All posts in Vintage

On streamlining and skirt wearing

Late last year, after issuing many prior warnings, I put the contents of my wardrobe officially ‘on notice’ – if I didn’t absolutely love it, if it didn’t fit, or if I’d never actually worn it … it was out the door. Slowly but surely I whittled things down to a core collection of garments – with the rest sent to new homes via eBay or charity donation bins. Do you apply a bit of tough love to your wardrobe too?

This process of consolidation and streamlining has seen more space appear in my wardrobe, with the clothes that remain becoming much more accessible and therefore more likely to get worn. But all of this hasn’t meant that I’ve stopped shopping all together. It just means that I’m especially careful about what I do buy – my clothes have to earn their place.

So it was an exciting day for the household, when a lovely parcel arrived in the mail (Jones takes his job of quality control very seriously). Of course, the arrival of any parcel is cause for celebration, but even more so when that parcel contains not one, but TWO pretty skirts!

An exciting new delivery from 'halfhalf'

These skirts were made and sent my way by the lovely halfhalf store which is run by Laura and Jo. Their store is filled with gorgeous limited edition fifties-style skirts, made with the most wonderful fabrics. The other cute thing is that each skirt is named after a favourite song (adorable!).

When I saw the two skirts below, it didn’t take me long to make them mine – the one on the left is ‘Feel the Love’, and the one on the right is ‘Leaving the City’. Both skirts have made themselves very much at home … they’re most definitely keepers!

A pair of pretty skirts

There are a few things that I look for in any skirt that I consider buying, and those made by halfhalf tick all the right boxes:

  1. Fullness … so comfortable, so flattering.
  2. Length … hitting the knee, or just below is best.
  3. Flat waistband … balances out all those lovely pleats.
  4. Pockets … good for hands, and carrying little stowaways.
  5. Fabric … cotton always wears so well (especially with an adorable print).

Growing up as a tomboy it’s true that I wasn’t always a lover of skirts, but they are now such a big part of my wardrobe, I don’t know how I ever lived without them. How about you? Are you a skirt-wearer too? Or maybe you’re just a fan of streamlining? (they’re both more than a little addictive)

Some news of the wonderful and vintage variety

As many of you may remember, last year I opened an online vintage clothing store with my lovely friend Teresa. After much thought and contemplation I recently made the decision to leave the business, so that I can devote more of my time to all the other things I want to achieve this year (after all, there are a LOT of things on my list).

Thanks so much for your support and encouragement over the past 12 months – it’s been much appreciated and helped make the year a whole lot of fun. I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop about some exciting future developments I’m currently working on, which involve vintage clothes, screen printing, writing and travel (intriguing, no?) … but first comes making some plans for the coming weekend …

Do you have something wonderful planned for yourself?

PS. Speaking of something wonderful and something travel related … My lovely (and very talented) friend Erika has launched her ‘Kickstarter Project‘ to undertake an artist residency in Hong Kong. Perhaps you’d like to offer her your support and make the dream of ‘Erika Lee Sears and the Hong Kong Project‘ a reality? (every little bit counts).