The Lil(le) Black Dress

Now that winter is well and truly on it's way, why not do a post about a really hot summery daytrip in July, eh? The occasion was The Manbacon's 35th birthday, and I'd spent the previous two weeks frantically arranging tickets to Lille, and making sure that he'd booked that day off, while keeping the trip a surprise from him. I also managed to make myself a little black dress for the trip, in between everything else. 

It's difficult to make out many details on this dress, but it's made with black jersey (from the op-shop, of course), to a bodice pattern by Sew Vera Venus. The pattern itself is only available in one size, for busts between 35 to 37 inches, and is meant for woven fabrics. Since I usually wear a 34" bust, I simply 'cheated' and made the seam allowances slightly larger, instead of faffing about with grading it down. I figured that since my fabric had quite a bit of stretch to it, it wouldn't really matter too much if I accidentally took too much in.  

Once the bodice came together, it took no time at all to make a skirt from the rest of the fabric (simply two rectangles joined at the side seams) and attach it to the top. I also cut a long strip of fabric and sewed it into a tube, to make the spaghetti straps for my dress. Probably not the best idea to use a flimsy strip of stretchy jersey to hold up your dress - I spent many minutes throughout the day tugging at the bodice and tying and retying the straps and as they had a tendency to stretch and head south as the day progressed. 

Other than that little problem (which seems to have finally sorted itself out - the straps seem to have stopped stretching), the dress itself was a dream to wear, especially on a filthy hot, humid summer day. I've since worn that dress several times, putting it to the test by cycling and even getting tangled in blackberry bushes while wearing it, and it's held up wonderfully. 

As I mentioned above, it was a pretty disgustingly sweaty type of day, so we passed the worst of it in the seemingly under-hyped treasure that is the Lille Natural History Museum (Musee d'Histoire Naturelle). There was almost no one else there except for us and the staff, so we explored the collections in peace. There's plenty of wonderful taxidermy animals in it, including the rather magnificent Ron Swanson-like snow leopard above, as well as a little tableau showing how they mount the animals for display. 

The twitchers among you might also be interested to know that the museum has a vast collection of stuffed birds, all displayed in beautiful old vitrines, including hundreds of jewel-toned hummingbirds. These were breathtaking, I spent ages staring at them trying to memorise every single detail. There are a few displays of dinosaur fossils, although nowhere near as spectacular as the displays at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. And, almost forgotten in a hidden corner upstairs, is a rather lonely little axolotl. It's quite a small musuem, but it's got such a still, old-fashioned air about it that it's easy to lose hours in there enjoying the various exhibits. 

Dress - self made, pattern from Sew Vera Venus, handbag - vintage, belt - Sainsburys, sunglasses - vintage

Musée d’Histoire Naturelle

19, rue de Bruxelles
59000 Lille

France

Rocks and Bones

You don't expect me to miss out on dinosaurs, do you? Even though I'd already been there on my first trip to Brussels, I had to revisit my favourite Belgian museum again. There's something pleasantly old-fashioned about this place - the beautiful wrought iron stairs, awkwardly posed models, and the glass-fronted cases in the geology section. Having lots of big dinosaur skeletons around don't hurt either. 

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences 

Rue Vautier 29

1000 Brussels

Belgium

Palace of Versailles

Scale model of Versailles

Model of Louis XVI's bedroom

It's probably no secret by now that I love a little bit of bling (ahem, yes, just a little...). So where better to soak some up than the Palace of Versailles. The place is a maximalist's dream come true. Even the gates glisten in the morning sun. No such thing as 'shabby chic' in that place, and thank Liberace for that! 

Restoration of ceiling murals

So much gilding, ornate frames, beautiful silk walls, and some really ornate ceilings including this one above. Just so much detail to drink in, really. Very much more is more, and a far cry from discreet and minimalist. Honestly, my brain was feeling pretty exhausted towards the end of our visit, but we discovered some lovely secluded, fairytale-like areas in the gardens where I could recharge and just let my eyes rest a little. We spent about 6 hours there, but the whole complex is huge, and I could easily have gone back the next day for another visit. I kind of had a giggle at the people who rented golf buggies or hopped on the Petite Train to get around, but at the end of the day, we gave in and hopped on one of the little trains for a ride back to the main gates too. 

Angry skies at the Petite Trianon

Revisiting Kelvingrove

Reliving our visit to Kelvingrove last year. I can hardly believe it's been a whole year since I was there! Manbacon and I were toying with the idea of moving to Glasgow, mainly due to that gorgeous Georgian (I think) flat in Shallow Grave, which we watched again recently. I think that flat is probably as important a character as the three friends. 

For the eagle-eyed readers out there - yes, that is a bottle of Famous Grouse in the bottom left corner of the diorama. Because...what else would you display under a couple of rutting stags? 

Animal Expressions

 

A lot of stuffed animals are waiting to look at you at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. The museum was strangely quiet the day we went - we walked through vast, empty rooms with nothing but taxidermied animals and interactive exhibits. Eerie but fascinating.