Making suits from separates, pale late winter sunshine, and happy St. Patrick's Day wishes to everyone!

Outfit details

1940s/1950s turquoise hat with white flower: Dragon Head Jewels Too
Turquoise and white floral cameo earrings: Handmade by me
Vintage blue patterned scarf: Acquired in person from a fellow vintage seller
White button front shirt: Talbots (this shirt has the most amazing tone-on-tone jacquard pattern to it - I'll have to wear and photograph it sans jacket so that you can get a better view of it one day)
1960s blue and gold tone flower brooch: Thrifted (I think)
Black velvet blazer: ???
1950s royal blue gloves: (probably) eBay
Gold tone metal bracelet: Payless
1950s black velvet skirt: Etsy seller Lady Kitschener's Vintage Emporium
Tan coloured cross body purse: eBay
Royal blue tights: Ardene
Black pumps: Payless
Lip colour: Clinique Raspberry Glace


Photography by Tony Cangiano

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Let me preface today's post by saying that this outfit is not St. Patrick's Day themed or intended to celebrate this festive Irish holiday per se. Instead, it was a recent look sported on a chilly late winter afternoon when Tony and I were in Kelowna running errands.

Between doing my business taxes, ups and downs with my health, and lonnnnngggg work days, I didn't get in a specifically March 17th themed outfit ahead of time, but may wear green and gold today and post about it later, if we go out.

This outfit is the absolute epitome of the sort I wear when bopping around town (or neighbouring towns, as the case may be :)) during the late fall and winter months, when it's still chilly (usually at, or right around, freezing), but not quite so cold that a heavy duty overcoat, boots, knit hat and scarf are truly required for the sake one's own safety from the elements.

Though you might at first glance think that my (modern, but strikingly vintage appropriate) black velvet blazing and matching 1950s black velvet pencil skirt were a suit, they are indeed two separate items purchased years apart from one another.

As I've chatted about here at various points over the years (such as this post from 2013), my figure - short, curvy, and complete with small shoulders - does not jive well with the sizing of most vintage skirts. If it fits in the waist, it's too small in the bust and vice versa, or both work, but the shoulders stop nearly at my elbows, the skirt length is all wrong, the jacket length is unflattering, or some other point trips the whole equation up. And yet...

I madly, completely, head over-heels adore mid-century vintage suits and will try on hundreds of them, if need be, to find one that fits (or can easily be tailored to fit) just right. That said, especially when I do the bulk of vintage shopping online due to serious lack of old school clothing purveyors around these parts, it be tricky to find even that one suit that hits the jackpot and so I've become a die hard fan of combining separates that look strikingly similar to create the appearance of the suit.

Naturally, this tends to work best with neutral coloured pieces, especially those on the darker end of the spectrum, such as black, brown, navy blue, and grey, but in theory any colour is fair game and you don't have to hit on a 100% match. Similar shades, especially if the material at hand - such as velvet in this case - is virtually identical, can often trick the eye into scarcely noticing that there's a wee discrepancy in terms of the colours (if there’s one at all). Plus, and this is worth keeping in mind, sometimes one encounters genuine vintage suits where the skirt and jacket have been worn or laundered in different volumes and thus they themselves very a touch in terms of the intensity of the colour at hand.

Sometimes, too, it's fun to intentionally mix things up. Say, for example, partnering a navy blue linen jacket with a navy cotton or wool skirt. The cohesiveness of the palette and the general lines, so redolent of a suit, are more then enough to convey the general concept. I'm not alone in doing this and know that many of my fellow vintage lovers, such as Stephanie from The Girl With The Star Spangled Heart, enjoy piecing together "suits" of this nature as well.

Whether you find suits tricky to obtain, are short on them at the moment, are just getting started with vintage, or simply want to give yourself more styling options with the pieces that you already have to hand, this approach to creating a "suit" is a great one to take. Be it the dead of winter (wools! tweeds! thick velvets!) or thick of summer (silk! linen! cotton!), making your own two-piece ensembles from matching separates is well worth giving a spin if you're a fan of vintage suits.

This winter, while long and still underway a touch, wasn't, thankfully, a particularly brutal or snowy one (in fact, there was so few big falls that I didn't even get in a photo winter wonderland sort of shoot this season). It was however, as most tend to be in Canada, rather devoid of sunshine. Thus, as it slowly began to creep out of hibernation at the end of February and throughout March, I have flocked to it faster than the neighbourhood cats.

Meek and scarcely warm (by the time it reaches us down here on earth, that is) it may be, it's still sunshine and that fact alone gives me a massively needed jolt of energy - not to mention cause to smile, reach for the camera, and scamper outside with Tony to start off a new year of photo shoots.

Being a busy workday for both of today, again, I wouldn't bank on a shoot happening on St. Paddy's Day, but you never know. Either way, now that we're on the cusp of spring, you can (theoretically - one technically never knows what the future holds in store) count on lots more outfit shoots going forward throughout 2015. I'm really looking forward to in fact, as I've purchased and received a number of garments over the last half a year that suit spring and summer best, and which I'm chomping at the bit to share with all of you (including my first four Lindy Bop dresses).



{I'm not sure what the inside of this adorable vintage St. Patrick's Day card said, but I like to imagine it went along the lines of "Because it's so very heartfelt!". Image source.}


To one and all who observe it, may you have a positively fantastic and very happy St. Patrick's Day today, and to those who do not, I hope that you have a terrific Tuesday all the same!

Vintage snow day!

{Come the freezing cold days of winter, which we're all very well acquainted with by now (in the Western Hemisphere), one of my favourite ways to keep my ears nice and warm (or at least not entirely frostbitten!) is by employee the classic use of a headscarf like this 1960s red, white and green charmer. Neutral hues are fine, but an extra jolt of colour always helps to brighten my mood and serve a reminder that even the longest winter has to end sometime! Vintage scarf measures 20 inches/50.8 cm on all sides. $14.00 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.}




{Headscarves not your thing or not particularly well suited to a specific outfit you have in mind? How about this delightfully cool pair of deadstock band-less mid-century vintage earmuffs instead? $12.00 from Stag Vintage Goods.}




{I have three pair of snowflake earrings and wear them practically to death during the winter! They're sweet, fun, festive and great way to dress with the season. This absolutely charming vintage screw back pair included pale blue rhinestones and would be especially awesome for your next ski trip (while you're relaxing in the lodge at least! :)). $18.00 from Blue Sparrow Vintage.}




{You might as well put lip chap on the food pyramid for me come winter. I have dry lips (and skin) all year round, but in the winter it's a 24/7 battle for me to keep my lips from cracking and bleeding, so I always have a tube (or five!) of high quality lip balm at the ready. I haven't tried the offerings from this particular brand, but given their all-natural formula, they sound like one that I'd have good luck with - plus the name of this particular product, Snowflakes Vanilla Mint Lip Balm, really appeals to me. $4.00 for a 0.15 ounce tube from Lippincott Soap Co.}




{It doesn't get much more classic than this on the winter scarf front! Red and black combine to create a timeless tartan pattern on this wool blend 1950s scarf that will never, ever go out of style or fail to help keep you warm. 58" scarf, $20.00 from Transmigration.}




{How on earth I managed to list this delightfully classic red and black 1960s sweater and not tuck it away in my wardrobe the moment I found it, is beyond me! :) I have indeed recently listed it though and now you can bring it home with you, if you’d like. Fits up to a 36" bust/28" waist (unstretched). $30.00 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.}




{Fancy yourself quite the skiing expert? Love lounging in the lodge with a steaming cup of cocoa? Just want to sport a darling winter sport themed pin? Whatever the case, this uber cute, very reasonably priced vintage ski bunny brooch is for you! $10.95 from Granny Bean's Boutique.}




{It's scarcely a secret that I'm wild for dresses and skirts, but sometimes, especially when the mercury plummets, pants are the first thing I reach for in the morning. I own three pairs of Heyday's fantastic swing trousers and they all see wear during this icicle bedecked time of the year. I really like that Heyday offers a variety of colours and fabrics, so that you can coordinate them with your favourite winter coats, sweaters and jackets. A great pair to start with (or add to) your own collection is Black Swing Trousers (available, at the time of writing, in UK ladies sizes 10 to 20) that will serve you awesomely as the bottom half of countless cold and warm weather ensembles alike. £55.00 from Heyday.}




{Classic, sturdy, and easy to style in an array of directions (vintage, punk, goth, contemporary, etc), these Finejo brand women's black lace up faux leather boots are sure to help make getting through the long months of winter more bearable. Plus, they're a massive bargain to - fittingly - boot! :) Available in modern ladies sizes 6 to 11. $21.99 from Amazon.}

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At the start of this week Penticton was hit by a snowstorm that resulted in the single largest snowfall this town has seen in decades. Coupled with the abundance of flakes that had already fallen on the weekend, come Tuesday morning, there was well over a foot of the white stuff everywhere the eye could see.

A snow warning was in effect and very rarely for Canada, a snow day was even issued schools in the area. Looking back to my own years as a student, I can only remember two times when that ever happened. Snow is a fact of life in this country and needs to be pretty serious and substantial before schools shut their doors.

It wasn't just classrooms that were empty though, the streets, slicked with immensely dangerous black ice, were near ghost towns and sadly many who did venture out found themselves either getting stuck or slowly colliding on their sides into one another as if they were playing a citywide game of bumper cars.

Tony and I didn't risk going out on Monday and I had to move one of my routine doctor's appointments up a few days because of it. For all the trouble such weather can cause (and goodness knows, things can always be worse on the blizzard front - as far as I heard, the power didn't even go down here in town because of it), there is also a certain resplendent beauty to it that will always speak to my winter serenity loving soul.

While I have been yearning for a solid snow cover to take some vintage outfit photos in, it's rather tricky (and certainly not very safe) do so in the midst of a snow storm, so this week the camera stayed in its padded bag and instead I decided to deck out this month's stylish Vintage Friday Fashionista in the kind of garb one needs when faced with such a snowy environment.

While my own hunt for a matching two-piece (or one-piece zip up) vintage ski or snow suit still continues, living in the northerly nation that I do, I do have numerous cold weather and fun winter themed items (such as the snowflake shaped earrings I mentioned above) that I wear frequently from October/November through to March or April, just depending on when Old Man Winter decides to vacate the premise. Many of which are similar those featured here today.

Though things have slowed down on the snowfall front as the week progressed, we're still up to our eyebrows in ski hill perfect powder and it's safe to say that we'll be reaching for the winter boats, extra heavy scarves, and wool garments long after Monday's official snow day (this being Canada after all!!!).

I hope that you're all staying warm and safe, and enjoying a fantastic start of January, my dear friends!

Raspberry, brown and pink for fall

...Or the case of the high waisted vintage a-line skirt that unintentionally looked like a pair of trousers in these photos.




























Outfit details
Floral print vintage cotton scarf: etsy seller I Love Vintage Stuff
Prescription eyeglasses: (frames) Venus Eye Design V-12
Pearl necklace: Birthday gift from Tony ♥
Raspberry knit cardigan: American Eagle Outfitters
Pink shell top: Smart Set
Vintage brown a-line skirt: etsy seller Second Hand Addiction

Brown faux alligator handbag: Le Chateau

Cinnabar looking carved bangle: Forever 21

Other bangle bracelets: assorted sources

Nude seemed stockings: eBay

Brown round toe pumps: Pipsqueaks and Damsel's consignment store 

Lip colour: MAC Russian Red

Photography by Antonio Cangiano  
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This brown skirt is a relatively recent acquisition that I picked up for an absolute song from an etsy seller who is currently in the midst of trying to sell off all of her inventory. It's a little big in the waist, but I used a safety pin (on the underside) to help wrangle in the extra material in the waist band. This shade is a great natural hue and I highly suspect, even though it's a touch too big, I'll get a lot of millage out of this classic brown skirt.

These photos were taken after we'd been bopping around Penticton doing various things one day and I didn't realize at the time they were taken just as rumpled and wrinkled my skirt had become throughout the afternoon. As the result of one particularly long crease running almost right down the middle, in some shots it looks like I'm actually wearing high-waisted, wide leg trousers! Not that I mind actually, I don't own (or wear) many pairs of pants, so it's sort of fun to pretend that I was sporting some trousers in these photos.

It was a somewhat nippy day and an icy wind kept blowing past and causing me to clutch my cardigan to my chest. I love this sweater, not only for its lovely raspberry juice hue, but also because it's one of the few (somewhat) chunkier knits that I own.

Not being a knitter myself and having a wool allergy, it can sometimes be tricky to find vintage appropriate medium and heavy weight knit cardigans, so when I spotted this lovely American Eagle Outfitters at one of the local Salvation Army thrift stores (we have two here) earlier this fall, I swooped in on it right away. It's quickly become one of my most worn autumn pieces and will definitely be in heavy rotation until the toastier days of late spring return once more.

Though a relatively simple ensemble over all, I adore the colour palette as well as the vintage scarf wrapped around my head (to hide the still damp curls I'd put in earlier that morning). There's a sweet forties feel to this outfit and in a way I feel as though I look like I could have been heading off to a WW2 job at a factory (in my street clothes) or, then as now, running informal errands around town on a nippy November day.