Jane and Beryl have found themselves in the fortunate position of being in receipt of a number of rather formal invitations of late: 21st birthday dos, graduations (Beryl's own), 50th birthdays and so forth. Obviously, they like this greatly as it presents lots of opportunities for dressing up. 

First up is Beryl's graduation. Oh, the cleverness of her, she's only gone and got a merit in her Masters degree at Bath Spa in Fine Art. So Jane and Beryl are off to Aquae Sulis for a 
happy day out.







Congratulations and Celebrations


Oh God, Beryl in theory loves attention, ergo the blog, but in reality goes all squeamish and wants to crawl under her bed (often found there as a child in times of stress). Now, Jane has a mortar board and gown in her vast collection of stuff. Anyone who knows her is going, "of course she does" because Jane makes owning strange objects seem almost normal. This aside, this has proved jolly useful, how else would Beryl know that wearing a dress with no sleeves looks vaguely porny 
under an academic gown? 





Beryl has ordered a bright red dress with sleeves, which will look very demure! The grey dress is a Katya Wildman Bombshell Dress, which cost £55 in a sale. Favoured by Nigella Lawson, they are normally much more expensive. The shoes are this coming season's from Mint Velvet and £110. The silver heels are fab. The coat came from Great Plains five or six years ago, and cost £120. It has been a wardrobe ten, in terms of wear, and may go to Beryl's son's graduation 
later in the year. 



Jane has decided to try her Nutcracker jacket with a dress - shock, horror - and rather likes the effect. The dress in question couldn't be less dressy, however, if it tried, as it's a wooly navy number from Nicole Farhi, but she feels given the freezing weather, she's going to need some warmth in the Assembly Rooms. It was about £170 From Little London, Winchester.



Beryl and Jane adore vintage clothes: age and history seem to imbue garments with an allure that is often missing from modern mass produced clothes. Beryl's particular fascination lies with the 1950's while Jane favours the 1930's. This dress is an original 50's number and came from a vintage fare for £85. Beryl plans to wear it to a friend's 50th birthday lunch, but it could go to a wedding and no-one else will be wearing the same dress. 


Jane was over-excited to find this retro-looking jacket in a marvellous sale at Cadogan in Winchester, reduced to £60 from its original £200. She plans to wear it to hear her daughter sing in a church in Egham. Beryl thinks it could go a bit too Downton if she's not careful (and when is she that?), but Jane says,"oh do be quiet and go and bring in the cucumber sandwiches." She is wearing it here with a Zara shirt and a knitted skirt from The Shaw Trust for £6. Her intention on less formal occasions is 
to put it with jeans.  



Still raiding her 1950's dress pile, Beryl is planning to wear this to Jane's daughter's 21st Birthday tea party. Happy Birthday Kate. It cost £20 from Molly's Den in Winchester and is a fine example of the really bold prints that livened up the end of post war austerity.  


Jane is thinking of wearing these Oasis trousers, (£38) which she bought last year as she was attracted to the fabric which is apparently inspired by the archives of the V&A. She plans to wear them to Kate's birthday celebrations, although not with the jacket, but she couldn't resist putting it on here as the colour goes so well: it came from a vintage shop in Tetbury for £26. She's thinking they will be a good bit of kit when she's unloading the delivery from Mr Waitrose. 




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