Taking part in the Sisterhood of the Travelling Vintage Dress

Outfit details

1950s cream lace platter hat: eBay
Mauve hued pearl stud earrings: Claire's
Pearl necklace: Birthday gift from Tony ♥
Vintage gold tone metal fountain pen shaped brooch: Unknown, had for years (probably thrifted or from eBay)
Mid-century leaf print dress: The Sisterhood of the Travelling Dress launched by Joanna from Dividing Vintage Moments
Gold tone faux leather skinny belt: eBay
Brown fitted cotton blazer: Thrifted (Value Village)
Faux pearl stretch bracelets: Real Canadian Superstore
C. 1940s yellow-green hued gloves: Unknown, had for years
C. 1950s/1960s woven straw clutch handbag: Unknown, had for years (likely Value Village)
Nude seamed nude stockings: eBay
1940s style round toe brown faux leather pumps: Walmart
Lipstick: Clinique Raspberry Glace


Photography by Tony Cangiano

♥ ♥ ♥

Several months ago now, when 2016 was a young, fresh faced new year, I had the great pleasure of taking part in Australian milliner + vintage blogger Tanith Rowan's exciting Travelling Hat project. More recently, I've equally enjoyed getting to spend some time with The Travelling Dress.

For those who may not have heard about the Sisterhood of the Travelling Dress yet, this was a similar project that my dear online friend Joanna from the blog Dividing Vintage Moments launched back in 2014.

The premise being that a genuine mid-century vintage dress would hop around the world from one vintage blogger/social media user to another before, ultimately, being part of a raffle giveaway that Joanna plans to hold for it in the near future.

It is my understanding that I'm the last participant to spend time with the dress and I must say, I feel really touched about that fact. This dress traversed the globe, visiting wearers in numerous countries on at least three continents.

Each woman put her own unique, wonderful sartorial spin on the garment, with looks spanning the more casual to the deeply sophisticated. Some ensembles suited daytime and others were ready for even the most swanky of cocktail parties.

Every one of the looks, I believe, reflected the woman beneath the dress and was a beautiful way to witness not only the participants' sense of style, but the also their personalities as well.

Just as I did with the Travelling Hat, I bonded with the Travelling Dress big time. When it reached my doorstep, it was in need of some freshening up, so (after getting Joanna's okay to do so) I gave it a gentle hand washing and air drying.

I thought long and hard about the outfit that I wanted to sculpt around it, ultimately letting both the dress itself and the current season dictate the stylistic direction that I took it in.

The photos that you see here were captured very shortly before our recent trip to Edmonton (and, indeed, were the most recent outfit snaps we grabbed before heading off on holiday). They were taken at one of just a teeny, tiny handful of publicly accessible historical houses/buildings in the Southern Okanagan: The Leir House, which is located just a stone's throw away from our home here in Penticton.

In late August, when we did this shoot, the seasons were just starting to change hands. The days were growing a little cooler (though, after the uber rainy summer that we experienced this time around, such wasn't quite as stark a change as usual) and the ability to layer clothing without melting faster than a Popsicle dropped on a hot sidewalk in July was immerging once again.

A true vintage frock like this - with its eye-catchingly pretty leaf/fan print - felt as though it needed an equally classic ensemble to go with it, so for my time with the Travelling Dress, I chose to take things in a direction that would have been nicely at home throughout much of both of the 1940s and 1950s.

Out came a mid-century stiffened lace platter hat, a vintage appropriate fitted brown blazer, a vintage straw clutch, a great pair of c. 1940s greeny-yellow hued gloves, a small assortment of jewelry, and a pair of 1940s style contemporary brown faux leather pumps.

The dress, as well as the setting itself, were the stars of the show this time around and I didn't want other elements of my look competing with them. Instead, much like the natural process of summer melding into autumn, I wanted things to be harmonious and appealing.

Pined to the collar of both the dress and the blazer, you'll notice a gold tone metal vintage brooch in the shape of a classic fountain pen. I gave particular thought to the brooch that I wanted to team with this dream, and ultimately selected this one because I felt that it was a very apt representation for the fact that I, like all those who have spent time with this dress, have had the joy of writing a chapter in the history of this garment's life.

Projects like the Travelling Hat and Joanna's beautiful Sisterhood of the Travelling Dress not only connect fellow vintage fashionistas with one another, but tie us all to the life of a given accessory or garment. We share a mutual love of style, but put our own unique stamp on an item before it moves on to keep seeing the world and adding chapters to its story along the way.

As a nostalgic soul who adores preserving the past, I can think of few things more worthwhile or important on the fashion front for anyone to be a part of.

I want to wholeheartedly thank Joanna for creating this project, enriching the lives of many vintage fans the world over in the process, and for letting the dress wrap up its jet setting tour in Penticton, before moving on to its next home.

Though I will most definitely miss this elegant vintage frock, thankfully, I too have new memories (of it) now and photos to match, and I will carry both with me in my heart for the rest of time.

My holy grail vintage hat as designed by gifted milliner Tanith Rowan

Outfit details

Custom made 1940s style pink and grey felt bird wing tilt hat: Tanith Rowan Designs
Pink glass stone earrings: Claire's (recently - in case you'd like to get a pair for yourself)
1930s black and clear glass bead necklace: Maejean Vintage
Black 1940s style jersey dress: Clothing store in Scarborough, Ontario that closed down years ago
Grey faux patent leather skinny belt: (Possibly) Joe Fresh
Grey 1940s/50s winter coat with embellishments: Sybil Style
1950s pink mesh gloves: Unknown, had for years (possibly eBay)
1950s/60s black clutch purse with chain strap: Gift from a dear vintage loving friend ♥
Black seamed nude stockings: eBay
Black faux suede 1940s style shoes: Walmart
Lip colour: MAC Diva


Photography by Tony Cangiano

♥ ♥ ♥

It's a safe bet to say that just about every single one of us who wears vintage has certain holy grail items in mind. Those pieces that seem to go above and beyond mere wants or even wishlist entries and into a near mythical realm where even just thinking about their acquisition is enough to make you tremble with joy. For many, many years one such item for me had been a sophisticated late 1930s or 1940s bird winged adorned tilt hat - and all the better if it included my favourite colour ever, pink.

I looked far and wide, but none that fit the bill and my price range ever crossed my path. Enter my good friend, fellow vintage blogger, new mom, and mind-blowingly talented milliner Tanith Rowan. Earlier this year she asked if I would like to collaborate with her and together we could create my dream vintage style hat, which I would then share with all of you here (of course, she did all of the actual creating, I just discussed my fantasy hat specs with her and let her weave her incredible millinery magic).

Using vintage images and photos of vintage hats that were similar to what I had in mind, along with some lovely back and forth (detailed) discussions to really ensure we both had the same style and design of hat in mind, Tanith set to work to create a 1940s looking bird wing adorned tilt hat that, as you can see in these photos, is gorgeous to the point of leaving me at a loss for words.

Instead of using real feathers or whole bird wings, we both wanted to go for the super ethical route and leave all the little winged critters with their appendages, so instead Tanith crafted the "wings" out of felt, which along with velvet is (save for the netting and sturdy elastic strap to hold it in place) what the rest of this beguilingly beautiful pink and grey topper is made from as well.

There is an incredible sense of honour and joy that comes with having a bespoke garment of accessory made for you. In the course of my blog's life, I've had the great pleasure of experiencing it a small handful of times and can tell you that nothing on the fashion front compares to when a gift seamstress, crafter, jeweler, or in this case, milliner, is able to not only realize your vision for a particular piece, but to create something that is even more sublime and special than you could have ever hoped for. This is precisely what Tanith did in creating this awesome 1940s vintage style felt tilt hat for me and I can’t begin to express my thanks and appreciate to her for doing so enough.

It, like all of her work - which you can see anytime in her online shop, Tanith Rowan Designs, as well as on Facebook and Instagram, where she shares many of her fabulous millinery creations - knocks your socks off instantly. Not only is this hat visually stunning and incredibly vintage looking, but it is also exceptionally well made. In fact, that quality of the materials and the degree of skill involved with its creations eclipses that of many actual mid-century hats that I own.

Tanith's love for what she create shines though in each and every hat, fascinator, and headpiece that she designs. Pulling on old school inspiration and her own vivid imagination alike, Tanith's pieces are nothing short of genuine works of wearable art. I feel incredibly fortunate to now call this magnificently lovely vintage style feathered hat my own. It takes pride-of-place in my hat collection and will remain a treasured part of my wardrobe for as long as I live and indeed, should I ever have children or a niece to pass this along to, I know that it will become a family heirloom because it really is that amazing and beautiful.

Now, a hat this special called for a backdrop against which to shoot it that would fit its old school style perfectly. This meant our usual photography location haunts around town such as the lakes, woods, parks and our yard were all out. We both agreed that a vintage building or house was in order, yet as there are incredibly few of these still left in Penticton (that are accessible to the public, in the case of houses, I mean), we didn't have a lot of options.

Thankfully however, one that was ripe for the picking, if you will, not mention just a few blocks over from our own abode, is an elegant early twentieth century home called The Leir House, after the surname of the family for whom it was originally built. This stately stone house hasn't been used as a private dwelling in a long time, instead it is a cultural hub for the community, hosting arts, culture and creativity themed events and classes for the public to partake of. As such, unless a private function like a wedding is taking place there, you're free to pose with it anytime you'd like.

Knowing how scarce vintage buildings are in Penticton, Tony and I had been saving the Leir House's Chronically Vintage debut for a truly exception outfit and thanks to Tanith's gorgeous vintage style chapeau, we felt that this was just the one to do that with.

In some photos, I'm posing with a stone gazebo that's located near the small parking lot at the front of the house, in others I'm in the back yard/garden, and in one I'm sitting on a flight of stairs that run alongside the side of the house. As it is a large home on a bit of property, the Leir house affords one many lovely locations in which to take photos and on a very chilly afternoon recently in November, Tony and I did just that.

I partnered my bespoke vintage style hat with a beautiful c. 1940s grey winter coat (which is making its blog debut here today as well) that I got about three years ago now (its glamorous pink lining and grey outer hue made it a natural pairing for this hat in the same colour families), a simple black jersey dress (that while modern, does look quite 1940s-ish), and an assortment of accessories that colour coordinated well with the hat, coat and dress. The temperature seemed to plummet by the minute, so I was very thankful to have such a sturdy, warm coat (which as it's wool, when I wasn't in front of the camera with, I tucked a black velvet scarf around my neck with, so as to protect my sensitive skin, which is allergic to wool, with - but I wanted to show off the collar of the coat here, so I didn't sport my scarf on camera that day) and a warm felt hat as well to help keep near winter's chill at bay.

As 2014 nears its end, I feel especially blessed to have been able to find one of my vintage holy grails, not in this case from a second hand seller, yard sale or thrift shop, but instead created with love and unending skill by a friend and gifted milliner on the other side of the world (Tanith lives in Australia). This fact, I promise you, makes my new hat all the more special, important and beautiful to me, for I not only played a roll in its creation, but personally know that talented hands that crafted it for me.

Should you be yearning for a custom made hat of your own now (and I know you are!), you can contact Tanith anytime to chat about how she can make your vintage (or otherwise) hat dreams come true.