30 Days of Dresses: Dress #30

Yay! I'm done! Its been a crazy time. So many things happening, crazy things and exciting things. We sold our car, it was taken away today. It happened way faster than we thought, so now we're without wheels. It's quite crazy, I know. I think sometimes in life we are forced to rely on others because if it were up to Dave and I, we'd never ask for help. We don't like to burden anyone with our problems. But then life happens and we're left with no choice... This might just turn out to be the start of quite an interesting adventure. It's really not easy to have to depend on someone else to get buy. A HUGE thank you to friends and family who have helped us in the past and still continue to help where ever you can, we really couldn't do it with out all of you!

This challenge has taught me so many things! Things like, how to get creative with a limited wardrobe, how to use what I've got and also what I need in order to extend my outfit possibilities. Something quite personal that I got out of doing this challenge is that I'm not quite as ugly as I feel and that complete strangers aren't remotely as critical as I am of myself. Thank you for your kindness friends, I hope you stick around long enough for us to become friends.

This is it then, Dress #30, the last one of the challenge...

 -this is a really lovely dress, I'm not big on the whole"animal print" trend but this one kinda chose me-

   -the posy in my hair, I made while experimenting with flower making techniques(still working on it). This silvers star necklace was given to me when I was a little girl. I cannot quite remember who gave it to me but I had it for, like, ever! I still love it, there's something magical about it-

-so that is that for this challenge, hope you'll join in the fun with my next challenge-   

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #29

Oooooweeee! I'm almost done! Tomorrow is the last day of my dress challenge, save for the Grand Finale. I can't wait to be finished with this challenge! It's quite tiring to do an outfit post every single day, wow! How do you Fashion Bloggers do it? Anyway... Dress #29 is another Vintage number I snatched up from one of our local charity shops. It still needs to be sized but for the winter it's fine like it is, as I'll be wearing it with a coat or something over it. I was a bit skeptic about whether or not this dress wold suit me but now I quite like it.

 -everything about this outfit reminds me of my cousin Zandienne back in Pretoria. Purple is her colour! And as I'm wearing the owl pendant Zandienne and her family gave me for Christmas, it's no wander I'm missing them like crazy-

-Ah, my vintage leather belt, I found this at the SPCA shop in Pretoria. I've had it for about 5 years now, it goes with anything and stays updated-

Hope you had a lovely Wednesday!

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #28

Hi friends, can you believe it's midweek already? Well, today will be another double-header as I couldn't post on Saturday. This dress is an amazing find. Vintage and in it's original state and perfect for colder weather with it's thick fabric and long sleeves. I just can't get myself to wear it out. Maybe it's just a little too 1970's, I don't know what it is but I just don't feel comfortable wearing it in public. I thought to add this dress to the challenge to see what it really looks like on. Now I'm convinced, I'm gonna let this one go. It's slightly too big for me and I'm just too short to pull it off.

 -hehehe...I tried to do that "pose" you usually see on the packaging of those vintage patterns-

 -the detail on this dress is unbelievable! If you compare the quality of the work that went into making this dress with what you get in the shops today... This dress comes complete with an attached bow for you to tie in any which way you want-

-this dress comes complete with the most awesome belt and tiny chain. It even has a sewn in lining for the skirt part of the dress. Other than it missing a few eyelets on it's belt this dress is in perfect form for something more than 30 years old-

-I would keep this dress just to look at it now and again, I really love it! But I need to start letting go of things which are merely taking up space-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #27

It's been a long Tuesday... We've been having our winter rain, it's the most amazing feeling to wake up during the night with the sound of raindrops against the window pane. Ha! I just thought of my previous post, I did it at 2AM and Dave only got round to reading it now. He pointed out that I made some terrible spelling mistakes. I told him that it was on account of the early morning hour I wrote the post, my concentration wasn't quite what it should've been. I will go and fix those mistakes now, I promise!

So this lovely dressy was almost thrown out a couple of times. It just never seemed to go with anything I had. Just as I was going to get rid of it for good this time, I dug it out of a storage bin and tried it on one more time. This time I think we have a winner! It's awesome how (sometimes) an outfit creates itself.   

 -the dress is from Mr.Price about 7 years ago, I've probably worn it twice. Now I'll definately wear it more often. My all time favourite scarf, Dave bought for me whilst on honeymoon. It's form a spinning mill somewhere in the Midlands Meander, Natal. This awesome scarf is made from all natural sheeps wool, carded, hand-spun and knitted by ladies on a farm. It's a little scratchy, but I love it-

 

-just a detail shot of my "Mori Girl" dress and my lovely scarf-

-enjoy the rest of your day-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #26

So Monday came and went quite speedily... I was still preparing my post when suddenly, it's Wednesday! I named Monday's dress Fast Fashion because I bought this dress about four years ago and I think this style of dresses went out of style a month after I had bought it. I love it though. The colour is lovely, it's versatile and quite unique.

 -I love all the interesting details on this dress, it is really well made. My Protea print shirt is for a local shop called BigBlue, I recently died it purple. I will show the before an after soon-

 -this swallow caught my eyes just as I was walking out of the Chinese shop, I know I need to stop buying from them, sometimes I just think that they also need to eat and support their families-

-you've met my frog ring, now meet my charming wrist frog. This little fella is from the China market in Jo-burg, again, I know... he still is a beauty-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #25

Hi Friends! No, I didn't get lazy and skip the weekend. I went out with my parents and little brother on Friday and got sick after having a Blueberry milkshake and a plate of chips at a restaurant in Somerset Mall. I was sick throughout the weekend with terrible nausea, severe cramps, headaches. I have never had such terrible cramps in my life! It felt like someone was playing pin-the-tail-on-the-intestines with a butcher knife. I realized that the only thing that could be making me so ill was all the milk I had on Friday, as I got sick straight after I'd finished my massive milkshake. And again on Sunday night after eating half a slab of chocolate with Dave. So now I have a huge problem! How am I ever going to cut milk out of my diet? I'm addicted to coffee and chocolates...

...back to the dress challenge, here is Sunday's dress. Note how puffy my face is, that's from my not feeling very well and having a terrible night with almost no sleep.

 -Sunday was quite a bit cooler which gave me the opportunity to wear this amazing dress that Yuseon(my sister-in-law) gave me. All the way from South Korea! It really is beautiful with it's soft layers and boho pattern design-

 -my hand cut leather heart trio necklace (OddOneOut) I kept one for myself. I'm so glad I did because the whole batch I made had sold out. I really need to make some more, they're really lovely to wear. Ah, my very first genuine leather shoes! A gift from Dave. We recently opened a Woolworths account, he got a jersey and coat for work and I got THESE! We had this deal going, you see... There is a pair of shoes I love that he absolutely hates! So he said that he would get me a new pair of shoes if I throw that pair out. When we got home and I tried on my new shoes(which Dave very happily approved of) I realized something, I'll have to take photo's of the two pairs together so you can see what I realized...in a continued post. Hahahaha!

xxx

   

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #24

Hiya Friends, it's Friday! So I''l keep this short and sweet. Last year some time, I went to the HOSPICE shop with Natasha and found a huge, gross fair isle jersey in the 50c box(that's basically free). I took it home washed it twice(it was really icky) and then I made this cute little knit dress.

-I removed the sleeves, took in the side significantly and put little felt heart patches over all the holes-

Enjoy your weekend!

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #23

It's Thursday! That mean tomorrow is Friday, and then it's weekend! So I'm standing on day 23 with my dress challenge, only 7 more to go, yay! Everyday I think to myself, "what did I get myself into?!" but I stuck it out and managed to do this even though at times I felt "stuff all of this!". This has been good for me and I now realize after reading Maria from Little Tree's post, that I'm not the only one who feels self-conscious and awkward doing these outfit posts. I don't have the confidence to put myself out there so doing these outfit posts is quite scary. It makes us vulnerably to criticism and nasty comments, thank goodness I have the friendliest readers! I have received nothing but positive feedback even requests for other challenges. Thank you for all your kindness, it means so much to me.  

 -Ah, I love this dress! I've had it for like, ever! I don't even remember where I got it anymore, but the label says Collection. I'm not familiar with this brand but they made one hell of a dress! This thing never seems to go out of fashion and the fit is perfect-

-my beaded bow clip is from my sister-in-law, Yuseon. I have worn it so many times, it goes so well with anything, really. Starry-starry earrings, I found then at a market in Pretoria. This black resin rose is just so awesome and bulky, it's from Mr. Price. Lastly, my owly cluster necklace, I made it to go with my earrings-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #22

What a huge disappointment! I took some before photo's of this crochet dress I bought at the Hospice shop. It was cream with orange detail, it looks like the orange yarn wasn't colour fast when the original owner washed it. The cream part was full of orange stains. Naturally, I though, "awesome, I'll just dye it" and so I did. Now when I started editing my photo's for this post, every image I took on the day is there except the images of this dress! All this effort and now I can't even show you what the dress looked like before I dyed it! Sometimes technology really sucks!

 -above are the images of the dye I used, all the instructions are on the back of the container. Dying fabric is much easier than most people think.

1. soak the fabric that you want to dye in clean water, make sure that it is wet all over(this will insure that the dye will distribute more evenly). Squeeze out all the excess water and place in the prepared dye-bath.
2. follow instruction as to how long your fabric should be emerged in the dye-bath, stirring regularly.
3. drain dye-water, rinse thoroughly and hang out to dry. (I put my fabric in the washing machine with a cup of salt water and put it on the rinse&spin cycle)

 

 -it turned out so pretty, considering I'm now the only person who knows what it looked like before I dyed it-

 -The polka dotted pussy bow blouse is of pure silk and vintage in design, I found it at a charity shop-
-So this is the AFTER photo of the dyed crochet dress revamp-

 

xxx

 

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #21

What a day! It's seems our winter is a bit delayed this year, it was a lovely sunny day! I've been working on a few things that will be revealed soon. It is both challenging and exciting and should be ready to take flight in the beginning of June. So stay in touch for some mystery news! On another note, we were discussing blogs and so forth at Natasha and Martinus's house warming and someone dared me to put Dave in a dress as part of my Dress Challenge. Dave accepted that dare for me and as May has 31 days, Dave will be posing in a dress on the 31st. 

The dress I wore today, is quite a gem. It's probably from the 1960's, judging by the pattern. It is a handmade and on some places hand stitched dress. The fabric is a lovely soft, fine cotton it is quite thinly worn on places. Though it is slightly to big for me I don't have the heart to cut it in any way. I actually just want to frame this one. It just feels so authentically mysterious, like it should be preserved or something. Strange, I know.    

-I know, I know...I wearing the same shoes as yesterday. They just went so well with this outfit! Once again, how amazing that a pair of stockings can pull together a brand new outfit! I bought these Woolworths Fashion Tights when I got the black ones from yesterday's post. It say on the packaging: "The perfect solution to keep warm & cozy. Wear with boots, Flats and heels. NEW IMPROVED Yarn with Viscose." my favourite fiber! They're really lovely-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #20

Ooooh... Happy Monday! You've probably noticed my written work has become a bit distant... I've been struggling with quite a bit of sadness. As most of you who read my blog know, I lost my Grandad last year and also our two family Dachshund doggies a year apart. There's been quite a lot of underlying sadness that I suppress and then it surfaces every now and again. Like today, we finally set up our old PC which has a working CD-Rom so now I can access all our backed-up photo's which I haven't even been able to blog since the move 5 months ago. So I was looking for some images and came across pictures of my Grandad with Vicky on his lap... naturally the tears started flowing. And than last week I had this terrible back pain that just wouldn't go away. Anyway, we are all fighting our own hard battles just like that pin says. I just hope you'll be kind to me as I am to you.

Today's dress was on it's way out but after seeing how this outfit turned out I think I might just keep it. I haven't warn this dress in over four years and just as I was ready to let it go it managed to grab hold of me once again.   

 -the colour combo is so different to anything I would normally put together but paired with this Grandpa cardi I found at the animal welfare shop last year... it's almost like the dress was just waiting for the right company. These stockings are so awesome, I bought them at Woolworths, they are Body Sensor Temperature Control stockings. They're perfect for the cooler weather and I love that they're vertically ribbed! It gives it a bit of a 1920's look-

-There is this really awesome bead shop in Pretoria called House Beads, I don't know if they're still there but I found these tiny buttons, purple crochet beads and purple shell Frangipani flower there when we were still staying there. I strung all the buttons onto some cotton thread and crocheted plain chain stitch till I felt it was thick enough. It's quite easy but took quite a while to finish-

xxx

 

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #19

Today's dress I dug out of a crate. I'd bought this in China Town just before we moved to Hermanus which is about three years ago now. This is the very first time I've had it on and Dave says to me: "it makes you look big". I don't know about this one, I loved the paisleys and the colour combinations but the bubble is a bit strange to get used to. It also doesn't help that it is uber short either, that why I wore my jeans under it.

We went to Grotto beach for a family friend's birthday celebration, it was the most beautiful day out! The fires were going and we had a lovely "braai" and Betty(the birthday girl) made the most delicious chocolate cake.

 -there's just something about this dress that make me want to keep it, but it's only gonna waste space if I not going to wear it-

-the patterns are really fine and pretty, I like how they incorporated shades of pink with shades of grey. It's actually quite nice, maybe I'll give it one more try...with stockings and heels?-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #18

Ah, we had such a nice time over at Natasha's with their house warming! She baked the most amazing vegan cheese cake and the chocolate cake was just as delicious, wow! We met some lovely new people too. So now we're home, and it's time for me to share dress #18...

 -Dave bought me this dress way back when...I was still completely obsessed with the Art Nouveau Movement back then, so this was the perfect gift! I'm still in love with Art Nouveau, I just tend to distance myself from things that become too commercialized. I love this dress and I'm amazed at how versatile it is, having gone through almost ten years in my closet-

  

-My lovely earrings were also a gift from Dave, see the statement necklace here and the turquoise bracelet was from Dave's mom. She made Yuseon and myself each something special from beads we picked out from one of her favourite Bead shops in Mossel Bay-

xxx
 

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #17

Yay, it's Friday! Oh, I can't wait till tomorrow! We've been invited to go to Natasha(Bamboo Blossom) and her boyfriend, Martinus's house warming. They have moved closer to us, yay! 

Back to my Dress Challenge, today was a bit warmer (again) so I thought it a good idea to try on the beautiful silk kimono dress that Dave's mom gave me the last time we visited. It is quite huge and I certainly don't have the longest arms and legs for it, but it feels awesome on.

 -I'm not to sure as to where this kimono comes from. There was no tag to be found. It's definitely silk, though-

 

-I dream of becoming a true bohemian... I love this photo that Dave took, thanks for all your help my Lovey! I really appreciate it-

xxx

 

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #16

okay... so I cheated a little. It was just too cold this morning for just a dress, so I put on my jeans and added my vintage coat. It can go through as a dress if I button it up, don't you think? Well at least I was warm.

 -man, I love this coat! It was one of my first thrifty finds back when I was still in high school.

It's a perfect fit, like it was tailor made for me. The brand is Riastar Tailored and the style seems 

to fit the 1950's era-

-As the weather grows colder, I'll probably be wearing this coat a lot more. Oh, it looks even better when I wear it with boots-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #15

A few years ago my dad through out a lot of old work clothes and among the suits and ties and shirts, I found this thickly woven cotton shirt. I kept it just in case I could do something with it someday. Then I came across this pin, which led me to this blog where this lovely lady posted a video tutorial on how to style a men's shirt into dresses and skirts. It's really cute! Do click on the link to check it out, you'll enjoy it, I did!

-I just kicked out the shoes for a more comfortable outfit, around the house. You would'nt believe how warm this outfit really is-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #14

This is a quick one... I've been in pain all day. I need to take some pain killers and go sleep now. I did manage a smile for the photo though...

 -I'm in love with these colours-

-something about this fine detailed collar, the dainty rose pattern and the lovely cotton that forms a nostalgia that goes deep into my memory almost like a dream-

 

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #13

Whoooo-hooooo! Lucky #13! Wow, I can't believe I'm almost halfway with this challenge. Today was another warm day here in Hermanus and I could'nt help but long for spring a little. So I thought that this floral print dress would be quite suited for my Spring mood.

 -I found this circle knit shrug at the Rotary Anne's Charity shop in town. It's lovely and soft and cuddly warm... It cost R10(1.09 US Dollars), just the kind of thrifty thrill I'm addicted to-

-just a quick piece of info on my heart locket, It was a present from Dave on our 3rd year of dating. It opens up to form a four-leaf-clover, it's quite something! Inside Dave put little pictures of us from when we just met which was 12years ago(crazy, huh?)-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress#12

Firstly, I would like to say HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! To all Mothers, New Mothers and Mothers to be! I trust you all had an awesome day and that you were spoiled rotten! 

Now back to business... hehe! These DAMN DRESSES!!!! I went to the animal welfare Thursday past, to deliver some blankets we bought for the doggies. As it is almost winter and the shelter can get quite frosty, I imagine. Obviously, being inside one of my favourite charity shops I wasn't going to deliver the blankies and go without a quick browse. I couldn't believe my luck with this one(granny print dress) this dress has nothing at all wrong with it! It feels like heaven, it's a cotton/polyester blend but it looks and feels like silk. It also has a sewn in lining to keep it from being transparent.  

 -today was quite hot and although I love rainy weather, I'm enjoying the last few sunny day before our rainy winter starts. This outfit was perfect for today, I just added a cardigan when the chilly breeze picked up. The layered soft cotton tunic I found at a local thrift store named Ikaya Africa. They are slightly more expensive but you can find really nice things there-

-absolutely love my Topaz ring that my aunt Bernadette gave me for my 21st! She also gave me a matching pair of earrings which I will share with you some other time. The amazing thing about these Topaz stones is that they change from soft blue to bright pink depending on the light source-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #11

Man, I'm so tired tonight, I just started falling asleep while editing the photo's. Now I'm completely lost for words! I named this dress/outfit Plain Jane simply because it's a one-colour dress and the fact that it's made of a knit fabric, makes it oh so comfortable. My aunt Bernadette gave this dress to me for a birthday present quite a number of years ago. I wear it so often, it's just such an easy going dress. What I love most about this dress is that it isn't Plain Jane at all! It's got the cutest little details around the neckline, with the finest lace.

 -this dress is perfect for a busy Saturday. We cleaned the house, went out to get some goodies for the braai (or barbeque as most of you know it), came back home, baked this tart. Drove out to the property my Dad just bought, had some bubbly, came back home had a braai with my parents and they just left, few-

-Ah... my Odd Ones! Just some of my older products. I always try to keep at least one item when I make a batch of products-

xxx 

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #10

I was visiting my parents yesterday and my mom had decided to do some winter cleaning. She threw out all the clothes she doesn't wear, doesn't like or never felt quite comfortable in. This little dress is one of the latter. She literally never wore this dress, it is basically brand new! So of course, I nabbed it! It's slightly too big for me, so I'll probably take it in a bit or give it some pleats.

 -I say Granny Print because it reminds me of those tiny floral prints grannies used to make patchwork goodies of, well at least my grannies did-

 -I'm starting to like this combo more and more-

-this is my favourite ring (next to my wedding ring)! Dave bought it for me when we were on honeymoon in Natal. It was made in India, the craftsmanship is amazing-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #9

It's quite strange, I only noticed it when I started editing these photo's... I dressed like the weather. When I woke up this morning it was raining. I picked out my dress, put my outfit together and went to town. They sky was blue-grey just like the colour of my dress... Have you ever noticed that the weather influences your outfit for the day in such an extreme way?

 -Oh don't you just love this scarf? Dave's mom knitted it for me a couple of years ago. she is super talented with her knitting. I've worn it so many times, it's warm and squishy, I love it! something about the colours reminds me of a mermaid-

 

 -I found these very cute little owly charms at a bead shop in Cape Town. I did'nt quite know what to do with them, so I made these earrings...Ah, I just love the way they dangle-

-for some really strange reason, I feel like Dorothy in these pumps. Maybe it's the perfect little bows, they just make me want to click my heels together and say "there's no place like home, there's no place like home"-

-Nine down, twenty one to go-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #8

For some reason I was very down and out today. No matter how hard I tried, nothing seemed to lift my spirits, so to speak. My day's schedule went down the drain although I tried my utmost to stick with it. I started feeling slightly better when Dave phoned to say that he was coming home a little earlier. Then, even better when it started to rain and then much better when Dave helped take my Dress #8 photo's. And the best feeling was when we went for a quick walk around the block and saw Flamingo's and many other birds gathered at the salt pan which is about a block away from where we live. So my day turned out pretty awesome, thanks to my Dave!

-this is what I come up with in the morning in an attempt to cheer myself up. it didn't help...but it didn't hurt-

-oops! I forgot to add these two pics above...now you can see, I wasn't lying about the Peter Pan Collar. Ha! Cute, isn't it?-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #7

Only day seven! I never thought this would be so hard. Especially now that the days are growing colder, I had to force myself to put on this dress this morning. It would seem that I have become a "jeans and T-shirt" kinda gal! I would never have imagined...

 -I thrifted this pretty paisley dress sometime last year, it is oh so comfy! once again, it turned out to be Viscose...my all time favourite textile for everyday wears-

-this crazy cute paisley print inspired quite the Gypsy in me, so I paired it with bulky turquoise accessories with a bit of earthy brown feathers and wooden beads-

-a cute and comfy outfit-

xxx