༺ A Picnical Day for a Lark ༻

When I was little, one of my favourite stories to read was a Golden Book ~ it was a story about Goofy, Mickey, Donald and Co. driving out for a day in the country, having lots of fun and naturally, having a giant picnic with a humongous chocolate cake! 

Of course Donald tries to steal the whole cake for himself, and gets a soaking in the creek for his trouble, and that’s just about all I can remember of the story! Except for the song that my Mother would sing when she read the story to my sisters and I ~ it was the song they were singing in the story ~

It’s a beautiful day for a picnic,
It’s a picnical day for a lark,
We will frolic all day in the happiest way,
And we won’t get back home until dark, until dark,
No we won’t get back home until dark!

Which is a rather roundabout way to say that on Saturday we had a picnic lunch and spent the day at Weston Park next to Lake Burley Griffin. It was really nice to be out in the sunshine, and there was a delicious cool breeze to keep us from becoming to hot! (•ᵕ ᴗ ᵕ•)❀

I wore this lovely vintage straw chapeau with a great wide brim ~ I had gone to a thrift shop where I spotted it at the top of the hat rack, and knew I had to bring it home with me. Unfortunately, the beige decorative Petersham ribbon is little worse for wear, so I might have to replace it.

Also, whenever the slightest breeze would blow, my hat would fly off my head! It looks like there might have been something sewn to the inside band to hold the hat down at one point, but it’s long gone now so I shall have to replace that too. Hat elastic for the win…

Regardless of the work it needs, I love the shallow crown and swooping brim of my new hat. Especially as it appears that summer has made it’s grand entrance. We went from a very wet four weeks from mid-October to mid-November, with long sleeves and jumper weather to melting hot sunshine that requires careful covering up when we’re outside or I’m burnt before you can say boo!

Yay for large hats that assist with shading one’s head! The bigger the better right? What is your favourite kind of hat? Big or small, I adore straw hats, but I’m becoming very fond of just about any kind of vintage chapeau you can imagine. Hats are fabulous!  (⁎＾ᴗ＾⁎) 

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Vintage Wide-Brim Straw Hat | Thrifted
Vintage Navy Nylon Scarf | Ebay
Vintage Pearl and Silver Necklace | Thrifted
White Basket Weave Belt | Ebay {with a different dress}
Vintage 1950’s Daisy Does It Dress | Ebay {last seen on the blog here}
Canvas Underskirt in White | Pinup Girl Clothing
Lacey Daisy Ballet Flats | Target, Old

*Picnic Items*

Vintage Thermos | Thrifted
Wicker Picnic Hamper | Kmart

༺ ♡ ༻

Find me:

Instagram | missbjvear
Pinterest | bjvear
Ravelry | BJVear
Twitter | bjvear
Youtube | Bonita Vear

༺ WoreSawHaul: First Annual Aussie Vintage Girls Meetup ༻

Hello lovelies!  I’m so excited to tell you about the First Annual Aussie Vintage Girls Meetup!

Over the years that I have been blogging I have had the pleasure of meeting many fellow vintage fashionistas and enthusiasts from all over the world, some of whom have become very dear friends and some of whom are in my homeland!

I thought that it was high time that we had a chance to hang out together in person, so I organized a “Aussie Vintage Girls Meetup”! It was an event for vintage and retro lovers ~ so we had pinups and vintage girls all hanging out together.

We decide to meet in Sydney and attend the Round She Goes Market, so without further ado ~ here’s my WoreSawHaul of the day!

~ WHAT I WORE ~

 
There’s a whole story about this dress I’m wearing, but I’m afraid it will have to wait for the Stitching Stories post on it... However, here’s a teaser ~ I wanted to burn the darn thing before I was through with it!!   (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

Thank you WTP for taking these photos!

༺ ♡ ༻

Cotton Candy Roses Hat | Gift from Tanith 
Pearl Drop Earrings | Thrifted
Pansy Pearl Necklace | Valentine's Day Gift, 2010
Rose and Mint 50’s Repro Dress | Me Made, Nov 2015
Collectif Strawberry Handbag | Birthday Gift, 2015
Crinolines | eBay
Watermelon Glitter Jelly Wedges | eBay

༺ ♡ ༻

~ WHAT I SAW ~

         ~ Little Henry Lee, Harlow Darling, Me, Curve Creation, A Wild Tea Party ~  

~ A fairly standard candid shot of the day: Myself and WTP being silly and dramatic over something, Harlow being glamorous and perfect, LHL being the cool cat of the group and Tanith is making sure that we aren’t getting into too much mischief!  :P  ~

~ Harlow taking photos of all us girls ~ it’s Tanith’s turn here! ~

It was a big day that we had planned! It ended up with six of us attending the event ~ A Wild Tea Party, Harlow Darling, Little Henry Lee, Curve Creation, Tanith Rowan Designs {plus her gorgeous little Teacup!} and myself with my own Little Lottie tagging along in the pram.

We had a grand time at the Round She Goes Market ~ sooo much shopping to be had!  Then it was time for lunch, but Corner Smith Cafe didn’t have any room so we walked back to the Ritz schlepping our bags and bags of shopping and all the umbrellas. After all the nommy food we went back to Marrickville Town Hall where we took photos together in between the rain, and had a good chat! Unfortunately, then we sadly had to say goodbye to most of our party, but WTP and I bravely went back for a second round of shopping at the market before it shut and great some last minute bargains, before we popped off to have some cocktails because by that time we were pooped!

  ~ With the girls that sparked it all ~

༺ ♡ ༻

~ WHAT I HAULED ~

Sooo many things! 

I was really surprised and please to see that the Round She Goes Market had a great mix of pricy and cheaper items ~ and I managed to find quite a few bargains that landed me with a ton of goodies to bring home!

I scored three dresses ~ $15.00, $20.00 and $15.00 respectively, and while yes, they do have some flaws, I thought for that price you can’t go too wrong!

The grey dress has blue and white flowers on it, and it’s original sash belt!  (◕ o ◕)!! The white dress with violet and yellow flowers on it proved to be a tad too small, but I can fix that and make it wearable ~ phew! These two 1940s dresses are actually ‘twins’ ~ they are made from the same pattern, just with different fabrics! Both of them need the elastic replaced in the sleeve caps but that is also an easy fix.

The last one is a late 1950s/early 1960s dress in cotton sateen with a blue rose reverse boarder print. This one comes with it’s own petticoat and is so soft and comfortable to wear I can easily see me wearing this all the time! I just love it!

Mind you, it has some stress pulling on the front darts and a hole in the skirt I have to fix, so it needs some work as well, but I’m so happy with the fit and comfort factor that I really am excited for this dress anyway!  All of my dresses where found at Da Vintage Code’s stall, and they are a fabulous addition to my wardrobe!

 

I also found a neat vintage knit top which is in excellent condition ~ a rare find indeed as good, wearable vintage knits are notorious for being difficult to come by. I picked up a Collectif Doris top that had had the zipper replaced so it was super cheap at $10.00!

Also, a vintage 50s white straw hat with velvet navy ribbon called my name and slipped into my bag to come home with me… Still haven’t figure out how I’m going to wear it ~ I think a hat pin is required, but I don’t have one so I’ll have to put that on my shopping list!

Lastly I found some gorgeous art deco leaf earrings with my favourite settings ever ~ marcasite and pearls. I also found a silver locket bracelet which I promptly fell for, and couldn’t resist. The little red-eyed poodle was a gift for Lottie from a very sweet and generous stall holder who fell for her smiley charms! (•ᵕ ᴗ ᵕ•)❀

༺ ♡ ༻

All in all, we really had such a wonderful day, and I’m so glad I got the chance to meet some beautiful, lovely ladies ~ making new friends is always fun! And hopefully, we’ll be able to do it again! We are already planning next year’s meetup, so I feel like it might be a thing…  Hehee… \ (*≧ω≦)ノ

Have you ever gone to a vintage group meetup? What would be a good activity you’d like to do while hanging out together{besides shopping!}? I love shopping, but I feel like it’s not something you can do every time! Crazy talk, I know…   (╯°□°）╯*le gasp!*

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Find me:

Instagram | missbjvear
Pinterest | bjvear
Ravelry | BJVear
Twitter | bjvear
Youtube | Bonita Vear

༺ High Tea for My Party ༻

My princess moment, all wrapped up in tulle, taffeta and sequins…  I had the best time at my 30th birthday party! ✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:* \(◕▽◕✿)/ *:ﾟ･✧*:ﾟ･✧

An item on my life goals list for many years now has been to have High Tea at the Hyatt Hotel, one of Canberra’s exclusive 5 star hotels that dates back to the 1920’s. The Hyatt building has retained a lot of the gorgeous art deco facades and treatments, and generally has a lovely vintage feel to it, and I knew that it was the place for a fancy afternoon tea party.

I hadn’t been there before myself, so it was a real treat to be able to walk up the old brick steps and enter the classic hotel foyer for the first time with a group consisting of some of my dearest friends all dressed to the nines!

For a lunch time high tea, I was gloriously and wonderfully overdressed in the best way ~ I had ordered my dress from the US because I knew that I wanted a vintage party frock with tulle and possibly lace. It took a lot of searching, as my sizing is woefully inconsistent due to my current health limitations.

After hours of combing through hundreds of listings, I couldn’t find the color I wanted ~ lavender or lilac, or the length I wanted ~ tea length, but I did find this gorgeous confection of the palest blue tulle, and I knew it was the dress for me ~ regardless of the fact that it was a floor length evening gown!

When it arrive it was inside out, and folded into a tiny box ~ I opened it up and it just about sprung out! And it proved to be the perfect dress for me with just a little alteration. I couldn’t believe how pretty an elegant frock can make you feel. And yes, this is THE PERFECT dress for twirling in. The skirt goes out for miles and miles, and all the tulle layers create a soft, dreamy cloud effect that I just love. A true princess ball gown indeed! (•ᵕ ᴗ ᵕ•)❀♔❀

I decided to wear my vintage rhinestone necklace and earring set to match the sequins and rhinestones decorating the shelf bust ~ plus, the jewellery would also compliment my tiara and my embroidered rhinestone vintage gloves, whilst being a change from my usual pearls.

Of course, as gorgeous as all those layers of tulle are, there is a reason that floor length ball gowns are reserved for balls as it was just a little impractical to be lounging around in whilst indulging in all that delicious food. I had to carefully squeeze sideways between the coffee tables and watch to make sure the layers of my skirt didn’t sweep all the sweets and plates and tea cups and the pink champagne off the tables! We all had to have a good giggle at my mincing, crab-like promenade.

The food was so delicious, I was served a plate of Gluten Free sandwiches which were really tasty, but of course, the patisseries where the best part. I can’t even remember all the things I ended up eating, but I do remember some stand outs ~ a rich mousse chocolate cake that I couldn’t even finish, a crème brulee with toffee on top of it, a mango layered slice that was so light and fresh, like a perfect sun-kissed mango from a tropical paradise!  I drank one and a half pots of tea to fortify myself from all the sugar!!  : P 

Afterwards, we naturally had to have photos, so we snapped some pictures on the elegant grounds of the hotel.  Before we could finish though ~ the dark clouds that had been threatening all morning burst open with a drenching rain!

Luckily, a towering London Plain served as an excellent umbrella and kept us mostly dry during the downpour, and I was just able to squeak out the photos commemorating my special day.  (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ

It was a lovely time despite the rain ~ and I’m so glad I got to celebrate my friendships with a happy party to herald a new chapter of life!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Vintage Rhinestone Jewellery Set | Ebay
Vintage Classic Rhinestone Embroidered Gloves | Ebay
Vintage 1950’s Cinderella Ball Gown | Ebay
Over the Rainbow Mal E Bow Heels | Irregular Choice

༺ ♡ ༻

Find me:

Instagram | missbjvear
Pinterest | bjvear
Ravelry | BJVear
Twitter | bjvear
Youtube | Bonita Vear