Dress Of The Day with Angela

 Wake up colours were on my mind when I chose a bright yellow tee-shirt. It co-ordinates in bright liveliness with my pink jacket. Bright Butter Yellow I was in the mood for something bright. At home. A yellow tee-shirt. Yes, yellow. I had been looking for something yellow for a while. Then I saw the tee-shirt. It was not a great style. But if twas the colour I wanted. Pretty Pink What would go with it? A pink jacket? Not really. I tried on the jacket. Yes, pink and yellow are primary colours, both bright. I once had my colours analysed on a one-day course in Singapore, at a silly (large) price. What suited me, my skin, complexion, eyes, and hair. Royal blues. Vibrant reds. Emerald greens. Deep yellows. Not pale pastels. Nor muddy, murky, autumn colours. Bright summer colours were right for my skin tone. Smiling summer colours. Co-ordinated Skirt  What colour of skirt? I had skirts and other garments in pale pinks, baby pinks, and salmon pinks. The wrong pinks.  What coul...

 Leopard skin pattern skirt. My new friend was wearing this leopard pattern pleated skirt. She could not remember where she bought it. But she had bought it recently from either John Lewis or Marks & Spencer's. So I asked her, "Could we check the label at the back of the waist, or the washing label in the side seam?" She said yes, so I looked at the waist label. The label said KAFFE. I was none the wiser. But her friend immediately declared, "That's John Lewis!" I then found the washing label. Sure enough, it said John Lewis. I thought that maybe John Lewis had between two and six labels.  I looked them up and was astonished at the large number of labels they stock and list. See also post 527 of Angela Lansbury in a leopard skin pattern coat. And post 533 of more choices from John Lewis.

  Only One Pound As you will have noticed, I have bought a lot of items from St Luke's. I have so many clothes. No room for more.  And I can't keep spending money. So I occasionally smuggle in a one pound item which I can't resist. No postage cost.  According to their website, they currently, in April 2025, have seventeen shops. Alphabetically by location, Edgware, Harrow, Hatch End, Pinner, Harrow, Wembley. One is a superstore. One is a furniture shop. Another is electrical. Useful Website https://www.stlukes-hospice.org/shops/ More Money - Online If price is no object for you, and you want to support a charity, St Luke's has an online outlet on ebay. The prices are much higher, mostly brand names, silk, or otherwise valuable or rare items. Plus postage.

  The Marks & Spencer Jacket I bougtht the jacket because I wanted a long open ended zip to go on a long wrap around dressing gown without the garment gapping. I bought in a hurry. Only one pound. When I got it home I noticed it had a hood. My first thought was, that's handy, I've been looking online for hoods to add to some jackets and coats. I thought the jacket looked small.  In fact, when I tried it on it hugged me tight like underwear. This was good. It felt like a corset. The tight jacket worn over the too-long skirt, it helped keep the skirt up so that I didn't trip over it. However, my idea of cutting up the jacket went when I saw the label. Marks & Spencer. That's a brand I trust. Properly finished seams. No loose ends. Although one of a multi-pack set of underwear, the waist cotton pulled out.) But outer garments are always strongly made. The black jacket is from Marks & Spencer, No neck label. That is good. Nothing to irritate the neck. I discover...

  Angela in Animal print, fluffy, wrap coat. Photo by Trevor Sharot. I bought this for one pound in the St Luke's charity shop in Hatch End in NW London, England, UK. I didn't think  I would like the pattern, but it feels very soft. It is 95% polyester. I have called it animal print because I get confused beween leopard and tiger, especially if the pattern is a bit abstract. Usually, tiger pattern is stripey, leopard pattern is spots. You might recall the phrase, a leopard cannot change its spots. Style As for the style, it has no buttons. Just a fold across.  You can use a belt. But that makes it look bulky. Adding Fastening It is warm and attractive, almost seductive, if you hold the collar together or folded over slightly. To keep it done up attractively, wtihout having to hold it, I am considering adding some kind of closure at the neck. I would like something small and inconspicous, such as a snap or hook and eye. Maybe it would look good with a fancy button on top f...

  Alpe d'Huez Top The tee-shirt collar and motif are in orange. The wearer bought it because the company which he works for has orange as their colour. Several companies online offer tee-shirts in a range of colours. This enables you to give all the staff in a restaurant or small business a matching tee-shirt. You can also create a matching parent and child outfit.  This is good on holiday. It enables you to find your family quickly in a restaurant or queue (Americans say line-up), or a busy market. You can tell bystanders who you are looking for, 'somebody wearing the same tee-shirt as me'.  The uniforms offered by suppliers to restaurants for staff serving and kitchen workers can be custome made, but even the plain ones are often expensive, especially for short runs. They may be of more durable quality because they have to last all day every day for several hours for a year or more. However, ski clothes are usually thick fabric, light to wear, and have reinforced seams ...

  Photo by Angela Lansbury Do you have spare buttons from sewing kits? Or from clothes you threw away or gave away? Where do you keep spare buttons? In a button box. How do you find it? Decorate it with buttons.. Here are some ideas for buttons. 1 Decorate Button boxes and sewing kits.  2 Thread them onto safety pins or hang them from same colour or contrasting colour safety pins to make brooches. 3 Sew them around the neck and cuffs of a plain sweater. Make a row of false buttons down an item with no buttons. Or beween the real buttons down the front of a cardigan. 4 Stick onto magnets to decorate the fridge. 5 Make ear-rings, necklaces and bracelets. 6 Use as handles or handle decoration or simpley stick on decoration for  a sewing or crafts cabinet or underwear drawer. 7 Scatter them across on old torn garment to hide holes and tears. 8 Use as eyes for soft toys. (Not for children uder three yeas old, Only for four years old and upwards. 9 Sew onto a headband or belt o...

Inexpensive swimsuit from charity shop. Photo by Angela Lansbury.  For years I kept unworn swimsuits which were too tight, too small, but too good to waste.  I had discovered when I was a student that a bikini had a secondary use as underwear, when you needed to travel with a bikini ready to swim but did not want to carry it as extra in you handbag.  Recently I bought a swimsuit in a charity shop in London. I thought, 'what do I do with it, if it is too small?' I tried on the swimsuit and it fitted. It acted like a corset, pulling me in. I thought, 'I could wear this as a corset!  Most corset-style underwear has bones or thick pieces and is uncomfortable.  Use as A Two Piece I took off the swimsuit and put it down. I tried on a front-fastening bra, and a pull-on stretch bra. I looked down at the swimsuit and thought, 'I could cut the top off the swimsuit to make a bra, if the bottom part is too small.' I have large hips. I was not keen on the pattern of the swim...

  Long Tunic Dress I bought the tunic over dress and a matching underdress many years ago from Comfy clothes who were in Queens Park, north London. The overdress tunic has slit sides which show the co-ordinating under-dress or skirt. When in a hurry, you could simply co-ordinate any colour such as a black underskirt with black shoes and a black belt and black handbag. But this creates a heavy effect. I like the autumn and spring look of soft autumn colours of pale brown or spring pink. The tunic was originally sold with a co-ordinating underskirt.  When folded neatly the clothes remain crease-free and wrinkle-free. The shop saves on hangers. Storage The shop stacked all their clothes folded on shelves. Easy to see all the items of co-ordinating colours at a glance in one pile. When searching for something similar online, if you look up overdress with the article a, you get the verb to overdress. I hunted for an alternative word for overdress. It is a top layer.  If you ca...

 The latest idea for folding socks. New to me, if not to you and others. Lt's look at the old way first. The Old Way What's wrong with the old way? You fold both socks together. Roll up from the toes. When you reach the top, fold back the outer top of the top sock to secure.  What's wrong with this? Firstly, stretching the top elasticated edge of one sock over the little parcel could weaken the elastic,  making it stretch.  You might have to pull the elasticated top out further. Even so, you have a second problem, the little lump can look untidy. The New Way Fold the socks like a plus sign. Each sock folds in over the other.  Try it out for yourself. Even without the video demo you will soon work it out.  At the end you secure in the usual way. Reverse the top elastic section over the rest of it.  The result is a flat, neat item. Your flat socks can be stacked upright like a row of books. This enables you to select the colour of size quickly and easily...

 Free ribbons tied in bows come on lots of gifts, such as birthday cakes and bunches of flowers. These flowers were sent to me and my husband as an anniversary gift.  The company, Serenata flowers, had tied the bunch with a black ribbon bearing their name in white.  I put the flowers in a waisted vase and thought, it is good to abe able to see though transparent glass if the underwater leaves need to be cut off, or the water needs changing. But the stalk are a bit untidy. I should have kept the paper or ribbon from the bunch if flowers, so I could hide the plant roots.  The paper was dull and had gone. But the ribbons remained. I was happy to show the name, which was in white to match the flowers. But I could have turned the ribbon back to front as the reverse was also good to look at. However, I chose to show the company name. Notice the black ribbon from the bunch of flowers which I have re-used around the waisted glass vase, almost invisible against my black cloth...

The Black Jacket  The label is Yian Shang Yi.  This black jacket's distinctive design feature, the reason why I bought it, is that it has four bands of fake fur across both elbow areas. To me, in real life this jacket looks very elegant. To eliminate background clutter and distracting shapes and colours I have edited the picture with a lassoo in the editing function on my Samsung mobile phone. The Flowers I looked for something black to hold, thinking that black would be co-ordinating. But in a photograph black would disappear. So I am holding a vase containing white roses, and purple flowers I have not yet identified. The white roses were sent to my husband and me by family on our wedding anniversary. The glass vase shows the water level and colour which is a reminder to give the flowers fresh water every other day according to instructions. The flowers have no aroma. In theory I could spray rose spray, perfume, hand cream, not on the flowers nor in the water, nor to smear th...

 Serious Survival Kits The Japanese keep survival kit cases by the front door for quick to grab bags during earthquakes and tremors.  Survival kits aren't just for major serious emergencies. Sometimes everything from sunscreen to sunhats can be made more compact for short or long stay travels  Convenient Compact Clothes When I travel by plane, I think - What about when your luggage goes missing?  You might get your luggage 24 hours later. You might get financial compensation. But you might not be near any shops, or too busy on a sightseeing tour or conference, or trying to re-book a flight. Or the shops night be closed and you have no night dress. Needing Swimsuits In A Hurry I arrived in the USA, and you could not use the hotel pool which was closing in half an hour.  I had no handy swimsuit. Mine was in the luggage from the airport coach now being delivered floor by floor by the hotel porters.  You might find that the clothes available in shops are the wr...

 I looked online for thimble display cases. The ones on Amazon cost over one hundered pounds sterling. But you can buy a case, a bit scratched and battered looking, already filled with thimbles, for under twenty pounds plus about 3.95 postage, online from charity shops. Here is one for you to admire. Thimbles in a display case. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. Souvenir thimbles are widely available, both new and second hand.  I have always found the parcelain ones too bulky to use and like the metal ones for sewing. If you are keen on collecting thimbles, you can join a local or international thimble collectors' club. Useful Websites https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/an-interview-with-antique-thimble-collector-sue-gowan/

Collecting spreads like infection  Collecting creates connection Connection leads to correction Correction is like resurrection As a child I collected stamps Which showed dancers in national dress  The colours of the national flags Then coins with Queen's hats I liked best I then collected small thimbles Stored in a case hung on the wall Though I've moved on, they haven't gone I dust and make sure they won't fall I collect clothes, caps and ear-rings I collect scarves and belts and gloves Colleccting jewels, pretty things In every shade, that's what I love Sewing machine instructions, cards Though many craft shops went away They might open again one day Their cards come in useful one day What can I paint on a tee-shirt? Draw on a special birthday card? Copy fake flowers or a dress From my vast store that is not hard Now my friends have passed away, I Collect poets' obituaries I note dress codes for funerals Cute quotes on invites to cemeteries. -ends-

I have always turned up the ends of wire hangers to stop clothes sliding off.  Now on Facebook I keep getting sent videosshowing lots more ingenious ways of folding your clothes.   How do you stop clothes falling off hangers? You could use clothes pegs. Move clothes so that those with necks too wide or narrow are on different sized hangers, by swapping clothes around. Use a garment with a single loop or hole to hang from the central wire hook. Buy a spool of black ribbon, or severl spools when you see an offer in Hobbycraft. Then sew two loops onto any skirt which lacks loops. How do you get wire hangers?  I find lightweight wire hangers useful for packing in suitcases when travelling. Often hotels do not give me enough hangers. If you have clothes packed on hangers, it's wuick to unpack at your hotel on arrival. Equally quick to re-pack when returning home. If you have acquired wire hangers from the hotel or laundry or a shop cleaners, you might have hangers you don...