Let's go on a vintage picnic

There are few things in the whole wide world that seem to partner better with a gorgeous late spring or early summer Sunday than leaving the confines of your home and venturing out into nature to enjoy a serene and entirely scrumptious picnic.




Whether you're picnicking merely for its own marvelous merits or in celebration of something wonderful - say, for example like Father's Day today - there's scarcely an occasion that isn't made more delightful by packing up a meal, jaunting off to the seaside, a lovely park, the verdant woods or wherever your heart desires and rejoicing in the mellow pace of a sunny Sunday picnic.

Scattered far and wide across the globe as we are, it's not possible for all of us vintage adoring folks to gather together in one large, delightful communal mean outdoors. Instead, on this beautiful morning, let's go on a virtual picnic together, chocked, naturally, full of vintage loveliness from start to finish.

First off, we'll need a picnic basket. How about this completely charming mid-century red, blue and yellow tartan metal number?





Or if classic wicker is more you're style, why not tuck your favourite picnic foods into this beautiful 1950s example.




And for sheer classic elegance and iconic picnic appeal, they really don't come any more lovely than this great woven version.




If highly perishable foods are on the agenda, we might need a cooler, too - one can never be too careful when it comes to preventing food poisoning! This charming Little Brown Ice Chest and matching Little Brown Jug thermos are sure to do the job.




Naturally, whether we're spread out in a grassy meadow, on a tawny hued beach, or a wooden campground table, we're going to need a white and red gingham picnic blanket. I'm especially fond of the version below created by etsy seller Sewn Natural. It's a three-layer, quilted outdoor blanket that's both eco-friendly and waterproof, too boot! (You've got to love that if you're picnicking with little kids who might accidentally tip over a bottle of grape juice at any moment.) 

We're venturing into the elements, so that means it's time to slap on the sunscreen, even if we decide to set up camp in the shade.





Ants are the only pesky critters who like to show up when picnics are around, so it's probably best if we bring some bug spray, too (or, if you prefer, tote along a nice, big citronella candle).




Perhaps though, we're jumping ahead of ourselves just a touch...we haven't even decided what we're going to wear on our lovely Sunday outing yet. Of course the choice of venue with factor in here considerably, but in general, there are certain options - sundresses and playsuits, for example - that will work well no matter where you're headed this time of year.

In a cute nod to the iconic picnic blanket, I'm rather fond of wearing gingham while I'm noshing in the great outdoors. This two-piece 1950s shorts and crop top set from etsy seller Fashion Rerun would be awesome for those especially toasty days when the last thing you want is to be covered up from head-to-toe.

If pink is your passion, you're sure to swoon (as I did!) over this cute-as-button pink and white sleeveless vintage gingham dress from etsy seller Custard Heart Vintage that practically has "June picnic" written all over it.




For those in the mood for a somewhat darker, but still completely summer appropriate gingham look, may I present a lovely black red fifties dress from etsy seller Vintage Critter, complete with cross stitch inspired detailing and a very flattering square neckline.




Should your picnic take you anywhere near the water - be it lake, ocean, river, stream, or pool - then you may want to slip into this wildly adorable red and white gingham fifties swimsuit from etsy seller Wear It Again.




A wide-brimmed straw hat is a marvelous accompaniment for nearly any vintage picnic ensemble. Equal parts practical and pretty, it shades your face and neck from the sun and gives you the loveliest I-just-stepped-out-of-a-vintage-summertime-fashion-spread look. It's all I could do to keep from swooning right off the couch when I spotted the beautifully elegant flower adorned 1930s straw hat pictured below from etsy Sonnet and Bough.




Now let's turn our focus to the menu. Much as with what we're going to wear, our choice of picnic fare may very a bit depending on where we're headed.

There are certainly beloved staples (beyond just sandwiches and fresh fruit) that are sure to please most picnic goers of all ages and which work well for a variety of venues and events, such as deviled eggs, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, hamburger pie, and chocolate fudge pie. The 1950s picnic spread pictured below would also be rather tasty!




Supplies, food and outfit determined and ready to go, it's now time we nailed down just whereabouts to hold our lovely Sunday picnic. We could head to the beach...




How about getting the whole family together for a feast at the park?




The woods are always a natural choice for an outdoor meal, and a very relaxing one, too, assuming you don't run into Yogi Bear! :)




Sometimes the best picnics spring up organically in the moment, turning wherever you are in a wonderfully festive spot. Case in point, this 1940s crowd having a wonderful impromptu feast on the hood of someone's car.




Having settled on a location, it's time to unpack the trunk and basket, kick up our heels and savour an ice cold beverage.




Be sure to grab some snapshots of your outing to look back on fondly when winter's icy wrath returns. There's nothing like daydreaming about July in January to help make the long wait until summer's return a touch more bearable.




And last but not least, remember to have fun, smile, delight in the magic of being outdoors. Fill your lungs with pristine fresh air, swap stories with friends, nosh until your heart's content, and make sure to repeat the whole picnic process as often as possible this summer!




Whether you drive for five minutes or two hours to reach your destination, pack a few light nibbles or a full on feast, enjoy tagging along with ten people or just one beloved soul, I hope that over the course of this warm and magnificent season, you all get to revel in at least one thoroughly terrific picnic. They're needn’t cost and arm and leg, can be tossed together on the fly, and often result in some of the loveliest memories of year.

{To learn more about any of the images used in this post, please click on an image to be taken to its respective source.}

Happy picnicking, my sweet dears! And to all those celebrating Father's Day, may you have an absolutely awesome time however you spend this special day!

Ten classic menswear pieces that will never go out of style

It's more than a little fair to say that, sartorially speaking, the focus on this blog does generally fall on the female side of the spectrum. This is understandable, given that I'm a gal myself and the vast majority of those who enjoy wearing vintage fashions in this day and age are women as well.

However, there are plenty of members of the opposite sex, too, who also delight in sporting both timelessly classic and distinctly yesteryear styles, and in honour Father's Day on Sunday, I thought that today would be a marvelous time to devote a post to all the chaps out there who fall into this category.

This is a topic I've thought about covering before, but it wasn't until I received a Facebook comment from a fellow in response to my post last February about Ten investment worthy vintage wardrobe items (in which he asked me what some of my suggestions on this topic would be for gents) that I really started to put the gears into motion, so to speak.

Though I will readily admit that I know more about women’s wear, both past and present, I (humbly) have a fair bit of knowledge about menswear too, and greatly enjoy talking about men’s fashion and style, be it yesteryear or current. In the case of the latter, there are - in my opinion - far less dapperly attired fellows out there than there once was. Of course it can be said that elegant style has declined across the board for both men and women (amongst the general public, I mean), and I don't wish to pick on or single out men in any way here.

Quite the contrary, instead of bemoaning trucker hats, baggy pants, and athletic shoes being worn in non-athletic settings, I'm here today instead to focus on ten classic garments and accessories which I feel can go a tremendously long way towards turning any man's wardrobe - be he a fan of vintage styles or not - from merely so-so or nice into show-stoppingly fantastic.

I should preface the following ten items by saying, point blank, that I like a smartly dressed man who looks as though he's ready to run a company, hop on his yacht, or set up a campsite in the woods. I've always been very specific when it comes to my favourite kinds of styles and garments for chaps, and I make no bones about that fact (certainly most men have their favourites when it comes to what they like to see us ladies wearing, too).

That said, while my personal preferences no doubt factor into today's selection, they're by no means the only thing dictating the items of clothing in the spotlight this fine Friday morning. Some of these items are investment pieces there's no doubt about that, but they'll pay you richly in well dressed style dividends in no time at all, I assure you.

And so, without further ado, may I present...

{A wonderful wool (or cashmere and wool) overcoat}

{A sharply tailored three-piece suit}

{Gorgeous silk ties }

{A well cut vest}

{A handsome leather strap watch}

{Well cut dark denim jeans}

{Shawl collar cardigans}

{A vintage or vintage appropriate hat}

{Forzieri shoes}

{A very cool little side note about this particular pair of Forzieri shoes: they're the exact same style Nucky Thompson is wearing in the opening scenes of the intro on the TV show Boardwalk Empire.}

{A great blazer}

{To learn more about a specific image, please click on a photo to be taken to its respective source.}

♥  ♥  ♥

I spent a good long while thinking about this topic and brainstorming various possible selections before narrowing my list down to just ten. I wanted to go with pieces that had a vintage look to them, but which could easily be found in today's market and which would appeal to a wide range of guys.

These items needed to exude taste and quality, but not be so off-puttingly expensive that they'd be completely out of reach for those without a trust fund. These are fashions that any chap can - and should - consider adding to his closet. This list is by no means a complete "what's what" of a well stocked wardrobe for a smartly attired gentleman, but it's a great jumping off point for those with a passion for dressing with classic sophistication and an eye towards detail and quality.

While this blog will always veer more towards vintage ladies wear, it's thoroughly fun to shift the focus onto men’s fashion sometimes, especially in honour of Father's Day and well dressed men everywhere this week.

I'm very happy that I received the Facebook comment that I did (thank you, Kevin!), as I loved putting together this post, daydreaming about stocking Tony's closet with some of these amazing pieces, and reflecting on the way that - just as for us gals - there are certain classic wardrobe items that will really and truly never go out of style.

The weather really doesn't get any better than this

Outfit details

Hair flowers: Arden

Red knit shrug: Fairweather

Marcasite and blue rhinestone floral brooch: eBay

1980s does 1950s floral print dress: eBay

Lilac belt: From a different vintage dress

1950s white gloves: Gift from a dear vintage friend ♥

Blue and yellow bangle bracelets: Forever 21

Vintage red and green twist bangle bracelets: eBay

Red vintage purse: etsy seller I Love Vintage Stuff

Nude on nude seemed stockings: eBay

White pumps: Payless

Lip colour: MAC Russian Red

Photography by Antonio Cangiano











{Tony snapping me taking iPhone photos, including this one of the gorgeous blue sky and calm waters of Osoyoos Lake.}

♥ ♥ ♥

There are some days when the weather is so gloriously, all-encompassing, almost devastatingly gorgeous that even as you're living them, your mind has a tricky time taking in just how marvelous what you're experiencing actually is. The day - Easter Sunday, to be exact - on which these photos were taken was one such a time.

Unseasonably warm, drenched in sunshine, and filled with skies so blue they would have dulled sapphires by comparison, I honestly believe this might have been the most beautiful (and certainly the toastiest) last day of March I've ever had the good fortune to enjoy, and that's precisely what we did.

Roughly the same distance away from Penticton as the city of Kelowna, but in the opposite direction, one finds the charming little town of Osoyoos, British Columbia, which is the last staging post in that direction before one runs smack-dab into the Canadian/US border.

Since moving back to the area last year, Tony and I have made our way down to Osoyoos several times, however on each occasion - no matter how pleasant the weather was when we left home, once we got there, we'd be hit with either a massive rain or snow storm, and thus had never gotten the chance to take any outfit photos on our travels.

It had become something of a running joke actually, and we'd nearly begun to wonder if we'd ever find ourselves there on day when sunny weather was plentiful (a fact that's made all the more humorous - and a touch ironic - by the fact that Osoyoos often gets some the warmest summer temperatures in all of Canada). Fortunately however, the gods of sunshine were on our side at long last on Easter Sunday and we managed to not only soak up the stunning weather, but also take some lovely pictures in the gazebo that's situated down by one of the beaches on Osoyoos Lake.

I'd spotted this quaint, romantic little gazebo while passing through town on previous visits and had tucked it away in my mind as a great spot to use for a future photo shoot. So warm was it that day (+25C at a time of the year when the average temperature would usually be about half that) that I didn't even realize until sorting through these snaps afterwards that my cheeks had picked up a little bit of a flush from the sun - that's certainly not something that happens every day this early in the year, let me tell you!

In celebration of Easter and the joyful mood I was in that day, I selected of my very favourite and most jubilantly hued (1980s does 1950s) floral dresses. The frock itself is bold and clearly the star of the show, so I kept my accessories fairly low key, opting for my trusty red vintage handbag, white gloves, white heels, four bangle bracelets, an elegant floral brooch, and a few flowers nestled into my hair. A light weight red shrug helped keep my arms warm, though as the temperature kept skyrocketing, I almost became tempted to slip it off.

I loved everything about this day. Not just the sublime weather, but the leisurely Sunday drive we took, the conversations Tony and I shared, the stroll around town, the fun photo shoot location (these are my first snaps to date which have been taken in a gazebo), and the fact that we finally beat the curse of the Osoyoos storm.

It was, in every sense of the word, a perfect Easter and the sort of magnificent springtime afternoon that one will treasure in their heart (especially when winter's icy wrath returns) for the rest of time.


(*PS* I am thrilled to say that a photo from this shot also appears in the latest fabulous digital edition of Hey Doll magazine in the reader vintage outfit gallery. In the same edition, you'll also find an article by yours truly, that first appeared here on Chronically Vintage last November, all about how to store vintage gloves.)