Christmas, Cloisonné and Cinnabar

Christmas may have been a long time ago, but I wanted to finally share some pictures of my festive ensemble from the holidays. I wore a rather shapely velvet wrap-around blouse from the 1930's with jet bead embellishments, which my boyfriend bought for me this Christmas. I wouldn't normally wear such a bright colour on my bottom half (I'm pear shaped after-all)...but I wanted a contrast to the black and thought the shoulders of the blouse balance out my hips anyway. 

I wore a selection of cloisonné bracelets (which came in a cute little box), a carved cinnabar bangle, and a carved cinnabar ring, which had been at the jewellers for absolutely ages being cleaned but is finally back on my finger in its rightful place. 

Vintage blouse, skirt (River Island), shoes (New Look)

I have many more winter outfits I want to share, but I've been so incredibly busy with work. My boss only went and left me to look after her business for six weeks whilst she's in Bangkok! It's ok though, she's working hard too on her next collection ;-)

Bundled Up Beauties

Renee Perle

Oh my, it certainly has been a while; I guess I have some explaining to do. House of Harps is not extinct, but certainly rather stagnant at the moment. My life is very different now from when I first started the blog three years ago... gone are the days when I had time to post every day (yes, I unbelievably used to post daily). This is actually a good thing; I started blogging as a pleasant distraction from health issues that took over my life.The healthier I get, the more I am actually living life and the less I blog. I started a new job a few months ago, unfortunately leaving House of Harps looking a little sad and empty. I guess I just wanted to say that I am still here, and will continue to update the blog, just not as frequently as usual.

And now it's December, I've been enjoying the cold. Winter is the most fun season for dressing up, swathing oneself in furs and velvet, hats and gloves. Some winter outfits will be posted in the near future, but for now, enjoy some early 20th Century ladies who managed to beat the cold whilst still looking badass. If anyone knows the names of the unidentified ladies, feel free to contact me. 

Lily Elsie (who always reminds me of Rachel Weisz)

Lily Elsie

Lily Langtry

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Zena and Phyllis Dare

Ruth Vincent

Joan Crawford

Louise Brooks

Myrna Loy

Norma Shearer

Dorothy Arnold

Cameo

We had a mini heat-wave at the start of October, giving me the chance to wear this dress one final time this year. Once again I found myself inspired by Bottega Veneta and their jewellery offerings...this time the lava cameo pieces presented for SS2011. The usual fusty connotations of cameos were turned on their head with varying shades of carved lava rock and blackened filigree. The classic Roman profiles carved from volcanic lava got me thinking of Ancient Rome, Vesuvius, draping...basically, that's how I got to this outfit. I dug out a few cameo pieces (annoyed I forgot about my cameo ring...oh well)....and added a tasselled belt I searched for months for and have hardly worn.  

Vintage dress, belt (eBay), shoes (Bruno Premi)

Faux-bob, angular liner and no lipstick (I barely recognise myself without painted lips!)

images from bottegaveneta.com and style.com

Silk Road

I bought this beautiful jacket at the start of summer and pretty much wore it non-stop. I'm not entirely sure on the age; it's an Oriental design typical of the 1920's, but it may be from the 40's or 50's. The poor thing was never lined and needs a bit of a tidy up, but other than that the silk is strong and the embroidery as good as new. I consider myself very lucky to have found and bought this before anyone else did!

Vintage jacket, vintage vest, trousers (H&M), vintage shoes