Thursday 5 December 2019

Colour magic

In these ever darkening days, when every fibre of my being craves hibernation, it's hard sometimes to drag myself out of bed on weekday mornings.

But needs must and I have to face the music, even if it consists of the jarring tunes of a rainy commute, overcrowded public transport or a long wait for the latter in the bitter, toe-freezing cold.

But once out of bed, my wardrobe never fails to put a smile on my face, its rainbow of colours always a pick-me-up and especially so at this time of year. It's colour magic!



On the first week back from our Zeeland break - the travelogue of which I briefly interrupted - I just couldn't summon the energy for an indoor outfit photo session after work, so you'll have to take my word for it that what I was wearing was every bit as colourful as you've come to expect from me.

This is what I wore on the Friday of that week. I usually finish work a bit earlier on Fridays and so we were able to catch the sun's last rays before she dipped below the horizon, making way for darkness to descend. 


The vintage shift dress is an old favourite and one of an ever growing selection of black printed dresses residing in my wardrobe.

Its eye-popping floral print offers endless accessorizing opportunities and this time I opted for opaques in a fiery magenta and a chunky long line cardigan in the same colour. The cardigan is from Belgian brand Hampton Bays and a fairly recent charity shop find. Their cardigans retail at over € 100, so this one was a snip at just € 4.

The beads were a hand-me-down from a friend, while the large flower brooch, which provided an unexpected pop of turquoise, was bought from the Brooch Lady back in Spring.



And this is how people saw me during my commute for most of that week. 

I'm trying to alternate my Winter coats to make sure that they are all getting worn. This handmade vintage 1960s beauty was a lucky find at Oxfam several years ago.

My purple scarf, which features a bright green stripe, and my sage green beret helped to keep me warm and toasty that day.

Apart from my opaques and boots, everything in my outfit was bought second hand.




We couldn't wait for Saturday to arrive as we were looking forward to a good old rummage in the charity shops. Apart from a brief visit to a charity shop in Middelburg, it had been three weeks since our last proper shopping trip.

My outfit that day was an organically evolved symphony of blues and greens.



Stopping at the entrance of the museum garden further up our street, we took the opportunity of its photogenic rusty gates, as well as the dry and reasonably mild weather conditions, to take some detailed outfit photos.

My vintage new wool jacket in a scrumptious shade of teal with a dove grey furry collar was a Think Twice find, as was the Burberry beret I wore with it. I've been wearing the scarf - an old retail buy - a lot lately, as it's just perfect for those in-between days, plus it compliments most of my coats.


I fell head over heels for the soft wool knit skirt with its gorgeous jacquard pattern when I spied it on the rails at Think Twice. It was during one of their sales and I just couldn't get my head around the fact that it hadn't been snapped up yet. By then, it was going for just a couple of  €, so I was feeling double lucky. 

It's by Hess Natur, a German label which has been promoting fair fashion since 1976.

Look at that glorious pattern!


The blouse, in black Diolen printed with diagonals and flowers, was another Think Twice find, predating the skirt by many years: it was one of my very first vintage buys. Apart from the obvious attraction of the print, it's got the most divine but virtually unphotographable buttons.

The belt was a cheeky retail buy from a well known Belgian haberdashery and accessories shop during that week. The shop has got a good selection of opaques, which is why I went in there in the first place. They had some belts going at half-price - and no, it wasn't on Black Friday - and I simply couldn't resist this zebra striped one.

The aqua beads are charity shopped but originally from H&M. I know this for a fact, as I used to have them before, but stupidly sold them at a flea market in a moment of madness.



As for our charity shopping trip, this was a bit of a disaster. 

We'd been to the garden centre first, as we needed some peanuts, mixed seeds and fat balls for our garden visitors, as well as a couple of plants for our newly acquired plant table, and when we finally arrived at  the first shop on our list we noticed that it was unusually busy. It transpired that there was some kind of Christmas fair going on. Nevertheless, we persevered as we needed some ceramic pots for the plants we'd just bought. It took us ages to park, then we had to trawl through tables groaning under the weight of all sorts of Christmas tat, and finally queue for ages at the checkout.

After that, we gave up on our plans and just drove home instead.


The weather forecast for Sunday looked promising: it was going to be chilly but with lots of sunshine. However, a light blanket of grey was obscuring the sun when we drew our curtains that morning.

But never mind, as we had plans for the day, and you'll never guess what they were: we were going back to Zeeland!

No, I'm not joking! 

We weren't going on another holiday, mind you. Instead, we were off to visit friends who live in a  part of Zeeland known as Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (good old Wikipedia offers the English name of Zeelandic Flanders), lying south of the Western Scheldt which separates it from the remainder of Zeeland to the north and bordering Belgium to the south. It's just under an hour's drive from where we live.


One of our friends is my wonderful ex-colleague Kris, who moved to Zeeland, where he and his husband Marnix are running a farm. 

As a tribute to the Netherlands, my outfit of choice involved a lot of orange, the country's national colour, starting with my 1970s Petri dress, which I accessorized with orange opaques, beads and belt. There's orange in my striped cardie as well. 


Leaving our village, we could see a misty veil on the horizon, which by the time we reached the motorway had developed into a full-blown dense blanket of fog. While this might have made for some atmospheric photos, driving conditions were precarious, so that we were more than relieved when we reached our friends' welcoming farm house.


Don't wear your best shoes, Kris had warned us, it's quite muddy here!  So we heeded his advice and what's more, we removed our shoes and boots at the door, replacing them with our clog slippers from Middelburg! When in Holland, and all that! It goes without saying that much hilarity ensued!


Alas, poor Marnix couldn't be there, as he had work to do on the farm, but we were joined by the adorable resident cats, Kiki (top left) and Dries (bottom right).

We were treated with Kris's home homemade cake and chocolate truffles while we chatted and were given a tour of the house's latest transformations, including a dressing room I am quite, quite envious of.



The fog had become even denser by late afternoon, so that the first part of our journey home was a particularly scary one. I'm glad to say that conditions improved greatly once we'd left the low-lying countryside behind and were heading towards the motorway, but we still breathed sighs of relief when we finally got home.

So that was another weekend come and gone!

I'll be treating you with another episode of the Zeeland travelogue in my next post.


41 comments:

  1. I want a brooche woman like that too. What a bargain that cardigan was. And your blue outfit..... Fabulous! What a skirt, simply gorgeous.

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    1. Thank you Nancy! I've bought so many brooches from the Brooch Lady over the years, that I'm now quite Brooch Lady myself ;-) xxx

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  2. Reading through your post and admiring your outfit photos, I found myself seeing the word "Sunshine" flash through my mind. Your outfits are the sunshine that is missing this time of year! So lovely and warm and colorful and happy-making.

    Hugs,
    Sherry

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    1. Aww, what a lovely comment Sherry! I'm glad I made you happy! xxx

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  3. Ann, I have a question. You mention "one of my very first vintage buys" - when did you first start shopping vintage? Have you always shopped second-hand? You have quite a distinctive look, so I'm wondering if you've always leaned that way, or if dressing in your current style is a newer thing for you. I'm sure you've addressed this at some point previously, but I've only been reading you for just over a year (I think).

    Now, down to all this good stuff in your post!
    - That lovely magenta-based outfit is wonderful - I adore that long cardigan. Just send that over to me!
    - What a classy outerwear look! If I saw you on the street, I'd give you a shout-out! I see such DULL coats on the streets, sigh.
    - That classic blue (Pantone's colour of the year for 2020) jacket is amazing. I think that is real fur, BTW. I LOVE that gorgeous jacquard skirt! Thanks for the details shots.
    - How annoying that you got stuck in a Christmas event, when you just wanted to get the freakin' plant stuff! However, that zebra belt is fabulous.
    - The navy/orange outfit is wonderful - it makes me feel happy. And while fog can be delightfully atmospheric, driving in it is NOT fun! We get a lot of fog here on the west coast of Canada too, and it's scary when it gets that dense. Worth it to see your friend (thank you for the cat pics!), and indulge in sweet treats. I laughed at you and Jos in your clog slippers - what a great nod to the Netherlands! No picture of the dressing room? That's my dream: to turn our "office" (where I take the bulk of my pics) into a shared closet/dressing room.

    Enjoy the rest of your week, my dear. I know it's hard to keep one's spirits up when it's so dark and gloomy. As Sherry above said, you are our sunshine! Stay colourful!

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    1. Thank you Sheila! As for your question, I think I'll have to dedicate a post to this one day. Apart from during my punk years, I've only started wearing vintage and buying second hand about 10 years ago. There was always an interest, but I lacked the confidence and the know-how until my late 40s. xxx

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  4. We all have moments of insanity when we sell or donate something and then kick ourselves for being so stupid. Marie Kondo needs to do a series on that! LOL

    Shame you guys didn't get in your shopping. Those annoying Christmas shoppers! Ha! I feel the same way. Also can we do something about the Christmas music 24/7? I can't take it anymore.

    Those clog slippers are hilarious.

    Suzanne
    http://www.suzannecarillo.com

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    1. Phew, I'm glad I'm not the only one. As for the Christmas music, I think I've reached this year's limit of my patience :-)) xxx

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  5. Color therapy indeed!
    Fabulous outfits and i'm swooning over that hess skirt! The pink cardi looks gorgeous too! You find the best things!!
    We try to avoid going into town at this time of the year, thankfully we have a rural hardware store for our needings in the next village......
    Seeing old friends is worth to drive thru thick fog!
    hugsies! xxxxxx

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    1. Thank you my dear! I wish I could avoid going into town, but unfortunately duty calls every weekday :-) xxx

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  6. I love that skirt - the colours are fabulous!

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  7. This is one of your most fabulous collection of outfits in one post, Ann! They are all so colourful and stylish! Your first outfit is amazing! The mix of colours and patterns is fabulous! I love that green wool skirt too! I've been really into green lately, so I've been thinking of you! ;) How fun to go back to Zeeland to visit friends! I love your tribute to the Netherlands outfit too! Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Ann! :) XXX

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    1. Thank you Sasha! How lovely that you're thinking of me whenever you wear green :-) My friend Kris says we are more into the Netherlands than he is! xxx

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  8. Ann I am in love with your first style. Funny you visit friends in Zeeland :) I miss it. So nice to see your colourful outfits. Its like Beate said... colour therapy :)) Thank you so much.
    A very huge hug Tina

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    1. Thank you Tina! Isn't it wonderful to have friends in Zeeland? xxx

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  9. I love that you took your slippers back to Holland with you :)
    Your outfits are so full of colour! Mine have slipped into grey and navy recently, colours I love, but they don't lift the mood in the same way. I'm rather envious of your magenta cardigan, that's beautiful!
    xx

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    1. Obviously our clogs slippers were the source of much hilarity with our friends :-) I'm quite into long line cardigans lately, so I was very happy to find this magnificent magenta one! xxx

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  10. Three weeks without charity shopping? Didn't you have withdrawal symptoms? I think about 8 or 9 days is my maximum without a peek in a charity shop!

    The outfits are all lovely and I can't pick a favourite easily, but the skirt with that gorgeous pattern is probably the one. Loved all your colourful accessories and your new blue jacket is wonderful.

    Driving in fog can be quite terrifying.

    How lucky to live so close to another country and to be able cross the border to visit friends. I'd only read about this in books until I started reading your blog!

    What a great idea to bring your clog slippers with you...

    Hope you have a fab weekend and that you get to a charity shop at last!
    xxx

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    1. Haha, yes, we did have withdrawal symptoms indeed :-) With Belgium being such a small country, we can be over the border in less than 2 hours driving into any direction! xxx

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  11. True, your colourful wardrobe does put a smile on our faces. The first two outfits are my favourites. I do love black floral dresses - must be the dark and feminine all in one. The teal jacket and skirt are also very beautiful together.

    3 weeks with no op-shopping! Gosh, you're strong! Your little jaunt at the garden centre is just another example of how frustrating it is to shop in general at this time of year. I avoid stores as much as possible throughout December - can't stand the parking/traffic headaches, the crowds, impatient people and loud Xmas music everywhere! I have been known to flee stores to get away from the music alone!

    Lovely to see you were able to catch up with an old work friend. The drive there didn't look all that pleasant with all that fog.

    Just on a finishing note, as Sheila above enquired, I too would love to know a little of your vintage shopping history and if you've always been faithful to this style.

    Sending you some sunshine.

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    1. I actually fled from a charity shop last weekend, as the constant X-mas music was making me feel nauseous. We do have some Christmas music at home, which we play on the day itself, but these are either carols, classical music or ... Elvis's X-mas album (Jos was a big fan in his day). As I replied to Sheila, I've only been into vintage and second hand shopping for about 10 years. I promise to do a post on this one day! xxx

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  12. True, your colourful wardrobe does put a smile on our faces. The first two outfits are my favourites. I do love black floral dresses - must be the dark and feminine all in one. The teal jacket and skirt are also very beautiful together.

    3 weeks with no op-shopping! Gosh, you're strong! Your little jaunt at the garden centre is just another example of how frustrating it is to shop in general at this time of year. I avoid stores as much as possible throughout December - can't stand the parking/traffic headaches, the crowds, impatient people and loud Xmas music everywhere! I have been known to flee stores to get away from the music alone!

    Lovely to see you were able to catch up with an old work friend. The drive there didn't look all that pleasant with all that fog.

    Just on a finishing note, as Sheila above enquired, I too would love to know a little of your vintage shopping history and if you've always been faithful to this style.

    Sending you some sunshine.

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  13. I've been known to go six weeks without charity shopping - I don't miss it if I'm in India but do worry I'll have lost my ability to find something fabulous!
    Magical colourful outfits, each and everyone. If I'm allowed to have favourites it would have to be the first one, a vision in pink!
    Ugh, Xmas shopping! The vile music and the hideous tat it brigs with it. What an ordeal you had to endure.
    Lovely to meet Kris and Mamix and their gorgeous cats! I bet they appreciated your cute clog slippers!
    Your weather looks like ours did yesterday. Misty, grey and atrocious. Not nice driving conditions. xxx

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    1. Thank you Vix, and obviously you are allowed to have favourites :-) Don't get me started on the X-mas frenzy, it's getting worse by the minute! Kris and Marnix are such a lovely couple, and Kris really was my soulmate when he was still my colleague. I miss him! xxx

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  14. Even if the weather’s not wonderful at the moment, I’m glad your outfits are bringing some colour and light into your life.

    The mist of the way back to Zeeland looks incredible and the chocolate truffles sound delicious! Looking forward to your next post. X

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    1. Thank you Jess! Kris always makes the most delicious cakes and treats! xxx

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  15. Your vintage wardrobe is an absolute riot of colour and delight to look at and I only wish I could fit in it. Can’t fit in my own now and I’ve had to store more than half away. If it doesn’t fit me this time next year I’ll get rid of it xxx

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    1. Sounds familiar, as I'm having to get rid of some of my old favourites too. I'm blaming the *** menopause! xxx

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  16. I love the orange outfit, but the green and blue is my favourite, even if the shopping trip you planned to wear it to didn't quite turn out as expected! it's nice to wear colour in winter when everything is a little gloomy!

    Hope that you had a great weekend :) It was a hot one here, summer has definitely arrived!

    Away From Blue | Handbag Gift Guide

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    1. Thank you Mica! Wearing colour cheers me up every time! xxx

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  17. Another selection of really great prints and colours. I love the close-ups you do of the prints, it's like your blog is a polyester print library. You could do a good book based on it! The trip to the farmhouse looked fun, I do like the clog slippers. xx

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  18. Aargh that miserable foggy day! Just as well it included a cosy trip to friends.
    I love your arty green skirt, just as well it stayed invisible until you spied it.
    I love those gates too, the garden behind looks interesting, do you visit it often as it's so local? xxx

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    1. Thank you Sally! Unfortunately that garden is only open once a year, when it's terribly busy. They initially wanted to keep it open on a permanent basis, but it's a bit hidden away, and they were - rightly - afraid of vandalism. xxx

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  19. I love each and every colorful outfit you wear and love your talent to pick them and create something fabulous!
    Love those matchy magenta tights and fab cardi with the floral dress (I also have a weakness for black printed dresses). Love your jacquard skirt and your teal jacket and the unexpected but adorable combo with the Diolen shirt, which is so gorgeous!
    Love your last dress and all those orange accessorizing!, this is a particularly lovely color combo in my opinion!
    Glad that you arrived home without problems, despite that scary fog!
    besos

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    1. Thank you Monica! I had to think of you last week, when I found a dress which reminded me of your massive flower skirt and dress! Driving through the fog was a bit scary, but we've had much worse in the UK! xxx

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  20. You look so lovely in your colourful outfits. I especially like the dark pink one. Besides sea therapy, I also believe in colour therapy. Colourful outfits make me feel better, especially on rainy days.

    That fog does look scary. I hate driving in the foggy and rainy weather. Good you arrived to see your friends safely. Those clog slippers are a good choice for indoors, they must be comfy.

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    1. Thank you Ivana, and I definitely believe in colour therapy too. It always works for me! xxx

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  21. What a relief when you arrived!!!! I absolutely love your colourful outfits and I do think you have a magical way with colours and garments!

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