Thursday 25 July 2013

Fiesta frock

In 1986 my mum took me to Mallorca on holiday, Magaluf to be exact. 
In the morning mum would cover herself in Hawaiian Tropic dark tanning oil, slither onto a beach lounger and stay there for hours reading her books in the baking hot sun. I soon got bored with lounging on the beach and took my inflatable lilo for epic paddles along the shoreline and beyond. On one occasion I got back finding my mother livid with worry cause I'd been gone for several hours. She gave me an almighty bollocking for not being more considerate and told me that I could forget about the fiesta dress that I'd been lusting over in a little shop near the hotel. As a child in pursuit of excitement, adventure and really wild things I became blinkered to other peoples concerns I guess. If my mum had known about all the other perilously crazy stunts me and my little pals got up to at home, she would probably have put me under permanent house arrest until I turned eighteen. We returned to the hotel in a huffed silence to get ready for an outing. That evening we were going to a 'medieval fiesta' held at some fake fort on the outskirts of the resort. Do people still go to these things? Everyone wore paper crowns and colour coded tabards to correspond with each seating section's individual knight. During the medieval banquet tournaments were held. The cheap Spanish plonk (and lemonade) was free flowing and there were lots of  jeering and cheering going on. An opportunity to shake a leg was also given towards the end of the evening, with a great many vermillion-faced holiday makers dancing to the ever so slightly annoying birdy song. 
Needless to say my mum didn't stay cross with me for very long and she even let me buy a fiesta frock before we went home. I actually wanted a scarlet lace one but mum thought it was far too sexy for a twelve year old so I was only allowed to get the much more virginal white cotton & crochet trimmed version. Sadly the white frock no longer dwells in my vintage wonderland but whenever I come across a similar dress all these memories come flooding back to me.
The hydrangea pink fiesta frock that I'm wearing today was cheekily borrowed from the Frocktasia stockroom cause it just seemed like the perfect day for it ;)
80s Mexican fiesta dress, ethnic mirror and embroidery embellished tie belt, 80s Pierre Cardin sandals & Leslie Works button bracelet.
I'll love you and leave you with The Pogues, enjoy ;)
Take care,
Jennie
xXx



16 comments:

thorne garnet said...

yes, those places are still out there. In fact my friend Chris (who is Goth head to toe) works at a place called Medieval Times. He loves working there. Go figure.

Trees said...

Wow I love this frock and the story as well :) I always wanted some kind of lovely, tropical Mexican frock. Perhaps I'll have to go to Mexico sometime and pick one up ;)

Louise Mc said...

Can't beat the Pogues. I'm actually wearing my Pogues t-shirt right now. That dress is lovely, I hope the sunshine comes back so you can share more of your lovely frocks with us. X

Franca said...

gorgeous dress and lovely story!

Unknown said...

My god I thought you was talking about me then!!! Mirror image of my youth abroad with my mum. Lovely story Jennie and brings back memories, I loved the dresses and those little leather magaluf purses ;) xx

Mrs. D said...

Look at you, so cute then and so cute now xx

Shybiker said...

What a charming story. Tales of our experiences with our mother interest me. I miss my mom.

Also interesting how your story (and those of many women) include reference to clothes. I don't know of a single man who, recounting his past, remembers or cares what he was wearing.

Curtise said...

Love the pic of you in your white dress from Magaluf! And the pink one in the here and now is pretty spectacular too, you look gorgeous. xxx

Krista said...

What a sweet funny story. You are so cute as a kid too, but you know I love this dress more in pink. Glad to see someone enjoying dinner in the park!
Xxxooo

Vix said...

Aww! What a sweet story, I'm glad you got a pretty Señorita dress in the end, you looked so pretty in it. Love that pink one even more, so vibrant and fabulous.
I'm sure that Medieval Banquet thing was on the TV Series Benidorm once, I can't imagine anything worse! xxx

Flora Cruft said...

That first photo of you is so lovely, and what a sweet tale of your childhood dress longing. Like you I was obsessed with dresses even as a little girl. This pink Mexican number is divine.

Connie said...

Such a funny story. I've been driving people crazy with my adventures all my life. I can relate. And you know I love Mexican dresses. You look so pretty in these dresses!!!

Ulla-Marie said...

Lika söt nu som då. Jag har också varit i Magaluf en gång. Fascinerande! Jag trodde att det där om svenska menyer osv var lite överdrivet, men icke. Barerna och restaurangerna hette verkligen "Grabbarna Grus", "Trolltrumman" osv. Hittade dock inte nån söt klänning och ingen tappade bort mig.

Idee Fixe said...

How cute you were! I do love the pink dress though, such a lovely shade on you! They still do fiestas in the little villages, the less touristy parts. But they are reenactments with sword fighting and traditional Spanish & Moorish dress. A big one is coming up soon in Pollença, last time we visited we just missed it but the decorations were still up, quite festive! XXX

Connie Staccato said...

Que vestido tan lindo, senora!

his_girl_friday said...

So gorgeous and colorful!