Look, I love cardigans. Once upon a time, and maybe even still in some people’s eyes, they were considered prim, a bit wet possibly, certainly not high fashion. Over the last decade, though, the humble cardigan has become a staple in almost every woman’s wardrobe, and in many men’s. Whether you like them oversized and slouchy, crew necked or cropped, there’s a cut, colour and even print for everyone.
Dancing Days have a lot of cute things on offer this season, some of them new colourways of existing separates, like the April cardigan. I first saw it last season and came close many a time to buying it, for some reason never completing the purchase. This season, though, the new colours include mustard yellow and a rich emerald green, two of my favourites, so finally a purchase was guaranteed. In my heart of hearts I wanted the mustard colourway, but since I already have DD’s Modern Love top in that shade as well as a MAK cropped cardigan in mustard, I decided to get the dark green. I think I made the right choice.
Have you figured out by now that I like green? Rich, emerald green makes me happy. It’s a colour that is surprisingly hard to find in vintage inspired clothing and I can’t at all figure out why. Jewel toned greens look good on pretty much everyone, so you’d expect it to be the kind of colour that is offered widely across all kinds of clothing, dresses and sweaters, skirts and blouses, shrugs and…okay, emerald trousers might be a bit too much for most people, but you get the idea, right? I’m a fan. I’m keen on green. And it frustrates me to no end when I’m putting together an outfit that would pair beautifully with a pop of emerald green, except nowhere can I find what I’m looking for to complete my vision. There are fewer things sadder than the days when the internet search engine fails you. Oh modern life, you make everything so easy yet so dramatic.
But oh ho, what hence! Is that Voodoo Vixen coming to my aide, providing me with green lovelies a plenty this chilly and festive season?
Why yes, yes it is. Continue reading
Peter Pan collars aren’t usually my thing–unless they’re on a cardigan, that is. Something about a collared cardigan always strikes me as more polished than a regular round necked cardigan, so this Katy pearl cardigan by Voodoo Vixen won me over the moment I first saw it. Not only does is sport a Peter Pan collar, but said collar is trimmed with delicate faux pearls and finished with an eye catching ivory bow. Ding ding ding! We have a winner.
I have a lot of dresses. I love them all, perhaps not equally, but a lot. More than most women love their clothes. So it frustrates me and saddens me somewhat when autumn, winter, even parts of spring (and summer here in the UK, to be honest) come around and require me to either trade in my sleeveless and strappy dresses or else layer them beneath a cardigan. And don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with a cardigan. These days they’re a fashion staple, a downright given. I’m sure you, like I, own approximately 20 in different lengths and colours, necklines and sleeve lengths. They’re useful and warm, but there’s no escaping the fact that cardigans cover not only your arms but at least some of your dress too. And on some dresses, that is nothing more than a shame.
I own plenty of dresses with beautiful feature bustlines, gorgeous prints, even embroidered patterns. I recently bought a v-neck sleeveless dress with exquisite embroidery that winds all the way down from the shoulder straps over the bust and waist towards my hips. It makes me think of Christmas and feels especially appropriate to wear this time of year, but the lack of sleeves means that if I layer a cardigan atop it I cover up some of the beautiful embroidery that makes it so special.
Which is why I’m maybe a little too excited that I found Wingz. I stumbled across them on Facebook just a couple weeks ago and was immediately drawn in. Wingz is a line of sleeves that you can layer under almost any neckline dress or top because they’re designed as an under-top with a super low bustline that layers over your bra, creating sleeves you can layer under tops and dresses to keep warm without effecting the lay, cut or style of your clothes.
Cardigans are useful little things. For those of us who live in more temperate climes, they make an easy go-to for adapting an established outfit for cooler days rather than having to dig through your winter wardrobes for anything heavier or sleeved. For those who have confidence issues with their upper arms, or even their middle section, it’s an easy way to shroud your insecurities without sacrificing your outfit on the whole to said quibbles. They’re normally cute, sometimes plain, often simple. Rarely, though, is the useful cardigan sassy and sexy.
Until now. Say hello to the Iris cardigan from Voodoo Vixen.
The collaboration between Wheels & Dollbaby and Dita Von Teese has to be the most beautiful piece to grace the category of knitwear of all time. Featuring a peter pan collar, embroided flowers, velvet buttons, pretty pleated contrast satin ribbon trim and a sexy yet classy keyhole, it is beauty unto itself. Which makes it kind of a shame that at £120 it is well out of the budget of your average girl looking to buy a cardigan. I’ve coveted the original blush and black colourway for a long time, and have a lipstick red look-alike blouse that I ordered off eBay forever ago and have since grown to feel dissatisfied with not merely because the craftsmanship is so shoddy that I lose a button everytime I leave the house but also because I’ve grown to feel very uncomfortable with just how blatant a rip-off the design is of the original. But I still can’t afford to justify spending £120 on one cardigan. That’s crazy money for a sweater. It would pain me to figure out how many hours I’d have to work to spend it on that alone.
And yet.
And yet I lust, Dita. I lust. Continue reading
Miss Amy May 