The dress (now covered in pumpkin and cream cheese thanks to Edie's food art finger painting, Mumma as canvas) was bought in a sale several months ago. When you buy things in a sale you must always, always ask yourself the question, "Why is this on sale?". You will find the answer is often, "Because there is something wrong with it", in which case, you don't want it either. Here are some hints: read reviews - people will give feedback on a garment that they didn't like; look at the shape - could it be tricky to fit?; look at the material - is it poor quality/wrong for the garment/fugly?. Here are some reasons why you could be getting a bargain: the price point - was it ridiculously expensive for what it was, but on sale it's fine; it's a definite style - one that not many people choose to rock, but you do; it requires a bit of thought - you can see what you need to do with it but others might have missed the trick.
With this dress, I think it was the colours. The combination of the gold and blue works, but maybe it's not easy to imagine how to accessorise. Also they're not very 'in' colours (in combination) at present so the dress looks different from things you see around in the stores at the moment. That could be bad and good. I decided it was good.
From a practical point of view, the dress is a wool blend so has a bit of warmth in it (always handy in the deep South). And from an impractical point of view, it's a pain in the arse to breastfeed in. It requires lifting the whole skirt up. Just as well I have few inhibitions in that sense.
Because of the knit fabric, it's really comfy to wear and the shape is flattering and comfortable too - no gut-sucking required. I like the shape of the skirt with it's slight fullness which complements the waistline and length nicely. And because of where I live, the colours are great.
The hat. Don't ya love it?? Phil bought it for me years ago. It was one of those "Just Because I Love You" gifts that people give each other when they're in love and they don't have kids and boring things sucking up their disposable income. I'm not a complete cynic. We do still buy these kind gifts for each other but these days it's more likely to be a trim latte and a cream bun than a beautiful wool hat. And this is fine as I love me a good cream bun (catch the name of the blog by any chance?). I can't remember where Phil got the hat but he was so proud of his gift-buying skills when he presented it to me. He knew I'd love it: I love hats. My Mum has always had this thing about her not having the right head/face/anything to wear a hat. Every time she tries one on for fun, she pulls this 'hat face' (Phil and my sister will know the exact face I'm talking about) which makes her instantly look like she's escaped from the funny farm and then reiterates that she can't wear hats. Perhaps because of this, Natalie and I love the things. I have a modest collection of hats that I don't wear half as often as I should. And the sad thing is, I've never worn this hat before today. I know, I'm a bad wife. Basically, I have this image in my head of the way in which this hat should be worn, and I have never had the outfit or the occasion to live up to my ideal. It's not a dressing up hat in the sense that you would wear it to a wedding or to the races. And yet it's not a snow day, cold outside, wear it on duty in the school playground kinda hat either. It has its own special place with a black wool suit and 1920's shoes to match its almost-cloche style. But today I lowered my lofty visions of suited beauty and wore it with my Otago Sunshine dress. And I liked it. I know the black ribbon with the blue dress is less than ideal (in my matchy matchy world) but I figured with my black shoes, it ties in top and toe. I shall try and find more excuses to wear my beautiful hat gifted with love.
The Oompa Loompa tights have made a reappearance this week, as have the noisy shoes. I am rolling with the tights but I'm still sure I'll look back in 5 years and shake my head at my fashion-victim choice. And I didn't wear any jewellery this week as I thought the hat and tights were enough accessory for one outfit. Don't want to get to greedy now.
This week my little Edie Maeve is wearing a repeat frock. Gasp! Hey, if it's good enough for Kate Middleton, it's just acceptable for my baby. And it's a tricksy repeat: it's the reverse side of the corduroy smock I made her. I chose this sea green cord to tone in with the same Paris pants but I like running with the blue hues instead. The knitted nappy cover was given to Edie by Aunty Natalie and I love it with the dress. The t-shirt is a hand-me-down and the tights and hair clip are from Pumpkin Patch. Her cute See Kai Run Smaller boots (bought to match her purple glasses frames) feature again. I made another little "flower" to pin to the dress, this time in blue. A vision in blues and purples. The pics where she is not charging headlong toward the camera were taken because Edie-hypnotherapy was playing on the TV and it's not what you might think. I might write a wee post about what keeps her happy because it's bloody hilarious.
A little blue and sunshine from Otago to brighten your day!
And some dancing in the dark to finish. This is me forcing my husband to take photos when there is almost no natural light left. But what light there is, is really pretty.
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