Woodstock

 

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Dress: Sacha Drake silk, embroidery, jersey

Booties: Wittner matte leather

Bag: Vintage Advantage jaquard, beads

Tote Bag: Tree of Life upcycled sari fabric

Bangle Stack: Gift, vintage Mexican silver

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

Ring: Precious Stones Jewellers silver, amber

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All dressed up & ready to "turn on, tune in & drop out" for the day at a Woodstock Anniversary event in my beloved River City. Most people already know about the 3 days of peace, love & music that occurred in Bethel, upstate New York in 1969 at Max Yager's family's dairy farm that is widely regarded as the absolute pinnacle of the counterculture/anti-Vietnam-war/hippie movement but what I find hardest to believe is that it was 55 years ago! So much of the sentiment, the social upheaval & the themes of the music are still current today & I've been lucky enough in my lifetime to have seen some of the performers from the festival at subsequent concerts & they still seemed as youthful & exuberant as they played to a crowd, so I guess it's true when they opine that there's nothing new under the sun.

But I digress. For the occasion, I was elated to wear this absolutely stunning orange & gold floral & paisley print silk midi dress with lightly puffed sleeves, heavily embellished cuffs & belt & soft jersey slip underneath for modesty from Brisbane label Sacha Drake, styled up with a pair of black matte leather pointy-toed heeled booties from Wittner for a modicum of height, a vintage black floral jacquard bag with fringing from Vintage Advantage to carry some essentials & a slouchy, upcycled patchwork sari offcuts tote bag from my local Tree of Life store to carry the rest. When it came to jewellery, I chose special pieces in the form of a stack of vintage Mexican silver bangles that dear friends brought back from overseas, a single vintage silver bangle from 20th Century Antiques & Collectibles that you've probably seen on here a million times by now & finally, a silver & amber cocktail ring from the delightful ladies at Precious Stones Jewellers that was a thoughtful birthday gift from my wonderful parents earlier this year.

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Well, I came upon a child of God

He was walking along the road

And I asked him, "Tell me, where are you going?"

And this he told me...

"I'm going down to Yasgur's Farm

Gonna join a rock'n'roll band

Got to get back to the land

Set my soul free."

We are stardust, we are golden

We are billion-year-old carbon

And we've got to get ourselves

Back to the garden...

Woodstock Weekend

I came upon a child of God

He was walking along the road

And I asked him, Where are you going?

I'm going down to Yasgur's farm

I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band

I'm going to camp out on the land

I'm going to try an' get my soul free

We are stardust

We are golden

And we've got to get ourselves

Back to the garden

Then can I walk beside you?

I have come here to lose the smog

And I feel to be a cog in something turning

Well maybe it is the time of year

Or maybe it's the time of man

I don't know who I am

But you know life is for learning

We are stardust

We are golden

And we've got to get ourselves

Back to the garden

By the time we got to Woodstock

We were half a million strong

And everywhere there was song and celebration

And I dreamed I saw the bombers

Riding shotgun in the sky

And they were turning into butterflies

Above our nation

We are stardust

We are golden

And we've got to get ourselves

Back to the garden

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Dress: Vintage (from Hawaii)

Kimono: Little Lies

Platform Wedges: Rivers

Bag: LouenHide

Bracelet: The Gift Tree

Bangle Stack: Tree of Life

Daisy Headband: Lovisa

Rose Headband: Sportsgirl

Baby's Breath Headband: Gift

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A few pictures of the "mushroom tent" I erected to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair - commonly known as Woodstock. Billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace, Love & Music," it was held on Max Yasgur's 600 acre dairy farm near Bethel, New York from August 15-17, 1969. During the poorly planned, hopelessly under-catered & sometimes rainy weekend, 32 acts performed outdoors before an audience of 400,000 young people including Joni Mitchell (writer of the haunting lyrics throughout this post), Ravi Shankar, Arlo Guthrie, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe & The Fish, The Who & Jimi Hendrix.

Widely regarded as a pivotal moment in popular music history, it is also considered to be the nexus for the larger counterculture generation that resonates in the hearts & minds of many, who still believe that a world without violence or hatred is the only way... 

The bohemian clothing style of many Woodstock attendees still inspires today's fashion, with kaftans & kimonos, flower headbands & stacks of bangles never truly going out of style. For these shots, I am wearing a vintage flowered kaftan that was sent to me as a gift from my friend Alice, who now resides in Hawaii. To achieve that multi-layered, many-patterned, musical gypsy look, I have mixed it with a silk kimono in a contrasting floral, finishing the look with a wrist full of jangling Indian bangles as well as a chunky flower bangle & a succession of flowered headbands. 

All that remains is for me to share a few pictures of Huckleberry (the furry interloper) enjoying the "mushroom tent" as much as I did...

WISHING ALL OF YOU A WEEKEND FILLED WITH 

PEACE, LOVE & MUSIC!