From the Archives: Easter Parade

I like to look through my archive sometimes and share an old post. I'm not sure how I ended up clicking on this post from April 8th 2012 (Easter Sunday), but I liked the outfit in it (I still own most of the items though the cardigan is in the cull pile!)  and the joke at the end.

Enjoy!

Easter parade

Hello!  Despite the rain and cold, it's been a lovely Easter Sunday thus far!  I was awoken at 6am in order to enable CBC to get to a 110km cycle ride in Kent (AHRGH!), so this meant I was alert and ready at 6.30am to leave the house and pick up 2 buses (oh the joy of living at an intermediary minor station on a route with engineering works, you get the pleasure of not having rail replacement laid on all the way, but fending for yourself for  half the way!) home!

This meant I was able to eat a leisurely breakfast, lots of tea and even do some tidying up before being on time for church!  We sang well this morning which was great and proceeded to eat lots of Easter eggs afterwards!  Then a friend just came round for a cup of tea!

 I ended up wearing a festively Easterish outfit in the end!  The skirt (TKMaxx) I'd worn last night at a barn-dance as I hadn't realised the engineering work began last night!  This is fine though, as it is a skirt that needs much swishing and obviously an evening of barn-dancing wasn't enough!! Worn with a matching pinky cardie (Monsoon) and purple hat (Tescos) and Hush-puppies gunmetal shoes.

 What you don't see in this photo is that seconds before it took, my heel sunk into the mud, I slipped and ended up with one foot out of the shoe!  A good save to meet the timer methinks!

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 I kannee resist swishing!  I think it was all that barn-dancing last night that did it! It was so much fun as we did loads of unusual dances that I've never done before including 'The snowball' and the 'Jumpback'!    My friend Anne and I stuck rigorously to the beat as usual and despaired at lesser-mortals who couldn't stay in time and remember the routine,notably stripping the willow!  ;-)

 I suddenly realise this outfit realised went well with this coat which I've had for at least 7 years, but don't wear all that often!  It's a Matthew Williamson Butterfly coat which I love because it's all embroidered and detailed.  That's what I like about eveything Matthew Williamson does- he always uses some lovely vibrant colours on his clothing and embellished details!  Everything seems pretty, feminine and like he's taken a lot of care over it! Most designers I'm really not bothered about, I'd never buy designer, but for Matthew Williamson, I'd consider it if only I were more affluent and not conscious of wasting money and thinking more ethically- the spending ban has really made me think about it!! The Lent leg of it is over, now comes the continuation!

 To keep me warm, I decided this 9 year old M&S collar would go well with it!

 Just a couple of action shots CBC took naughtily last night at the barn-dance! See that grimace!  That comes of being far taller than your partner and having to go under arms- apparently the first time, I dragged her off her feet!

 It was a lovely evening, in aid of the Helen Rollason cancer-charity, lovely folk and it's such a brilliant way of having fun- healthy, being exercise, challenging mentally but utterly hilarious!  I spent most of the evening naughtily laughing when other people couldn't remember the routine!

I just had to share a hilarious simile I heard recently, courtesy of Philip Larkin, which I am STILL chortling about:

As pedestrian as a centipede.

Hope your Easter is beautiful and not as pedestrian as a centipede!
Hugs xx

Please store your luggage in the compartments above your seats

Sometimes feel like you've dressed in role?  I looked at a shot of myself in this possibly vintage dress and was struck by how I could be:
a) one of those red-jerseyed extras in Star Trek who always got bumped off in the first five minutes
b) An air-stewardess
c) A hotel receptionist!

A couple of years ago, my Mum found our old bag of dancing headbands.  At our dancing school, you wore a headband to show what grade you were (turquoise for pre-primary, black for primary, blue for Grade 1, purple for Grade 2, pink for grade 3, royal blue for Grade 4...), I am modelling the Grade 5 headband here (sadly, I never reached this grade- this was my sister's who was actually good at dancing.  Unlike me, stuck in the back row!)

Perhaps it's because I am not aware of it being an adult now but I'm sure that everyone seemed to go to ballet and tap in the 80's and 90's when I was a child but I don't seem to hear of it so much nowadays- a lot seem to go to street-dance.  Any mums out there, what's your experience?  And am I wrong about that era?  Was it just me and my peers who all did ballet or did you too?  Did you enjoy it? Were you any good at it?  Or were you stuck in the back row like me?  Mind you, I had some impressive peers at my dance-school, heck, one of them is even now the star of Downton Abbey!

***

Dress- (possibly) vintage M&S.  Belt-from another dress, headband- dancing, shoes- Irregular choice, Cardie- Zara, Scarf- Amazon.

Carrie and the Cunning little vixen

 Hello!  Greetings from coughville!!!  Thank God for the bank holiday because I could not have coped with Year 5 with my throat feeling like this!!! 
It's inspiration Monday with the Two birds boutique  .  Carrie Underwood is the day's muse.  I like this outfit and she looks very nice!  However, I didn't really have anything like it in my wardrobe. 
I took the shape of the top, the hair, the jeans, sparkles and the shoe colour as my inspiration and end up looking nothing like her!
This stripy top is very slouchy and not dressed up (and stupidly folded under!), but I attempted to glam it up with this lovely 1920's-looking silvery glamorous necklace, a present from Sophie, Countrygirl.    Worn with sparkly M&S jeans (c.2000) with Clarks originals wedged mink desert boots.

 I've had some lovely parts to my weekend.  CBC and I went to a wonderful 4 hour beginners and fast beginners lindy-hop class yesterday which was quite simply brilliant!!!   We really felt like we'd made progress with our dancing!  Better still, because it was quite a small group and there was lots of room, we had a chance to correct faults and dance with the tutors, who gave advice to us, really helpful advice!  We now know how to do the push-turn, tuck-turn, swap hands turn, double tuck-turn exits, forward exit,change place, entrance to side-by-side charleston, side-by-side charleston, lindy-turn, lindy circle.  Genius.

And saw this young vixen who when I first spotted her, was audaciously wandering along my patio in daylight...

Easter parade

Hello!  Despite the rain and cold, it's been a lovely Easter Sunday thus far!  I was awoken at 6am in order to enable CBC to get to a 110km cycle ride in Kent (AHRGH!), so this meant I was alert and ready at 6.30am to leave the house and pick up 2 buses (oh the joy of living at an intermediary minor station on a route with engineering works, you get the pleasure of not having rail replacement laid on all the way, but fending for yourself for  half the way!) home!

This meant I was able to eat a leisurely breakfast, lots of tea and even do some tidying up before being on time for church!  We sang well this morning which was great and proceeded to eat lots of Easter eggs afterwards!  Then a friend just came round for a cup of tea!

 I ended up wearing a festively Easterish outfit in the end!  The skirt (TKMaxx) I'd worn last night at a barn-dance as I hadn't realised the engineering work began last night!  This is fine though, as it is a skirt that needs much swishing and obviously an evening of barn-dancing wasn't enough!! Worn with a matching pinky cardie (Monsoon) and purple hat (Tescos) and Hush-puppies gunmetal shoes.

 What you don't see in this photo is that seconds before it took, my heel sunk into the mud, I slipped and ended up with one foot out of the shoe!  A good save to meet the timer methinks!

 I kannee resist swishing!  I think it was all that barn-dancing last night that did it! It was so much fun as we did loads of unusual dances that I've never done before including 'The snowball' and the 'Jumpback'!    My friend Anne and I stuck rigorously to the beat as usual and despaired at lesser-mortals who couldn't stay in time and remember the routine,notably stripping the willow!  ;-)

 I suddenly realise this outfit realised went well with this coat which I've had for at least 7 years, but don't wear all that often!  It's a Matthew Williamson Butterfly coat which I love because it's all embroidered and detailed.  That's what I like about eveything Matthew Williamson does- he always uses some lovely vibrant colours on his clothing and embellished details!  Everything seems pretty, feminine and like he's taken a lot of care over it! Most designers I'm really not bothered about, I'd never buy designer, but for Matthew Williamson, I'd consider it if only I were more affluent and not conscious of wasting money and thinking more ethically- the spending ban has really made me think about it!! The Lent leg of it is over, now comes the continuation!

 To keep me warm, I decided this 9 year old M&S collar would go well with it!

 Just a couple of action shots CBC took naughtily last night at the barn-dance! See that grimace!  That comes of being far taller than your partner and having to go under arms- apparently the first time, I dragged her off her feet!

 It was a lovely evening, in aid of the Helen Rollason cancer-charity, lovely folk and it's such a brilliant way of having fun- healthy, being exercise, challenging mentally but utterly hilarious!  I spent most of the evening naughtily laughing when other people couldn't remember the routine!

I just had to share a hilarious simile I heard recently, courtesy of Philip Larkin, which I am STILL chortling about:

As pedestrian as a centipede.

Hope your Easter is beautiful and not as pedestrian as a centipede!
Hugs xx

Strip the willow!

Have you ever been to a ceilidh?   By this I mean a Scottish dance where you dance traditional country-dances to traditional folk music?  

I absolutely adore this form of pastime.  I'm happy to dance traditional English country dancing or barn-dancing or the proper Scottish stuff- anything really!  What's the American version called?!

When I was in Year 1 (5-6 years old) at primary school, many of my PE lessons at school were spent learning Country-dancing- I definitely remember learning the OXO dance and the Square dance.  They were always so much fun as though the routine might take a while to learn, the movements were not difficult!

My teacher was so enthusiastic about it that it rubbed off on me and I become positively giddy at the prospect of a barn-dance or Ceildh nowadays! 

The two main sources of my ceildh barn-dancing nowadays are at churches- usually fundraisers or at weddings.   I guarantee if you tell me about one and I am free, I will find a way to be there!!!!

It's such a great workout- I can happily exercise vigorously whilst dancing this type of dance for around 4 hours without batting an eyelid!   If you were looking for a form of exercise and discover your local church/village/community hall is having one, I strongly recommend going along- even if you have nothing to do with the church/village/community or think you'd know no-one, they are so much fun, and invigorating.  My friend A, featured in some of the below pictures, also loves them and when her husband was in Afghanistan, we rocked up to a village ceildh in her village, she'd never been to any village events and we danced non-stop for about 4 hours- everyone wondered who we were I'm sure, but were quite happy for us to join in the fun!

We held one at my church during harvest time and I managed to get 11 friends to come along.   The exciting thing here was that I was part of the ceildh band- we consisted of accordion, guitar, violin, drums and moi on recorder and Irish whistle.  The tunes are so catchy and bring a smile to your face!

 The only downside was it meant I got to dance less than I would have liked!

 But it was great fun just to be part of the atmosphere!

 If you want to try something new this year and have never done it, then try this activity- great fun!  If you're in Scotland ever, look for one.  Or with Burns Night coming up, you might find one going on!  I'd love to spend my New Year's eve at one- there are many happening- that's what I spent my Millenium new year's eve doing!

Oh and wear loose clothing, maybe of something floaty like silk (like my Antik Batik skirt above) make sure you have layers so you can strip off when you get too hot and flat shoes- DO NOT wear heels- the last one I went to, some woman stepped on my ANKLE in her stillettos, gave me a MASSIVE bruise and inadvertantly ripped the button and eye off my ankle strap of my New Yorkers!!

Go on then- share your country-dancing experiences!!!!

Hop hop hop to the lindyhop stop!

Hola mes amigos!  Greetings from a warm laptop in front of the fire!  Thanks to Nicole and Gwendolyn, I have been watching Meet me in St Louis (I know ALL the words as I was in it as a child!) and blubbing along with Judy Garland!  Now I am watching The Prince and Me (tacky Julia Stiles chickflick but I love it!!)  I've been a little headachey so I've stayed at home when I was supposed to be going out to play Christmas flute music!  Last night I went to Suzy Q at Wild court in Holborn for a night of swing dancing! Usually I wear a 1950's look but I decided to go for an earlier 1920's look. 

We attended 2 classes at the start- one was a beginners' lindy one- which taught all steps I'd learnt before but it was good practice.  The second was a Charleston class and everyone told me I was dressed for the part!!! After that, my hair was in a complete state of disarray (as usual!) 

At 10.30pm, the most exciting event happened- the London Swing Dance Society's annual Lindy competition!

10 couples lined up and took it in turns to dance on the floor.  They were AMAZING!!!!!  I have no idea how they moved at the speed they did- with all sorts of amazing air-lifts- we as the audience had to indicate our favourite choice as our votes decided the winner...

10 couples were whittled down to 8, then later 5, 4, 3, and finally the winners were announced- a fab couple with the cutest smiles- they did a hilarious slow motion bit near the end.

My camera isn't great in the dark, but I quite like the way the speed comes across in these shots!

 I went with a friend and her friends who'd never been swing dancing before!!   Here we are.  (Just seen, weird beaded handbag on my lap that  a fashion student who was working in a second hand shop chose for me when I asked him if he had anything 1920's when I went to the Chap Olympiad last year!)

 I really tried with my hair- I reaally did! As mentioned before, I am bad at this!  I tied my hair in 2 loose plaits and then pinned them up to try and create the boyish cut look.  Then a black jet-bead style headband topped it off! (black jet bead earrings)

The dress is actually a Monsoon long dress, but when I played for a Great Gatsby production some years ago, I chose to wear a scarf around my waist and attempt to swag it up higher in order to create a midi-length,drop-waisted look! (Ignore the ugly pre-makeup, I-went-to-bed-at2-every-night-this-week face!)

 Both necklaces are thrifted!

 Have you tried swing dancing yet?  You must!!!!!! 
So what've you been up to this weekend??

Let them eat hats 26- The Chap Olympiad stalking inspired hat!

Oh dear! Poser!

On a previous post, I showed this hat as part of Northumbrian adventures! It was also a Hexham hospice purchase! I bought the scarf in the same shop to adorn it with as otherwise I was worried it might look a bit too much like I was wearing a basket on my head! When I put them together, it immediately reminded me of the hat worn by this girl I saw when I went to the Chap Olympiad in 2010. She looked like Agatha Christie in Doctor Who- I adored her outfit. That's her at the front of the screen with her back to the screen centre left, red dress, right of the girl in the black 50's netted dress. I kept looking for her the whole day, I loved her outfit so much! Was too shy to actually take a sneaky photograph of her as outfit inspiration but found her in this video as a still!Please excuse the 60's arm movements- a few days previouse I went to a 60's dance class at the Saturday night swing club (lindy hop etc) in London where we learnt the pony, the swim, etc!

I so would love her outfit! It was my first 'vintage/retro dressing' event I went to and I was dazzled.

Have you ever felt like you stalked someone because you loved their outfit so much you just wanted to look at it again?!

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