St. Patrick’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. I’m 1/4th Irish, and that translates to pale bespeckled skin, a love of Irish pubs, and endless amounts of corned beef and cabbage gobbled each year (though the whole ‘Irish temper’ thing seems to have evaded me). So, I generally bust out my favorite green frocks on 17 March without fail to celebrate and I was pretty excited with this year’s selection….
I’ve had a lot of queries since the blog launched about the photo in my profile pic, which is probably one of my favorite vintage pieces of all time. I’ve seen a vintage dirndl or two in my hunting trips, but never one in blue gingham and definitely never one that fit me quite so perfectly. A dirndl is a traditional dress worn in Germany, but many a vintage garment was made in the dirndl style (apparently called Landhausmode), with a corset-like front that cinches you in and pushes the girls up to high heaven.
I’ve never been one who is big on animal prints. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my zebra striped purse and don’t mind a leopard print shoe now and again for a pop of something different. But, I don’t go weak in the knees over an animal print wiggle dress the way I know some people do. It’s never had that effect on me…
I am not a huge fan of bugs (understatement, understatement). Oddly enough, rodents don’t even make me bat an eyelash, I have no issues with snakes (so long as they stay on their side of the path), and we all know I have the opposite reaction to most people when it comes to sharks. However, if there is a spider within an arm’s length of my person, I turn into a shrieking, squealing, jumping-on-a-chair mess. It’s not my proudest moment.
I have finally returned from my crazy trek around the world and am wallowing a bit in my jet lag and post-travel cold (that I always seem to get). A whopping 36 hours in transit isn’t the most pleasant experience, but I have to say I still marvel at how small the world has become. How I can get on an airplane (okay 4) and miraculously find myself on the opposite side of the planet. And how liberating that feeling is. As though anywhere – and anything – is within reach.
There’s a certain time of day referred to as “The Children’s Hour”, which is that moment just between the end of day and the start of night. It’s origin’s were in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1860, where just before sunset was described as “A pause in the day’s occupations.” Though the poem is essentially about a father and his children, there was always something so melancholy to me about it. As if we can stop time before darkness falls. As if we can spot our long gone innocence in that moment, before we have to go and…
One of my favorite things and simultaneously most frustrating things about my wardrobe is how things can hide. Garments tuck themselves into corners and no matter how much I wear them, they still manage to slip from my memory. But, on the plus, flipping through the racks means I get to rediscover them and fall in love all over again. This Trashy Diva dress and I shared exactly that moment this morning. Gone but not forgotten, with her French Quarter print and sounds of jazz swirling from her skirts. Our eyes met across a crowded wardrobe and with a slow smile, we…
As we all know, that all loved up day that comes but once a year has come around the mountain again. Where the world succumbs to a glittery, heart-shaped confetti explosion at every turn. I know that a lot of people are pretty down on the whole concept of Valentine’s Day. Dubbing it “Black Sunday” and cursing it into oblivion. But, I think the V-Day tends to get a bad rep: “It’s a Hallmark Holiday,” “It was invented by the candy companies,” “It mocks singletons”….etc etc etc. We’ve all heard them (and some we may individually agree with). But, much like any…
Do you ever have one of those dresses that simply makes you feel good? That every time you look at it in your wardrobe, you just know that when you slip it on, it’ll do it’s job. It miraculously won’t ever be too loose or too tight, irrespective of your ice cream intake the week before. It somehow manages to be ready for whatever life occasion you throw at it – from work with a cardigan, to a garden party with a parasol, to an evening out in glittery heels.
As we’ve burst forth into a new year, I can’t help but cast a glance back now and then on the year we just bid farewell too. It’s interesting what evokes memories – a smell, a song, a glance at a person’s profile that spins you into a déjà vu moment. I spent a lovely afternoon on Sunday at one of my Perth favorites – Oh Henry Vintage. When I got home, delighting in my spoils (coming soon to a blog post near you), I caught a glimpse of another dress from Oh Henry that I hadn’t worn in awhile. I…