Friday, 15 March 2019

Too good to be true

I knew it was too good to be true. To be honest, it didn't feel quite right, either. Still, I enjoyed every minute of the gorgeous, spring-like weather we had back in February.

But even if it was to be expected, it was still a bit of a letdown when the weather gods decided that enough was enough. I bet they were laughing behind our backs when they turned the thermostat several degrees lower, hid the weakly protesting sun behind a layer of grey clouds, and gleefully opened heaven's sluice gates.

To make matters worse, the weather gods seemed to have conspired with the charity shopping goddesses, as we came back virtually empty handed from our charity shopping trip on the Saturday before last.



There was nothing for it but to admit defeat, but not before showing you what I wore that day.

My frock, which was charity shopped many years ago, never fails to put a smile on my face whatever the weather, its feathery print in shades of navy, red and pink creating a pleasing chevron pattern in the skirt. If you look closely, there's even a little bit of green to be detected.



Although I've worn both red and navy with this dress in the past, this time I took the lead from its pink hues. Enter my hot pink, lurex edged cardigan and raspberry opaques, which do seem to look a bit reddish here. Sometimes, it is very tricky to get colours right when photographing an outfit.



I love how my beloved lilac 1980s belt seems to have found its perfect companion in the dress.

The necklace with its multicoloured wooded discs I'm wearing here came from Accessorize, who used to have a shop here in Antwerp many years ago.

A posy of violets and roses adorns the oval plastic brooch I pinned to my cardie and I've included a close-up of my sparkly, pink-hued, holographic ring.



I've been trying the wear my Winter coats on rotation this year but this one hadn't seen the light of day since our trip to Zeeland back in November.

To combat both the weather's gloominess and the drop in temperature, I added my red scarf, which has a hint of purple, and my rather fancy red beret.

Oh, and I forgot to mention my navy booties. They were bought from a local shop a couple of years ago and, together with the opaques, ring and necklace, are the only retail items in my outfit.


Being forced to spend the rest of the weekend indoors, we finally finished a little project which had been living in our heads ever since our old pendulum clock decided to call it a day back in December.

Not wanting to spend a fortune on having it repaired, Jos removed the clock's face and its movement, leaving us with a neat little display cabinet.  A string of battery operated fairy lights leftover from Christmas was tacked to the inside and a shallow Plexiglas shelf was inserted at the bottom of the clock face's window.



Then, it was ready for the fun bit.  I gave three of my vintage Barbie dolls the special treatment and put them in the lower part behind the leaded window where the pendulum used to be.

I thought the round window would be perfect for displaying some of my Skipper sized dolls (for those who are not familiar with them, Skipper is Barbie's little sister). However, my plans were thwarted by the fact that the dolls turned out to be just a tiny bit too tall for the available space, until I hit upon they idea of making them sit on the shelf.

Don't they look just cute sitting on their lofty perch?  The downside is that I can only use bend-leg dolls, though.



Here's a closer look at the inside of the clock, err, cabinet!

The weather on Sunday was even more dreadful, with hardly any let up in the rain, which kept pelting down remorselessly.

Still in the mood for playing with my dolls, I thought I'd redress some of them in appropriate rainy weather gear.




Here are my # 5 Ponytail (1960) sporting the 1964 outfit Stormy Weather, which came complete with wellies and an umbrella. Imitating her in a smaller version of the outfit is Skipper's friend Skooter. She's from 1965, and so is the outfit she's wearing, which is called Rain or Shine.



Here is Skipper herself! She's from 1964, but her adorable floral vinyl coat, called Flower Showers, dates from 1967.

On her left is Twist 'n Turn Barbie (1969), who's wearing Poncho Put-On (1971), a yellow and orange checked jumpsuit topped by a yellow vinyl poncho with orange trim and a funky yellow knit hood.



Our final duo are Francie (1966) and her friend Casey (1967). They are both Mod girls (Francie was marketed as Barbie's MODern cousin, and no, my CAPS lock didn't get stuck), who are bit smaller and less buxom than Barbie.

Francie is wearing a very groovy outfit consisting of a green play-suit with hot pink and yellow dots, and a see-through, geometrically patterned raincoat. The outfit is delightfully called Pazam! and dates from 1968.

Casey's outfit is a red vinyl coat and headscarf set called  Polka Dots 'n Raindrops (1966), which includes a pair of covetable red boots. Casey was an eBay find and arrived in a Thermos flask carton, which had my Dad, to whose address she had been sent as this preceded Jos's retirement, quite flummoxed.



Compared to the girls, I wasn't wearing that much colour that day, opting for more sedate blues and greens.

My Viyella flying duck skirt from Scapa of Scotland, charity shopped back in February, is the perfect skirt for lounging and doing some lazy pottering around the house.



Lounging doesn't necessarily mean leisure wear in my book, so I added a sparkly blue pussy bow blouse, a € 1 find from Think Twice, its bow secured with one of my scarf clips.

The belt was charity shopped but I cannot remember where I bought the ring.

The short-sleeved cardigan was another Think Twice find, but I only wore it while briefly stepping outside between showers for outfit photos.



Linking Saturday's outfit to Tina's Pink Friday this week!

30 comments:

  1. I love your pink look - how amazing it is on you! (and wouldn't it go well with the Fuzzy Flamingo?). I appreciate that you don't lounge around the house in sad athletic wear; I've been thinking of you as I swan about my condo in my red/floral house-dress!

    However, I LOVE the old clock's repurposing as a display for some of your Barbies! What a great idea! I enjoyed the look at your "girls" in their rain outfits! I had a book of paper dolls of Francie! I also had a "Growing Up Skipper" doll - have you heard of it? You make her arm do a circle and she gets taller and develops a bustline (I remember being quite gobsmacked by that and hoping it would happen to me!).

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    1. Thanks Sheila! The Fuzzy Flamingo would go rather well with my pink outfit indeed. That reminds me that I actually have a pink coat! I do know Growing Up Skipper, but I don't have one in my collection. The Francie paper dolls would be an asset to any collection! xxx

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  2. I could come over to your place and play Barbies all day long with you! Those outfits are incredible! I'm so impressed you know all the dating too. We never had swish outfits like that for our Barbies.

    Shame about your weather.

    The clock idea is simply genius. Your house is so creative. It's like living in an evolving art installation.

    That blue and green outfit is wonderful with your hair.

    Suzanne
    http://www.suzannecarillo.com

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    1. Wouldn't it be fun to play Barbies together? The reason I know all the dating is that I have a library of Barbie doll collecting books. I'll show them on the blog one time! xxx

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  3. Oh, and I nearly forgot! My mom told me that my Aunt Ann (THAT Aunt Ann) was the one who gave me my very first Barbie doll!

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    1. Your Aunt Ann sounds even more fabulous now ... xxx

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  4. So this post just put the most extravagant smile on my face. Ear to ear- I tell you. I adore the feather print in the chevron pattern. The colors are luscious and the belt is gorgeous. I hear you about the weather woes. We had a very warm day today and it was so odd because there wasn’t a single flower or plant in bloom. Even though it felt like summer. ??
    I really enjoyed seeing your Barbies— especially the two dressed in yellow raincoats for the miserable weather.
    The clocks as display units. Brilliance!! I would bow down but my back hurts too much.
    ❤️❤️❤️
    Elle
    https://theellediaries.com/

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    1. I'm so glad my post put a smile on your face! That's what I'm doing it for! The weather has been acting strange here as well: grey on Saturday, a gorgeous Spring day on Sunday and a stormy day today ... xxx

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  5. Oh you have really brightened my day! First that lovely pink outfit and then the Barbie dolls! Such a blast from the past seeing these lovely ladies. I had a Tressy doll rather than a Barbie and I used to make clothes for her. Still have her somewhere - must look her out!

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    1. Your Tressy doll sounds lovely. Oh, do look her out, Liz, I'd love to see her. They are collectible too! xxx

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  6. You two are clever, what a quirky fabulous thing to do with your clock. You may well have set a new trend there.
    Didn’t Barbie have some fantastic outfits back in the day. She wouldn’t be half as interesting now I’m sure.
    Your pink outfit is a definite favourite of mine Ann, you look lovely in it xxx

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    1. Thank you Lynn! I always love the clock casing more than the clock itself. It is a bit Art Deco, isn't it? And no, today's Barbie dolls aren't in the least bit interesting, plus the quality went downhill from the mid 1970s onwards. xxx

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  7. Oh yes the weather is grey, wet and stormy. No good day since I left the plane in Frankfurt. :(
    But your post let the sun shine in my face. I love your styles and how amazing is the clock ähm closet for the barbies :)
    Thank you for linking up with tinaspinkfriday <3
    A very huge hug Tina

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    1. Thank you Tina! I hope you had a couple of good days by now. It must have been quite a difference to Thailand! xxx

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  8. Oh! That feathery print frock - I love it! Love, love, love your Barbie display in the clock cabinet too! How nice to see some of your Barbie dolls,sisters and cousins too. XXX

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    1. Thank you Linda! I'm trying to show some of my Barbie collection from time to time ... xxx

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  9. Two fab outfits, the pink is amazing and like Suzanne says, the blues really show off your hair colour.
    I'm adore your Barbies, they outfits are the best. What a brilliant idea to use the clock casing as a display case, you've opened up a realm of possibilities - those old clocks are always at car boot sales! xxx

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    1. Thank you Vix! I bet you wouldn't mind having life sized versions of some of my Barbie outfits! xxx

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  10. its happening a lot in barbie land!
    the new display cabinet is a great idea - i remember that my parents bought such a clock in the early 80s, did hang the clock in the living room - without the case, which my mother used as a cosmetique cabinet in the bedroom - painted white!
    but with barbies it looks much better! :-D
    love the colorful rainy day ensembles - both yours and the barbie ones!!
    hugsies! xxxxxx

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    1. Thank you Beate! Jos's dad made a medicine cabinet from a similar clock back in the day. That's where we got the idea from. xxx

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  11. I absolutely love your first outfit, Ann! The feathery print of your dress and the colour combination is fabulous! I love your cardi and opaques and that belt is perfect for this outfit. I love seeing pics of your Barbies! They are so cool! I'd love to display my Barbies too some day! Hope you have a wonderful week ahead, Ann. XXX

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    1. Thank you Sasha! It's wonderful that you still have your Barbie dolls. You must definitely display them one day! xxx

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  12. Your doll cabinet has tbhe feeling of a shrine about it! What an imaginative way to re-purpose the clock.

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    1. Thank you Goody. Yes, I suppose it does ... xxx

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  13. I remember all the dolls here. I had a twist and turn! I just love seeing these dolls Ann. Love the first out. A gorgeous riot of colour to brighten the day. Our weather has been awful too xx

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    1. I had a Twist 'n Turn P.J., she was blonde with two pigtails! xxx

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  14. woww, I totally agree that your dress 'never fails to put a smile on my face whatever the weather', it's gorgeous and you look gorgeous in it! lovely cardi, lovely accessories and lovely outfit! (I'm enthusiastic!)
    Glad to see those cute dolls in their 'cabinet', such a great idea!. And I'm totally in love with those Mod dolls, I'd steal their clothes if they were my size!

    Spring looks like playing hide and seek!
    besos

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    1. Thank you so much for your enthusiasm, Monica! I used to prefer the early 1960s outfits, but those Mod outfits certainly are something else! xxx

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  15. That Barbie 'clock' is amazing. What a great use for a broken clock. And you can change their outfits with the seasons!

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  16. Thanks, Mim, and yes, I love playing dress-up with them and change their outfits with the seasons! xxx

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