I ♥ Thursday

Today I’m linking up with Ashley’s “I ♥Thursday”!

The Rules (so you can join the fun, too!):

1. Be sure to have I ♥ Thursday in your post title. {You can copy & paste the ♥ into your own post. That is what I do.}

2. Have the button in your post, or link to back to Bramblewood Fashion and have the button in your sidebar.

3. Share anything that you are loving right now. Tutorials, fashion, crafts, music, movies, recipes, quotes, what ever.

4. Have fun visiting everyone's link!

She's also hosting a giveaway for a $10 gift card to places like Amazon, Forever21, Payless, and more (winner's choice)! Check out her blog for details.

So what am I loving lately? Well, I must confess to being a wee bit obsessed with tartan!

MacLean variation Tartan [source]

 I’ve always liked plaids, although I don’t seem to have worn them much growing up. Then I discovered a wee bit of Scottish blood in our family’s background (Great-great-great-grandfather McSpadden) and met the adorable Miss Kellie, whose love of her own (less distant) Scotch roots inspired me to appreciate my own. My search for the McSpadden clan tartan proved to be a bit confusing (although one of the MacLean tartans—pictured above—looks a bit like what was described in this article), but it sparked an interest in other tartans, specifically in skirt form to go with my solid-colored sweater-sets* and/or blouses. Pictured below are my favorite finds on Etsy. Enjoy!

* Sweater-set = A turtlenecked T-shirt with a sweater of the same or similar color.

~Tom’s Dictionary of Whacked-out Terms and Old Family Sayings

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CU of Purple Tartan

It looks blue, but it’s really royal purple! How could I resist? ;-)

 

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Here’s a color you don’t often see in a tartan—robin’s egg blue! Very striking.

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This pretty pink skirt reminds me of one my mom had for years. Mom’s was more of a peach-pink, with grey and white in it. She offered it to me a couple years ago, but at the time I wasn’t into printed skirts of any sort, and I thought I was still allergic to wool. So it went to the thrift shop…and I’m still kicking myself. This skirt is even the same style. Love the minty-greens in it, too!

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Another purple tartan—probably too “warm” for me (even if I could afford it, that is), but it’s a very sharp, classic-looking plaid, notwithstanding.

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 Speaking of classic, what could be more so than this Black Watch-looking tartan (right)? 

EDIT: Having read the listing again, this is actually an authentic MacCallum tartan. So to any of my Gentle Readers who are MacCallums--this is your tartan!

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These two skirts have a similar pattern to them—red plaids on a bluish background— only one is a true blue, whereas the other is more of a teal-blue. The brighter blue has touches of green and purple, too. Both look very smart!

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 Here’s yet another “purple” tartan—although it’s mostly navy- and royal blue. Normally I don’t care for purple and blue in combination—too similar—but this pattern makes them look good together. It’s one of those “I don’t like XYZ… except when I do” moments. :-P The white plaids make it look really snazzy, too!

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While I wouldn’t pair any tartan with, say, a floral print, this grey-and-white combo would go smashingly with any solid-colored top, while still having that classic tartan look to it.

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On the other side of the coin, this bright little frock will go with any number of other colors.

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CU of Blue Tartan

Lastly, we have two tartans with a lot going on in them. The first one is basically baby-blue and dark green, with checks in between of both colors. The blue checks have red lines running through them that form a little grid in the center, and the green checks have red gridlines all over. The blue/green checks also have red gridlines, but in a narrow band across the center of the checks, with single red lines above and below. And all are bordered with lines of white and yellow. Whee!

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CU of Red/Grey Tartan

The second tartan may look a bit drab at first—just red and grey—but a closer look reveals checks of blue and green in a complex pattern, stripes of bright blue, and touches of yellow, black and white, with textured striping between the checks. And those grey ones? A closer inspection reveals they are actually a hound’s-tooth check pattern! Wow!

Mind you, those two drops of Scotch blood (and my poor, starving bank account) prevent me from actually buying these lovelies…unless they were to go on clearance. I can dream, can’t I? ;-) But I’m confident that if God wants me to have them (or something similar and waaaay less pricey), then He’ll provide them, in His time. Until then, I have these:

This is of course my “Scottish Seafoam” skirt, featured here a while back. It’s quickly becoming my favorite skirt, as it looks good with both mary-janes and boots, so theoretically I could wear it in all but the very hottest weather (all two months of it, LOL). Hurrah for versatility!

Christmas 2011

And you all remember my Lassie Skirt, aye? It’s not quite as versatile as the seafoam one, but it’s very elegant—especially under my green velvet dress (christened “Celtic Princess”)!

This smart little number is one I actually picked up at (where else?) the thrift shop earlier this Fall (or was it in Summer?), but as usual, I haven’t been able to feature it on the old blog until now. :-P It’s a size 20, and it has a few “boo-boos” that need fixing. My plan is to take it apart and re-pleat it to fit my own (size 14) waist. This is the most versatile tartan in my current collection, as it will go with green, red and navy-blue, and also my seafoam sweater-set!
What’s really amazing is that it’s a poly-silk-rayon blend, which the label dictates should be Dry Clean Only, yet it came through the washer and dryer with no ill effects! PTL!

The whitish stuff is embroidery on some trim I was thinking of using

CU of Tartan pattern

I call it “Highland Kelly.” Why? Because of a blouse I once had (see picture) that was the same deep green as some of the checks in this skirt. The original “Kelly” blouse was a long-sleeved shirtwaist that I altered by removing the too-long cuffs and using the resulting fabric to make sleeve-bindings and a collar-ruffle (which I never got a pic of, sadly). After that, I tailored the sides so it'd fit more nicely…and then promptly outgrew it that Fall. :-( I still miss that blouse…anyway, I plan (Lord willing!) to make another one to go with this skirt.

What are you loving lately?

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~“Tom”~

♥

I ♥ Thursday

 I am finally able to participate in Ashley's "I ♥ Thursday" link-up! So what am I loving this week?

GUNNE SAX!

All photos via Etsy & eBay

Actually, I've been loving these cute, feminine "peasant"-style dresses for several months now. I actually had two or three growing up (hand-me-downs from older cousins), between the ages of ten and fourteen, I think, and I loved them. What I didn't love was outgrowing them. :-( Nor are the prices people ask for them on Etsy and eBay especially a happy thing, neither, but it doesn't cost anything to look, wot? ;-) So here are a few (a VERY few) of my favorites:

I love the sheer femininity of this one--the pale-pink print, the sweetheart neck, the muslin sleeves and neck insert (trimmed with white ribbon and dainty lace)...So pretty!

 Normally I don't go for navy, but when made up in a pretty calico print and paired with lacing, sweetheart neckline, lace, velvet trim and Gunne Sax's signature muslin sleeves--who wouldn't love it? And notice the micro-polka-dot trim? That's another feature GS did with their dresses back in the '70s--mixing prints. And they usually did it pretty tastefully, too!

Case in point. This frock is made of two prints (which up till recently has been a big fashion no-no), yet it looks polished. That's because both prints are similar--floral on a colored background. I must say, though, that if I had made this dress myself, I'd have put three tiers in the skirt and omitted the lace. The two tiers look a bit awkward to my eye, and the lace only calls attention to the join between fabrics, rather than disguising it. Compare with the bodice--the join is nearly seamless because the background on both fabrics is the same color.

These two frocks are pretty much opposites as far as color scheme goes, but in design are very similar. Both have the front panel and sleeve inserts in one fabric, while the rest of the dress is another. Personally, I like the one on the left best, as it looks like something Regency with a dash of peasant whimsy. Although I can totally see the red-and-blue dress made up in a less--erm--loud palette. ;-)

CU of sleeve

 And then we have a dainty blue number with the signature muslin sleeves, lace trim and velvet detail in the bodice, and the addition of a perky peplum at the waist.

Ooh, look! Roses!

But not all Gunne Sax dresses were peasant/prairie style, though. Some, like these two delectable specimens, were more Medieval/Renaissance in their inspiration. You can't see it in the picture, but the green dress has a lovely embroidered trim around the lacing, with red roses on it. Both dresses feature solid-colored cotton velvet and are trimmed with metallic gold braid. Very regal!

I'll be taking a bit of a hiatus from blogging. It's been more difficult than I thought to get into my Summer schedule, plus there are some Real Life things I need to straighten out. I'll still drop by your blogs and leave a comment now and then, but personal blogging is a bit much for me right now.

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~"Tom"~