I'm no label whore. Like many vintage clothes enthusiasts I love an original maker's tag in a second-hand dress but I've never seen the point of owning "it" bags and shoes or having a crass logo emblazoned across my body like I'm an advertisement hoarding.
I already know who I am, visible labels are for those without an identity.
I already know who I am, visible labels are for those without an identity.
There are one or two labels that get me excited though, like the one inside my new-to-me knickerbockers.
Bus Stop was the place I regularly visited with Mum in the 1960s and '70s, where she bought me my very first grown-up size piece of clothing, a olive green satin jumpsuit, for my 13th birthday party in 1979.
Braces, Bo Derek beads and all!
 |
| 1970s Bus Stop cord knickerbockers (£4.50, eBay) worn with a psychedelic St Michael blouse (courtesy of my friend, Jo), 1960s plastic earrings and beaded handbag (50p &£1, both from yesterday's car boot sale), Platform shoes (£1, car boot sale), 1960s scarf worn as a belt (75p, Walsall Hospice) |
The postman delivered these an hour ago and I can't believe how well they fit. I was hoping to wear them to the VIP preview of the Damien Hirst exhibition at the art gallery this evening but Jon's just told me that he's wearing his cords tonight and I'll have to get changed or we'll look like a pair of saddos.
Beautiful, childish, expressive, tasteless, not art, over
simplistic…(1996)
(That's a review of Hirst's work, not my wardrobe.)
I'd better go and find an outfit worthy of rubbing shoulders with the art lovers of the Black Country.
Have a fabulous weekend!
See you soon!
Updated to link to Patti's Visible Monday.
Enjoy the preview, I love going to see any kind of art, and can appreciate modern art and don't feel the need to belittle it. Can't wait to hear what you think.
ReplyDeleteGreat outfit, love those shoes, and I must say your hair is looking really great at the moment! Not that it normally doesn't.
xx
Long time lurker, 1st time commenter. LOVE the knickers! :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your evening :)
ReplyDeleteWish there was a way of getting fresh dandelions to your tortoise easily - we've loads here (see told you we had weeds!!).
Oh that's a shame that you have to change .. Andy's the same, he doesn't like us to look like Sameys xxx
ReplyDeleteI'm also a long time lurker and first time commenter and I also LOVE the knickers! I just have to say that you're an inspiration. I found you through a picture of your hands because I totally will be one of those ladies with turquoise on every finger as soon as I can find the rings to adorn them. I love your fearless style! Thank you for documenting it!
ReplyDelete~Erica
thepaintedtrailer.blogspot.com
Fantastic knickerbockers! They fit your look perfectly.
ReplyDeleteNow, you see I quite like a bit of matchy matchy with my beloved. I know, I'm a saddo, I don't mind admitting it. Anyway, I remember Bus Stop. I frequented it many a time but never bought anything. It was a bit more expensive than the likes of Chelsea Girl and Top Shop. Love the knickerbockers and totally agree with your comments about brands. I'm sick of seeing the most tediarse (see what I did there) t shirts and jackets with the words Super Dry and Bench emblazoned on them. They are very big round our way. And so dull.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful evening. xx
sounds phantastic! have fun! really agree with you about the label thing.
ReplyDeleteLoooove those knickers. :) You styled it perfectly with that adorable ruffled shirt. I think this might be one of my most favorite outfits of yours yet.
ReplyDeleteLove that outfit - so pretty colours ! "It" bags and labels.. BORING ! I have some label shoes but they were bought on sale of course ! I hope you enyoyed the art work and had a great time !
ReplyDeleteKickerbockers
ReplyDeleteYes.
I love that outfit. The style, the colours, everything. Have fun.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you post that photograph! The art exhibition sounds fabulous too - we're off to see some art tonight ourselves, well it's art and videos being projects around buildings in Midtown which sounds worth a drive to see at least!
ReplyDeleteI can't decide if I like Damien Hurst's work... But I do love what you're wearing, the purple tights go so well with your new purchase! I'm not one for labels - I've started to cut labels out when my clothes when I donate them to charity because I hate it when things are hoiked up just because they're from Topshop! x
ReplyDeletePS, thank you for your lovely comment this morning! The knee is a little better, but I have to keep resting!
The knickers are fabulous- the color mix is very, very nice
ReplyDeleteThat blouse you are wearing is amazing!Too bad you have to change you look stunning!
Have a fun!
Ariane xxxx
Wow Vix,
ReplyDeletewhat a stunning blouse x
Hey, love it! I'd love to wear those, I'd be excited too! The whole outfit is really pleasing- the blouse is wild yet tame-and ruffly!
ReplyDeletelove those they look so cool and really comfy! the blouse is gorge too! got a suprise for you watch my blog!! :) cant wait to see pics of the jumpsuit! :) x
ReplyDeletehave a fabulous time! You are the greatest bit of art I have ever seen! xx
ReplyDeleteAh Vix, I love your attitude on labels. I like quality and a fancy brand doesn't guarantee that- the proof's in the pudding. Love your britches and the grey/lilac palette you've got going on- so lovely and this is yet again a stunner of an outfit. Chic, and full of character.
ReplyDeleteHappy Art Viewing to you and Jon!
oh. my. god. I love those knickerbockers!!! they're just amazing, I love you in knickerbockers, buy more!!! The skirt and tights are fantastic too. Those earrings and bracelets really make the outfit. Have fun tonight, wear something spectacular! xxx
ReplyDeleteWow love those pants, you have just taken me back to my Adam and the Ant's days! I had a pair like those in burgandy, we called them pedal pushers :0) Happy Days! xx
ReplyDeleteThe trousers are great, and it amuses me everyone's referring to them as kneckers. tee hee!
ReplyDeletelove your knickerbockers they look great ,have a lovely fun night :)
ReplyDeleteCan you do a video of you walking around in some of your fabulous shoes, because honestly, I would look like eggs on legs in them lol.
ReplyDeleteV
xxx
ps I dont have a fetish - other than the normal, woman = shoes haha
They look so great with the tights and amazing shoes - can't you make Jon change?! Paper, scissors, stone?
ReplyDeleteHave fun at the art show xx
Great to see you ring the changes with some trousers, especially ones as fab as these. Ah, Damian Hirst - takes me back to art school days, he was pickling cows and sharks at the time. Not a fan of that period, but I do like some of his paintings, even though I think he's a pretentious tit most of the time x
ReplyDeleteYou are a gorgeous mod lilac in this. What I like most is how you seem to be reflecting that Bus Stop memory.
ReplyDeleteI love Damien Hirst's work - especially the fact that often other people do it for him and he can still sell it for kazillions. It's great to see artists become fabulously successful - there are so few. I hope you had fun at the opening.
Knickers you are bringing back some good memories for me here. This color combination is a real stunner and those *uck me heels with the tights roar! Too bad you can't rock this outfit tonight it's really needs a fabulous outing! I think the best part is the tie the label has to a really good memory with your Mum, I love that most!
ReplyDeleteYou are the prettiest thing I have seen in a while!
Have fun at the exhibit sounds like a real good time!
I love you!!!
XXOO
Krista
That blouse is stunning and the purple tights look fabulous on you x
ReplyDeletelove that you're wearing pants 'your own way'!, love your knickerbockers with all that mauve and violet around them, so pretty color combo!, you look lovely!
ReplyDeletewish you have a nice weekend!
besos
Oh how I love a good old pair of knickerbockers, I remember my first pair I used to wear to death a a girl. How I long to find a suitable pair in my size now.
ReplyDeleteYou look amazing. X
Lovely knickerbockers though I don't remember them from the day. With my fellow students I was an avid Bus Stop shopper in the late 1960s. The shop was just up the hill from Biba in Ken Church Street and we often preferred the Bus Stop more colourful and edgy fashion than Biba which was a bit samey samey at the time. You are such a clever stylist!
ReplyDeleteI love this outfit! It looks so cute on you. I am constantly amazed by your ability to thift shop so many amazing things.
ReplyDeleteYou look FABULOUS!!!! in your knickers!!! Love the lilac and grey and grey together.
ReplyDeleteI'm indifferent to labels- some I get excited about because I know that brand will fit me nicely and is good quality. But wear it on the outside??? no way!
Have fun at the art exhibit!! I love nothing more then to go to them!
much love!
I love the knickbockers, the frilly blouse, the bright tights and most of all those glorious burgundy shoes!! I had a pair of hand-me-downs burgundy coudrouy knickbockers as a young teen and I adored them. Your post took me back to happy days!
ReplyDeleteOoh, PLEASE do show us photos of you in your jumpsuit! It sounds divine.
ReplyDeleteDang, you just keep the awesome looks coming! I completely agree with you about labels and being a billboard. I see women around here carrying the newest "it" bag...it's Coach now... and I always wonder if the bags are real. Those bag cost $$$, which I'd rather use for a vacation. And besides, not to sound like a totally a..hole, my BFF gave me a real Hermes bag she found at a thrift store for $2.50!
ReplyDeleteOh they are marvellous! I love the colour, and adore the ruffled top, but those heels are my favourite! You look great Vix. I wish I had my zipper jumpsuit that I had when I was little girl. Happy weekend dear./Madison
ReplyDeleteVix, I LOVE those!!! They are totally adorable! And you look great in them. Love your comments about labels!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Lynn
you look beautiful.just love this outfit.those shoes are gorgeous.love the purple tights.xx
ReplyDeleteYay, knickers (as we call them in the States). Just the other day I was wondering why people didn't wear them anymore and lo and behold, there you are looking glorious in them. I had my mother make me a maroon corduroy pair with a matching waistcoat for my first day of school in 1970 (I think). So glad that you are getting use out of that blouse! (and thanks for the link up).
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a great time at the opening.
Gorgeous. I love that lilac colour on you. And the knickers are great. Funny about you having to change so the two of you wouldn't be matchy-matchy. Nick and I found each other at the front door ready to go out recently, wearing similar outfits (polka dots). But we were late so away we went, in all our matching glory. We probably looked like clowns.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoyed the show!
FARKINH hot to TROT! Only YOU could make me yearn for knickerbockers!!! You are a STAR I say again! So lovely to find a label to reminice over!!!
ReplyDeleteHa, it's just like I was saying last week how G and I keep accidentally co-ordinating!!! EEEK, is this what happens as we near 50?? Could it get worse?!
Hahahahahaaaa!
ooo,an exhibition?! How very POSH!
have a blast,and wow them with your glorious frockery,whatever it ends up being!!!
Love Helga! xxxXXXxxx
faaaaabulous....you are art.....I remember a similar lust for Bus Stop, my mum took me to the one in Brighton and I had a bright yellow halterneck top and bright yellow trousers.......just one big banana!!!!x
ReplyDeleteI never wear anything with a name on it either. I am not an advertising board thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteYou look glorious, my dear Vix.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I adore the knickerbockers! And I can't wait to see some photos of this olive green jumpsuit!
ReplyDeleteFrom a place of love and honesty, amor, this outfit has turned me lesbian. Honestly, I cannot keep my hands off you in these incredible knickerbockers! I just looove saying (and typing) KNICKERBOCKERS!!! Cannot wait to see pics of your 13th birthday (I was nowhere near as sophisticated). Love you more than knickerbockers! Sarah xxx
ReplyDeleteHa, laughing at Sarah, she's after you!
ReplyDeleteKnickerbocker glory indeed! I think of them as an early 80s thing, tied in with Duran Duran and the New Romantics. Never had any though. You look amazing in them, and the blouse is the perfect accompaniment.
Labels... You are so right about clothing with the label splashed all over it, tacky beyond belief. Certain labels which carry some cachet of quality and excellent design, or hold happy memories and associations, well they are to be enjoyed. But with the label on the INSIDE of the garment, a little private pleasure!
Hope Jon changed instead of you! Looking forward to your Hirst review and the teenage Vix pic!
LOVE!!! xxxxx
I love your knickerbockers and the gray/light purple combination of your outfit!It's amazing that you found an original item from the shop you used to visit back then, I think that the green satin jumpsuit your mother bought to you was beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG, I know that Damien Hirst exhibition is going to last the whole year, I really hope to visit it, can't wait to see if it worths from your reportage!!!(Even if one of the things I want to see there more than art is you!)..
Love xxxxx
Sensational outfit Vix and I do remember Bus Stop although couldn't afford to shop there. What a gawjuss blouse too, such a fab colour and print. Agree with you about the label thing, am so tired of seeing the ubiquitous Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister, but I hope you are rightfully smug to have a Bus Stop label down your knickerbockers!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Damien. x
There's nothing wrong with his and hers cords! I can't wait to see that pic of you as a 13 year old. I love seeing old pics of my fave bloggers. Hope you enjoy the exhibition xxx
ReplyDeleteYou look fantastic. I am digging the knickerbockers! I can't wait to see what you come up with for the art opening. Have a wonderful time :)
ReplyDeleteThese are amazing! I've never heard of the label but I'll keep my eyes peeled in future! Swooning over those beautiful shoes too! xo.
ReplyDeleteOooh, these colors and textures!! Love seeing a different silhouette on you, too, yet perfectly Vixified. Now I can't wait to see what you ended up wearing to the exhibit.
ReplyDeleteBus Stop was a fab shop.
ReplyDeleteI'd quite forgotten about knickerbockers. I had a black velvet pair in the 80's. Very New Romantic, as Curtise said. Yours are gorgeous. I quite fancy trying to find another pair myself now!
Look forward to hearing what you think of the exhibition - I want to come over to that.
Annie xx
Oh Vix what a great outfit! Love it. the colour the clothes and the shoes.
ReplyDeleteWho needs labels eh?
X x
Your outfit makes my heart flutter, the colours are gorgeous and you look stunning!
ReplyDeleteWe have a Damien Hirst painting at the gallery I work at, donated recently by Jarvis Cocker..... It's a lovely piece if you're ever in the area! x
SO Cool :)
ReplyDeleteLOVE YOUR BLOG!
Wow, I think this is one of my all-time favourite outfits that you've worn. My mum made me some red velvet knickerbockers that I wore with a lace shirt back in the eighties and remember dancing in them to Prince Charming!xx
ReplyDeleteLove those knickerbockers, I love a bit of Bus Stop. Shame you have to change... my husband and I sometimes have the 'oh no, we're dressed the same' moment, too!
ReplyDeleteBoooo, you should have got Jon to change because those knickerbockers are just too cool. I love them. I'm really envious of your platforms too, I keep trying platforms on and then putting them back, thinking I am too tall, maybe one day I'll just bite the bullet. I hope the exhibition was good. xx
ReplyDeleteI love the way you've styled these with purple tights - have fun rubbing shoulders with artsy types:)
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoyed the exhibition Vix, I remember him saying something about art, that drawing is something everyone does when they're young, it's just some people carry on with it, and I liked his down to earth attitude, I'd expected him to be more up his own backside than he was. This was on the TV, reading it back it looks as though I was having a personal chat with him!
ReplyDeleteI love those shoes and bag especially, hope you were able to incorporate them into your next outfit when you changed.
The only label I ever had a love affair with has been Vivienne Westwood, I do love her. My birthday prezzy from Pat one year was a train ticket to Sheffield so I could see an exhibition of her clothes there, and a designer shop up here had a massive sale one time where I managed to get some stuff of hers super cheap. I got a beautiful jacket for £40.00 and a corset top for £20.00 and I do love looking at them. xx
great pants dear <3 <3 <3
ReplyDeleteThose knickerbockers are fabulous. I'm not into labels either but I do get excited about certain vintage ones. I love the ridiculously high platforms.
ReplyDeleteI am also no label-lover. When I like the piece of clothing then it is oke. Label or no laber. :)
ReplyDeleteLove you knickerbocker. I am to short to wear them. It looks funny on me. :D
Hope you've had a nice evening at the art-gallery.
xxx
Your take on labels and personal style is spot on!
ReplyDeleteGreat outfit Vix; the knickerbockers are fab and the frilly shirt is just the right thing to complement them. I love the purple accents and the shoes for a pound rock! Hope you had a great time and the exhibition and show us the outfit you decided to wear in place of this one! I'm not a label hound either (though I would never turn my nose up at Hermes0 and I think it's great that you're a sentimental label-lover. xoxo
ReplyDeletelooking so preety . so beautiful pics ,
ReplyDeleteParfum pas cher
How, vix, can you always look so fabulous?!?
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoyed the art gallery thing! :-)
XO
You are so right Vix, clothing with a logo emblazoned all over the garment is far too uniform and really stands for very little, apart from the fact you would rather represent a clothing brand than your own. Fab nostalgic find, it must take you back xxx
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've always been in style, even in your early birthday jumpsuit. I don't remember my mom helping me pick out too many things. She use to bring home bags of clothing from the thrift stores and just let us pick out what fit. Of course being tall my pants were always too short. Knickers are something I've been searching for! They look awesome with boots too. So versatile. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'll imitate you and to wear gray and purple some day in the coming week. Okay when you live in different countries right?
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's anyone else who could rock a knickerbocker quite like you. And, while I'm a sucker for a posh shoe, I'm with you on the labels thing and really love your attitude. And, by the by, I am glad you and Krista didn't snap up my jumper in Ambleside cause I love it! It was the only chazza shop we made it into too - what are the chances!? x
ReplyDeleteAdore this outfit, and those shoes, oh my! xx
ReplyDeleteSwooning over your colors today, and those fab shoes! Thanks for linking up with Visible Monday. xxx
ReplyDeleteLove your outfit. It reminds me of 70's Cher (and I mean that as a compliment!) Very, very cool.
ReplyDeleteOMG!! i love this look - I need the pants in my closet!! you look wonderful!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the knickers!! This color is also great on you! You worked it!
ReplyDeleteWOW! You were stylish even as a kid xx
ReplyDeleteVix, you completely rock anything you wear. Loved the childhood photo, and am so jealous of your ability to wear high heels.
ReplyDeleteFabulous knickerbockers Vix!! You're pretty much the only person I know who can pull those types of trousers off!
ReplyDeleteHope the exhibition was good.
Lxx
how could i miss so many posts? i'm shocked!
ReplyDeleteoh, those knickerbockers make me jealous! you look stunning in this outfit.
http://wardrobexperience.blogspot.de
Those are wonderful! I love this outfit - such fab colours. I'm a big fan of Paisley too. I've heard of Bus Stop but have yet to see any around. I doubt I could carry off knickerbockers, but I do have a pattern for knitting them around somewhere.
ReplyDeleteNikki x
What an adorable photo of you at 13!
ReplyDeleteI think you were already in love with clothes.
one of my favourite outfits ever!!
ReplyDeletedesdemonavintage.blogspot.com
Ahhh love these knickerbockers. I have a BIG thing for Bus Stop, yet i'ce never seen this label before. You look fab!
ReplyDeletex