The Object of My Affection

This dress, from vendor Emma Paige Designs, is the dress of my dreams, the dress that was sadly too small, is the dress that stole my heart at the Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show. Mint condition vintage Albert Nipon, this quickly snapped phone photo cannot even begin to do it justice. It was glorious in person. The fabric was beautiful and the colours vibrant and lovely.  Of course, it was rather expensive for what I could afford, and even if it had been within the reach of my modest pocketbook, it was not my size. Although I almost had myself convinced to purchase it, if only to hang it on my wall and enjoy as simply a thing of beauty.

I visited it lovingly many times throughout our visit to the show, and when my friend Catherine and I would get separated, she quickly figured out that she could probably find me somewhere in the vicinity of the loveliness of this dress.

It was the kind of dress that had me envisioning the kinds of adventures we might have together. Worn with bare feet, and a pink silk scarf in my hair, wandering along the white sand beaches of PEI with an ice cream cone in hand. Pairing it with leather sandals and a jean jacket to go to the Byward market in late spring and summer for fresh fruit. I pictured myself in this dress wearing jingling golden bangles and sipping a glass of white wine at a garden party. Suffice to say, it was love, pure and simple. But alas, unrequited. I hope this beauty will find a truly happy home.

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Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of spending the morning with my friend and fellow librarian Catherine at the Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show. It was a treasure trove of gorgeous dresses, tiny shoes (for my sasquatch feet at least), silk scarves, fancy hats, and bits and baubles of all kinds. We spent a happy couple of hours perusing the wares of the various sellers in attendance (some much more well curated than others, finding all sorts of beauties. I think one of my favourite parts of the show was simply people watching - checking out the stylish ensembles of fellow showgoers (Victory rolls and 50's dresses abounded) and hearing the gasps of delight as pre-loved pieces were matched with their new owners. I wished I had brought my proper camera instead of merely my phone (please forgive the poorer photo quality) for the purposes of capturing some of the stylish showgoers, but I think even then I probably would've been too shy to approach any of them.

The green sparkly dress, above, was one of my favourite pieces overall. It wasn't my size, of course, so I did the next best thing and snapped a photo of it. I turned to look at some other garments on display from the same vendor, and turned back around to see that it had been eagerly snapped up, hopefully on its way to a happy new home. There was yet another dress that stole my heart, but I didn't include a picture of it here, because it was so glorious as to merit its own post (coming soon). There were many other beauties, including one beautiful but sad blue dress that had been tried on by too keen an attendee only to get rather severely damaged. A cautionary tale.

I didn't end up purchasing anything, but it was a fantastic event filled with innumerable unique items, and all in all, a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning.

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Apples to Apples

Thanks to Stella and Miuccia I have been searching for the perfect fruit themed accessories for some time, and have been trawling etsy for ages looking for something that is cute without kitsch. I think I finally succeeded today, when stumbling upon these vintage enameled beauties, above from Rona Horn. I waded through what seemed like endless Peanuts and other comic-themed pendants and earrings and all but gave up hope before seeing these little gems.

I feel a little indulgent buying all three. I am leaning towards the apples, although the watermelons have struck my fancy as well.

Help a gal out with the decision making process - which pair is your favourite?

Cat's Eye

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A few short days ago, my current pair of every day glasses came to a bit of an unfortunate accident, and although I am hopeful that a fix is likely possible, I've been on the hunt for a new pair of frames for quite some time now.  I have long been a fan of the Cat's Eye style of glasses, round with the pointed tips to the side. I feel like they look classy, but don't take up your whole face like some large frames I've seen on people lately.

Don't get me wrong, the large square frame can work for some, but when you have to wear glasses every day like I do (unless I whip out the contacts), you don't want them to be the only thing that people notice about you, but you simultaneously want to make a good, stylish, statement.

I feel like these classy frames are making their way back onto the style scene, although are hard to find on your average optical shelf yet. A few pairs of an exaggerated version (which I love - particularly the first pair at left - although perhaps not for every day) perched on the noses of some models as they worked the runway at Prada for Fall 2010, as you can see above. I felt like that whole collection screamed librarian chic, so what is not to love?

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Apparently Mr. Tom Ford is also getting on the cat's eye bandwagon, as is made clear in the most recent campaign. I for one prefer a smaller version than Abbey Lee is sporting here, as well as a lighter colour. Unfortunately, the extreme pallor of my complexion would be an unpleasant contrast with stark black. I'm more of a tortoiseshell or light coloured girl when it comes to picking glasses.

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Fortunately for me, there are a few Etsy sellers who have lots of perfect frames to choose from. The ones I've showcased are just a few of the pairs I've been eyeing on Etsy - a cat-eye frame treasure trove, to be sure!  My only problem now is which pair to choose!