Antiquing in the Rain

 

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Dress: The Pretty Dress Company via That Shop cotton

Cardigan: Ginger Tree mesh

Loafers: Pitillos via Obsession Shoes patent leather, matte leather, tassle

Bag: Pigeonhole leather

Bangle Stack: Gift, vintage Mexican silver

Bangle: Gift, 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles vintage silver

Cuff: Gift, Wallace Bishop brushed silver

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Finally sharing all the pictures from a recent antiquing trip with my younger brother, hitting up some of our all-time favourite places to rummage around in Brisbane - Empire Antiques & Relove Oxley, respectively - & enjoying a leisurely lunch at the delightful Farm House Kedron while the rain set in around us! For the occasion, I'm wearing a retro-inspired black & pink rose print cotton 50s midi dress from British label The Pretty Dress Company that I picked up a few years ago from That Shop, a bright pink mesh tie-front cropped cardigan from Ginger Tree that I've had for at least ten years & is still going strong, a pair of black patent & matte leather heeled loafers with tassles from a label called Pitillos that I discovered at the amazing Obesssion Shoes at the "top of town" in Ipswich for that modicum of height my five foot frame desperately needs & a black leather shoulder bag from funky boutique Pigeonhole to carry all the essentials. When it came to jewellery, I couldn't resist some of my most beloved silver pieces - a stack of vintage Mexican bangles from dear friends, a single vintage silver bangle from 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles that my younger brother gave me for a birthday gift & a brushed silver cuff from Wallace Bishop to bring all the daytime shine.

Scroll down to see how the day unfolded...

Can't resist the call of the potato rosti wherever I go...

Toulouse

 

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Dress: The Pretty Dress Company via That Shop viscose, boning

Heels: Kitten D'Amour vegan leather

Bag: Sussan vinyl

Bracelet: Gift, vintage resin (from Paris)

Sunglasses: Cotton On resin

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It's no secret that I absolutely adore all things retro & vintage & when I can't find the original article, I'm happy to wear well-made, considered reproductions such as this absolutely stunning rose print viscose wiggle dress with boning from British label The Pretty Dress Company via the delightful ladies at That Shop in Paddington. I've styled it up for an event in my beloved River City with a pair of 1930s inspired, black vegan leather dual buckle heels from Kitten D'Amour for a modicum of height, a black vinyl shoulder bag from Sussan to carry all the essentials including the obligatory face mask & hand sanitizer, a funky vintage resin bracelet depicting Toulouse Lautrec's famous painting "At the Moulin Rouge, the Dance" (1899) that a friend brought back from Paris that picks up on the same colour palette as the dress & finally, a pair of bright green resin sunglasses from Cotton On that were a last-minute, impulse buy & that just adds the little something "extra" as a finishing touch.

Scroll down to see more...

Keep scrolling for a close up of the aforementioned bracelet & that famous "can can" performance...

Same Same... but Different...

 

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Dress: The Pretty Dress Company cotton

Heels: Kitten D'Amour vegan leather

Bag: H&M woven straw

Hat: Vintage, Ipswich Antique Centre woven straw, raffia

Hinged Bangle: Gift, vintage silver

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Following on from yesterday's post, I'm sharing another one of British label The Pretty Dress Company's amazing cotton Hourglass Swing Dresses - this time the immensely popular Sicily Blue & White Rose print that, unlike the more muted Ivory & Black Polka Dot version, just screams "summertime in the South of France in the 1950s." With that in mind, I've styled it up for a daytime picnic, daytrip to a lavender farm, sojourn to an out-of-the-way art gallery or even a morning browsing around an antique fair or market stalls in a country town. To wit, I'm wearing a pair of leg-lengthening blue vegan leather art-deco-style t-bar heels from Kitten D'Amour to enhance the impact of the colour of the roses in the dress print, a natural woven shoulder bag from high street stalwart H&M to carry all the essentials, an antique silver hinged bangle covered in fleur-de-list that a dear friend gifted me for my 30th birthday for a modicum of daytime shine & finally, a vintage natural woven straw cloche hat with embroidered raffia flowers from the Ipswich Antique Centre to ward off the sun's harmful rays & truly * the "provincial" look of the entire ensemble.

It just goes to show that the choice of pattern or print can be incredibly important, as even though both of the dresses are cotton, the Ivory & Black Polka Dot number from yesterday (seen here) is able to be dressed up far more than the Sicily Blue & White Rose of today, which is more suited to casual endeavours.