Red and cream hair scarf: Claire's
1930s/40s style knit aqua scarf: Miss Beta Knits
Black dolman sleeve cardigan: Freddies of Pinewood
Fitted red top: Urban Planet (I think - bought it years ago now)
Vintage style side button jeans: Freddies of Pinewood
Vintage red knit gloves: etsy seller Stylish Light
Black crochet handbag: Thrifted (Value Village)
Black vintage-y looking lace-up winter boots: Tender Tootsies (bought this year at Walmart)
Lipstick colour: MAC Russian Red
Photography by Tony Cangiano
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We're spoiled and I know it. Compared to a lot of the country, we usually see spring weeks before many folks do, so when it (winter, that is) decides to hunker down, strap itself in, and stubbornly refuse to budge, we scarcely have a leg to stand on in the complaint department. Well into early April, there were still signs of the frosty half of the year here, though now, many rain showers later and with a few jittery stops and starts, spring has returned, in full, at long last (or so one says with as much confidence on that front as they ever can in Canada).
Towards the end of March, on a day that was sitting mighty close to freezing still, Tony and I ventured out to a wee indoor flea market in the nearby tiny of Oliver (a location which I chatted about a little earlier this year here). It's an ongoing event that happens most weekends, and while there is rarely little genuine vintage, especially in the categories that interest either of us (yes, my dear chap fancies certain yesteryear items, too), as it's only about 40 minutes away, it is worth checking out every now and then just in case some marvelous treasure is waiting for us to unearth.
No dice that day, really. I say "really", because I didn't walk away completely empty handed. At one of the first stalls upon entering, I found a tiny slip (it's much, much smaller dimensionally and page count wise than most vintage or current ones) of a vintage yearbook from 1933 hailing from a high school in the province of Saskatchewan. Between my love of vintage yearbooks and the fact that I have family ties to Saskatchewan, which naturally makes me feel an affinity for anything related to it all the more, I knew it had to be mine. The seller was asking six dollars, I offered four, and she took it on the spot. I smiled gleefully all day over this sweet little find, which while not big in size, is jam packed with marvelous early 30s quaintness and fun.
Between dodgy bursts of rain that threatened to turn into snow, we headed a bit further south to Osoyoos and pulled over at one of Tony's favourite fishing spots, an immensely pretty corner of the Southern Okanagan called, I kid you not, Solana Bay (pronounced and spelled just like Solanah of Vixen Vintage's name, minus the letter "h" at the end of the word). Naturally it is impossible for me to visit this beautiful and deeply tranquil location without thinking of one Solanah herself each time we’re there.
That day I also very much had the darling aqua hued 1930s/40s reproduction knit scarf that I'm sporting in these photos on my mind. This scarf was very kindly made and sent to me by tremendously talented Portuguese craftswoman named Beta, whom I've had the truly beautiful pleasure of becoming friends with in recent months. She sells this scarf, as well as number other hand knit accessories and fashions in her etsy shop, Miss Beta Knits.
Called, so very charmingly, The Miss Marple Scarf (named after the famous Agatha Christie character), this classic neck warmer is is such a sweet, easy to style piece. In fact, as soon as it arrived a few weeks prior, it instantly became the scarf that I wore more often throughout the remainder of the winter than any other. I love that it's not bulky, that's it's cheerfully hued, excellently well made, and just plain cute to boot! As well, it can be styled to work for multiple decades, from the 1930s (perhaps even the 20s) to the early 60s, just depending on what you partner with it.
As well, the Miss Marple retails for a very reasonable $25.55 US, which an extremely good price for a piece that it knit from scratch. Beta lists various colours of this scarf in her shop, and can also make others, depending on the colours of wool she has on hand or can get a hold of. She is a sheer delight to work with, so if you'd like a scarf in a colour that isn't listed, just give her a shout on etsy and I'm sure she'd be delighted to try and help make the piece you're envisioning a reality.
Here, on this day of flea market visiting and errand running, not to mention dog park visiting, I took it in a 1940s direction and partnered its punchy aqua hue with red, black and dark denim (care of my super beloved Freddies side button jeans, natch). Layers and thick materials like denim were still a most on that nippy day and between them and Miss Beta's splendid scarf, I was able to keep the chill rising off of the water - if you'll pardon a someone obvious pun - at bay.
This is the first of two absolutely wonderful vintage inspired knits that Beta is very sweetly and generously making for me to review. The second will be arriving a touch later in the year and will be the star of its own vintage outfit post when it does. I feel blessed to have received this timelessly pretty aqua hued mid-century style accessory and look forward to many more chilly seasons to come of wearing it.
After all, if there's one thing you can be assured of in this northerly country, it's that winter will return again with a vengeance quicker than you can say "where's my Miss Beta Knits scarf?".
