Neo-Victorian

Whilst in Scotland recently, I had the pleasure of going around one of my favourite antiques centres. It's really close to where I stay, and is absolutely huge; I can easily spend hours in there. It's like a department store, but full of antiques. It was a struggle, but I was a very good girl this time and only came away with a few postcards, and this black lace collar.

The collar is a lovely example of Victorian tape lace, with only minimal damage. I pinned the collar to my dress using a newish brooch (which doubles up as a necklace), and wore purple lipstick to avoid looking too old-fashioned. Ooh and finally, my heels are recent additions to the shoe family. They're so gold and shiny, I can't stop looking at them. Yay!

Vintage dress, skirt (Topshop), antique lace collar, shoe (French Connection)

Burnt Orange

I love how its finally getting cold enough to layer up your clothes. I remember when I first started blogging, at the height of Winter last year, I took so many photos per outfit because I had so many layers on. Well, its happening all over again...starting with this picture heavy post.

The scarf is my mums, after I convinced her to buy it in the sale (my motive being that I can borrow it). The design is basically a couple of peacocks, printed on velvet, with loads of beading and tasselled ends. It sure is pretty, and very seasonal! The blouse is rather surprisingly from Marks and Spencer. It's made of the softest, most gorgeous copper coloured silk, with pleating and beading to the front.

Coat (Topshop), scarf (River Island), shoes (Biba), cardigan (H&M), blouse (Marks and Spencer), trousers (H&M)

^ Look, I'm almost smiling!

Make-up: copper liquid liner (from Body Shop), with golden eye shadow and a dark red glossy lip. It was quite weird having sticky lips, I'm so used to my matte lipsticks.

Gold nail varnish over red glitter nail varnish = wonderful sparkly copper nails

Someone slap me....

...before I actually buy this bag. According to the Mulberry website, only two bags of this style were ever made, one in pink and one in black. And they're both still available online. The classic Bayswater bag is beautiful enough anyway, but the addition of the pewter bugs vamps it up in a way I totally adore. Of course, it's not cheap, and the fact that it's a limited edition bag made from ultra-lux ostrich skin makes it all the more pricey. £4000 to be exact. It's driving me crazy, I'm so tempted to throw away all reason and just buy it. Ahhh!

images from mulberry.com

Feeling Triumphant

You wouldn't believe how long I've been looking for the perfect green cardigan. It was either too sagey, too limey, too khaki, too minty, too bright.....But finally, Zara pulled through and provided me with a perfect foresty green, just in time for Autumn. I haven't worn my vintage tu-tu underskirt since I was about 15, but it felt like the perfect froufrou antidote to the sensible granddad cardigan. I got the shoes for a tenner in New Look. Cheap shoes meant I could take a risk and attack them with some paint and glitter. I'm pretty pleased with the results, just don't look too closely.

Shoes (New Look), cardigan (Zara), vest (Balenciaga), vintage net skirt, lace skirt (H&M), belt (ebay)

Gawk

I came across this amazing belt a couple of weeks ago, and keep going back to gawk at it. Can you imagine wearing something so exquisite around your waist? Whilst I was searching for my very own intricate silverwork belt, I found many beautiful examples, however none more impressive than this. The seller doesn't have too much information about the belt, only that it is from the 1900's and features incredibly meticulous detail. It is far more expensive than the silver belt I ended up buying, at $2,269. These photos are really high quality, so click on them to see all the stunning details.

Also, a few weeks back I harped on about how much I love the Bally fall 2009 collection (here). Well, the gorgeous brass belt used throughtout the collection is now available direct from the Bally website. It's cheaper than I'd expected, but still pretty pricey at £270. I'm just glad I managed to find my own intricate silverwork belt first, otherwise I'd be very tempted by this beauty.

images from bally.com and SurrenderDorothy on etsy.com

Stud

I've been neglecting the blog again. My excuse this time is a jolly jaunt up to Scotland visiting relatives. I always feel such guilt when I don't update, I suppose because when I first opened the House of Harps, I posted every single day. But then again, no-one read my blog when it first started, so I'm the only who notices my failure to continue this high standard I set myself.

Ahem, anyway...if you hate horribly coordinated outfits then I suggest you don't scroll down. You just know I couldn't resist matching my shirt with my socks! The cardigan is a recent acquisition. I love the weight of it and the way it drapes; the stud work really is rather heavy. I am actually quite anti-stud, in that all the cool young things these days tend to jump on anything studded and its so ubiquitous now (plus, I totally did the whole goth thing as a teenager, and got sick of the sight of studs). However, this is a rather restrained use of studding, so I can live with it.

Shoes (Chloe), cardigan (asos.com), trousers (American Apparel), gold vest (Warehouse), thrifted blue shirt.

My hair was some sort of saloon wench style, with my usual quiffed volume and some loose ringlets to one side.