Flickr Favourites: November 23, 2012

{November Cat ~ Arkadious}

{November Mix ~ matthew stephen edwards}

{Dvine Dahlia in Sephia ~ Deborah S-C}

{November 2, 2011 ~ Flood}

{November 1939 Fashion ~ christine592}

{Pheasant ~ Bird Photographer}

{November Rose ~ donsutherland1}

{Sepia squirrel ~ Grandma Tina}

{reflecting ~ Flood}

{Vintage Bike ~ canadianandrew}

{All images above are from Flickr. To learn more about a specific image, please click on its title to be taken to its respective Flickr page.}


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Depending on whereabouts you live in the Western hemisphere, this point in the month might mean that you're still enjoying the last few enchantingly beautiful days of amber hued light and freshly picked autumn fruits and vegetables, or that you're already knee deep in a mini mountain of snow.

For many reality lies somewhere between the two. The days are neither sun-kissed now snow-covered, instead they're soft grey, mousy brown and nippy, as the sense that winter is fast approaching grows stronger which each pale sunset and frosty morning.

As a child I recall November often feeling like a long month. My beloved Halloween had come and gone and I knew it would be another twelve month stretch until it returned. At the same time, I was eager for Christmas, which seemed eons away when viewed through the eyes of youth. November meant heavy coats, snow boots, the sombreness of Remembrance Day, turning on the indoor heating again, and secretly starting to compose my little Christmas wish list in my head.

All of those points still ring true today, though I now view the countdown to Christmas as being far too short for everything I need to get done in time (no matter how early in the year I start). I've never disliked November the way some people (understandably) do, and in fact, the older I get, the more I've come to appreciate and enjoy it.

November is the last full month of autumn; its day may be short on sunlight, but they often still include signs of the vitality and beauty of the earlier months of the year. A few verdant blades of grass poking out between the faded yellow ones, a violet hued wildflower clinging for dear life to the side of the road, or an apple still swaying on the branch remind one that November is like the great divided between the sizzling and freezing halves of the year (well, at least here in Canada).

It's a serene month (if we brush aside thoughts of holiday prep work), and one that I've always adored taking lengthy walks in. I know that very soon the mercury will plummet far below freezing for the next few months and thus long walks (on slippery snow encrusted paths and sidewalks) will become a rarity until the first days of spring immerge once more.

November is quiet and strong, unassuming yet far from passive. It brings with it a certain nobility and elegance, and its palette - though less jaunty than that of September and October - is soulfully beautiful, endearing itself to my heart year after icy wind kissed year.

1930s autumn fashion inspiration

✯ Day 317 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

November's palette is dark, but not foreboding. It may not be quite as majestically vibrant as that of earlier autumn days, but it retains some of the same burnt umbers, inky maroons, and greys that call to mind cold, wind whipped skies.

At the same time, just as November has one foot planted in the fall, another stretches out to start embracing the colour spectrum of winter, with it's evergreen tree hues, barren tawny-brown landscapes, and pale, snowy ski hills.

Far from being dull and dreary, I find that there is a lot of subtle, beautiful inspiration to be found in the shades that the world around is presently decked out in. Mother Earth is starting to sport her neutral wardrobe as we inch closer to December and this can translate marvellously into vintage pieces for our own sartorial looks, too.

Take for example the richly lovely selection of French 1930s looks in the fashion illustration below. Here we see an array of dresses and coats in the very colours mentioned above - even the quaint (almost loafer looking) shoes are matched to the November inspired outfits.

{A timelessly pretty selection of vintage French fashions are on display in this wonderful illustration from 1936. Image via Le Petit Poulailler on Flickr.}

 

By the mid-thirties we start to see some of the looser lines of the 20s and early years of the decade give away the more structured styles would appear as time rolled on into the forties. The silhouettes are still long and lean here though, as they'd so often been during the Depression years, though in this image one picks up on a subtly feminine figure being carved out thanks to belted and nipped in waists.

Regardless of if you enjoy sporting fashions from the thirties yourself, there's much inspiration on the colour front to be gleaned from this palette of autumnal shades, which you can easily apply to your own favourite decades (just think how striking a 40s inspired pencil skirt and sweater set combo in earthy green and brown would be, or why not an 1950s evening dress pale grey or teal-kissed pine green?).

In a few short weeks nature will even more devoid of colour, but that doesn't mean you wardrobe has to be, so long as you keep November's elegant palette in mind all through the snowy months that will upon as in a flash.