Modeling the hand knit Darla pillbox hat from White Purls against a sea of gorgeous fall hues

Outfit details

Vintage style grey knit Darla pillbox hat: c/o White Purls
1950s blue, white and black skirt suit: eBay
1950s white rhinestone cluster brooch: Local swap meet
c. 1950s black ruched gloves: Unknown, had for years (probably eBay or Etsy)
Grey faux pearl stretch bracelets: Thrifted (Value Village)
1950s/1960s grey handbag: Running Rabbits Studio
Black seamed nude stockings: eBay
White pumps: Payless
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red


Photography by Tony Cangiano

(True to my word in this recent outfit post: teeth! )

♥ ♥ ♥

Fall's colour palette is a grand and glorious one. As vibrant as a spring or summer garden is, and as deep the soulful shades of winter, no season can truly top autumn's radiant spectrum of hues. We get our fair share of stunning ones around these parts, but iconic red leaves are not actually something one spots in every yard.

I knew the moment that I put together the 1950s ensemble in today's photos that I wanted to hunt down just such crimson leaves however and luckily, by venturing more than an hour north of our town, we able to do just that and, if I may say, the results were absolutely gorgeous!

That beauty was helped in no small part by the this exquisite mid-century style grey handknit pillbox hat that I'm sporting here. Earlier this year I was contacted by Myriam, the lovely entrepreneur behind the millinery brand White Purls (don't you just adore that play-on-words:)), and very kindly offered my choice of their stylish vintage inspired hats.

I'm really trying to up the grey in my wardrobe (it's one of my favourite colours and yet, in many areas of my closet, I own little to none of it at present) and felt that a chapeau in this colour would be a very fitting choice for fall and winter (the time of year when I'm most apt to wear a knit hat to begin with). Thus, I selected the elegant topper you see here and could hardly wait to share it with all of you.

Myriam crafts all of the hats that she sells herself and puts such skillful detail and care into each of these marvelous works of millinery art. She starts by knitting the the material for the hat and then sewing it onto a frame, thereby ensuring that each hat keeps its classic shape. At present Myriam is focusing on pillbox styles, which will surely delight many vintage wearers and old school hat fans of all sorts.

She uses very high quality materials and embellishes many of her hats with, fitting, pearl beads. Like Myriam, I'm a massive pearl fan and love that I got to weave some new grey ones into my wardrobe care of this fantastic hat (which I want to wholeheartedly thank White Purls for). It is a beautifully made, styled and presented hat that arrived to me in a cardboard hat box tied up with pretty ribbon and accompanied by a lovely little note. I adore when sellers put that kind of attention to detail into their packaging and knew before I had even gotten the lid off the box that my socks were going to be thoroughly knocked off.

That they most certainly were! This hat - which stays in place thanks to a skinny elastic strap that is hidden under one's hair - is breathtaking, classic, comfortable, cozy, and deeply stylish. Though definitely vintage inspired, it's not so old school looking that a modern fashionista or bride couldn't easily avail of a hat like this as well. Myriam very kindly let me select cotton yarn (she offers various designs in wool, cotton or silk), which was fantastic, as I'm allergic to wool (it gives me hives when it touches my skin) and this way I can spot her attractive grey pillbox hat without a speck of worry on that front.

I truly love this hat - the style of which is called The Darla - and feel honoured to add such an elegant, professionally made pillbox to my wardrobe.

A hat this magnificent calls for an equally chic outfit and so, with the temps dropping by the day, I figured it was high time I shared this 1950s skirt suit here with all of you. It's spring/summer/early fall weight (made from a fairly thin, unlined fabric) and I rarely sport it in the winter, so now the time to do so. I love this sophisticated vintage suit and have had it for, oh, probably about six years now, I'd say, though somehow it had, up until now, avoided appearing on my blog (this point is all the more amazing when you consider how few suits I own).

Summer weight it may be, colour wise it suits the second half of fall superbly and when partnered with this resplendent earthy ruby hues that autumn very kindly provided as a backdrop, it takes to this season like a duck to water. A handful of vintage accessories capped off the look, which I must say, is one of favourites so far this year.

It's hard to believe that in little more than a month, winter will be here again and the skies, streets, and slushy snow piles alike will all take on a grey tone of their own more often than not. Right now though, we're still enjoying the last enchanting vestiges of this season. A point that makes me a gleeful as wearing this strikingly pretty hand knit grey pillbox hat from White Purls does!

I wrote an article for Lila Jean Vintage magazine

There are few things that I love more in this world than travel, my own country of Canada, or vintage, so when I get chance to combine these three passions, I am one extremely happy lass.

Just such an opportunity arose earlier this year when Naomi, the wonderful founder and editor, or the relatively newly launched Australian vintage history and lifestyle magazine Lila Jean Vintage contacted me to ask if I'd like to write a piece for them on some of the best and most beloved vintage shops in Canada.

I said yes faster than the speed of light and then set to work pondering just which five - as per the article's guidelines - would be included here. Canada does not, by any stretch of the imagination, have scads of vintage shops and sadly we seem to lose more than we acquire with each passing year (case in point, it turns out that one in Ontario I had wanted to included in my article had closed its doors just a few months ago).

Canada is also a huge country (geographically, we're the second largest in the world) and as such I haven't yet had a chance to visit all those that do presently exist between its vast borders. I wanted to include some that I had (such as A Vintage Affair in Calgary and Mintage in Vancouver, respective) and others that my fellow Canadian vintage fans had praised to the moon and back.



{If you flip through issue number four of Lila Jean magazine, pictured above, you will find my piece on five of the best vintage clothing shops in Canada, as well as oodles of other engaging, delightful vintage travel, shopping, and lifestyle related content.}



The finished article spans two pages of Issue 4 of Lila Jean magazine, which is available for purchase from the magazine's website. As this issue's theme was all about travel and the global vintage community, you will also find similar guides to some of the best vintage shops in the US (penned by Emma from The Fiercest Lilliputian) and the UK (written by Fleur from Diary of a Vintage Girl).

In addition, this issue of Lila Jean includes an article with none other than Dita Von Teese herself, many wonderful vintage photographs and stories pertaining to yesteryear travel, and a smattering of other well written, enjoyable content

Though issue four is the first of Lila Jean's that I've had the pleasure of reading and holding in my hands, I can tell you based on that experience alone that it is a quality, one might even say artisanal publication with a great deal of heart.

It's focus - at least in this edition - is/was less on "just" fashion, fads, or trivial topics, and more of the soul of vintage and on the importance of keeping the past alive in today's ever changing, ever more technologically driven world.

Lila Jean is an elegant quarterly publication in which you're apt to see family names from the online vintage world, as well as hear stories and firsthand accounts from venerable older contributors who share their own beautiful memories of days gone by.

Each edition of Lila Jean Vintage magazine is like a little, fantastic book unto itself and I am absolutely honoured to have been able to contribute to the most recent edition of the excellent, valuable Australian contribution to the close-knit world of vintage lifestyle magazines.

Welcome the return of comfort food season with this great 1950s casserole recipe

For the third time in a single year, quite a rarity on the ol' calendar, we get to experience a Friday the 13th. I'm not a very superstitious person myself, so this doesn't phase me in the slightest. If anything, I actually tend to find Friday the 13th to be a really positive day for me - or at least not one that differs from your run-of-the-mill Friday.

{Vintage Friday the 13th image source}

Presently my mind is focused far less on bad luck and suspicious mojo and much more on the fact that we are really and truly into comfort food season once again. Winter may still technically be more than a month away, but in Canada it might as well start on November 1st for all intents, because once Halloween wraps up, most of us switch into winter holiday mode and the weather tends to take a substantial nose dive early in November as well. Not always, and certainly more so in some parts of the country than others, but in general, yep, November = the start of winter here.

I'm a huge fan of comfort food, of gathering friends and family around the table and satiating our bellies and souls alike with food so delicious you nearly tear up with joy as you smell it cooking. Food that evokes thoughts of cozy autumns and icy winters past, of childhood memories, and sometimes of places we've traveled to throughout our lives as well. Such food doesn't have to be an epic calorie feast either, but sometimes it is, and there's nothing wrong in the slightest with that (at least once in while!). We need the extra fuel to stay warm and stave off winter's energy zapping chill.

Today's vintage recipe falls somewhere in the middle I think, though it could be more or less of a treat, just depending on what you put inside it. This 1950s recipe for Chili or Stew Casserole is dead simple to make and isn't too hard on the wallet either, especially if you put existing leftovers to work in it.



{Tasty mashed spuds combine with your favourite chili, stew or similar filling (a thick corn chowder is fabulous here!) in this classic mid-century cold weather perfect casserole that first appeared in the pages of Women's Day magazine back in 1952. Vintage recipe ad image source.}


One of the great things about this recipe is that it can easily be made vegetarian or vegan, if so desired (simply omit meat and/or other animal products), and you can also use a good all-purpose gluten-free flour for the topping. I've made GF versions of this recipe numerous times and it always comes out aces!

You can also swap out the regular potatoes for cooked yams, sweet potatoes, mashed turnips, hearty squash or pumpkin verities, mashed (and drained) cauliflower or broccoli, carrots or, one of my personal favourites, parsnips.

Likewise, as with many casseroles - and this is certainly one of their most appealing qualities - you can add or subtract from the filling, if so desired (for example, you add further cooked chopped veggies to stretch out a small amount of leftover stew or chili). This dish is also nice, especially if you're using chili for it, topped with a little grated cheese before you put it in to oven to bake.

This is not the first, nor, I'm sure, will it be the last vintage comfort food recipe that I post here. I love dishes like this that satisfy and more than live up to their name. They make us happy, are reliable, and work well for as well for solo meals as they do large crowds - plus they usually freeze wonderfully to boot (perfect for those busy December holiday season weeks that lay ahead). What's not to adore? :)