༺ Strawberry Girl ༻

I think that this darling strawberry wicker purse deserves a photo shoot in a field full of plump, sweet, red sun-ripe strawberries. However, not having access to said field, I went for the next best thing ~ man-made monument of concrete, steel, and sunny yellow paint…
(~￣▽￣)~

However ~ youguysIfinallygotmyhandsontheCollectifStrawberryWickerPurse!! 

Excuse me if I seem over excited, but it really is a bit of saga of how I wound up with it in my hot little hands. I actually spotted the strawberry when it first came out with the Collectif summer line months ago and went “Oh, I love it! Must start saving!” But when I had the money, it had sold out…

And then it sold out again ~ before I even knew it was back in stock! And when it happened for a third time, and I was all “Argh, I’m never going to get this bag!” (*´Д`)ﾊｧﾊｧ

I was literally stalking it on the website, refreshing the page multiple times a day when *ping!* ~ it was suddenly back in stock… But of course by then, I’d accidentally~without~meaning~to spent the money I’d saved up for it on a new vintage frock.  *cough*… As you do. Right??  (¬ ᴗ ¬)

Of course I couldn’t miss out on it again, so an emergency call to my Mum happened, and I set the post to send the strawberry to my parent’s house so that she could wrap it up and give it to me for my birthday. As you do. Naturally.

Wait, what? You don’t do that?? 

Haha!  It’s okay, I’m know I’m a little bit crazy, but really, it was worth it!  I mean, just look at how cute it is!  Loookit!!

And to further prove my craziness, I thought I’d steal a leaf from all the pineapple-on-their-heads people {trust me, this is actually a thing ~ I promise I’m not making it up!} and plop my perfect strawberry dream purse on my head. Because I can.

Gee, now that I’m officially 30, I guess the crazy isn’t going away anytime soon…
( ^ _ ^)∠☆

You wouldn’t want it to anyway, right?  Right??? 

Just a question though ~ have you ever gone to extraordinary, or just plan crazy, lengths to get you hands on your perfect piece of ~ insert vintage/clothing/accessories/shoes in here ~ before?

I think the Strawberry Wicker Purse Saga is probably my wackiest tale ~ though I’m sure there’s a few more if I think about it… The Story of a Dress was one, but maybe I’ll save the rest for another time!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Lacy Look Knit Top | Thrifted
Strawberry Wicker Purse | Collectif
Flower Bracelets | Assorted
Dresden Rose Circle Skirt | Me Made, Jan ‘13
No Place Like Home Heels | Rivers, Old

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༺ A Vintage Girl Goes Snowboarding ༻

…Sometimes there’s more to life than vintage…

Have you ever wondered about the secret life of vintage girls that’s hiding behind our dress obsessions?

We love our petticoats and high heels, and all the beauty of the elegant, fabulous fashions of the past. But the brilliant thing about living in this day and age is that we can follow all of our interests ~ whatever they may be. We can have our heels, our petticoats, and our cake ~ speaking literally of course!  ;P 

I think it’s so fun that I can wear vintage every day; or not! Or that I can decide that one day, I’m going to turn up to ride my horse with a full face of makeup ~ red lips and nails included ~  wearing the scruffiest jeans!

Vintage crosses over and permeates almost every area of my life, yet I also have passions and hobbies that are almost completely unrelated, such as horse riding, or snowboarding ~ among other things. I thought that maybe it would be fun to share some of those things that don’t make it onto my blog, because my life has more to it than the glimpses of the times that you see here. ヽ(*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ

So today I’m introducing a new series to feature to our vintage community doing things that they love outside of vintage ~ a chance to talk about our so-called ‘secret’ passions and hobbies. As you probably can tell, it’s called ~ “A Vintage Girl Goes (insert fun thing here)”!

I think it’s kind of awesome to rock up in my red lipstick and surprise people when I’m doing something that’s not associated with any kind of vintage fashion or style; I like to be totally unexpected! So here I am, kicking off this feature with my favourite winter sport ~ snowboarding! ☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ ❅❄❅⛄❅❄❅

If you follow along with my Instagram, you’ve probably already seen a little bit of what I get up too, but I thought I’d share a vlog of a day on the slopes, and hopefully you’ll get a glimpse of why I love to shred powder so much… Or should I call it a “Snowlog”? Hehee!

So I’m wondering, what interests do you have {that fall outside of vintage} that you love to do? I know I have a few sports and the like, and being the curious person that I am, I’d also like to learn about the secret ‘other’ life you have beyond your vintage. If you’d like to take part in this feature, I’d love to have you here on Lavender & Twill!

If you want to participate, please leave a comment with either your email address, or if you prefer, you can contact me through email and I’ll send you further details about being featured in the “A Vintage Girl Goes” series.

I hope to be introducing a whole bunch of different things from the other side of our vintage loving lives to you all very soon!  ヽ(*^ｰ^)人(^ｰ^*)ノ

And if you have a favourite winter sport ~ is it snowboarding or something else? I know why I love snowboarding ~ it’s that flying-free feeling of carving over the snow, swooshing down the hill! It’s totally addicting…

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Banksia Rose ༻

The Banksia Roses are in bloom again. The scent of budding flowers unfolding velvet petals perfume the air. The buzz of busy insects is drowned by intermittent growls of  threatening thunderheads, and butterflies flit about in carefree wandering, disregarding the warning of the heavy grey skies above. 

As I smile for the ceaseless clicking of the camera, I see a Cabbage White float by ~ it is captured fluttering around in a series of snaps. Then a Wattle bird swooshes past me with a quick flap of his wings.

I breathe in the scent of thunder as tiny splats of rain descend on the freshly mown lawn, bejewelling the blades of grass with droplets of water.

There are whispers of hazy summer days creeping nearer…

Today I celebrate the warmth of the sun and spring rains with floaty skirts and happy hair!

I feel much more like a pinup princess than a vintage lady with my neon pink stripe, but when I was at the salon last Friday, I felt the sudden urge to do something special with my hair for my upcoming birthday.

So pink it was! 

I haven’t talked much about my birthdays on Lavender & Twill, but I must admit I’m feeling a bit philosophical about the whole affair…

Particularly as it’s my 30th birthday this Friday.  Eeep!

I remember having an existential crisis for my 20th ~ it just seemed like such a big deal to me that I was turning 20 and was no longer a teenager. But looking back on it, I can’t even remember what I was so worried about?

Was it because I was supposed to be growing up but still had no idea what a “Grown Up” me was supposed to look like?  Well, if so ~ that’s slightly ironic because I still don’t know who “Grown Up” me is supposed to be. However, I’m beginning to think that’s okay; that it’s simply the way life shifts and flows. Who you are tomorrow may be someone completely different ~ as time changes all things. 

A lot has changed for me over the last ten years or so ~ much more than I ever dreamed of. A whole lot of stuff I thought I’d do, didn’t get done, and a whole lot of stuff I thought I wouldn’t do, did! 

I didn’t end up moving overseas as I thought I would, and I certainly didn’t think I’d plan my wedding in ten days and ‘elope’ to the beach… I thought I’d have my first baby at 28, HA! I have three now!!

If anyone had told me that I’d be married for nearly six years and have three children by the time I was thirty, I would have been surprised… Happy, but still surprised!

As far as living the life I wanted, I am really blessed and thankful that I have the family that I’ve always dreamed of.

In terms of the goals I had for myself outside of family life ~ aside being a wife and a mother, well, it’s nice to know that I have crossed off some important ones, and I’m still chasing others.

I finally learned how to snowboard, and have been hitting the slopes for seven seasons now ~ goodness, that sounds like forever! I got to travel around Europe for six months with my closest friend, my sister, as we went on our grand adventure in 2008. My other sister and I finally published our book, Gamenian, and though that didn’t end up quite as I thought it might have, I’m so pleased that I can finally tick that off my Life Goals list!

I still am pursuing my dreams of dressage, travelling, writing, and finding a space for my art ~ and I’m excited to see where that will go over the next few years. In some ways I’ve come further than I ever thought I would ~ Lavender & Twill, Teacup Girl Art and Giggles Comic are proof of that, yet in others I feel I’ve barely scratched the surface and I have SOOOO much more to do.

I think one of the biggest changes for me though has been my foray in the world of vintage. I finally found the perfect expression for my quirky sense of style! 

I have learned so much of history, clothing, culture, photography, art, writing, and even coding ~ all because of my obsession with vintage and blogging! I’ve learned how to knit and sew thanks to my love of vintage, and my confidence has grown as I’ve learned how to put my thoughts out there and reach out to others.

Because the best thing I’ve discovered about vintage ~ the very best thing besides all the pretty dresses ~ is all the friendships I’ve made over the years.

Some dear friends I have never met, and I very much hope that one day I will. Some dear friends I’ve only met once, others a few times more than that. But every time I get to share my thoughts with like minded people and revel in the welcoming warmth of our community, I am so grateful for the years I’ve had to create these connections.

So as I reach the eve of other decade, I think I can not be thirty ~ really, that’s too old! But then I realise that all the parts of me that have grown and changed, making me who I am today, that’s all from the effects of time. Experiences. Life.

And I wouldn’t want it to be any different.

I’m so grateful.

I’m so blessed.

Thank you all for being a part of my life!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Royal Bluebells Felt Flower Corsage | Me Made, Jan 2015
Bubblegum Knit Top | Retrospect’d
Blue Blue Candy Stripe Skirt | Forever New
Snow White Peep Toe Heels | Light In The Box

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Lavender & Lola ༻

Her name was Lola/she was a showgirl…

Here’s the thing ~ I don’t know why, but I have a habit of naming inanimate objects. I can’t seem to help it, it’s something I’ve always done.

My first car was a Ford Laser called Sir BoB J. Biggles. The next one ~ ‘The Rex’ ~ was the Mister’s Subaru WRX Sportsclub 3 {I married him for the car don’tcha know? :P } and we now have an X-Trail named Freddie. My sewing machine is Bobbi the Bernina, and my overlocker is Ella the Elna.
All of my children’s toys need their own special monikers, so yes, this happens… A lot!

Therefore, it stands to reason that when the most wonderful Mister in the world purchased the most amazing Lucite and wicker purse of my dreams as a “Just because” gift for me, I naturally had to find a name for her! She looked like a Lola, she felt like a Lola ~ so thus, she became Lola.

Lola was a key part of this special outfit I put together for the Sydney Fifties Fair. Yes, the one that sadly got washed out. These are the preview photos that I had talked about in my post about the Fair day. The idea here was to do an outfit test to:

a. make sure I had everything I needed and

b. make sure I didn’t have to get outfit photos on the day in case I didn’t have time or a place to do it. 

As previously mentioned, I did end up wearing a less complete version of this outfit the day I was in Sydney. The way things worked out I didn’t have time to get dressed in everything, and frankly, I couldn’t be bothered wearing my gloves, etc, if they were just going to get dirty and I’d have to wash them later! White is a pretty color, but it is such a pain to keep clean.
(-  ｡ -)'

I also ended up wearing the flats that I had bought with me in case it was muddy and raining…  Ironic, but they did fair me better for a whole day of trotting around the pavements of Newtown than my new stiletto heels would have!

All in all, I do have to say that this is probably one of my most favourite of all the outfits that I have worn ~ the lavender and white are so pretty together, and this was such a fun look to pull together that I enjoyed every single minute of wearing it!  (•ᵕ ᴗ ᵕ•)❀

Speaking of favourites though ~ what’s your favourite inanimate object to give a name too?  I think I tend to name a lot of big machines, very special items, and dresses ~ the latter seems to be solely a blogger quirk. I’m sure I never did it before my blogging days! What about you?

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Beaded 1950s Pancake Hat | eBay
Violet Starburst Vintage Milk Glass Earrings | eBay
1950’s BonBon Ruffle Vintage Dress | eBay
Starburst Vintage Milk Glass Necklace | eBay
White Belt {came with another dress} | eBay
Vintage Daisy Gloves | Thrifted
“Lola” 1950’s Vintage Lucite and Wicker Handbag | Etsy
Repro Fully Fashioned Stockings | Old Stock, What Katie Did
Snow White Peep Toe Heels | Light In The Box

༺ ♡ ༻

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