Hell Bunny Lily Dress

This dress will look familiar to a lot of you as it is one I have already blogged before, however since I last blogged it I ended up having some alterations done to the hem to make it look more vintage. Originally this dress had a mullet hem so when I saw the alteration Lauren made to her dress I was inspired to follow her Flapper Hack tutorial and do the same with mine! Here you can see the original blog post with how the dress looked before it was altered, however I definitely prefer how it looks now as I find this length to be more flattering without my knees exposed.

After having a quiet Easter and doing no Easter activities whatsoever (other than gorging myself on hot cross buns) this outfit was worn on a trip to the pub - an original 1920s pub which I will be posting about more on instagram later, and shopping for reduced Easter chocolate.

It's apparently autumn at the moment, everyone seems to have their fires going even though it's 30 degrees every day. People in Brisbane are clearly terrified of the possibility of it being even slightly not hellishly hot so they are doing their best to keep summer going all year long rather than enjoying the two weeks of cool weather we get each year - as my friend cleverly observed!

I too jumped the gun and wore this hat that I've been eager to wear for a while now, and since I spent most of the time in the air conditioned pub it didn't matter too much. You might have noticed that I am really loving Bait shoes at the moment - I have to admit I am obsessed. I am relieved to have finally found a brand that makes not only affordable, but very nice looking art deco shoes. In terms of sizing I seem to be the one of the few people who has not had any issue - I always go half a size up from my regular size and so far so good.

Wearing:

Hell Bunny - dress

Ebay - hat

Bait Footwear - shoes

à la russe

The early 1920s saw Western fashion start to experiment with Eastern elements. With a large Russian population now living in Paris following the Bolshevik Revolution, major couturiers such as Chanel sought inspiration from the costumers of the Russian ballet and elements of traditional Russian dress suddenly became a part of mainstream fashion. As a result of fabric shortages post war, embroidery became very popular as it was an affordable way of adorning dresses with an elegant design and enabled designers to use the simpler fabrics that were available. Embroidered dresses and blouses modeled off the traditional Russian peasant style were popular for their exotic appearance and nostalgic charm.

I love this style not only because of the association with my homeland, but because peasant dresses are the most comfortable dresses to wear, especially in this climate. While there are quite a number of authentic 1920s dresses available in this style, there are also some great reproductions too and with the cost of 1920s vintage as it is, not to mention how frail it is to actually wear...I would recommend going for a reproduction.

In an ideal world I would have loved to pack this dress on a visit home to Russia, to photograph it in the lupin field near our house, but sadly as it is I will not be going back this year so photos in the Australian outback had to do. Not quite the same, but how sweet is that cockatoo? I didn't even notice he was there until we finished taking photos - if you look carefully he is photobombing in the third last photo! We took these photos at my favorite hiking trail, the morbidly named Slaughter Falls. As you can imagine all sorts of urban legends surround this place about slayed picnicking couples and the rumor of a lady in white being seen, but not this afternoon, no, just me in this lovely embroidered white frock.

Wearing:

The Deco Haus - Dress

Bait Footwear - Shoes

reverefolie - Bebe Earrings courtesy of reverefolie

Peacock Flapper Coat

I bought this fabulous robe, or flapper coat - whichever you'd like to call it - in the middle of summer and so it has been a painful wait to finally be able to wear it. Apparently it's autumn now, and indeed it has cooled down very slightly so that I can finally take this gorgeous, most luxurious and fun to wear garment out of the closet. A cross between lounge wear and evening wear, I honestly don't care how flamboyant I look wearing this coat, therefore making the peacocks most appropriate! I wore this fabulous coat to the cinemas last week to see Hail Caesar and it kept me nice and snug in the chilly theater. It is fairly safe to say that I am obsessed with these coats and there will be a few of them making appearances on the blog throughout autumn and winter.

Something that I really love about the fashion of the 1920s is that accessorizing is so encouraged. I have never worn earrings on the blog before my last post because I have never actually had my ears pierced. I am terrified of anything sharp and painful so piercings have never been my thing, meaning my whole life I have missed out on wearing earrings. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I was contacted by reverefolie who have a fantastic range of handmade jewelry that offers customers the option to choose clip on earrings! reverfolie have a beautiful range of pieces inspired by jewelry from the 1900s to the 1950s with many fantastic art deco inspired designs. I love the instant glam that a pair of statement earrings like these add to an outfit and I get complimented non stop when I wear mine out.

Wearing:

Trashy Diva dress

thrifted flapper coat

David Lawrence heels

Miss Harlow Darling earrings & ring c/o reverefolie
Modcloth hair pin