Bon Voyage

I'm off to the south of France for two weeks. Fingers crossed for some gorgeous weather and good shopping! I'll leave you with a few photos from my second wedding of the summer, to which I wore a beautiful grey lace dress from Asos, completed with a vintage belt, Miu Miu shoes and antique jewellery. The dress has a beautiful scalloped asymmetrical hem and a cowl neckline.

Bye for now x

Cherry Amber

I recently bought another EPNS belt, taking my total up to six now. This one is quite different to a typical EPNS belt. It's panels are smaller and less stylised; the buckle is bigger; and it features what looks like cut steel decoration. Cut steel was a Victorian technique of mimicking diamonds by faceting small studs of steel, similar to marcasite in its sparkling effect. It was used a lot in jewellery during the Victorian times (that gives me an idea for a post...) so I was pretty excited when I took a close-up look at the belt and noticed the little cut steel gems.

Today I am also wearing a vintage deco necklace my boyfriend bought for me this past Christmas. I'm not normally into bead necklaces, but these beads are rather gorgeous. The faceted beads have a cherry amber hue (I doubt they are real cherry amber, probably bakelite or glass? Opinions welcomed) and catch the light beautifully. The pendant is rather odd, with four clear rhinestones atop a circular feature, with a central red bead jabbing out. I'm by no means an expert, but I look at a lot of jewellery and have never seen anything quite like the pendant on this necklace. I love how unexpected it is.

Vintage jacket, antique belt, bag (ASOS), shoes (M&S), blouse (Miss Selfridge), vintage skirt.

Dented Elbows

Over the winter months I became somewhat enamoured with white elbow-length gloves. There's an elegance to the crisp whiteness that can't be matched. I bought this antique pair off of an eBay seller who didn't provide much information about them, other than that they are kid-skin and brand new, still attached having never been worn. I was pretty excited upon inspecting them to find the faint stamp of 'Dents Gloves' in one of them. Dents have been making gloves since 1777, so who knows how old these are?! I would estimate them to be from 1900-1910. They really are a buttery soft leather, and quite fiendish to get on by yourself, what with 3 dainty buttons on each.

I'm also wearing a lovely Edwardian lace blouse, which is as light as air. I bought the blouse from a seller who had 3 or 4 similar lace Edwardian blouses listed with this one. Unfortunately I only won the auction for this one. I may be bitter and biased but I think I got the best blouse out of the lot. I hadn't intended to look like an Edwardian horse-rider in this get-up, but I'm not complaining!

Cape (Mango), vintage blazer, antique blouse, trousers (American Apparel), antique Dents gloves, shoes (French Connection)

I also took the opportunity to photograph this wonderful hat I purchased last year. It is an antique tricorn hat with a plume of ostrich feathers. I'm unsure of it's age and its base material; it feels like a waxed linen (it is very lightweight and has a slight sheen to it) but I'm no expert on hats. Just a little disclaimer; I didn't go out wearing the hat. One of the problems I have with styling it is that it looks very costumey. I have no problem being a little theatrical, but don't want to look like I'm in fancy dress. Also, it feels a bit lightweight for a winter hat, but a bit gloomy for a spring/summer hat (possibly a mourning hat then?). Either way, I love it and I'm sure I'll find a use for it one day!

Lady, you look fab - Fan Bingbing (2)

Once again, Fan Bingbing displays near impossible heights of beauty and glamour, this time at Cannes Film Festival. The Chinese stunner wore a glorious red embroidered gown which she designed in conjunction with her stylist, Bo Kewen. Her hair and make-up were flawless as usual. I may be biased, but I am particularly loving her foray into a gravity-defying bouffant.

Bingbing also wore a beautiful gown inspired by traditional Asian embroidery to Cannes last year (shown below). I'm having a hard time picking a favourite between the two gowns, but I'd probably have to go for this years red number, as everything has come together perfectly to create a breathtaking look.

All images from zimbio.com