flowers

August 16, 2016

Gathering Flowers in Floral: A Summer Uniform

Gathering Flowers in Floral: A Summer Uniform, the artyologist

I don’t like uniforms. I once worked in a job that required me to wear all black, and that was enough uniformness for me. I think that’s why I love vintage- just so I can be different from everyone else. 🙂 Thus, I am hesitant to even use the word “uniform” to describe my default summer look, but . . . well, it is a commonly used term. . .

Back in May, after participating in Me Made May, I decided that I needed more knee length skirts, as this black floral one is my absolute favourite and it is in constant rotation in my closet. So, I made a few more (the dutch wax, the vintage sheet, and I am currently working on another in denim), and they are getting their fair share of use over the past few months. Thus, I realized that I do, after all, have a summer uniform, er, “signature look”, and it consists of: a solid coloured t-shirt and a knee length full skirt. For the casual days of summer, it’s just perfect.

The nice thing about a simple combination like this, is that each time you can change it up with different accessories. On this occasion, I added my new leather obi belt, which coordinated perfectly with the cinnamon browns in the skirt, a long pendant necklace of a Victorian lady in a ridiculous hat, some flat comfortable loafers, and my woven straw carryall. (And no, the straw bag did not work very well as a flower gathering basket, but it was all I had, and it looked pretty, so that’s all that matters- right?)

summer uniform, new belt, the artyologist

Speaking about flower gathering, a few weeks ago, the county announced that they were going to be mowing the ditches, which was pretty sad news, as the country lanes are so much prettier overgrown with wildflowers, but I guess it had to be done. (Nooo! Why did it have to be done?!) Before they could get out with the mowers though, I decided to go and gather a few bouquets of flowers. I don’t usually go and pick wildflowers along the roads, as if everybody did that, then there would be no more flowers left to enjoy in nature. However, if the flowers were going to be sacrificed to the lawn mower, then I was going to save them! 🙂 And I also decided to take advantage of the beautiful backdrop it would make for photos. Although, what you do not see in these romantically styled, pastoral images is. . . the mosquitos! They were out with a vengeance that night, but the photos made it worth it . . . maybe 😉

Do you have a summer uniform? Or a winter uniform if you are not in summer right now? What pieces do you always find yourself reaching for?

T-Shirt: Company by Ellen Tracey, Made in Canada, and strangely enough, it’s from Costco

Skirt: Made by me

Shoes: Hotter Shoes, it looks like they don’t have them anymore?

Necklace: Chain from a thrift store, pendant from Michael’s craft store (they sometimes have really great pendants!)

Basket / purse: flea market

summer uniform, gathering flowers, the artyologist

gathering flowers in floral, a summer uniform the artyologist

a summer uniform, the artyologist

country lane, gathering flowers, the artyologist

a summer uniform, the artyologist

fleabane, gathering wildflowers, the artyologist

cutting flowers, a summer uniform, the artyologist

gathering wildflowers, asters, the artyologist

gathering flowers, a summer uniform, the artyologist

July 29, 2016

Technicolor Flowers

Nicole art + photography flowers, photography

Grandma's bright pink rose, Technicolor Flowers, The Artyologist

My Grandma and my Mom are amazing gardeners. I am not a gardener. I don’t enjoy digging in the dirt and planting, and watering and weeding and all of the assorted chores that a garden entails. However, I do absolutely love the flowers that result. I also enjoy being in the garden, and I especially love to take pictures of the flowers that grow. (As you can probably have guessed by now, considering the number of floral themed photos that appear on this blog!) This means that, even though I don’t personally enjoy gardening, I will always have flowers, as houses and yards without them, are so cheerless.

I am constantly amazed by the rainbow of colours in nature, the enormous variety of species, the unique details of the petals. . . I like taking photos of flowers as they are so easygoing: they don’t move out of frame (unless it’s windy I guess), they sit nicely while I compose my shot, and I don’t have to worry about them not smiling nicely 🙂

Both my Grandma’s backyard, and my Mom’s garden are full of such vibrant flowers – so, today’s garden is brought to you in technicolor!

purple daisy technicolor flowers, the artyologist

Magenta Purple Daisy

purple and yellow lupin and orange lily the artyologist

Orange Lily & Hybrid purple and yellow Lupin. I say “hybrid” because the first year, they were purple and the next year they grew up, both purple and yellow combined.

pink coneflower, technicolor flowers, the artyologist

Coneflower

purple daisy, technicolor flowers, the artyologist

vibrant pink roses, technicolor flowers the artyologist

I have no clue what variety this rose of my Grandma’s is, but it is absolutely stunning. The entire shrub is just covered in hundreds of bright pink blossoms, that fade to a delicious pale pink. The first picture in this post, is also from the same rosebush.

blue cornflower, technicolor flowers, the artyologist

Soft Blue Cornflower

blanketflower, the artyologist

Such vibrant colours in this Blanketflower

blue cornflower and sweet williams, the artyologist

Cornflower & Sweet Williams

yellow lily, technicolor flowers, the artyologist

Turk’s Cap Yellow Lily. It’s called ‘Turk’s cap” because the lilies hang downwards instead of up.

allium, technicolor flowers, the artyologist

Allium, or Ornamental Onion. One of my favourites as they are a large, 4″ balls of spiky flowers!

*All technical and horticultural information in this post, brought to you by my mom. I did not remember what all of these flowers were and so I asked her for the names of them 🙂

July 26, 2016

Dorothy and The Yellow Surrounded Road

Nicole outfits flowers, handmade, style

Image of Gingham Pinafore- Dorothy and The Yellow Surrounded Road The Artyologist

I finally got my sunny pictures in the bright yellow canola field! And, I had the perfect outfit to wear with the field. (There I go again- matching my outfits to the farmer’s field!) Well, that is not the whole story. The real story is, I thought to myself, “What could I wear for pictures in the sunny yellow canola field?” A cursory examination of my current wardrobe revealed that I had nothing that would coordinate or contrast with a bright yellow and blue background, that I haven’t already worn a billion times, or catalogued on the blog here before. (And I really wanted to do the field justice!)

canola and navy gingham pinafore the artyologist

So, what to do? Why sew something new, of course! I had an old, 1980’s, baggy, rayon, navy gingham dress in my stash, that I had purchased from the thrift store with the sole purpose of refashioning into something new, and I decided that now was the time. It had been sitting there for a couple of years, waiting for the right project- and this was it! (I will detail that project’s process later.)

So, I had a pinafore, a white blouse to match, and then of course some white sunglasses as it was bright out there, (and I am nothing if not colour coordinated) and a straw sunhat to finish off the look. It was the perfect 1940’s Hollywood interpretation of a farm girl or a milk maid. (Which means that it is nothing like what a real farm girl or milk maid would actually wear, but there is nothing better than a fake Hollywood interpretation of reality, right?) So, that leads me to the title of this post- Dorothy, of The Wizard of Oz. I was almost done making this pinafore when I realized that my outfit looked very fairytale like, although I couldn’t place my finger quite on which character. At first I thought of Alice in Wonderland, but then I remembered that Alice has a solid blue dress with a white pinafore. So then I was trying to remember whose dress mine looked like- and then I realized that it is strikingly similar to Judy Garland’s outfit in that movie- and it was completely by accident! 🙂 I don’t have a yellow brick road, but I do have a road surrounded in yellow- so does that count?

Do you have any dresses similar to movie costumes, either on purpose, or by accident?

Blue gingham pinafore: refashioned by me

White blouse: thrifted

Hat: thrifted

Earrings: gift from my parents

Shoes: Hotter Shoes, “Shipley”

Sunglasses: bought online several years ago

hat white sunglasses and gingham pinafore the artyologist

image of the back of gingham pinafore the artyologist

sunglasses in navy gingham pinafore the artyologist

field of canola landscape the artyologist

pocket detail and canola field the artyologist

sunglasses and pinafore in the canola field the artyologist

shoes with navy gingham dress and canola field the artyologist

landscape in yellow field of canola the artyologist

gingham pinafore dress and country road the artyologist

walking away in gingham pinafore the artyologist

June 3, 2016

Peony Hued

Nicole outfits flowers, hat, vintage

peony hued the artyologist
As sad as I am to see the end of lilac season, we are now entering peony season, and that is a reason to celebrate! If I had to choose a favourite flower (and really who could do that?), I would choose a peony. Peonies come in so many hues, ranging from dark fuchsias, to soft blush pinks, to creamy whites. They come in single and double petal varieties, and can have spiky or rounded petals. My favourites are the double flowering blush pink varieties, with their massive, deeply layered petals and heavenly scent.

This ensemble I wore last Sunday reminded me of peonies; because the hat is accented with one, and because the colours were in the same shades as the flowers.

peony the artyologist

I was so glad that we had a sunny day in the middle of the rain we’ve had lately, because as I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to wear my new hat- but the hat stiffener is water soluble! The day dawned beautifully though- and I was glad to be able to wear it out for the first time.

When I was planning what to pair with my hat, I looked in my closet only to discover that I had nothing to go with it. 🙁 Then, I remembered this dress. This is the first time I have worn this dress, and it is a special one, because it was my Great-Grandmother’s dress. She wore it in the 1950’s to her son’s wedding. This past January my Aunt and Uncle were clearing out their basement, and they found it hanging in one of the closets. They asked whether I wanted it, thinking that it was probably my Grandma’s dress, but when I talked with her she said it was actually her mother’s dress. There are not many vintage garments in our family that have survived through the years, so it is special to have one of the few pieces that is still in wearable condition. (We also have my Grandma’s wedding dress, but it is in very tattered shape. Maybe one day I’ll put pictures of it on here?)

The dress has suffered a little bit of damage, and was quite musty after being stored in a basement for so many years, but the good thing is that it is polyester taffeta, rather than a more fragile material like silk, and so the stains came out, and the smell is (mostly) gone after a good airing out. (You can still slightly smell the mustiness if you stick your nose right into the cloth, but usually people don’t do that to a dress someone is wearing. Although you never know. . . )

I am so glad that I got this dress though, and can give it a second life after so many years. It was lovely to wear a vintage garment that I know the history of, rather than wondering, “Who wore this?”. Sometimes I wonder at the stories vintage garments could tell. . .

Do you ever wonder at the history behind your vintage pieces? Do you have any vintage pieces handed down from your family?

vintage hat and dress closeup the artyologist