LITHA FASHION: NATIONAL DRESS OF NELLAND

  Although it is not the independence day of Nelland during Litha (don´t know when it is exactly... never thought of it really... on my birthday perhaps? =) I strongly feel I need a national dress as one of my outfits. Just to celebrate and honor summer. Like this:

A very traditional and old-fashioned look, but with updated twist. The skirt is short and the vest and blouse are sewn together, all for convenience´s sake of course. My clothes need to be easy to wear, or they will stay in the closet!

Here´s what I pictured it would look like before going shopping for fabrics.

The only major change from the original plan is the skirt. I could not find anything striped and stretchy with black and red on it. So I went for this dark brown with printed-on golden circles to form uneven vertical stripes. But it left me missing the red.

The skirt fabric is very thin jersey, so it drapes beautifully. The white cotton lace at the hem edge binds the top and bottom together style-wise, and brightens up the otherwise quite murky outfit. These beautiful red shoes add a needed red accent to the look.

Plus I found these cute little ladybug buttons from my stash. I could not resist applying a few to enhance redness. This tiny one sits at the neckhole in the back.

To be honest, I ran out of metal buttons here. Luckily I came to think of replacing them with two more ladybugs. They also make this outfit fun, which is important. Life should not be too serious, even for us grownups!

It may be too much, but I absolutely wanted to attach this tiny brooch to the chest. It was made for me by my son when he was about six or so. I still remember how we sat and waited for hours in a hospital during one of the check ups for his allergies, and to kill time he made me this ladybug. A real treasure to me!

  All in all my national dress is an awesome addition to my Litha Collection. If I saw someone wearing something like this on the street, I know it would cheer me up and bring a happy smile on my face. I hope it will do that to others too!