Vintage Fashion sale!

On Saturday Angela and I, along with Anne Marie and her eldest daughter, and the little Juliette, attended the coolest vintage fashion sale EVER!

Admittedly, this is the first of its type I have ever been to. Unless you count flea markets and vintage shops, which I don't. This was a full-on indoor market with clothing of all eras, thematic shops and not-so-much collections of random items. Beautiful sheath dress and 3/4 coat sets, flowy slips and crinoline for days.

There was even vintage Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Yves St. Laurent, Chanel and more. Not to mention glorious hats, trims, fabric, baubles, parasols, Bakelite, feathers, costumes and more. Can you say overload??

Here are some highlights. There were no low lights, but you can't take 1000 pics and peruse to buy at the same time! I made only one purchase, but meant to get one of those 60s dress suits (darn it!), and at the next one (in the fall) Angela and I will be shopping for party dresses because... well, because you should have a decent collection of unique party dresses, shouldn't you? What self-respecting fashion connoisseur doesn't?

Without further ado...

Oh so many beautiful hats! How come people don't wear hats much anymore (except in the winter, yuck)? Let's please bring back that accessory!

After seeing dozens of these late-1800s skirt and jacket combos (they look like a dress, but they are actually two pieces), I wanted to throw one on...

With a pair of these, and go shoot me some varmints! No, really, I did.

I was in love with this one in particular. Such an intricate piece of clothing for a lady of the prairie! I loved the elaborate sleeves and detail on the shoulders (see below). Best of all - and most important on the frontier?- was the boned corset on the inside. Yep, everyone's waist was 20" back then. Eek! One of two reasons I couldn't fit into this.

Here is a detail of the bows on the shoulder. It would have been a really cool piece to work in - oh yes, I definitely would have worn it - but alas, my shoulders are too wide. Now, I'm not a big person, so that should give you an idea of the tiny-ness of the old frontier womanfolk.

I did have some fun trying on hats though. Not sure if this counts as a fascinator or a hat though. The veil was too much! In a good way. =)

I don't know why, but I was so bowled over by this one that I had to have it. I was actually almost willing to pay the $45 tag price (which Anne Marie said was a very good price anyway) but the woman volunteered to sell it for half price! So this lovely feathered beauty is now in my possession. It was my only purchase - sigh - but I will go back again with more of an idea how to not get overwhelmed and just grab things when they strike me.

Why is this upside-down? Don't know. Anyway, the first floor had a ton of costume jewelry and Bakelite, more hats and gloves and some amazing one-of-a-kind necklaces for over $3000 apiece! I didn't get a picture because I saw them when I was holding the baby.

Sweet little pill box hats. Again, can we PLEASE make an effort to wear more hats from now on???

I wanted Angela to buy this boucle jacket in turquoise, as I consider it one of her signature colors. But I almost bought it, too. Jackets like this are dated but not; still totally wearable in daily life.

Some vintage, some costume, some nice and some chintz. What can I say, they had it all!

A beautiful drop-waist dress from the 30s, a particularly pretty time period.

I meant to buy gloves, too, but I never found that perfect pair. Next time, next time...

Fashion Victim

Now, that title's a two-parter.

For one, Gaga. Always, ALWAYS classy, here she is seen walking mournfully around London after hearing about Alexander McQueen's death. So, even though I'm not meaning to be so callous, he's sort of a fashion victim too, isn't he?

As for her... did it occur to her that maybe the nicest way to recognize publicly her friend's death was to maybe, I don't know, not walk around in a spotlight-stealing mangle of garish hair bows atop her noggin?

You know, throw on some of that traditional black and keep your fashion siren to a low moan instead of a high-pitched shreik?

It is for this and many other reasons that I am not famous; don't know how to relate to them, and I definitely don't know what they're thinking!


Bonus: You gotta love the fact that, despite her desperate attempts at stealing the spotlight at all times, Gaga's got nothing on Angelina Jolie's bangs. I mean, all the woman did was get some bangs (ahem - like someone else you know...) and she's plastered all over every celeb gossip page out there. I don't like her either, but the power of a haircut is some kind of celebrity poetic justice.

DIY is Best

I'm all about making my own jewelry, clothing and embellishments. I found this site - "P.S. I Made This" - and am in love with it! She's got all sorts of clothing, accessory and decor ideas (less of these) to make on the cheap and in five steps or less.

My favorite find is this cork and push pin necklace. Doesn't it look expensive? Ahh, but it's made out of your old Pinot Noir or Zinfandel corks, cut into shorter stubs and held together on a ribbon. Architectural and sweet!

Click on the PS I MADE THIS text below photo to go to the page with the tutorial. Really, really simple. And who doesn't have some extra corks laying around? I've got a lot if you want them...

PS I MADE THIS

Yellow and Brown, Pt. II

Do you think one can wear yellow, brown, tweed, gold and dots together without looking garish?

What if you class it up with a well-dressed cat?

Or maybe they look better in a wackadoodle pose? And with a matching couch to boot!

It really did all come together nicely. Mixing patterns is fun fun fun.

One more for good measure. =)

Grey Day

This was weird. I was totally dressed for winter weather today - a long sleeve under a sweater, dark colors and overcoat - and then it turned out to be over 30 degrees! If you live in a warm place that probably sounds freezing to you but here in the midwest we call it a blessing this time of year!

My grey day turned out to be a sunny one, and my clothes made absolutely no sense! That, and the girl at work I replaced (she's still there, just with a different job) and with whom I am constantly being compared because of our similar features was ALSO wearing a grey sweater. That happens a lot with us, that we wear very similar clothing. Another reason I want to break out of my fashion habits! Heck, it's even the reason I dyed my hair recently.

But anyway...

The outfit really was kind of fresh, in an understated way. I made these pants into cigarette-style ones (like, I got rid of the flare they had) to make them more wearable. Funny how a change in width can change so much of a look.

Lastly, I'm not trying to look like I'm feeling myself up. Correction: I was not feeling myself up! Just trying to hold the coat closed. So yeah, just in case you thought there was anything weird going on. ?

Picture time!


Sorry for looking a little psycho! I simply cannot take a good photo of myself. Probably should improve on that unless I want to be headless like the last two posts. At least you're getting these awesome shots of my minimalist apartment!

Lights! Camera! DG$56GF#kigtrl!

By that I mean, "Stupid camera leeched all the battery juice again!" Fresh batteries make everything better and two days' outfits are posted below.

If you have cable tv, please enjoy tonight's project runway wherein the participants will act surprised that there was a "twist" to the weekly challenge, there will be much sassiness exchanged, and the runway will somehow produce another chic version of something that - hooray!- Vogue patterns will produce a r-t-w pattern for.

Can't wait! Oh, except I have to wait until tomorrow to watch it online since I don't have cable myself. Grrr...

Happily you can enjoy this photo from a polyvore user. Yup, I definitely want every item pictured!

By ell by elle εïз featuring Burberry bags

"You Look Like a Heart"

That is what Nic told me when he saw me getting ready to leave for work.

I'm not sure what it means exactly, but I think it was a compliment since it was preceded by an "Awww!" and a double take.

I guess it's better than being told I look like a member of Heart. Then again, if I could pull off a Stevie Nicks look for office attire I should be given a fashion medal! Come to think of it the boots are a little eighties...

But still the best purchase I've probably ever made!

I was going for oversaturated romantic, hence the ruffly shirt (one of my favorite items of clothing) and iron-gate printed shirt.


Oh yeah, and all the pink! I had several options for shoes, but went with boots in the end because they seemed to fit the theme best. Bonus: I made this necklace myself out of vintage pearls and new chains. I have a thing for chain necklaces.. You'll see them in many pictures.

Ooh, how artsy of me with all the mirrors and stuff. =)

Yellow Stripes and Brown

Yellow and brown could look like a uniform, if they wanted to. Like, a UPS man for example. I see them around here two to three times a day. They mostly have sunny personalities despite their drab outfits.

Me, I love brown. Maybe more than black, though most days I'd probably deny that. I wear it often, love its muted quality, and that it takes a basic outfit to interesting just by not being black.

These pictures are a minor fake; I didn't have any brown tights so I had to wear jeans with this originally- arrrgh! But this is what I would've worn if I had the right legwear. Next time, next time...

But at least my legs look good, right?

Day 2.11.10

This is the first post. Pretty blah for a Thursday, but what can I say - it's just a Thursday!

I came to the realization that I am in need of several items in order to get some outfits together: more vests, accessories, brown boots (preferably with a flat heel) and, well, more jeans. You can't have too many. FIRE the person who says you can.

Not sure why this vest/shirt combo makes me look so busty! I'm really not busty. Seriously. I could've gotten a better shot of these fantastic boots I've had for years and remain my favorites. They have a button detail that is just so cute. My only regret is not waterproofing them first. Now they have worn spots, too. [sigh] Still love 'em.

I like this outfit for the turquoise and the vest. Great color on me and the vest really makes my waist look small.




My cat thinks I'm nuts. He's probably right!



Am I really this pale?? Also, this pic doesn't show the red of my hair which I absolutely LOVE.




Oh yeah... got these shoes off a craig's list person today. I will put up most of them for swap or sale if you want. Not the black croc pair. Those are mine =)

Entry 1 1/3

What's that 1/3 all about you wonder? There are several explanations.

I'm not twenty-one anymore. Neither am I forty-one. Or sixty-one!

So, finding myself at neither a mid-life point (that's 1/2) and having the expendible income necessary for a well-stocked closet... nor young enough (that'd be 1/4) to pull of trends like the all-nautical attire, legwarmers or minis...

I reside in the 1/3 portion of my life lived thus far. And, you'd better believe there's a lot of fashion to be found in this little corner.

And I don't mean the Casual Corner.

Please don't be offended if you do shop there. ;) I'm just not mature enough for that shop yet. There are many of us who aren't, and find it difficult to find stores that give us attire both appropriate and fashionable.

There are lots of blogs like this. I know a few! I love them all, and appreciate everyone's effort. It's hard to dress like the cool ladies they are in the Ugg-sodden, leggings-clad land that is the Midwest region of our United States. I'm happy to list other fine blogs of similar ilk on my sidebar. Check 'em out for inspiration!

Just wanted to throw my own two cents and point of view into the pot. I may have some giveaways of clothes I don't care for anymore sometime. Or other contests. Mostly... I need to challenge myself to be more creative in clothing, so that more than 1/3 of my days are spent giving a hoot about what I've got on!

Thanks for reading!