Vintage earth tones, a cute fox brooch, and a fab swing skirt sported on my parent’s driveway

Outfit details

C. 1930s/1940s black felt and cream faux pearl hat: Unknown, had for many years
Black stud earrings: Claire's
1950s (or early 60s) muted green floral print blouse: Used House of Vintage
Cute vintage black plastic fox brooch: Broesj
C. 1980s brown woven belt: Thrifted (Value Village, if memory serves me right)
1940s/1950s style black circle “Paula” skirt: Hell Bunny (purchased via Blame Betty)
Black plastic rose stretch bracelet: Thrifted (Value Village)
Faux pearl stretch bracelet: Real Canadian Superstore
Brown faux leather handbag with white top stitching: eBay
Black seamed nude stockings: eBay
Brown 1940s style round toe pumps: Walmart
Lip colour: MAC Party Line
Nail colour: Sally Hansen Golden-I

Photography by Tony Cangiano  

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Before we delve into the heart of today's post, I must say for the record, that this outfit had gloves - elegant olive green gloves, to be exact - but after a very long day of driving (these snaps were taken right after we got back to Penticton on the day we returned home from our recent trip to the Kootenays), I completely forgot to put them on before the camera made an appearance. C'est la vie!

This outfit is very, very characteristic of the type that I tend to wear when reaching for separates while on a holiday, road trip, or other jaunt away from home - as well, naturally, as while I'm on local turf, too. It's comprised of a fabulous 1940s/1950s style “Paula Skirt” from Hell Bunny that I picked up in early 2015, I believe it was, from Blame Betty, one of Canada's few online vintage/pinup girl/rockabilly clothing sellers.

From the first wearing onward, it became one of my favourite skirts I've ever owned and I absolutely live in it now any time I want a fuller black skirt (as opposed, to more of a pencil or a-line style). It's comfortable, swishy and can be partnered with a crinoline of the correct length, if so desired, but I tend to let it hang au naturel, which generally helps to lend it even more of a forties vibe.

My love of muted vintage colours, which I've touched on in a couple of posts here recently, is only growing stronger with each passing day. Thus, I packed a wardrobe largely comprised of such for our fun long weekend getaway in April and opted to sport this charming dark earth toned blouse for the day that we headed back to Penticton from Nelson.

It's one of three vintage blouses that I bought (along with some other items, including an amazing mid-century vintage red winter coat, that I haven't debuted here yet, but plan to next fall or winter) from Used House of Vintage in Vancouver, while we were in that gorgeous city at the end of last autumn.

Though my collection of such might not win any awards for the biggest size ever, I actually have an incredibly huge love for vintage blouses and have been diligently working to expand the selection in my wardrobe in recent years. Adding three to it in one fell swoop a few months ago definitely helped big time and I'm sure that the other two - one of which is an original c. 1950s Levi Straus paisley print blouse - will appear here on the blog as time goes on, too.

When vintage blouses pair with muted hues, as they do here, well, let's just say it's all I can to to keep my legs from turning to complete and total Jell-O!

I was in a major mood for all things wilderness related, too, while we were bopping around the gorgeous evergreen bedecked Kootenays, so I decided to pair this darling mid-century blouse with a very cute little vintage black fox brooch that I picked up a few months ago from Dutch Etsy seller Broesj.

It's such a fun, sweet piece of costume jewelry and I just love that its combination of black plastic and clear rhinestones will make it a snap to sport the whole year through (much, really, like this 3/4 sleeve vintage blouse itself).

These snaps were taken, as mentioned above, right after we got back to Penticton on one of the sunnier days that we've had this (rainy/windy/often usually nippy) spring. We wanted to share the highlights of our travels with my folks while they were still bracingly fresh in our minds, so we quite literally drove straight to their house after returning to our town.

Over the years, you've seen outfit shoots taken in my parents backyard and on their deck (also on the back of the house), but I don't believe we've done one in their driveway before and in the interest of keeping the background scenery here fresh on a frequent basis, it seemed like a lovely spot to grab some snaps.

And you know, even though I forgot to slip on my olive hued gloves, I still love the the over all look of this outfit - perhaps even, given the sunny weather that day, all the more so - without them.

It's hard to believe that nearly two months have passed since these photos were taken. It's fitting that they were nabbed in mid-spring, as this will be last outfit post of the season before we jump head first into an exciting bevy of summertime outfits starting next week.

I've greatly enjoyed the fun assortment of looks that I was able to share with you guys here this spring and am genuinely excited to launch into another summer's worth of diverse vintage, reproduction, and vintage appropriate looks - including (hopefully!) what I'll be sporting for Canada Day, my birthday, Tony's birthday, the August long weekend, Labour Day, and plenty of other fun events and delightful everyday outfits alike.

Here's to the last lovely week of spring 2016 and everything - fashion related and otherwise - that summer promises to hold in store for each of us, my dear friends!