Laura Ashley's Lovely, Light, White Silk Blouse, black and white Outfit 447

 


Laura Ashley's Lovely White Silk blouse, worn by Angela on an evening out. Photo by Sharot family.

I wore my Laura Ashley blouse on an evening out to El Vaquero restaurant. I dressed up with no expectation of going anywhere. then I got an unexpected dinner invitation.

During dinner I kept my clothes covered to protect them from splashes. My multi-pocket sleeveless under jacket adds a touch of colour.

Later I wanted to show off my outfit without the concealing jacket and my ubiquitous cape blazer.

Laura Ashley outfit. Black and white outfit 447 worn by Angela Lansbury. Photo by Sharot family.

Vintage Blouse

White. 100% silk. Two Black ribbons vertically across the shoulder. Five black buttons, small round buttons on shanks, covered with fabric. 

Buttons

I imagine you might be thinking, well, all buttons are round. No, they are not. I just bought buttons shaped like elephants. The Chinese make toggles, like the ones we have on duffel coats. The Chinese also make knot buttons from ribbon.

Vintage Skirt

A Laura Ashley white petticoat with a crochet hem.

The washing instructions are, dry clean only. You must be joking. I can't afford that. Nor will I risk my garment being damaged, lost or forgotten.

What they mean is -

Very delicate - liable to tear - wash with care!

The black ribbons and fabric buttons are dark colours and might let dyes colour the white blouse. So I shall wash the blouse in cold water.

It is very comfortable to wear in hot weather. Very light. So pretty.

For years I didn't wear it because it was so fragile. So I shall just wear it sitting at a desk in the house. (Then I was unexpectedly invited out to dinner) . I thought, what's the point of leaving to be worn by the hanger? The poor little blouse deserves its day out. )

I deserve to wear it. If anything happens to me, I shall think, my profound last thought,  I should have worn that blouse.

After I got home from dinner, I read that Ivana Trump - who had enough money for household help and health care - died at home after a fall. (Maybe she fell because she swooned because she was not feeling well). She was younger than I am. I am glad I rotated my clothes and gave this one an outing. 

It was not until I came to write this blog that I realized I had matched up two Laura Ashley items. 

The blouse had two loops. I added a soft fabric belt.

Colours

The belt is partially black. Matching the black ribbons on the blouse. One side of the belt is red. The red adds a touch of jollity to the outfit. I think the belt must be from a reversible back and red kimono.

Modesty Panel

The v neck of the blouse was too low. It seemed to gap too much. I added a white modesty panel. The modesty panel has a straight top, On both sides are clips, with a circular rubber slider, like the sort you used to have, suspenders, on suspender belts for stockings.

Also see-though. That problem was solved by wearing a black cape blazer.

White Necklace

The white necklace has three strings. That fills in the neck gap, and frames my face 

The necklace is only costume jewellery. But good stuff, well made. Now I have started looking at what you need to buy to make and repair jewellery, I am aware of fastenings and types of beads. Between each big white bead is a small gold or gilt ead called a spacer bead.

Sandals

Red. touch and close. Free-step. Size 4.

You can read about Laura Ashley in Wikipedia.

Laura Ashley. National Portrait Gallery, London, England.


Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ashley

https://www4.next.co.uk/laura-ashley

Ebay has more than 3,000 results for Laura Ashley blouse.

Modesty Panels from eternalforce5 on ebay

Numerous styles and suppliers. Here is one supplier offering free postage and charging only two pounds fifteen. Items from China are often posted free. You might not have the day's exchange rate in your mind'

 but they are rarely more than twice the British pounds (except for currencies such as the Indian rupeee). So the UK price tells you the US and Australian and Singaporean dollars will be under ten dollars.

I used to see modesty panels sold in sets of three. When I ordered a set, they were a cheap looking, flimsy polyester. However, when I tried them on they seem to work. 

I found one clip came undone. Probably not a faulty item, but because I had connected it up loosely in a hurry. 

But the general result was a success. If I had the time and energy I would convert some old suspenders from corsets or stocking suspender sets into little modesty panels with those bits of lace too small for anything else, and curtains and antimacassars and table cloths which are too strained and need cutting up or simply are no longer needed for their original use and need a new life. 

I wear camisoles to reduce the amount of washing needed for a garment worn on top, as a barrier. I don't mind another set  of spaghetti straps potentially making shoulders untidy because I choose camisoles in pretty colours or with pretty straps. 

But you can clip the two straps on each shoulder together using a fancy clip or suspender. From a visual point of view, for the benefit of the businesslike or elegant appearance of an outfit, a camisole does the same job as the modesty panel in concealing cleavage. 

Useful Websites

Modesty panels

ebay.com

Laura Ashley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ashley

Lauraashley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ashley_plc

www.lauraashley.com

https://www4.next.co.uk/laura-ashley

my write up of the restaurant is on travelwithangela lansbury.blogspot.com

Please share links to your favourite posts


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to repair a torn Mark & Spencer slip and make the hem wider, Post 294

Image
What is this? My repair.  I have a lovely shiny, smart black slip, from Marks & Spencers. It has a slit with pretty lace edging.  But it is slightly tight. It tore from the top of the slit, diagonally.  I looked for another slip. The ones I found onlin were twice the price and not in a satiny fabric. I wore it torn. I repaired it several times. It tore again.  I gave up. I wore it torn. Nobody sees. My husband saw. He complained. What could I do? It is useless to keep stitching it. It just tears again. I needed a new solution. I thought of adding a godet, a triangle of black fabric. I did not have anything to match. tht doesn't matter a godet is often a contrasting material. But that's when you have several godets and they look deliberate. I hunted in my sewing box. Boxes. All I had was teeny scraps of cloth in unsuitable fabrics. And ribbons. I thought about what I could do with the ribbons. They were not wide enough. But I could sew one each side of the slit. t...
Read more

Blue H & M Dress, dress of the day 393

Image
  Angela Lansbury wearing a blue background dress from H &M. Photo by Trevor Sharot. The Blue H & M Dress Blue background dress has a white pattern. Blues are hard to match. But I had a white blouse, so I wore this. On the internet and on Facebook you can see lots of videos of how to tie a scarf, but mine is simply hanging, which partly obscures the cleavage.  Cleavage cover I had a choice. To insert a dickey or false front, also called a removable or detachable collar. I have one or two which are plain white.  The alternative which saves hunting for a matching dickey without distracting collar colours and embrodiery, is simply to add a fastening. I decided that a snap or press stud fastener in small size is qhich to fasten and unlikely to pull apart (as opposed to hook and eye. I like velcro but it can scratch your skin, so the press stud was the right andwer. You have to get the two sides exactly measured up from the point of the V neck otherwide you end up with...
Read more

Period Pants from Marks & Spencer & More, post 345

Image
Period pants from Savida. Pants, UK. In the USA they would be called underpants. They come in two colours, black or dark blue with a mottled effect. They are triple layer. Could be useful for hiking and travelling. Or when you have a cough.  A pack of three full briefs for fifteen pounds. I then googled period pants and found lots of results.  Marks Marks & Spencer do a pack of three containing three different colours, black, white and pink, for sixteen pounds.  They also do different absorbencies. The options range though light, heavy, and extra heavy. And more styles, such as pantaloon style, like short tight shorts coming half way down your thighs. You can also buy leakproof swimwear with the brand name WUKA. Wikipedia has useful worldwide reviews of practices. Wiki picture. Useful search words (alphabetically):  A-D absorbent, absorbency adult diapers briefs,  cloth menstrual pads diapers E-K full briefs,  heavy absorbency,  heavy flow,  i...
Read more