what-to-wear-to-4th-of-july-parade-over-40

WHAT I WORE TO MY FIRST 4TH OF JULY PARADE

Arrr me hearties! Tis I, Jaqueline Sparrow…

I can always rely on at least one of my children to give me their opinion on what I’m wearing. As I was walking out the door to shoot this outfit for today’s post Lulu announced excitedly that I look like a pirate (insert eye roll) Clearly that did not deter me in the slightest, so here you have it!
As one of my lovely Insta Tribe pointed out kindly “Far too young to appreciate bohemian chic” Obviously I’m going with that theory…

what-to-wear-to-4th-of-july-parade-over-40

what-to-wear-to-4th-of-july-parade-over-40

what-to-wear-to-4th-of-july-parade-over-40

WALK THE PLANK!

A COOL DRESS FOR HOT SUMMER DAYS

When you’re standing outside in the raging sun for a prolonged period, you need an outfit that will cover but not over-heat your body. This Isabel Marant smock dress does the job perfectly! The fine cotton Ikat print is perfect for staying cool yet provides an excellent barrier to those harmful ultra-violet rays. I like the short length although that’s just a personal preference so I’ve also included a couple of longer lengths in my picks below.

Although the dress is properly vintage now it never looks dated. I even wear it in winter over a poloneck & jeans. With whimsical, billowy sleeves & contrasting green & pink print, this artist-smock style is infinitely wearable. If you ever see something similarly unique you’d be mad not to snap it up!

Below are a few gorgeous examples I found that fit all our requirements. Although a couple of the dresses are self tie, in this particular situation I’d remove the belt to wear the dress loose. As for the rest of my outfit – The shoes are Moschino, a lucky find last Winter from TKMaxx. You probably already know that buying out of season is the way to the greatest bargains. I was more than happy to wait six months to wear these pretty sandals for a measly £30. The cutie patootie cross-body circle bag is from Bell & Fox. Now you’ll notice there is just a single pair of shoes in the carousel. This is because these caught my eye as the one pair that will go with absolutely everything, I love them! So if you can only afford to buy one pair of shoes at the moment these would be my choice for Summer.
By the way, if you’re in the market for some luxury vintage I’ve linked to a few stunning scarves on my YouTube channel. You’ll catch the scarf tying demo as you scroll further down, where you can also subscribe to my channel.

STYLE POINTS TO CONSIDER
a) elbow length sleeves b) short or mini in length c) made of a breathable natural fibre d) loose or billowy cut



what-to-wear-to-4th-of-july-parade-over-40

what-to-wear-to-4th-of-july-parade-over-40

HOW-TO-TIE-BOHO-HIPPY-HEADSCARF

how to tie a head scarf

HOW TO TIE A BOHO HEADSCARF

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4th-of-july-american-independance-day-ridgewood-nj

4th-of-july-american-independance-day-ridgewood-nj

4th-of-july-american-independance-day-ridgewood-nj

A FEW SNAPS OF OUR LOCAL PARADE

Although it was such a hot day we thoroughly enjoyed our first 4th of July experience. Our wonderful neighbours put out extra chairs for us to watch the Ridgewood parade up close. As I’ve said before, the people here are incredibly kind & have made our move so much easier. If you missed the back story you can catch up with this post.

As always, a big thank you to you beautiful people for reading my little blog, supporting me here & on Instagram. Insta is a tricky one to crack, I barely post daily even though I know IG favours the accounts that post every single day. Yet in order to remain true to myself & authentic to you, I will only post when I have something to say. Some days I got nuthin’ you know what I mean?

Incidentally I want to give you a heads-up that due to the long Summer break the children have here in America I won’t be posting as regularly as usual. However I will definitely be here as often as possible so it’s important to subscribe if you don’t want to miss any posts. Publishing will be even more random than usual! In any case let’s see how I get on, hopefully I’ll get into a rhythm & we’ll be sweet….Fingers crossed I don’t lose the plot with the devils spawn.

Bye for now my darlings xx

  • Comments ( 14 )

  • avatar
    Julie Caron

    Love that dress, so comfortable. We were thinking about going to a parade on the 4th, but it was soooo hot here in Pennsylvania, that we decided to ditch the parade.

    • avatar
      MT

      Hi Julie, Yes it was a hot one! My kids were moaning by the end but luckily we were standing one street from the local swimming pool so we went there right after to cool down. It was actually perfect 😉

  • avatar
    Lisa the sequinist

    What a darling outfit! I could see this working well on a beach, too…. my hair is always a windblown wreck on the beach and I LOVE the idea of a tidy little scarf on my head to cover the mess. Let me go plop a scarf into my suitcase now (packed and ready to go) before I forget entirely.

    I love the 4th of July snaps too; you’re deep in the Americana there! A neighbourhood parade is about as local as it gets. I hope there were fireworks somewhere too?

    I’m perusing your excellent selection of dresses and am tempted by quite a few of them. I don’t have much that is Boho, but a piece here and there is good for variety. Lovely photos, my gorgeous friend. xx

    • avatar
      MT

      I can really picture you in a head scarf Lisa. With your gorgeous goldon locks & those aqua blue eyes, wowzers you’ll knock ’em dead babe! xx

  • avatar
    Catherine, Not Dressed As Lamb

    Seriously, you looked like you’ve walked off the set of a movie, MT, like The Beach or something else equally as cool! You’ve tied the headscarf perfectly (god, it suits you), I must try that… hopefully my hair is long enough now for it to work. Plus: GAMS FOR DAYS. What would I give to be able to show off such a stunning pair of legs?!

    Lovely to see you immersing yourself in the US and all that comes with it… We went to 4th of July fireworks in San Fransico a few years back, it was an experience I’ll never forget 🙂

    Catherine x

    • avatar
      MT

      Aw you sweet talkin’ darlin’! Thank you Catherine that’s very kind to say. I did feel really comfortable in this outfit I must say, despite the “pirate” remark from Miss Lulu 😉
      The 4th of July stuff was pretty awesome here in our little town although next year we plan to go into the city for the big shebang xx

  • avatar
    Lizzy

    What a beautiful outfit Michelle. It is sooo practical, yet exudes grace and style. I love the billowing sleeves and the Ikat print too. The headscarf is a fab addition too. My parting always gets sunburned, so I’m going to try this to protect both scalp and hair. And yes, those sandals. What a bargain. Your photos are divine too, may I say xxxxx

    • avatar
      MT

      Oh that is such a good point about the sunburn scalp Liz! I’m so glad you brought that up, it really is important not to neglect our scalp & tops of ears but so easy to forget they get burned too xx

  • avatar
    Rozanne

    I love this look, perfect combination of quirky, practical and sophisticated. You make it look effortless. I only ever wear scarves around the house to keep my hair out of my face but I quite like the effect, so I *might* brave it outdoors…. I suffer from the inconvenient dichotomy of wanting to look different without actually being noticed ;o)

    • avatar
      MT

      Perhaps you yourself won’t notice that you’re wearing a scarf on your head if you’re used to wearing one around the house? I’d love you to try it Rozanne xx

  • avatar
    No Fear of Fashion

    Although I like the dress and can understand why you needed to be cool, I am not a boho girl. Love the shape of the dress and the print nevertheless. So, on you? Lovely.
    Greetje

    • avatar
      MT

      Thank you darling although I have to point out that Rixo dress you bought is very much in-line with Boho. Don’t you think? 😉

      • avatar
        No Fear of FashiOn

        I care to ignore that entirely. I am in denial of that fact and wear it with red patent leather high heeled pumps. Well, normally I do. This week I wore it with silver, flat sandals. Ugly ones. The healing of the knee comes first.

        • avatar
          MT

          Fair enough my friend, so it should xx

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