Friday 8 June 2012

WTFF: Librarian Chic

I'm finding myself looking forward to Fridays (even more than usual).  I think I'm onto something with this frock thing.  My friend, Emily, joined me in solidarity last week, wearing her blanket dress (I didn't actually see it but it sounds intriguing...).  I think she was pretty jazzed about the whole thing too.  And I went to the dentist last Friday wearing my Parisian Trash and ended up talking with the (female) dentist and the (female) dental assistant about my little endeavour.  They were also suitably enthused and thought it a much more appealing idea than Casual Fridays.  So who's with me??  Get your frock on people and tell me about it!  If you're a lad and you've only got one or two Fridays worth of frock in your wardrobe, you could simply try getting a bit fancy so you and your frockin' ladies can enjoy an after-work aperitif at a suitably classy establishment.  I'm thinking Tom Collins, dry martinis...  You know you want to.

We had snow this week in Dunedin.  I love the snow.  I'm not one of those bah-humbug "snow is such an inconvenience and makes everything dirty and causes road accidents" kind of people.  I grew up in the North Island where snow days are things of mythical proportions so now that I live somewhere that the white stuff can impact on day to day life, I think it's super exciting.  I embrace the halt of normality and revel in the chance to keep all snunky and eat baked goods and watch bad TV.  This snow fall was not much to write home about in Dunedin - Canterbury bore the brunt of the cold - but it did land and make our garden look pretty.  Basically, it's not the week for flimsy cotton dresses, even with tights and a cardi.

It's the week for Librarian Chic.  I paired my dress with a white tuxedo shirt I've had for years and added a ribbon under the collar to tie it in with the tights etc.  This way, I got to keep warm and still rock a frock.

This is a dress that I bought a whole life time ago from one of my favourite designers, Sophie Voon.  I used to go into the store so often and make cow-eyes at the beautiful clothes that eventually they offered me a job running the shop.  I almost cried with joy.  They had a staff wardrobe so I played dress ups every day.  It fit in perfectly with University as I finished my degree.  It was one of those incredibly rare retail jobs where you genuinely love what you are selling and have confidence in your ability to be able share your love with others.  I miss it in some ways.  Of course I put my fare chunk of wages back into the coffers buying my own wardrobe of Voon clothes.  This dress is one of my earlier purchases, possibly even pre-shop employment.  From memory, it was called The Carpet Bag Dress (Sophie always has lovely names for things) and you can see why.  The material has a brushed, soft quality to it and the pattern adds to the 'luxe' feeling of it.  It's stretchy which makes it super comfy and the pattern and texture help hide some of the perils that can come with stretchy dresses.  I have always loved the scoop neck on this dress - it's a neckline that suits my curves and gives the dress some va-va-voom.  It's nicely tempered by the below the knee length - some skin at the top, some coverage at the bottom - good design.

I figured in adding the shirt to it, it changes the va-va-voom but you don't loose the balance as the colour-block is still broken up.  This shirt I bought during the same era as the dress from a shop a couple of doors up from Voon called Juno.  I used to often visit this shop in my lunch breaks and still own some really lovely pieces I bought from there.  I have no idea what happened to the label or to the really lovely girl (Sarah, I think?) that used to design it and run the shop.  I would love to find out what she's doing now.  I hope she's still making awesome clothes.  I was drawn to this shirt because of the tuxedo pleat down the placket - perfect boyfriend chic - and the feminine tailoring (which you can't see under the dress, but it's there).  The cotton has a stretch to it so it's comfy and the square pearl buttons add to the mix of the feminine and masculine.  It's just pretty cool really.

I saw another blog recently (I can't remember what is was) where the girl had added a ribbon under a collar and then when I saw my friend Emily wearing a ribbon under her collar the other day I figured it must be cool.  Without the ribbon, the buttoned-up shirt would look too severe in my opinion so I would have to have left the shirt open and this messes with the neckline of the dress more than I want.  So I tied a hair ribbon around my neck.  As you do.  I was a little worried I'd look like I was about to join a mariachi band, but I think it ties (pun there - so funny) the look together and gives a nice line, drawing the eye down.

I wore patterned tights (not fishnets, thought that might be pushing the theme a bit far) and a pair of very old mary-jane heels just to complete the look.
The earrings were a gift from my mum last year.  She bought them on High St in Auckland at one of those awesome Asian fashion stores.  You know the ones - they import fashion from Asian countries that us big fat whities might actually fit into.  And thankfully even fat whities can wear cute earrings.  I thought they fit in well with my librarian theme.



So there we have it, this week's WTFF: Librarian Chic.  Just a wee final end note - my Mum wanted to know why I haven't been including Edie in WTFF.  As she is my most regular reader (and my Mum) I will bow to pressure.  I had actually intended to include her from the get-go.  You'll note that in the first WTFF she is in a frock (a wee Pumpkin Patch number bought for her by Nana and Aunty Phil), I just never had the time to take photos that day.  And the Parisian Chic Friday she was having a nap when we took the pics.  So today I snapped a couple as she charged around the lounge.  I have yet to master the art of capturing the moving toddler.

Today, Edie was dressed by (you guessed it) Aunty Natalie.  I'm not sure where this cool little number came from but I love the colours and pattern on the cord.  So boho yet so cute.  The smocking around the neck is very cute too.  I paired it with some Boden tights today although I do have other tights for it.  I liked how the blue of these tights picked up the blue of the smocking.  The cardi was knitted by our neighbour who is so lovely although Edie does seem to be genuinely scared of her which is pretty hilarious!  My friends Jane & Darrel gave Edie the cute hair clip for her birthday and she's worn it (percentages not withstanding) most days since.  By the time I took the photo, Edie had ditched her shoes and her wooly hat and so I shall save their awesomeness for another post.  You may note that Edie has accessorised the outfit herself by swinging Dad's black Ice Breaker jersey over her shoulder, catalogue styles.  I commend her flair.

1 comment:

  1. I was walking in to work this morning and all of a sudden thought 'oh no, it's WTFF and I'm wearing jeans!"
    Next Friday I'll be more 'on the ball' and frock it.

    Great outfit once again Mrs Charlotte. Love Edie's hair clip.

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