Ugly Christmas Sweater :)

 

Oh, so wonderfully ugly! :))  You might think that I am jealous I am not as young and not in such great shape... (which I am not, of course :)) However, the words "ugly Christmas sweater" can be found in the tags by its seller ;) This is just something they do there at etsy :) Probably to stress that it is vintage and "very" Christmasy". Love it! And yes, very, very jelous that I cannot wear it!

Light fixtures for my garden... I wish...

 

 

 

 

This magical picture belongs to IKEA. Really, really magical...

 

I might have found a new interest in art... Light fixtures! :) What do I do, when this happens? I go to etsy to check what is out there that is handmade :) Oh, I have found a few light fixtures that I would like to have... if only I had somewhere to attach them in my house... or in a garden, like they are hanging in the IKEA picture! Something like this, perhaps:

 

 

 

Or this:

 

 

 

I have found something else too... I will share some other time :)

I am on the front page of Etsy right now!

Agua Nueva Agate

I have a couple of gems in my blog that I am proud of owing. Here is one more. It is called Agua Nueva Agate. If you google it, you will see that it can have fantastic patterns! Though not always. It is hard to come across a nice stone that you do not have to pay an arm and a leg for. This one was not exactly cheap either, but not too bad. I am very picky about the stones. I am not a big fan of any lace agate just because it is a "lace agate". I want to see something really special. When I saw this cabochon, I fell in love with it. By that time I have made up my mind not to buy ANY stones. The decision needed to be corrected :) No stones AFTER this one :)

If you hope to find your Agua Nueva, you may check what's available on etsy.

Christmas decoration. Russian style ;)

 

 

It is very usual to see this style on jewellery boxes and brooches. However, I have never seen it on the Christmas decorations for a fir tree! I think, something like this could be a very special and absolutely gorgeous Christmas gift! Here is a link to see more spheres  (the web-site is in Russian)

Autumn, do not leave yet, please!

My favourite season of the year is... anything, but winter! :) Spring is far from here still, but autumn... we had it just a few days ago, it seems. Do not leave yet, come back, come back! You are too beautiful to leave so soon.. In autumn this shawl would be too much, but now... now it would be perfect, as if I am still holding it by a corner of its biggest maple leaf that is just about to fly away...

What Cinderella would wish for? :)

Thin layer of snow came down two days ago. I consider us being lucky to have it for at least a few days. It is like a fairy-tail coming right out of a book! This feeling (I think) is to blame, that a coat like this is going into my wish list :)

It has nothing to do with fashion, of course... This is a coat for a princess from a fairy-tail... It reminds me of fairy-tail that probably all girls of my age still love... even now, when they are not little girls anymore :) Maybe, because this is the only winter fairy-tail that I know is similar to this style..

It is called "Three Wishes for Cinderella". Timeless film. If you have not seen it yet, winter is a perfect season for it!

Ermilovski toy ("Ermilovski" is a name of a style)

What a wonderful item for my virtual wish list! This is a vintage Russian souvenir toy. I used to have a very similar horse... Then another one... They were very fragile, no wonder, it is hard to find them now. I loved both of them and happy to have it my blog.

 

Hm... let me check google one more time... Yes! I have found it! I had exactly that little horse from the picture!

Wow, I see people are still making them! If I can reach this store owner, I will buy one!

 

Kokoshnik that tells a story...

While pinning my previous post onto my pinterest board, I've come across this picture. I tried to find the original web-site for it... but I could not figure it out... However, this lady is worth mentioning :) This is probably the most famous Russian ballerina of all times. Her name is Anna Pavlova.

This is her costume for her Russian Dance. There is a little bit of her bio here. I do not think there is a good reason for copying it...

Interesting enough, there are videos of her dancing on youtube! Not in this costume, alas... Evidently, she was famous for her Dying Swan dance. Here is a short video of it:

What is Russian kokoshnik?

Peter the Great's (1672-1725) attempts to Westernize Russia were partially manifested in changes to the traditional costume of the court. Though they were not required by law to adhere to the reformations, the peasant class commonly adopted aspects of Western styles blended with folk dress. This headdress in particular is an excellent example of the melding of cultures found in Russian history. The shape of this headdress is nearly identical to a French style from Alsace illustrated in Auguste Racinet's "The Complete History of Costume". This type of crossover is characteristic of the evolution of Russian dress. Married women were required to cover their hair entirely lest they be considered immodest, therefore headdresses, or kokoshniks were often accompanied by a venchik, a forehead covering made of fabric or metal.

The picture and text is from The Metropolitan Museum web-site. I have found it very interesting that something like this can be found in the North America! Definitely should go see it if I am ever making it there!