hat

Vintage Covers: Vogue April 1963, A Chic Accessory

Vintage Covers: Vogue April 1963, the artyologist

What is more chic for Summer than the classic straw hat? With a rounded brim and soft golden colour, this piece is perfect for the season, no matter where you will be.

Vintage Covers: Vogue April 1963

So, it is already August 8th and I still never announced whether #myvintagecover is happening again this year. It is.

You can read here for more info (it’s exactly the same as last year: just insert 2018 instead of 2017). Oh and check out the instagram hashtag too- there are already lots of amazing posts. It’s been lovely seeing people join in! I was planning to only do one cover this year, because I wasn’t sure if I would have enough time to do another, but this one went together relatively quickly, so maybe I will get around to doing another one after all? Do you plan to join in and recreate a cover?

Lilac Blooms and a New Velvet Hat

Lilacs and a Green Velvet Hat, the artyologist

Well, this does feel strange sitting down to type out a new blog post. It’s been ages since the last one. . . and these pictures are about 2 months old now as well- oops! Oh well. Even though it has been so long since I last blogged, I did want to post these images, because they turned out rather nicely, and I was pretty happy with this outfit too. And, I do love lilacs, so don’t mind looking at them again in July 🙂

I picked this little green velvet hat up at an antique store a few months ago, and was very happy to discover that it matched the green of this sundress perfectly. The hat is a bit squashed, and the netting is torn, but it isn’t unwearable, and I rather like the shape of it. It does look nice with my straight hair (an absolute must for hat purchases these days) but I decided to be extra special and curl my hair (my sister did it for me!) for the hat’s first outing. I used to curl my hair almost every day, a few years ago, but now I don’t bother as my hair doesn’t hold a curl for very long and it is so much work!

lilacs-and-portrait, the artyologist

On to the rest of the outfit- you’ve probably seen this Vogue 1044 dress before, so there’s nothing new there. . .

As for the makeup in these photos, and why it is a bit out of the ordinary for me, I have been thinking of getting a Suva Beauty Hydra Liner, so I decided to try out my sister’s to see how I like it. However, she has a white one, so I decided to get her to do some crazy makeup for this shoot to coordinate with the lilacs. It’s hard to see, but she did green and purple eyeshadow, and a white winged liner. To be honest, I don’t like the white eyeliner on me. On her it looks amazing, and she is the sort of person who can do any kind of makeup and it looks great. And, when I do it. . . I just think it looks weird! Well, it was fun for this photoshoot, but you certainly won’t find me walking around with it in the future 😉 (also- if you aren’t following my sister’s instagram account @therougedgirl you should definitely go and check it out!)

makeup-detail, the artyologist

Anyways, I don’t really have anything else to say. . . if I did have anything else to say about the photos, it’s been so long that I have since forgotten it!.

Happy Friday everyone, and hopefully I won’t be waiting a month in between the next post this time!

vogue 1044 and-lilacs-detail, the artyologist

lilacs and a vintage hat, the artyologist

vogue 1044 dress and makeup, the artyologist

lilac blooms and a vintage velvet hat, the artyologist

vogue 1044, the artyologist

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which was Actually in A Garden)

ladies-tea-outfit, the artyologist

Well, it’s been a while since I last sat down and typed up a blog post, but as this one is very long overdue . . . here goes!

My mom and sister and I have hosted quite a few tea parties through the years- from birthday parties, to girls youth events and now the Garden Tea is an event we hold every year at my family’s acreage. (I’ve talked about it here on the blog.)

This year the Tea was on May 26th, and the day of the party dawned cloudy, and around mid-morning it started raining. This was hardly a surprise as in previous years it has also rained, forcing the event indoors. However, as you might have guessed by the long-winded title of this post, by 3:00, when the party was to begin, the weather had cleared up, the sun was out with a gentle breeze (just enough to keep the bugs at bay!) and we were able to go outside! We really couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather for the party.

I took a few photographs of the decor, but the pictures didn’t turn out as well as the ones I took last year. Since almost everything was the same as last year, (including the lilac bouquets and chocolate squares) you can just refer to this post to see pictures of what the party decoration and food was like.

ladies-tea-outfit, garden party dress, the artyologist

ladies garden tea dress, the artyologist

But, really, the “most” important part of any Tea Party is, of course, the attire, so instead of focusing on the decor, here is what I wore. This is the Garden Party dress I referred to in my blog post from last year. I have wanted to wear it before, but it just didn’t work out since the party was indoors. This year, however, with the party being out of doors, I could move well enough with this giant skirt without knocking people’s teacups over!

I made this dress about 5 years ago, or so.  I don’t recall there being any special reason to make it- I just loved the fabric. The dress, which I always refer to as “The Garden Party” dress, is a pattern hack of Vogue 2962 and a regular bodice top and sleeve. This dress is just so much. There are about 4 metres of fabric in the skirt alone. It’s definitely not the sort of dress one wears on a daily basis- it’s just a tad fancier. Like if you were going to meet the Queen. Or something like that.

But, since meeting the Queen isn’t in the near future, a Ladies Garden Tea (which was actually held in a garden for once) will have to do! It was a lot of fun flouncing around in this dress. Although, I must admit that I actually didn’t wear this straw hat during the party, as the breeze kept knocking it off my head, and so I had to give up and go bareheaded.

ladies-tea-outfit, vintage style, the artyologist

Well, this is definitely not the best post I have ever written. I am a bit out of practice. . . but at least a picture is worth a thousand words and this is a rather picture heavy post. Thanks also to my lovely sister, who despite the fact that we are both out of practice of blogging, after a month hiatus, took these photos for me!

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying your summer so far. (It might not technically be summer yet, but as we’ve had 34 degree weather lately. . . it’s summer!)

ladies-tea-outfit-2, the artyologist

Truth: I hate the smell of mountain ash. I was just doing this for the sake of photo. 

white-flowers, mountain ash, the artyologist

ladies-tea-outfit-4, the artyologist

mountain ash, the artyologist

Vogue 2962 pattern hack, the artyologist

hat-and-shoes, 1950's style, the artyologist

twirling, vogue 2962 pattern hack, the artyologist

An Easter Bonnet with a Ribbon Upon It

An Easter Bonnet with a Ribbon Upon It, The artyologist

I did not spend my Easter in the laundry room. However, I did not want to brave the cold weather for photos, so my laundry room had to serve as an impromptu photo studio for my Easter Sunday outfit this year! It actually worked surprisingly well, though, so you might just see more of this location in future posts, especially since I refuse to take any more photos out in the snow.

Anyways, regarding the outfit, which is probably what you want to hear more of, (though I could keep talking about the laundry room if you’d like. . .) I like to wear an “Easter bonnet” each year. Actually I like to wear them every other day of the year too, but on Easter it just seems more appropriate to wear your most outrageous hat, don’t you think?

An Easter Bonnet with a Ribbon Upon It, the artyologist, vintage pillbox

This navy blue tulle 1960’s pillbox with a random blue ribbon decoration, won for this year’s outfit. It is my most ridiculous hat, and it is all the better because it only cost $1 from a thrift store. (Some people might say that $1 was too much…) It was as flat as a pancake when I found it, and required steaming it back into shape, but I’m so glad I got it because it’s the most hilarious hat I’ve ever worn, it vaguely resembles a cake, and every time I wear it, I love it all the more, simply because it is so over-the-top.

I did originally want to wear a new (much less ridiculous) hat I bought last week, and a sundress, but this year Easter came early and Spring has come late and so, instead of sunshine and flowers, we were dealing with snowstorms and bitter winds. Thus, that outfit will have to wait until the weather warms up a bit more. And so for Easter Sunday, this was my “It’s still Winter out there so I am wearing this navy dress, but I have put a lace jacket over top to make it feel a bit more like Spring is on the way” outfit.

I really don’t have much else to say, so that’s all for now- I hope you all have a wonderful week!

An Easter Bonnet with a Ribbon Upon It, the artyologist, silhouette

An Easter Bonnet with a Ribbon Upon It, the artyologist, vintage style outfit

An Easter Bonnet with a Ribbon Upon It, the artyologist, pearl button detail, vintage hat

An Easter Bonnet with a Ribbon Upon It, the artyologist, vintage pillbox

Photo Shoots with Friends

photo shoots with friends, chantelle-and-i, the artyologist

This post is coming to you pre-scheduled as I am on a holiday this week with friends, one of whom is my dear friend Chantelle, who is pictured in these photos today. I decided it would be a perfect time to share these photos, which I got back in June when I visited her, as they are too special to not post at all despite the lateness of them!

It is a bit of a tradition that when my friend Chantelle and I get together, we do a photo shoot- we did this even in my pre-blogging days. (Maybe sometime I will share some of those old pictures. . .) Sometimes our photo shoots are themed, and usually the theme is some kind of vintage style, because that is what I have for “costumes”. As in, it is a costume for her, and regular clothing for me 😉 We’ve done “model”, “wedding dresses”, “1940’s” and last year we did “1950’s“. This time, we didn’t have any theme planned- and as I was traveling, I didn’t bring extras in my suitcase. However, while I was visiting, I found this great straw hat at the thrift shop and Chantelle was able to borrow this lovely blue topper, so we figured that was good enough.

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, chantelle-hat-detail

The photos of both of us were taken with self timer and, as I didn’t have my tripod with me, we precariously balanced a pile of wood on top of a kitchen stool and placed the camera on top! It was a bit dangerous for the camera, and we had no way of knowing where we were in the frame, so the results were a bit interesting. Somehow we still managed to end up with these lovely shots though- and even with me running back and forth, I managed to not look too disheveled!

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, chantelle-and-i-standing

I’ve shown both this skirt and shirt together before, but why mess with a good thing, right? I am not above repeating an outfit if it worked out well the first time. And, I wasn’t kidding last week when I said I have worn this skirt too many times to count. I even brought it on my trip this week, so I might be wearing it as we speak 🙂 However it is nice to share my new hat, especially since I have worn it a few times now. Sometimes, like in the case of this hat, thrifting can be very rewarding. I saw a hat very similar to this one, with an asymmetrical brim, and green ribbon and accent, for sale online, but it was quite expensive. It was a justifiable price, for a handcrafted piece of millinery, but I am so glad I found this secondhand one instead!

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, hat-detail-nicole

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, chantelle-adjusting-hat

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, nicole-spinning-skirt

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, chantelle-portrait-1

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, wildflowers-and-nicole

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, chantelle

She looks like she should be going to a Royal Wedding. 🙂

nicole straw hat, photo shoots with friends, the artyologist

And because you can’t have any photoshoot without silly ones. . .

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, chantelle-and-i-being-creepy

I didn’t realize I was so far away from Chantelle in this picture, and instead of hugging her, I am just creepily/awkwardly putting my hand on her shoulder! It doesn’t help that I have that strange expression either. . .

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, chantelle-and-i-snobby

These expressions, above, are just too funny. . .

photo shoots with friends, the artyologist, chantelle-and-i-laughing

Do you enjoy doing photo shoots together when you meet up with friends? Have you ever been looking for something in a shop or online, only to find something similar in a thrift shop?