Dress Of The Day with Angela

  Phase Eight Today I received my dress and matching jacket from an Evri delivery driver. I took it out to show it to her. She immediately recognized the label. Phase Eight. She said, 'They used to be from Debenhams'.  The Phase Eight website tells me they are a British company. I looked at the dress style, fabric and manufacturer and washing instruction labels. The Pink Dress Information Made in China.  Size 14.  The colour is deep pink.  Silk Surprise To my surprise, it said silk. Not 100% silk. I remember when I was a teenager in the Nineteen Sixties, anything not one hundred per cent silk was regarded as a con, a cheap imitation.  Nowadays, in 2026, fifty years later, even a tiny amount of silk seems like luxury. A privilege. A joy. The lining is acetate. Inspection Feels very soft. It has a side zip. The zip is longer than the part which the manufacturer has allowed to open. The pattern is black and red flowers and leaves. Two shades of red, darker mat...

Red and gold colour pendant. Pendants by Martine Meyer. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.  My new pendant cost ten pounds. I bought it at an art show in Finchley, north west London. I saw the display table. The Material  The material is glass. I asked Martine how she made them. She said, "I bake them in a kiln." Baked in a kiln  means on high heat. I retorted, "I'll leave that to you!" I could string beads on elastic myself if I had the time and energy and skill. But dealing with hot and needing a kiln, or to visit one, that is a whole extra dimension. I shall leave that to other experts. Red Colour I looked at all the pendants. Which one suited me?  I chose the one which had red to enhance my plain red Shein dress. The red will also go with my lipstick, and red accessories such as shoes.  Orange and red means it goes with two colours of warm colour clothes. Support The pendant's support is a light weight and effectively colour orange fabric. Not a ribbon...

 

My silver necklace with the teeny blue heart..  Photo by Angela Lansbury. To show the size of the silver necklace. Photo by Angela Lansbury. I have lots of little pendants and charms which need necklaces. Do you have the same problem? Your solutions are: Metal Fabric Ribbon Advantage The simple solution is to tie them on bit of ribbon. Quick pretty. Inexpensive to buy. No great financial loss if lost, or stolen. Not likely to attract thieves. Disadvantages of Ribbons Ribbons get wet in a bath, shower, or rainstorm.  But ribbons come undone.  Unless you can tie the ribbon to a quick release clasp.  Ribbons can also fade,  And fray. Knots can look untidy. Tie it too tight, to be sure it is secure, and you might need to cut it off.  Wearing a ribbon is not as classy or neat or formal or elegant. Metal Cheap metal discolors. It can be sharp. It can rust in the wet. Plating can wear off. Solid silver is cheaper than solid gold. I bought a necklace on ebay. ...

Orange top and necklace.  I found discarded jewellery. You can buy jewellery online. Whether its new or second hand, somebody may have touched it. A second hand.Given Covid-19, I had to wash them before wearing them.  I wondered, I was going to write worried, but wondered is a friendlier word, I wondered, whether the water might rust metal, or remove colours. or float off a varnish or paint or covering.  But the items had cost me nothing. Cheap jewellery. Not gold or silver. Not valuable or fancy.  But to me an orange and red necklace, any piece of jewellery, provides a new look, a new inspiration. I looked for something in the same colour. I had several caftans with a red or orange background and flower pattern scattered about on the background with red or orange or pink in the flowers. But the necklaces and pendants looked wrong against patterns. The jewellery distracted from the fabric pattern. The fabric pattern distracted from the jewellery. I realized that stat...