Modeling the hand knit Darla pillbox hat from White Purls against a sea of gorgeous fall hues

Outfit details

Vintage style grey knit Darla pillbox hat: c/o White Purls
1950s blue, white and black skirt suit: eBay
1950s white rhinestone cluster brooch: Local swap meet
c. 1950s black ruched gloves: Unknown, had for years (probably eBay or Etsy)
Grey faux pearl stretch bracelets: Thrifted (Value Village)
1950s/1960s grey handbag: Running Rabbits Studio
Black seamed nude stockings: eBay
White pumps: Payless
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red


Photography by Tony Cangiano

(True to my word in this recent outfit post: teeth! )

♥ ♥ ♥

Fall's colour palette is a grand and glorious one. As vibrant as a spring or summer garden is, and as deep the soulful shades of winter, no season can truly top autumn's radiant spectrum of hues. We get our fair share of stunning ones around these parts, but iconic red leaves are not actually something one spots in every yard.

I knew the moment that I put together the 1950s ensemble in today's photos that I wanted to hunt down just such crimson leaves however and luckily, by venturing more than an hour north of our town, we able to do just that and, if I may say, the results were absolutely gorgeous!

That beauty was helped in no small part by the this exquisite mid-century style grey handknit pillbox hat that I'm sporting here. Earlier this year I was contacted by Myriam, the lovely entrepreneur behind the millinery brand White Purls (don't you just adore that play-on-words:)), and very kindly offered my choice of their stylish vintage inspired hats.

I'm really trying to up the grey in my wardrobe (it's one of my favourite colours and yet, in many areas of my closet, I own little to none of it at present) and felt that a chapeau in this colour would be a very fitting choice for fall and winter (the time of year when I'm most apt to wear a knit hat to begin with). Thus, I selected the elegant topper you see here and could hardly wait to share it with all of you.

Myriam crafts all of the hats that she sells herself and puts such skillful detail and care into each of these marvelous works of millinery art. She starts by knitting the the material for the hat and then sewing it onto a frame, thereby ensuring that each hat keeps its classic shape. At present Myriam is focusing on pillbox styles, which will surely delight many vintage wearers and old school hat fans of all sorts.

She uses very high quality materials and embellishes many of her hats with, fitting, pearl beads. Like Myriam, I'm a massive pearl fan and love that I got to weave some new grey ones into my wardrobe care of this fantastic hat (which I want to wholeheartedly thank White Purls for). It is a beautifully made, styled and presented hat that arrived to me in a cardboard hat box tied up with pretty ribbon and accompanied by a lovely little note. I adore when sellers put that kind of attention to detail into their packaging and knew before I had even gotten the lid off the box that my socks were going to be thoroughly knocked off.

That they most certainly were! This hat - which stays in place thanks to a skinny elastic strap that is hidden under one's hair - is breathtaking, classic, comfortable, cozy, and deeply stylish. Though definitely vintage inspired, it's not so old school looking that a modern fashionista or bride couldn't easily avail of a hat like this as well. Myriam very kindly let me select cotton yarn (she offers various designs in wool, cotton or silk), which was fantastic, as I'm allergic to wool (it gives me hives when it touches my skin) and this way I can spot her attractive grey pillbox hat without a speck of worry on that front.

I truly love this hat - the style of which is called The Darla - and feel honoured to add such an elegant, professionally made pillbox to my wardrobe.

A hat this magnificent calls for an equally chic outfit and so, with the temps dropping by the day, I figured it was high time I shared this 1950s skirt suit here with all of you. It's spring/summer/early fall weight (made from a fairly thin, unlined fabric) and I rarely sport it in the winter, so now the time to do so. I love this sophisticated vintage suit and have had it for, oh, probably about six years now, I'd say, though somehow it had, up until now, avoided appearing on my blog (this point is all the more amazing when you consider how few suits I own).

Summer weight it may be, colour wise it suits the second half of fall superbly and when partnered with this resplendent earthy ruby hues that autumn very kindly provided as a backdrop, it takes to this season like a duck to water. A handful of vintage accessories capped off the look, which I must say, is one of favourites so far this year.

It's hard to believe that in little more than a month, winter will be here again and the skies, streets, and slushy snow piles alike will all take on a grey tone of their own more often than not. Right now though, we're still enjoying the last enchanting vestiges of this season. A point that makes me a gleeful as wearing this strikingly pretty hand knit grey pillbox hat from White Purls does!