French Dreams

French dreams: 60s dreams: french expression:

It has been a while since our last blog; being full time working mums can make getting time to ourselves difficult.  Jane j s fairly recent operation has also made it more difficult for us to get back on track! She is thankfully, now fully recovered and here we are! We hope you will enjoy our latest blog experience.

Those of you who know us from Instagram, will know that the 20s and 60s are our two favourite eras. Today we decided on a 60s vibe influenced by the fabulous jean seberg and anna karina! Two very different ladies but both equally the epitame of understated cool with a quirkiness that oozes style in french new wave cinema.
Our sunday afternoon consisited of putting together ideas, taking inspiration from 60s french films and happily taking photos for our latest blog adventure.
On a cold spring day we managed to have some time without children, husbands and cats to explore an afternoon of french dreams.
We chose to delve into the era of nouvelle vague and express our desire to pretend we were playing roles within our own new wave french film. We tried to present an ethereal quality that can only exist in this time and place, giving us the opportunity to be someone  and somewhere else for the day.

Jane M outfit ~

Dress Peggy French -Ardgowan Hospice
Silver mary janes - Quiz.
Black Coat - Sew Vintage.

Jane J outfit ~

Dress Peggy French - Suzanne Vintage Closet
Silver t bars - Topshop
White coat - South

Accessories ~

Fur stoles - gifts.
Scarfs - Ardgowan Hospice.
Hat - Ardgowan Hospice.
Suitcase - gift (available on amazon)
Vintage cameras part of Jane M's collection.

Frolics in the Rain.

                                     

                                            I EXPECT I SHALL FEEL BETTER AFTER TEA. 

Recently we decided on a Day out to Lunderston Bay dressed in our best sailor and tennis dresses in the company of Paddy the huge Irish Wolfhound. Of course this being the Scottish summer meant out predictable weather did not play ball and the torrential rain threatened to dampen our day ever so slightly. 

We did our best to avoid the puddles but failed miserably resulting in mucky splashes all over our fine white stockings. 

Paddy brightened our day and he loved giving us an extra shower every so often when without warning he would shake his sodden shaggy fur coat in our direction. Fun and frolics in the monsoon rain!! With some of our dignity in tact, we headed back home for an afternoon of light reading, tea and cake. 

PJ Wodehouse beckoned with Blandings and Jeeves and Wooster ending our wet afternoon with a smile. We think Paddy was by far the star of the show!

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. We hope you enjoyed it. As always we would love to hear what you think.

The Ahlfeld sisters.

Clothing Jane J

Vintage French sailor dress - Parma Vintage

Vintage Straw Boater - Vintage Guru

Polka dot parasol umbrella - Cosy Rosy Vintage

Silver Mary Janes - Quiz

Clothing Jane M

Vintage tennis dress - Starry Starry Night from auction at Castle Howard (of the Brideshead Revisited fame)

Vintage cloche hat - Circa Vintage

Silver Mary Janes - Quiz

All photos by Patsy Huisman.

A Chance Encounter!!

A Chance Encounter!!

A couple of months ago we happened to stumble upon a fabulous costume exhibition in our local museum and felt we just had to share the images of these beautiful delights. Some of the dresses date back to the 1840's.

The curator told us the museum have about 300 dresses dating back from the early 1800's through to the 1970's, all gifted by people of our local area to The McLean Museum.

Greenock has a fascinating history of importing goods from around the world. This meant that local dressmakers had access to unique silks, lace and adornments from far flung places such as China, India, America and of course Europe.

The beautiful and exquisitely detailed wedding dresses on display from the 1840's through to the Edwardian era were coloured or cream as the no commonly known white wedding dress only became fashionable in the 1920's.

One particular dress made of silk taffeta was made for a couple who were married in a local catholic church in Greenock. The detail and stitching on the dresses are SO precise and it is amazing to think they were made entirely by hand. No Singer sewing machines here!!

Sadly for now this small selection of dresses from the large collection have been packed away in boxes and will remain in storage.

Thank you for reading.

The 2 Janes.