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Back home from America! Some outfits.

christinahopgood

I’m finally back from my big trip to America. We had a really great time! First we flew into New York and spent a couple of days there before heading down to Delaware to attend the workshops.

The initial jet lag was pretty brutal. The working day in New York is literally when I want to be sleeping at home. So that was hard. We pushed on and visited Tokyo Rebel which was super nice, and we had fun exploring the city. At Tokyo Rebel I bought a Baby bag, which is really beautiful and practical.

Newark, Delaware, is a university town and is really small. Charles attended the Jazz Vibraphone workshop with Tony Micelli and I went to the Bob Becker Ragtime Xylophone Institute. It was amazing and he was super nice. I was the only person from overseas in my workshop. I was also the oldest, everyone else was not even drinking age! I learnt a lot. The last day of the workshop was a concert, and this is what I wore:


Victorian Maiden Rose Stripe Shirring Dress. That was the only time I wore it.

We rented a car from Hertz and drove up to Boston. What a crazy thing to do! Charles did super well. We stayed with our friends who live north of Boston in a town called Hamilton. It was lovely and green there.

We also drove into Boston city to hang out with some other friends. One friend is also getting married soon and she took me to a wedding dress shop! I couldn’t believe how expensive the dresses were – like over $6000. It was interesting anyway.

Next we drove back to New York to stay in Brooklyn. This time in New York we went to Central Park, Tiffany’s, and a jazz club called Small’s. The only bad thing was that it was so stinking hot in the subways!

Anyway a lovely time was had. Charles and i made headway in our Wedmin too.

shoes, shopping, wedding

Yumetenbo and Wedding Shoes!

christinahopgood
This post is mostly a stream of consciousness and some shoes I like.  It has opinions.
So I find most “Bridal Shoes” kind of ugly.  I don’t really like the satin-covered look.  Doing a quick google search of “wedding shoes” and a couple of clicks later I get this: 
Which is pretty much an embodiment of all the stuff I hate about wedding shoes.  They often seem to have that shape – elongated and pointy at the toe, stiletto heel that’s not high, boring back and strap.  Not only are these fabric-covered, but also embroidered!  Lumpy.  Other types are mostly strappy heels, which I also don’t like.  My toes are not for public display.  I suppose these heels would be comfortable, which is a massive plus on a day when you don’t want to get sore feet.
I know some women get the shoes covered to match their gowns, and I agree that it’s a nice idea.  But by the same token, there are lots of amazing normal shoes that I’d love to have for my wedding.  Normal shoes might be better because you can actually wear them again.  Normal shoes won’t be damaged forever if you get them wet or *gasp* muddy.
Ideally, I would like these Baby, The Stars Shine Bright shoes for my wedding.  They’re the Princess Drop Chandelier shoes or something like that.  They’re out of stock everywhere.  I think I saw them in Paris but never bought them 😦 Silly.  I love the gold filigree touches.  A very elegant shape too.
So today I was browsing Yumetenbo – a site I often browse but have never bought from.  It’s all in Japanese.  Some girls can manage to navigate well enough to buy but I’m not that confident yet.  I found some lovely shoes I’d totally wear to my wedding (or anyone else’s)!  The great thing about this online store is that a lot of the shoes are available in many colours!  Click on the pretty pictures to go to the websites!

Probably these would be good in beige or white, depending on the dress colour.  I love double straps – super cute.
Just simple Mary-Jane pumps.  SO MANY COLOURS.  These would go with any outfit.
I love these.  So simple and elegant.  The bow is detachable so you can wear them as normal pumps or as cutie cute cute pumps!
And inevitably I start looking at other kinds of shoes…
 
These have an interesting wedge heel.  I think it’s totally weird but also awesome!  Plus, more double strap action!  I’d get it in pink or in spots!
 These shoes are just gorgeous.  I’d be almost as tall as Charles in these!  I love the red shoes best.  Most of my wardrobe is red or black.
Oh dear!  It just occurred to me!  Maybe I just love the shoes because the models are so cute!  Look at them!  Awwwwww!
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Ding Dong The Bells Are Going To Chime!

christinahopgood
Charles and I are now officially engaged!
Yay!
Although we both knew for a long time we’d get married, we have started telling people.  Everyone has been very kind and happy for us, so it’s been wonderful.  Today we received two engagement cards and a vase of beautiful flowers!  
We will wait until we’ve both finished our studies.  For me that’s the end of this year (with a bit of luck) and for Charles that’s June next year.  So there is plenty of time to plan, and as my parents and married friends have assured me, I have to start planning NOW.
This post is just some inspiration pictures really.  I like dresses and would like a knee-length dress, because I’m young and short.  Does that make sense?  Pictures.
The skirt is quite nice here.  Not fond of the bodice though.

I just like this picture.  
Can’t remember where this is from but it’s an antique dress and I like the bodice.
Yes, Milanoo!  I wouldn’t buy from there but they have thousands of pictures of wedding dresses.  I like this one particularly.
I adore these shoes from Baby.  Unfortunately I only found them when they were out of stock!
Melissa shoes.  Always nice.
Victorian Maiden lace gloves.  Not a necessity.
Victorian Maiden hair clip.

Pearls!

Victorian Maiden hair clip.

Yellow and pink flowers!
The following four photos are from a cute little exhibition held at my church last week.  It was the Women’s Fellowship’s annual lunch party and they had a wedding dress exhibition with about 16 dresses.  This was my absolute favourite, from the thirties!  Sorry the photos are blurry, I didn’t use flash and was too excited to hold the camera still.

I love the buttons down the front.  It’s not the opening but it’s a nice detail.  I’d like this bodice but lower cut.

My lacemaking teacher thinks that the lace was made specially for the dress, as it curves out at the front perfectly and forms a beautiful train.
The skirt doesn’t even need a hoop because it’s held out with stiff tulle.
That’s it so far!  I’ll post photos from everything I do about it from now.  Of course that won’t be much for a while because we have a long time to go, and lots of other stuff to keep us busy.
clothing, fashion

Refining my Wardrobe

christinahopgood
Every few months I go through my wardrobe and toss out a whole lot of clothes, thinking “why on earth did I ever wear that?” Even to clothes I used to love and wear all the time! I guess fashions change, and my taste changes all the time.

Despite this, there are some clothes that I’ve always loved, and I can’t see ever going out of fashion. My lolita clothes are all classic style – predominantly Victorian Maiden or cheap offbrand (KidsYoYo, Infanta, R-Series). Since the Classic Lolita style is based on vintage fashions anyway, it’s not going to go out of fashion – it’s never actually in mainstream fashion – but rather it’s just going to get more vintage-looking, which is the aim in the first place. I’ve seen photos of old (well, 2002 old) Victorian Maiden and Mary Magdalene dresses on HelloLace, and those dresses are very similar to the current ones – meaning that they only refine the fashion, and don’t really change the basics that much.

A little comparison! (Photos from HelloLace.com)

Victorian Maiden Rococo Boquet Dress from 2001

And Victorian Maiden Rococo Something dress from 2011

Probably a bit TOO similar for being a decade apart. Be more creative VM!

I’m sure a lot of girls feel the same way about their latest sweet styled Angelic Pretty print – but I honestly can’t see those dresses standing the test of time. They’re too pastel, too bright, and when those things go out of fashion they’ll have to find something new. I guess that’s exciting too, always being on the cusp of fashion!

An interesting observation is that older Angelic Pretty dresses are more classic in style than current Angelic Pretty dresses. The brand has changed so much! Who’s to say it won’t swing back to Classic, or to something else entirely?

2001 Angelic Pretty dress (back then it was just Pretty)

Isn’t that lovely!? I hope they start making this style again, it’s just gorgeous.

So here’s a few items that I can’t imagine not having in my wardrobe:

ALL my VM stuff – 2 skirts, 2 blouses, 2 one-pieces and two jumperskirts. All 100% gorgeous and never going out of style, all make me feel amazing.


A white short sleeved blouse – looks good under dresses, over skirts and jeans, under jumpers and cardigans.

Skinny jeans (not TOO skinny – need to breathe). Can be worn with boots or heels for a glam look or just casually.

Cardigans – for me, they must be long sleeved, scoop necked, and just above hip length. So you can show off a blouse underneath and wear a skirt without it looking weird. I hate 3/4 length sleeves and I don’t see the point of short sleeved cardigans.

Businesslike knee skirt – this will never go out of fashion. Charles bought mine for me in about 2005 and it’s still wonderful. It’s a grey wool tartan pencil skirt from Oxford!

Warm casual clothes to snuggle in at home – it’s so cold here in Winter, currently it’s only about 4 degrees! My house is not centrally heated so I need a big fluffy coat.

Black tights – go with everything. Wear them under jeans for warmth and under skirts for class.

A nice cropped jacket – I have a great red one that cost me about $10 somewhere years ago. Currently sewing myself a new blue one (fingers crossed!).  The one pictured is from Vivienne Westwood.

 

And SHOES of course!

Apart from those, I think everything else in my wardrobe comes and goes with fashions and tastes. It would be wonderful to have a wardrobe filled only with things I can see myself in forever – but that’s unattainable. You need to have expendable things like t-shirts and converse and hoodies and summer dresses. Life would be boring without all the choice!

What couldn’t you live without in your wardrobe?