Laced into the landscape (Pt 1)

In 1933, when my great-great grandfather was presented with this brown gentlemen's leather case, I doubt that he could have imagined either that 77 years later his great-great grand-daughter would be standing with it in a corn field, or how the world that he knew would have changed. The notion of computers, the internet and, of course, blogging would have seemed like the stuff of Science Fiction. And yet here I am! But then some things never change - the passing of the seasons, harvesting of crops, temperamental weather (can we have his kind of summer back though, pretty please?) and human nature.
I know I touched on this in my last post, but I especially feel that pieces like this with a specific history and story deserve to have another life. In this case, as a rather attractive clutch bag!

I wanted to create a modern outfit to go with the 'clutch', that also acknowledged the history and eras that this case lived through to before finally entering my room. Luckily, my search for lace skirts in local charity shops has yielded two or three fabulous results recently! (Ergo the 'Pt 1' in the title - watch this space..)
I 'thrifted' this cream lace skirt, and am planning to use it for lots of Helena Bonham Carter-esque outfits under long skirts. The boater (possibly vintage, no label to ascertain) was from the same charity shop. Maybe they were just meant to be put together! A very good family friend gave me the vintage fifties bolero. I love that particular shade of duck egg blue. However, as it is cashmere, it was overwhelmingly hot in that cornfield - not the best material for a sultry summer's evening of photography! But I'm a big fan of visible stitching, so it is most definitely my cup of tea. The much featured brown leather belt was my mum's when she was a teenager (we recently came across an old photo of her wearing it). The gold t-bar shoes were second hand on ebay and I was given the faux pearl necklace by my great-grandma. I made the bracelet out of a miniature negative film wheel, a broken watch base and a large vintage button.

I got back home from the Big Chill on Monday morning, having seen some amazing bands and artists this year - my highlights being Paloma Faith, Newton Faulkner, Massive Attack and Morcheeba. I also discovered a new rising artist called Beth Jeans Houghton - one of her tracks is currently playing on my iPod as I type. My camera never left my side. Honestly, if I had a papoose, I'd carry it like a baby!
For a charity shopaholic like me, the Big Chill was dangerous ground - as there were two amazing charity shop stalls on site. Lets just say I left with my pockets a little lighter, and unable to zip up any of my much heavier bags!

In other news, (and apologies to any of you who've already seen it!), I was extremely honoured to be featured in the Sunday Times Style supplement in a section titled 'What are you wearing.' Here is the actual photo used, courtesy of the lovely Sunday Times photographer Rick Pushinksy,plus a copy of the text used.

Time to deal with the flotsam and jetsam of clothes, also known as my new acquisitions from Big Chill, lying like so many stranded Jellyfish all over my floor! It'll be nice to remember to what colour my carpet is again.

Laced into the landscape (Pt 1) 2010-08-11T14:13:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Unknown