If you want to get ahead, get a hat

From top left;
Black feather hat- , peacock feather top hat , white victorian hat

Burgundy feather hat , Black and pink hat , white veil hat

Black and pink cloche , Black pink roses hat and burgundy and pink hat

I'm a legal alien

Musings now that I've officially been a UK ex-pat in the US for over a year;

Why are there no pubs/bars within walking distance?

I think "have a nice day" is starting to sound sincere but I'm still undecided.

I actually never learnt to drive in the Uk, so driving on the right hand side just feels "right" now

I never really understood the whole flag thing in the Uk, and I don't get it here either, yes you're American, yes you have a US flag in your "yard" and?, (yes ok I do have a Cornish flag on the back of my car, so I've totally contradicted myself)

I miss Vimto, yorkshire puddings, sunday morning car boot sales in the rain, church fetes, high street shopping, tacky seaside towns, "blackcurrant" flavouring, really, really old buildings, green fields full of sheep, not having to repeat myself twice everytime I order a meal, a variety of small and individual charity shops,BBC2, cornish pasties and years old traditions such as May day.
I could go on, but I think I'll counter it in another post with things I don't miss

Any other fellow ex-pats out there?

Deco Inspiration

All three pink silk images are from one of my favourite Etsy stores;
http://www.louiseblack.etsy.com

Hippie nonsense

For most of my teenage and early twenties I found comfort in the colour black, yes I was indeed a miserable little goth, and whilst now the predominant colour! to be found in my wardrobe is still black, I have learned to experiment with colour over over the years, I still feel a bit lost if I'm not wearing at least one article of black.
That said there are so many more styles that I find appealing, and my wardrobe becomes evermore eclectic.
I have a love of all things vintage, which encompases anything from the Edwardian, Victorian era, through the 1920's right up until the 1980's , a few of the eras/ styles that I keep coming back to adore include ; art deco and art noveau, hippie/bohemian, over the top romantic fou frou, ruffles and antique lace Marie Antoinette style as evidenced in most of my Etsy pieces, victoriana and steampunk to name a few and of which I like to crossover quite a bit,
Just recently with the advent of Autumn Ive been getting excited about bohemian folky styles,
As is usually the case I don't have the pennies to splash out on the big designer pieces I usually try experiementing with thrift store finds , a bit of dyeing, sewing and embellishment.
Inspired by these beautiful photos by Steven Meisel in this months Vogue supplement in addition to some Gucci pieces I tried mixing up a few pieces of my own;
Mostly Thrift store/ebay finds ,
black fur scarf from a French market ,
black embroidery sheer blouse Next Uk,
brown button detail boots-Miz Mooz


,

My stuff

This is in essence what I do;

Etsy Buy Handmade vintageopulence

My first time

Eek this is my frst post and I'm totlly at a loss to know what to say, so I'll start with something I love, shoes, shallow yet satisfying;

After searching for the perfet pair of spectator style pumps for some time, I finally found and own these beauties;
Now to find the perfect leather jacket, soemthing akin to this; without the $1800 price tag!