It’s really difficult to line everyone up.

It rarely happens and it’s so much easier if I can just sneak off when I have the time to take the pics myself. But I wasn’t doing that because I was afraid of my new lens…. Haha!

I discovered the trick was to focus the camera on an object that was where I’d be standing, so either a leaf on the ground, the chair, or the tree trunk in this case. I’d push the button to start the self timer, then swing the camera to frame the shot. It worked surprisingly well! Though I had to run pretty quickly to get into frame, as well as a lot further! The camera had to be so far away to offset the shallow depth of field, so I ending up with a bunch of photos that are just of my back. Haha!

There where definitely batches of pics that didn’t work out and I needed to retake them, but for the most part I am fairly happy with the results. Next time I’ll make more effort to go find a better photo shoot location.

This time I just went to some of the gardens in our Moo Baan because I figured if none of the photos worked out I wouldn’t have wasted too much time driving all around. It’s not the greatest backdrop, although I do really love these giant trees. It’s very hard to show how cool they are because they are soooo big!

I am wearing a vintage dress that I picked up in Thailand last year at a street market. I’m fairly certain it’s a 90s-does-50s dress, the shirtwaist cut is very interesting with strong Asian styling. The waist is quite boxy, the dress naturally just hangs off the bust without any shaping. It did have one of those little slide adjusters at the back of the bodice ~ you know the kind you often find on 90s vests?

I took off the slide part and knotted the two halves together to pull the waist in. It’s a really comfortable dress to wear like that, but for the pictures I wanted it to look a little more vintage and styled up so I threw on a belt as well.

It still turned out as quite a casual look, so I added my trusty Anello backpack and Miss L Fire wedges for a slightly peppy-come-collegiate-come-summer-boardwalk style. Once I added my trusty Peppy Chapette red-breasted Robin to pick out the red of the plaid, it was all good!

I am all for a casual sundress and brooch with sandals these days. It’s my go-too look as I find anything else adds too much fuss and bother for such hot weather.

I like all the accessories and details that vintage ensembles have, but I really don’t think that it’s super practical for tropical environments. Certainly, it’s really hard to get my hair to behave neatly, it’s just wild and does what it wants these days!

I’m happy for it to be super curly, but I do feel like it detracts from the overall vintage vibes of my ensembles… *sigh* Well, you can’t have everything!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

90s-does-50s Peppy Plaid Dress | Street Market, Chiang Mai
Peppy Chapette Red-Breast Robin Brooch | Peppy Chapette
Tan Virginia Leather Sandal | Miss L Fire
Navy Mini Backpack | Anello Bags

༺ ♡ ༻
Find me:

Facebook | Lavender & Twill
Instagram | lavenderandtwill
Pinterest | lavender_twill
Twitter | lavender_twill
YouTube | Lavender & Twill

༺ Winds of Change ༻

Before you call me crazy ~ yes, I know it’s not spring in Australia… I know… The cool breezes and changing leaves really are hard to miss. Regardless, here I am with my best spring-inspired ensemble!

We went to Lake Tuggeranong last Friday to take some family photos, and honestly, I had no idea that it'd be such a good day for taking pictures. It was 1 o’clock when we arrived, and I haven’t shot at mid-day in a very long time… Scary!

I thought we’d either be able to make the pictures work or not at all! I was fully prepared to take one test snap and have to leave it for another time because it would not be possible. Thankfully, the sun had just dropped down far enough in the sky, and was sitting in the perfect position behind this lovely avenue of trees, which made for a perfect backdrop.

Trees do look pretty, but the dappled shadows they create can make it a challenge to take photos with them. If the shade and light spots hit in the right places it looks amazing, but if they don’t, they are a nightmare because of the high contrasting areas in close proximity! You just can’t do anything with that in Photoshop. Trust me ~ been there, pulled my hair out over that…

But I didn’t need to do that this time, whoo! I was so excited!

However, I’m sure you are all here for the ensemble, not the photography rambles…

So I have to mention that I’ve just had another about-face with my style.

It was only the other day I posted to Instagram how I’ve been wearing lots of different red outfits all summer. Red was the colour of choice ~  though heavily in rotation with navy blue ~ but suddenly with the change of the seasons, I’m dreaming all about pastels again. I’m probably picking up on the pretty blossom ambience from the northern hemisphere!

Also, it was Easter. So why not…!

I wanted to put on a hat and some matching gloves to create a little more of an authentic 40s look, but wouldn’t you know, I packed away my gloves and I really couldn’t find them no matter how hard I searched.

So I went with flowers in my hair and left it at that.

To match the flowers, I pulled out my favourite rainbow ribbon wicker handbag. The handles are unfortunately looking worse for wear ~ oh, why aren’t things made to last? I’m going to have to replace them, so I will try to look for a nice pair of vintage lucite handles to do that with. I hope it will work.

My vintage brooch, which is from the 40s, has lasted better than this purse! But it’s modern, so I guess that’s not so surprising…

I was super glad to finally add a reverse carved lucite brooch to my collection. I think these really are the prettiest kind of vintage brooch I’ve ever seen, and so completely indicative of that era. You know how some vintage pieces are just so timeless that you can’t always tell when they are from? It happens so much with vintage jewellery I feel, that I really love just once in a while having something that looks super old as soon as you see it. Plus, roses will always and forever be a favourite of mine.

Thankfully, there are roses in autumn and in spring, so I can enjoy them both times! All the roses and all the pastels. Do you love wearing pastels in spring time as much as I do, or are you looking forwards to other spring changes?

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Cherry Blossom & Pink Rose Bouquet Hair Flowers | Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Baby Pink Rose Lucite Brooch | 1940s Vintage
Vintage White Eyelet Picnic Blouse | Retromania, Paddington
Spring Celebration Skirt | Me Made, 2016
Rainbow Be Ribboned Handbag | Forever New, 2012
Heartbreaker Shoes | Miss L Fire

༺ ♡ ༻
Find me:

Facebook | Lavender & Twill
Instagram | lavenderandtwill
Pinterest | lavender_twill
Twitter | lavender_twill
YouTube | Lavender & Twill

༺ Nothing Gold Can Stay ༻

“Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”  - Robert Frost

As February ends, this year keeps tumbling rapidly on. Our six week stay in Australia has extended to three months, but will be even longer before we finally leave.

On one hand, it is strange to slip back into old routines and familiar comforts. Nothing changes, everything feels the same. It’s home.

And yet, as the leaves already begin melting from green to gold, I have to keep reminding myself that we aren’t staying. We aren’t back for good ~ we will be leaving as soon as we possibly can to go back to our house in Chiang Mai.

Already the memories of Thailand are fading as we are caught up in the whirl of day to day living here. So then you have to go through the process of steeling yourself up for the change all over again. It was supposed to be a quick holiday. But I guess the longer we stay, the harder it is to leave.

Not that we don’t want to go back! We are all getting a little homesick for Thailand and our house! But it feels a little bit like uprooting our lives again. And that process is always a little nerve-wracking and painful.

I am glad that I get to see a bit of autumn before we fly away. Autumn is probably my most favourite season in Canberra. The leaves are brilliant as they turn to their scarlet, caramel, and cardamom hues, and the days are brisk but warm. It’s crisp, and there are lovely splashes of colour around every corner.

I am particularly pleased with how well this dress matched the Poplar trees that are on the cusp of turning golden. Every year I want to take all the pictures with all the leaves, and this print was perfect for a not-quite-almost-autumn shoot.

The late 50s frock I’m wearing is pretty much the only true vintage dress that I’ve bought in well over a year, and is one of the very few that fit me at the moment {out of a very stuffed closet… I’m so sad I can’t wear my vintage…}. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it before, but recently finding vintage that works for me has been very difficult with all the changes in my body due to my health. 

I have been so excited to wear this dress though! When I put it on, I forget about all those troubles, and it is good. I love that little thrill you get when you slip on a vintage piece that is over 50 years old and it fits like it was made for you. Such a special moment.

I don’t usually go for the warm blue and green tones, but I really adore how this ensemble came together. I just need a pair of green shoes and gloves to match {and possibly a green belt? I thought I had one, but maybe I stupidly gave it away…} and I can really go all matchy-matchy with that clover green!

In the meantime, I think the tan shoes and belt with the green hat and purse created a nice autumn look. I’d also love to see this dress with navy accessories for a more wintery vibe. For a print, which you would think would be limited for styling, there are tons of ensemble ideas to try! 

I’m kind of tempted to bring the dress with me to Thailand, but I’m worried the humidity might wreck the fabric. Has anyone had, or know of, experiences of bringing vintage into tropical environments? Our house is air-conditioned, so it’s not like it will be stored in the humidity, but I definitely wouldn’t want to take the risk of wrecking it… What do you think? 

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Vintage 50s Emerald Hat | Gift
1950s “Label” Novelty Shirtwaist Dress | FB Group
Vintage Lily Brooch | Love Vintage Market
Tan Belt | Came with a Lindy Bop dress
Vintage 50s Clover Purse | FB Group
Tan Penny Loafer Heels | Old

༺ ♡ ༻
Find me:

Facebook | Lavender & Twill
Instagram | lavenderandtwill
Pinterest | lavender_twill
Twitter | lavender_twill
Vero | Lavender & Twill
YouTube | Lavender & Twill