Style Imitating Art - Dining Room in the Country by Pierre Bonnard, 1913

I'm a little late with this post.  I managed to remember to join in with Style Imitating Art this week.

Terri was this week's host and curator and she chose this painting: 

I love the colours of this painting- very orangey, peachey and pale blue and cream and the brush strokes are very pleasing.

Here's how I chose to interpret it:

I started with the dress.

I spotted this vintage Phool dress in the charity shop in Hexham when I was there at the end of July (It cost £7). (I know this is a desirable Indian brand as Vix has mentioned it!)  I felt the material of this dress and is the most wonderful lightweight cotton.  That does mean it is a little delicate and I have noticed a little rip in the bodice on one side but it is lined so it does mean it just looks like part of the pattern. I am very much a fan of a lightweight, slightly oversized maxi dress for summer comfort and I felt it really picked out the various oranges, reds and peachy shades in the picture.

To pick out the pale blue, I wore this cobweb lace 100% linen cardigan from Monsoon (charityshopped last month) and I felt the cobweb was reminiscent of the texture of the painting.

To pick out the cream, I wore my Primark ballet shoe pumps and added a pair of resin flower  earrings (a gift from Hazel) and a Lemon necklace that CBC gave me for Christmas.

You can see how everyone else interpreted it by heading to the link from Terri's name at the top of the post.

What do you think?

x

Ah, the bliss of Summer.

 You probably realise by now, that I LIKE putting together outfits, buying pretty things, combining clothing items. But, oh, Summer, true Summer, not that half-baked British excuse for it, when all you have to do is pull on a dress  and some sandals and you are good to go, oh how I love it.
I believe this is why my wardrobe is full of dresses- because I long for that simplicity.

Of course, it is fun to pull together many layers in the winter- I've taken to wearing shirts/blouses this past year, under dresses, but no matter what, in the winter- I always feel scruffy. Winter is about layers and somehow, when you are in a rush, it isn't so fun. Whereas Summer is relaxed, summer is casual, Summer is much more laissez-faire.

This Emily and Fin dress and I get on well. Pockets- check. Cotton- check, lined- check.  Machine washable- check. fun and flattering -check. Don't have to try my size on, it just fits- check!

Thank you to WOMOTM who gave me the birthday voucher I bought this with last year.  Who'd have thought I once shunned yellow.

Long may hot days, Summer and the carefree wearing of dresses continue.
xx

Red and Blue

Greetings! Interrupting my long stream of German holiday reminiscences for some lurid pattern-mixing! Just a quick post as I am grappling with 3 part counterpoint.  I am doing something mad this Saturday and I know it is not going to end well because the thing I am doing, you don't do with only one week to try and teach yourself all the facets in order to pass this. But I am doing it anyway. And probably going to fail. But at least I am having a go and trying to be some of not-wasteful as it were. If I don't mention it again, you can assume I've failed it.  

Of course, I am procrastinating because when something is hard, you try to avoid it.

So, better get to it or at least back to it!

Going for some TARDIS-blue happiness here with Tiger beret, Primark cardie, Tesco-skirt and charity-shopped collared top. All very bright at least very cheery!

Wish me luck!

xx

5 brooches and friends #27

Bonjour mes Amies!

How are you today? Well I hope.  I have had a really nice weekend although I am very tired!!! Something about having to get up at 7.45 for church!

This week, I have a set of brooches and one interloper that mostly haven't featured on 5 brooches bar one!

In yesterday's post, I shared the beautiful scarf my sister gave me for Christmas.  Well, the other genius present she bought me was a necklace from Sugar and Vice.  I posted an 'Acrylic wishlist' back in January and actually included this necklace. She doesn't know about my blog so when I opened the present and found this, I was so happy!Just proves she really gets my taste!!! This isn't the best picture but the bubbles look really realistic in the correct light!!!

The next brooch was a birthday present also.This musical brooch was from my Deputy Head at school alongside the patterned bunny brooch she bought. She also really gets my taste too and always buys amazing pressies that I adore!

Foxy is the only brooch who has featured before in 5 brooches right near the start! I charity-shopped him and am rather fond of him!

It's always fun to jazz up a hat with a brooch too and when I decided to wear my purple floppy hat (charity-shopped 10 years ago!) I noticed I had attached these felt brooches from a long-gone Monsoon cardigan to them. They go very well!

The last brooch is actually a vintage scarf clip. When I charity-shopped this around 3-4 years ago, I didn't know what a scarf clip was- I just though it was a funny brooch!!! I have a  few scarf clips - some from my nan and some charity-shopped over time.

Any favourites?

Have you worn brooches this week? Do share!


Char has worn some nice brooches this week- she has some sweet Erstwilder dino clips!

xx
P.S. I announced my 11th blogiversary winners in the last post!

Style imitating Art outfit the Tiffany roof

When you think of Tiffany Lamps or the such-like, what immediately comes to mind.

Bizarrely, the comedy duo, Hale and Pace comes to my mind when I think of Tiffany lamps. The first time I heard the term was in some programme when I was a teenager in which Hale and Pace were challenged to design their own Catwalk couture collection.  They took inspiration from Tiffany lamps with the buttons they chose to adorn their pin-striped ladies' suits. They were Tiffany-like in their make-up. They also embroidered squiggles on their lapels. The suit came in red and black. Funny what you remember eh?

Anyway, this neatly (or not so neatly) segues me into this week's Style Imitating Art with new host Erin.  She chose this exquisite roof from the library of the Chicago Cultural Centre in celebration of National Library week in the U.S.

It is beautiful!!!


I decided to start with the criss-cross pattern as my basis and wore this dress (bought in Nottinghill in October for my Clara Oswald 'Under the Lake' cosplay') which sort of had the pattern in reverse.

 I added the red cardie and shoes as a nod to the colour in the second picture.

 And took the cardie off for to represent the picture where the red wasn't obvious.

The final touch was this vintage brooch (charity-shopped last April)  which I really felt represented that central intricate decoration.

How would you have interpreted this?

xxx

I love Northumberland

I write this after spending a week there with my family. They are CBC's family originally, of course, but now they are mine too.

When I saw Punkypins selling off this Northumberland necklace super-cheaply as it was their sample for the photos on the website, I pounced instantly. Luckily, there were no casualties as no one else had expressed an interest.

I love going up there to see our family as I've never quite had that sense of going home to somewhere, except for my year in Bali. I went to University in London and I lived at home for 2 years and only spent one year up there- I could reach home in 45mins.  For the years up until my marriage, I lived in my childhood home. My Mum had moved nearby so her home was not my home to return to as it were.  Now, my childhood home is no longer a place for me to return to as it has sold. I work in the area,

Now, Northumberland is that place for me, that I yearn to return to. I don't know it that well, but I love it.

 It is much more underpopulated than most other counties in the UK and less known but it is beautiful. There is so much glorious countryside.
It is rife with castles and Hadrian's wall of course! History is there to see.
It has red squirrels, a rare breed nowadays in the UK.
It has great fresh air and you can get to Scotland easily.
You can get there via East OR West Coast trains.

Family plays a huge part in it of course. But every time, I leave, I long to return.
Bye, bye Northumberland, I hope to come back soon.

I decided to share the necklace with hearts and flowers. Seems appropriate.

Outfit:

Beret- Primark charityshopped.

Heart sweater- Topshop via Charity shop.

Skirt - Primark,

Leggings- not sure.

Northumberland personalised necklace: Punkypins: choose your county here

Swinging in the trees-a sneaky TARDIS Tuesday on a Sunday

 I'm sorry, I try not to post too many outfit pics next to each other but I cannot seem to complete any of the myriad draft posts I have.. Nor can I seem to string any sentences particularly well together.

 So I thought I'd share an unnecessarily excessive amounts of photos of my outfit from today.  I bought this Fat Face dress in a charity shop in January and it fits me unbelievably well. Fat face size 6 seems to work for me! It has pockets too. Comfortably well.

Church on Palm Sunday today was very happy and it was very warm in the church.

 Like yesterday, I teamed it with other comfy items- these Clarks originals wedges are so comfy it is untrue- I don't wear them that often because I always worry about rain with suede.
The black cashmere cardie is an essential for cold concerts in cold churches. I did a concert in December with a choral society (like last night) where there was no heating and the wind players were right at the back by a drafty door- I stuck ALL my regular clothes under my black cardie and rued the consequences of looking like a trussed turkey and was STILL freezing. SO I bought a black cashmere cardie in the Tescos sale that very new year ready for freezing concerts.

 I posed with my Pylones watering can handbag just because it looked a bit boring but then I decided to swap my items into it anyway. I tend to stick with one of my handbags all the time and never use any other ones. Poor neglected ones. I did give away loads when I moved.

 Yes, I tried it. And scraped the skin off my hands.That bark is HARD and rough and I have zero upper body strength!

 Mwa ha ha!

 And because we all love the daft outtakes...

I can't wait till Summer!

Thank God Spring is sort of with us! I like exploring different spots in my garden. This one is quite good and it is a MIRACLE I didn't step in fox poo as I was trekking to and from the tripod as there was some directly in my path which I kept forgetting about. Every time I glanced down and re-remembered it was there, I scrutinized my soles instantly to see if I'd been careless. Luckily not.
Which is odd, since I was dog-poo girl as a child. The one who ALWAYS stepped in poo when wearing new shoes. Sigh...

After church, I spent the time putting away washing, tidying up and emptying the final boxes of books onto the shelves. There are a couple of bags dotted around which need emptying and the dining room table is a tip of miscellanea but I think I've nearly got there. The house is looking RATHER* tidy! Maybe I'm not such an Impossible girl?

Oooh and I put lots of my bigger brooches onto a Brooch board (a heart-shaped memo board picked up from Aldi for a fiver!)

We went out to dinner with our friends too which means I have left over Pizza for lunch tomorrow.

xxx

Linking to Visible Mondays with Patti.
If we were still doing TARDIS Tuesday, this would have a Doctor Who feel to it- do you agree? Or maybe the necklace is too subtle without the TARDIS blue dress?

*I say rather. By MY standards. I expect the Clutter Police would disagree!

Foxed!

 Hello there!

CBC and I are pretty hopeless when it comes to planning our weekends. We survive the week at school and get to the weekend and start to wonder what we could do.

Luckily, this weekend, CBC had been looking at the Ballet Rambert performance at Sadler's Wells theatre in Angel, London and I came home on Friday to discover he'd booked a pair of tickets for us to go and see it.
If you've not heard of them, they are a contemporary dance company.  I studied contemporary dance as part of my A'level performing arts so I do enjoy seeing contemporary dance.  The last contemporary dance we saw was Akram Khan also at the Sadler's well which I was enamoured by.

Here's the Sadler's Wells summary of what we saw which was a triple bill of three pieces:

Rambert, Britain’s national dance company brings dances about love, art and rock ’n’ roll to Sadler’s Wells.
In Transfigured Night two lovers meet by moonlight, and a dark secret threatens to tear them apart. Created by two-time Olivier Award-winning choreographer Kim Brandstrup, it is a dramatic love story, with intimate duets and spectacular ensemble dancing amplifying the beauty and romance of itsSchoenberg score.
The 3 Dancers is based on one of Picasso’s greatest paintings, and the tragic love triangle that inspired it. Choreographer Didy Veldman and composerElena Kats-Chernin bring to life Picasso’s vivid Cubist imagery and the themes of love, desire and betrayal which fill his work.

Topping the bill is a final chance to see Rooster, Christopher Bruce’s funny, thrilling smash hit celebrating the swinging sixties. Sharp-dressed, snake-hipped men dance to impress strong, sassy women, to the pulsating rock ’n’ roll of the Rolling Stones’ most famous tunes, including Not Fade Away, Paint It Black, Sympathy for the Devil and Little Red Rooster.

The 3 dancers was first and was very beautiful. At the start, there was a great interplay between the dancers in black and the dancers in white and use was made of the shadows and lighting wonderfully. Some minimal 'scenery' was three mirrored shards of glass which struck the stage at various times.  The interplay between the sets of dancers in their opposed monochrome shades changed dramatically as different relationships developed between the dancers. The music was an intriguing subdued tango mood and was very suitable as it had a beautiful suppressed passion.

Transfigured night was based on a gorgeous piece by Arnold Schoenberg which I have played called Verklarte (umlaut needed on the a) Nacht.  The music is wonderful and was lusciously played.  The dancing was really beautiful and very emotional.  The female lead was tortured by her secret (which is actually that she is pregnant with another man's child, who she met before her current lover) and the feelings of despair as she tried to explain to her lover was well expressed through her dance.  A wonderful sequence of remembrance on her part of young innocence was enacted through a younger couple who danced with effervescent fluidity and joy.   Thankfully at the end, her lover returned.  I loved this.

The final piece was Rooser which was hysterical! It was based on a Rolling Stones score and was so witty and so completely other to the previous two dances. I've never seen funny contemporary dance before and I am glad I did.  One of the best moves was this pedestrian rooster strut (a bit like a chicken walk, but a very upright one! You can see it brieefly in the clip here) that the men in the dance did at times which had all the audience giggling.  Ruby Tuesday, a flowing dance performed by a danger in long red billowing robes was preceeded by a Rooster who just couldn't cope with all the beauty of her.  I've not really listened to the Rolling Stones before and I was impressed with their music- such intelligence in the music and lyrics and really wonderful instrumentation- there was even a recorder in there! I'd definitely like to hear more.

I thought I'd share a very simple outfit that I wore.Nothing too fancy but I quite liked the combination of items. The whole outfit stemmed from that blue fox scarf (from Haltwhistle) which had to be paired with the fox brooch.  I felt more orange was needed to added this River Island skirt which is one of my few orange items.

 And a sparkly beret for the journey!
I was very comfy as I'd wear this top for hanging around at home.I'd love to get really dressed up for the theatre but I think I'd prefer to be comfy in my seat so this was just the trick.

I put the brooch on accidentally at a jaunty angle so I was amused to see this picture in which Foxy and I had our heads on one side! What a childish sense of humour I do have!


Have you seen any contemporary dance at all?

How would you dress for the theatre?

And what is 528474 x 76?

xxx

TARDIS Tuesday- The temporary Caretaker

Image borrowed from http://www.combom.co.uk/2014_09_21_archive.html but original images belong to the BBC.

Hello there!
Greetings on this fine (?) TARDIS Tuesday.
Today, I am returning to my favourite Who assistant, the irrepressible Clara Oswald, to a Series 8 outfit from The Caretaker.

I've already 'cosplayed' (AKA done an outfit!) the other Clara outfit in this episode and I decided to do the other outfit today. I've had all the items for a long time now. The shirt (New Look) and skirt (Topshop) are both charity-shopped, the shoes are Clarks and the Collar clips are from Flapper Doodle. Mine aren't the Ladybird likes moons but since the shape is similar, that's close enough for cricket, eh?

Believe it or not, this is an incredibly comfortable outfit.  I can fit about 5 layers under this shirt so I've enjoyed wearing it on colder days and despite the skirt not being my fit and flare usual, it actually fits ok. It is very thick tapestry material

I have a sewing question. I would like to create some new button holes to be able to wear this shirt done up to the top (it needs two more buttons)- can I do this very easily by sewing? How would I do this please?

So, it's over to you.

Maricel is taking a little hiatus from blogging TARDIS Tuesday for a little while, so I am the temporary Caretaker of it (see what I did there?)  for a little while after this week- so please help me keep the dream alive and link your blue, Clara-esque outfits, TARDIS badges and homages to Tom Baker! She'll be back of course  but please go and help encourage her back by going to say Hi here ! ;-)  because I shall miss my illustrious leader and Who fan girl. It is very nice of her to stop me from pining irretrievably, by allowing me to continue it in the meantime.

I hope all is well with you.
xx

An InLinkz Link-up

The tale of the friendly Moor hen babies

Sorry about the mix-up with the brooch post- that's what happens when you mess up your html- you end up with JUST a link up! If you missed the next Brooch instalment, hit the last post!

Moor hens, I find, are rather timid.Unlike they goosey and ducky counterparts, they will scurry away from you regardless of your intentions etc.

Yet, there are two unusually audacious moorhens who were oblivious to me and just pootled around as I took these photos in the park!  My park is VERY well used. I had to perch my camera on a bench and take it nonchalantly in about 10 seconds between pedestrians and dog-walkers.

This outfit was one of berry shades I thought appropriate for the weather.  I don't think I've shared this dress on the blog before but it's charity-shopped from Jack Wills with tiny black spots on it and it's a great jersey t-shirt dress!
I teamed it with this country casuals belt (also charity-shopped) and worked from there- the navy rosette brooch matched the belt, the cardie, given by a friend moving back to Canada and the navy blue F21 tights. Deichmann boots and then I felt I needed a scarf.  This one is silk and I bought it in Bali from a Javanese stall at the International Arts festival a decade ago.  I'm very fond of it and I always feel like an art teacher when I wear it tied artistically around my neck!

The usual Autumnal/Winterish malaise has hit me and I cannot be bothered to photograph any outfits- this was from a sunny day 2 weeks ago! Pity as everyone loved what I wore to orchestra yesterday!

I hope that all is well with you.
xx

On reluctance to wear a vintage dress.

 Here's a dress I found in a charity shop a few months ago. Actually, I score really well in this charity shop- it was where I found the Cath Kidston dress and Kangol bag etc.
I couldn't believe I'd found a genuine vintage maxi dress (FYI by Louis Caring of London. Made in England, size 12) , in my size, in my length, in my style and in a material tolerable to my fussy tendencies. It cost about £7 and what I loved even more was the fact it had a sailor vibe to it with that mustard piping.  It had a Regency/Elizabeth Bennett-aesthetic,  to it which I loved even more and yet, I ummed and ahed over it.

Fast forward a few months and I just hadn't worn it. Ridiculous.  But somehow, it never seemed the right occasion to wear it.  Too dressy for one day, too hot for another, impractical for another day's activities.  Vix and Curtise would (and should) pull me up on this.

Finally, I decided to take it to camp with me. Because camp is the place that I feel most comfortably myself and could get away with it.    It was a day that was sunny with a chill wind and I must say, I loved floating around camp in it.

The light in the arboretum wasn't the greatest for taking photos with the self-timer on the edge of a bench so you can't see the pretty print so well but there are tiny seeds from a blown Dandelion clock on the main part with thistles on the sleeves.

Everyone was really complementary about it at camp but I felt the need to justify wearing it as the fact that camp was the one place I could wear it. Perhaps I'll be braver about wearing it out to do the shopping in Lidl on another occasion now it has made its debut?

Have you ever experienced this awkwardness in wearing something?
xx

Turquoise tigers

Hello there! How are you? Well, I hope.  Thanks for all your positive comments on my last post. There are, of course, difficult times or frustrating lessons, but the overall feel is positive!

Today, I am not sure why exactly I am sharing these except for the fact that this is the type of scruffy outfit I like wearing in the summer when I'm not doing anything particularly smart or of consequence. I was wearing this on a Sunday doing some gardening, I wore it for church too on a morning I wasn't really bothered about dressing up.
The skirt has spots and tigers over it and I found it with Sophie and Hazel on our Ipswich charity shop crawl. It's lovely floaty and light and has tiny pleats in it. The cardigan is another old charity shop find and with its weird-pockets becoming the hem, it's not one I wear for smart occasions.  The necklace is the same colour and also comes from a charity shop. To stick to a simple 3 colour palette, I wore these bronze lace-ups to tie in with the tigers.

Nothing particularly stylish or noteworthy but it works for me!

We had a wonderful Lake District walk today which I will tell you about soon but it is SO nice to be up north again with my lovely family.  We returned from the lakes and J made a delicious roasted vegetable risotto with a box of veg we bought at Doddington Hall farm shop last weekend.  It's funny, but since CBC has become a non-meat eater, I find myself loving the vegetarian choices like this.  As you've often noticed from my food posts, we didn't eat much meat anyway, but I find myself often nowadays finding meat a bit hard going- I can't seem to get through it.

We're hoping to do a few fun things up here in Northumberland as long as the weather holds out- the forecast seems to suggest rain is imminent and all-powerful. Or something like that! Delightfully, a dear friend from my home town is moving to Hexham this week so we are going to meet up! I hoping for a bit of Farne island action too as well as a trip to the Cheviots too. And a trip to Haltwhistle outdoor pool which I've only been to TWICE in my entire 6 year relationship with CBC and visits to here!

Hope all is delightful with you.

Much love,
xxx

My bright yellow raincoat

Usually, when it comes to making expensive purchases, I um and ah over this for a long time.  I'm fine making charity shop purchases that cost a couple of pounds (do too many of these) but I worry about spending a lot on one item.  Yet, when I do, they usually end up being very useful.  Like my Doc Martens last October, they cost me a lot of money but were invaluable through the winter for my 3 miles a day walk to and from school.  For a good long time, I've wanted a good raincoat. The cheap raincoats I've been using up till now have not beeen great, they are only showerproof and I get wet, they are unstructured and they make me sweat- especially as I often running 'late' in the rain and want to get there quicker. Enter Seasalt Cornwall, whose products I came across last July when I bought a Seasalt dress in Hay on Wye. I discovered they have an excellent range of raincoats which make use of cotton with a special waxing called Tin Cloth. Not only that, but they look cool too!!!

I fell in love with their Seafolly raincoat, a cotton-based raincoat with Duffle coat toggles and a fun stripy lining but scuttled away at the cost.
 Months and months had gone by (about 9!) and I kept looking at them and thinking I really wanted a good quality raincoat.
Finally, we went to Totnes and I saw that there was a Seasalt shop in Totnes so I could go and try on the raincoats.  They had a special promotion that day with money off so I bit the bullet and bought it.
It got lots of use in Totnes over the week


I am so pleased with my raincoat- it worked well in the rain and I can wear it when it might rain.

I bought a size 10 rather than an 8 so I can wear a jumper under it.  I can recommend it highly. It makes me smile every time I see it! It also kind of completes my rainbow of coats inadvertently!

On this day in Totnes, we were visiting Sharpham Vineyard and I wore it with my Cath Kidston Ricrac dress from my Dad/Step Mum for my birthday.



And should I get lost, you'll see me a mile off!


On the cliffs...





What do you wear in the rain? Do you do lots of walking like me and need a proper raincoat?

xxx