Out of winter…into Spring

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This winter was especially rough for me. I found it hard to find the motivation to get out and do things. Hence, the lack of posts here on my blog. Once the Christmas Markets are over, there really isn’t much happening here. And with it being so cold, wet and dark, I just really wanted to stay indoors and keep warm.

But today…today was absolutely glorious!!! It was sunny and warm and the birds are singing their beautiful songs. The trees are still bare, but you can really feel the pulse of life coming back after a long winter. Spring is finally here!!!

So, we spent the morning at the Homburg Flea Market with our friends and then ran some errands. On the way home we decided to drive a different way and ended up at the top of a small mountain where there is a nature park and a lovely hotel. We’ll have to come back and visit the nature park as they have goats, donkeys, horses and other animals roaming around. There are also beautiful raptors and other birds that you can view in a natural setting.

This dress has such a lovely 1930s silhouette. The elegant style of the 1930s is what I strive for, but my figure doesn’t always lend itself to it. So anytime I can find a dress that has that 1930s feel, and looks this good on me, I get so excited. And of course these shoes from Remix and my vintage 1930s hat are the perfect accompaniment.

Dress ~ eShakti
Hat ~ Vintage from My Vintage Hat Shop on Etsy
Shoes ~ “Boardwalk” from Remix Vintage Shoes
Purse ~ Vintage from a flea market
Umbrella ~ Vintage from a flea market 

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Shop My Closet

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It’s that time of year that I start my Spring Cleaning…and that includes clearing out my closet. If you’ve seen the blog post on my dressing room (here’s the link if you haven’t), then you know that I have A LOT of clothes. I like to go through my closest regularly and re-home the items that either no longer fit, or that I just don’t reach for any longer.

So feel free to visit the Chronically Overdressed facebook page (link below) and peruse the available items for sale.

SHOP MY CLOSET

Buzzing with excitement

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Lately I’ve been making more of an effort to meet new people and foster new friendships. Since we moved to Germany it’s been a bit more difficult for me to make friends…not that it was super easy for me before. But in the last few months I’ve really been trying to make more of an effort to get out and talk to people and to make time for new friends.

I’ve met some amazing ladies lately who are super inspiring and I am excited to spend more time with them. I miss my “vintage” friends back in the states, but I’m slowly cultivating my own group of fabulous people here and hope to get them all together someday very soon for a Vintage Outing.

Yesterday I drove up to Frankfurt to meet Maria (@mariabordoysboudoir on Instagram). We’ve been “friends” on Instagram for quite some time now, but we’d never met in person. She is just as lovely in person as she is on her Instagram feed. We spent several hours talking and eating delicious food (and treats). I was super nervous, as I usually am when meeting fabulous vintage people. But her warm presence put me at ease immediately. I can’t wait to hang out with her again very soon.

Being able to dress up and spend time with amazing, inspiring and fabulous people really feeds my soul.

Dress ~ Miss Candyfloss
Coat ~ Hell Bunny
Hat ~ Vintage from Briony Lodge Vintage on Etsy 
Brooch ~ Vintage from The Jewellry Cloud
Gloves ~ Vintage from Prima Mona on Etsy
Shoes ~ Ida shoes from Rocket Originals

Maria and I at Bitter & Zart Chocolaterie

New Fall Colors

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I always think of fall colors as being reds, orange, greens and browns, you know the color of falling leaves. But I forget that navy really should be included in the fall lineup. This dress from the new Femme Fatale Collection from Miss Candyfloss, is a perfect fall frock. I love plaid and you really don’t see this color pallet with plaids, so when it came out, I knew I had to have it, plus it’s the first dress from Miss Candyfloss that I’ve had with POCKETS!!!!

Coat ~ Coleen coat from Hell Bunny
Dress ~ Miss Candyfloss
Hat ~ Vintage
Brooch ~ Vintage
Gloves ~ Vintage
Shoes ~ Vintage

Pumpkin orange shirtdress…re-imagined

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I regularly go through my closet and pull out pieces that I don’t wear very often..for one reason or another, and see if I can re-imagine them before I decide to re-home the item. I will either pair the garment with a new color, or try to design it in a whole new way.

I bought this orange dress several years ago from eShakti and I wore it a few times. It seemed the perfect dress for fall with this beautiful pumpkin orange color, however I realized that it was just a touch too short for my comfort level. Especially since it is a cooler weather color. So I just haven’t reached for it in quite some time.

So today, for inspiration, I turned to one of my favorite bloggers, The Closet Historian. She recently had a post featuring a beautiful dress (that I believe that she made) with lovely details on the sleeve and a bow in front, and she actually wore a skirt over the dress to style it into a totally different outfit. It was BRILLIANT! What an inventive way to re-style a garment.

I love the shirt front and collar of my pumpkin dress, and paired with my latest Emmy Design Ice Skater Sweater in Deep Forest, I decided to look in my closet for a skirt to pair with it. This orange/beige/white plaid skirt seemed a perfect fit.

What do you think? What are some ways that you re-style your clothes?

Dress (Worn as a top) ~ eShakti
Cardigan ~ Emmy Design
Skirt ~ eShakti
Brooch ~ Vintage 
Shoes ~ Claire 1940’s Oxfords by Royal Vintage Shoes 

 

Time Travel in France ~ Part 2

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For the second installation of my time traveling post, we venture slightly forward in time. Many of the villages or chateaus were founded or built in the Middle Ages, but went through a reconstruction and revival in the 17th and 18th centuries, so the medieval architecture is all gone.

Château les Milandes, was built in 1489 and had many notable owners throughout it’s history, but probably the most famous  (at least to me) was Josephine Baker. She lived in this chateau from 1940 to 1968. It was left in ruin for many years, but fortunately the current owners have spent much time and money restoring it and creating a lovely museum dedicated to Josephine and her career as an entertainer. They even bring to light the little known fact that Josephine worked as a spy for the French government during WWII. Unfortunately, photos inside the chateau were not allowed.

The Château de Hautefort dates from the middle ages, but was completely transformed in the 17th century, as it was gradually stripped of its defensive functions to become a “modern-style” château. Unfortunately It suffered a devastating fire in 1968, but was beautifully reconstructed and restored to is 17th century splendor. The castle is where the movie “Ever After” was filmed and it and the gardens are absolutely gorgeous.

Very near the Château les Milandes is a fascinating little “museum” called La ru du temps qui passe (The street of times past). We were warmly greeting by the owner (Michel Boom) and his daughter (Christelle) and I think they loved our outfits as much as we loved their little museum of the past.

Michel has created a little indoor village of sorts with streets and storefronts of merchants of the past. He has fashioned little vignettes of life in the past with so much detail and care. According to the website the time frame ranges from 1860 – 1940. We didn’t get a lot of photos as we were so enthralled with strolling the streets, but do check out their website, there are lots of photos and a little video.

They were kind enough to allow us to go “behind the scenes” to take more photos. So Here are Laurence and I “shopping” for groceries. 

Time Traveling in France ~ Part 1

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I was going to make this one really long post, but instead I’ll break it up into two moderately long posts, there are just too many great photos.

We traveled to the Dordogne region in southwest France this past week, a trip we’ve been wanting to take for a very long time. We were fortunate enough to stay with our friends, in the charming village of Montignac at his parent’s house. They also acted as our guide through this beautiful part of the country.

We visited many chateaus and villages with features from many different time periods. I truly felt that we were traveling back and forth in time. We visited the prehistoric caves of Lascaux, where we saw (a recreation) of the stunning cave drawings that were recovered in 1940.

We explored the medieval villages of Sarlat, Collonges-des-Rouge, and Rocamadour – built into the side of the mountain. We ventured up to the village of Domme, 250 meters above sea level, overlooking the stunning Dordogne valley, where the Knights Templar were imprisoned during their trial against them. We also visited La Roque-Gageac, a village built along the Dordogne river and situated up against the mountain side. There is a beautiful tropical walkway up the hill and along the mountainside to get into the village.

In Sarlat we attended a vintage car show with cars ranging from the very early 20th century to the 1970s. All of this of course wearing my own vintage style clothing with our two vintage friends, Laurence & Sylvain who write the amazing blog “Lost in the 50s”.