Back To School With a Skirt From Girl in a Whirl

This post is perhaps a month late, as September not October is naturally the traditional back to school month.  However, in the flurry of beginning another year of teaching, I am a high school special ed teacher, I haven’t had much time to blog.

Even though I am 20  plus years past school age and even though I work summer school every year and thus don’t have a traditional summer vacation, I still experience the back to school jitters and anticipatory excitement every year, plus of course the craving for new, or rather new-old, clothes.  I’ve always loved mid century school images

 

(I’m particularly mad for this supremely stylist teacher’s hair)

 

and I love 1950’s educational shorts.  Recently, I also discovered the radio program and later television show Our Miss Brooks starring Eve Arden as a harried high school teacher with an unrequited crush on the quiet science teacher and a difficult Principal.   The show is funny and sweet and it is always a treat to see 1950’s actress out of her 20’s and near my own age, Eve Arden was in her mid 40’s when the show aired and she looked fabulously stylish in the kind of every day 1950’s fashions I most enjoy.

 

 

I had all of these things in mind when I asked Rebecca of Girl In A Whirl to make me a mid-century school inspired novelty circle skirt.

Rebecca, who is just amazingly talented, hand painted the skirt on grey fabric.  The images where inspired by a 1950’s lunch box I have in my novelty purse collection.

 

Rebecca used plenty of her own ideas as well and the result is just totally amazing.  She has made me lot’s of things over the years, including the 1950’s Chicken print Tourist Jacket that was the first thing I posted on this blog.     But I really think this skirt is her best creation yet.

 

The details are really just amazing, I’m particularly in love with the ric-rac trimmed pockets.

and it is so much fun to wear.  I styled it two ways.  First, with a Freddie’s of pinewood tartan trimmed top that is no longer available, a 1960’s yellow cardigan, and black and white saddle shoes with bobby sox.

 

The second time  was this past Saturday when we took three of our five dogs to one of my favorite places, Demarest Farms to get donuts and potato pancakes, which you can see they quite enjoyed.

I wore the skirt with a blue Rocket Originals sweater and blue and white saddle shoes, also from Rocket Originals, as are the black and white pair.  I really love the Rocket Originals sweater it is comfy and very reasonably priced for high quality repro.

 

I always pair my circle skirt’s and dresses with crinolines for maximum effect, the one I am wearing here is from Malcom Modes.

Circle skirts just don’t look right without petticoats, at least in my opinion.

I also wore a super cute 1940’s school themed brooch which is the perfect accessory for a teacher.  Sadly it is delicate and the globe broke off the first time I wore it but I am hopeful I can repair it.

The overall effect of the outfit is quite casual and fun, if perhaps a bit young, more Our Miss Brooks’s students then Our Miss Brooks herself, and I am resolutely Miss Brook’s age and not that of her pupils.  Still teenage 1950’s fashion is so fun and so comfortable, particularly saddle shoes!, that I can’t see myself ever closing the door on it completely no matter how far behind me my own teenage years are.