Summer BBQ & The 70s

One of my most anticipated activities for the summer is having a barbecue. It's always a good time with friends gathered around, relaxing with the patio door open, drinking refreshing beverages and chowing down on some good ol' fashioned comfort food. So when my super talented home chef friend Charlotte reached out to collab on a ribs & summer bbq concept in the spirit of Ribfest, I was all too happy to accept! Charlotte has cooked for me twice before, Korean stew and brunch spread with dutch baby pancakes. This shoot was a much larger operation as the she made an incredible amount of food that also took much longer to cook. It really was a whole day affair (not to mention the prep work she did the night before!) Plus, more dishes meant more moving pieces to arrange on the table. It was a definite challenge for me, but one that I was eager to take on!

Our shoot was actually indoors, but drape a gingham tablecloth from the dollar store and you could believe we're outside on a picnic bench in a park, right? :P

full spread! including fresh picked daisies :)

mmm garlic bread <3

let's do it!

I had to go back and shoot a couple times after reviewing the first batch of photos and mentally assessing what was missing. In the end, I'm pretty happy with my top three. The flatlay is a must to show all of Charlotte's hard work; I always have a close up and I seriously do love garlic bread; and lastly, I wanted to showcase the drinks and the fun napkins, sort of as a "cheers!" to the whole shebang.

Summer BBQs also remind me of the 70s for some reason, and "That 70s Show" was one of my favourite tv shows growing up. I recently started rewatching it (again) on Netflix and so the outfits are very fresh in my mind. I've noticed that many of the fashion trends of the 70s are making a comeback today, which is pretty neat! For my two outfits this month, I drew inspiration from the two very different female leads of "That 70s Show".

Outfit 1 (left): Guess navy off-shoulder crop top with tiny flowers, vintage plaid midi skirt, vintage square scarf, Aldo cork wedges
Outfit 2 (right): Zara girls self-tie chambray button-down shirt, retro Guess jeans in 'Nicole boot', vintage silk horsebit print scarf, Michael Kors espadrille wedges  

Outfit 1: The Jackie 

Jackie Burkhart is the princessy girly-girl in the ragtag team of teenagers. She's super obsessed with fashion and her looks but it certainly pays off --she's always so stylish!

The skirt, wedges, and neck scarf are thrifted from my local thrift shop. I love the bold colours of the skirt -- it's rare to find plaid in these colours in modern pieces. The buttons are also detailed and intricate, which is a recurring element I look for in my items. Jackie wore a lot of neck scarves in the show so I definitely wanted to incorporate a neck scarf without feeling too tight in the neck and chest area. The fun and flirty, slightly off-shoulder top from Guess adds the little extra bit of exposure skin that balances out the scarf in a complementary way.

Outfit 2: The Donna

Donna is the tall leggy tomboy who is stunning in her own way. She will wear dresses for special occasions but loves to rock her flared jeans.

These vintage bootcut Guess jeans are also from my local thrift store. I appreciate how vintage denim is like wine -- it gets better over time. The soft "broken in" feel is super comfy and usually if there is any distressing, it also tends to look more natural. Denim on denim is another trend from the 70s that seems to have popped back up again in recent trends (it came back once before in the 90s too). My self-tie top is actually from Zara girl's dept. Zara makes surprisingly high quality kids items and I will on occasion browse to see if there's anything that still looks like it could pass for an adult item. Crop tops are usually a safe bet since they're meant to be short anyway. I added some finishing vintage touches such as my trusty belt and a silk scarf as a bandanna. I'm only a bit taller than average height so my platform wedge espadrilles were a must to achieve the long leg effect of Donna Pinciotti.

What's great about fashion comebacks for vintage/retro lovers like me is that I can wear my outfits out without feeling like I'm in costume! Additionally, while I still prefer thrift shopping for genuinely vintage/retro pieces, it's also nice to be able to have a lot more options readily available in regular stores.

Hope you enjoyed the food photos and outfit pairings!
Thanks for reading :)