It was a dark and stormy night at Polson Park

Outfit details

1940s flower adorned white straw hat: etsy seller JLVintage Faux pearl earrings: Claire's    Prescription eyeglasses: (frames) Venus Eye Design V-12
Pearl necklace: Birthday gift from my husband ♥
1950s novelty print cotton dress: eBay
Olive green gloves: eBay or etsy
Orange bangle and cream/stone bangle: both from the local curling club’s annual flea market
Olive green and taupe bangles: etsy seller RecycleBuyVintage
Vintage Saks Fifth Avenue black patent purse: etsy seller MK Retro
Black seemed nude stockings: eBay
Black pumps: Payless
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red

Photography by Antonio Cangiano  
♥ ♥ ♥

...as if one would expect anything else from this usually soggy summer! But I'm getting ahead of myself here - first let's chat about Polson Park, the location where the vintage outfit snaps in today's post were taken.

Located right at the beginning of the lovely Okanagan town of Vernon (which is a bit north of Kelowna), Polson Park is a sprawling spot made up of numerous hectors of green grass, a community bandstand/stage, a pond, playgrounds, a creak, the local Community Arts Centre, and several other interesting sights and activities, including a very user friendly network of walking paths.

Founded over 100 years ago (in 1908 to be exact) Polson Park is one of, if not to my mind, the most beautiful and inviting community parks in the whole Okanagan. In fact, I'd venture to say it's my second favourite park in the whole province (Stanley Park in Vancouver ranks first), as it's a wonderful oasis of greenery and community life in the middle of a rather arid, desert-like environment. Oh, and it has swans, which I adore to no end.

On the day we visited earlier this summer however (Tony's inaugural visit and my first in well over a decade), the darling swans were no where to be seen (which was a tad ironic as I'd been telling Tony for years about how it was famous for its beautiful swan population). What was everywhere however, was scads of rain and plenty of storm clouds. The temperatures were low. So low in fact, that had the wind been stronger, it would have felt rather akin to the freezing day we encountered back at the start of May.

This visit was an impromptu one, spurred on by the (local) wanderlust that often comes over Tony and I when we get in the car, so we arrived fairly late (around 7pm, I think)  in the evening, and decided to chance our luck with the rain. It stopped just long enough for us to grab some photos in two spots: a charming stone wishing well and a darling little wooden bridge that spans the creek that runs through the park.

It should be noted that I love the 1950s dress I’m wearing here. I mean really, really, really love it. More than just the fun, somewhat quirky tobacco shop themed novelty print, it is the cut that endears me to it something fierce. It's rare that I put on a dress (be it new or vintage, though I do have better luck in this department with vintage frocks) and fits me like a glove.

The shoulder seams fall where they should, the waistline hits me at my waist, the hem length is perfect, the bust doesn't pull or (alternatively) abound with excess fabric, and the whole dress just feels right (if that makes sense). If I had the skills and know-how to do such a thing, I'd be mighty inclined to make a pattern from this dress and sew about seven hundred of them in varying hues and fabrics (in the meantime, I’ll just keep tossing pennies into that well and wishing for tons of vintage dresses that fit this splendidly right off the rack).

After a few minutes on the bridge, the rain started pouncing down again like mad so we hightailed it to the car, drove around Vernon for a little while (being so late at night - by small town business hours, that is), before heading back towards Penticton.

Hopefully we'll get back up that way considerably earlier in the day sometime soon, as I know Vernon has at least a couple of antique stores, as well as some thrift shops, that I'd just love to visit - hopefully on a sunnier, warmer day. Though when it comes to the prospect of old school treasures, I like to think I can stare down anything Mother Nature wants to throw at me and live to tell (blog) the tale!