A dress with a pattern of books. Dress 540. (Update on post 514). From Harkel.




 Angela Lansbury wearing a red dress with black book pattern. Brand Harkel. Photo by Trevor Sharot. 


The Dress
Brand Harkel. Bought from ebay. 
Size uk 20, Eu 48, US 16.

What do I love about this dress?
Firstly, mostly, the book pattern.



I spent hours searching for dresses with book patterns, in various patterns, sizes and colours. This one was affordable, within my budget, as well as the colour red. 

Although it is rather short, I hoped that being a large size it would not be too tight. I also hoped that a large size would be longer. 

What I like About The Dress Design

Buttons
It has five large buttons, two on each cuff and one on the neck, no, more than that, six down the front including the one on the neck. No spares.

I got it on and off using the buttons. Afterwards, I discovered a long zip down the side.

Pockets
It has two large pockets. One each side. Vertical pockets in the seams. Like the zip, so subtle, that an onlooker would not notice them. The pockets are large.


The Footwear
Sandals in red by Free-Step. Upper leather.
A red dress with a pattern of little books in black. I bought it second hand on eBay.

By the time it arrived, I had forgotten where I ordered it, what it cost, and who else made dresses with book patterns. However, I was able to check back to my original post.

In post 514 I described the dress I ordered. 
I had it sent to the UK, then waited for a travelling family member to deliver it to me in Singapore.
Harkel size 20 dress. Similar to Popsy and Collectif.
The UK postage was 4.45 pounds.

Collectif stocks clothes in styles 1940s to 1970s. They have two shops in London, one in Brighton, England, and they ship worldwide.

The Harkel company seems to have disappeared, but you might get vintage items, as I did.

Useful Websites (alphabetically)
Collectif

Ebay
Bay.com

Harkel

Bookshelf pattern fabric, cotton, UK, on ebay, sold by the metre, they say for theatre backdrop or table covering at sales event
From Lush fabrics
You could make yourself a simple oblong tote bag, with or without a zip or a flat with tie ribbons, or a small purse (Americans would say wallet or billfold). Or cut out an oblong to sew onto a white tee-shirt.


From Spoonflower fabrics, on ebay, in November 2002, starting price 12 pounds plus 3 for postage.

You can also buy a bookshelf infinity scarf on Amazon. About 29 pounds. That's expensive. OK if you wear it all the time. Will only go with plain colour outfits.

Infinity scarf, twenty four pounds from Asli design on Amazon.

A bookshelf pattern on the underside of an umbrella. Brand Artsadd. Was out of stock in November 2022. I saved the pictures to dress of the day on Pinterest.

Hlive umbrella with the motto When in doubt go to the library, was out of stock.



Two patterns of bookshelf socks on Amazon

From Amazon LUNLUMO brand stretch fitted miniskirt library bookshelf

I also found bookshelf patterns on a 3 piece set of 2 oven mitts and a coaster.

 

Finally, tee-shirts with messages using your name. One suggestion for me was Angela born to be awesome.
Ideas which spring into my mind are Angela the Author, Author Angela, Angela the awesome author.


 

Vistaprint can print any design onto numerous items. So you could print your book cover, or a family photo, onto a tee shirt, matching hat, matching tote bag, fridge magnets and other items. 

https://www.vistaprint.sg/clothing-bags/all-clothing-bags

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. that would m
Read more

What to wear for a funeral? A black funeral coat from Marks & Spencers Outfit 291

Image
Angela Lansbury, wearing black for the funeral and funeral tea for Stephen Kennard. Photo by Angela Lansbury. This week I went to a funeral. I wore black.  Everybody else wore all black. The invitation said nothing about the dress code.  I know lots of funerals nowadays people were mixed colours. Some specify wearing jolly colours. My friend at the funeral told me, "Always wer black. Unles it specifies otherwise, the rule is, wear black." I had my usual blue anorak with the hood with me. I left it in the car. In the boot of the car, in case anybody broke into the car hoping to find money in the pockets or because they wanted a coat to wear or sell. The safest thing is to leave a completely empty car. At least everything in the boot so the car looks empty. I could have kept the blue anorak in my black tote bag. As soon as we drove into the chapel driveway, I looked at the other guests and their clothes. I saw all black. Off came my blue anorak. Thank goodness I had a black coa
Read more

271 hooded jacket with inside pocket from label Canda C & A

Image
 Inside pocket. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.  271 My vintage hooded jacket with zip off hood. Handy inside pocket. Label Canda, from Dutch company, C & A, which has been in Britain for years. I always found they had small size clothes, and were pracical as well as pretty, and keenly priced. Mine is vintage. Probably from st Luke's in Hatch End in NW London. You can buy from their current range online. Of their current range, in January 2024, i like the reversible gilet in wine and pink. Brand clockhouse. Standup collar. Zip. They call the colour purple. Price 29.99 Euros.Reduced to 19.99 in the sale. Sleeveless. Item number  2203144 The red quilted jacket with hood was 19.99 Euros. Webpage picture. They also have coats with huge pairs of front pockets and hoods. And drawstrings like the one on my jacket which is not as warm nor as brightly coloured as these appear to be. Sale reductions now in January. https://www.c-and-a.com/eu/en/shop Useful Websites https://www.c-and
Read more