Autumn in the Spring

We are only halfway to spring but already I’m craving autumn-colored combinations. I had thought I would save this pretty dress from Rainbow Lady Vintage until the fall, when I could find a good leaf-strewn spot to pose with all of the browns and yellows and oranges of autumn, but today it called to me. As we stay mostly inside through the gloomy spring rains, I wanted something darker than my normal colorful florals. Something with the same weight as the moisture-laden skies and the drooping wet leaves.

Luckily for me, this dress has been waiting in my closet for a few weeks just for a day like this. While I generally think of browns and blacks as wholly autumnal, I think with the greenery and flowers in the overgrown part of my mom’s garden it still reads as a springtime outfit, especially with the lighter browns of my hat and shoes to brighten the darkness of the dress.

Dress, Rainbow Lady Vintage (similar here, here, here) | shoes, Amazon | brooch, vintage (here and here in green) | beret, Amazon | belt, Amazon

Quite unintentionally, I wore my vintage grape vine brooch to pose with real grape vines. The bunches of pearly grapes on this brooch move and sway with every step, and add a little something special to the whole outfit. I haven’t been grabbing brooches lately as Irene tends to grab and pull on them, and has broken or pulled off several of my brooches with her eagerness to see the shiny pretty thing.

But, looking back on photos of women in the 40’s and 50’s you’ll notice they don’t often wear full accessories with an outfit. While I adore being matchy-matchy and having an entire set of coordinating accessories, real-life photos show that most women would wear at best a scarf and pair of earrings, gloves only really in the colder months, and were generally far less accessorized than stylized magazines of the time would have you think. We often forget that magazine photoshoots from the eras are not how people really dressed. Much like today, nobody walks the streets in full on Dior or Balenciaga. I’m fascinated by true-life street style photos from bygone eras. There’s so much charm there, and those looks are far more attainable!

And that’s really what I want my style to be – attainable. Not perfect, not unrealistic, not fantasy. Attainable, real life vintage style that anyone could wear.

What are your style goals?

Dress, Rainbow Lady Vintage (similar here, here, here) | shoes, Amazon | brooch, vintage (here and here in green) | beret, Amazon | belt, Amazon