This weekend I was up in the Blue Mountains to attend their annual winter ball at the invitation of The Gardener. More on that and what I wore to come, but this post is all about how I ended up doing high tea at The Carrington hotel, one of the oldest tourism destinations in Australia.
Aside from the ball, the weekend was going to be a rather casual affair so I packed jeans, sweaters, flat boots and the like. You get the picture. I also didn’t know where we were staying so when we arrived at The Carrington I was rather taken aback at its grandiose scale and my first thought was, ‘OMG I didn’t bring a dress.’ A ball gown you see, but everything else was tre casuale.
Finding myself at a loose end one afternoon I booked in to do high tea in their grand dining room and then set off to buy myself a dress. I wouldn’t consider rocking up for high tea wearing jeans in Melbourne, so why would I in Katoomba?
Despite the fact that there were some really lovely curiosity shops that stocked everything from 60s ball gowns to 70s leather jackets I could not find (and believe me I have a nose like a hound for hunting down a good frock) a nice, interesting dress that didn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Getting desperate with 40 mins to go before tea, I stopped by KMart to pick up some band aids for The Gardener who had scrapes on his hands and legs from a canyoning experience. I was at the checkout when I spied this vibrant, red, chiffon shirt and so for $19 I figured it was my best bet for something that might resemble ‘appropriate’ for tea. Maybe if I blinded everyone with vibrant colour they wouldn’t notice my denim clad legs.
As it tuned out there were fellow tea takers wearing jeans so I had completely over-thought the whole process. Not out of the ordinary for me, but at least now I own quite a nice ’emergency’ red shirt.
What I’m wearing:
Shirt: Kmart
Jeggings: Levi’s, you can read the blog post about them here.
Rose gold necklace: Sportsgirl
Ring: Sportsgirl
Coin necklace: Turkey
Heels: Steve Madden
Watch: Longines
Bag: Mimco
