A bit of art, a bit of history and a red dress

Hi Everyone, I hope you have had a good week and a frocking good Friday.  I want to show you what I wore out to a dinner last week, as a kind of compensation for nothing to show for FoF today.  

I played around with the photo a bit on PicMonkey as it was taken in my very yellow kitchen under the horrid halogen lights - I think the colour is a pretty good representation: 

Vintage, home-made polyester maxi dress, $2 Toffs
worn with red obi, retail
Black necklace from Presbyterian Support
black earrings, retail
bangles all thrifted

 It was a lovely farewell dinner for a colleague.  I did my hair in a sock bun but none of the photos did it justice so you will just have to use your imagination.

Mentioning imagination leads into my next topic: art.  Specifically street art.  Dear H is totally against graffiti and tagging and considers it vandalism.  He was very patient with me last Sunday as I stood out in the pouring rain over the raging Leith river taking the photos below: 

On a grey, cold, wet Dunedin day these images adorning the concrete flood protection barriers along the Leith were a welcome splash of colour and vitality.  

We were on our way to visit the newly renovated Otago Settlers Museum which showcases the history of the region and its called Toitu which means treasure in Maori.   I loved the modern sculptures of horses pulling a wagon (so much cooler than the traditional "pretend horse"), and there was a lovely costume and clothing display.  There was a top hat, jacket and crinoline to try on (possibly not all together) from the Victorian times and a great selection of home appliances from the 1940s through the 1970s.  Below is a selection of my favourite things:

  

Treasures from Toitu

Top Left: modern steel horses pull a wagon, chinese costumes, an iconic neon sign
Middle row: Lung protector medicine, iconic Humpty Dumpty from NZ Play School, Tiger Tea bus
Bottom Left: Advertising from the School Dental Clinics (now defunct thanks to the govt)
Child's tin tea set with cute pictures, posters advertising NZ bands in Dunedin pubs.

It was the best place to be on a wet Sunday afternoon.  One of my favourite displays in an amazing retro caravan and the art deco entrance hall:

Me outside the vintage caravan in thrifted boots, jacket, skirt
retail hat and scarf
Vintage Mount Cook Airline bag, Toffs $2
Bottom right: interior of the caravan *sigh*
Top right: art deco motifs in the foyer

When I first came to Dunedin as a student I used to go home to Invercargill on the bus and part of the museum used to be the New Zealand Railways bus station.  I remember buying my ticket and waiting in the art deco foyer.  Mentioning travelling, I just found a cabin bag like mine for $45 on ebay - outrageous!!  

So there you go, a bit of art, a bit of history about Otago and a bit about me, and a red dress :-)

Penny-Rose