Sunday, 22 April 2012

One Thousand and One Outfits (not really)

Hope you've all had a splendiferous weekend.
I've finally finished sorting through all the holiday pics, huzzah!
 As I mentioned in an earlier installment I would do a 'random holiday outfits' post as well, so here it is.
First off is a caftan that I bought from a car boot sale two months ago...
This stunning turquoise caftan is perfect for throwing over a bikini when going for lunch or just as a cover-up when doing a spot of beachcombing.
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I brought a few pairs of lightweight trousers with me cause I read that it can get pretty nippy out in the desert at night.
 These ones I bought several years ago from an Indian clothing shop, they are double-layered with a stunning cream jacquard fabric and sheer black chiffon...
This quirky top was another car boot sale buy and I've teamed it with one of my Indian choli tops that I won on eBay last year.
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These are the trousers that I for some obscure reason deemed suitable to travel in.
Wide-leg trousers are possibly the worse thing to wear when traversing the London Underground during crush hour and especially when you are loaded up with heaps of luggage.
My foot got caught in the swishy trouser leg but luckily I have cat-like reflexes and I managed to grab onto something instead of loosing my two front teeth, phew!
I do love these trousers though, just not to travel in.
Emporio Armani top teamed with another one of my Indian choli tops.
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I got this wine red mesh top from the car boot sale the week before we went away.
The design is really quirky and its even got a hood.
Harem jumpsuit, tribal mirror & coin belt, Topshop hammered brass disc necklace that I scored from the car boot sale for a quid.
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We went to Luxor for an outing and visited the very impressive Karnak temple complex, The Valley of the Kings & Hatshepsut's Temple.
It was a real whistle stop outing and we even managed to cram in a short boat trip on the Nile.
Those double-layered trousers got another outing,  I teamed them with a rose print silk blouse by Diane Von Furstenberg and my trusty vintage jazz dance trainers.
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I brought my harem jumpsuit & two pairs of harem pants, I'm still in love with this roomy trouser style...
Indian silk harem pants, tassel-tastico hippie top and in the last picture my beloved vintage 70s suede vest/waistcoat.
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The second pair of harem pants have more glitz than you can shake a stick at...
Bronze harlequin diamond patterned harem pants teamed with a sequin embellished mesh top and low-slung leather belt.
Shake your tail feather! OMG, I think I've just attracted a randy ostrich ;)
Here I've added an embroidered chiffon top and my funky sequin elephant cap.
PIMP MY CRIB!
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 We also went for an awesome day out to the stunning Sataya reef where you are sometimes lucky enough to swim with dolphins.
Unfortunately the dolphins stayed away until we were on our way back home, so we saw them from the boat, however we did get to swim with a huge-ass Napoleon fish and we also managed to do some pretty spectacular freediving.
Those Indian silk harem trousers again,  this time teamed with a cut-out butterfly Tee, turban fashioned from a sarong and my bestest fashion accessory ever...my hubby of course!
Early morning at divers paradise Tondoba Bay, chilling before scuba ;)
As we spent most of the day on the beach or in the sea I was sporting a bikini or my wetsuit most of the time...
I brought two bikinis and one tankini. The fabulously colourful one was a gift from the divine Helga.
Hubby scored this Mares wetsuit on eBay...what a kind, clever and awesome man I am blessed with.
Snorkeling, freediving  and scuba...I absolutely LOVE IT! The Red Sea is awesome and I couldn't recomend Egypt and Marsa Alam highly enough.
Last but by no means least my underwater kit...Mares fins, Scubapro snorkel and Cressi mask all purchased off eBay.

That's it folks...now you've seen all my holiday get-ups.
Now I'll have to put my thinking cap on to figure out what to blog about next, any requests?
Have a fantastic week!
Lot's of love,
Jennie
xXx


Thursday, 19 April 2012

Meanwhile at the base of the Pyramid

We've been back home for almost two weeks, the post holiday radiance has all but ebbed away and the dreaded back in Blighty blues has come knocking.
When I went back to work after Easter I found that my hours had been changed.
I'm doing more hours, more work (for the same pityful pittance) and as if that wasn't bad enough they've given me a much crappier shift too.
Employers really have the knack of wringing every last drop of joy out of your soul don't they.
What really infuriated me though is that I wasn't even consulted beforehand about these changes just expected to fall in line like a good little epsilon-minus semi-moron, needless to say I'm back on all the jobsites looking for another gig. 
Och, the joys of being a wage-slave.
One day I will be my own boss and it will be frocking fabulous!
A bit like this awesome get-up that I won on eBay last year...
This was in the same bundle as the INTERLINKS - LONDON frock that I also brought with me to Egypt. 
I really hit the eBay jackpot that day!
Again I apologise for the mirror image overkill but I really like the Rorschach effect that you get when you do this. 
Just look at the pic above, can you also see the big face in the desert sand?
I think that one is quite obvious but when you study the others mittor image pics a bit more closely you can see all-sorts of weird and wonderful things... 
if you just let your imagination run riot ;)
This is a very versatile get-up, so ideal holiday garb.
You can wear the top with shorts on the beach, the skirt with casual top for an outing and it looks just like a frock when you wear the two pieces together, so that's the evening wear snorted too ;)
Only two more days until the weekend, huzzah!
All we need now is for the weather to get its bleeding act together.
Come on it's May soon, give us some Sun & warmth will you :)
Lot's of love,
Jennie
xXx


Monday, 16 April 2012

She who knows the widow spider

Holiday frock number ten is fit for an Egyptian goddess...
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The Frock:
This is my "Winged Isis" frock & needless to say it was one of the first garments to hit my suitcase.
It's labelled 'David Butler at Pressler' and I bought it off eBay some years ago.
I sometimes take a punt at auctions with shockingly bad pictures and this was one of those occasions.
You never quite know whether the postman is going to bring you a parcel of hotness or a parcel of notness when you do it like this but when I received this spectacular frock I felt like the cat that got the cream.
The black parts of the dress is made from a slinky sun-ray pleated material and the bodice and top of the sleeves feature a stunning three coloured taffeta fabric with glitzy lurex & fabulous flocked detailing.
I really felt a bit like an Egyptian Goddess wearing this stunning frock in such a magical place.
The Legend: 
"Osiris, Isis, and their brother Seth were all gods. Osiris was god of vegetation, Isis the goddess of fertility and Seth the god of the desert. Osiris was a "living god", like Horus he was embodied as the pharaoh. When he became pharaoh, he took Isis to be queen. Seth became jealous and murdered Osiris. He cut Osiris' body into pieces and scattered them throughout Egypt. When Isis heard, she took the form of a bird and searched until she found all the parts of his body. After reassembling Osiris' body, she beat her wings and breathed life back into him." 
The End:
I hope you've enjoyed my little post medley of holiday frocks as much as I enjoyed creating them.
A special thanks to my beloved husband who kindly gave up three holiday sleep-ins to help me take all the photos. 
Also many thanks to all you lovelies that have taken the time to comment on these posts, it really means a lot to me.
I will be doing a couple more 'holiday clobber' posts which will include random outfits that don't fall under the category frock but are frigging fabulous anyway even if I do say so myself  ;)
Lot's of love,
Jennie
xXx



Sunday, 15 April 2012

Diggin' the desert queen

Holiday frock number nine looks mighty fine teamed with an Indian silk choli top underneath...
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The Frock:
This spectacular vintage 70s maxi frock was another score from my vintage dealer friend a few years ago.
It's labelled 'Penelope Peep' & it's made in England but further research into the maker has proven rather fruitless. 
Every now and again I'll come across a 'Penelope Peep' frock on eBay but usually the seller knows as much as I do about the label, in other words sweet nothing.
 The frock features a sweeping long skirt and an alluring peep-hole detail to the front, YOWZA!
It's tremendously sassy when worn on its own but I prefer to team it with one of my many Indian choli tops for a more relaxed and not quite so minxy style.
The Choli Tops:
I won a whole heap of these on eBay last year in a rainbow array of delicious colours.
Before we went to Egypt I was deciding which ones to take and I even picked out accessories that would match the colours of the ones that I brought, none of this is evident in these pics however because I forgot to do an idiot check before we left for our desert photo sessions and left several things behind.
 I even forgot to don my armful of jingly-jangly bangles on one of the mornings, so all you can see is my Tibetan prayer bangle that rarely leaves my wrist and the blue all-inclusive resort armband...classy!
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Up next my Isis frock ;)
Hope you've all had a fabulous weekend, I can't believe it's over already!
Lot's of love,
Jennie


Saturday, 14 April 2012

Bedouin Dreams

Frock number eight stayed up late to admire the moon & the stars from the rag rug clad floor of the Badawia bar...
The Frock:
This fabulous vintage 70s maxi frock only got shot on the first day cause I forgot to pack it when we went out for our last session.
The first session was on the day when the wind wreaked havoc with ruffles and blew my hat off on several occasions, so we didn't manage to get many nice shots of this particular frock, my hair was all over the place and the wind blew up the skirt giving it an inflated appearance. 
I did wear it a few times during the holiday so other pics were taken of it.
I bought this off eBay late last year and I have worn it loads,
it's one of my favourite frocks at the moment.
It's labelled 'Canda International' & if I'm not entirely mistaken 'Canda' was/is a range sold by the cheap & cheerful high street fashion retailer C&A.
It's made from super comfy brushed polyester which features a stunning floral print.
I really love this dress and I will be wearing it for years to come I'm sure.
The Double Vision:
I apologize for the shameless over usage of mirror image pics in these holiday wardrobe posts but what can I say, I'm really into them at the moment, I'm sure it's just a phase, I'll get over it ;)
The Bedouin Tent Bar:
The last picture was taken at our favourite resort bar which was a partially open top bedouin style tent with colourful rag rugs covering the ground, ornately carved wooden tables, super comfy pouffes & camel stools (the ones you can sit on) scattered around and pretty arabic lanterns hanging from the ceiling. 
In other words my favourite kind of place!
It was rarely busy so you could plonk yourself on the floor in the middle of the bar, lie down on the rugs and stargaze.
They played Egyptian pop, served up a mean cup of refreshing karkadé (hibiscus tea) & the sweet smell of shisha was forever lingering in the evening air...HEAVEN!
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Next up a choli top & vintage maxi frock mashup ;)
Hope you lovely peeps are enjoying the weekend!
Lot's of love,
Jennie
xXx