the blasted battery!

the last couple of days have had me traveling up and down and across northern california. the scenery could not be more beautiful than right now! rolling green hills, blue skies, and fields full of california native wild flowers. while i'm cruisin' around, i'm wishing i had brought my camera to document for you the awesomeness of my days, and remembering that i didn't because i never have the battery charged when i need it. even now, the battery is sitting on top of my dresser, oh so close to the outlet it's supposed to be plugged into, but still dead as a doornail.
with or without pictures, so far this week is throwing tons of vintage bounty in my lap. a quick trip before a photoshoot yesterday got me two heaping armfuls of the-best-finds-ever, one of which ended up being included in the shoot! and today, i got to clean out the closets of the most glamourous san francisco lady of the 70's. disco, glam, furs, you name it! pictures to come. once the damn battery plugs itself in and gets all good and juiced up!

i should get paid for this

i complained earlier because i couldn't find anything i wanted even just to pretend to buy from anthropologie. why that was a problem, i'm not really sure. it limits the coveting and the whining for lack of money. but, whatever. somehow i happened back upon the site because i heard they were carrying vera print dresses.

and voila, it's true. this cutie above is made from an authentic vera print fabric. (if you don't know, vera prints from the 60s and 70s are all you could ever want in a fabric. look for them in scarves and bedsheets -- which can then be made into whatever you please....maybe even a dress like this!)
anyway, that dress was interesting enough to get me looking around and here you go! vintage inspired lovelies to tempt and/or look fabulous on you when you go to anthropologie and buy them.


even though the craving for expensive goodies is back (which is bad), i'm glad to have found such perfection from anthro once more (which is good). i was a little worried for a second.

oh, thrift stores!

here's a couple of reasons why i adore thrift stores.
1) easy. listening. soft. rock.
2) the grannies that work in thrift stores trying to guess why i'm buying armfuls of beautiful 50s and 60s cocktail dresses. "are you going on a cruise?" "why are you buying that green one? st. patrick's day is already passed." they really must know where i am going to wear each piece i am buying. the "i just really like dresses?" answer does not work for them. it's adorable that no matter if i'm there twice a week buying loads of clothes in all different sizes and styles, they still think it's all for me.
sigh...my job is fun and cute....

what a jerk

that may sound rude but it's okay because i'm talking about....me! i have been jerking you around, teasing about shop updates, promising that i have loads of stuff to list in the shop, while the shop remains bursting at a grand total of twelve (awesome and amazing) items.
the truth is, i'm working on a new *secret* project, getting it ready for its big debut by the end of the month. it may even mean the end of the etsy shop. maybe.
at the same time, posts should be coming regularly. lots more pretty pictures and vintage everything. i want to keep you few readers coming back, and maybe even gain some more. hint hint, nudge nudge...tell people to read this!
thanks!

welcome antler

yes, i loved my magazine splurge last week. but i have so far neglected to tell you about my free magazine perusal! antler is a brand new online magazine that just launched its first issue and boy howdy is it beautiful.

it may look like i'm just stealing images from antler to make my blog more pretty. while that is true, i am also trying to do you the service of introducing you to the amazing curation of editor andi strand.

every single page of antler is gorgeous and sure to alert you to your new favorite designer/illustrator/blogger/photographer/stylist/etc. if it's aesthetically The Shit, it's in antler.

franny vintage. yes.

ana laura perez. definitely.

snoozer loser. of course. too cute.

one more reason antler is extra cool: it's an online magazine on purpose. they are consciously reducing their carbon footprint by not printing a gagillion copies each month. i love!

i would have put up many more pictures but i wanted to leave you some yummy surprises. go look!

time to shop for sunglasses!

well i thought yesterday was the best weather ever...until today happened. spring is officially here -- so much that i know i'm going to start bitchin' about the heat any day now. all this makes me very happy except for the fact that i am currently without a pair of shades and it's starting to hurt.
you see, i had this glorious pair of vintage christian dior sunglasses for years. they were extra special because i got a discount on them at my very first favorite vintage shop which has since burned down.

(that's the shop...and my favorite purse ever that got stolen)

then, when packing my life into my car for a six week road trip/move to i-dont-know-where-yet, i lost my beloved sunnies. so i bought these faux vintage ones at urban outfitters. (that was a whisper.)

we had good times, those rose-colored glasses and i. (that was us in seattle.) but then, a full year later, christian dior came back to me! he had just been hiding in a bookbag all that time.

alas, i think i loved these glasses too hard. this picture is actually the last day i wore them because the top of the frame is now cracked beyond repair. and last week i broke the arm off my replacement glasses which are definitely not worth fixing.
i imagined i'd have to go through this summer just starin' at the sun. how could i ever find such perfect pairs of sunglasses as those?
well, it took less than an hour's search yesterday and i think i've done it....


another pair of vintage christian dior sunglasses (from aj paul) and in an even more suitable color for me! i'm going to put graded lenses in these like the last ones. a deep dark amber on top fading to almost no shade. yum!


i bought the next pair as a backup but i'm pretty sure they might win spot numero uno on my face. look at those arms! the lovely val at this year's model put them in the mail about 20 minutes after i ordered them so i should be face-to-face with my new true love any day now!


get on etsy right now and pick out your new pair of old sunglasses. they were all surprisingly affordable and oh soooo adorable.
you still have a chance to score my runner-up pair.

they're waiting for you at dahlila found. unless i beat you to them. never know when you might lose two pairs of sunglasses!

much pretty for you

my expensive magazine treat this month was oyster mag from australia. it was full of goodies but this was my favorite shoot for being vintage-related. each pic was inspired by an era of music/fashion, and oh-so-pretty! i am in love with this canteloupe bodysuit above. and the rock photo with the ridiculously awesome leather fringe headpiece reminds me so much of some of the places i would hang out when i lived in sf. i gotta love that. plus i'm a sucker for succulents. the hanging baskets of cactus make it all the more perfect!
hope you likey....

wish-listlessness

did a little wish-list shopping today...

1960s bubble skirted satin dress

1980 issey miyake wool wrap

1940's adrian velvet hat

1940's italian kid gloves

...found some amazing pieces that would rock the socks off any vintage wardrobe.
grand total: $2650 via vintage textile.
contact me for my address if you're feeling especially generous!

dontcha just feel like dancin'?

i danced my way up to the counter at coffee this morning. and no, that's not nerdy, it's cool. edie, dalida, and annie are proof.

photos stolen (gasp!) from lauterhaus, sonobugiardo, and will kane

finally...an update!

well if today wasn't the most gorgeous day ever, i'll be darned. i was actually comfortable wearing shorts! in march! long live california.
maybe that is why i finally got my butt outside to take some pictures for the shop. i even listed these things already. i'm practically a bonafide vintage seller again. click on the pictures above to see their listings. or click right here in this spot to see the whole (tiny) shop.

you need to know...

...what katie wore.
you may have seen one of katie's outfits posted on painfully hip a couple weeks ago, but did you click through to learn more about this clever cutie?
katie and her man are on a quest to document what she actually wears every day for a year without ever repeating an outfit.
it's the simplest of blogs. joe takes katie's pictures and writes the comments. he seems to be completely enamored with katie's costume abilities and with good reason!
this is the ultimate inspiration for making use of one's whole closet (and sometimes one's boyfriend's closet too).


this one's my favorite so far. and i just found a vintage skirt like this in bright green and blue! yay!

vintage frye, oh my!

i don't know if i should even mention this, but yesterday i found a brand-new, never-worn pair of vintage frye campus boots for a ridiculously good deal. and it just so happens that they fit me. and are exactly what i've been dreaming of for many years now.
i feel pretty bad about keeping them as they are one of the best things i've found in a while. but i can't help it! i love them! and what good is it being a vintage collector if i don't wind up with a kick-ass collection of boots along the way?! (i also kept a pair of heeled zodiac boots last fall--oops.)

any comments on this idea for my new photo backdrop? i would definitely clean up the table a little, and i'm thinking about moving the chair and putting the table where it is. what do you think?

how to live in the past, well, the seventies

netflix calls it 'remarkable'. it is; but you could also call it creepy. i watched happiness last night, and today i had to make some screen shots of the wonderfully 70's home decor.





let's ignore for the moment the fact that i'm apparently terrible at making screen shots. i will get better. it's pretty fun. and then let's focus on these vintage finds.
there's the wrought iron curlicue globe lamps that blow ikea's paper version out of the water.
and then that amazing plaid wall hanging that is super easy to make -- just staple gun your favorite fabric tightly over an old canvas and voila!
my favorite part (and what made me decide i needed pictures from this movie) is the crocheted giraffe sitting in the classic wicker bookcase. i am now on a quest to find out how to make one. there are tons of ideas and patterns online, but two pages into the google search results and i still haven't found the right giraffe. when i do it will be true love.
the bottom picture i took mostly for the rad red chair, but i love the overall feeling of the room. clutter, wicker, plants, and macrame. it doesn't get much better. right?

an etsy tip

i've been noticing a pattern that might prove pretty useful to etsy sellers.
of course, i shamelessly stalk successful shops to try to figure out what they're doing that i'm not. and it seems to me that the trick has very much to do with listing lots and listing often. on most of the shops that have my dream sales of 3-7 items a day, the date the last item on the front page was listed is generally the same as the date the last item on the first page of sales was sold. make sense?
i've been watching this for a while, and it really seems to hold true. list an item, sell an item. right now the last item on my front page was listed december 29th. and the last item on my first sales page was sold january 1st. pathetic, i know. now all i have to do is list 20 items a day and i'll be one rich bitch! ha.

this is all i want

women's lib has gone straight out the window! this looks like absolute bliss to me right now.

wire basket for the fruit: check
coffee cups hanging by the window: check
cast iron pots on a tool board: oddly, already on my wishlist
with all the options women have, all the jobs and education i've had to prepare me to do anything i want, and my own business just waiting on me to get busy, why do i wish someone would pay me just to make the bed, do the dishes, and prepare a delicious, nutritious meal?

*photo stolen from mayalu's flickr photostream

shopping in delirium

i still feel like crap but i managed to drag myself out for the hunt today. and thank the lordy i did! i found armfuls of things i adore. and i hope that you will too.

from top left pic:

• cutest fitting cap sleeve crinkly dress with belt and amazing graphic print
• slouchy 80s short sleeve sweater in glorious plum coziness
• way-oversize men's cashmere sweater (which i'm almost definitely keeping)
• 70s cropped sweater vest
  
• the perfect pair of brown leather flats
• great gatsby pin-striped chambray shorts you would kill for
• a pristine pair of grandma shoes
• cutesy, artsy-fartsy, embroidered short sleeved sweater
• the most amazing 80s prom dress ever found - you can't even see the bubble hem!

all these things would look really good in my own closet. i will try not to let them stay there.

i dream of sandals

a bleubird vintage lovely

it's rainy and windy and i have a cold. oh, how i wish it were summer!
if it were, i'd be lookin' just like this cutie pie above here. this outfit was made for me.
i still love the over-sized shades. i will wear my old lady sunglasses until i actually am an old lady even if it means people will stop and stare at me and think, "how sad; she never let go of her youth."
cap sleeved blouses are my favorite - i don't know why they even bother to use any other kind of sleeve since perfection has already been discovered. (except maybe kimono sleeves. those are amazing as well.)
high-waisted a-line skirts take up about a third of my closet space right now; and this one would definitely fit in among the ranks.
and of course, i love the shoes...as evidenced by this picture of me wearing them last summer!


sigh, i love this dress. as much as i gravitate toward bright colors, i don't wear them often enough to make sense of keeping this dress from the shop. obviously, it has taken me a while to decide this - i took this picture in august and never bothered listing the dress. this is part of that large bundle of stuff i need to shoot this week.
which is why i am now going to bed (before 9 pm - !!!) so that i may be rested and actually, finally, get things done!