#11 - New Year's Eve

Sorry about the delay guys. I have a paper due Monday, and basically I'm fckd! Gotta write 11 more pages  the next 48 hours to get this one done and passed. But here is what I did for the New Year's Eve. 

I didn't have any great plans for the New Year's Eve this year, so I decided to join  my parents and their friends when I was invited. 

Luckily my parents are somehow as crazy as you can get, and I guess I'm getting old enough to enjoy their company and recognize their craziness in myself as well.

The party was actually anything but dull and my dress was the object of full attention during the 

night. 

I must say, I would have been green of envy if the dress in fact wasn't mine, and to think I almost didn't buy it…

Remember to press the picture for bigger view

I found this dress on Etsy and fell in love with it immediately. I loved the color, the details and it reminded me of a dress my Barbie doll used to have. I wasn't though sure if it was an original 1950s piece or an 1980s repro - the neck line confused me. 

At the same time and in the same store I found two other dresses (#6  is one of them) whom I just had to have in my collection. So I took my chances and bought all three plus one skirt. Even got a discount which was quite nice. 

Counting days the dresses arrived in the end of november. At the first glance I could see this dress was not a repro, but a original pice from the first half of the 1950s. 

The length has the right New Look length. 

The zipper is metallic which is a good indicator of vintage, since metallic zipper are rarely used today, and the buttons on the front are metal as well. Unfortunately this dress has no tags, but that makes me believe it's tailor made. 

The hair was improvisation. I knew I wanted to do something over the top. So what I basically did was to roll the front section in to a faux bangs. The left side was pinned down and the right curled up in 4 victory-roll shaped roles. Once again I cheated with the back section. I secured it with a rubber band in a pony tail, and sculpted a bun. I accessorized the hair with some jewelry. 

I knew I wanted something silver with simile stones to match this dress.  I was sure the silver would give it a cooler and more icey look, and I was right.  I have a serious weakness when it comes to shiny thing so I bought bijouterie, and a lot of it to accessorize the dress. 

Both pair of shoes are new. They are last minute shopping. I needed a pair of pumps for the party, and yes, the 50 pairs I've got in my wardrobe just didn't fit the dress. So I found these, and they are perfect; the hight is good, they are suede and have a 1950s feel about them.  

I saw the plats in h&m and had to have them. I have so many flats I even forget I have them, but look at the stones! When I wear them I feel like a  Disney princess or like Elizabeth Taylor from one of the early-1960s movies. So you see… I had to have them.

I wish you all a good new year and ha happy weekend! 

#7 - Vertigo

Last year I watched Hitchcock's "Vertigo" from 1958 with James Stewart and the ever so gorgeous Kim Novak. 
Besides the thrilling story and Hitchcock's ability to capture details like nobody else can, I was amazed by the clothes Novak was wearing during this movie. 
Basically I would have killed for every single piece from her wardrobe. 

The first thing that caught my eye was the off-white coat Novak is wearing throughout most of the movie, a coat I actually stumbled upon in a second hand shop less than 24 hour later, but that is one story I'll keep for the spring, and warmer days. 
Second thing is the black dress she is wearing underneath the off-white coat. But what actually left me breathless in the end was the green skirt she is wearing during a walk on the street with Stewart. It's just the perfect everyday skirt.

I know there is a lot of green color in that movie, but there is only one skirt like this one. This skirt has a beautiful green shade, rather olive than green. It has quite a lot fullness and has buttons in the back. In the movie it is matched perfectly with a simple brown blouse for an everyday use and a black patent leather belt is used to emphasize Novak's waist.

I knew something like that would be more or less impossible to find, so instead I decided to let my tailor make one for me. 
It took me a couple of months, but one day I found the perfect fabric. It was basically forgotten, and the sales-lady found it by accident in the back of a pile. Nonetheless it was perfect; Olive-green cotton/wool blend and no stretch at all.

My tailor made the skirt and it was basically perfect, but just a bit too over-the-top for everyday use. 
When my tailor was done with the Novak-skirt,  I still had so much fabric left that she was able to make me one more skirt, which I actually designed for her to make. And that is the one I'm wearing today. 

 (Klick for larger pictures)

The simplicity of this skirt match perfectly with the buttons and the fluffy pockets. It balances the details, and makes it suitable for both everyday use, and evening use - depending on how you accessorize it, and off course what kind of shoes you use. Since I'm headed for a day at the Library I've toned it down a notch. 

I curled my hair only at the ends and secured it with bobby-pins, just to get it of my eyes. 

Wearing a turtle-neck sweater makes this look more of a 50s look rather than 40s (this skirt actually could go for a 40s look as well). So all in all a simple outfit for everyday use.

The jewelry is fauna-inspired today: Hanging monkeys as earrings and a butterfly shaped brooch. Both are found on Etsy and used just in hope of bringing a couple of laughs during the day.

And to finish the look and match it to the awful Danish weather: A pair of rubber boots. 

I actually own five pairs of rubber boots in different lengths and styles. They are so very practical in Denmark, well basically every season of the year. These are my favorite. They are not very warm, but they are awful adorable and feminine, so I use them as often as possible.