meth is cool

a trip to a west sacramento thrift store this afternoon reminded me to tell you that crack is whack. i know the woman in front of me was high on meth because i've seen intervention and you don't shake all over and say "huh?" every time the checker says something to you and then freak out because you don't know your pin number or what a pin number is if you're not high on meth.
sometimes the particularly druggy areas of town are absolute treasure troves of vintage finds. today, however, it was for pure entertainment only that i ventured past the check-cashing shops and the long john silver's to look through an entire 30 foot rack of dresses and leave with nothing. well, except of course for the reiteration that mmmm....drugs are bad.

one of those

some things just stick with you. ever since i saw the glamourai's blue velvet coat with the bright and fancy lining and the gorgeous red fox fur collar, i've probably thought about it or looked at pictures of it at least once a week.

photos originally uploaded by the glamourai

well today, i found my own version of this masterpiece! she's a 1950's jackie morgan shantung dress coat in peacock blue. instead of the fur, i like the oversized shawl collar - it emphasizes a petite waist - and besides, this is california, we don't need fur when it's 60 degrees in december. (it really was that warm today! yay!)

and on the inside....a bright and beautiful silk lining!


if you were also coveting the glamourai's outrageously awesome winter coat, check out the shop. i'm being good and letting this one go.

i wish i'd seen this sooner!

originally uploaded on take luck

a random internet browse this morning led me to reese dixon for a tutorial on how to make the cutest quilled snowflake ornament. this craft idea is right up my vintage-loving, do-it-yourself, luxe-for-less alley. the pretty little thing is just strips of cardstock curled up and glued together. the tutorial is very detailed and looks easy enough to follow. too bad the holiday's all over now, but at least next year my sad little charlie brown christmas tree will be adorned with gorgeous, crafty, homemade ornaments!

if it ain't vintage...

...i don't want it.
i am working on a little wish-list/paper-doll scenario for you so i sent myself shopping online to pick out pretty things that are way out of my price range.
while perusing the dresses at anthropologie, nothing attracted me enough to even click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture. am i sick? i used to want everything from that store. i could rack up a $2000 (imaginary) order in five minutes without even trying.
i think it might be because these dresses aren't vintage. the ones i kind of liked just reminded me of pretty old things i've seen in photographs and vintage stores. but they don't come with the story of how you discovered it amongst a pile of junky stuff; and you can't look at a picture of your grandma wearing it to someone's birthday party in 1957.
this project might take a little longer than i thought. i'm going to have to be a little more open-minded. or just look at vintage shops only!

a poor man's christmas

there's been a lot of talk this year about making your christmas thrifty. i've been trying to be a more conscious consumer anyway and pretty much everything in my home right now has come from a thrift store, estate sale, friend's handouts, or a thoroughly researched deal.
so, for christmas, i made a goal of spending less than anybody ever has before. i got a vintage fake canadian pine tree at a thrift store for $5.99. then 2 packs of ornaments, and a string of lights on super discount for 74 cents each!
the tree is in perfect condition but the stand was missing from the box. (of course). so boyfriend went out to our one-stop-shop, the alley, where we can generally find anything we need (and once scored an amazing vintage leather armchair) and picked up a beautiful old dresser drawer to use for the base.
he went about craftily drilling a hole in the middle of the drawer front that would be big enough to stick the tree into. and for our topper, a tin foil star! i'll probably keep my eye out for a pretty vintage one in my shopping over the next year, but i'd say this one is pretty and cool and works great for free!


i wish there was tinsel on the tree but i'm not sure wednesday can handle the temptation.


after setting up the tree, tonight was the perfect night for a homemade hot buttered rum (thanks to forkable for the recipe) and a tangerine for dessert!

wednesday

the new love of my life! this is the very first picture of my new baby, taken moments after stepping in the door with her. not a bad pose for her very first try! she's gonna be a model just like her momma.
we found wednesday at the fourth pet rescue center we visited today. the ladies only had kittens there because that's all anybody wants for christmas. when i told them i wanted a grown-up kitty, they were so stoked that one of the foster mommies ran home to pick up wednesday to show me - they knew we were meant to be together!
perhaps i'll have a not-so-blurry photo for you in the future. until then go to itty bitty kitty committee and see why everyone wants kittens for christmas. they're so freakin' adorable!

this week's update

i still seem to be sticking to a very specific color palette. but i've decided that's a good thing. browns, blues, and other neutrals are the only colors anybody should be wearing. i'm starting a revolution here and now!
click here to see the shop. if it's not there yet, it will be soon. or it sold and you were a slowpoke.

more blog love, yay!

yesterday, one of my darlings was featured on sweet figments, a handmade and vintage blog run by two ladies with supreme-o style. i pretty much want everything they pick out for their readers, so i am very excited to have been included!

collage of amazing print works picked out by sweet figments. click here to see article and seller info.

i read back through their older posts and fell in love with these print shops! especially yellena (top left corner). her shop is stocked with beautifully crafted, intricately drawn organic themes in color schemes straight from my dreams. whoa, that was a bit rhyme-y. maybe i should edit.

2009 calendar by yellena, $24

i've 'favorited' yellena's 2009 calendar. twelve original drawings tied up with a cute little blue ribbon. yum!

hurrah for etsy and blogs.

seriously, wall

new hat. on my head. but you can't see it because it too is the g.d. same color as the wall. cute dress though, no?

santa cruz and the brilliant idea

the other day my mom and i drove down to santa cruz for an early christmas present. we have been on a quest to replicate the-best-candle-ever for almost 10 years - countless internet searches and talks with craft fair potions makers have never come close to getting the recipe for that sweet sweet scent. as a last ditch effort, mom decided we would have the perfumer's apprentice give it a shot for us. bring the candle, give her a whiff, and she'd figure out the exact components and we'd have a lifetime supply of the holy grail of smelly candles.


alas, it was not so easy. the 'perfumer's apprentice' turned out to be us! they seat you at a table in a cozy yet airy room with tea and cookies and almost any scent that could ever be used in a perfume. you sniff out your favorites (and coffee beans in between to cleanse the palette), making little scent strips of any you think you might use. then put the strips together to smell the whole aroma and decide what's missing or what's too much.


i got fed up trying to recreate that elusive goodness and set about making my own signature scent while mom worked hard and ended up nailing it right on its sandalwood/cardamom/frankinscense-y head. (seriously, check out that combo - it really does deserve this amount of obsession.) after about two hours and two cups of constant comment tea of sniffing ourselves dizzy, we both were ecstatic over our new creations. my set is pictured below - i'm keeping the measurements secret - but let me tell you, fig is an unexpectedly fantastic top note!

we took home little vials of our new roll-on perfumes and the shop keeps a record of your recipe so you can order refills or other products in the future.

more kudos for santa cruz: we hit two awesome thrift shops in the downtown area (pics to come later when my finds are photographed and in the shop) and had a delicious vegan lunch at what looked like a regular ol' cafe but features only organic, sustainable, veggie and vegan burgers, milkshakes, and breakfasts. yum!

clothes that blend in with my wall

in thumbnail view, everything i just listed looks blah and boring. live and in person, they're all amazing! apparently my bedroom paint job is affecting my shopping aptitudes.





at least the blue one stands out a bit! click here to see these neutral beauties (and that coat i teased you with) in all their glory.

you need this coat

gorgeous 1970s leather trench coat with amazing details. i bet you could find an extra in a woody allen film wearing this. hope i don't regret listing this one!
coming to the shop tonight!

i got new boots...

...perfect lace up brown leather vintage naturalizers from cuffs, a lovely sacramento vintage shop that happens to be on the same block as my apartment. such luck!
then i made a (very simple, graphically) new ad after this outfit screamed at me "hey! it's fall!"
and now i'm feeling way too narcissistic. it's weird looking at pictures of yourself all day and then writing about it. oh well. go shopping.

crank up the sparkle.

wanna stand out? here's how...





coming to the shop tonight!

how to date vintage clothes

first of all, a google search of that phrase brings back mostly pages about what to wear on a date. oh so unhelpful. secondly, i was an apparel major in college and used to ace the tests when we had to look at a garment and date it practically to the day based on fibers, construction, labels, color, and silhouette. but sometimes, i have such difficulty deciding where to place my finds on the time spectrum.
it's time to bone up on my fashion history. so far in my research, i've decided to add costume gallery to my bookmarks toolbar. they give a short overview of trends for each decade in the 20th century followed by links to other websites with more in-depth coverage of the era-characterizing bits. you can also link to their picks of the best survey books for each decade via amazon.

speaking of which, amazon told me i'd probably want to buy fashion: a history from the 18th to the 20th century. i'm pretty sure they are right. it comes in two huge hardcover volumes - one for the 18th and 19th centuries, and one, even bigger, covering the 20th century. ann steeves on craftstylish gives a loving review of the book, pretty much making me drool all over my little keyboard. extra bonus for her mentioning that the 60's and 70's sections are probably the best because those are my favorite fashion decades of the moment and i'm constantly searching for more evidence as to why. i'm entering my credit card information right now.

i'm also thinking about getting john peacock's the 1970s. i already have his 20th century fashion survey which has distracted me for hours and hours (and proved pretty helpful in studying for those aforementioned tests). his illustrations are broken down by year and then by department - day wear, evening wear, sports and leisure wear, accessories, underwear, and wedding wear. they seem to be pretty accurate as to what people were actually wearing, and to include the most pervasive and date-identifying trends. however, amazon's price on this one is not quite as good as, say, finding it at a thrift store for $1.50, so i think i'll hold out.

off to amazon now to finish buying that first book, and then back to listing clothes, which was the catalyst for this whole thought process in the first place.

see the dress that started all this trouble....

click here for the listing

i decided it's from the 1940s. i knew from the start it was gorgeous.

UPDATE: i hear this is probably actually from the 80s. damn. i need more study time!

check this out!

this lovely lady was included in fierce and nerdy's fashion blog 'chic geek' today along with lots of other glam goodies perfect for upcoming holiday festivities. yay! thanks delia!

major find

click here for the listing

I was about to list this dress, when I remembered that I should really research amazing vintage labels before setting their prices. I was already beyond excited about this one - authentic 1960's vintage in silk with a gorgeous and unique color palette that fits like a dream and looks completely modern and wearable.
It turns out that Marek, New York is also a pretty coveted and rare vintage designer. I found a couple of high-end vintage stores online with Marek dresses - none as cool as this one, of course. And the prices people were paying for these items were outrageous! Oh, how I wish I could find more and more mint condition designer labels and sell them exclusively to ladies with too much money. That would be a swell job. Instead, I will just thank the shopping gods for blessing me with this find and hope that if one of those vintage shop owners sees this dress before you do, at least they won't be getting too much of a steal of a deal when they mark it up to $350. Sheesh!

Below is the awesomest of the other Marek items I found in my research. It is from the same collection as my dress but in an equally cute bubblegum pink and mustard yellow print - and... it's pants! Click on the pic to visit the pantsuit at vintage textile. Maybe you can build a wardrobe around this wonderful print!

i'm so excited!!!

i'm on my way to pick up this amazing wall hanging and couldn't wait to show it off. it's HUGE and apparently it has actual tree bark around the edges. it's been on craigslist for $5 forever according to the seller. FOOLS! oh well, happy monday to me!

you missed out

i really wish i had brought my camera with me for shopping today.
we hit an awesome estate sale in the most interesting vintage house i've seen in a while. the layout of the house and the decorations were amazing! and, they had multiple (!) framed paintings of cats.
at a thrift store, there was a set of four glasses in gaudy green and chipped gold paint declaring ' i <3 jesus.' at another shop, we saw a portrait that looked like a cross between chuck norris and jesus. i think it was supposed to be the latter. but he looked like a rock star.
i think i'm going to start documenting these stellar finds to share here. in the meantime, check out yard sale bloodbath, a seattle blog that documents a pair of junkers' weekend adventures and shares pics of crazy stuff and stories of crazy people.

this week

some of the neato things coming to the shop this week. click here to see more.