The Ladies Garden Tea, Part 1
Well, that title “The Ladies Garden Tea” is a bit of a misnomer. You see, it was sunny every day up until the party, and it’s been sunny a fair amount of days after the party, but when last Saturday dawned, it was rainy. And this was not a showers and clouds kind of rain. Not a “maybe it will clear off just in time” sort of rain. It was a “I’m-here-and-I’m-cold-and-I’m-gonna-stay” kind of rain. So, the “Ladies Garden Tea” was forced to become simply the “Ladies Afternoon Tea”, which is OK because fun was had by all despite the lack of sunshine. And, having it indoors simply meant we didn’t have to deal with bugs flying around getting stuck in the cake and lemonade, right?
It’s become a bit of an annual tradition for us, to host a ladies tea party. The first time I ever hosted one, was the Valentine’s Party I posted about, and since then, it’s just been a great excuse to pull out all the fancy tea cups and dress up and have a lovely time with the ladies of our church. I’ll have more about the food and the decorating and such on Friday, as I have so many photos, I wanted to split them into two posts, so you wouldn’t be bombarded!
Today, I’ll focus on what I wore. Originally I was planning on wearing a large straw sunhat, and my “garden party” dress (I have named it that, as it just seems the sort of thing one wears to a garden party). The dress is too fancy for everyday, as it requires many layers of petticoats, so I hardly ever wear it. I’ll post it here one of these years… However, as the dress is so pouffy, when the party got moved indoors, I didn’t want to be running into people and knocking over lamps with my skirt (the struggles only vintage lovers know!), so the plan changed to this dress, which I also think suits a tea party quite well.
It is a vintage 1970’s dress I got from a thrift store, and it fits so perfectly it could’ve been made for me. I’m pretty sure it was either a grad dress or a bridesmaid dress, and it is made of a coral coloured lining, with an overlay of tan flowered chiffon. It is basically the 1970’s epitomized in dress form 🙂 I’ve never worn it before, as it is pretty dressy and floor length, so it was so nice to be able to wear it for the party. I paired it with my opera length pearls I got from my parents a few years ago as a birthday gift, and as it was an indoor party, my sister lent me some sparkly clips as we didn’t require hats anymore.
My dear friend Chantelle was visiting for the week of the party, so we had some fun taking silly photos of us drinking our tea after the party. (There were a lot more ladies at the party- 23 of us.) Of course, as soon as the party wrapped up, the sun burst through the clouds and we had a lovely sunny evening. Oh well 🙁
Have you ever hosted a fancy party for your friends? Do you like to pull out the fine china every chance you get?
This is a “Victorian Parlour Card” pose, don’t you think?
June 22, 2016 @ 7:50 pm
This sounds like such a lovely tradition! Really, any chance to get together with friends and dress up and make an event of it is something to be celebrated, and we could all stand to have a tea party (or a cocktail party, or a whatever party) a bit more often.
I love this dress on you. It really is the 70s in dress form, as you say, with the sleeves and the color and that romantic, pseudo-Edwardian thing is has going on, which I absolutely love. Definitely a good thrift store find.
June 23, 2016 @ 10:30 pm
Thanks- it is such a fun dress; I need to wear it more often 🙂 And I agree- any excuse to gather together for a party whether it is simple or fancy, is definitely worth it!
June 22, 2016 @ 10:02 pm
The dress looks beautiful in you. The party looked like a lot of fun.
I really enjoyed the black and white photoshoot with you and your sis.
I don’t have costumes but there was a time when my clothes looked like costumes. At least that was what I was told. I am trying to dress up more. Thanks for the inspiration, Nicole.
June 23, 2016 @ 10:28 pm
Thanks! The party was a lot of fun!
One of my favourite things is to do photoshoots, so I’m glad you enjoyed it too 🙂
June 22, 2016 @ 10:12 pm
goodmorning,buongiorno Nicole,
…great post and Fabolous outfit!…this dress is a charming work of art…cheers!
You’re always so stylish!
great photos with Your friends…very nice!
June 23, 2016 @ 10:27 pm
Thanks so much! It was a lot of fun 🙂
June 23, 2016 @ 2:19 am
That is a lovely dress. As you say, as 70s as it gets! I’ve just been thinking about organising an afternoon tea for the girls. We used to have so many get togethers but it really does get harder as you get older, move away, have kids etc. But worth the effort!
June 23, 2016 @ 10:26 pm
Oh yes, definitely worth the effort! But I totally understand that sometimes it’s hard to get everyone together at the same time, same place, all with different schedules. . .
June 25, 2016 @ 8:13 am
Splendidly pretty seventies dress. There is such a dreamy, ethereal quality to it that speaks to the feminine tailoring that persevered alongside more boho/hippie/(later) disco styles of the era. What a stellar thrift store find and piece to wear this absolutely beautiful looking party.
Big hugs & happy weekend wishes,
♥ Jessica
*PS* Good china (and silverware) for the win! I love using it any chance I can get. 🙂
June 25, 2016 @ 6:56 pm
Yes, when we think of the 70’s, we tend to think of the hippie styles, but there was so much more to the era.
And definitely use the china every chance, and if there isn’t an occasion- make it a special occasion! 🙂