More Art Deco loveliness

Here are some more photos of my day at Ranfurly for the Art Deco festival.  

 Left, vintage toys, top right amazing washing machine, both at the Centennial Milk Bar Museum.  Middle and bottom right cute donkey and hat display in antique shop.

The Museum has an amazing display of Art Deco glass and kitchenware:

I have an extensive collection of Bagley glass myself - frosted glass from the 1930s - however in my 1950s state house it is difficult to display as there are very few shelves and only one fire place.  In my dream home I will have (one day) most of it out on display.  I really enjoyed seeing all the glass and lovely china together, and there was also a bed room display with a gorgeous curved dressing table and linens.  In the back room which was set out like kitchen I found a very cute tin with two kittens.  

One thing I love are the boxes made from cards.  Vintage Bird Girl has a few.  My husband's family had a very large hexagonal box used to store the scrabble tiles.  I have very fond memories of playing scrabble and putting my hand inside the box, praying for a decent letter!!  Anyway, part of the festival was a car boot sale and stalls - some sold what I affectionately call "tat".  There were a couple of antique dealers and quite a few crafts.  But, my favourite stall was a lady who sat crocheting under a gazebo out of the sun.  She had lots and lots of vintage jewellry and .........she made vintage boxes!!!

 Don't you just adore the one with the black and white kittens?  She told me it was made from a Golden Book.  What you can't quite see in the photo is that she had also made a beaded tassel to use as a button to open the lid.  I really wanted it, but, had already spent my $20.  

On the way home via a road called the Pig Route, we stopped at a little town called Palmerston which has an impressive monument on top of a hill nearby.  Apparently you can walk up inside the monument and its on my "to do" list.  Palmerston has a New Zealand Books only bookshop which my husband and daughter dutifully visited.  If you look at the photo on the top right of the collage below...go one...enlarge it....you can see the shop sign. 

Palmerston has a large bank (centre right) which would have held the gold found on the Central Otago goldfields before being taken to Dunedin or Christchurch.  The bank is now a shop selling expensive but good quality locally made jewelry, clothes and other art objects.  There were some very wispy cloud formations which I tried to capture in these photos.  It was a lovely day trip, just such a pity that Sunday was spent doing washing, cleaning, etc etc.  

Some vintage tins, skirts continued and a bit of Art Deco

Hello Readers, 

Hope you are all having a good week.  Thank you for your lovely comments about my skirt posts.  I have more to show you today.  

First though I want to tell you about some amazing vintage biscuit and cake tins which I have bought recently:

All these came from the amazing Butterflies Hospice Shop.  All cost either $3 or $5 or $8.  The gorgeous vintage rose border belongs to the one with the lady on the front.  I am not sure who she is.  Anyone recognise her?  I have looked through a few of my vintage movie star albums but not been able to identify her.  The tin is stronger than the others and a bit smaller than my normal round cake tin so it is best used for biscuits.  The lovely floral one with pansies has the green print border (I am sure it would appeal to Vintage Bird Girl)and is just the right size for a large round cake.  Mt Egmont (before it was changed to Mt Taranaki) makes me think of Girl from the Naki, and it perfect for large square cake such as fudge brownie.  

Its funny how Monday is not a good blog day for me - I seem to be incapable of taking a photo of my outfit or even feeling like blogging.  Tuesday I wore my Diane Freis dress again - with a waistcoat as it was ever so slightly cooler.  The photo is a shocker and I see I have cut my head off and I am also wearing yellow sneakers which I did not wear to work but clearly was wearing at the end of the day at the time of the photo shoot.  Yes, those are the cricket wickets in the background, 11yo daughter has been practising.  

Anyway, on Wednesday I had a very important union meeting with management and I usually wear red because I like to be dressed like a communist brightly and cheerfully.  This time, inspired by my awesome readers I got out the green sari magic skirt again and was determined to wear it differently:  

This time I paired it up with a white tee shirt (originally a crew neck but like the lovely Desiree I can't stand tight collars so I cut it off.  What you can't see is that it has an unusual marionette design over the left shoulder.)  An old belt and some wedges complete the outfit - as you can see my number one fan loves it.  He is such a smoocher!

I also have a confession: I am a technical dork.  I could not make my email programme send my outfit photo to the fabulous Tamera who had a birthday party in the weekend.  I tried and tried but the computer/internet said "no".  To compensate I thought I would show you what I did wear in the weekend and would have worn to Tamera's party:

Here I am at an Art Deco Festival in Ranfurly.  Ranfurly is a very small town in the middle of nowhere and in the 1930s there was a big fire and a whole lot of the town was rebuilt in Art Deco style architecture.  I am wearing a vintage "Truly Fair" sun dress which I bought a couple of weeks back at the Presbyterian Support shop for $8.  

The milk bar is now a museum and full of lovely treasures which made me wish I could go back in time and live as a flapper.  

Frock on Friday - double trouble!!

Hello lovely readers!  Thanks for all your great comments on my last post.  I did not feel 100% this week so I have only 3 outfits to show you.  

Firstly, I want to show you my Frock on Friday for last week.  

Continuing with the skirt theme I decided to wear a skirt I am not wild about and try to make it more "likable".  It's one of those "magic" skirts which is refashioned from a couple of saris.  I bought it from Ashburton a couple of Christmas's ago.  When I wear it green side outwards I think and feel like I am a Christmas decoration.  

So to change things around, I wore it with the side which is predominantly gold with green and red has an abstract pattern which reminds me of Aztec designs: 

Magic skirt made from two recycled Saris - Sababa Ashburton
Red tee shirt - Butterflies Hospice Shop $2
Gold belt and denim jacket retail
Vintage bone necklace Trademe
Selection of bangles all thrifted

I am still not wild about it but I do prefer it to the green side.  

On Saturday I went to town with my 11yo and dressed fairly casually.  We had to buy a new swimsuit for the Waterpolo player and took the opportunity to go for a milkshake and and shared Mississippi mudcake with cream.  While we were sitting minding our own business in the mall, the cutest little girl with pigtails and in a pink dress came up to our table.  She looked up at me and said "I think you two look like mermaids."  Well we were just delighted.  Do I look like a mermaid?  I am not sure but the little girl sure made our day with her lovely compliment. 

Paul Klee skirt - previously a maxi skirt from Presbyterian Support
Iconic Keep New Zealand Beautiful tee shirt - Butterflies Hospice $2 (it was brand new and unworn)
Neon orange shoes - retail
Selection of bangles - all thrifted except for the yellow rose one

Yes, that's a gratuitous cat photo to show you my handsome boy.  

So as I said, I was not feeling 100% this week, and thus there are no photos.  Well there was one but I did not like it so I am not posting it.  Today, I am nearly back to my "normal self" and it IS friday.  So here is a Frock on Friday pic that is actually posted on a friday:

Vintage Polyester dress - Toffs $2
Vintage du Barry Shoes - Presbyterian Support $1
Retail necklace - on sale $3

It is possible to be dressed nicely for work, feel comfortable but not too hot and look a whole lot different to all the others in the office for only $6.  What I also want to share with you is that I bought some Hairchalk this morning and put turquoise tips on my hair which blend in so beautifully with my dress that you cannot see them in this photo.  However, what made me smile is that some of my colleagues kept looking at me funny, but said nothing!!!   

I feel like watching an "old" movie tonight - maybe some Hitchcok or Breakfast at Tiffany's.  What have you got planned?  As for my weekend, you will just have to wait and see ;-)

Skirting around the place

Hi everyone, hope you are all having a good week.  I decided that I would try and wear a skirt every day and in new and exciting combinations.  

First up is the skirt that was recently a vintage cotton dress.  I had to cut the top of the dress off as it was not in good condition - particularly around the armholes.  Then I tried to add some shaping, put in a zip and made a bias binding lazy waistband.  It is a little big, which is why my grey top is out rather than tucked in but it was very comfortable.

Skirt refashioned from vintage cotton sundress from Restore $7
Grey tee shirt top, from Hospice Butterflies $2
Black obi belt, years old retail
Bangles 50 cents from Hospice Butterflies
Necklace from Hospice Mosgiel
Wooden Ring retail, Melbourne
Stone ring, Hospice Butterflies $1 I think
Shoes,  bought retail last week

I have slipped off the wagon recently as I bought a pair of black wedges retail - I know I already have a pair of black heels but these were so cute with the off-centre bow.  

Tuesday I wore a new combination of colours - pink and orange - with gold, which I consider a metal not a colour.   The outfit looks better in the photo than I expected.  The shirt is a little snug on me now and short in the bodice and it kept coming adrift from inside the skirt/belt.  However, the feeling of the skirt fabric swishing around my legs is just wonderful.  

Wednesday I wore a never worn before purple pleated skirt with a me-made top.  I was not wild about this outfit.  Although I love the skirt the top is very slippery fabric which kept coming out from being tucked into the skirt.  I felt like I was constantly in a state of clothing adjustment.  

Left: pink and gold embroidered skirt, Restore $7
pink shirt, Hospice Shop $2, gold belt years old retail
various pink bangles all opshopped
pink watch guilty retail spend
pink Melissa shoes completely innocent internet purchase
Right top: purple pleated skirt, Presbyterian Support $1
homemade top and pink card, Savemart, belt Hospice shop 50 cents
Right bottom: yellow skirt made from a maxi, Savemart $7
homemade top, gold belt as above, giant pearls retail

Today's outfit may have been worn before - but a quick glance through my library shows no evidence of this outfit on my blog.  I think it might have been a day when I did not take a photo.  Thus this outfit is "new" to my blog.  I wore my top outside my skirt to avoid annoying skirt top problem encountered earlier in the week and with the gold belt which has proven so useful.  

So there you have it - different combination of items and colors, a couple of refashioned items, some op-shopped items and some Made by Me items.  The question now, is, what am I going to wear tomorrow????  

Yay, its Friday! Frock On.

Yay, I actually managed to post a "Frock on Friday" pic on Friday.  It's a miracle.  Actually it's because we had a public holiday on Wednesday so I have not come home from work and just blobbed on the couch all evening and watched tv (or worse, played the sinful games on Facebook.....)

Here I am in on of my favorite new-to-me frocks from Toffs - yes, from the exclusive $2 section.  Its a New Zealand made polyester number which I think dates from the 1980s.  The front is quite low so I have to use one of those teeny tiny safety pins to keep things all together!

1980s polyester Wyndham frock from Toffs, $2
Shoes - retail
Belt - Butterflies Hospice Shop
Selection of bangles - all thrifted
Necklace - Presbyterian Support Yellow Shop

The photo is not great as there is a bit of over exposure (ooh er) on my decolletage - its not really lily white honestly.  By the way, its been a good year for my Dahlias - these are the ones I got for free from the St Vincent de Paul a couple of years ago.  

I started the week feeling a little cool - I mean cold actually.  We had a change in the weather so I felt justified in getting out a thicker polyester dress and my fave lurex cardigan: 

St Michael polyester dress - Butterflies Hospice Shop
Lurex Cardigan (Made in NZ) - Trademe
Shoes - Trademe
Bangles and necklaces - thrifted

Something funny was happening to my hair in the photo - and I look a bit cold.  I think I am saying "hurry up and take the photo darling" or words to that effect.  The foliage and flowers are from a recent visit to the Botanical Gardens.  Not sure what happened on Tuesday and as I said, Wednesday was a public holiday.

On Thursday, I made a really really special effort and wore another of the exclusive fashion items from the $2 section of Toffs.  I know, I go there nearly every week.  Actually I think I go there twice a week!  

The dress is a poly/linen blend, Made in Australia and I guess its from the 1980s.  The poofy shoulders give me that idea.  The shoulder pads were ripped out straight away.  This dress is very fitted, and narrow through the legs so I was not able to carry boxes, climb on stuff or bend down and pick up a dropped pencil.  

Poly/linen blend 1980s dress - Toffs
Red Obi belt - retail years ago
Red and white VW Melissa Lady Dragon Heart shoes - special birthday present when I was 40. 

Alas my attire did not raise any eyebrows but during the photo shoot at home that evening I had my favourite boy fawning around my legs and demanding attention.  The dress was very comfortable to wear - as you can see it has nice deep pockets and I love the detail on the top of the sleeve.  

So there you have it - three polyester dresses in a row.  Have you frocked on Friday??? Hope you all have a great weekend, xx

I frocked on Friday - did you?

It's late on Sunday night and instead of preparing for work tomorrow I am faffing about on the computer trying to upload of photo of my Frock on Friday outfit!  I think it would be nice to post a FoF pic before the work week starts!!

Here I am standing in the shade at the front of the house - the white glare in the background is the harbour.  It was a very hot day so I wore a light polyester dress - home-made which I found at the Presbyterian Support Yellow Shop for $8 I think.  I took it in by adding some vertical darts through the bustlines and the same on the back.  It is still quite a loose fit but very comfortable. 

Home-made polyester dress, op shopped

Hair flower and sunglasses, retail

pearl necklace, gift from Dear H

Melissa "Ocean Button" Shoes from Belle Bird

Okay, time for some shut eye - hope you all had a good weekend!!