Teddy Bear's Picnic

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Dress: Review embroidered jacquard

Kimono: Araki Vintage hand-painted cotton

Brogues: Beltrami suede (via Styletread)

Handbag: Forever New vinyl with gold hardware

Tote Bag: Gift, leather with bronze hardware

Bangles: Vintage, brass (from America)

Hinged Bangles: Sistaco silver, brass, diamante

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Finally sharing all of the gorgeous photographs - ostensibly of my outfit - from a day spent celebrating the poetry of Sir John Betjeman (1906-1984) at a vintage-themed teddy bear's picnic in the park with one of my dearest friends who was visiting from England.

Widely regarded as one of England's best-loved wordsmiths of the 20th century & poet laureate from 1972 until his death, Betjeman is perhaps best known for the eccentric habit of taking his childhood bear, christened Archibald Ormsby-Gore & his toy elephant friend Jumbo with him to Magdalen College at Oxford, the memory of which inspired his contemporary, writer Evelyn Waugh, to include Sebastian Flyte's constant furry companion, "pompous old bear" Aloysius in his literary masterpiece, "Brideshead Revisited," published in 1945. 

According to Betjeman, Archibald was the one person who never let him down and, rather poignantly, Archibald & Jumbo were in Betjeman's arms when he died at the age of seventy-seven in 1984. They now reside - together, of course - in a glass cabinet at St Pancras Station, near to the statue of Betjeman himself, who helped preserve the historical location from demolition in the 1960s.

Whatever rush to catch a train

Whatever joy there was to share

Of sounding seaboard, rainbowed rain

Or seaweed-scented Cornish air

Sharing the laughs, you still were there

You silly, unrepentant bear

(Archibald)

For such a special occasion, I chose a bright pink jacquard fit-to-flare dress with heavy, oriental-style embroidery & a strong retro flair from Aussie brand Review, known for their inherent "girly" aesthetic, pattern-mixed with a beautiful, hand-painted heavy cotton kimono from Araki Vintage, found at a recent Antiques & Collectibles Fair & gifted to me by my younger brother for my birthday. When it came to jewellery, more was definitely more: a pair of heavy brass bangles in differing widths that I picked up at The Way We Wore vintage fair some years ago on one wrist & on the other, four coloured diamante hinged bangles (matched to colours inherent in the dress' embroidery) in both silver & brass from Sistaco, another thoughtful gift from generous friends. 

Owing to the uneven nature of grass, comfortable yet stylish shoes were a must & these gold suede brogues from Beltrami (via Styletread) fitted the bill perfectly, matched with a pearlised vinyl handbag with gold hardware from Forever New to fit in all the essentials... well, almost all... as you'll soon understand...

You may have noticed that there is a large, blush pink leather tote behind me with two darling little faces peeking out... These formed part of a recent birthday present from the friend who was accompanying me to the picnic, the large antique teddy bear - complete with scarf - from his very own nursery (& reputed to have been in the running to play Aloysius in the 1981 "Brideshead Revisited" miniseries starring Jeremy Irons & Anthony Andrews) & satin stuffed 1920s elephant toy from a little boutique in Paris, creating my own little John Betjeman inspired creative idyll halfway across the world... It's safe to say that I am already head-over-heels in love with them!

Cuddles with Archie...

And even more cuddles with Jumbo...

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Garden of Verse

To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying "Amen" to what the world tells you that you ought to prefer is to have kept your soul alive.

You can give without loving but you can never love without giving.

And my heart spring up anew

Bright & confident & true

And the old love comes to meet me

In the dawning & the dew

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Dress: Chi Chi London satin

Trench: Events organza & silk

Loafers: Wittner patent with silver hardware

Bag: Vera May patent with silver hardware

Charm Bracelets: Thomas Sabo faceted beads

Dress Charms: Wallace Bishop silver, resin

Eiffel Tower Charm: Gift, silver

Elephant Charm: Gift, silver

Faith, Hope, Charity Charm: Prouds silver

Star Charm: Gift, silver, bronze, copper, engraving

Pearl Charm: Gift, silver, pearl

Turkish Bracelets: Ahmet's Turkish Restaurant, Southbank

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Finally posting pictures of the darling outfit I styled up for a day spent immersing myself in the timeless words of Robert Louis Stevenson with like-minded individuals. Many of you will probably recognise this celebrated Scotsman as the author of novels like Treasure Island & Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde & while I love those tomes dearly, I particularly adore the poetry, inspirational, religious quotes & insightful travel writing he composed in his all-too-brief 44 years. I was introduced to 1885's A Child's Garden of Verses - particularly "The Land of Counterpane" - by my mother when I was very small after she, in turn, was introduced to it by her own mother before her, so it really has stood the test of time. In fact, I believe that the thoughts contained within its pages are as poignant & relevant today, among both children & adults alike, as they ever were.

Thus, a rather special outfit was required for this outing & I had just the piece to build the entire look around - this amazing large-scale rose & floral print satin fit-to-flare midi-length "prom" dress with tulle underlay & dipped back by Chi Chi London (via Asos) that really made a statement & brought something "botanical" to the mix. Check it out in all its unencumbered glory below:

To ward off the winter chill, a jacket was necessary, so I chose this stunning sheer black organza trench coat with satin piping detail from Events (found at the Lifeline store in the middle of Brisbane City for less than $10... talk about the bargain of the year) to add the required warmth without compromising on the print beneath. Keep scrolling to see me strike a few poses near our front hedge in the dying afternoon light... yep, that's me becoming all "poetic" in keeping with the theme of the post...

When it came to footwear, these shiny black patent leather loafers with silver clip detail from Wittner were an obvious choice. As bizarre as it may sound, wearing a midi length dress with flared hem & relatively flat shoes is a match made in heaven... even if you're five-foot-nothing like I am! This is because the dress stops at the smallest part of the leg & the entirety of the ankle is shown, creating the optical illusion of both length & fragility. 

Rather than match the colour of my shoes to my handbag, I decided to instead match the texture, choosing a red patent leather shoulder bag from Vera May (sourced from the Simona Ricci store at Mt Ommaney) to pick up on the vibrant colour of the roses in the pattern of the dress.

More was definitely more when it came to jewellery - a pair of black faceted bead Thomas Sabo bracelets with a myriad of gold, silver, bronze & brightly-coloured charms on one arm & five "evil eye protection" beaded bracelets in shades of red, blue, green & white from Ahmet's Turkish Restaurant at Southbank on the other.

All that remained was to complete the look with a hint of Clinique "High Impact" mascara (I need all the help I can get in that department; God didn't see fit to bless me with thick, lustrous eyelashes) & a slick of deep red lipstick from Revlon; a shade called "Romance" that I feel works well to give life to my otherwise pale skin tone.

To be wholly devoted to some intellectual exercise is to have succeeded in life.

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