Dress Of The Day with Angela

   

  Indigo Moon brown jacket paired with Indigo Moon green skirt.  Skirt. Photo taken and cropped by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. I bought these two items from the same label separately and paired them up. I found many Indigo Moon jackets and tops on ebay. Many from the UK, several from the USA.  Bold Bids For Several Skirts I had two Indigo Moon jackets and I wanted skirts to match. I saw three skirts, two red, one green. I hoped to win one of them. As the bidding for all ended the same day, I had no chance of waiting for the bidding on one to end before bidding on a second if I failed to secure the first. The green skirt arrived with two red skirts, same label. I had bid on all three which had low prices. I was pleasantly surprised, pleased to win all three. The price of all three together wasn't so bad. However, add in the postage on three items, the sum was no longer small. Pleasing Postage Refund I did not realise until all three arrived in the same packet that they wer...

  Blue dress with matching jacket. Selfie photo taken and cropped by Angela Lansbury. copyright. I had been looking a long time for a long dress and a matching long jacket - at a reasonable price. At last one came up.  When it arrived I was initially taken aback, that the jacket was so flimsy. The fabric is very thin, lightweight, almost transparent.  Only three quarter length sleeves. Not much protection against evening sea breezes, nor air conditioning, nor mosquitos. Three quarter length sleeves are ideal for young people indoors in the evening after dusk and at night. You can show off bracelets. Shorter sleeves are cooler and in tropical climates. So long as you are indoors away from insects, or sprayed with insect repellent. You might think a shorter sleeve allows more attention for multiple bracelets, Indian style, and rings and painted nails or fake fingernails. You might think that a longer sleeve draws more attention to the hands. Do you wish to co-ordinate and b...

Label Indigo Moon.  The Cut The jacket has two slits or vents at the bottom of the two side seams under the arms at waist level and below. No pockets. No darts. Sleeves Wide sleeves. Lined. The whole jacket is lined in black. Collar Simple shirt style collar. Buttons Six middle-size buttons with eight sets of alternating single and parallel cuts. A bit like a clockface. A sevenths buttons is sewn inside on a waaist level tab. But no washing instructions. Sequins and Beads The sequins are not too scratch, although one of two have curled up. What does upset my fingertips, which have no pockets to hide in, are the teeny beads.They are tubular with indentations like fine fork marks. But what makes them so uncomfortable is the two 'circular' edges, as if they have been chopped off a long glass tube, leaving sharp bits of glass. I looked to see whether I could remove them. Would it ruin the appearance of the jacket? No, I don't think so. The large contrast colour satin flowers wo...

  Two piece Indigo Moon outfit. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Indigo Moon outfit showing design on the leg. Selfie phone taken and cropped by Angela Lansbury. My current favourite label is Indigo Moon. I bought several items, after bidding on the ones which were cheap, but small and winning at undr five pounds (plus postage). There were tops, and jackets. The Price High But Not Horrendous Then I saw this outfit, which was expensive but big. 3XL.  The Selling Point I had to have it. It was the only set containing two matching pieces. Also, a nice bright colour.  It was dearer, not a fantastic price which would have meant spending a lot of money, on something which might not even be right. After I had ordered it, I realised that the outfit was a top and trousers, not a top and a skirt. The Colour The colour looks a bit like teal, not my favourite in electric light at night, but pleasantly blue, nearer royal blue, in daylight. The Fabric The fabric feels soft. Yet, I had dificul...

 If you are looking for embellishments for an outfit, consider sewing on large buttons with your favourite motif. Elphant buttons are sewn onto Thai clothing. They are on foldover / wrap blouses which fasten underneath with hidden snaps (which in England we call press studs). Here are elephant buttons which I ordered in a large size. You can get elephant buttons in all sizes and designs, as well as owls and other motifs. I ordered these three elephant buttons online. They are bigger than I expected and beautiful.  I have already ordered a blue Thai top with the classic three elephant buttons.  I already have a top in red which I bought years ago in Singapore in a clothes shop in Holland Village. I can't find my red top. Maybe it's in storage.  I can see it in a photo of 231 in this blog.  The three buttons are below the bust across the tummy to the waist area. The red skirt completes the look, but does not have buttons. The fabric is stiff and creases a bit. Yet...

  A zip / zipper sewn into a wrap-around coat. Photo by Angela Lansbury.   What Is A Zip In England we say zip. Americans say zipper. This is a rare occasion when it is the Americans who use the long word, and the British use the shorter word. Mostly it is the other way round. Who Needs A Zip? I sewed a zip in a coat. I had been meaning to do this for years. What stopped me?  My old, warm, hooded coat was brown, a colour which no longer suits me. I kept meaning to throw it out or give it away.  But it was useful to wear in the garden where it protected me from brambles and thorns on roses, from biting gnats.  It kept me warm. It and stopped me getting too wet when I went out to the garage. That is what it did most of the time. However. it did not protect me enough all the time. On one occasion I got snagged by thorns, my legs scratched and a nice skirt was torn. The next time, I got bitten by insects. I was not happy.  I was still not prepared to jettison t...

  TRU blouse The label says 'TRU blouse'. Size 42. Tru short for truth? Or the founders' initials? TRU dates back several decades. Their blouses were  costly, in a boutique clothes shop which is no longer in Hatch End. My late mother would take me shopping and indulge me, encouraging me to buy quality items with a good cut and delicate lace rather than cheap, simple braid. Not to be confused with TU (meaning you in French) which is a label from the UK supermarket, Sainsbury's. If you want moderately priced, modern clothes, go for Tu. The blouse is vintage. You cannot find TRU any more. What are the features you could look for in a similar blouse, or copy if you had a comercial dressmaker, or obliging sister or mother or daughter or friend, or craft and sewing group, or were handy at making clothes? COLLAR 1 Circular collar. 2 Lace edging to collar. 3 Long pointed collar raised two inches making an arch from the neck level and sewn down flat at mid point.  BUTTONS 4 Gold...

Angela Lansbury wearing a black skirt with Thai elephant decoation, and a Priciples blouse. Photo from Angela Lansbury.  Copyright. Black, I thought, back to black. Then I remembered that is the title of an Amy Winehouse song. She went back to black because she was depressed about the end of a relationship inspired by her real life on-off relationship. But I am happy and excited by my conveniently long, warm skirt and cute elephant decoration. Let's move back to the black clothes which I chose. Elephant button decoration on Thai skirt. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. The Skirt0  The long black Thai skirt has a metal elephant decoration sewn on above the front slit. The fabric is thick, so the long skirt is warm on a cold, wintery day.  I love the elephants. They turn an everyday item, in thick cloth, into something unique and special, different, elegant. I hunted everywhere for these metal elephants which I have on tops, as well. No luck. Somewhere I have a red top w...

 I love my Indigo Moon jacket with the elaborate embroidery, curls and swirls, contrasting colours of embroidery against the background. I was not keen on brown, at first. Over the past week I have grown accustomed to it.  I have matched up thin brown silk blouses. They are delicate, too delicate for everyday wear when a thick cotton tee-shirt would be more practical. They would tear easily, or the seams could pull apart, or the fabric alongside the seams. But, back to Indigo Moon. Let's have a look online. Vast Choice Indigo Moon went out of production years ago. The good news is that I found loads of items from Indigo Moon. First, on Ebay. Then Etsy. Also elsewhere. They are gorgeous. Some of them are like my brown jacket in style. Not only the embrodi\ery. All slightly offset patterns, never absoutely symmetrical.  Only the overall shape is symmetrical. The jackets have mid size buttons down the front. Others are in the style of solid pull over tops. (I am separating t...

What The bride Wears Is Different  At a wedding the VIP is the bride. Whether you are the family of the bride and groom, or a guest, you do not outshine the bride. She is the VIP.  She is identifiable. The ceremony involves her. The purpose is for everybody to know that the couple are a couple. (Hence the reading of the banns, like banners, broadcasting the information for three weeks in advance in a church, so that anybody knowing of a previous marrage or engagement can object and reveal this to prevent bigamy.  The master of ceremonies, and the venue managment, need to be able to find the bride and groom to get them standing in the right place to walk into the room to a fanfare, or to stand at the head of the line to receive the incoming guests.  Why Announce A Forthcoming Wedding? The famous case of a marriage being announced, and prevented, occurs in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Shock. Drama. Unusual event. But bigamy still occurs nowadays. I read about a case y...

  Jacques Vert Blouse with buttons in between the embroidery. Photo by Angela Lansbury. The Jacques Vert Blouse converts a summer dress into a winter evening outfit. Photo by Angela Lansbury. I thought this was my favourite Jacques Vert blouse. Then I did a search for Jacques Vert blouses on this blog. I discovered a red and white one which is totally different, a simple pull on style. But this blue embroidered white one, plus size, shirt style, has more features to delight and interest anybody and everybody. Amazing buttons, as well as interesting embroidery. I'll start with the fabric and come to the unusual buttons later. The Fine Fabric - Polyester? I remember the days when polyester first came out in the late ninetten fifties or sixties. When shopping my mother would look at labels and go for traditional cotton. Cotton was breathable. Polyester was cheap, sticky, hot, looked shiny and synthetic. The worst was polyester bedding. Sheets in cheap hotels which looked clean but fel...

  Angela Lansbury in blue outfit, TU dress. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Beautiful blue outfit with blue embroidered jacket. Photo edited by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. Blue Thai Silk Jacket The jacket is thick silk in a lovely almost vibrant royal blue. The label says Thai Silk 100%, and Made in Thailand. The washing instructions are hand wash at 30 degrees, cool iron, no tumbling. Beautiful Blue Buttons Ten buttons, yes, ten middle-sized buttons, covered in the same colour blue fabric, are down the jacket front from the neck. The buttons are fastened by semi circular stiff fabric loops. Buttons in the same fabric as the jacket look expensive. The matching buttons create a unified, elegant look. But also sleek, svelte, subtle. DIY Covered Buttons You can buy templates for fabric covered buttons for making buttons to match your own hand-made clothes. The button bases have clip on lids with four or more gripping teeth. You cut a small piece of circular fabric, large enough to cover the t...

A popular saying is that one man's meat is another another's poison.  My tastes in food have changed, so have my preferred patterns in clothes. How many of your clothes have interesting patterns which you have never noticed or have forgotten? Have your tastes changed?  I remember as a teenager being amused by skulls. Now that I am of retirement age, skulls remind me of my nearness to, well, never mind. I just don't like them any more.  Snakes no longer thrill me. I shugdder or wince, make faces.  Nor do I think crocodiles are cute. In real life as a traveller, and at home I have learned that they are a barrier to health and happiness and generally stop you in your tracks. My Vintage Brown Tiger Jacket Photo by Angela Lansbury.  I pulled out of a pile of clothes an old - let's call it vintage, brown jacket with sequins. I noticed something on four legs, a small kitten or a big cat. I like kittens but am not keen on BIG cats. When I looked closely at the design, I...

  Angela Lansbury Five pocket tee-shirt, showing two top zipped pockets. Photo by Angela Lansbury. This is the 5 pocket tee-shirt, arrived Jan 16th 2025,  which I ordered Jan 9th when I showed in blue fromn the online ad in my blog post of that date. Size - Large I am a short person with a large bust. I ordered size large so I could wear the short-sleeved, tee-shirt over other warmer, long-sleeved, thermal vests or clothing such as a blouse, and still have the tee-shirt pockets accessible.  Maybe it looks a tad too large. A bit baggy. Fitted would have looked more elegant. My husband said, 'It's a smock.' No, it isn't. A smock has a piece across the top. What he meant was it's baggy across the bust. The Pockets The zipped pockets are accessible. Good enough. Not perfect. (Not with a hidden second pocket inside each the outer pocket in the pick-pocket proof clothing company which makes a short skirt and has inconspicous colours.) Not hidden from would-be pickpockets ...

 Abstracts and Geometry, Hearts and Stars Temu and Shein have lots of garments with sun and moon and stars, especially on night clothes. Hearts appear for Valentine's Day but are available all year if you are romantic. My latest night dress has five point stars in white outlining a heart on a red background.  Useful Website https://www.temu.com/uk/plant-print-flutter-sleeve-dress-vacation-crew-neck-ruffle-hem-loose-babydoll-dress-for-spring-summer-womens-clothing-g-

  Animals & Plants Angela Lansbury wearing a sheep pattern top. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. Animals If animals are your favourite themes, you can get lots of cute cats, darling dogs, sheepish sheep, fine or funny fish, and high horses.  Sheep Sheep are a popular theme in the UK, especially in Scotland on woollen garments. Princess Diana, as she then was, wore a jumper (Americans would say pullover) showing rows of white sheep and one black sheep. Angela in the sheep apron. Photo selfie by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. I have an apron with black faced white sheep on a red background which I wear daily. Label Ulster, Irish. Boats and Fish Sailing boats are a suitable theme for summer often with leaping fish. You could design your own repeating pattern. A whale and a sailboat. Even a cartoon of a big fish with a string of baby fish in tow, the big momma or daddy, or last tiddler looking up at the underside of a boat, thinking, or saying, the text in a bubble, what a bi...

  This time, for travelling, I have added a cyclindrical white knitted neck warmer. To look more elegant at evening dinner, you can remove the neck warmer indoors. Compare.

  Silk dress This wrap silk dress, label Coast is quick to put on when you are in a hurry. The silk dress pattern did not co-ordinate with the simple bold white top. Also I wanted a change. So I added a top to cover the top of the wrap dress, and be warmer. Striped Sleeveless Knitted Top  Wide horizontal  stripes pattern. I guessed it was synthetic. Not expensive to judge by the way the thread ends hang loose at the back.  But pleasantly dramatic with white to lighten and to brighten.  No label. Another mystery.  A knitted, light, loose top. Lacey holes in the black striped areas are noticed only close up, unless you wear a contrasting colour. I had thought that a sleeveless top was useless in winter. However, I found a good use in winter for this sleeveless style. A sleeveless top adds warmth. But no trouble getting the jacket sleeves on top of it.  White Jacket The dramatic white jacket is from a suit, label David Hayes. But the skirt of the suit is ...