Flowers, frills, feathers and fans

 

The Queen was dressed simply, in powder blue, for the first day of Royal Ascot. My own curiously cobbled together outfit comprised of faded pastel shades – I customized an old pair of Top Shop shoes with ‘found’ floral embellishment, which I’d purloined from a vintage hat the night before. Thankfullly, I found a pair of 'nude' tights before I left too...

I wore one of the 'mad hatter' creations from my extensive millinery collection, along with a Missoni (thrift shop) dress, a vintage couture jacket and a 1950s beaded bag,which was borrowed from ShopCurious. Amazingly, I didn’t spot anyone wearing anything similar…

Along with the inevitable red, white and blue, hat and dress trends on Tuesday seemed to fall into several categories: Floral hats – ranging from modern, nature inspired to old fashioned bathing cap style.

Frills (and later in the day spills) were spotted on hats and dresses alike.

      
































Feathers were everywhere – occasionally getting in the way.

One lady couldn’t get enough of them and took a spare hat along, just in case her companion didn't turn up for afternoon tea.

Flying saucer hats were also in evidence, like the ones worn by retro girl-band, The Tootsie Rollers (below right). 

And there were Far Eastern style fan-pleated numbers too.












As well as fitted trouser suits. One woman sitting under an escalator reminded me of Diane Keaton. Whilst another seemed to be wearing her pyjamas.

Then there were the fashion mavericks – like Tracy Rose, who never conforms to any style but her own. 

I also noticed a couple of girls with crazy tattoos. And, from afar, saw a fabulous pair of striped-heeled sandals.

    

After a fun day of fashion spotting, I pirouetted back to the car park. Next time I might even watch the races..

Will you?

PS check out men’s racy Ascot fashions in today’s post at The Dabbler.

Gents only

How about some quirky Valentine gifts that are just for men?

Talking of ‘Men Only’, I was just listening to the news and heard that WH Smith is withdrawing its Playboy stationery range from shops in the UK – I'm not at all surprised that the Agent Provocateur meets Clinton Cards mass market offering of an iconic brand was deemed to be unsuitable for schoolgirls. And just look at that seedy old Hugh Hefner – is he still alive or in cryogenic suspension? Okay, so lounging around in pyjamas is rather fashionable these days, but pleeeeze … (don't take that for ‘yes please’ by the way).







Wasn't Penthouse Magazine so much more classy and stylish than Playboy? Just look at these early editions, available at ShopCurious, in all their splendid and unique glory with some amazing original photo shoots from the 1960s, featuring real people, without plastic surgery, and wearing some seriously hip and groovy retro clothing.








If the fashions of the day aren’t enough to capture your attention, just look at the bodies. All perfectly healthy and human and unadjusted by the surgeon’s knife. And they don’t look unhappy about it either.



Now I’m going to be even more controversial here and suggest that one of these magazines might make a rather amusing Valentine's Day gift for your beloved, or even an unusual gift for you, because:



1) It’s not serious – and we all know that men don’t like to get too heavy,
2) It’s perfectly tame and not at all like the hard porn that most 13 year olds are looking at every day on the internet,
3) The beautiful vintage 'girlies' are reassuringly normal looking,








4) This magazine is being ‘recycled’ and is hopefully going to be reused many, many more times,
5) It only costs £20 and is a collectors' item … plus you can nab it afterwards to refer to as a style guide for seasons to come.

Now I think that’s good value. And these stylish gents look happy too.

Are you?