Lilacs & Lace: Same Tune, Different Lyrics

I generally come up with an idea of how to style a dress as I am sewing it together. Makes sense, right? – spend hour after hour with some fabric, and thoughts of shoes and jewelry are bound to flash across my mind.

Okay, maybe not the best place to take pictures – those seagulls can be DANGEROUS!

The only problem is, I have a bad habit of getting stuck with that original idea. And each time I come across the dress hanging in the closet, I tend to repeat that same look. Does anyone else have this issue?

So, with a last minute opportunity to attend a Marin Symphony concert, there was no time to sew a new frock, but plenty of time to rework this red dress.

And it was the perfect chance to wear my thrifted black bead belt – this one has a fun pattern that is a nice contrast to the red satin. Since the black belt broke up all that red, I decided to keep all my accessories red.

The hat was made years ago from a pattern I found on the internet by Ruby Carnahan. Now I cannot find the site, which is a shame, because what I remember is wonderful vintage instructions for making numerous hats including all of the necessary pattern pieces. It looks like there is a spiral bound book for sale on amazon and ebay, so perhaps someone decided to make money off of the information instead of sharing it on the internet. Darn it!