Dress Of The Day with Angela

 I joined a new (to me) group on Facebook, called upcycling clothes. I asked this question (shown in Italics) edited and improved and amplified here): My problem is storage. I save so much. I never throw away. So, how should I store all my clothes? Is it better to fold, or hang them with two items on a hanger? I sometimes hang three items which match in colour, fabric and style, together. short sleeved top or blouse, jacket, skirt. But then the thinest space-saving metal hangers sag and the cheap plastic ones break. Do I put scarves with matching outfits. Or all scarves together in a drawer? Shoes are taking up less space under the bed. But then they get lost under the bed. I can't find them when going out. I find them weeks later. How about slippers, shoes and short boots hidden and warmed and dried under a radiator? But will that dry them out? Make them crack? Should I put suitcases in the attic? That involves a stepladder, my husband moving things overhead, and he has hea...

 HOA stands for Homeowners Association. In the UK we call them Resident's Association. Clothes Drying Rules Some blocks of flats have rules about not displaying washing.  Where Putting Out Washing Is Allowed In Singapore most people live in tower blocks built and managed by the HDB, Housing Development Board. The HDBs are a gret Singapore success story. That's a long story in itself.But regarding washing, it is quite common to have long poles which can be extended or left out premanently to let washing dry in the sun, or shade. This works well, much of the year, except of course in rainy season.In the variable weather days, it often rains in the afternoon. Many hoes have a live-in maid who is on hand to rush to bring in rain when it starts, or to check the sky and clouds. But What About Bans? When we rented an apartment ina private condo it ws forbidden to hang washing over the balconies around the pool. You could hang on overhead airers in the utility room (in olden days it w...

Selfie by Angela Lansbury. Angela in the pink, lunching at Kafe Ador.  Photo by Trevor Sharot.  Only when I looked at the photo did I realise that the garment has epaaulettes. The Enamel Buttons Eleven enamel buttons, pink and gold colour, decorate down the front placket, plus two more buttons, one on each of the epaulettes. No buttons on the cuffs. The buttons are not all the same.  Some have four pink enamel sections, Looking carefully, I discovered that the buttons are not all the same. For ease of identification, I am numbering the buttons downwards, with button one at the neck and button seven at the hem. Buttons one, three, five and six are the same. You will notice that some of the other buttons have three pinks sections, one section is left silvery. Buttons 2, 7 match the button on the epaulette on the left of the picture.  Another, button 4,  has only one pink part. Is that deliberate, for variety, as is the recent fashion, or did the buttons just vary ...

Angela Lansbury wearing a dark pink Patra vest.  Photo taken and edited by Angela Lansbury. I bought the vest with lade neck and cuffs from ebay. It is bamboo and cotton. In the early days of the company I bought silk items in this style. I like long sleeves, or at least three quarter length, below the elbow. Now the vests are made of bamboo which is surprisngly soft. And environmentally friendly. Bamboo grows very fast. I have the orange rose from a front garden in London in December as a contrast to the pink. The picture is edited with the lassoo function on a Samsung mobile phone. I eliminated sitracting background, more focus on the foreground flower and vest.    

  Jolly, smiling reindeer with red nose and a jumper.

Angela Lansbury wearing an Ahtony Sicari top with matching scarf, and a skirt and blouse. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Edited by Angela Lansbury. Copyright Angela Lansbury. Dark Pink Knitted Top The garment label is Anthony Sicari, my favourite. Why? 1 His outfits come with batwing sleeves so they are never too tight but always fit.  2 The second feature I like is the vibrant colours. 3 I like the co-ordinated look. Many of the outfits come as they must have started out, as three pieces, a skirt, top and matching scarf. Three pieces, more for your money. No time wasted looking for a matching scarf. This top comes with scarf pinned on. I found underneath the scarf, hidden, were two tiny gold colour safety pins. .  The knitted fabric is dark pink.  The long, tight forearm cuffs are ruched. The cuff fabric is bright pink. Pinky-red, purple, green and blue. The Red Skirt The red skirt label is EWM Pure classics size 14. 49% linen, 45 viscose, 6% cotton.    Angela wearing...

  Angela Lansbury wearing a white and black skirt suit. Photo by Trevor Sharot, edited by Angela Lansbury. This suit consists of four items. 1 Jacket. 2 Skirt. 3 Blouse. 4 Scarf. The White Jacket, with Black Edged Collar 1 The horizontal label under the back of the collar says Saks Fifth Aveue. A second vertical label on the inner right hand side says David Hayes.   The white jacket has a black pinstripe. The collar has a black edging strip. The dame black fabric is used to edge the buttonhole. The Sleeves Instead of cuffs, both sleeves have two parallel lines of black fabric.  The shoulders are padded. Does that date the jacket? The Pockets The two semi-circular pockets are curved and edged in black. In the centre of the semi-circle ia an arch, as if the whole pocket is cut from an oval serving dish. It has one large button. The jacket is size ten and too small to do up. That does not matter as the blouse is co-ordinated. The Short White Skirt 2 The white skirt has a bla...

A patterned fabric on a dress or blouse might clash with a patterned skirt or jacket or hat. Surely a plain colour is best. Not always. Not if you wear clothes more than once and worry about stains. Even if you wear an item only once for special occasions, you don't want to walk around showing stains. I had a lovely three-block, three-shade, satin dress in royal blue, dark turquoise and pale turquoise. I bought an offcut of royal blue satin. It was not large enough for a dress for a wedding. I went back (to Spotlight in Singapore) and my colour was discontued. So I bought two small pieces of fabric in other colours. I had the dress made by a dressmaker in Singapore. Fabulous. The dress fitted me and looked lovely, vibrant colours, and smart.  Plain Stain! From Water That was all good, I looked good at my event - until I washed my hands. I was in the ladies cloakroom. (Americans say restroom). The water splashes showed up as dark patches, like untidy stains. Horrible. Plain shows st...

  I had been hunting for 'dress and jacket', and 'two piece'. This popped up.  Handy for summer, although I would have liked a longer sleeve. However, the price was tempting, only seven pounds plus 2.90 second class royal mail, not tracked. I paid on Dec 5 late afternoon and it arrived on the afternoon of Dec 10th.  Size and Fit It is large size, so the shoulders and upper arms are big enough. However, it was a bit tight  and therefore reevaling over my tummy - which was showing the effect of too many pre-Christmas parties. I thought a scarf added might help hide bulges. I tried tying that around the waist.  However, it seemed a distraction. I later removed the scarf for a family fashion show.  Verdict My husband did not comment on the cut or fit. He said he liked the colour. Success! Photo Editing Tips As in previous photos, I have cut out the kitchen clutter by editing on my Samsung mobile phone, using the lassoo to separate myself from the background. It...

  I bought this from Ebay. It's second hand, one off. I was searching for red and night dress and up popped this seasonal red garment with a hood. The hood was a plus, So was the slit for the hands.  On the other hand it was too small. As you can see from the creases, It's tight below the waist. I thought, maybe I can cut off the top. I was worried that it would be in poor condition but it was acceptable. Picture Editing On Phones Why am I in silhouette? And how did I do it? I used to do this a long time ago but have nt done it recently. I needed it because the background was unsuitable. Too many items which were unsuitable. Part of a door, a curtain. I tried removing the background by cropping but it still looked ridiculous.  irrelevant, distracting. However, I recently tried clicking on some options in my editing function on my phone and re-discovered something Samsung calls lassoo. You encircle the item you want to keep.  I used to find this very fiddly. If you we...

  I chose this night dress when looking for one which had long sleeves and was in red. After several hours of searching over several days, I found pretty, well-cut, lace edged Victorian style night dresses. Suppliers such as Damart. However, the cost was around the 30-50 pound price. I kept looking. I found this reasonably priced item with the bonus of little stars made into a white pattern, from Shein.  I liked the red. I serached for red. I liked heart patterns. I found this one had long sleeves, a long skirt, read, and heart patterns.  Within the budget.

  Angela Lansbury wearing short-sleeved but long nightdress from Shein. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Copyright. I chose this night dress from Shein because it was long and had red hearts. 

  Selfie in red Shein dress and red santa hat, felt with white edge, at HOD Toastmasters International speakers' meeting. Red outfit from Shein, slit sleeves. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Red Dress Pillar box red. Perfect colour for Christmas. Shein. Size XL. EU 44. US12.  Made in China.  Washing Instructions Machine wash cold. Gentle cycle. Do not bleach.  Composition 92% Polyester. 8% elastane. The fabric is thick and stiff, not very comfortable.  Green Knitted Top The label is Bellino. The size is 14. Very soft, comfortable, stretchy. The removable white cuffs each have six transparent buttons (inside the green sleeve to attach the cuffs. The cuffs each do up with a small silver colour metal hook and eye. Each white cuff is decorated with two small black Chinese knots on the outside of where the hook and eye are half way up the cuff. Please share links to your favourite posts.

  Angela in an Anthony Sicari outfit with blue top. Photo by Trevor Sharot. This Anthony Sicari outfit has three matching pieces, the skirt, top and scarf.  Many of them have pleated skirts, and batwing sleeves, so they fit large hips and large busts and large upper arms, but still look elegant and classy You can find Anthony Sicari outfits on ebay and etsy, vintage, second hand.

  Anthony Sicari Portrait for buyers with some of his creations.

  Photo by Angela Lansbury. Photo by Trevor Sharot. The Colours I thought of this as summer white. We used to wear white clothes and accessories for the summer season, and black clothes and accessories in winter. However, with the ubiquity of winter sports and winter outfits, winter white is also wearable. Anthony Sicari Outfits What do I like about Anthony Sicari Outfits? 1 If you can get a three piece outfit, scarf included, they look very co-ordinated. 2 Vibrant colours. These suit my complexion. (If you are suited to dull colours, I have a lot of clothes in grey or dusty pink to sell to you.) 3 The clothes don't crease, always look smart. No ironing needed. 4 The upper sleeves on most of the tops and jackets are wide enough for a size 1 person to fit comfortably, whatever size garment you order. I have had outfits of all sizes and they all look good. The Shopping Source Ebay. You will find lots more, mostly in the USA. For people like me in England, you need to watch constantly...