Today I’m going to show you the most beautiful piece of clothing I’ve ever worn and it’s vintage chic. Our village school is a C of E school and each year the children have the choice to be confirmed. Along with lots of his school friends, the small one decided that he would take part and Sunday was his big day. It was a really lovely occasion and a good excuse to invite lots of great aunties and godparents, my brothers and sister along with people that we haven’t seen for ages. It also gave me a chance to wear my special dress so let me tell you about it. We found this in one of my mum’s many wardrobes when we were going through the awful process of clearing her house after she died. She loved clothes and had a wartime mentality of never throwing anything away ‘just in case.’ This is the couture dress that she wore to my sister’s wedding in 1969 (my sister is 20 years older than me so there’s a bit of a gap). At the age of 2, I was a bridesmaid and I do just remember the joy of my blue and white polka dot dress with broderie daisy trim. My mum had put on a lot of weight when she was pregnant with me and the dress was a size 20, but I just knew I couldn’t take it to the hospice shop along with everything else. Luckily I have a friend who is a very clever dressmaker and so she painstakingly took it apart and reworked it – it also has a matching swing coat which was even harder to alter but it was too hot to wear on Sunday. I’ve worn it a few times for weddings and I always feel fantastic in it – here it is:
and this gives you an idea of the fabric and the detail:
I paired it with my John Lewis snakeskin shoes, Selfridges clutch and Zara necklace:
Family occasions like this are always a bit hard, it’s the time when I miss my mum and dad the most, they would have been so proud of little A, but wearing my mum’s dress made me feel that she was close. After the service we had a lovely party back at the house and a table groaning with every type of cake specified by Small (guess what I was doing all day Saturday when the sun was blazing outside)!
A shot of the main character (like his dad he prefers not to conform and wouldn’t wear his smart shoes – a battle I chose not to fight!):
I can honestly say that I have never loved a dress as much as this one, not even my wedding dress. In the end it cost £131 to have the dress and coat reworked and carefully cleaned so I do think it’s worth considering going vintage if you’re looking for a special outfit for a wedding or other event.
My next post is going to be another dressed up one. On Thursday we are going to the HEIST Awards (the national further education marketing awards) – we were put forward by one of our clients and have been shortlisted for 2 categories but we are up against every Uni and college in the UK so I’m not sure what our chances are. We’re just a small agency and we’ll be up against the big boys. Plus it’s a campaign that Mr MC and I both worked on so it’s personal as well as professional. Our clients have splashed out on a table at the event so I really, really hope we are going to win something otherwise conversation could be a bit stilted! I haven’t been to a black tie event for a while and of course nothing in my wardrobe felt right so I have taken the risk of hiring something (untried) from the wonderful Wish Want Wear It arrives tomorrow so watch this space… and in the meantime please keep your fingers crossed for us! Back on Friday with the outfit and the results.
