I’m a pretty equal opportunity colour-wearer. It’s only really pink that I consciously avoid wearing as a block colour, but despite that there are several colours that don’t make it into my wardrobe often, with coral and brown among them. Seeing me in this dress, therefore, has probably come as a bit of a surprise, for you and I both.
Right now a pretty dress that turns out to be comfortable and lightweight enough to wear even on a hot, sunny day at home in lockdown feels not only like a happy surprise, but a total lockdown delight. The fact that this Elina-Lou dress is also so elegant that it will serve as a beautiful occasion dress once things return to normal makes it even more special.
Last week I shared with you a review of the Polka Dot Claudia Max dress by Alexandra King for Deadly is the Female, a piece that immediately became one of my favourite dresses of all time. I bought it using money I had been given for my birthday specifically for buying myself some treats from my favourite small businesses, so Deadly is the Female of course had to be top of that list. At the same time I also bought myself the Navy Flutter Sleeve Claudia dress, because its understated chicness but clear practicality had been calling to me like a siren song ever since I had first tried it on in early March. Genuinely, I’ve been thinking about this dress at least a couple times a week since. I’m so, so pleased that my memories of it live up to it’s beauty.
Twice a year I look forward to the release of Miss Candyfloss’s lookbook for their new season. It always goes the same way; the second I realise it’s online I rush to load it up on my phone, then take screenshots of all my favourite items, whiiiiich basically ends up being at least 20 products. Over the following weeks I periodically revisit those screenshots, daydreaming about my favourite pieces and wondering which events in the coming season I will wear them for. (I mean, there’s a bit of sensible budgeting that happens there in my brain, as I whittle down what I’ll realistically be able to buy myself, but still, in the daydreaming part I can enjoy them all.) Somehow, there’s always one stand out piece that’s my favourite at first glance, and it always remains so in anticipation of its release, even if that’s months later. For SS20? My favourite was Flava-Rose, and my, she sure lives up to that in person.
Now, one could try to argue that I already have ‘too many’ Claudia dresses from the Alexandra King for Deadly is the Female line. Could, but I would suggest no one even bother, because there’s no way they could convince me. I own 4 of the bishop sleeve knee-length dresses (a pure classic, I don’t regret a single one of those purchases,) a bishop sleeve velvet floor length gown (bought for my sister’s now-postponed wedding, which I will now be desperate to wear ASAP as a result,) and a chiffon-y delicious flutter sleeve knee length dress, which is a summertime glory. So, yeah, you might have thought I ‘have enough,’ BUT. BUT! That would be wilfully ignoring the fact that they’ve recently released their first line of printed maxis, and my goodness, they are gorgeous.
Some dresses serves as an epitome of a certain time, or feeling, or season. This little number from The Pretty Dress Company? Well this dress is mostly certainly spring.
Considering how out-of-the-ordinary everything is these days I can’t tell you how much it means to me to be able to still enjoy the building sunshine, fresh breezes and blooming flowers of spring. Spring is my favourite season anyway, and only a tiny bit because my birthday is in May, but right now? Right now all my favourite parts of the sweetest, lightest season feel even more beautiful and uplifting. Sun peaking through the curtains in the early morning, the chance to open your windows without it being an immediate mistake because of freezing air or insistent insects, and, let’s face it, right now especially, the chance to wear something that feels and looks just plain happy and floaty and lovely. This new dress by Miss Candyfloss definitely counts as the latter.
So, uh…things are pretty different these days, huh?
I used to give a little summary at the start of my monthly outfit round ups, but I stopped after a while because I just didn’t think it was a necessary component of those posts. Now, though, it would be weird not to address what’s going on in the world, which is obviously the rapid and wide spreading of Covid-19. I know different countries are and will continue to be in varying levels of isolation and lockdown; here in the UK we’ve been officially social distancing since just before the middle of March, with a more extensive ‘essential work and travel only’ lockdown beginning shortly after.
As such, I obviously didn’t socialise in March as I usually would have, and since I only dress up in my vintage style lovelies for socialising that means the chance to get pinned up as usual evaporated a few weeks back. What you likely don’t know, though, is that I’m often anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks behind in uploading some of my outfits, because I’m lazy and the whole process involves a tedious transfer from camera to computer, then to the cloud, then on to my phone in order to even post an OOTD on Instagram. So for the remainder of March after social distancing began I had been posting old outfits I had accumulated in an accidental backlog.
Meanwhile, in reality, I moved in with my brother’s family, where I will be living for the duration that this virus remains a threat, and until the middle of last week I’d been continuing to go to work because by day I’m a full-time warehouse supervisor at a warehouse that is part of the supply chain. Now that I’ve been furloughed, I’m sure there will be days that I decide to dress up just to have something fun and remotely normal to do, but these outfits below are some of my last ones I have banked and once they run out you and I will both have to get used to sporadic outfit shots taken against a new background (!!)–where exactly that will be, I haven’t figured out yet. I tried to take a couple of my outfits over Easter weekend but my first choice had dubious lighting, so it’s back to the drawing board on that.
All of this is to say that I don’t currently intend to shut down the blog entirely during the duration of this pandemic–for now, I’ve had messages saying that for those quarantined at home or struggling to cope with the sudden changes we’ve all had to make they’ve found that it’s nice to still be able to keep up with others in our vintage community online and to still share pictures, outfits, chat, etc. While that remains a joyful and helpful outlet for myself and others I’m more then happy to keep Instagramming and blogging when I can.
Please be assured that any photos taken outside are done so within the safety of my garden. I want to focus as much as I can on promoting small businesses that will need extra help to stay afloat during this crisis in the hopes that we can help them make it out the other side of it, so where possible I’ll be doing garden-shot reviews for that purpose. Overall, I just want to be totally honest with you that I’m abiding by any government guidelines, I’m doing my best to supply and care for the vulnerable and elderly within my community, and that, just like everyone else, I don’t know where this is all going and will likely make adjustments as needed as time goes on. All we can do is care for one another, be vigilant, and do our part in being a supportive, proactive community.
I hope you and all your loved ones are safe and well, and continue to remain so. If you care about looking at pretty outfits please scroll down to enjoy 3 minutes of mindless vintage oblivion, but if not thank you for reading this update. Stay home and stay safe!
All my love
I often ruminate that millinery is one of those art forms that people (wrongly) think must be a lot easier than it really is. The skill required to craft a hat, fascinator or cap that looks perfect in its beauty and lasts well is immense, which is why I’m continually grateful for the day that I discovered Belbeina Lee. A one-woman business, it functions solely through the love, skill and craftsmanship of designer and maker Katie, a New Zealander mum who, as far as I’m concerned, is incapable of producing anything other than the most beautiful headpieces of the highest quality. Today, I’m thrilled to share with you one of her more recent pieces, the Ella Leaf Cap.
It’s Saturday, so you know what that means? Time to look at another pretty thing; this time, it’s a gorgeous shirt dress from sustainably-made and woman-owned Love UR Look!
