Blue Sky Romance

 

 Outfits - 

1. Vintage dress jumble sale

2. Necklace charity shop, Top Urban Outfitters

3. Homemade dress, vintage belt jumble sale, Clarks sandals

4. Vintage blouse jumble sale, skirt Traid shop, Office shoes

5. Dress belonged to my mum, bag jumble sale, Office shoes

6. Vintage necklace, vintage top jumble sale, Uni Qlo trousers

7. Vintage top charity shop, homemade skirt

So I took a rather late Summer holiday this year, heading to the undoubtedly beautiful shoes of Lake Garda and also the Romantic city that is Verona. I had a great time and it's been tough returning to the normal working world. We stayed in a hotel with pretty spectacular views and visited some of the local cultural highlights, including the André Heller Botanical gardens, which took us a while to find. The place is magical and bizarre, for example there are stone heads spitting water at each other, many koi carp filled ponds, mosaics, cacti gardens and a couple of Keith Haring sculptures (like the one in the photo.) We also went to another bizarre attraction -  La Vittoriale

I don't really know how to describe the place, it belonged to  Gabriele d'Annunzio

who is buried in the mausoleum there (photo 5) that he had built. The estate also contains an amphitheater, house, and part of a battle ship, plus a lot of references to Fascism. The views in the area are totally stunning and we took a slightly scary drive up a mountain to get a better look. We also visited a lemon house and took a boat across the Lake. We ended our trip in Verona, which is lovely and feels like a film set, all the buildings are so pretty in pinkish marble colours. We did go to the infamous Juliet's balcony, but I found the hundreds of padlocks and graffiti from real life lovers a lot more interesting. I wish we'd had longer, but at least I got a little sun before Autumn hits.

Fleeting light

Top - Vintage, charity shop

Wrap Skirt - Belonged to my Grandmother in the 1970s

Sandals - Topshop

Bag - Vintage, jumble sale

Listening to ~ The Gentle Good ~ Aubade

While I've been gone, summer has ended. I took a last minute holiday and finished the summer by enjoying the crazy hot temperatures in the South of France. It was quite a shock going from cotton sundresses to the jumper I am currently wearing. I had a wonderful time, I've never been to that part of France before and is very beautiful. We stayed in a small town that had plenty of French charm and two very good bakeries. I do love the whole cafe culture, it's so good to just sit on the street with a cool drink watching the world go by. In between doing a lot of relaxing we did visit some places. These photos are from Le Thoronet Abbey about 30 minute drive from where we were staying. It was sparse but beautiful and the clean lines and beautiful light really appealed to me. When I go on holiday I  like to take clothes that mean something to me. I liked the idea of wearing this skirt, that once saw 1970s summers with my grandmother, now seeing some 40 years later with me. I think I now have post holiday blues, although looking at all the great autumn outfits you've all been posting on your blogs has definitely cheered me up.

Fly Away

Hat - H&M

Dress - Jumble Sale, 20 p

Socks - 99p store

Clog sandals -  Charity Shop

Rucksack - TK Maxx

So I'm off! I leave at 6am tomorrow morning for an 11 hour plus flight to L.A. Then I'm spending three weeks roaming about the West Coast. I can't wait. I hope to return feeling inspired and refreshed. If anyone has any tips about places  to go to (especially good vintage shops) or things to do I'd love to hear any recommendations you've got. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the summer and I'll see you when I get back.

Vintage holiday

Here is a little selection of vintage photos I've picked up recently. They have a bit of a holiday theme to them, except for the rather grumpy looking girl in stripes. I love the first photo even though it's in pretty and condition. Look at all the beach outfits. On the back it says, sent back to fair haven, with the wide grin, his face (white shirt) & goggles. I took this. It's kind of sad that I will never know what any of that means, although I assume it refers to the boy to the left of the middle.  None of the other photos are captioned. I think the third photo looks like some kind of girl's sports team, except there is one boy in the photo. I really like the one of the four women playing about with the wheelbarrow, they look like they are having such a lot of fun. The second to last one is a classic holiday snap, I think her shoes remind me a bit of my clogs. As  for the final one, it says on the back Falmouth 1945, so at least we know where it is. I would happily wear both of their outfits on my own summer holidays.