Puppy Love

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Dress: Vintage, 1980s Dolina Petites silk

Heels: Emerson @ Big W patent

Bag: Vintage beaded

Hat: Vintage, 1950s Picardy velvet (from Paris)

Necklace: Navies Jewellers resin

Hinged Bangles: Wallace Bishop silver & elastic

Beaded Bracelets with Charms: Thomas Sabo faceted beads

Heart Rings: Prouds silver

Black Diamante Ring: Wingdings, Coolangatta

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"...And they called it Puppy Love..." or so sang Donny & Marie Osmond.

In my opinion, Valentines Day is about more than just crass commercialism, money for greeting card companies & the opportunity to gloat over the fact that you have a boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other while someone else is alone like a caricature in a "Bridget Jones" novel... it's about celebrating love in all its forms - love for family, friends, community, country, pets, environment as well as romantic love. And what better way to do that than with a few outfit snaps with a furry interloper? 

These pics were actually taken as I was heading out to a pre-Valentine's' Day River Cruise with a "Retro Love-heart Red" theme. Festivities included retro games including the limbo, Twister, Shaker-Maker (where you pour plaster-of-Paris powder & water into moulds & shake it up until it shrinks, then let it harden into a play figurine... let's just say, it's messy & 89% unsuccessful in my experience...) & disco trivia; as well as tables full of flashback foods like melon-wrapped-ham, pigs-in-blankets, both chocolate & cheese fondue, melon balls displayed in the hollowed-out melon, toothpicks stuck with cheese, olives & cabana sausage, all washed down with Tang or Sangria... 

Getting into the "time warp" spirit was no problem for me, considering that I still eat a lot of the flashback foods at home, almost-exclusively listen to 1960s & 1970s records, use trivia as my go-to party game for family gatherings & a decent percentage of my closet is vintage, hence the spotted silk 1980s drop-waist dress with high scoop neckline & pleated midi-skirt.

To match my lady-in-red number, I went with a pair of black patent platforms to "anchor" the look, provide necessary height with regards to the midi-hemline & match the gorgeous beaded evening bag that I had also worn the day before to a themed dancing class. 

As it was the day before Valentine's Day, it seemed pertinent to wear a long, black beaded drop necklace with large red resin heart pendant - an ideal choice to fill the space between the dress' high neckline & dropped waistline - matched with a couple of black faceted bead bracelets full of eclectic dangling charms & a chunky silver hinged bangle for shine.

I am not usually one for small, thin rings (preferring the statement-making cocktail variety) but this little trio - a band of black diamante chips sandwiched between a chain of top-to-tail silver hearts & a modified Celtic "Claddagh" motif - just seemed to work with the look as a whole.

Like the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae, the finishing touch to the ensemble was this vintage, black velvet cocktail hat - shaped like a modified fez - with braiding detail & original hat pin with little black bow. Jaunty & whimsical.

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But back to the whole "puppy love" thing.

To celebrate Valentine's Day, here's one final pic of Huckleberry & I together, as well as some sweet words from the inimitable Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam)...

You're welcome. 

xx

I love my dog as much as I love you

But you may fade, my dog will always come through

All he asks from me is the food to give him strength

All he ever needs is love & that he knows he'll get

So, I love my dog as much as I love you

But you may fade, my dog will always come through

All the pay I need comes shining through his eyes

 I don't need no cold water to make me realise that

I love my dog as much I love you

But you may fade, my dog will always come through

I Love My Dog, Cat Stevens, 1966

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