A Clothes Horse

Outfit: Our Vintage Shopping Tradition

We're stateside for the holiday and hit the ground running, barely letting the dust settle and unloading our bags before venturing out into antinque shops with my family. It's a favorite tradition of ours around the holidays or otherwise. I grew up hunting for a good bargain in thrift stores and scouring antinque malls for curious finds and later, I introduced Thomas to the crowded old barns and former factories converted into shops filled with vintage treasures that pepper this region of the States when we were dating. He found our engagement ring in a vintage shop and we purchased our first piece of home decor for our future house together at an antique mall. There's a lot of history crowded under the roofs of these quirky shops, but the narrow aisles and crowded shelves still leave plenty of room to make new memories.

*pom beanie, Samantha Pleet bodysuit, ASOS pinafore, Rebecca Minkoff purse, Sorel boots*

pom beanie, Samantha Pleet bodysuit, ASOS pinafore, Rebecca Minkoff purse, Sorel boots

Outfit: Put Me In Your Talkie

I've been working with Gatsbylady (a UK based family run business that designs beautiful 1920s inspired dresses in a wide range of sizes) for awhile now, so I have several Gatsbylady dresses and am pretty well versed on their selection. Still, I have to say I think this might be my favorite Gatsbylady dress yet (and there's a similar blush style as well)! I really love how they designed the beading around the collar and the fringe on the skirt gives the nicest bit of movement when you walk or dance. The collar feels slightly Cleopatra-esque; a fitting tribute if intentional since people were a bit Egypt-mad in the 1920s. It was called "Tutmania" after the media craze created when British archaeologist discovered Tutankhamen tomb in 1922. With many of the finds photographed and printed in magazines, a trend for anything Egypt inspired was born. Fashion design was especially influenced by the art--the rich colors of paintings bringing vermilion and lapis-lazuli into fashion as well as the draped clothing style and various pattern motifs (like the lotus) that were replicated into beaded designs like the one I'm wearing today. It wouldn't be long before mummies found their way into films as well, with the classic, pre-code horror film from 1932. Vintage movies, especially early talkies are on my mind, since with my headband, faux fur caplet, and novelty purse in the shape of a vintage camera I feel like a flapper starlet ready to walk her first red carpet. I've been wanting a vintage or faux fur caplet for ages, but always felt they looked too "fancy" in a "where would I ever wear that?!" sort of way. But now that I have it I think I might find a lot of excuses to wear it, especially this holiday season when so few coats match my favorite party dresses.

Gatsbylady headband & Clara dress, Unique Vintage faux fur, shoes (more mary jane styles), Nara Hayley camera purse, black gloves

*pictures by Thomas*

Outfit: The Craic'd Pot

Craic is a word you hear a lot of in Ireland. Upon meeting up with friends. "What's the craic?" After seeing people. "How was the craic?" Pronounced like crack, it basically means fun, or good times. It threw me when I first moved here how often people talked or asked about craic, but now it rolls off my tongue quite easily. I find myself asking others "what's the craic" and saying "it was good craic" after an enjoyable evening. Some days it feels like everything goes back to craic. And now, Armagh (our favorite local stomping ground for food, entertainment, etc) has The Craic'd Pot. A cozy coffee shop with the most welcoming interior and delightful hot chocolate.

beret (more berets), old moto jacket (more styles here), fox scarf (similar), Samantha Pleet dress, notebooks

I'm not much of a cafe frequenter. Since I don't drink coffee, there's usually no reason to stop into a coffee shop, let alone linger over a cuppa. But in winter it is nice to escape your house for a change of scenery and bit of pastry. The better the ambiance, the more tempted I am to make such visits a routine; heading over with pen in hand and enough time to linger and people watch by the window...

beret (more berets), old moto jacket (more styles here), fox scarf (similar), Samantha Pleet dress, notebooks

*pictures by Thomas*

Outfit: Queen Of The Coats

I have a thing for coats. My "thing" largely being I collect too many of them and focus on ones with interesting details or come in fun colors. It's great when it is winter and 90% of what people see is your outwear, but not the most practical when you feel like they're piling up in every corner of your house and each one has so much style to it, you have to build your outfit around the coat you want to wear rather than get dressed and just throw on one. Some days I do just get dressed and then have to rifle through all the coats in my closet trying to figure out which coat actually semi-matches what I'm wearing. Some days it's easy to find a match, but there are times when I wish I had a few more basic coats in my closet...which of course would just be another excuse to get MORE coats. This peachy, scallop coat is the latest to my collection. It's quite warm, but still nicely fitted and works with some of my more ladylike winter outfits. We shot it on a sunny evening at this pretty little bridge. I'd love to see what this area looks like later in winter with a fresh blanket of crisp snow; I feel like it would be such a pretty winter wonderland sort of scene.