Autumn is everything

 

Jacket - my mothers from the 1970s

Shirt - 1970s vintage , jumble sale,

Jeans - H&M

Bag - American eagle (gift)

Boots - vintage, jumble sale

Autumn is the best season. Halloween and the annual watching of hocus pocus (best Halloween film ever), fancy dress and pumpkin flavoured goods. Bonfire night, mulled wine and free fireworks. The colours, the weather, the getting out of the cold weather wardrobe. All good things. Especially since this is the first year in a long long time we have had a real summer. I mean it was 32 degrees, that never happens. And it's still not really cold. Hence the above outfit being acceptable in the third week of October. I've had this jacket of my mum's for a while. It's a perfect fit but needed a repair which I put off too long. Happily it is now fixed. These boots are doubly old, I bought them approximately 4 years ago at a jumble  and the have now given up and fallen apart. An excuse for new shoes? The blouse is new to me, I found it at a jumble sale a week earlier. The label says Pepperhill California. I hope it belonged to a true Californian Hippy. At the same jumble I found some simialr items, I hope they all came form the same well dressed woman.

There is no single reason for my not blogging through 2013 so far. I've moved jobs, but that's about it as far as big changes go. I've noticed lots of blogs I have followed posting less, maybe it's just the Autumn of style blogging? I guess we shall see.

Three peas

Shirt  -  Jumble sale

Skirt - Charity shop, hemmed

Necklace - Gift

Bag - Charity shop

~ Listening to - Florence + the machine - Ceremonials ~

Can you tell I'm happy it's Autumn? It is so my favourite time of year. A couple of months of many fun things, starting today really with Halloween. I celebrated by going to a party on Saturday, my costume was not really scary, I was Kiki from the film Kiki's delivery service. I was super happy to find a huge red bow belt from H&M which completed mt costume perfectly. There were a lot of good costumes at the party, most comprising much fake blood and also a couple of very good black swans. The outfit above is from Saturday daytime, I always pull this skirt out at this time of year, the dark tapestry style floral just seems to suit the weather. The necklace is a favourite of mine and was a gift from a couple of birthdays ago. I found it in a tiny shop/gallery in Lyme Regis and was lucky enough to receive it as a present a few months later. I love the slightly unusual colour and I like anything with a nature theme. I also just realised that I've had that bag since I was in art college, so about seven (gulp!) years ago. Still at least it's lasted. Tonight we are just going to watch my Halloween favourite Hocus Pocus. Happy Halloween everyone!

Cranberry

 

 

Beret - Knitted by my grandmother

Ralph Lauren shirt - Jumble sale

Black jeans - Uni qlo

Satchel - Cambridge satchel company (gift)

Dr Martens Velvet brogues - jumble sale

~ Listening to  - Florence + the machine - Shake it out ~

I have to agree with everyone else out there and say I'm happy Autumn has finally turned up. So my favourite season since it involves all the following; Halloween, beautiful colours, bonfire night, my birthday and awesome flavours in coffee shops. I find I do a complete 180 with my clothing tastes as soon as the nights start getting darker. In summer I want light colours and flowing skirts and in winter I want clean lines and rich colours. At the moment I feel quite like dressing in a 1970s/1990s college student kind of way. Also it being back to school season means it's time to bring out the satchel. I've also been reading Tomboy style religiously and was really inspired by this post particularly, which may explain why I've been looking for an A line mini dress recently. And also why I took The Empty page: Fiction inspired by Sonic Youth out the library last week, it's pretty good so far. I was really happy to go on some seriously jumble sale thrifting at the weekend, where I picked up this Ralph Lauren mustard shirt for a bargain of 30p. The shoes are from a previous jumble, they are a bit ruined and a bit too big but I love the rich cranberry velvet of them.

Before the sun fades

Dress - Altered, jumble sale

Shrug: Jumble sale

Tights: Primark

Bag - Jumble sale

Clogs - Clarks

These photos are from a week ago, before the clocks went back on a beautiful autumn day. The dress was originally mid calf length and XL, but I took it in at the back seam and chopped off the hem. I actually cut off too much, which is how I ended up with this dark green band as the hem instead. Although I think it's probably more interesting this way. I've been wearing this shrug a lot too lately, although I prefer it as a scarf. Apologies for the absence of posts lately. I've started a new job and will have to get used to balancing my time. I'm working on a shop update for the weekend, with some pretty autumn finds.

In the Orchard

Top - Primark (a long time ago)

Belt - Belonged to my mum

Dress - Silence & noise from a charity shop

Tights - Topshop

Shoes - Charity shop

These photos are from a recent mid-week trip to Standen, another National Trust property, and one of my favourites.  It's been nearly a year since my last visit, which was the subject of one of my first ever blog posts. Standen is a lovely house, decorated during the arts and crafts movement, with many William Morris interiors. You can't take pictures inside the house, so we made do with various areas of the gardens. There's something about apples fallen from the tree that makes me feel very autumnal. The orchard was full of them, as well as the funny 'bees at work' signs all over the place. The picture of me between two posts is a sort of childrens area with a stage and a giant xylophone. I love the bench in the last photo, how nature is trying to claim it back. I'll be posting later in the week with some new things to tell you about.

Longevity

Hello. Autumn is officially over as far as I am concerned, a sad thing since it is my favourite time of year. The leaves, bonfire night, fireworks, Halloween, my birthday, all the best things. Now I can look forward to a long English winter, and the challenges of staying warm without losing all sense of style. More on that later I think because winter has caught up with me and given me a bit of flu, so this will be a very short post - apologies. I thought I would share with you this photo, I photocopied it from a very old book about the Bauhaus a couple of years ago. I wish I knew the book's name, if anyone recognises it please let me know! Unlike most books I could find on the subject this one had lots of photos of the people who worked or attended the Bauhaus. I've lost some but I have a few left, which I will post in the future. This one is my absolute favourite though. The serious expression, the intricately ruffled dress, the jaunty little hat. It never fails to inspire me.

The Fall

In general I am always thinking about a dress. There is always a dress in my head, fighting to get out. I often see dresses, on catwalks, in shops, brand new and vintage and I think, surely I could make that. Then sometimes I find a pattern and attempt to alter it until it resembles what I see in my mind. The finished result is rarely the same as the picture in my head, but I like to think this is a learning process and eventually I will create something that is an accurate representation of my initial idea. I'm not sure why it is generally a dress rather than some other item of clothing, like a top or skirt, I think it's because a dress is a total look, with instant impact. Today's post is about one such dress. It was inspired by the Autumn collection from dear creatures, which I have seen posted on many blogs already, so forgive me for posting the images from their charming lookbook once more.

I initially thought I was trying to create a version of the dress on the right, which I absolutely love, the mustard colour, the checks, the black bow? Perfect. However having seen the finished result, it looks like I was subconsciously thinking of the dress on the left. Judge for yourselves.

I used a pattern for this dress but then changed it. The body is made of a black sateen cotton and the little capelet is made of an autumnal ikea fabric which was something silly like £1.99 per metre. The thing I really liked about the dear creatures dress was the black piping as a contrast to the mustard on the bodice. Instead of piping I used black bias binding around the edges. Below are some close-ups of the back of the dress and fabric. I added the keyhole back, just beacuse I like keyhole backs, although it turned out to be uneccessay since I can get the dress on without undoing the closure, the pattern was oddly large for a size 8. Still I like the grey faux-leather button. I am pleased with the finished result, although it's a bit big, and more 1950s then I expected, it still makes me think of autumn, bonfires, and fallen leaves.

Standen

A few weeks ago I took a trip to Standen . Standen is a national trust house famous for it's arts and crafts style interiors and beautiful gardens. Although it's not that far away I haven't been there in years. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take photos inside the house, which is a shame because although it's a such a large Victorian house, inside feels really cosy and lived in. I've always liked visiting these old houses and imagining the lives of the people who lived there.

Standen was built for the Beale family in the 1890s, who continued to live there until the 1970s. There is a little exhibition inside the house about all the children who grew up playing in the house and grounds, with photos and toys. Apparently a favourite childhood pastime was to take down the fire shoot from an upstairs window and slide down it, another was to pack six children to a beloved rocking horse and ride it across the billiards room floor. The house is famous for being built in the arts and crafts style and is particularly well known for the William Morris

interiors.

Design for Windrush fabric by William Morris 1881-83

I really like William Morris designs, they are all very pretty without being too fussy. I am a big fan of off-colours and his prints usually involve plenty which always appeals to me. I felt really inspired after visiting and even found some William morris printed fabrics, although they are really meant for interiors, I can't help imagining these as sweet little dresses or skirts.

I think my favourite is the middle on, although the mustard coloured one would be good for an autumn shift dress. If I get any further with this project, I will keep you informed.