Lavender & Twill : February 2017

Hellooo m’dears!

I can’t truly call this my Valentine’s Day look as one: these pictures were taken ages past February 14th, and two: we didn’t celebrate Valentine's Day at all this year ~ which is actually pretty standard for us. The Mister and I personally enjoy celebrating our own day ~ our wedding anniversary ~ rather than an arbitrary holiday, but that being said; yay for a reason to dress up! ₊·*◟(˶╹̆ꇴ╹̆˵)◜‧*･

I love a good themed ensemble and although I originally had plans to create a 1910’s inspired outfit, I found when I was putting it together on me {as opposed to in my head!}, it wasn’t working out at all like I had pictured it.

So that called for plan B and I went with my second favourite style of alternative dress to period vintage ~ romantic doll style, as inspired by the ever exquisite Maire Antoinette.

Yes, I have borrowed ideas from her marvellous fashions before ~ Shall We Eat Cake? ~ but I feel like I’ve stuck more with the wearable-translation rather than the costumed-translation which is half way to a full-blown cosplay, but not quite! Haha!

I tried out a 18th centenary makeup look and hairstyle {though I have neither enough hair or powder on said hair to be true to the period} and I have to say, it was a lot of fun to play with! {…Though certainly not an everyday look… Haha!}

I feel sure that one day I will actually delve into the realm of historical costuming. I find that as I learn about the past influences on vintage fashion design, the more I am fascinated with the history and culture paradigms that are woven in into very construction of the clothes we wore, and do wear today.

Yes, I nerd out over buttons and bonnets and corsets and caps and all the fun things that pertain to the art of moulding a two dimensional piece of fabric into a three dimensional structure! There really is nothing quite like taking something so inherently unable to be what you need in it’s raw format and coaxing it to not only take on a new shape but to become useful!

Then, if you really want to learn to master the fabric, I personally feel that studying vintage and historical techniques that you can will help you understand the innate nature of draping and design. There is so much craftsmanship that is lost in garment design these days ~ all those little details that up until the 1960s really made clothing fascinating, that helped to create the individuality and character of each piece.

Those little details ~ those are the reasons I fell into love with vintage, and when I began to understand it was the design, that drew me even further in, but whoops! I didn’t mean to turn this blog post on a dissertation of clothing design and why we should love it!

Eheh… (=⌒ _ ⌒=)'

Back to the current outfit then?

I really think these pretty Daisy Jean Floral Designs hair flowers where just the things I needed to complete this ensemble! I had three different DFJ in my hair; the peach double rose, one of their signature pieces, a white hydrangea {which is lovely and huge!} and lastly, a Valentine’s Day pink and white rose fascinator.

I’m sure you’ve already heard me ramble on about DJF ~ they do lovely themed fascinators as well as hair flowers in a huge variety of colours and styles that are wonderful for matching to any shade of ensemble you might be wearing!

And while I am not used to wearing flowers that are quite as large as the hydrangea, I just pretend it is a hat and wear it like that. ٩(• ̤̀ᵕ - ̤́๑)✧

If you are ever in need of a quality hair accessory, please do check out Daisy Jean Floral Designs! Yes, I am working in collaboration with this local Australian small business, and having tried out a wide variety of their offerings I can truly say that I adore their pieces. They create a special something for every occasion, and I simply can’t go past a pretty hair flower to finish off my outfits! Plus, I’m super excited to be able to share a coupon code with you all so that if you wish to purchase your own pretties from DJF you can use “LAVENDERTWILL10” for a discount! Yay!

Now I just need a giant picture hat with a massive feather to complete the look… Don’t you think that would be perfect? Haha!

I’m also wondering if I should try to do something Regency inspired as that is another favourite era of mine… Or Victorian. Or Edwardian ~ oh, I do find it hard to choose just one! It’s given me lots to think about ~ you would like to see some more ensembles styled with a historical twist? Which eras do you think I should pick?

xox,

bonita

Disclosure | Daisy Jean Floral Designs and Lavender & Twill have partnered up this year to bring to you some amazing floral hair accessories! I purchase the items at a discount and share my thoughts on the pieces. There is also a discount code for anyone wishing to purchase from Daisy Jean Floral Designs : LAVENDERTWILL10

Dear friends, I want to thank each and everyone of you for the many messages of support and caring on my last post, and in other places. I really appreciate, so much more than I can say, your kind hearts and words of compassion. It is a truly warming thoughtfulness has been so uplifting to me. Thank you, and the biggest hugs to you all! ❤❤❤

That being said, I can’t seem to stay away from the pretty dresses for long… So let’s dive back into the fun realm of fashion, shall we?

This series of photographs are a bit old ~ I took them when I was in Sydney for the 2016 AAVGM. I had to share them anyway because; how sweet is my grandparents house!

Whenever I travel to Sydney, I’m always admiring the old houses you see everywhere ~ and even as a very young girl I always thought that my grandparent’s house looked really cool and interesting compared to the houses I knew.

I mean, how do you get any better than stained glass windows, brick work, and tiled stairs; no less than blue tiled stairs?!

Of course, I was quite chuffed when I discovered the happy coincidence of the blue roses on my dress matching the variegated indigo-aquamarine titles. I had planned to wear this dress without any thought of taking photos, but it worked out that I had the perfect time and place, so of course I had to do a shoot! Haha, blogger life… ( ˘•૩•˘ ).｡

This lovely frock ‘Roslyn’ is a Hell Bunny vintage reproduction, and I must note that Hell Bunny are really killing their vintage reproduction game! I have a growing collection of their dresses in my wardrobe, and I’m always on the look out for other lovelies to add as each one seems to be better than the last.

I will say that there are a few things about this dress that are a little off the mark for me; it’s a touch shorter than what I really prefer, though still a perfectly acceptable 1940’s length, and my major complaint {as with all the Hell Bunny dresses} ~ no pockets…!! :P

But other then that little nit-pick, how can you not love the Liesl-inspired bodice detail and swooshy, floaty skirt?

It’s especially lovely when paired with the delightfully sweet ‘Miss Ellen’ fascinator from Daisy Jean Floral Designs. I have worn this pretty hair piece with another outfit on the blog before, but I couldn’t resist styling it with this frock, and I’m so glad I did as it was a perfect match. ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧

And now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure my favourite kind of ensemble involves me being covered head to toe with roses ~ or at the very least some kind of flowers. Haha! Flowers forever! ❀❤❀❤

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

’Miss Ellen’ Fascinator | Daisy Jean Floral Designs
’Roslyn’ Hell Bunny Dress | eBay
Watermelon Glitter Jelly Wedges | eBay

Pages

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

༺ Pink Valentine ༻

Monday, February 6, 2017

༺ 41 Blue Stairs ༻