Cardinal Colored

I have more California pictures to share, and indeed many more summer and fall pictures to share, but it was 3°F this morning and I found myself rather resenting the ice-free photos. And honestly, I didn’t have a lot to say about them. “In this picture here, it is a reasonable temperature. I was warm. It was nice.” So instead, I figured I ought to share a few more timely posts of what I’m wearing now.

As it turns out, when the mercury drops I take most of my dressing cues from the birds — Cardinals do the brightest and cheeriest job at dressing for the winter, and I do my best to copy them.

I sewed this skirt suit (my “White Christmas” suit) years ago and it’s still in heavy rotation at the holidays. It’s not without flaws — I made it out of thrifted wool, so it came with some small pinholes to start, and the buttons in the front insist on gaping (they did when I first made it, too, you can see that most of my original photos have the buttons hidden behind a fur muff!) probably because the teens’ pattern doesn’t have quite enough room in the jacket hips. But it’s red and cheery and holidayish and so I wear it anyway.

My footwear choices are still a bit limited as my foot isn’t officially fully healed yet. I’ve mostly been relying on my American Duchess boots for fashionable snowy days, especially since I finally got rubber soles professionally added.

• White rabbit fur hat with velveteen flower: Gift from Doug
• Jumping reindeer brooch: Erstwilder
• Red 1950s skirt suit: Made by me from Advance 7745
• Black 1950s princess coat: Etsy
• Edwardian reproduction carriage boots: Victorias (now discontinued) from American Duchess (I purchased these shoes at a discount in exchange for images and a review)

1950swinter