Romantic Ruffle Top and Tin Cup Tablescape

Fashion and Literature

A Little Bit of This and That

Posing on my "thinking" rock by the stream

Hello everyone!  Today's post should have something for everyone I hope. If you like fashion you're in luck. If you like tablescapes you're also in luck! I'm honoring my original blog name "Debbie This and That" as my five year blog anniversary is the end of this week, by including a "little bit of this and that" in today's post!

Still a little work to do on this sitting area

I fell in love with this romantic, feminine ruffled top when I saw it online. There are ruffles on the sleeves and along the bottom which are so fun to wear. The sleeves are elastic at the wrists. I decided to style the top with my long black skirt today, but this top would also look good with a shorter skirt or even jeans. 

I really like the loose and flowy aspect of this top and the tassels can be tied like I did here or left undone to hang loose. Usually, I wouldn't wear a necklace with the tassels but today I decided, why not? I like the blue necklace and decided to add it to bring out the blue in the top. I also felt the Boho aspect of this top could handle not only the necklace but also the chunky silver bracelet and my big hoop earrings. 

As I look at this outfit, I find myself wondering if Maisie Dobbs, the psychologist and investigator in my favorite Maisie Dobbs mystery series, might have worn something similar in the 1930's? 

Wikipedia Image Listed As Public Domain

Here's a public domain image of a lovely lady from the 1930's wearing ruffles and lace. Isn't she lovely? Perhaps Maisie Dobbs did wear ruffles and lace. If she didn't, I'm sure her good friend Priscilla did! One thing I do know about Maisie Dobbs is that she always liked to drink her tea from a tin mug that was issued to her when she was a nurse on the battlefield during WWI. So today I found something that reminded me of Maisie and her tea mug....

Found this cute mug at the Farm and Tractor store

Behold this enamelware tea mug that I immediately turned into a flower holder in order to create a tablescape on the foyer table. 

I've just been looking for an excuse to use the flour sack tea towels that I was gifted when I retired. Rather than "saving them for good" it's important to use and enjoy them! So, I'm doing just that by using them, in this case, as the base for my table vignette. I added the enamel mug filled with flowers, some more flowers surrounding the mug, a glass candle holder and, of course, a Maisie Dobbs book! 

Perhaps I should call this the Dining Room Foyer Table?

I find it rather fun to feature my favorite books on the Foyer Table. And, yes, the table is still in the dining room. Do you think I should change it's name? Anyway, featuring books is a whole new way to decorate in my opinion. What do you think?

I hope you have enjoyed today's post. Sometimes fashion leads to home decor and vice-versa. And good literature can lead to both fashion and home decor. For those of you who are interested, I am including the link to Mademoiselle Miss which are letters from an American Nurse who served in France during WWI. Just like Maisie, she faced long, hard days of caring for wounded soldiers. I was amazed to find this site when I was doing research for this post, really looking for styles of that era. These letters are included in an online WWI Medical Encyclopedia and if you click on the red Medical Front sign in the upper left corner it will take you to that site with a lot more info about WWI. My grandfather served in WWI so I am interested in reading more about what his life may have been like during that time. 

From Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear-Book 1 in the series...

"Maisie went to the stove, poured boiling water from the kettle onto the tea leaves in the brown earthenware teapot, and allowed it to steep. She took two large tin mugs from the shelf above the stove, stirred the tea in the pot, then poured tea for them both, with plenty of sugar and a splash of milk. Since her time in France, Maisie had preferred an army-issue tin mug for her private teatimes, for the warmth that radiated from the mug to her hands and to the rest of her body." 

Until Next Time,

Debbie