Fashion-mommy takes a trip (part 4) – still in Wales in Heels!

Wales was growing more lovely by the day, and on day 4 the sun came out! So what do you do on a sunny day in Wales? Go to the beach? Find a market? Hubby had a better idea. Lets go to Harlech, we could look around the town and Baba would love the castle. Great! So that’s what we did.

Dressing proved more difficult today. What do you wear for a trip to a castle?  I kept imagining medieval wimples, flowing dresses with long draping sleeves. A Maid Marion – esque look. Or maybe Alexander McQueen style heavy brocade and embroidery would be great, sort of Anne Boleyn style. But this was obviously silly, it was Summer, it was stifling and it was 2010, not 1400. So in the end I opted for a green patterned and draped Jersey style dress from Monsoon, with a vintage brooch to keep the cleavage respectable, and some pretty bronze sandals.  I finally looked and felt summery.

But Harlech itself was a bit of a disappointment, especially for a fashionista. For a start, there are very few shops of note. I found one charity shop and was able to pick up a navy Fenn Wright Manson evening dress with beaded edges for £3. Frankly, it might not fit, but it was worth the risk. I also got a vintage St Michael M&S skirt , calf length black with gold thread running through. Very baroque, very Alexander McQueen and perfect for this season. And, at just £2.50, possibly the bargain of the season.

However, that was the shopping over. The famous ‘men of Harlech’ must really love their junk/antique shops, as there were a few of these and they were definitely aimed at men, selling horrible, ugly Toby Jugs and tankards and beer steins, not a perfume bottle or vintage hair brush in sight!

The castle though was stunning. And all thoughts of wimples and flowing dresses and Rapunzel hair came flooding back as we admired it towers and enormous walls from the outside. Unfortunately, the outside was as close as we got. Edward 1st may have been a master tactician in the war department, but he had obviously not had building regs advising him that maybe enormous castles need wheelchair and pushchair access. We couldn’t get baba into the castle in his heavy pushchair, and whilst the romantic princess in me was disappointed, Baba frankly couldn’t care less. He’d seen a musical train ride and was merrily shouting for the Choo Choo!

We only spent a couple of hours in Harlech, and the sun was still shining. Maybe there was still time to hit the fabulous Cardigan Bay beach in Barmouth…

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• Dispatch | Wales Watching (tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com)
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