Thursday, July 13, 2017

Cottage Days

I recently returned from a lovely few days up at the family cottage. There was lot of swimming, yarn shopping, and coffee sipping, and it was glorious. It was a surprisingly busy and exhausting week but somehow it managed to be refreshing as well. 

I didn't really take any outfit shots while I was up there, but I did have to take some photos of my new bathing suit. Yup... I now have an Edwardian-style swimsuit. I knew I needed a new swimsuit this year and opted to make something a little more covered up than my previous 1940's bikini. The reason? Well, mainly because the lake is always freezing plus I think Victorian/Edwardian bathing suits are adorable. I had a friend who used to always wear a wet suit to go swimming in the lake, so I figured this is just a cuter version of that. 

The material has a great texture and looks a bit like wool on one side, but it actually very similar to modern swimsuit material. It's super comfy and stretchy enough to make movement easy. I did plan on doing some real swimming in this thing so I worked hard to make sure it was a functional garment. I didn't actually wear the tights or ribbon belt for swimming, but the rest of it made for an excellent swimming costume. The only downside is that it takes forever to dry out.



I researched a lot of historical suits styles before designing mine. In the end, I opted for an Edwardian  suit rather than Victorian (it seemed a little more practical). Most suits also seemed to have a sailor collar, so I felt that detail was a must-have on my suit. While most of the original suits were not black, this fabric was on a very good sale so I opted to add in colour with the trim instead. My main inspiration was the swim costume top-left in the below image:

I'm sure I looked quite a sight floating around in a giant swan in my Edwardian bathing costume...



You may have already seen part of my Canada Day outfit on instagram, but I thought I would repost the uncropped versions here. I wore this the day we left for the cottage and snapped a few quick pictures after loading up the car. I was hot, grumpy, and tired when these photos were taken, but hopefully it doesn't show too much. 

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer so far!

That's All. 

8 comments:

  1. That bathing suit is so adorable!! xx

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  2. Hello there,
    You are the picture of Victorian/Edwardian Perfection, so adorable. The swan gives a lovely vintage effect and looks like a lot of fun.

    A flower garden update, my various bulb and daylilies did survive the hail and are blooming profusely. I also have a new bloomer, it is called a Toad Lilly or The Poor Man's Orchid. Wish I could send a photo, but you can google them. Mine is the orange colored variety. Mixed in are many coneflowers, and a red admiral butterfly visits everyday.

    Wishing You Many Happy Summer Days ... Pamela

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    1. I'd never heard of a toad lily before, but I just googled a picture of them and wow! What a lovely and unique looking flower :)

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  3. Those outfits are gorgeous.
    Marilyn

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  4. Hi, just found your blog again, and don't think I've commented before. Your swimsuit is very cute. Love the old-fashioned ones.

    I hope you have gotten more answers about your autoimmune thyroid condition. I have found Dr. Izabella Wentz's website super helpful, lots of good info about autoimmune thyroid (mostly Hashimoto's, but also info about Graves'). From personal experience, I'd recommend finding out what is actually causing the condition, and address it, otherwise the body often starts attacking other areas and you end up with more autoimmune diseases. Adrenal dysfunction is another thing to look into as it's often present along with thyroid disease. A functional medicine, integrative, or naturopathic doctor seems to be the best bet if you can find one.

    Best wishes,

    Dee

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    Replies
    1. Hi Dee,
      No more answers as to the cause of the autoimmune condition, but my thyroid is back to functioning within the "normal" range again. I gave up gluten and that seems to have made a world of different to my thyroid levels. I still have the cfs/me but that's a separate issue and I'm awaiting an appointment with a specialist for that. Depending on the results of that, I have been pondering going to a local naturopathic doctor in the autumn. Thank you for the website suggestion! I'm finding doing my own research has been quite beneficial, so I'm always on the lookout for new info sources. :)

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  5. Oh WOW! Your Edwardian-style swimsuit is sensational! Are you going to be making these for Phonograph Fashions as well?

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