Love is why we are here...

Happy Monday my darlings!! I do hope your weekend's were wondrous. Mine was alright, we were blessed with weather that felt like summer, the light in the sky has been amazing, like gems sparkling over sands. Sunlight so warm, you feel wrapped in a blanket that holds you tight when you feel taken over by the world. Happy moments of life that if you blink you'll miss, moments to treasure because they may not come again. The year has flown by so fast, it's nice to take moments to let it all sink in and ponder. I've collected here some favourite things that I've spotted at the moment...I hope you enjoy them & don't forget to stop & let the good moments sink in this week. Have a great one!

Loves & loves

xoxoxoxo

~ List of gratefulness ~

♥ Love: given to me by family & friends, it refuels me when I feel weary. 

♥ Life: It's this amazing thing that goes so fast & can be gone in a blink of an eye. Over the weekend an old friend of mine from back in the states was in a terrible car accident, he's now fighting for his life in hospital in a coma....please keep him and his family in your hearts and prayers. He has young children who need him. Life is so precious...don't waste time not believing in yourself, loving yourself & those around you. Let others know you care. Know you are loved. Drop the silly stuff, because at the end of the day it doesn't matter. What matters is being alive & cherishing those moments & living them - truly living, no matter what it may be! So you can leave this Earth knowing you made an impact on someone's heart. And if you have no one on this earth to tell you that they love you - I love you!! 

♥ Chocolate Chip shortbread cookies....completely and utterly addictive, Achilles heel they are ;)

♥ Sunshine on days meant to rain....bliss!

♥ Art, music & books - they soothe my soul.

♥

The Magic of the Night...

Musique: Phantom of the Opera - The Music of the Night

It's been a long week..but here we are once again...the weekend. I love the night, I think even more so in Autumn and winter...sitting there in the quiet, watching the trees sway in the gentle wind, only just being able to see them move, like giants in an unknown land. The sky so dark, yet so alive. You can hear insects chirping their melodies of song back and forth to each other. Everything feels still, but moves in such a hushed pace it feels like floating. The cool and robust scent of earth and air sends the senses into oblivion. Stars twinkle down as the shadows play hide & seek between their light. Night time, as intriguing as the day, yet more mysterious like these photos. You see only so much & the rest your mind must create...you look away, yet want to keep staring! Which one do you like the most my dears!?!

Have a gorgeous weekend,
Love & loves
xoxoxoxox

~ Dainty Darlinks ~

♥ 3 shops online shops that I like for quirky, different and fun handmade treasures: Mandy's super cool Something Monumental Shop, Laura's awesome Shop of Worldy Delights And last but no means least, Yasumi & her marvel Stranger London shop!

♥ The Business of Fast Fashion, I was contacted by the researcher for a site that provides education and industry insights to current MBA students. This video (below) examines the role of 'fast fashion' in the Fashion industry as a whole. I think this is one thing trends contribute to, we seek to buy to keep up with trends and then once they go out, we dump the stuff and it's really taking a toll on not only ourselves, but the earth too.

♥ There are 99 days (well 96 now) left in 2013 - What are you going to do with them?

♥  7 ways your Grandmother dressed better than you! By the Huffington Post.

{Source: Elle Muliarchyk's 'Magic of Rodarte' featuring Elsa Sylvan. For the cover story for Gravure Magazine. Via: Fashion Gone Rogue}

♥

That's where you and I will meet...Beyond the Retro!

 Hello dolls!! Midweek now & all is marvellous! I hope the start of the week has been lush for you to. Today, I am showing off one of the gifts I received for my birthday earlier in the month, it comes from the fantastic vintage store - Beyond Retro. Many of you will be quite familiar with this mega store for always being stocked with bundles of style & treasures for those that are not only looking for vintage, but something that bit different and quirky. This being my first time ordering from them (my husband let me pick the dress, rather than pick it himself - although, he does have great taste) I wanted to share my experience, so that if there are any of you out that haven't yet purchased from them, you can read from someone who has. Firstly, I must say their customer service is sublime, I was very impressed with how friendly and helpful their employees are, not only on Twitter, but on the customer messenger they use on their website. I had a query and needed a quick answer & a quick answer I received.  They pack a wide range of vintage clothes to choose from varying in era, type, men's & women's, accessories and so forth. I know some of my blog friends have had the pleasure of popping into one of their various store locations - lucky you! But, I ordered my item & it came in no time at all, well packaged, clean & as described. I couldn't be more happy, I already have my eye on quite a few more pretties for my Christmas list (yes, it's getting closer, can you believe it!?! The year has flown by) that I'll be sharing in a future post! Enjoy the photos & I hope all of you have a wonderful Wednesday filled with joy & happiness!!

Lots of loves my darling dears!!

xoxoxoxo

Beyond Retro Website

Facebook

Twitter

Store Locations: London & Sweden

Free UK delivery on all orders over £50

Free returns on all UK orders

International Delivery Available

P.S. This is not a sponsored post, I didn't receive anything to talk about Beyond Retro. I was bought my dress as a birthday gift & simply wanted to share my experience :)

                ~ Dainty Boudoir ~

Vintage dress - Beyond Retro, Belt (old) - Thrifted, Hat - Gifted, Tights - Ebay, Shoes - Thrifted. 

{All photos taken by Gorgeous Gavin. Edited by me. Please do not use without asking or my permission, thank you}

♥

Is it Plaid or is it Tartan!?! This is the question!

Hello my sweethearts. I hope your weekend was bliss. I had a gorgeous weekend chilling out on Saturday & then spending the day at Drummond Castle on Sunday. I'll have a post sharing that soon, but today we are talking tartan.

Time after time, I get asked what's the difference between tartan & plaid & are they not the same thing!?! I can definitely say - no they are not! In North America it has been thought that the word plaid is interchangeable with tartan. One of the first things I learned when I came to live in Scotland, was that tartan is tartan and never to call it plaid. This lost in translation mistake has lead to a lot of confusion for some people. You'll never be far from a Scot to kindly set you straight ;-) Actually no one in the UK as a whole would call it plaid.

So what is plaid you ask!?! Well, 'plaide' comes from the Gaelic word for 'large wrap or blanket, also known as 'The Belted Plaid' (Gaelic: feilidh-mhoror). Because it is a blanket that has been gathered and belted around your waist. In other words, 'tartan and 'plaid' are not two different types of design, 'plaid' is a certain kind of garment - the blanket or large wrap & 'Tartan' is the actual pattern of cloth the garment is made from.  No matter what it's seen on, it always remains tartan. Below you can see the plaid as it's traditionally worn:

{Known as Long Plaid or Pipers' Plaid - worn exclusively by Pipers in pipe bands, either civilian or ceremonial. It's history is that it was used to cover the head and shoulders in the rain. (images via)}

{Known as Small Plaid or Fly Plaid. Drummers will wear this plaid because it is shorter & gives more room to move their arms. (images via)}

Tartans originated in woven wool, though now, you can find them made from many other materials. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the highland tartans were associated with regions over districts, rather than specific clans like it is today. This was due to the fact that the tartan designs were produced by local weavers for local tastes and would tend to make use of the natural dyes available in that particular area. Not until later, did a specific tartan become associated with Scottish clans, Scottish families or even Institutions who are or wished to be seen as associated with Scottish Heritage. Below you can see a small selection of some of the different patterns of tartan.

Originally a tartan didn't have to be made with a pattern at all. As late as the 1830's, tartan was sometimes described as 'plained coloured - without pattern'. Patterned cloth from the Gaelic speaking Scottish Highlands was called 'breacan', meaning many colours. Over time, the meanings of 'tartan' and 'breacon' were combined to describe these patterns on certain types of cloth. The pattern of a tartan is called a 'sett'. The sett is made up of a series of woven threads which cross at right angles. 

So, there you have it! Now you know what the difference is between 'Tartan' - the Pattern and 'Plaid' - a blanket & not a design! I hope you'll be able to know it as Tartan now. There is much more you can learn about then, including the complete dressing of the Highland Kilt, but I'll leave that for later. I guess the only thing left for me to answer is, what does a true Scotsman wear underneath his Kilt? Absolutely nothing! Haha!

Have a great Monday my darling dolls!!
xoxoxoxox

{via}


P.S. there is so much more I could have added in here, but we would have been here for a very long time. I hope this will motivate you to want to learn more & seek out more too :)

~ Tartan in Fashion ~

{Information sources here, here & here. Picture Sources from Pinterest Search}

♥

Versatility encourages Creativity!

Hello lovelies!! I hope you had a great week, it seemed to go fast to me for some reason. Maybe because it rained a lot here, so I kept myself busier than usual to ignore it.  I do hope the weather was a spot better for you. I received another award, which is so kind & had to share some things about myself, so I thought I'd do that today. I also popped in some interesting things I spotted around the web too. I hope you enjoy them & have a fun weekend.

Love loves

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

This lovely award came from the sweet Le Petit Plastique, thank you so much, it's so kind of you :)

~ 7 Things about myself ~

♥ One time at church, we were outside playing football (soccer) and I was defending the goal. I slid, fractured my foot but, kept playing. I went on to score 3 or 4 goals and block a few before I had to be taken off the field & that was only because my foot swelled so much, my shoes were becoming too tight, lol. 

♥ Sometimes because I tend to be quiet and off in my own world, people can assume that I don't have opinions, that I can't do much or that I'm not as smart as other people who talk on and on. I have lots of opinions & I'm highly intelligent, I just choose not to gossip or waste my words and thoughts on people who can't see beyond themselves. If don't talk a lot around you, it's usually because I'm not interested in what you're saying. People like gossips, those who look down on others or people who are rude, I don't like to fill my world with. Talking for the sake of talking is pointless to me. And I think if you're big enough to talk about someone away from their face, you should be big enough to say it to their face or don't say it at all ;)

♥ When things go wrong or I get nervous, I start laughing and can't stop. It drives my husband crazy because he gets angry like a bear when things go wrong, but I just laugh and laugh.

♥ I'm accessories mad, but my favourites are always dramatic necklaces - I can't always get away with them at the moment, due to having a little daughter, as she pulls on them, but I just adore them & collect them when I can!

♥ I love the comedy series The Mighty Boosh! I think Julien Barrett and Noel Fielding are really funny. My friends and I once stood from 8am till 2pm in line waiting to get into meet them when their book came out. They were super lovely.  They were really chuffed that I was so excited to meet them :) I told Julien (the one on the left in the picture) he was marvellous & he turned all red, haha!

♥ My husband and I email each other every single day (except when he's not at work) It's a lot of fun really. He emails me pictures of clothes or whatever he finds on his lunch break when he browses magazines left by other work mates, that he thinks I might like. We're best friends!

♥ One of my favourite movies is The Iron Giant! I cry every time I watch it, haha :)

And here are some of the interesting things I saw around the web this week, some you might have seen, enjoy!

~ Dainty Darlinks ~

♥  23 Things Every woman should stop doing from the Huffington post- I thought these were so spot on, I was shaking my head in agreement while reading these. 

 ♥ Meet the 80 year olds' wearing Doc Martins and mini skirts, I love these ladies, they have true beauty & style. I watched the documentary that went with this & it was awesome, I want to be my own version of these ladies when I'm their age. Rock on! 

♥  The Pretentious Side of Fashion, this made me laugh so much, but sadly I have seen some people like this See here.

♥ 400 year old remains of jewel encrusted skeletons, decorated in thousands of pounds worth of gold, silver and jewels by followers has had the lid taken off them. I thought it was interesting & they look quite amazing, just a shame the money from them couldn't go to charity or something though. 

♥ 20 Historic Black and White Pictures Colorised, quite bizarre to see some of these in colour, it made them feel as if they had been taken yesterday.

♥  Cuteness overload, precious seal wants to cuddle woman sitting on the beach, I loved it! 

♥ Funniest reviews on Amazon....see part one & part two.

♥ And lastly...but certainly not least...Downton Abbey is back for us UK dolls on Sunday...can't wait!


Have a wonderful weekend my darling dears.

♥