Warm purple coats

I am envious of my wonderful new friend Joanna Tiare McLeod's beautiful purple coat.



Part of my plans for today include finding some sort of gainful employment, other than selling felt scarves. Found myself a flat though - more on my Misshapen Universe blog.

The necessity of Mondays, scarves and poetry

It may just be an oddity of my mind, but to me, scarves and poetry are inextricably interlinked.


Some People Like Poetry
Wislawa Szymborska

"Some people--
that is not everybody
Not even the majority but the minority.
Not counting the schools where one must,
and the poets themselves,
there will be perhaps two in a thousand.

Like--
but we also like chicken noodle soup,
we like compliments and the color blue,
we like our old scarves,
we like to have our own way,
we like to pet dogs.

Poetry--
but what is poetry.
More than one flimsy answer
has been given to that question.
And I don't know, and don't know, and I
cling to it as to a life line."

translated by Walter Whipple


"Pale, with the blue of high zeniths, shimmered
over with silver, brocaded
In smooth, running patterns, a soft stuff, with dark knotted fringes,
it lies there,
Warm from a woman's soft shoulders, and my fingers close on it,
caressing.
Where is she, the woman who wore it? The scent of her
lingers and drugs me!"

-Amy Lowell


Louise Gluck

"There is always something to be made of pain.
Your mother knits.
She turns out scarves in every shade of red.
They were for Christmas, and they kept you warm
while she married over and over, taking you
along."


"and because before we had lungs
we knew how far it was to the bottom
as we floated open-eyed
like painted scarves through the scenery
of dreams, and because we awakened

and learned to speak"

-Lisel Mueller


"They were lumbering through the pines like inordinately sad moose.
Who could eat liverwurst at a time like this?
But, then again, what's a picnic without pathos?
Lacking a way home, I adjusted the flap in my head and duck-walked
down to the pond and into the pond and began gliding
around in circles, quacking, quacking like a scarf.
Inside the belly of that image I began
recycling like a sorry whim, sincerest regrets
are always best."
- James Tate

Scarves, and poetry, were an integral part of my Otago degree (in Chemistry, nonetheless).
So I will introduce the character @Nightwyrm (Rory) drew for me, 'Scarfie'

I want you so much cloche-er

I am attending a 1920s party this weekend, and will post photos of the elaborate feather concoctions I hope women will model on their heads. Not to mention the dapper top hats the men will wear.

While researching for inspiration, I realised the beauty of a cloche hat. Seriously how cool is this: Often, different styles of ribbons affixed to the hats indicated different messages about the wearer. Several popular messages included: An arrow-like ribbon which indicated a girl was single but had already given her heart to someone, a firm knot which signaled marriage or a flamboyant bow which indicated the wearer was single and interested in mingling.


There's a few very cute cloche style hats on felt.co.nz - I like this burgundy coloured one from crochetnz The mannequin freaks me out, but, cute hat.



From Etsy's Lisa Rietz



My old friend Hera makes hats (of course she does, and sings beautifully) and they are beautiful. Check out her site here on felt.co.nz.






From trademe's onerose




With a beautiful, head-fitting hat such as the cloche, it is very important to have the right hair cut. Womens' hair in the 1920s framed the face with fringes (bangs, for Americans) and was often very short and blunt.



If you want to know more about the fashion history of the 1920s, I'd recommend this site.

"There is much to support the view that it is clothes that wear us, and not we, them; we may make them take the mould of arm or breast, but they mould our hearts, our brains, our tongues to their liking." - Virginia Woolf

I love winter fashion

There is something about the amazing warmth of a good quality scarf. Or tying that coat a little tighter around you, pulling a beautiful hat over an immaculate hairstyle and stepping down the street in your favourite pair of boots.

So, send me pics of your favourite hats, scarves, boots and gloves to @missannajane on twitter, or search Anna Jane Wilson on facebook. I will create an email account for pics to be sent to eventually.

I want to promote NZ winter fashion primarily- glorious designers like kilt.

I want to promote fantastic little independent shops like The Hat Shop on High Street, Christchurch.

I want to promote great fashion blogs like the wonderful prettyx3 and The Glamourous Grad Student

New Zealand has some amazing looking people. Let's get dressed up and embrace our beauty and diversity!