The Recipe for Love - and one seriously fun vintage outfit, to boot!

Outfit details

1950s green nylon/chiffon hair scarf: Unknown, had for years (possibly a gift)
1940s red plastic knot shaped screw back earrings: Purchased in person from a fellow vintage seller
1980s does 1950s chambray shirtwaist dress: (Probably) eBay (had for years)
1980s does 1950s citrus slice brooch: eBay
Brown vintage fabric belt: From a 1970s skirt purchased from Cricketcapers (see the two in action together here)
Vendula Recipe Tote Bag: c/o Vendula London
Vendula Recipe Clip Fastened Frame Wallet: c/o Vendula London
C. 1950s green gloves with ruffle details: Unknown, had for years (possibly eBay)
Yellow plastic bangle bracelet: Forever 21
C. 1950s/60s red twisted plastic bangle bracelet: eBay
C. 1950s/60s green moonglow plastic bangle bracelet: Unknown, had for years
Nude seamed nude stockings: eBay
Brown 1940s style faux leather round toe heel: Walmart
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red
 

Photography by Tony Cangiano

 
























































(As Tony frequently travels to the States for work, he often has a little bit of US currency to hand and thought it would be a fun touch to slip an American paper note into the wallet for this shot. I concur and think it really adds a delightful touch to this snap.)

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Rain, an unusually large and frequent amount of the wet stuff, has filled many of our days lately, making taking outfit snaps quite a challenge at times. On the very recent Saturday when these photos were captured, the light was changing ever thirty seconds or so and all of about ten minutes (tops) after we wrapped, the heavens opened up again and dropped countless more cats and dogs on us.

In fact, in all of the years I've live in the Okanagan (which collectively, is quite a few), I can't remember the last time we had such a damp, chilly spring (though, there have been pockets of warmer/sunnier days here and there, don't get me wrong). 

But enough of me being a hard core Canadian (that is to say, talking about the weather with great interest and detail - something of a national pastime in this beautiful country of ours) - especially since, in a lot of ways, I actually enjoy rainy weather and find there's a distinct serenity to it that really appeals to my soul.

Another thing that has always spoken to the very core of who I am and what I adore is cooking. This massively includes the collecting, creating, and using of recipes.

As such, the moment that I saw the recently released Vintage Recipe line of products from the wonderful UK accessories brand Vendula London, it was love at first sight.

Over the course of the past year, I've had the pleasure of teaming up with Vendula London twice previously here on my blog, and really adored the beautiful, extremely well made offerings that I received from them both of those times.

I have to say though, that the two awesomely lovely items - the Vendula Recipe Tote Bag and Vendula Recipe Clip Fastened Frame Wallet, respectively - are my absolute favourites to date, and I can't begin to thank Vendula enough for these wonderful review gifts.

Each of these products is bursting with shabby chic meets vintage inspired charm and whimsy, and has a design that also channels that of certain scrapbook styles, and thus appeals to me - as a long time paper crafter - all the more.

The detail on Vendula London's offerings is always impressive, but that of the Vintage Recipes collection is knock-your-socks off incredible!

Both the tote bag and wallet are double sided, with a different design on each side, and a beautiful culinary related printed cotton lining inside. Canvas, faux leather, cotton, and metal make up the various components of each are are all very durable, high quality materials.

One of the things that I adore most of all about Vendula's products is how incredibly creative they are. Each side of this bag and wallet is a work of art with unique, stylish, and timelessly beautiful elements combining to create a product that is head turningly stunning (and indeed, I've worn this bag out on two occasions and have been inundated by kind compliments from strangers and relatives alike each time I have).

Appearing on the outside of the tote bag and on the inside of the wallet is Vendula's "recipe for love", which includes such vital elements of life as humour, romance, joy, compatibility, trust, respect, sharing, tenderness, and patience.

As someone who believes in, and tries to live a life filled with, the virtues of such things this elegantly charming recipe resonated deeply with me, as I'm sure it does with many of you as well.

We are well served by putting this recipe into action as often as possible in our lives and I really admire Vendula London for creating products with such a touching, soulful reminder printed on it for all the world to see and hopefully try to embody as often as one can.

When it comes to the recipe for this outfit, I pulled heavily on the colour palette from the bag and wallet, as well as the lemon slices featured on the tote.

This 1980s does 1950s chambray shirtwaist dress is, without a doubt, one of my favourite dresses that I've ever owned. Interesting, though it has appeared on my Instagram at least a couple of times over the years (including on my 30th birthday and on the ferry ride to Vancouver Island that we took for our holiday there, both back in 2014), I believe this is the first time it's appeared here as part of an outfit post on my blog.

I love this frock so much, that if someone - for whatever strange and unusual reason - forced me to whittle my entire dress collection down to just five garments, this classic chambray shirtwaist dress would make the cut, no questions asked. It's akin to the dress equivalent of a light hued pair of jeans, is incredible comfortable, and works well the whole year round (especially from spring until mid-autumn).

As the tote bag is the rightful star of the show here, I kept my accessories somewhat low key, but not entirely subtle - after all, it's hard for a large sized vintage citrus slice brooch to ever read as understated!

A hair scarf, 1940s earrings, assorted bangles, olive-y green hued ruffled mid-century gloves, and classic brown faux leather pumps round out the mix and add up the perfect sort of ensemble for a weekend afternoon of errand running - no matter the weather!

From its darling cherry faux leather charm on the zipper to the recipe for love and the awesome vintage inspired notes, this gorgeous canvas tote bag and wallet from Vendula London are every bit as much "me" as this chambray shirtwaist dress is and both instantly add up to a recipe for wardrobe happiness in my (cook)books.

Highlights from our first getaway of the year + my unending passion for muted coloured vintage fashions

Outfit details

C. 1930s/1940s black felt and cream faux pearl hat: Unknown, had for many years
C. 1930s plastic plastic tipped short hatpin: Unknown, had for many years
Black plastic hair barrette: Goody
1950s style gold leaf and black plastic dangle earrings: Claire's
Red thin knit cropped shrug: Fairweather
Vintage black plastic and gold tone metal flower brooch: Probably eBay (had for years)
1950s/1960s floral print shirtwaist dress: Linda Down Black faux leather skinny belt: eBay
C. 1940s mustard yellow ruched gloves: eBay
Black plastic flower stretch bracelet: Thrifted (Value Village)
Caramel brown hued faux leather vintage style cross body bag: eBay
Black seamed nude stockings: eBay
Black faux leather pumps: Payless
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red  

Photos of me by Tony Cangiano, all others taken by me and shared here from my Instagram  


































{Photo bombing by random adorable dogs is always welcome! :)}

♥ ♥ ♥

Last month, smack, dab in the middle of April, Tony and I decided that the time had come for our first road trip of 2016. The decision to zip out of town was made very much on the fly, as some flare-ups that I'd been battling for six weeks solid prior to then started to finally calm down and I was in a position to be able to leave the house again. We knew that we'd have four days to work with and thus weren't exactly going to be aiming for the furthest corners of our vast nation.

We wanted someplace that was fresh and exciting, could be reached in just a few hours time, and that offered elements we'd both really enjoy. Brain storming began and after weeding out some other possible candidates, we hit upon the Kootenay region of British Columbia.

Located a in the Southeast corner of the province, the Kootenays are especially well known for their long standing mining industry, abundance of evergreen trees, beautiful snow capped mountains (and, fittingly, ski hills), relaxing hot springs, intricate Doukhobor history, laid back lifestyle, and stunning natural landscapes (peppered with rivers and lakes aplenty) in every direction.

Of course, these are but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what this good sized portion of the province has to offer and many people will find that one short trip alone doesn't even begin to afford them enough time to see and do and all that they may wish to (which is, naturally, a perfect excuse to return).

Despite having strong paternal family ties (albeit much more so historically speaking then nowadays), I hadn't been back to the Kootenays in about twenty years and Tony and had never visited before, so while I did have memories of past trips there, in many ways it was like we were both seeing this verdant part of BC for the very first time.

We left home on Thursday the 14th, after Tony's workday had wrapped up and proceeded to drive through about 4.5 hours of rain, snow and/or fog to reach our first destination (and home base for the duration of this lovely little getaway): the beautiful town of Nelson, BC.




Though we navigated through rough weather to get there, thankfully the sun appeared the very next morning and stayed out for much of our time in the Kootenays. For our home away from home, we selected this immensely cute Alpine Inn and Suites, pictured above, which we were thoroughly pleased with and would definitely return to again.

Nelson is located on the west arm of Kootenay Lake and is the the biggest town in the heart of the Central Kootenay area (the largest town in the Kootenays as a whole is Cranbrook, which we didn't visit, as it's nearly another two hours further from Penticton than Nelson is).

Anyone with a passion for the past is bound to fall in love with Nelson instantly, as it chock-a-block full of beautiful heritage buildings and homes alike. In fact, I don't believe I've been anywhere else in BC to date with a richer concentration of such (I'd say that Victoria would have the second most, IMO).




We had two full days (Friday and Saturday) to spend in the Kootenays and, boy, did we make every moment count!

During the course of that time, we explored not only Nelson itself (including the beautiful historic train station turned tourism center pictured here), but many of the surrounding areas, including Castlegar (where we found a great health food store called Mother Natures that had a really impressive selection of gluten-free offerings, especially for a town with a population of just under 8,000 residents), Salmo, Ainsworth, and Trail, amongst others.

Two photo shoots were able to transpire while we were in this gorgeous part of the province, one of which you're seeing the snaps of here today (these photos were taken on the grounds of our motel) – the other shall follow in the very near future.

This outfit typifies the sort I often wear while traveling (and, really, in my usual day-to-day life as well) and stars a beautiful floral print c. 1950s shirtwaist dress that was partnered with plenty of fun accessories, a cute cropped shrug, sensible shoes, and a lightweight purse (a must for long hours of walking and sightseeing).

I've always been drawn to printed vintage garments in muted hues. Be they florals, stripes, plaids, polka dots, novelty prints, stripes, abstracts or anything else, I genuinely love them to bits and have been working to grow my collection of such over the past couple of years in particular.

This fun mid-century dress joined the team in early 2015 and is making its blog debut here today. It's immensely comfortable and a joy to style, thanks to the numerous colours that one can pull from in the subdued hued (say that five times fast! :)) pattern.

Not only do muted coloured vintage garments often work really well for fall and spring (though then can, naturally, be sported the whole year round), I find that they're often quite flattering to my skin, hair and eye tones – which is all the more reason for me to try and stockpile them! :)




During our brief, thoroughly wonderful, time in the Kootenays, Tony and I visited all of the places listed above, spent a good chunk of time leisurely strolling up and down Nelson's main street, called Baker street, savoured the incredibly crisp, clean mountain air, and watched the sun set over the lake from a cozy bench at Rotary Lakeside Park.

Though we were both floored by how much we were able to see, experience and enjoy while in the Kootenays, there was plenty we didn't get to and as we're both head-over-heels in love with this majestic area of BC, we agreed that many a future trip there will definitely be aimed for!

This was our first road trip with our new car (a Buick Enclave), which we purchased last December, and we were beyond thrilled with how it performed - as well as that we finally had ample space for everything that we needed to bring with us (something that our previous vehicle, a sedan with a matchbox sized truck, sorely lacked!).

We're hoping to take at least one similar road trip this coming summer, though will most likely be headed to a different (as of yet to be determined) destination. Naturally, you can bank on at least a blog post or two (and plenty of Instagram snaps!) from such when we do hit the open road again.

Even though we don't know when or where that will be, I'm already giddy with excitement and can't wait to share more of our stunning, history filled province with all of you.

Lilacs, lime, and Luxulite in the early spring sunshine

Outfit details

C. 1950s lilac purple sheer nylon/chiffon scarf: Unknown, had for years (possibly a gift)
1950s style iridescent rhinestone earrings: Claire's
Lime green 1980s does 1950s shirtwaist dress: (probably) eBay
1940s style iridescent purple beaded brooch: Luxulite
Vintage lilac flower print scarf (worn as a belt): Thrifted
1950s purple wrist length gloves: Unknown, had for years (probably eBay)
C. 1950s navy blue kiss lock handbag: Frugal Frocks in Armstrong
Vintage frosted clear bangle bracelets with clear rhinestones: Thrifted
Clear bangle bracelet: Gift from a lovely online friend
Black seamed nude stockings: eBay
Navy blue patent faux leather pumps: Payless
Lip colour: MAC Partyline


Photography by Tony Cangiano

♥ ♥ ♥

As far back as I have memories of being old enough to have a say in what I wore, colour has played an immensely important role in my wardrobe (a topic that I delved into here). There is an energy, a depth, and a language all its own both to colour in general, as well as to how it interacts with our fashion choices.

Some people give relatively little thought to the hues that they don, perhaps leaning just towards favourites, dressing as their peers do, or wearing only certain shades because of their job or lifestyle. And that's okay, of course, to each their own on all style related fronts. Yet for many of us, especially if we're fashion bloggers, colour is so much more than a secondary aspect to the functionality of clothing.

Colour can whisper or shout, sing melodically or gently hum. It says so much without actually uttering an audible word and can both evoke strong memories and make a powerful stance in the moment.

As someone who is staggeringly shy and introverted, colour also gives me a way to express myself that might not always come through when I do actually speak. Besides that, colour is a joy! As most any artist will tell you, it holds limitless possibilities and can be most anything you want it to (be).

Naturally some colours work better together than others, but I firmly believe that just about any two hues can be married, so long as their tones compliment one another (in fact, that rings true even when three, four or sometimes more different colours are involved).

Last fall, in the context of a vintage Halloween themed outfit, I debuted this fun lime green 1980s does 1950s shirtwaist dress of mine here for the first time (though I'd owned it for ages and sported it previously - just not online) and in amidst the lovely comments that arrived for that post, the notion was formed for me to try and and style it in a way that suited each of the four seasons.

These (four posts) didn't have to happen all back-to-back (and indeed, this dress did not appear here during the past winter), but the general premise was that when each new lime green centered look popped up, it would work with some of the colours of the season to help make it more at home in that chapter of the year.

Bright lime green might not be the first colour that one thinks of as a blank canvass to base this kind of just-for-fun idea off of, but that is actually all the more reason why it appealed to me so strongly. I liked the idea of ensuring this dress (just about the only electric green piece in my wardrobe at present), got plenty of wear and knew even before spring officially arrived, that I'd be reaching for it again this season.

The inspiration for this particular outfit comes from both the beautiful little floral print scarf that I opted to use for a belt, as well as from this recently purchased Luxulite vintage style novelty brooch - on top of the fact that, as touched on here, I'm currently off-the-charts in love with all things purple!

I opted to wear the printed scarf, which stars a pretty pattern of lilacs – one of the most iconic blooms of the season – as my belt. I used the little hit of navy blue that it includes as the inspiration for the dark neutral used in this look, and wove it into the ensemble via my shoe and vintage handbag choices (both of which are solid navy blue).

Lime green is a bold, exciting colour and doesn't generally need a ton of embellishment, but I virtually never go jewelry-less, so to pick up the purple in the scarf around my waist, as well as my sheer vintage hair scarf, I reached for this darling Luxulite brooch with its enchanting soap bubble style plastic beads and lilac hued elements.

Vintage purple gloves, iridescent rhinestone earrings (to compliment the beads on the brooch), and clear plastic bangle bracelets round out the look and help keep the colour palette established in the belt scarf’s design going strong.

These colours are punchy and enjoyable. They're perfect for daytime wear, but could easily see you through a multitude of casual evening events as well. Bathed in early springtime sunlight (at one of our favourite parks in the nearby city of Kelowna) they come alive all the more and instantly remind me why colour is such an awesomely versatile, bold, creative way to make one's outfit all their own.

Whether it happens this year or at a later date, you can bet that I'll be aiming to let this cute vintage lime green shirtwaist dress star in both a summer and wintertime look, respectively, too, and am excited to see what hues will speak to me when those days each arrive.

What I wore to meet Canadian author Elinor Florence

Outfit details

1930s/1940s structural black felt hat: Armstrong Antiques
Creamy white carved plastic rose earrings: Claire's
Burgundy corduroy blazer: Suzy Shier
C. 1930s celluloid rose brooch: A fellow vintage seller in Okanagan Falls
1980s does 1940s/50s dark dusty rose shirtwaist dress: eBay
White skinny belt with brass coloured rose shaped buckle: eBay
1940s telephone cord handbag: Armstrong Antiques
C. 1940s/50s creamy white hued gloves: Unknown, had for years (likely eBay or Etsy)
Black seamed nude stockings: eBay
1940s style black faux suede pumps: Walmart
Lip colour: MAC Party Line


Photography by Tony Cangiano

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Every cold weather season, I vow to myself that I will wear the classic combination of a dress and a blazer/suit jacket more often, then almost always promptly forget, burying myself in a sea of cardigans, turtlenecks, sweaters, and skirts or trousers + blazers instead. This year though, I've been working especially hard to remember to sport this stylish pairing and kicked off the chilly season by doing so with the outfit snaps above, which were taken on the second to last Saturday in November.

That was a jam packed busy day, let me tell you! Not only was it the day before we headed off to Vancouver for a lovely spur of the moment work related getaway, but that afternoon I also had the great pleasure of going to see my lovely online friend and published novelist Elinor Florence (whom you may remember from this 2014 interview + giveaway post that we shared here on my blog) speak in person at our town's public library.

Elinor let me know well in advance of her speaking date that she would be headed through Penticton to give a presentation on both her book and some of the fascinating Canadian history surrounding the time frame (WW2) that it centers on, and I instantly set about trying to ensure that I could attend.

Luckily my health was in a cooperative mood that day and I was indeed able to make a beeline for the Penticton Public Library on November 21st and watch Elinor give a very, very lovely, informative talk and slide presentation on those very topics (which also included photos and stores about her own childhood and parents in relation to the subject matter at hand).

Elinor's novel (her first to date) is set in the 1940s, so I knew that I wanted an outfit that looked the part and to that end, opted to for the above mentioned dress (in this case a lovely dark dusty rose hued 1980s does 1940s/50s shirtwaist dress) and blazer combo. To that duo, I added a 1930s/40s black felt hat, 1940s telephone cord bag, and a smattering of complimentary accessories.

The talk lasted for about an hour and had a really nice turnout. After she had finished presenting, Elinor set aside a bit of time to sell and sign copies of her fantastic novel, A Bird's Eye View, and to chat with audience members as well.







Once the crowd had largely dissipated, Tony and I made our way over to formally introduce ourselves (Elinor and I had been talking online for the better part of a couple of years, but this was our first in-person meeting) where we shared a few minutes of enjoyable conversation, during which Tony grabbed a few quick cell phone photos to further help commemorate the day (including the two above).

As I've said here before many a time, Penticton is not exactly chock-a-block full of vintage (let alone WW2) related events, for I'm all the more grateful that I had the opportunity to see Elinor's engaging talk and to meet a fellow British Columbia with an unending passion for the past.

Whether here in the Okanagan or in the small East Kootney town of Invermere that Elinor calls home, I really hope that we get a chance to hang out again one day. And if we do, chances are you can bank on another photo filled post like today's following close on its heels. :)