What one wears when it's 42C

Outfit details

Hair flowers: Assorted sources
Dark plastic tortoise shell sunglasses: DKNY
Black and clear rhinestone earrings: Save On Foods (Sadly, later in the day I discovered I'd lost one of these beautiful, vintage looking earrings. We went to the store where I'd bought them a few months ago in case they were still in stock, but unfortunately they weren't. At least I'll always have the photos from this day to remember them by.)  1930s glass bead necklace: Maejean Vintage
Fitted red top: Urban Planet (I think - bought it years ago now)
Black quadruple buckle stretch belt: Forever 21
1950s style leopard print circle skirt: Big Beautiful Barbara Brown
Black plastic rose bead stretch bracelet: Thrifted (Value Village)
Vintage Saks Fifth Avenue black patent purse: MK Retro  Black sling back bow flats: Payless
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red


Photography by Tony Cangiano

(Car thermostat photo taken by me with my phone)

{Let's just ignore the multi-chins that this harsh July sunlight and the shadows from the trees in front of me are creating in this photo - and most of the other snaps here - shall we! Thanks! :) }

♥ ♥ ♥

Sunglasses, for starters!!!

Beyond that, when the temperature soars to 42C/108F, most other items of clothing become seriously negotiable. For those of though who aren't keen on, or don't believe in, as the personal case may be, baring nearly all no matter the weather though, options like itty-bitty bikinis and Daisy Duke worthy denim shorts are out. In their place, I prefer to reach for, counterintuitive as it may sound, a lovely long skirt.

It doesn't have to be heavy, and I frequently skip a crinoline in such sweltering heat, but the airiness that is created when the breeze whips up and rustles through its folds is so immensely refreshing.

On this day, I partnered my beloved 1950s leopard print circle skirt (from UK reproduction seller Big Barbara Brown, who, and please don't quote me here as I can't say for certain, may have shut down, as their online shop is gone and their Facebook page hasn't been updated in a few months) with a thin, breathable red cotton stretch top, my favourite belt I've ever owned (by a long shot), which looks decidedly mid-century, but is in fact a budget-friendly Forever 21 piece bought several years ago in Toronto, sling back black flats, a few fun hair flowers, and lightweight jewelry. That's it, folks.

The Okanagan Valley, where we live, routinely gets some of, if not "the", warmest temperatures in Canada each year and though I do madly love the heat (draining, admittedly, as it can be at times), I'm not going to suit up in suit, if you will, or five layers when the mercury is making a beeline for the nearest deep freeze to try and cool off. No, weather like this, which poofs/swells your skin something fierce (or so it does to me at least), calls for simple, light, classic pieces that weigh little and don't take themselves too terribly seriously.

In addition to breezy skirts, capris, peddle pushers, halter tops, playsuits, sundresses, wide brimmed straw hats, feather weight shoes, and simple, unfussy accessories are, take it from someone with many years of experience with wildly warm summers, the way to go when the days feel as hot as the surface of the sun.

On this particular recent Sunday afternoon, Tony and I made our way to the shade bedecked shores of Shannon Lake, a relatively small (for the area at least) body of water on the outskirts of West Kelowna. A favourite local fishing hole of many, my angler husband very much included, it was - shockingly - virtually empty that day. Clearly the masses had flocked to the bigger lakes, such as Okanagan, and the sandy beaches there.

We weren't getting in the water, so Shannon Lake served us perfectly well and was as gloriously tranquil local retreat as one could ever hope for. And as we'd not yet taken snaps at this particular lake, naturally the camera came out for a spell, before we both sank in a heat induced stupor onto the verdant, slopping hills and took a moment to, once again, reflect on just how blessed we are to live in this stunning, lake strewn part of the world.

Sporting a New Look silhouette in the sunshine at City Park

Outfit details

Black 1940s/50s platter hat: eBay

Metal and enamel flower earrings: Save On Foods

Pearl necklace: Birthday gift from Tony ♥

Black vintage handbag: etsy seller A Vintage Revival

Fitted black velvet blazer: Smart Set

Brown stretch cotton fitted top: Sirens

Metal cheetah brooch: eBay

c. 1950s brown cotton gloves: Unknown (likely eBay)

1950s reproduction leopard print circle skirt: Big Beautiful Barbara Brown

Black seamed nude stockings: eBay

Black pumps: Payless

Lip colour: MAC Russian Red
Photography by Tony Cangiano    

♥ ♥ ♥

In all the history of all the fashions in the world there is, unquestionably, no other silhouette that I adore more than that present in Christian Dior's now phenomenally iconic New Look.

Incredibly feminine, sophisticated, and in stark contrast to most of the styles and cuts that had dominated the fashion world during the challenging, austerity filled days of WW2, the New Look, which was typified by a fitted blazer or dress bodice, full skirt, corseted (or otherwise very nipped) waist, hemline below the knees, and at times, even padding around the hips and backside to help further enhance the slenderness of the waist, was a culture shock at a time when most had grown incredibly accustomed to making the most out of the lest amount of fabric possible.

The ensemble that most people picture first when they think of the New Look is Dior's gorgeous Bar Suit (pictured below), which was, and still is, one of the most dashing and sublimely well tailored examples of women's clothing to emerge in the twentieth century. The Bar Suit, was just one of several designs that comprised Dior's February 1947 line, yet it has stood out over the past nearly seventy years as the most evocative and memorable from both that particular show and that immensely transitional period in fashion history.

{Image source}

It was famed Harper's Bazaar editor Carmel Snow actually who is responsible for giving the world the term "New Look" to describe the silhouette and pieces that Dior had reintroduced into fashion (though fuller, more curvy fashions were reappearing in any kind of serious way for the first time since the Edwardian era during the the late 1930s, the war years quickly put an end to designers' ability to produce garments with such generous amounts of fabric). Upon seeing his now legendary 1947 Corolle line (corolee is the French word a corolla, aka, a circlet of flower petals), Snow was compelled to remark, "It's quite a revolution, dear Christian. Your dresses have such a new look!".

This comment was overheard by a correspondent for Reuters and the rest, as they say, is history. Though not all of the fashion loving public warmed to Dior's generous, voluptuous and very figure defining looks right off the bat, they set the stage for many of the silhouettes, designs, and trends that would dominate fashion until the mid-1950s in particular, with elements (such as especially full skirts) continuing to hold court until well into the early 1960s.

Aside from the opulence, glamour and beauty of the Bar Suit (which my immensely dear friend Joanna from Dividing Vintage Moments has both written about extensively and replicated with great skill herself) and the other styles that defined the New Look, I have long been drawn to them because they usually work exceptionally well for those like myself who happen to have had an hourglass figure bestowed on them by Mother Nature.

The ensemble here today is not intended to reproduce a Bar Suit or any of the exact looks from Dior's Corolee line to a tee. Not by a long shot. It takes some styling cues from the Bar Suit, while also calling into play a pattern that we often associate with the following decade (the 50s) in particular: leopard print. It is, as objectively everything we wear should ideally be, me through and through.

The full skirt, the fitted blazer, the nipped in waist, the marvelous pancake/platter hat, the classic palette of neutral hues and black, the way each piece harmonizes which each other - it all adds up to the kind of look that I could, unquestionably and very happily, wear every single day of my life.

On this particular afternoon, we were over at City Park (aka, Waterfront Park; though the two are technically slightly different sections of the same general area along Okanagan Lake) in Kelowna, taking snaps in pale sunlight and unwinding after a long week. Though there were plenty of fellow park goers in the vicinity, by moving around to various spots, we were able to get in plenty of photos with unencumbered backgrounds and highlight this outfit in a tunnel, on a walking bath, on the sand, and against a large tree trunk.

Most of us who adore vintage fashion are constantly looking at images of yesteryear styles, be they in book, magazines, movies, on social media (especially Pinterest, Tumblr, Facebook, and Instagram), old photographs, museum exhibits, or anywhere else we happen across them, and sometimes its great to intentionally either take a styling cue, as I've done here, or to flat out try to replicate some of the looks that speak to you most powerfully.

By paying homage to the styles of the past that we love the most, we're able to keep their memory alive and well all the more majestically. Something that, I can't help but think Monsieur Dior would have approved of, having done so himself, too, when he brought fuller, deeply feminine, and more sumptuous garments back into mainstream fashion again after the harrowing war years, where they've continued to resurface (especially in the 1980s) ever since - today's vintage outfit photos very much included.