This shoot kind of follows on from the last post. In this one it was a very 'Ice Queen'-ish mood, and this reminded me of the White Witch from Narnia. So two different characters from C S Lewis' chronicles in consecutive posts! I made a snow throne (complete with icicles from decoration) this evening, which would have been so perfect for shooting with this outfit.. Never mind.
Unfortunately the light was already fading by the time we got outside. We had had to wait until there finally was a break in the snow so that it didn't get on the lens. My feet got thoroughly soaked and I was rather cold, but it was worth it! You may notice the strange looking lines seemingly coming out of my head in one photo. No, I was not trying to send thoughts by the power of telepathy, I was just very fortuitously standing in front of a telephone pole! I quite like the effect actually.
The long glittery skirt is a 'miss moneypenny' vintage seventies one that was bought from a charity shop. I love wearing floor length skirts, there is something so glamorous about them. While writing this I am currently wearing another one, with checkered white, grey and black squares on it. Longer skirts are quite a rare sight now, unless it is for evening- but I wear them all the time!
The white lace bodice, which has been featured before, was inherited from my great-grandmother. The amazing thing is that this bodice has been worn by four generations of women in our family, me being the latest. I find that clothes like these are definitely the most special.
The little woollen top with a collar underneath is a thrifted piece 'appropriated' from my mum. The silver shoes are Betty Jackson, also from a charity shop. They are one of those pairs that just tend to look so much better when worn- which unfortunately doesn't happen enough! The furry hat was bought in a Bristol charity shop a few weeks ago. The socks and long evening gloves were both for christmas. The necklace was inherited. The silver bangles are victorian, and the largest one was a present to my mum on her 21st birthday.
The beautiful brooch is vintage Christian Dior. Let me explain the story behind this gorgeous piece...
I have a big box under my bed filled with all my customising and sewing things. Scraps of fabric, netting, material and old junk jewellery. A lot of these pieces are inherited from my maternal great-grandmother who collected costume jewellery. I was given a shoe box of these things when I was about eight, and used a few bits and bobs over the years but never really took great notice of them. Then about a year ago I decided to clear out and looked through the contents. Stunned doesn't begin to describe it! There was this brooch, nestled among seventies plastic strings of beads and sixties minimal white necklaces. Most of the things have now been relocated into my permanent accessories collection, with this brooch taking pride of place!
I suppose I am very lucky with my inherited pieces, as both sides of the family are hoarders who kept everything! My paternal grandmother with her pieces from when she was an actress, my grand dad who kept all my great-granny's things, and my mum who is a former drama teacher ("Oooh, I'll get this fifties tea dress for 20p from a jumble sale because it might be useful in a play") and an avid thrift shopper!
I'd also like to say that I recently had my four hundreth follower! Thank you so much to every one of you who has taken the time to look at, comment or follow my blog. It really means a lot.
We are still surrounded by snow here, and frankly the game of 'How-many-layers-can-I-fit-under-this-Betty-Jackson-jacket' is getting a bit tiresome. I am someone who dislikes having to dress out of a necessity to be warm. On the other hand, snow does make a rather attractive background for a shoot, especially when the theme is Narnia. There is a plantation of fir trees literally just up the road from us, and after a trudge past them to go sledging earlier that day the idea occured. I love the thought of a fantasical land in the back of a wardrobe, behind lots of warm furs (or faux furs here.) The outfit had to be quite WW2 forties-esque. I was kind of thinking of Susan in particular from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
The faux fur jacket is one I found in a charity shop for £6.95. This is a fantastic price for something that is both beautiful and actually really rather warm. The greeny-brown jumper underneath is.. wait for it.. vintage thrifted Jaeger! Yes, the obsession really does continue massively. The green skirt is one my Mum bought last weekend in that very predictable place- the charity shop. I love the texture of the wool. The white beret was my maternal great grandmother's- the one with the amazing hat collection! Twelve of the best hats from her are currently residing on two cork boards on my wall. The brown lace-ups used to be my mum's from the nineties but I 'borrowed' them and now wear them all the time. They've already appeared twice on this blog. The brown leather suitcase is one of a small collection we own that have come from various places. This one usually holds model tanks that my grand-dad made during the second world war (it used to be his.) Quite fitting really! The scarf tied to the handle is from the aforementioned great grandmother. The belt is recently thrifted. Actually, apart from the socks and tights, every item here is either charity shopped or family inherited! This is so typical of my style. I was thinking, the blog should probably be renamed something like 'pennies and shoestrings' or 'Roz's thrifted/ family hoarded finds'!
Thanks again to Dad for being dragged out for the usual half hour of photography. The last rays of extraordinary wintery light persuaded him outside...
I was so honoured to be featured on Judy's blog Atlantis Home yesterday, along with some sketches I did for her. I really appreciated it and am bowled over that she chose to do this, so a massive thank you to Judy! I've posted one of the four sketches below, to see the others take a look at her blog.
I am also trying to set up a bloglovin' account, I'll let you know about that in more detail soon.
Before describing this outfit, let me first explain the process of a shoot. It usually ends up something like this:
Me: I have an outfit I'd really like to shoot for the blog, just this little vintage/ thrifted _____ (insert description here)
Dad: Humph, how long will it take?
Me: Half an hour max, and I know just where to shoot it! Please?
Dad: Oh alright then, have you got the camera and the spare battery? (We constantly fret about spare batteries on such expeditions.)
Half an hour later
Dad: I need coffee, some caffeine!!! And then I need to get back to work.
Anyway, thanks dad for taking some time off. Having self employed parents is certainly a bonus on an unexpectedly snowy day.
So there we were, me in a floor length ball gown tramping up the country lane. "Ah, hello bemused neighbour. Don't you know I always go sledging in my finest dress daaaarling?" Then it was over a farm gate (yes, in the dress and cloak) and treading footprints into the new canvas of snow.
This blue embossed satin dress with pink flower detail was bought by my mum at a jumble sale for about 20 pence when she was in her late teens. I want to find one of these jumble sales! But unfortunately I have a feeling they are already extinct- oh for the days when relatives gave away the rare pieces owned by late relatives. She bought it for a ball she was attending (although she ended up arriving with it accessorised with crutches, having broken her ankle two days previously.) I love the vibrant colour of this dress, and wish I had such an occasion to wear it to.
I managed to weasel it into my wardrobe after coming across it in her box of vintage pieces hidden at the back of her cupboard (away from my vintage hungry fingers I assume.) But this collection of timeless articles has been somewhat depleted, and then, shall we say- relocated... in my direction.
Of course it was so cold that I needed something very warm over the top, so in addition to the dress pulled over a matching cardi with 3 layers underneath, I also raided this rather delectable cape.
It was originally owned by my late maternal grandmother, who liked to dress somewhat flamboyantly. She would match it with a floor sweeping gypsy skirt, a silver ring for every finger and bare feet. In winter! I think she originally found it in a charity shop too. The orange lining is silk, and the cape is wool. Unfortunately it is a little moth damaged. Although being a generally very peaceful person, the extermination of all clothes moths sounds like a promising idea to me.
The black riding style boots are thrifted and the bracelet is family inherited. The little black bag is part of a growing collection of chain handled specimens working their way into my room via flea markets and that good old favourite- charity shops.
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