Waltz on the Wye wardrobe update

There are about two months to go until Welsh steampunk event Waltz on the Wye and my wardrobe is progressing nicely, partly by design and partly by happy accident. My dress from Recollections has arrived and will cost me about £40 to liberate from HM Customs – this is what my last imported dress cost in taxes, so I'm quite glad about that as I had feared they'd take one look at all that silk and decide it deserved a higher charge. It's annoying to have to pay so much, but I was fully prepared for the cost.

As for the happy accident, I'm not as good a charity shopper as some of the bloggers I read, but I did find this lovely suit from Edinburgh Woollen Mills in my local Help the Aged. Pure wool, £8. (Lady Cherry also had a good charity shop haul including EWM garments recently; like her my local shop had a batch of their clothes all at once and I also wondered if they had been donated after a lady died.) Anyway, this suit is a bit of an oddity, clearly fairly modern from the label but with an older feel. The jacket is pretty boxy, but looks more fitted when on, and the skirt goes to below the knee, although that's hard to see while it's on the hanger. I don't think it would look high fashion for any era, but it will sit quite happily alongside pieces from the 30s to 50s.

It was Mr Robot who spotted that it would make great daywear for Waltz on the Wye. The fabric is an interesting blend of russet, grey and black with bright rust flecks, and so far I've tried it with grey and black tops and red-orange coral jewellery, and all looked fine. It's good that it goes with black as almost all my footwear is that colour.

I don't think I planned this hard for my own wedding!