Folk Tales

So far January has been very very rainy, today there was a little glimpse of beautiful wintery light and I grabbed it to snap some pictures. This sort of light always seem to lend itself to Folk inspired outfits, it's my favourite of any weather. The crisp, clean freshness is so refreshing after the seemingly endless damp days! 

These pictures are inspired by a multitude of things that have been dancing around my mind lately. Firstly Russian, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Romanian wedding and funeral ensembles. I saw Hungarian and Bulgarian wedding and funeral costumes in the Ethnographic Museum in Budapest and they have been playing on my mind ever since. I love the delicacy of the colours and the intricate layers of embroidery, beading and ribbonwork; truly exquisite!

Ethnographic Museum, Budapest

Ethnographic Museum, Budapest

Ethnographic Museum, Budapest

Ethnographic Museum, Budapest

I wanted to try and re-create something of them in my ensemble - the layers, trinkets and colours in particular. My own folk story if you like, a little love, a little loss and of course a chicken because of course what Eastern European folk tale is complete without a chicken? This one is named Percy (short for Persephone). It was a gift from my mum a few years ago, I walked passed it in a shop in Bath and fell in love - so fluffy and much tidier than a real chicken. You can purchase one too (if you care to) direct from Hansa or via Amazon.

  Whilst thinking about these things my mum posted on Facebook some paintings she has been working on for Galway Early Music Festival and it seemed so in tune with everything I had been whirring over in my mind. Hands clasping hearts are perhaps one of my all time favourite symbols.

Second Claddagh Triptych, Penny MacBeth, 2016

The Claddagh ring, featuring two hands clasping a crowned heart is a symbol firmly embedded in the cultural history of Galway however, hands clasping hearts crop up everywhere including in Hungary, it being a universal symbol for love or betrothal. They often appear, like the Claddagh, in rings known as 'fede' - meaning fidelity. However, in Hungary we also saw hearts crop up on doors and brooches:

Brooch, Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest

Lace is something else which I've been thinking about lately, mainly after listening to my friend Elena talk about it having traveled around Europe studying it. It is such a beautiful, and I feel under appreciated, art form! I've owned this 1980s does 1920s machine lace dress for a few years now. It's wonderfully versatile; sometimes I wear it belted, other times loose, sometimes over a underskirt or tucked into leggings. I recently found the same dress in a charity shop but in black, at first I was excited but it was badly dyed and sections of it had taken on a slightly odd faded look. It's of course nowhere near as intricate as proper handmade lace but it's pretty good machine version. 

And of course my headdress, this is another that I bought in Budapest but have yet to wear on this blog. It's not quite as well made as the other one (which was hand-stitched by the ladies who sold it to me!) but it's still such a wonderful colour and shape. Headdresses for weddings and funerals are definitely an item I feel is missing from English occasions: 

Wedding Headdresses
Source: 1

Norwegian wedding headdresses
Source: 2 

I hope you are all well and enjoying the small glimmer of winter sunshine, it is definitely to be relished whilst it lasts. Remember to wrap up and stay warm in this chilly air. On another note - what did everyone think of the BBC's first episode ofWar and Peace? I was left a little underwhelmed! 

Outfit Details

1980s lace dress - charity shop

1970s cotton lace print skirt - charity shop

Red velvet and lace headdress - Central Market, Budapest

Pink lace gloves - H&M

Crochet, lace and felt choker - Penny MacBeth

Malachite ring - Miranda Hope Jewellery

Sequinned ribbon belt - Istanbul

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The Singing Tree

I promised outfits in my last post and here I am in an outfit! It's been bitterly cold here the last few days. I've had to resort to layers and layers of clothing and have even found myself pulling out jumpers (they are not my favourite). The cold weather has had one use though, it's been far too cold to venture very far so my mind has been whirring. I've thinking back to Budapest and the clean, crisp air there, and reading everything I can about Hungary. My mind has been turned particularly to folk tales and fairy stories, the Hungarians certainly know how to write good ones and the illustrations that go alongside are wonderful. Due to this new found inspiration I've been dressing very much like a character from a Hungarian fairy tale - think long plaits and lots of colour (not that dissimilar from my usual get-up really!)

There are so many wonderful illustrators from Hungary, my favourites are mostly from the early to mid 20th century. I love Kate Seredy's work in particular: how wonderful are these book covers?

Source: 1

Source: 2

 and my other favourite is Willy Pogany. His style is so sumptuous and colour rich I feel I could just walk right into one of the scenes! 

Willy Pogany from the Tisza Tales
Source: 3

Willy Pogany, from the Tisza Tales
Source: 4

My own fairy tale ensemble was a little inspired by these and a little by the wonderful costumes I saw at the Museum of Ethnography in Budapest. They were all incredibly richly layered and intricately detailed that each time I looked there was something I hadn't seen previously. That is always my aim for a good ensemble - to draw people in so they have to look several times to understand it all. 

The beautiful embroidered waistcoat I'm wearing I bought in Budapest (you saw it here first) and I've hardly taken it off since I arrived home. It's wonderfully warm and goes with almost everything I own. It's actually a recycled piece of embroidery that's been carefully stitched to a piece of hessian, reinforcing it and reviving it for a new life. The collar at the back is my favourite bit, it improves my posture and makes me feel ever so slightly regal - high collars always do I think it has something to do with this painting.

The skirt is another new purchase. I found it a few days after I arrived home from Budapest in my most local charity shop, which is a sort of vintage/up-cycled chazza (not always my favourite establishments due to the tendency to hoik up the prices). I rarely find anything I like in there but this skirt leapt out at me from a sea of beige polyester and at £6 I knew it had to come home with me. It's my new favourite, the pattern is utterly perfect - after ogling so much lace in Hungary it sort of seemed like fate that I found it! Oh and of course the headdress. I bought two of these in Hungary. They are not terribly practical but they are such a delight to dress up in that I don't really mind I just have to make sure I don't move my head around too much as they tend to fly off.

Linking up with Visible Monday because I feel excellent in this outfit!

Outfit Details

1970s cotton lace printed skirt - Charity shop

Green wool polo neck - Uniqlo

Embroidered waistcoat - Vintage shop, Budapest

Embroidered headdress - Central Market, Budapest

Choker necklace - Penny MacBeth

Earrings - very old Topshop

Knee-length leather boots - Bertie

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Budapest: Part 3

The third, and final, selection of pictures form Budapest. On our final morning my mum and I rose early and hurried over to the supermarket to buy chocolates and interesting Hungarian cooking ingredients. One of my favourite things to do when in another country is check out the supermarkets, I love learning about the food and packaging - a bit of an odd holiday past time I know but I love to re-create all the dishes I've sampled when I get home!

 After this we all hot footed it on the tram over to The Applied Arts Museum. 

Apologies in advance this is a VERY picture heavy post. The museum was just so beautiful. The building itself was completed in 1893. Designed by Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos it is an ode to an East meets West architectural vernacular, Lechner studied in the UK and was influenced enormously by The V&A. The roof and ornate interior were designed and completed by the world-renowned porcelain company Zsolnay. 

After posing about and snapping hundreds of photographs of the amazing entrance hall (look at that ceiling!) we bought tickets and waltzed around the main collection and their temporary exhibition on Islamic textiles.  The collection was wonderful, a beautiful selection of ceramics, textiles, furniture and other delights. It was much sparser than our own applied arts equivalent, The V&A, but for once I rather enjoyed that as the the building was so breathtaking.

I really really really wanted this 18th century Austrian suit, I think it might be the perfect ensemble. 

After taking all this in we were ready to womble off for a coffee prior to going to the airport however, on our way out the lovely curator of the collections Krisztina Gerhardt stopped us and asked if we had time for a quick behind the scenes tour. We had time to spare so of course we said yes! I am so glad we had time. It was incredible. Not only did we get to see the building from every angle and learn more about it's turbulent history but we also got a sneak peek at some of their collection of Zsolnay ceramics! It was a design nerds dream come true. I just kept thinking this would never ever happen in the UK. In order to get an appointment at The V&A you have to book 6 months ahead, and even then everything is carefully under wraps - I'm not necessarily saying this is a bad thing, it's just a very different and more bureaucratic environment.

First we ventured outside where we learnt about the dome below that used to sit on top of the building. During the revolution of '56 the building suffered wide-spread damage, this originally hollow structure was filled with concrete to secure it however unfortunately it made it much too heavy. It was taken down several years ago in order to properly restore it. 

Then it was on to the Zsolnay collections. Oh my were they amazing! There were hundreds of pots, vases, ornaments etc etc. I could have happily spent hours plodding down this corridor gazing at them. Alas we only had half an hour!

Cabbage plates! My one true love! I didn't know they were also made in Hungary, another type I'll have to look out for. 

 There were cases and cases of bits of broken porcelain. What a mosaic they would make!

So that's it! Hungary is a country I'll definitely be exploring more I feel. It has so much culture and history to offer I can't wait to delve into it more. My next trip I'd like to visit Vienna on the train too and maybe also Pécs - the home of Zsolnay. 

Next up will of course be some pictures featuring my new purchases from Budapest!

Outfit Details

Embroidered Hungarian shirt - Central Market Hall, Budapest

Hungarian felt hat - Central Market Hall, Budapest

1930s pink satin slip dress - Car boot sale

1960s paisley wool scarf - Car boot sale

1990s boots - Flea market

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