I'm dreaming of a quiet Christmas

A quick update before Christmas! Friday was my last working day of the year and to say I've been looking forward to some time off is quite an understatement. Eleven days away from the rat race and the frenzied crowds colonizing the city sounds like pure bliss.

I'm happy to say I won't be taking part in the Christmas madness.
One of these years we'll be starting our own branch of Vix's Dead Relatives Society, but until then it will just be the two of us lounging in our pyjamas for most of the day!

These photos are from last weekend but as I'm still running behind (after all, I've got to live first, and then blog about it!), they still had to be posted.

I have to confess that I built Saturday's outfit around the tights, which I absolutely needed to wear! I'm sure Beate and Vix will understand!

The dress, its print a glorious mix of abstract stripes on an burgundy red background, can be accessorized with almost any colour you can think of, but bright pink it had to be. As luck would have it, there's a belt in my collection in exactly the same colour as the tights.

There's some pink again in the brooch I pinned to my dress: a delicate rose painted onto an ivory background and set in an loopy white metal frame.

In order to avoid a sugar hiccup, I offset all the pink with an ivory coloured plastic necklace and wore a violet cardigan on top. The white ceramic heart brooch was bought from The Crafter's Cwtch in Cardigan last June.

I'm wearing calf length black boots to provide better visibility of the tights!

It was too warm for my Princess coat, so I finally got around to wearing the black and white houndstooth coat I bought for € 4 at Think Twice back in October.

The burgundy handbag needs no further introduction as it featured here before. So did the sumptuously embroidered purple crushed velvet scarf, which was a € 0,10 flea market find.

My outerwear was completed by my raspberry beret and purple suede gloves.

If I look a bit haughty in the photo on the left, it's because I was giving directions to my photographer, Jos!

A quick dash to the charity shops yielded the brand new red bag with red polka dot lining, a fake Astrakhan scarf and two brooches. 

Earlier that week, I bought the green felted hat at Think Twice. 

It is looking particularly gorgeous on Twiggy, which might be due to her matching eye make-up!

This dress came home with me as well. Lighting conditions are really bad these days so you'll be getting a proper look once I'll get around to wearing it.

I tried to take a selfie in Think Twice's fitting room, but unfortunately the dress ended up looking blue instead of the pitch black it actually is. But don't you love that groovy wallpaper?

Last weekend was also the time to put up our Christmas tree. We've had this fake tree for almost 20 years, and it's still going strong. The decorations are either heirlooms or flea market and charity shop finds. 

We try to add to our collection each year and the baubles in the pink plastic basket are this year's offerings. The glass bauble containing the crystal reindeer is a recent find as well. All charity shopped!

Although there isn't exactly a theme going on, there seems to be quite a bit of wildlife residing in our tree.

The little wren, one of a pair, is the only decoration we once bought new, although I can't for the life of me remember where or when. I do love these small birds in real life too. The Flemish word for a wren is Winterkoninkje, which translates as "little winter king" and indeed the cheeky little birds only seem to visit our garden in Winter!

The ladybird and the golden bird are both vintage. And look Goody, there's Blondin too! He's a recent charity shop find as well.

The dress I was wearing on Sunday was bought in the same Think Twice sales as the houndstooth coat, but again this was its first wear. 

I wore a green belt and ring with it and added the green hat when going outside. 

The boots are Miz Mooz and bought in the sales quite a few years ago. They are gorgeous in every way but for some reason they don't do my back any good if I wear them all day. 

The short fake fur jacket has been in my wardrobe for many years as well. It came from a high street shop called Hema, well known in the Low Countries. Before I started wearing vintage, I wore it with jeans, but I think it has now found its perfect partners in that funky dress and the orange vintage brooch!

This is one of those outfits that just happened and which was put together without much thought, but for me it's a big contender for favourite outfit of the month!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas. May the day, as they say, be merry and bright!  I wouldn't mind it being white either, as long as it's all gone by Boxing Day!