Dress Of The Day with Angela

Subtle Safety Pins The simplest way to conceal cleavage is to take a safety pin and pin the two sides of your split top together. You will get differenct effects with different sized safety pins.  I have large pins with coloured edges at the top. I think they look fancier. The black one looked to heavy against multi-colured pastels. Should I leave the safety pin in permanently so that I alwasy have it handy, on holiday. I think so. I bought a set of about ten in five colours, so I have two or each colour. Beatufiul Brooches With Fake Pearls Much better would be pins like brooches, with little round pearls. You can buy one, or two in a pair, or more. I found them on Temu.  I tried pinning the safety pins vertically then horizontally. I didn't want the pin to face downwards in case it came undone and scratched me. However, I found that horizontally did not work. It made the fabric stick out forwards.  Recycling Too Small Lace Panties A really pretty effect would be lace. Cu...

Learn Languages How do you keep translations of greetings handy? So you remember them. Have them on photos of yourself and your holiday. Greetings and Chat-up Lines You could add greetings such as hello.  The classic message used to be, If you're rich, I'm single. Buyers' Messages Or messages to sellers in tourist resorts, such as,  Any free museums near here? Can you recommend a good restaurant? Do you have anything cheaper?  Do you have anything in my size? I'll buy anything in red. Sales and Advertising yourself and your products Buy a signed copy of my books. Only ten dollars. Buy me lunch and get a free one hour English conversation lesson. Warning Messages Rottweiler in boot. Don't touch me. My husband is a martial arts champion. There's also a funny one in English for toddlers about beware of Grandma. You could translate something similar into three languages. You can find translations of warning message in Wikivoyage phrase book Spanish, Italian and othe...

 Increase in Insects With global warming we are seeing mosquitos and biting insects more often in England and other parts of the world. My travels to overseas country, plus living in Spain, the USA and Singapore has tught me a lot about prevention, and cure. Anti- Insect Clothes - Cautious Cover-up Your first line of defence is to cover up as much as possible.  My Japanese friend Yumi was playing golf in Singapore and Malaysia. She wore shorts and short sleeved tops. She went off the green after a golf ball which landed in long grass.  She was bitten by a mosquito, and got dengue fever. She ended up in hospital. She thought she was going to die. I thought she wwas going to die.  Fortunately, she recovered. But we both learned the lesson. Insects - Lessons Learned After that she was very careful to wear long sleeves and long trousers. In addition, one can wear long socks, hats with brims and neck covering. We both took care. Nothing was too much trouble.  Now, my...

The problem is you have surplus scarves.  Why would anybody have surplus scarves?  1 Inherited For example, from a hoarder mother. Never mind sentimentality.  If you must keep it, use it as something new. useful and pretty and creative 2 Impractical You no longer wear scarves because you are in a hurry. Practical reasons - they are a hazard when working You moved to another climate. Evening scarves don't go with ski wear. Woollen scarves with matching mittens don't go with beachwear. Get organised 3 Unwanted gifts You don't wear scarves - and not those colours and fabrics. Clear space so everything brings jo 4 Reorganised Now all scarves are separated from matching outfits you have extras. 5 Downsizing Moving somewhere smaller. Or into second home or house-swapping and need space. 6 Modernising Old-fashioned scarves have to go. Pass it on and update. 7 Buyers Remorse It was cheap. You bought too many. The scarf colour doesn't match the outfit. Today you have the enthusi...

  Angela Lansbury wearing at waistcoat with palm trees.   Photo by Angela Lansbury. The Shein Waistcoat The waistcoat came from St Lukes charity shop. The label is Shein. Made in China. As you might expect  The St Luke's price was £3. I googled waistcoat, Shein, parrot, and the exact sme garment appeared immediately. The Shein model was wearing it over a white crop top with short denim shorts. The price was ten pounds plus three pounds postage. But as a new customer or returning customer (eg after a gap of several weeks not ordering) you might get offered free postage.  I like the fact that the patterns on the right and left mirror each other as if the parrots are about to speak to each other. Useful search words for the same or similar garments would be beach scene, colourful, multicolor, palm trees, sleeveless jacket, tank top, top, Travachic, tropical print, vest, waistcoat.  The Straw Hat  The straw hat was free, a promotional gift. Advertising Cea...

  Angela Lansbury wearing a straw hat and waistcoat with palm trees  Photo by Angela Lansbury. The Straw Hat Adapted With A Lining The straw hat had spiky pieces of straw prickling my scalp. I had previously gone to the expense of buying an orange skull cap But today I happened to have a small white linen table napkin lying next to the hat. I folded. It to fit inside the dome of the hat . The linen did the trick. Temporarily. But the new liner slipped. So I needed to fasten it to the hat with 2 safety pins. I also needed two ribbons. One either side, sewn on inside to the inner headband. But there was no inner headband or sweatband.  The straw hat was a promotional gift. Advertising Ceará. Ceara is the sandy coastal state in north eastern Brazil. An article about Panama hats from Ecuador alerted me to the qualities of genuine hand made hats using natural fibres. One thing to look for is the straw edging of the brim. Not machine sewing with thread nor glue.  Descubrac...

I love this red cap. It goes with all my red clothes. I remember the words of the song, 'Where did you get that hat?'  Rooster Rojo, the name embroidered on my red cap, is a Mexican brand name. Rooster Rojo means red rooster in Spanish. Rojo meas red. Rooster, the same as English.  The rooster is a well known symbol of Mexico. A rooster is an adult male chicken, in the UK called a cock. Red rooster is nicely alliterative in English, as is Rooster Rojo in Spanish. The brand is owned by Amber Beverage Group (ABG) and distributed in the UK by Ocado. Useful Websites More about the Red Rooster Beverage https://roosterrojo.com/ Learn Spanish (Brazilian Spanish) Duolingo.com Next year's BCB beverage trade show at Tobacco Dock 29 and 30 June 2026 and events in other countries https://www.barconventlondon.com/en-gb.html

 I bought a pair of pink shorts only because they matched my pink hooded jacket. Before buying the shorts, I had dithered. I suspected I was never going to wear shorts with my favourite hooded jacket. I looked at the shorts and thought - I really need a skirt. If only I had a skirt. I wish I could convert the shorts. The price was only one pound in St Lukes. So I bought it. Why not turn the shorts into a skirt?  I cut the shorts up the A shape seam between the legs. That left a notch at the front and back. I found an old bra with lace and cut it up to fit. The colour was not quite right. Later I saw some baby clothes in St Luke's.  Perfect pink. Perfect match. Three for a pound. One was from Marks & Spencer. Two had patterns. One was plain. I cut the plain baby outfit in half and used safety pins to cover both gaps, lining up the hems. I sewed the triangular patches using matching pink cotton.  I was very pleased with the results. I had converted shorts into a sk...

 I went to Wapping in East London near Tower Bridge on one of the hottest days of the year, and one of the hottest years for that day, June 30th. It was the second day of the two day spirits and bar and beverages show, BCB (initials of Bar Convent Berlin). The big annual show in Berlin, Germany, attracting sellers from all over Europe, had come to England for the first time, at London in 2025. Next year's show, in 2026 June is already booked.  It was a trade only show. As it was such a hot day I travelled wearing a baseball cap, in pink, from New Zealand. Pink New Zealand Cap I wasn't sure whether I looked smart enough. Caps are casual. Sporty. However, the weather warm. People were wesring shorts because of the heatwave and caps with visors to keep the summer sun out of their eyes The first of two hats I was given was a red baseball cap with the words Rooster Rojo (rojo meaning red Red Rooster Rojo Cap Red is my colour. Perfect for me Then I was given another cap. This time b...

  After my initial picture on the day I bought the Bravissimo dress I did not wear it again. Why? Because the sleeves felt wrong. Too short. Lopsided. I kept the dress beside my desk waiting for inspiration.  Finally I took it out. I tried it on  I still didn't like it. I took it off. Something had to be changed, something had to be sewn. Or cut. Altering Sleeves The sleeves.  They were sewn up too tightly. I could not release the sewn part with normal size scissors. The answer was a seam ripper device. But I did not have one to hand. I fetched nail scissors. Curvy scissors with a sharp point. But in poor light I could not see the black thread. Wait until morning? I moved a table lamp next to my sewing on the desk. I slit the first thread. But the line of stitching did not unravel. To avoid cutting the fabric, I had to pull the two sides apart and cut just one thread at a time. It worked! The tab was hanging obtrusively. So I buttoned it up again. No second button is...