One of the most amazing sartorial feelings has to be when you slip into a vintage dress and it fits like a glove. Heck, it's an amazing feeling when you slip into any dress and it fits perfectly. We might have more clothing options these days, but no matter what your size is, buying a size at a shop today (versus the custom fit creations of yesteryear) means buying something that fits you ok. It's a tradeoff for our modern privilege of walking into a store and having hundreds of options; back in the day the selection was more limited and closets were smaller. You might not have many clothes but they were almost always made for you; not by a generic size range, but specific to your measurements. Not just the measurements of your bust and waist, but every inch in between and sleeves measured to your wrists, shoulders measured, etc! To be petite and a vintage fashion enthusiast almost automatically means to know how to sew or the name of a good tailor because clothes so rarely fit off the rack. People assume as a petite person I'm usually altering hems of dresses, but actually it's the torsos that usually are my biggest problem area--waistlines hit closer to my hips and shoulder seams dangle down towards my elbows. I know it's not a "me" or even a petite problem, it's the way clothes are made these days, but it also means when you find something that fits wonderfully it's a revelation. That's how it felt when I slipped into this little vintage dress from So Loves Vintage. It's even more remarkable to find a vintage dress that fits so perfectly since you can't try the same dress in several sizes--trying on vintage is a take it or leave it moment, either it works (or can be made to work which is why a good tailor is essential!) or you leave it behind and wonder if you'll ever find something like it again. But this dress, this dress feels made for me. Perfect in cut, color and the fit; as if someone had painstakingly taken every measurement and fit the garment to my body's every quirk. It's the sort of special find that keeps me addicted to vintage. This dress fits my 50s leanings, but there's so many other tempting pieces in the So Loves shop right now--my favorites are this perfect crochet dress ala Jane Birkin and this embroidered blouse that looks ripped from the high street stores (instead it's vice versa). I don't think they would be the perfect fit for me, but for someone out there they could be a revelation...

You can't really talk about vintage models without covering Suzy Parker, who's icy sophistication defined glamour in the 1950s on dozens of magazine covers. Known for her elegant, aloof appearance in front of the camera (likened to Grace Kelly), in person she was a chatterbox dubbed "my most challenging muse" by Richard Avedon. When she later became an actress photographer Horst quipped that "maybe she could do for the movies what she never did for me--hold still." Audrey Hepburn's beatnik-turned-reluctant-model character in Funny Face was actually inspired by Suzy Parker (who also makes a cameo in that film). Still despite her chattering tendencies, Suzy Parker became the first model to earn more than $100 an hour and more than $100,000 a year. Some of my favorite photographs of her come from later in her career, where she is studying scripts for films--her natural beauty shines in those images--red hair, green eyes, an abundance of freckles, and a sort of elegant repose. The fancy clothes are packaged away, there are no professional hair or makeup artists on call, and yet you still can't take your eyes off of her...

Hello summer! This year just seems to be flying by--blink and it's another month or season! I'm hoping summer lingers for a bit since it might be my favorite season. At least it has been my favorite season in the past (and I still love the warmer weather and simple clothes), but lately I'm not sure what my favorites are. It's funny when you blog for so long there's a very real record of what you "love" and yet slowly over the years these things shift. Things that felt authentic and "me" in the past feel more hazy now. You can dig through these archives searching for "favorite" and find a myriad of seeming contradictory things. Clothes I thought I'd wear forever or at least keep have been donated or sold because I wasn't as attached to them as I thought I was (and you can't bring everything you like when you move across the ocean). Other things I thought I'd always treasure have also been donated or at least shelved in the last few years. Bright nail polish used to be a signature part of my look and yet in the last year I've been addicted to neutral colors on my nails. It's a small detail, something maybe no one else would notice, but in college I used to wear different bright colors on each hand (sometimes on each finger). Yet lately even when I manage to paint my nails a bright color I usually switch back to my Maybelline "Second Skin" within a day or two. I think this is the way most of us change, in small, perhaps unnoticeable ways that we only notice months after the fact. Heraclitus said you can not step into the same river twice. The river is in flux; the waters are always changing and whether a minute or a month has passed, the river has changed since your last step. But we are also the rivers that shift; our banks ever-changing and being worn by the waters around us...Still I think I might paint my nails a bright color for my holidays; a reminder of what once was second nature.

I do like a good day trip. There's so many places near me to explore that don't require an overnight stay or long drive, so you get all the adventure of exploring somewhere new and the comfort of your own home at the end of the day. One of our most recent day trips was to the lovely Rowallane Garden; in full disclosure it was more of an afternoon trip finished with a chippy stop at the hilariously named "Eating Options." The gardens were founded in the 1960s and have expanded from there into a mix of formal and informal grounds. We spent most of our time enjoying the stately walled garden which seemed almost at peak lush. The perfect place for a little wander or sit and enjoying this lovely early summer weather. My new Modcloth dress seemed a perfect fit for the landscape with vintage wildflower book print; it's quite different from my usual silhouette (more fitted on top and a clearly defined waist) but I there's something very nice and breezy about this dress. It reminds me of the more relaxed 1920s day silhouette of handkerchief hems and floaty layers.

Balance is something I really struggle with. I mean, literally, I have flat feet so my balance isn't the best in the world and it can make me a bit clumsy and yet another reason I love flats and low-ish heels, but also figuratively. When you freelance and work for yourself it's very hard to turn "off." To stop working at a certain time of day or take weekends off. And it's doubly hard to say no to new projects even when you already feel like your plate is full. I have projects and ideas in my head that I'd love to work on but never seem to find enough time to devote to them because I can't seem to make myself slow down with the other work. Because that is the thing about balance and life--something has to give. You have to make space for what you want in life. No extra hours are going to magically appear in the day for that dream project, you have to take the hours from somewhere else and allocate them. So, I think that's my big project in the next few months, learning to cut back in some spaces so I can grow in another. One thing I'd love to work on is more wedding and engagement photography. I do photograph weddings every now and then (and the odd friend as well), but I'd love to actually grow that into a regular business. Weddings are on the mind since it is the season--I have an engagement shoot scheduled for next month and have been chatting with a friend about her wedding this autumn and looking at bridesmaid dresses with her. Which is probably why today's outfit reminds me of a low-key bridesmaid look...