Wednesday 30 July 2014

We passed upon the stair


If I were putting together a list of words to describe my wardrobe, it would have to include vintage, 1960-70s, dresses, maxis, print, colour, and cheap.

That's not exhaustive, but you get the general idea.



This dress does a good job of combining all of the above.

A towelling maxi dress in quintessentially early 1970s colours and print, which fits perfectly, and cost £2.50.



 I'd say the whole outfit comes in at under a tenner, including shoes and accessories (all secondhand). 

Now, who else remembers all the orange, yellow and brown around in the 1970s?




I amused myself by browsing Google Images for examples, of which there are many when it comes to home wares (these were all from Ebay and Etsy).

But it occurred to me that I have plenty of my own 1970s kitchen kitsch - just look!



J&G Meakin Studio coffee pot and cups
Baret Ware biscuit barrel and cake tin
Alfred Meakin plates
Kathie Winkle for Broadhurst Ironstone bowls

Apart from the coffee pot, which is for decorative purposes only, everything else is in regular use.

And of course everything was bought in charity shops for not much money at all.



1970s C&A maxi dress - Baklash in Nottingham (bought on a delightful bloggers' day out)
Sandals - Ebay
Sunglasses, belt, necklace, and most of the bangles - charity shopped




Here's another of my 1970s maxi dresses in exactly the same colours.



Kati at Laura Phillips maxi - gift, bought in a vintage shop in Brick Lane, London


It's too warm for any of these.



Mmm... That's better, boys.




 Now, I'm not sure what was going on here...




but you could be forgiven for thinking that I'm waiting at the bottom of the garden for my allotted partner at a wife-swapping party, circa 1974.

So where is David from No. 57?



 Ahh, here he is; I do like a man in orange.



I've no evidence that this dress is from 1974, but I have decided it is, so there.

 And David and Lulu agree!

xxxx

                                                      

49 comments:

Helga said...

Bahahaha, your in a fine frame of mind today!!! Mmmm, David, why haven't you thrown your keys into MY bowl, baby?!
GAwd I love both of those maxis! I would not have guessed the first is towelling!!! How very versatile!
I adore the browns/yellows and oranges of the 70s. Obviously. I am fair dribbling over your kitchen kitsch!!! I must take a pic of my latest aquisition for my next post, so I can slightly compete!!! I fondly remember our farmhouse kitchen in the 70's. What I wouldn't give to be back there RIGHT NOW, with a jar of my Mama's bread and butter pickles in hand..........
Love you! XXXXXXX

Helga said...

Hey! I'm fecking FIRST!!! Rad!

Caroline said...

I bloody love Dave. I so would.

We used to have lots of orange Tupperware. The biscuit box was like the one in the photo.

I don't usually wear any orange because I have painful memories of working in Sainsburys as a teenager. It was all orange and brown with an orange body warmer.

You look far more gorgeous in your frock than I did in my Sainsburys dress.

Caroline
Www.puttingyourlifeinorder.blogspot.co.uk

Caroline said...

I bloody love Dave. I so would.

We used to have lots of orange Tupperware. The biscuit box was like the one in the photo.

I don't usually wear any orange because I have painful memories of working in Sainsburys as a teenager. It was all orange and brown with an orange body warmer.

You look far more gorgeous in your frock than I did in my Sainsburys dress.

Caroline
Www.puttingyourlifeinorder.blogspot.co.uk

Mother of Reinvention said...

I LOVE orange and you are rocking it today, your dresses are fabulous. You really suit that colour. Was that an orange tupperware rice cooker I saw in one of you Google pics? My Mum used to have one. it actually worked pretty well. I had a 60's orange suede jacket with leather cuffs, buttons and lapels. i loved that jacket. Orange is such a cool colour. I heard that it was pampas grass in your garden was the sign of swinging not orange maxis but hey, I am not the expert on such 70's matters. If someone gave me their car keys I woud probably just go for a drive.You look great as always;) xxxx

bahnwärterin said...

uuaahhh!!!
i know people who painted rooms and turn of the century furniture in orange, yellow and different shades of brown. shiny of cause....
but you look fab in this colors with your own autumnal coloring! and i love this abstract print!
on me orange is a loser, only in small accessories doses i can wear it.
greet david from me ;-)
xxxxxxx

mondoagogo said...

I was gonna say, a towelling maxidress in *this* heat?! Must be mad! Does look great on you though.

Louise Mc said...

My grandma had that biscuit barrel, I vividly remember it as a child and it always contained digestives. So cool, but of course I had no appreciation for what it was then, I wish I had it now. X

Vix said...

Orange and brown, the classic 1970s combination and always fabulous! I'd forgotten all about that wonderful Backlash dress and Kati frocks are always sublime. That tray is good old M&S, innit?
Mum favoured mustard and orange until she went all William Morris and fancy. Gorgeous bits, I have a thing about coffee pots too, completely pointless but so elegant.
I can totally see you in that orange suedette trousers suit, get the machine out!
Love you! xxxx

Anonymous said...

An exceptionally visually marvelously vintage loving post!!!Wow, I love this one especially because it's my colors too. Look how well all the dishes go too. I remember my mom making a comment once while she was looking around at all the stuff in my house. She said, "you have a very good sense of yourself." I would definitely say the same of you.

Diane said...

I do remember it in the 70's and still love it all to this day! The print on that frock is fab and I love the homewares xxx

ArgentGal said...

Oh my! I'm dying laughing. I'm also drooling over the coffee pot. You look fabulous, and I love the saucy knee poking out!

Patti said...

Our kitchen was full of these Autumn colors! I may still have an orange tupperware bowl. Love, love your maxi dresses and your saucy poses. Please give David my number when you're through with him! xox

Unknown said...

I don't know how you find these great dresses for so cheap! They are never that cheap here, oh well.
I too love the 70s colors, harvest gold, burnt orange, and avocado green! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh how I adore such 70's colours brown, yellow and orange......work in some some green and I'm in retrotastic heaven. I adore both of your dress, both I'd wear with hesitation. I love, love, love the pic of you against the brick wall, you look like you're from a page of a magazine or catalogue with your gorgeous hair.

Connie said...

You red heads do look so pretty in these colors. And the kitchen ware is wonderful. I smell apple cobbler and beef stew. Ah the 70's. I never looked very good in gold and orange and brown but I wore it anyway. All the time!! And I blame it for my not getting asked to the winter formal dance. You would have been the Queen of the Ball.

Sheila said...

Wasn't it Harvest Gold, Avocado and Burnt Orange? I grew up with all those colours - they feel like home to me. You are a stunner in that first dress - woo, look at your gorgeous gams!

WTF is going on with those men? Ponchos? Really?

Goody said...

Oh, we had a brown/gold/orange kitchen when I was growing up with orange walls, save for the single papered wall with gigantic op-art flowers. My present kitchen is slowly inching in that direction with the brown floors and countertops. You know, this post just brought back such a flood of happy memories-thank you.

OK, the fellow in the poncho...not the sort you'd want getting your key, but it would probably be OK because he'd just come in, grab a cup of coffee, sit at your desk, and do your taxes for you. Maybe the poncho is an, "Accountant at play" sort of fashion.

I think '74 is probably close. By '75/76 everything was slinky fabrics and disco.

Shawna McComber said...

Hah those men in the ponchos that appear to be knitted by granny are both hilarious and scary. Someone got into the magic mushrooms perhaps.

Yes, those seventies colours are awfully familiar. My mum likes blues and greens so our home was filled with the lime, turquoise and avocado twins of everything that also came in orange, brown and gold.

You are looking very elegant and sexy in that toweling! I haven't worn toweling since I had some little jumpsuits made out of it when I was a child. Your version is definitely sexier.
xoxo

Natalia Lialina said...

This maxi is purrrrfect on you, Curtise! Everything - colors, shape, cut, and the leg showing! You look stunning! David couldn't be happier! :)

I'd wear this dress too. And I love the selection of your dishes - I am very fond of such patterns and colors myself, not even sure why, but my heart melts when I see the 70s stuff in antique malls (not so many in thrift shops around here). I am contemplating painting one of the rooms in burnt orange, that'd be quite crazy!

Have a great rest of the week, my dear! xxxx

Sarah Jane said...

Print, colour and cheap - nothing wrong with any of those adjectives. Many of my dresses fall into this catergory. Loving the colour scheme of this post. I remember all that orange and brown kitchenware being around well into the 80's until my mum got rid of it and went with classic 80's red and white xx

Unknown said...

I love the seventies colours, one of the few memories I have of growing up is my orange and brown living room with the sun clock! Both your dresses are fab, and now off I go to knit Robbie a poncho...! x

Jazzy Jack said...

Argh! I'm seeing orange and brown everywhere! I'm turning 70's!
But on a saner note, you look great in those colours. Isn't towelling a bit hot?
You do look great at the bottom of the garden waiting...can't think why he didn't come!
XO JJ

Loo xx from Jumbles and Pompoms said...

Orange, brown and yellow. Squeal! My favourites. The epitome of the 70s if you ask moi. Your towelling frock is divine and the man poncho is quite bonkers. xx

Peaches McGinty said...

My Mum embraced all colour until she bought some putty wallpaper and has been white ever since - she did have lot's of tupperware and has the grooviest flask ever, it may be a hot water dispenser, it's huge, orange and brown and I want it!!! your dresses are divine, bring on the print and colour, cheap too! I love cheap! I am cheap! love your poses with your long leg peeking through, saucy! well I suppose if David from no 57 is popping in, it's quite bloody right! x x x

Angels have Red Hair said...

You rock orange and brown :0)
xx

The Style Crone said...

You couldn't look more gorgeous! These colors suit you and play perfectly with your hair. I'm a fan of orange, yellow and brown as well. So much in this post to swoon about!

Beth Waltz said...

Never let that towelling maxi escape -- if disaster befalls it, pick it apart and make patterns from it. That is a perfect fit!

Of course, it's a well-known fact that burnt orange Tupperware never dies. I bought mine at a home party when pyterodactyls flew and they are still in daily use.

Regretably, it's also a fact that avocado green appliances are also immortal. Friend of mine has a complete set, including wide range with double ovens and a mangel for the laundry, that is keeping a utility company in business.

Harvest gold bathtubs also involve a lifetime committment. You have been warned.

Ivy Black said...

I do love those maxis...bloody lush. Oh that colour scheme...I'm right back in my grans' kitchen. It was a riot of yellow, brown and orange. So was were my clothes as it goes. I have such a soft spot for that mix....proper Seventies. I bought that single from Woolies. I was only 8. Go baby me! I used to sing along with the Lulu bit. I don't like Lulu. Loves you though.
xxxxxxxx

Krista said...

You have found some yummy stuff over the years haven't you! This dress fits you perfectly in fit and most of all color and that pattern! I used to be scared of these colors, they looked too much like a sofa we had as a kid, but now I look at all colors with an open eye. I'm still frightened of brown but hey I hear most have that fear of pink:)
Love all these groovy images, I was born in 1970 so they all speak to me.
Love you!
XXXOOOO

Mrs Bertimus said...

I remember in the seventies I had one of those pattern colouring in books. I coloured in all the patterns in orange and brown and I loved it! X

Melanie said...

Oh, get me that man in the knit poncho, quick! Or the one in the tunic; rather, just get me their clothes. The man-swapping party sounds exhausting.
You rock your '70s maxis, Curtise. I wouldn't have guessed towelling either but that just makes this dress even more wonderful. I love those photos of you flashing leg.
I grew up with those kitchen colours. It was almost impossible to get away from them.

silvergirl said...

I think my childhood just flashed before my eyes with this color palette!!
Brett

Trees said...

I love the 1970's and brown and orange is pretty much my favourite colour palette! That first dress is amazing and you look fab in it!! Thanks for your lovely comment on my bloghop post - it made me smile :)

Becky said...

That striped maxi is so pretty! Yellow, orange, and brown FOREVER! And Bowie!

Vintage Bird Girl said...

How divine is that maxi frock. Ticking all my boxes, although I can't say I've worn toweling before. You look gloriarse & simply splendid. Of course that frock is from 1974...that was a very good year! Xx

Sue said...

We had an entire lounge suite in brown/orange and gold, it was very trendy for the time, and yes that would have been in the 70s!! You definitely suit those earthy colours.

Jane and Lance Hattatt said...

Hello Curtise,

How we have missed you.........although nobody could miss you in this very bold 1970s outfit!

It does look fabulous on you. An unbelievably good find at £2.50......the price of a cup of coffee in some establishments.

Indeed, the colours tone perfectly with the Crocosmia in your garden, flower power at its finest.

And, would that darling David were next door......now that really could be a house party for the neighbours to marvel at!

More and more we feel that you really are the Nancy Cunard of our age with the stacked bangles. She had style too!

Forest City Fashionista said...

Ah yes, the good old days of orange, brown and gold (with a bit of avocado green thrown in). We used to have a set of those orange Tupperware containers like the one in the top right photo. The days when many homes had a copy of Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" hanging in the living room!

Love the shot of you flashing your leg, yet looking all demure and modest. What a cool dress! 1970's Bowie would love you (he could be part of our gang)

Unknown said...

Yes I remember those days!
You and Vix are the queens of the 70s, you wear the clothes so well!
I love the leg flashing there - Très sexy!

Hugs

Arianexo

Emma Kate at Paint and Style said...

My word, LOVING that dress, it's so flattering on you and the saucy split is the icing on the cake. What a fabulous find. Hope you're enjoying the hols. xxxx

Melancholy and Menace said...

oooh, so many gorgeous things to look at! Loving the posts orange theme, especially Mr Bowie of course and those men in crochet - ha! Brilliant!

You look as lovely as ever. Have a perfect weekend xx

freckleface said...

Sex on legs! That's you in that Baklash frock. Wolf whistle!! Towelling has never looked so good. Can't believe i didn't get any bargains that day. Must try harder next time. I remember! In fact we had that fondue set and that orange tupperware. Look at all your kitchenalia! What a collection. I know you're not one to show of your house, but I remain fascinated after this little glimpse. Wife swapping? Wonder what word searches your blog thingy will come up with after this post?! Xxxxxxxx

bonsaimum said...

Those maxi-dresses certainly make a statement. :)

Amber of Butane Anvil said...

Oh that first dress is fabulous on you! The second too, both with perfect shoes! I have such affection for the colour schemes and design of old kitchenwares - not alone in that, I think it was while surfing inspired by you I recently saw an image of a classic Pyrex pattern applied as an armband tattoo. :) I hear a jingle, David's surely on his way ...

Catherine said...

I love the orange and brown combo from the 70s, though my. Mums kitchen was full of avocado green and yellow things. I love your second frock! So lovely!

Catherine said...

I love the orange and brown combo from the 70s, though my. Mums kitchen was full of avocado green and yellow things. I love your second frock! So lovely!

Jean at www.drossintogold.com said...

1974. That's when I got married (eloped!) the first time. Ha ha!! Avocado and orange kitchen accessories come to mind, not that we got very many wedding presents. I think I like the looks of them better now, and you look divine in your maxis!!

XXOO

Señora Allnut said...

orange coolness!!, your dresses (both of them) are amazing and fit you like a dream, love the colors and prints!
And all that orange-yellow-brown homeware makes me feel at home! they're the kind of stuff my grandma loved!
besos & orange