I am writing this post well in advance of Hallowe'en, and I have no idea what I'll be doing for Hallowe'en this year if anything. The last couple of years I've been to costume parties but with moving away, I decided to have my Hallowe'en in August and instead to get dressed up and showcase another hat from Natty Titfers.

This hat was too special not to photograph but I was struggling to come up with an outfit to wear it with. However, it was an opportunity to play a bit of dress-up and so I ended up with this sort of "Burlesque-punk" look.

I wore this outfit to go out to dinner with some friends I hadn't seen in some time. I chose it mainly because I didn't wear this skirt all summer and it's just too pretty to let summer pass by completely without wearing it. Unfortunately the summer was already more or less over which meant some indoor photos of dubious quality, sob sob.



Don't mind my petticoat having slipped a bit, just focus on that adorable apple border pattern ;) I do enjoy it. I'm wondering if I might be able to make it do for colder Autumn and Winter weather by layering it with another petticoat. I don't have another one at the moment that would be suitable but I wouldn't mind a shorter green one to go with it.

Now for a really special part to the outfit:





This top is actually a little romper suit with the back and sides made of lace. In this case I've put a basic black camisole underneath just because otherwise it's a bit too va-va-voom for an average Thursday, but I'd love to wear it one time for an evening do with nothing underneath to show off those great lace panels. I wear it with a skirt over the top even though it has little shorts at the bottom, but when I first bought it I did think about wearing it in the summer with a kimono or something over the top. It's something I'd still like to try, but honestly I'm not sure it ever gets hot enough in England for me to feel comfortable! I'm that person who's always cold, even when everyone else is melting.

I didn't manage to get a good photo of the charm bracelet you can see in some of the photos (or the ring I'm wearing which is juuuuust visible in the first picture) but all the charms are either hearts or ladybirds. It's a "lovebug" theme, haha. I really ought to collect some more charms for it; I don't wear it as often as I should.

Back in July I was able to go and watch my very talented brother graduate. His graduation ceremony was in the afternoon but we had to be there before 1pm for him to get his gown and have his photo taken. I'm currently working as a research assistant at the university I studied at and as such I had to go into work before hand, but because we were very tight on time I actually had to go and work in the lab with my hair and makeup done and wearing my dress for the graduation! It's an extra thing for us to remember the day by: that time I wore a maxi dress to collect fly eggs off raw liver....

In any case, it was a lovely day and I was so proud of my brother for all he's achieved.



For the ceremony I wore this new-to-me 1970s maxi which I just love wearing. While the 1970s isn't my favourite decade for fashion, I really like a lot of 1970s maxis and I'd like to get myself one or two more in the future. This particular dress is a soft satiny material and has the most beautiful flattering cut. I think it was designed to be worn with platforms as it's actually been shortened by a previous owner but as you can see it's about the perfect length on me - if I'm wearing heels. I haven't measured how high the heels on these shoes are, but I guess they make me about 5'8". It makes me wonder how much material has been taken off the bottom of the dress and therefore how high my platforms would have to be in order for it not to be too long!

So aside from the beautiful cut and pretty pattern, there is one thing I really love about this dress:



It's the amazing cape on the back! It's the kind of wonderful detail you rarely get on modern dresses and makes the dress really special to wear.

Because the dress makes me feel like a character from American Hustle, I styled my hair after Jennifer Lawrence's character. I also went for 1970s-inspired makeup and accessories to complete the look.



My brother, of course, looked dapper as usual in his suit.



The lighting inside the venue was really poor for photos, which was a shame as it was a really interesting building. I did get a couple of photos although they're really yellow.

This sweet lace-trimmed hat is another from Natty Titfers. I felt quite the Lady posing by the lake with my beautiful hat and parasol. I think a smart pair of steampunk glasses would set off this outfit nicely. The next thing on my list is a new pair of boots, which I've been searching for for a couple of years. I prefer boots without zips because I walk with my feet so close together and have a tendancy to trip because the zip gets in the way. Boots without zips seem very difficult to get hold of (unless you want Doc Martens or similar). I've found a few likely-looking pairs in charity shops (which seems to be the best place to come by them) recently but charity shops here are expensive so I rarely shop in them. Sorry, but £7.99 for a pair of second-hand New Look shoes seems a bit steep to me. So, the search goes on.

Hey guys,

These photos are from the last shoot I did before my move with Jac from Vintage at Tip Top Hair Design and Steve Bond. I shared a couple of images on Facebook and Twitter a while ago which you may have already seen - we were lucky enough to be able to borrow this 1930s Austin 7 named "Arthur" (thanks Matt!) for the shoot and we are also hoping to do some shoots with other vintage cars if and when I find the time to go back to the Midlands.

The hair was inspired by gorgeous Hedy Lamarr and thanks to Jac's amazing skill it held out pretty well despite the rain. I think it's a testament to how well we work together that we managed to get such good shots even though the weather was rubbish. And let me tell you, it was cold. I managed a few shots without my coat, but it was certainly one of the coldest shoots we've done (the other very cold one, by the way, was this photoshoot).

I really hope you enjoy these pictures. I'm off to the beach now (perks of having moved several hours away).. see you all soon!

This outfit makes me feel slightly like I should be attending a fox hunt. Steampunk foxes are probably clockwork or somesuch, and therefore cruelty free :)

I chose this brown/copper topper (... copper topper... heh) with cog detailing to add a bit of something to an otherwise fairly plain outfit. I'm not very good at accessorising so it's quite nice to have a statement accessory to do the work for me.

These are from a shoot I did at the beginning of August with Ged Carton. I'm wearing one of my favourite original 1950s dresses which was a bit of a labour of love for me as it needed a lot of work doing on it when I first bought it. It was worth the effort though because it's so sweet and pretty.

Stay tuned for some more pictures from this shoot coming soon!