The perfect Luxulite brooch for Peach Fest + embracing autumnal hues early

Outfit details

1940s style forest green snood: eBay seller tina.g-2008
Vintage style plastic peach rose stud earrings: Handmade by me
Brown thin knit cardigan: Suzy Shier
1940s style plastic peach dangle brooch: Luxulite
C. 1980s does 1940s/1950s mustard yellow dress: (I think) eBay
Pine green faux leather skinny belt: eBay
Yellow plastic bangle bracelet: Forever 21
Vintage peachy-orange and dark green plastic bangle bracelets: Unknown, had for years (probably thrifted)
1950s/1960s brown faux patent leather handbag: Frugal Frocks
Nude seamed nude stockings: eBay
1940s style faux leather round toe pumps: Walmart
Lip colour: Clinique Raspberry Glace
Nail colour: Essie Roarrrrange


Photography by Tony Cangiano

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My love of autumn and its colours palette isn't exactly a highly guarded secret. From the earliest days of my blog's life, all the way back in 2009 right up until the present, I have made both a key element of the annual ebb and flow of happenings here and am sure that I always will.

Perhaps its because we've had so few truly summery (or late spring, for that matter) days this year, but even though we're still a few weeks away from autumn's official return, I'm already starting to embrace this beautiful season once more.

The first of my harvest themed decor items are making their way out of storage, dishes starring root veggies, cinnamon, and/or long, slow cooking times are appearing on the table; and, to the surprise of no one who knows me, I'm sure, I've begun wearing autumnal hues, too.

Not entirely, of course - it is still technically summer and I do want to get my "light and bright" colour palette on for a while longer, but here and there for sure, especially on rainy and/or overcast days like this past Sunday when we grabbed these snaps against the backdrop of a local hedgerow just up the street from our house.

Last week was Peach Fest here in Penticton and while we didn't get to a ton of events (in part because it overlapped with Tony's birthday weekend), we did enjoy some of the local festivities and the general air of high spirited merriment that fills the town while such is underway.

In honour of a festival whose roots center around the luscious, scrumptious peach that grows in abundance around these parts and has long been an integral factor in the local economy, I knew exactly what vintage inspired novelty brooch I wanted to wear.

I purchased this awesome Luxulite brooch last year in fact with the primary intention of sporting it for the Peach Festival, so I knew that on Sunday, the day after Tony's birthday, the time had come to debut it here on my blog.

To create the rest of my ensemble, I used the colours in my brooch as a jumping off point, while also looking ahead to fall and its earthy, inviting hues that so many of us melt like butter over.

And speaking of buttery shades, this c. 1980s does 1940s/1950s mustard yellow dress, which I've had for a few years now, is one of my all-time favourite dresses. If, for some strange reason, I had to shortlist my entire dress collection down to just ten, or really, even merely five, this dress would make the cut, no questions asked.

It has somewhat poufy sleeves though, which look a touch bulky under a fitted cardigan like this brown one, but aside from that (and really, that isn't even a truly negative point), it's pretty much my dream solid coloured dress and I reach for it the whole year round - especially from mid-summer to late autumn.

It felt like a while since I'd last rocked a snood on camera here, so picking up the green in the Luxulite brooch, I opted for a dark forest green one and repeated that same colour in my choice of skinny belt, as well as one of my vintage plastic bangle bracelets.

This brown cardigan has some light grey hued plastic pearl buttons on the front. Pretty for sure, but they didn't go with the general palette or look of this outfit one iota, so instead I tied the cardi and tucked most of the buttons in the knot and folds created by that process. Issue solved! :)

I was quite bushed (and full – so many carbs!) from Tony's birthday celebration the day before, so I wanted comfy and cozy, but still well put together and I feel like this fun Peach Fest meets autumn colour filled outfit delivered nicely on that front.

Stay tuned later in August, to see what I sported for my husband's b-day itself, and then for a whole bevy of fall hued and themed outfits that will be coming down the pipeline here as summer continues to wind down and we embrace the return of my absolute favourite time of the year.

I can hardly wait for the crisp, refreshing days of fall - but first, am hoping that we get at least a few more sporadic rain-free days, as I do have some further thoroughly summertime-y looks that I'm eager to share here with you this year before pumpkin-spice-everything officially returns.

*PS* This coming Monday (the 15th) I'll be having a routine medical procedure (I've had the exact same one numerous times over the years) at the hospital, so I'm giving myself the weekend off from blog post writing (though will still be online plenty) to relax and prepare for such. I will have two or three new posts for you next week, starting with one on Monday itself, so happily no major disruptions to life as usual here on my site. :)

Introducing a new video series: Vintage Fashion 101 (which kicks off with a look at snoods)

Ever since returning to YouTube last month, my mind has been teaming with ideas for possible videos there, which I must say, I truly love and appreciate, because when I first tiptoed onto the YouTube stage in the summer of 2014, it was often crickets and tumbleweeds on the “what video topic to cover” front.

I'm sure, as with most creative endeavors, there will be further periods of feast and famine there as time goes on, but thankfully, again, at the moment, the well is not running dry and one of my favourites that I've struck upon as of late is is that of a Vintage Fashion 101 series of videos.

When it comes to the trifecta of beauty/makeup, hair, and fashion, the latter is my strongest suit and the one that I'm best able to readily create videos about.

Due to a couple of my conditions, my hands/arms shake when I hold them up for very long and I'm not a super great expert on fancy makeup how-tos, so that one isn't an area of videos that I'll likely make many on. Plus I wear a wig all the time, so between that and the whole shaky arms situation, hairstyling techniques, are not a topic I'll probably make a ton of videos on, but I can talk about and show examples pertaining to vintage fashion until the cows come home!

Not to contradict what I just said, as they are something of a hair accessory, but I decided to kick of this fun new video series with an in-depth, fun filled look at snoods. Those classic, comfy, stylish (usually) netted crocheted or knitted hair coverings that had a major moment during the mid-twentieth century.

In this video, I talk about the history of snoods, provide snood styling ideas and tips, talk about how to prevent your hair from sticking out of the holes in a snood, discuss some of the best places to source snoods from, and share examples of snoods from my own personal collection.

{Snoods are one of my absolute favourite vintage accessories and I wear them quite frequently both in outfit posts, as avid readers of my blog will know, and in my daily life, so I thought they'd make for a great topic to launch my exciting new Vintage Fashion 101 YouTube video series off on.}

Generally speaking, especially when I own examples of the garments or accessories that I'll be talking about in my videos, this is the sort of format that I suspect my Vintage Fashion 101 videos will take.

I adore hearing about what you guys like to see on my channel, so if there are wardrobe related topics that you'd like me to cover in my Vintage Fashion 101 video series, please let me know in the comment section here, on YouTube, or really, anywhere you can reach me. 

You guys, I am really jazzed about this fun new YouTube series (which will likely be randomly occurring, as inspiration or a suggestion to create a new one strikes), especially since it lets me talk about an area that, humbly, I tend to know a great deal about (vintage fashion).

I hope that you all enjoy watching these delightful looks at a different vintage wardrobe area and creative, helpful ways to style that particular garment or accessory.

A timelessly lovely Scaramanga satchel, sand, and a serious lack of spring

Outfit details

Caramel brown snood: eBay eBay seller tina.g-2008
Brown cameo earrings: Handmade by me
Burgundy corduroy blazer: Reitman's
1980s Avon plastic floral cameo brooch: Shoulder to Shoulder Military Collectibles
Thin knit wheat coloured top: Old Navy
1950s navy blue pencil skirt: eBay
1940s/50s cream cotton gloves: (probably) eBay
Brown leather satchel bag: Scaramanga
Nude stockings with nude seam: eBay
Brown vintage style lace up oxfords: Payless
Lip colour: Clinique Raspberry Glace


Photography by Tony Cangiano

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...time weather, that is! Though we have a couple of sunny days lately, we've also been pelted with further snow and some really, really drab skies, like the ones that were out at the end of last week while Tony and I shot these photos down at the beach on Okanagan Lake here in Penticton (yet, there was still more than enough sunlight to turn me into Squinty McSqinterton again - *sigh*). Perhaps because it's so close to home, we rarely shoot on the sand proper there (we've often shot at other locations around it, such as the near the Sicamous, Rotary Park, and the gorgeous rose garden).

I'm not keen at all on how standing on sand makes my calves, which are anything but the most slender of creatures (a point which for some reason this surface just seems to highlight something fierce if I've got a dress, skirt, shorts or capri pants on), look unless I've got mile high heels on. Sometime though you have to take one for the fashion team, especially when the grass and ground around town are a soupy, semi-winter, semi-spring mess. Plus, I was in no hurry to wreck these wonderfully lovely vintage looking brown oxfords that I purchased with some of 2013's Christmas money from Payless in early January. They've fast become one of my frequently worn and highly adored pairs and fill a read void (for brown "everyday" type shoes) that I had in my footwear wardrobe.

They also happen to go extremely well, if I may say so myself, with this tremendously elegant Scaramanga satchel bag, which was very kindly sent to me for review by the awesome folks at Scaramanga. They contacted me a few months back to ask if I'd like to both receive one of their beautiful bags and also swap posts on each other's sites. I said a big yes to both and will appearing in an interview on their blog today. Very exciting!

I was given pretty much free reign of the Scaramanga satchel that I wanted receive and debated colours and sizes for hours (no joke), even bringing in Tony to get his thoughts on various shades. In the end, it came down to black and this warm, wonderfully classic shade of brown. As I didn't previously have any true satchel bags, let alone one this roomy, I knew that I wanted a versatile colour that would be easy to blend with numerous outfits in my wardrobe. Black, versatile as it is, is already quite common in my handbag collection, so ultimately I opted for brown instead and am very glad that I did, as I didn't realize until this sturdy satchel arrived just how much I needed a bag like this in my life.

The first thing that struck me in person about my new Scaramanga bag is just how well made it is. This is not thin, rinky-dink leather here in the slightest. It's thick, but still wonderfully pliable, and is partnered with secure stitching and practical, yet also pretty, nickel hardware. Being (very!) allergic to nickel myself, I do wish that Scaramanga's bags (and all handbags) were free of this metal, but thankfully the amount of hardware present is fairly minimal and I can bypass getting a bad case of contact dermatitis from it simply by wear thick long sleeves and gloves, something that I commonly do for a good chunk of the year anyhow, while using this bag.

The Scaramanga brand got its roots in 2006 when a chap named Carl Morenikeji felt the urge to bring the classic, iconic leather satchel back to the masses in the United Kingdom - and the world. I've long been a die hard fan of this style of bag - which is both beautiful and highly functional - and am very glad that he did, as it ultimately led to my first proper leather satchel appearing in my closet.

Jump ahead a few years to the present and Scaramanga has become one of the best known modern leather satchel brands, with the bulk of their inventory being created by skilled artisans in the UK and India. I sincerely mean it when I say that this is an amazing bag. It doesn't feel modern, and I say that as a very positive thing. It looks, and is, new, but it feels like a treasured family heirloom. Something your grandfather or grandmother might have handed down to you, bought back in the day from a high end leather goods shop and treasured over the decades.

I have the feeling when I use my brown leather satchel that it will be with me not just for years, but for decades, which isn’t something one encounters with a lot of budget-friendly (and in some cases, even more pricy) bags of any kind these days. Even with having to avoid the nickel hardware on it, I know that this is a bag I'm going to get a tremendous amount of use of it. It can stand up to rigors of our rambunctious dog, tote an abundance of day-to-day essentials, is easily cleaned with a damp cloth or Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (my go-to cleaning tool for many leather and faux leather goods), and has garnered numerous compliments already over the five occasions I've worn it out now. I wholeheartedly adore this timelessly stylish satchel and very much appreciate that Scaramanga sent it my way.

The precise bag that I received from Scaramanga is the 13 inch brown leather satchel, which retails for £80.00. That is a bit of a steep price, I know, especially if you're shopping from outside of the UK or elsewhere in Europe, but the quality and beauty, not to mention the scores of times you'll likely use it, quickly help that price seem like an investment, instead of (just) a splurge purchase.

Not all handbags and larger bags like this satchel are created even, but thankfully Scaramanga's are at the top of this playing field, in my opinion. I would have zero qualms buying their offerings to give as gifts or for myself down the road, if I felt like I needed further leather satchels. Scaramanga ships worldwide for refreshingly reasonable rates, so you can avail of their splendid leather offerings (which leather satchels and messenger bags, silver jewelry, home goods, journals, notebooks, albums, and canvas bags, amongst other lovely products) no matter where in the world you reside.

You know, generally speaking, while I look at hundreds, often thousands, of vintage images on an average week, and I store many of them away in my mind for sartorial inspiration, it isn't every day that I see a look and intentionally want to try and emulate it right then and there. Around the time that Scaramanga contacted me, I saw a great 1940s fashion illustration again on Pinterest and knew, thanks to the similar bag that the lady in it was sporting, that I wanted to take a styling cue from it when putting together the outfit for today's post.

{Image source}

While I didn't have a mustard yellow blazer (I wish!) and opted for a navy blue vintage pencil/wiggle skirt, not a brown one as here, as well as swapping a snood for the charming plaid headscarf, I still very much turned to this image for inspiration while styling this great leather satchel and am sure that it will continue to inspire me as I sport it time and time again in the months and years to come.

Okay, so winter still wants to hang around for a little longer, but maybe that isn't such a bad thing - it gives me a few more days (or weeks, as the case may be) to sport the best of the season's fabrics, like the corduroy of my blazer, knit top, and this elegant, practical, immensely lovely leather satchel bag and coordinating faux leather lace up oxfords.


All things that, I'm sure, I'll be pining for at least a little bit once the sweltering days of late spring and summer finally do grace us once again. Thankfully though, no matter the weather, my Scaramanga satchel will be along for the ride as the perfect all-season, hearty, stylish, fabulously vintage appropriate daily carry bag that can take whatever life wants to throw at it.

Giving autumn's colour palette a helping hand

Outfit details

Caramel brown snood: eBay seller tina.g-2008
White rose stud earrings: Claire's
Brown cardigan: Suzy shier
Vintage maple leaf scatter pins: Antique store in Vernon 1970s/80s does 1940s/50s autumn floral print dress: eBay
c. 1940s cream gloves: (I think) eBay
1950s corduroy bucket purse: etsy seller Rue 23 Vintage Clothing
Straw hued heels: Anne Klein
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red


Photography by

Antonio Cangiano

 

♥ ♥ ♥

Rain, buckets upon buckets of rain pelted Penticton in the early days of autumn this year. It came with a sidekick: bitterly cold temperatures, and the two made sure that the usual resplendent palette of the season took a lot longer than usual to spring to life - and that when it did, it wasn't exactly giving Connecticut a run for its money by any stretch of the imagination.

As much as I adore a gloriously picturesque autumn, I wasn't going to let the lack (most days) of one get me down, especially not when my absolute favourite hues to sport just happen to be those that we associate with this mellow, fun filled time of the years. Pumpkin pie perfect oranges, perfectly aged oak browns, cactus tinted greens, saffron yellows, and gentle creams set my heart smiling and I try to sport as many of them as I can before snow banks the size of small mountains come calling all too soon.

Few dresses in my closet are as plucked-from-the-fall-forest perfect as this 1970s/80s frock with classic mid-century lines to it. However, while I love it dearly, and bring it out at least one every autumn, if I was ruthlessly culling my wardrobe, it would likely go to a new home. And why is that, Jess? I hear you asking. That, my lovely dears, is because, unlike most dresses, this one is too small for me in the bust and upper rib cage (the polar opposite of the issue I have with a few of my other frocks, such as this green number, that are too generously cute in the bosom region).

I can get it done up, but it gaps between some of the buttons and feels restrictive while sitting. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of seam allowances, and I wouldn't want to hack down into a skirt, when it could very easily work for someone as a dress the way it stands now, so instead I toss a cardigan or sweater over top and make sure not to sit much while wearing it.

One element that I've always really liked about this dress, is that it has two sets of ties. One in the front and one in the back. I don't believe any other frocks in my closet can claim the same and I've only seen this double tie detail on other dresses a few times in all my life. This effect looks darling when the dress is worn on its own, however when you wear a cardigan over it and undo the buttons before the reach the bow, I do find the effect of the two pieces comes dangerously close to making one look pregnant (which I'm definitely not).

Still, even with these things factored in, I love it because the warm, splendidly earthy palette and floral pattern embodies so much of Mother Nature's spirit during this time of the year - a colour set that I backed up with my choice of accessories, complete with a cute little trio of vintage maple leaf scatter pins that I picked up ($15 for the set) at a small little antiques store in Vernon, that I can't for the life of me remember the name of right now (if I do, I'll come back here and credit it properly lickety-split).

As you can see from these photos, which were taken near Rotary Park down at Okanagan a little earlier in the season, there wasn't much in the way of telltale autumn hues going on in the background yet, thanks to all the aforementioned rain we'd been getting in spades. As summer leaped almost head first into winter, it seemed that everyone you talked to at the grocery store, bank, dog park, etc was floored by how it seemed autumn had bypassed us entirely.

Time would go on to show that it didn't fly over our heads completely this year. Yet even so, it wasn't as richly vivid, subtly warm, or beautifully sunshine filled as it normally is in these parts of the woods, which is precisely why I was even more eager than usual to slip into seasonally hued garments and inject the local scenery with some of my own vintage autumn colour palette. It's a win-win for both Mother Nature and I, if you ask me! :)

A darling 1940s housedress, a fun fact about the Canadian $100 bill, and just one more sleep until Calgary!

Outfit details

Caramel brown snood: eBay eBay seller tina.g-2008
Faux pearl stud earrings: Claire's
1940s floral print zip up house dress: etsy seller ZindyLou
Bangle bracelets (some vintage, some modern): Assorted sources
Vintage woven handbag with bamboo handles: Yard sale find
Nude on nude seamed stockings: eBay
Brown round toe pumps: Pipsqueaks and Damsel's Consignment Store
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red
 
Photography by

Antonio Cangiano

 

♥ ♥ ♥

Okay, so my excitement levels as I sit here and try to steady my hands enough to write this post is pretty much off the charts. Not since we moved back to British Columbia early last year have I been an a fraction as excited about anything, and prior to that? Well, your guess is a good as mine, because it has been a very, very long time since I was looking forward to something as much as I am our fabulous road trip to Calgary tomorrow.

As with most final days before a vacation tend to be, today is going to be a whirlwind of activity! From dropping Annie off at the wonderful pet kennel we're boarding her at (my mom will be looking after Stella here at our house while we're gone) to doing the bulk of our packing, to getting the car cleaned and ready, so I figured I should take a moment now, before the sun rises, to pen a quick final post before we embark.

While we're away, I've scheduled some new posts to go live, however I'm not bringing my computer with me, so I won't be "live blogging" from the road while in Calgary. I do however plan to Instagram right, left and center on my phone, so be sure to follow me on Instagram to keep up with all my exciting adventures in Alberta as they transpire.

This is (overnight or longer) trip I've taken in Chronically Vintage's nearly 4.5 years of life, and I can't wait to finally share some of my travels will all of you (especially because I have adored venturing out into the world vicariously through so many of your own awesome vacation and road trip posts over the years). Once we're home and I've recouped a bit from our travels, there will be a series of posts all about our trip - including what we saw, did, ate, enjoyed, and bought.

Please forgive the massive amount of squinting going on in these shots (seriously, feel free to call me Squinty McSquinty, if you like). They were taken after a recent day of errand running right here on Main Stress in downtown Penticton and the sun was streaming directly into my eyes. I swear, I felt like I was smiling up a storm in them, but that's the thing about squinting, it often seems to squash, so to speak, one's smile and make you appear much more solemn faced than you actually are.

Believe me, I was smiling - or at least trying to! How could I not when wearing a super cute 1940s zipper front floral print house dress like this? As the seasons teeter on the brink of changing hands from summer into fall once more, this dress seams like one of the most fitting garments in my wardrobe that I could wear. It's cut is perfect for the balmy days we're still enjoying, whereas the classic colour palette sings with the loveliness of autumn's return, which ushers in a world teaming with earthy browns, muted greens, and vivid oranges.

While downtown, we spotted the lovely mural pictured here along with the seriously interesting tidbit of information provided on the wall beside it. Though I've passed this mural many times over the years, I don't believe I'd ever stopped to really study it before and was delighted to learn that it depicted the view (from the local community of Naramata) that once graced the Canadian hundred dollar bill.

I honestly didn't know that part of the Okanagan landscape had ever appeared on any of our Canadian currency and adoring getting wise to this cool fact. It's so neat when you live (and grew up in) in a relatively small town and are still able to discover more about it with each passing year.

And speaking of discovering new things, there should be plenty of that going on over the next few days while we're in beautiful Calgary, Alberta. It's a city I know well, having lived there for a little over two years during my late teens, but no doubt much has changed since then, and I cannot wait to reconnect with beloved old haunts and discover plenty of new favourites (vintage, antique and thrift stores very much included) all in the same go.

I sincerely appreciate all of the great tips, ideas, and comments you've shared with me in the last three weeks regarding Calgary (thank you very much to everyone who did so), and cannot wait to blog about our adventures in the White Hat City once we're back.

Those suitcases aren't going to pack themselves though, so I best get a shove. Until we chat again, my sweet friends, please know that I'll miss you dearly and be thinking of all of you while we're on the road.

Alberta, here we come! Yee-haw!!! :)