Laidley Pioneer Village

 

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Dress: Ankoa cotton broderie

Mules: Gorman faux fur, vegan leather

Bag: Pigeonhole leather

Hinged Bangle: Precious Stones Jewellers silver

Bangle Stack: Gift, vintage silver

Hat: Forever New woven straw, grosgrain ribbon

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Thinking of the beautiful, historical town of Laidley & the wider, pastoral Lockyer Valley community as they begin to recover from the widespread flooding currently inundating many parts of the region & looking back at my time at the Laidley Pioneer Village & Museum that I visited only last week when the sun was high in the sky & the ground remained a mixture of lush & dry grass. At time time, it appears that the Village & Museum (located south of the township itself) escaped the worst of the flooding & had no damage to property but the skeleton staff of volunteers currently on site say that it will take time for everything to properly "dry out" before visitors can be welcome back through the gates.

Established in 1972, the Laidley Pioneer Village & Museum has been lovingly & painstakingly developed into the multi-faceted complex it is today through the vision & persistent hard work of the many members & volunteers of the Laidley District Historical Society. It features an old school, police station, post office, butchery, doctors surgery, cottage & church as well as a plethora of old wares in the museum complex & sheds full of machinery from the early pioneers & beyond.

In an effort to truly blend in with my surroundings, I styled up this stunning, cottagecore-inspired ensemble that featured a divine mauve broderie cotton midi-length smock dress with sweet puff sleeves & tied neckline from Australian slow-fashion label Ankoa (designed by the lovely Lucy), a pair of white & black animal print faux fur & leather heeled mules from hipster delight Gorman, a black leather shoulder bag from Pigeonhole to carry all the essentials & a natural woven straw boater-style sunhat with black grosgrain ribbon band from Forever New that ties underneath the chin, as worn by some of my favourite literary heroines including Anne Shirley (otherwise known as Anne of Green Gables) or Laura Ingalls Wilder. When it came to jewellery, I donned some of my most beloved pieces - a chunky silver wave-shaped hinged bangle from Precious Stones Jewellers & a stack of vintage silver bangles that were gifted to me by some dear friends.

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