You always know it's Summer when my rainbow dress gets an outing! It likes to be a chameleon, cropping up in outfits in new and different combinations!
It was on Sunday, that I suddenly had a thought.
Could I turn the dress sideways, get my head through one of the shoulder straps- could I make it into a halter-neck dress?
After a little experimenting, and one moment of panic, I discovered...
Yes I could!
I discovered, that I could get my head into the hole. Although the pattern matching at the seam isn't great, it still worked!
At the back, I tucked in the other strap so it had a slightly lower back.
As it is a circle skirt, I suddenly thought about adding a tulle petticoat underneath to give it a bit of body and to puff it out. I added my TARDIS blue one!
A black belt to cinch the waist. Perhaps a blue one would have been better but I only have turquoise, not electric blue.
I decided to pin my hair up with a flower clip from Bali.
Here's a side view.
I decided to wear my TARDIS blue floral Irregular Choice pumps to go with the tulle petticoat.
What do you think of this new take on the dress?
Do you have any other suggestions for this dress styling?
In Into the Dalek, Clara spends most of the episode wearing her creepy eye-shirt (which I last cosplayed in September 2024 but just at the end, she changes into an alternative outfit.
I last featured it here in November 2022, so that's over 2 years ago, so I thought I'd feature it again
Let's have a look at it:
Topshop red ladder-stitch red cropped jumper
ASOS reclaimed Check jacket
Topshop black Scallop shorts
Topshop 'All Mine' boots
Black Deena and Ozzy satchel
UO double circle necklace
For this February iteration, I decided to go less accurate and dress for the weather!
I had no desire to root around for tights or even less desire to wear them OR shorts so I decided to substitute the black shorts for a pair of my black ASOS trousers (not the cycle-ripped ones, but the other, baggier pair).
I also decided not to wear my more accurate, vintage jacket, but the Urban Outfitters cooperative bomber jacket that has the same print. It's a lovely little cosy cardigan to wear (I wore it with 2 coats over the top to cycle!) plus my Topshop All Mine boots.
I forgot how cosy this red Topshop jumper is
The final touch are the two gold ring necklaces which I bought from eBay a long time ago.
I felt very satisfied with this outfit.
Today and yesterday, I have done quite a few things:
Saturday:
Washing,
Reading
Booked train tickets for Northumberland
Started packing for Northumberland
Marking (I marked about 400 pieces of work yesterday)
Went to Cinema to see Bridget Jones
Had dinner at Sababa in Southend (review to come soon)
Typed up some poems.
Wrote 2 new poems
Sunday:
Church
(Got chatting to lovely couple who have recently started coming to our church, one of whom used to work with CBC)
Drew tabards for World Book Day
Watched a lot of Classic Dotor Who
Marked about 450 pieces of work- FINISHED all my marking
Made an 80th birthday card for my Godmother
Made dinner of Crispy tofu
Put washing in.
Hung up washing.
Put away other washing
I've got about 540 report grades to get done this week so I've got to take my computer and assessment sheets with me plus a few other bits of admin work to do but I hope we can have a nice break in Hexham too.
It's been a lovely bank holiday weekend. Not quite the one I expected, esp since we made no particular plans and I am incredibly snotty and coughy, but namely the sun has shone.
Thus it seemed appropriate for my TARDIS Tuesday to reflect the clement weather.
I am inspired by an outfit worn by 80's classic Who companion, Peri (Perpugilliam) Brown who was an American Botany student who met the Doctor in Lanzarote! She wore it for both her first and second episodes, the names of which are in the blog title.
I have attempted this outfit before, back in June 2016.
It felt just what I needed to wear for being out in the garden, reading in the long grass (I LOVE how the grass is for No Mow May- I like sitting in it when it is long, not so much when short!)
She wears pink high-waisted shorts with a pink top of some sort underneath. She wears simple white pumps on her feet and on top, she has a pastel checked blou
She wears pale pink high-waisted, fairly long shorts with a very pale pastel rainbow-checked shirt, tied up. Under it, she wears a peachy halterneck bikini.
I started with the shorts. These are ridiculously comfortable and cost me very little second-hand a few years ago. They have an elasticated back and button up and are made of a cotton linen mix. These are the same ones I wore in 2021. I see no need to change them. They are perfect coloured, shape and comfortable and they still fit me (unlike a few other pairs of shorts in my wardrobe).
You can't really see my feet but I am wearing nude-coloured ballet pumps. Very old, very crackly,but suitable for this type of thing!
I've used a different blouse from last time. I wore my question-mark shirt and then my brighter rainbow checked shirt last time but they were brighter. I found this one in the charity shop last year and realised it was the closest I was going to get to Peri's shirt. I wore it mainly unbuttoned but tied at the bottom to mimic Peri's. After the photos, I wore it buttoned more and tucked in but I like it tied as it works with the high waist. The shirt works so much better for this cosplay and I've realised, this is an outfit I might wear for school, as it is, in the early Summer.
One thing I am a little sad about is that I had the perfect bikini top for this cosplay, it was almost identical in shape to Peri's but a more bright red but I think I must have given it away to a charity shop last year. I didn't have matching bottoms so it seemed silly to have it. Only now have I realised its potential!
The lighting was dreadful for these photos but the original images are grainy so perhaps it is ok!
I spent much of the day reading my Kate Shackleton books and swapping over my Summer and Winter wardrobe items!
Today for TARDIS Tuesday, I thought I'd have a go and throwing together an outfit from a Who character using things I had in my wardrobe. Actually, this is a first time for this character for me and is an outfit worn by New Who companion Rory Williams. He became the husband of Amy Pond and featured in series 5-7 and was played by Arthur Darvill. The timing is really apt on this post because last night, CBC and I went to see the new West End production of Oklahoma at the Wyndham Theatre and who should be playing main character Curly McClane? None other than Arthur Darvill! Another funny coincidence is that the character Curly McClane is in love with is called Laurey Williams. Weird eh?!!?
Another funny comparison is the fact that we went to see Back to the Future, the Musical on Sunday afternoon and Marty McFly wears a really similar outfit in it!
Rory wears a black,red and white checked shirt. Over the top, he wears a navy blue puffed gilet. On his left wrist, a black watch, blue jeans and tan lace-up boots.
I started with a Uniqlo checked shirt which I bought originally (second hand of course) as an alt shirt for an Amy Pond cosplay. It's a brushed-cotton flannel and very loose, soft and comfy.
Over the top, I wore a Uniqlo down gilet which I bought (charity shop but brand new) for CBC for Christmas a few years ago. He took it with him on the Pennine Way and it reminded me that I could use it for this very outfit! For the photos, I stole his watch and wore it for the pictures!
I wore this for a Tuesday at school (today in fact!) I was rather tired after getting home late really late after Oklahoma. It was just the casual, comfy outfit I needed. In this photo, I am wearing my charity shopped M&S Jeans but for school, I wore a loose pair of navy trousers. I changed into the jeans after school! I was rather surprised when one of girls in Year 4 told me my outfit was amazing and she loved it. Not the type of outfit I usually get complimented on! Or one I would usually 'blog' about!
For TARDIS Tuesday, I am featuring an old favourite- quite a casual old favourite, but one that I have worn many times on this ere blog!
I last featured this cosplay on the blog in October 2019 and it has featured quite a few times but was first featured in October 2014, almost 9 years ago!
The episode itself, from 2014, was BRILLIANT! Such a clever premise- creatures from a 2-dimensional world trying to get into our 3-dimensional one. It had some seriously scary moments and some comic genius, especially where Clara discovers the TARDIS has shrunk!
It featured an H&M blue and red checked shirt, a Khaki and black biker jacket from The Kooples, Ash-wedged trainers, black skinny jeans and a gold-mandala style necklace (which I have NO IDEA how anyone could see or even ID!)
Confession: I absolutely love my original 2014 post of this, even though it wasn't particularly accurate- there was something fun about my posts that I don't seem to be able to achieve in my posts so well now, looking almost 10 years older!
Anyway, I tried to have a little of the storyline in these photos:
I wore this for a Sunday at home (plus a visit to the COOP)- I was SO tired after my concert day on Saturday and getting home around 1am, that I achieved very little.
The H&M shirt is a super soft but light flannel which feels very nice to wear. I remember searching for SOOOO long to find the Screen-accurate shirt as H&M have made loads of shirts in this combination of colours over the years. My original was a brighter blue and more fitted- I really liked it though it became a bit small in the end.
The coat is the same Kooples one and I was lucky to find it early on in my Clara 'career' for a very reasonable price for what is a £400 jacket. I confess I don't wear it that often as I always worried about rain so I tend to wear my coats with a hood more regularly...I think it actually has a hidden hood so perhaps it is the season for it coming up!
Have you spotted the very same trousers and Ash wedged trainers from last week's Clara cosplay? They are one and the same.
My TARDIS is in fact a ceramic cookie jar which I bought from the original Doctor Who exhibition when it was in London. I had to sit with it under my feet when my sister and I went to see Billy Elliott at the theatre after it! If I were any good at computer-wizardry, I'd photoshop a hand coming out of the TARDIS! Ha!
This Tuesday, I won't have any orchestra! Hurrah! My concert went really well on Saturday.
It was a concert of different emotions. Our wonderful leader, Cory is moving to a new city so it was her last concert as leader. She's also done so much to run the orchestra and her husband has been a wonderful part of it too. After losing our wonderful conductor last year, it's really sad to be losing her. The concert was supposed to be conducted by a guest conductor I know well, Sam but he caught Covid and had to pull on Tuesday and a wonderful conductor called Orlando took over (even though he didn't know one of the pieces, Poulenc Sinfonietta well.). He did a really good job and we liked his conducting very much.
One of the pieces we performed was Beethoven's Triple concerto (for Violin, Cello and piano) and the soloists were dynamic and exciting- they made a gorgeous sound.
Lots of old friends of the orchestra came to watch and we had a large audience including our former 1st oboist Suzy who I had mentioned to, that it was Cory's last concert. It was the first time I've seen her since our last pre-Covid concert in March 2020, though we have communicated through Insta.
The performance went very well, despite us wind-players experiencing unexpected terror in the first piece, Faure's Masques et Bergamasques- not sure why we were all scared!
In between the rehearsal and concert, the wind players all went to a lovely Thai buffet on Portobello road called Brown Rice. I made the plan and they were all pleasantly surprised by this place as it meant there was no hanging around ordering food, no waiting for the bill, you paid as you went in. A very reasonable £12 got you an Eat as Much as you Like Buffet. It meant we got back to the church in plenty of time rather than the usual panic!
After the concert, we had a reception for Cory where they were presented with a fine double music stand from the Early Music shop.
Alas, there were Engineering works on our local line so we had to make alternative arrangements which added a lot of extra time to our journey. We were, however, incredibly lucky that we managed to get a Central line train immediately and get straight on our final train without a big wait. We were, however, exhausted by the time we got home at around 1am! Yawn!
I hope you are well! I am well. Today, for TARDIS Tuesday, I am sharing an outfit worn by Clara Oswald in series 8 episode, Into the Dalek. I can't believe I last shared this outfit last in April 2019-almost 3 years ago!
Let's look at it!
The outfit is worn I thought would be perfect for Remembrance Sunday...with a slight modification!
It consists of:
Topshop red ladder-stitch red cropped jumper
ASOS reclaimed Check jacket
Topshop black Scallop shorts
Topshop 'All Mine' boots
Black Deena and Ozzy satchel
UO double circle necklace
And here it is.
This practically identical to the last time I wore it. It needed no adjustments*.
The Topshop sweater is really warm and comfortable to wear- it hugs you really well but, because of the ladder-stitch, isn't too hot. My jacket is one of my best Charity shop Clara finds as it is vintage, not the same brand as hers but looks identical from a distance. It cost me £4 and I spied it from a moving car when I was driving up Battle Hill in Hexham in the window of the Sue Ryder charity shop!
Not much to say about the shorts and boots other than- not appropriate for school!
*Speaking of inappropriate for school- I slightly modified this outfit for church. The shorts are too tight and too short for me to wear in public so I swapped them for my new black cropped corduroy trousers from Seasalt. Also easier to cycle in!
Here's a close-up on my double circle necklaces AND the remembrance addition to this outfit (which I think is perfect for this outfit- Clara's needs it!)
Apart from the fitted shorts, the outfit is super comfortable and smart for many occasions. If only the shorts were longer and a bit looser!
I played piano for the first time at the church I've started going to on Sunday morning. I do NOT enjoy playing piano in public - even Singing Assembly at school or School concerts is not in my comfort zone (even though I've done it for 16 years). BUT, the regular lady who plays piano had a nasty fall a few weeks ago and broke her shoulder (and really smacked up her eye and face) and I really wanted to help out so I offered to help out when I was able to. It went ok- there were a few Les Dawson moments and I had a couple of blanks just before starting about WHERE I was going to start an introduction but it was ok. As I wasn't singing at the same time (because that makes it harder to get it all right)- I did teacherly nods to show when it was time to come in, just in case!
After church, I did something else really cool but that's for another day!
I thought I'd look at the chief components or features of his outfit to take to turn into an outfit using items I already had:
Checks in either red, yellow, blue hues
Question mark shirt
Polka Dot neck tie in either blue or red.
Clashing patterns
Green boots with orange spats (black buttons)
Yellow trousers
And here's what I came up with:
Let's start with the skirt. If I wanted to do a female version of the Doctor, I wanted to wear as skirt. I had 2 prime candidates:
1. Vintage Parisian Dirndl skirt bought from Corbridge Antiques for £5.
2. Seasalt blue checked seersucker skirt (Birthday present)
I tried both on....
The red looked good but I felt like needed more clash in there- it was too coordinated.
Then I tried the blue- but it also felt like there needed to be more red.
I needed something yellow to nod to his yellow and black striped trousers but the only thing that would work was my yellow belt from a floral dress.
At that point, I wondered if I could button both my skirts together to make the outfit a bit more clashing and chaotic. This made the skirt double sized so I had to pin the waistband and I ended up with an extra sort of bustle....which dangled down!
Next was the Question mark shirt. Ang was kind enough to offer to add question marks to my teenage self's white concert shirt back in 2015. I always wore it for all the concerts we had to wear Black and white for. It came from Racing Green and was always quite big for me as a teenager. It's thin so it works well as a Summer shirt. Next, I added a vintage red polka dot scarf as a neck tie. I bought this from somewhere in Northumberland- I forget where. As a nod to his other blue spotty neck tie, I wore my blue/floral wired headband- it didn't need to match!
In terms of footwear, I didn't want to wear my teal Dr Martens boots so instead I donned my £5 charity-shopped Italian Men's green brogues and added my orange crocheted spats which Lara at Lara's Cottage Crafts made for me. The spats don't really work with shoes instead of boots. Perhaps orange socks with black spots might work- ha?!
This time, I didn't add a cat brooch- wasn't exactly sure where it was....and, the outfit was fussy enough as it is.
Oof, I'm tired! Went to bed waaaay too late last night after doing some marking I've been putting off as I've got reports to do and need to use the marking for those too. Definitely felt rather ratty at school today.
Today's outfit for TARDIS Tuesday is 11th Doctor companion Amy Pond's outfit from the historical series 5 episode, The Curse of the Black Spot, set aboard a pirate ship.
She begins in a pink and grey Uniqlo checked shirt, worn with a peach-coloured cardigan. She wears a very short fitted denim skirt with hot pink tights and brown knee-high boots.
Later in the episode, Amy dons a tricorn hat, a grey buttoned man's coat and a brown leather strap to hold her cutlass once she becomes part of the crew.
Here's my version:
I wore a similar version of this outfit back in May 2018, 3 years ago but with a few changes.
The first thing I started with was the shirt. My shirt is also from Uniqlo, bought second hand but it isn't exactly the same shirt, though I think it is pretty similar.
I added my pink Primark tights- the pink tights are pretty iconic. I got rid of a lot of my bright tights collection and shared them with bright tights lovers Polyester Princess Ann and Becky as I decided I didn't like them but I kept this pair for this very outfit.
The next element I added was the skirt. I don't have a fitted denim skirt (nor do I want one) but I do have this black Zara skirt which my work colleague gave me when she moved back to Canada 6 years ago. Finally, I added my brown knee-high Italian boots, bought from eYe Boutique in Ilford back in 2009 or so.
I got lots of compliments on the outfit today from colleagues as they don't often see my legs apparently, even though I wear leggings all the time!
When I got home, I added CBC's grey Reiss coat for the above photo but sadly all the Tricorns were in the loft and I annoyed CBC as soon as I got home, apparently with a whinge-fest and ratching in my bag to find my camera, so I wasn't going to ask him to get them out.
If only I had the red hair.
I should add that I put on trousers over the top to cycle in- there was no chance I would be cycling in this skirt!
It's actually quite rare nowadays that I buy clothes that don't come from a second-hand source.
However, there has been something new I have wanted for such a long time.
I saw that Joanie had an Avid Reader's Club sweatshirt (and t-shirt) ages ago, possibly a year and I loved them! A lot of Joanie Clothing is made out of synthetic fabrics so I don't have anything from them except a cotton cheesecloth tomato-soup coloured dress. But this sweatshirt was mainly cotton.
However, it was quite a lot of money.
Nonetheless, every time there was a Joanie sale, I would scour the website to see if it was reduced to no avail.
A while back, a discount code was sent showing 20% off any purchase. I almost caved them but still thought the sweater was too expensive.
Finally, on that wretched Black Friday, which I usually shun, I was sent an email giving 40% discount off everything on the site and I caved. It took me about 4 days to cave- I put it in my virtual basket every day and then didn't do it. Finally I did, along with these checked trousers.
I was delighted with both! The trousers feel very much like a cross between PJs and joggers so very comfy. I wore them the day after they arrived, along with my grey Clara boots from my last post.
Finally, I added this acrylic rainbow sequin necklace from Nickatonline and I was set for a cosy Saturday - the morning spent tidying at home and coughing endlessly and the latter part spent with CBC looking for things in Southend
I do like clothing which promotes reading and when I wore it again for school on Tuesday, I received lots of smiles from both kids and staff.
I thought I'd intersperse my Germany and France adventures with different blog posts to try and keep things varied here and to try and not make it too samey!
Here's an outfit from before the holidays.
CBC always says I am wearing his school uniform when I wear this Closet London dress as the pattern is quite similar to his school's skirt.
The beauty of these Closet dresses is that you can wear a blouse underneath, pinafore-style and wear them all year round, not just in the Summer. They have pockets and I always know their size 8 will fit me perfectly in these fit-and-flare styles.
The obvious choice was my stalwart turquoise Doc Martens and this time, my Miss Patina Love cat blouse. It seemed quite a fun idea to add this acrylic dog brooch though I am kicking myself for not putting it on the other side so it looked like the dog was looking up at the cat instead of stubbornly ignoring it!
I have had a very nice weekend. It has largely consisted of garden and nature-based activities which I will share more of in my #30dayswild round-up this week but has felt very satisfying and though I am always sad to go back to work, it has been a very good holiday on the whole!
I hope all is well with you.
Finally remembering to link with lovely Patti at Visible Mondays
I'm currently battling through my nativity script for school! I've used the same one for the past 2 years. Before that, I used one by another member of staff. Trying to make it a sort of 'correspondence' script so all the readers are reading written accounts by someone, e.g. Melchior's travel blog, Angel FM, Herod's top secret diary, letter from Mary to Elizabeth etc! Getting that irritated, 'not quite right' but ahrgh!' feeling! Need to just get on and do it, finish it, be done with it but starting to wonder if I am making a rod for my old back, trying to be too 'clever' or 'different' and should just give up! Either way, it is on the 17th December so I had better get those scripts out to children pronto!
I'm not feeling whole imaginative today- slightly grouchy, suggesting I should just go to bed! I just spent ages notating a recorder duet of 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' for two keen year 6 girls who wanted to play it when I should be doing numerous other things!
Hence, sharing another outfit post! Doesn't take too much thought and the photos were already sitting in a draft!
Various blog friends have talked about finding German vintage items in charity shops recently and this sheep at night jumper was yet another 'Bought with Sophie and Hazel' find back in May. It was only a pound on the Salvation Army sale rack in Ipswich so I saw its Christmas jumper potential immediately! The label looks like a vintage one made in Germany (not sure if it said East or West without rummaging through the washing basket)
I wore it on Saturday for a walk into town and cleaning, tidying, marking and reading day. It worked with fleecy leggings, sheepskin boots and the quintessential winter fabric- brushed cotton flannel tartan! And I adjusted the flower brooch on this hat I received for Christmas last year to try and release its inner cloche! It's not necessarily a 'stylish' outfit, but I think rather cute and comfy!
The garden is a total mess! I cannot believe how windy and rainy it has been. I looked out my spare room window and saw that all the felting on the shed roof is coming off and waving in the wind. Which means all my craft stuff is probably mouldering. And the drumkit...
Better get back to that script..
xxx
You know what I am going to say:
Ahem...
PINK ALERT: P.S. In case, you missed it, I have entered Lady Vintage's Hall of Fame photo competition with my outfit and I would be SO grateful if you liked my outfit out of those who have entered enough to give it a like on Facebook. If your husband, boyfriend, cat, dog or significant other felt so inclined to take a look too, (like a few have!), I would be very grateful! Especially as I am STILL 100 behind the leader (but working slowly towards second place) Waaaaah!!!! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.864013323713000.1073741877.144939495620390&type=1&l=8c4891a181 If you wanted to share the album too, I wouldn't be adverse to that!!!
Linking to Visible Mondays with lovely Patti!!! Also linking to Hat Attack with the lovely Judith!
