Daily Outfit - Off to Grandmother's House We Go

Outfit Details: Blue 1940's vintage hand knitted cardigan - Circa Vintage, Wide leg pants - Living doll, Black top - Miss Shop, Shoes - Wittner, Earrings - Diva, Cherry Clip - Genki.

Firstly, excuse the gratuitous outfit shots today, but I am just tickled pink with my new blue cardigan! I love the way something as simple as a well made, beautiful piece of clothing can put such a spark in your day. This beauty is an original 1940's hand knit that I picked up at the wonderful Circa Vintage, (you can read my previous post about them here). It is a fine woolen knit with slightly puffed sleeve, shoulder pads and even knitted covered buttons! Delicious. It is such a delight to find a vintage piece with this kind of quality and personality, and the price was more than reasonable. Let's just say that you'd pay more than this for something new, that was both made in China and mediocre.

I'm also quite chuffed with today's hair experiment. Inspired by The Freelancers post showing how she rolled her hair up at the back, I had to give it a go. While not quite as perfect as hers, I love the overall faux short effect. I used the barrel roll and sides up technique from my first hair tutorial, and combined it with the rolling technique. It is very 1940's and very kawaii I think.

And now that the little fashion show is complete... I spent my afternoon having tea with my Grandmother and my girls, which was why I decided to give my beautiful cardi its first outing. The only thing Nana appreciates more than a lovely cardi is a killer 1940's hair do. Not so much for its style points, but more for the nostalgia factor, and I am only too happy to oblige.

In other news of the day, I was interviewed by author Johnny Dale for his blog. Johnny writes a serialised online novel The Darling Budds, and his blog is an extension of his writing, along with a personal exploration on what makes style. He asked some very interesting questions that got me thinking both about my style and my life from an interesting perspective. (These thoughts should prove interesting post topics in the future too.) Here is a little excerpt.

• What was your style like when you were a teenager?
  
  SKM: Not surprisingly, I have had a strong aesthetic my whole life. When I was a teenager I was into some very contradictory styles as I loved both Gothic and child-like Rave wear. Now that look has its own term – Graver. That sounds so much cooler to me. For my first school formal, when all the other girls had coloured taffeta dresses made up, I wore a red velvet and black lace, 15th-century styled gown. I also took the one other Goth girl from my school as my ‘date’. That may not raise an eyebrow now, but at the time it was quite shocking! I also remember being thrown out of Sunday School for wearing a floor length red cape at 15. There was much talk of me being a witch as I chose not to go with the Laura Ashley style that was so popular at the time!

You can read the whole interview HERE.

So if like me, you are feeling the weight of a wet winter, pick something perky and get the Winter Blues instead!