Vintage Swim Caps

The sun has been out for a whole week.  Nearly all the snow has melted and I planted out my veggie patch at the weekend.  I think I can officially say that spring is here :)

As the weather has gotten warmer and my many layers of woolly jumpers have come off I have been surprised at how much of the padding was me and not wool.  It appears that, like a good little seal pup, I fattened up to help keep warm over the winter so now that spring is here some damage control is called for before the summer wardrobe will get an airing (or fit).  So it is off to the swimming pool for me.

In Japan when you go to a swimming pool everyone must wear a swim cap.  Mine is bright red an makes me look like a rooster which generally adds to the love I have for my swimming outfit (please read in a sarcastic tone).  On top of the aesthetic value, or lack there of, my swim cap is pretty useless as the Japanese wear them to keep hair out of the pool not to keep your hair dry so you still emerge from the swimming pool looking like a chlorine soaked rat.

They say all fashions come back around and so I am putting this out there for the fashion powers that be to take note and bring back the amazing swim caps of yesteryear.

What do you guys think?  Dead and buried or due a revival?

Funeral Hats Part 2

I wasn't going to write anything about Margaret Thatcher passing as her bouffant hair meant she was rarely seen in a hat and my Grandfather taught me that if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all (granted its not always a rule I follow) but as I love a little pomp and ceremony I found myself watching the funeral and being caught completely off guard by all the hats.

In my post Where did all the funeral hats go? written after Amy Winehouse's death I wrote about the demise of the funeral hat and how I longed for its comeback and it seems that it has.  The only other large ceremonial funeral I have seen is that of Princess Diana and I don't remember hats?  A quick internet search shows me there were hats on heads:

but the lasting image of that day was of the boys of the family and everything else was forgotten, hats and all.

But this funeral was more akin to that of Winston Churchill's funeral where every female head was hatted.

Like in this photo the ruling hat of the day was the Jackie O style pillbox stuck to the back of the head.  This may be due to Downton Oldskool hats coming back in to fashion but there were a few small perchers on show and a lot of veiling which in my opinion is a must for a funeral hat.

Best hat of the day award goes to Katherine Jenkins

Quickly followed by this guy

The Thatcher family

Carol Thatcher seemed to have trouble keeping her hat on as it was falling forward by the end of the service.

Mark Thatcher and his wife Sarah

Amanda Thatcher in a rather bulbous hat which she somehow manages to pull off.

It is often said that the most important thing about a hat is the woman under it and this is a perfect case of a hat that shouldn't look good but does as she carries it with such poise.

Ffion Hague was in a lovely simple but striking velvety hat.

While Cherie channelled the Dowager Countess

Samantha Cameron has been getting a lot of flak for her Thatcher inspired Mary Poppins look and she is yet to wear a hat I like, this is another meh moment.

Sarah Howard and Norma Major chose more traditional conservative brimmed hats.

and Joan Collins looked chic and stylish as always.

Francis Osbourne entered the Jackie O contest.

While Miriam Clegg went understated statement, very European.

This lady with Lord Gowrie (I assume his wife) went full on veil and I like it!

There were a few questionable choices too like this lady who decided that bright red was a good idea?

And one Lady, of whom I couldn't find a picture, who chose to wear a purple and white flowery dress with a purple hat and thus looked like a left over from the Royal Wedding.  Wrong invite or a purposeful protest or maybe she was off to Danderhall after the service?

#Thatcher funeral 

#funeral hats

That flower in your hair...

The snow has finally started to melt in my garden, which granted now looks less like a garden and more like the boggy moor of Lewis, and today the first flower of the year broke through the waterlogged mush of old leaves and bloomed.

This little spot of purple got me thinking about all the flowers of summer to come which in turn got me to thinking about floral head wreaths.

Maybe not to the extent on Ms Gaga but my weekly trend check of wedding blogs seems to be showing that the alternative bride is moving away from the birdcage veil, which has reigned supreme for the last few years of vintage wedding love, and toward the romantic naturalism of Mucha.

Its funny that when a fashion trend comes back around we always seem to forget how awful we used to think it looked and this is no exception.  The idea of floral head monstrosities at weddings brings back memories of horrid poofy 80s weddings where wreaths had been stolen off doors and plonked on brides heads but the new trend, whether due to better photos, hair or dresses, is dreamy beautiful.

Kate Moss though not wearing one herself used flowers beautifully for her bridal party

You can even get the whole family involved.

The best part is you don't have to be a bride to rock this look as it is perfect for a summer boho festival look.

What do you guys think Queen of the fairies gone horribly wrong or romantic loveliness at its finest?