Lipstick, Lettuce & Lycra

The Changing of the Seasons

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by

Retro Chick
in

Sometimes I have real trouble dressing like a grown up.

At the weekend I went to a party and my comic book print dress and ridiculously high heeled shoe boots were fine. This morning I had a meeting with actual grown ups and not only did I have to deal with the fact that it was suddenly Autumn and I have forgotten how to do Autumn clothes, but also with the fact that novelty prints and jewellery shaped like fruit aren’t necessarily appropriate for business meetings.

In the end I went for some autumnal colours in vintage 70s Polyester. This charity shop find dress had a blog outing before back in 2013, but that was in blazing sunshine, where as today was a little chillier so I wore it with a cardigan.

You will note from my squinty face that “chilly” doesn’t necessarily equal “no sun”.

vintage dress

I think I almost pass for a mature and responsible grown up?

Although I’m not enjoying suddenly being very cold all the time, I do feel genuinely happy about the onset of Autumn, even if it does cast weird shadows over my face, even at 11am in the morning.

The one thing I do struggle with every single year without fail is wearing the right clothes in September and October. Smug people always say layers are the answer, but I still without fail either end up lugging around a totally unnecessary coat all day, freezing in a thin cardigan or alternately boiling in a thin cardigan an hour later because it’s suddenly sweltering hot. I have finally come to the conclusion that there is no stylish and attractive wardrobe solution to Autumn, you just have to put up with being too cold or too hot, all in the same day.

Autumn Dress

This outfit also has a bit of a “back to school” feel for me. I think it’s something to do with wearing cardigans with a collar, though if my school had a polka dot and orange school uniform I may not have hated it.

Actually I think we all know that’s not true. My school uniform was tartan and bottle green, a combination I would happily wear now without blinking, but anything you are forced to wear as a teenager is obviously disgusting. Though even as a teenager I was capable of noting the improved style possibilities of tartan and green over the horrible grey wool blazer and A-line skirt that was the uniform when I started school. In retrospect I think it was a rather snazzy choice.

Close Up

Autumn Dress WIde

shoes

Currently I am in the final stressful few weeks of organising this years Norwich Cocktail Week, an event for which I have to somehow balance being a grown up organiser of a big event AND drinking lots of Cocktails. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. During Cocktail Week I have no intention of dressing like a grown up at all. In fact I am currently trying to track down as many items of clothing with a cocktail print as possible. If you know of any give me a shout! I’d love to have a whole week of novelty print cocktail themed outfits to wear. Oh how that would make my little fancy dress loving heart happy.

♥ Dress – 70s Vintage ♥ Cardigan & Belt – H&M ♥ Shoes – Office ♥
♥ Brooch – 30s Vintage ♥

 

Comments

37 responses to “The Changing of the Seasons”

  1. Mim McDonald (@crinolinerobot) avatar
    Mim McDonald (@crinolinerobot)

    Limb/Vanity Project/whatever they’re called now have a lovely cocktail print which several of their items come in. I really like it ‘cos it’s a bold atomic, but it’s also very distinctive and a friend of mine has a dress in it so I won’t be buying anything in it!

    I have the opposite problem to you, I dress like an old lady. 😀

    1. Retro Chick avatar
      Retro Chick

      Ooh thanks! I’ll check that out!

  2. mancunianvintage avatar
    mancunianvintage

    Love that dress and those shoes – you definitely look grown-up but not in a stuffy way. Good luck with all the boozy planning – I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the end!

    http://www.mancunianvintage.com

  3. Sharon avatar
    Sharon

    That outfit is perfect for September. I’m having dig out autumn clothes again, which I love, so today I’ll be packing away the summer stuff and doing a stocktake of tights, gloves and scarfs.

    getcutie.co.uk have great pattens but no cocktails ones at the moment. Always worth having a look there anyway as theirs prints are cool.

  4. Amber Rhodes avatar
    Amber Rhodes

    I really like this outfit. The dress is really cute and I love those with a collar. Also the colour of your cardigan is really nice.
    Amber
    http://www.sweetwordsprettypictures.com

  5. Victoria avatar
    Victoria

    Love the look, especially the shoes !!

  6. Pernille H.F. avatar
    Pernille H.F.

    We don’t have school uniforms, and I’ve always kind of liked the idea. Tartan and bottle green sounds fab. I love both! How about a picture of you in your school uniform?