The Nutcracker has a special place in my heart. Before I moved to York, my mum and I went to see it every year before christmas. The music is lovely, and the dancing is incredible, but my favourite part of the ballet has always been the costumes and the scenery. The moment when the toys from under the christmas tree come to life and the tree grows is my favourite thing I’ve seen in a theatre ever. The moment when Clara arrives on stage in a flying swan is pretty special too. This year I saw The Nutcracker in Birmingham with my mum, my brother and my boyfriend, and I thought I might as well dress up!
This coat was a birthday gift from a vintage shop in York a couple of years ago. It’s beautiful and I think it will last me a lifetime – I only wear it on special occasions and I fall in love with it a little more every time I wear it. My dress is an old Topshop buy, and I’m wearing a tutu underneath (a memento from my life as a teen goth) to make the skirt a little fuller. It’s quite a simple LBD but I like the sequins on the top and the open back detail. In keeping with the goth theme I braved wearing my new blue lipstick from Lush – I find it hard to apply but very well lasting for such an extreme colour!
Outfit details: Dress, Topshop (Old) / Coat, Vintage (Priestleys. York) / Scarf, Borrowed from my mum / Shoes, New Look (Old) / Lipstick, Lush, Control
I hate it when bloggers apologise for their blog posts, but I’m going to do it – I’m sorry these photos are blurry! I’ve yet to work out how to take a photo without natural light. If anyone has any tips, I’m all ears!
Jess, what sort of camera are you using? If it’s adjustable, locate the ISO, which originally had to do with the speed of the film. Know you’re not using film, but don’t remember enough of the techy stuff to explain. Anyway, find that ISO and use the highest number available. On my little Canon it’s 1600. Using that speed enables me to take quite good piccies in candlelight, as in a previous post a couple weeks ago. Good luck!
Thanks Del! I actually can’t adjust the ISO on my camera cause I don’t have a SLR, but thank you! I’m thinking of investing in one, I’ve found some cheap ones on ebay x
Good luck! Only other thing comes to mind is keep a very steady hand when taking photos indoors or low light… maybe use a tripod. Or lean on a table. Good luck & do check out camera deals! del
I take probably about half my photos without natural light haha! I either have the main lights off and just use flash or normally have the lights on, no flash, turn the ISO up (let’s in the most light) and just enhance the brightness when editing – if the photos are stored as RAW you can enhance the light quite significantly. What camera/editing software do you have?
This dress is amazing (can’t imagine it without a tutu it looks great like that) and love the blue lipstick! I don’t think I could ever try lipstick that was blue so mega- kudos to you. XXX
Oh wow, you look amazing Jess! ♥ Love what you wore for the Nutcracker, the dress is amazing, brilliant adding a tutu skirt underneath! Just perfect!!
Liana x
Dress Code Chic
It has been ages since I’ve last been to a ballet. I would love to see the Nutcracker. And I love your LBD too!
I hope you had a wonderful time. I love your boots!
That dress is fabulous! I love how you layered the tutu under it – so perfect for a ballet:)
love the nutcracker AND this whole look!
I absolutely love this look. I love the coat. I love the dress. I love the shoes and the scarf. I love everything about this look. Perfect.