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. :)

We make our own trends

Last year my lovely friend Laurence from the blog Lost in the 50s mentioned a point in the context of one her and her husband's fabulous vintage outfit posts that really resonated with me, especially since it's something that I've thought about many times myself over the years.

She mentioned how sometimes when you've been wearing vintage for many years, you feel the need to step outside of your usual sartorial comfort zone and try something new (in context of the outfit she shared in that summertime post, it was full length 1940s summer dresses) and that really got me thinking about how we within the vintage wearing realm create our own personal trends.

Now, what do I mean by this? As we draw our inspiration and wardrobe choices from the past, decades that are long done and over with, there aren't any new of-the-moment trends happening for us to follow, if so desired. To clarify, I mean that because we're not living in, say, 1935 or 1952 and experiencing the new styles coming out in the moment then, we don't get to try out new things as easily as if we were keeping up with what was in vogue in the moment.

Of course, the upside to that is that we can now look back on the decades that we adore as a whole and pick and chose what we want to wear from each, but there again, already knowing what existed and what was to come, can somewhat take the element of trends out of the equation.

Now, that isn't to say that there aren't trends of sorts amount vintage/repro/pinup fashion wearers today. One has only to look at the epic spike in interest surrounding vintage novelty prints, Bakelite, or swing dresses, for example, in recent years, to see that some items of vintage clothing really come out on top as favourites with many wearers. Likewise, in the more repro/vintage inspired realm, 2015 has seen a boom in indie jewelry designers, especially those making laser cut, hand painted wooden brooches, who are gaining major followings (especially on Instagram) and large customer bases in the process.

I'm certain that as time goes on, such trends will only continue, especially in the repro/vintage inspired realm, and new items will have their fleeting moments in the sun, whereas others will become practically de rigueur for many vintage enthusiasts.

Still through, we don't get to open up copies of Vogue, Harper's, Elle, Burda or any other fashion magazine that was hugely popular in the mid-twentieth century and have the chance to contemplate if a new trend speaks to us or not. We know, as mentioned above, what's coming up next already and has such, if we want to shake things up on the fashion front, we need to, by and large create our own trends on a personal level based on what elements of the past speak to us in terms of our wardrobes.



{We might not have the latest editions of our favourite fashion magazines to turn to inspiration on what's trending at the moment, but thanks to our ability to look back on time and to explore every wardrobe related element of an era, we're ensured the ability to always find and fall in love with new looks and in the process, keep our wardrobes feeling and looking fresh at our own pace. Vintage Vogue magazine cover image source.}


I think that for many folks who wear vintage, the longer we sport old school styles, the more we happily branch out. When we begin, it's natural to want to play it safe, so to speak, and many people (though certainly not all, of course) opt for pieces that are really emblematic of the era(s) that they're drawn to. So, for example, a 1950s fan might really put an emphasis on circle skirts, crinolines, polka dots, and cute, classic cardigans. Nothing wrong with that in the slightest and of course all of those pieces were common players in that decade.

As time goes on though, that same person may find that they want to expand their daily wardrobe options and start adding in vintage hats, gloves, play suits, patio sets/(so-called) squaw dresses), lucite handbags, (possibly) fur garments, Audrey Hepburn-esque skinny pants, cat's eye glasses and many other fashion elements of the period.

Further still beyond that though, we may discover that as even more time goes on, we want to broaden our closet's horizons and seek out pieces that perhaps before, we hadn't paid much attention to and/or found ourselves drawn to. I know that such has rung true for me in my own life many times, with new vintage fashion interests coming along on regular intervals.

I adore when my attention gets drawn towards something that I'd previously not felt super pulled in the direction of and think that this is fairly akin to the thrill of hopping on the bandwagon with trends, were there monthly/seasonal/yearly ones for us to do so with, if so desired, much like the ladies (and gents) of the decades we adore most often used to do.

There's something very special about this actually. We create trends that work for us and aren't a slave, so to speak, to fashion's whims. No matter how much you love vintage (and the volume of garments + accessories that you own), there are always more styles and pieces out there waiting to be explored, and so the act of creating our own personal trends becomes all the more of a joy that we can set at our pace for as long as we don our beloved vintage threads.

So while we might not have new copies of Vogue to flip open and fall in love with a cutting edge (vintage) style, we do have the endless possibilities that the fashions of the past hold and our tastes and imaginations alike to help ensure that, if so compelled, our wardrobes need never lack for new looks and creative options. A point that makes me, someone who was never really much one for following current fashion trends anyhow, a rather happy vintage wearing camper. How about you?

Tiki Party Perfect Vintage Coconut Golden Brownies

As the last of the tinsel is vacuumed out of the car[et, the Christmas lights flicked off once more, and we begin hunkering in for the long haul stretch that is winter sans looking forward to December, it can feel like summer is a million miles away.

Thankfully such isn't actually the case, but that knowledge scarcely makes the next few months any easier to bear. Even if only enjoys winter (as I generally do), its bleak weather, icy temps, and serious lack of daylight can be draining on the heartiest of us.

{Image source}

By far one of my favourite ways to help perk up this time of the year is with tropical inspired food, drinks, and even fashion!


Luckily many equator line fruits are at their peak right amount now, and in general, they're super easy to come by for those in most parts of the world.

Whether you're in the mood for a single South Seas themed dish or want to go all out and throw a tiki party to keep Old Man Winter at bay, January is an ideal time to look to the tropics for your recipe choices and today's vintage recipe for Golden Coconut Brownies are sure to have you humming a Don Ho tune in no time.



{Hailing from a 1952 ad that appeared Woman's Day magazine, this tasty, wonderfully easy to make recipe for coconut brownies is sure to help lift your spirits and satisfy your sweet tooth in the process all winter long. Vintage image source.}



As far as I can tell, Welch's chocolate bars haven't been made in ages, but fear not, any similar chocolate + coconut candy bar (such as Mounds or Bounty) can be used here. If such were not forthcoming for you, you could probably just use a nice milk chocolate bar and some sweetened shredded coconut easily enough as well.

These brownies offer up a scrumptious Polynesian inspired flavour that differs from most of the fare we've been consuming in recent weeks. They're refreshing, scrumptious, fairly easy on the pocketbook and dead simple to make. I've had a lot of luck making them in GF form, too, both from scratch and with mixes such as Glutino's Brownie mix.

If you wanted to gild the lily - err, brownie :) - here, you could easily top these scrumptious chocolate + coconut brownies with a sweet frosting of you choice. One that involved coconut, pineapple, orange, or maraschino cherries would both be wonderfully mid-century appropriate and also very tropical island approved. A nice, rich caramel or even strawberry (or raspberry) icing could be sublime here, too, and I can think of at least a few folks I know who would enjoy a coffee frosting on these brownies as well.

I swear, in January and February, I sport my tropic flower print clothes more than any other time of the year and also reach for recipes like this most frequently as well. Between the two of them and plenty of hot chocolate, one can do a pretty decent job of forgetting it's -30C outside - well, at least until you open the front door!

So why not bake up a batch of these great mid-century coconut chocolate brownies (which also work wonderfully for Valentine's Day next month) today and show winter who’s boss! :)