rainy day storytime.

 We've been having many rainy days lately. The cats and I have been using the rain as our scapegoat. We've been quite lazy this past week; staying in and reading and tea-drinking and snack-making and not much else and blaming it all on the weather. I found this sweet little 1920s poem book amid the stacks of dusty old books in my room, and I just happened to flip to this page about John and his rainy day. How fitting. The weather is our excuse but really, unlike John, we prefer to stay in and be cozy and do nothing (don't tell on us).

5.27

Due to some new changes in my work schedule, mostly because of the end of busy season but because of some other things as well, I've been working a whole lot less and thrifting a lot more to make up the difference, and also because I hope to eventually do etsy full time. I've really been trying to throw myself back into it the way I used to, when I went to multiple thrift/antique stores everyday during the week and estate sales on the weekends. I went through the paper this week and made a big list of all the good estate sales and auctions and I'm hoping to wake up pretty early tomorrow to get to as many of them as I can. Hopefully they'll be good ones and I'll have some good finds to share when the day is over.

I've been trying to get back into this sort of routine little by little, going to antique shops on my short work days or days off. On one recent antique store visit, when I went looking for a glass reamer to make lemonade with, I discovered an amazing 1920s/30s embroidered floral wool cape the likes of which anthropologie would probably like to get their hands on. I actually discovered it almost a year ago, but it was reaaaally expensive then so I just kind of admired it every time and then sadly put it back, slightly hidden, hoping no one else would snap it up. But this time it was on super sale so I had to grab it. I started thinking when I got home though, and realized how silly it is to own a wool cape in fl, where we're lucky if it gets down to 40° in the Winter, so it'll probably eventually be heading for the shop.

I've been in the process of cleaning and reorganising my room lately, and I now have one sad blank wall, so I've been keeping my eye out for pretty antique picture frames for my many antique prints that I've been waiting to hang foreeever. Now that I finally have a place to hang them I just need more frames. And I can finally hang my olde crumbling mirror that's sitting on an olde apple crate and leaning against my window, so now it won't fall over anytime I have my window open on a windy day.

I only have a short time to get everything situated, because I have an exciting visitor coming reeeeal soon.But more on that later. xx

easter.

Easter was pretty low-key this year, I spent the day at my mom's house with my family, my mom cooked on the grill and my brother and I sat around eating jellybeans and peeps and playing nintendo. I wore this little seafoam ghost of a dress, I've had it for several months and had been waiting for an excuse to wear it, so I decided I might as well throw it on for Easter since it's such a pretty pastel color and light enough for the hot weather we've been having. I ended up changing out of it after not too long, as it's super delicate and I'm not ready to retire it to hanging on my wall just yet. I was so nervous steaming it the night before because I didn't want to damage it and I know steam and olde fabrics are not always friends. The necklace I wore came from the estate of a woman named June Rose Gader who was a writer and major clotheshorse and travelled the world with her husband and owned a second home in France.

I took a bit of hair inspiration from Zooey Deschanel at the NY Times Wine Festival, but the weather sort of ruined/flattened it, which is strange because I have wavy hair and the humidity usually makes it look like this naturally. I already had blown it out that day and added the curls with an iron, so maybe next time I should just leave it wavy to start.

Overall it was a lovely day, I ate so much potato salad and so many deviled eggs and possibly some other mayonnaise-y based foods, and more jellybeans than anyone should ever be allowed to consume, but eating is the best part of holidays, after all. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday!

credit

seafoam 1920s flapper dress - greatest friend on etsy

cream 1920s flapper necklace - etsy

ring - antique store

letters from the past.

Do you remember a year ago this time? I still have the comic valentine which I received then, also the good one that came afterwards. I have to laugh to think what a kid I was. But then one couldn't blame me. Spoiled as I was by those I met. I don't think you would know me now.

Yours Sincerely,

Myrtle

c. 1921

like a dream.

i know i say this about a lot of dresses, but this 1920s lanvin dress truly has to be one of the best dresses of all time. it's simple and classic, and it's by far one of my absolute favorites. infact, i could fashion my entire dream wardrobe out of vintage lanvin.

all garments from metmuseum.org

from top:

1926 silk and wool couture dress ensemble

1923 spring/summer couture line

1925-26 fall/winter silk couture evening dress

1922 robe de style of cotton, silk, glass, metal

1923 spring/summer "roseraie" silk evening dress

1928 silk blouse- couture line

1946 silk blouse

unmentionables.

today was purposefully uneventful, as it was one of the growing number of sad dates on the calendar that make me want to do nothing but stay in bed all day. i was able to coerce myself out of bed (though not out of pajamas) to photograph a few things, however. here's a sneak peek of some pretty 1920s/30s undergarments that i will be sticking in the shop soon, with the exception of a few which i will be keeping or hanging on my wall.

 these are my favorite, light pink silk 1920s tap pants with minty green piping. my favorite color combination, and i love the detailed stitching.

                              

 super pretty 1930s bras. i'm keeping at least one of these but i'll have to add some material to the back. as small as my ribcage is, there's a good two inches before the two ends will touch. i'm thinking of getting some similar fabric and sewing it to one end and moving the hook and eye closure. if it doesn't end up working, this one will be hanging on my wall. way too pretty to hide away in a drawer. 

(the j.c penney co. acquired the crescent corset company in 1920)

lace embroidered 1920s or 30s bed jacket that needs a good steaming. i'm planning to look for a new garment steamer tomorrow, i want a stand-up one this time because they are so much easier than the hand held ones. when i worked at bcbg years ago, one of my favorite things to do was steam the new shipments of dresses because they had the best, best steamer that made wrinkles disappear in an instant. i've seen similar ones but they're pretty expensive. maybe i'll invest in one soon.

amazing light pink brocade corset, i haven't been able to date this yet but i'm thinking it might be older than 1920s. it has some condition issues, but still pretty spectacular nonetheless. anyone with knowledge on dating corsets, feel free to contact me!

most of these will be showing up in the shop very soon, if you see anything you're interested in you can definitely message me for more information and photos before i list them.

even though i'd rather stay home in pjs again, i talked myself into most likely going to a promising flea market with my brother tomorrow. the flea market we have here in town is pretty shoddy to be honest, they have a few good booths with vintage clothing and there's a really nice antique camera shop i always drool over, and a guy with the best selection of records i've ever seen, which he practically gives away (although i'm not even sure if he's still there anymore, it's been so long), but for the most part, it's comprised of booths selling gross ed hardy stuff or knock off bags. last time i was at my favorite antique shop, i overheard a lady saying that she finds a good deal of the things for her booth at a particular flea in another town, so even though it's a bit of a drive, i enlisted my brother to come with me to check it out. i'm hoping it's the kind of flea market that's sort of jumbled and junky and filled with booths run by sweet old people who give good bargains and chat you up with great stories about their youth while you dig through boxes of old clothes or photos. i hope my expectations aren't too high, because i'm not sure if that scenario even exists. i'll be sure to snap some photos if it does.

hair inspiration.

my hair is naturally fairly curly, so i typically just blow dry it straight and then twist it up into a loose bun and pin it in place. when i'm ready to leave the house, i take the pins out and let it down, and the result is big loose, slightly imperfect waves. since i've been doing it this way, i've always thought of it as the type of hair you see on a damsel in a silent film; the ones who have their hair pinned up perfectly and then fall down a hill, or get kidnapped, or shaken violently, or some other cliché silent film-era distress, and their hair just sort of falls around their shoulders, all loose and messy but still completely beautiful. aside from my bangs (which are largely 60s inspired at the moment), i like to think that that's what my hair looks like most days. watching boardwalk empire, i couldn't help be inspired by margaret shroeder's gorgeous, slightly careless-looking tousled locks, which seems fairly easy to achieve using the same routine i've been doing and using a large barreled curling iron to add fuller curls here and there. makes me want to grow out my bangs again!

hair perfection:

in additon to hair envy, i can't help but drool over the amazing beaded dresses and lovely cotton tops she wears. one of my favorite dresses from the show:

i love the detail on this top, and in one of my favorite colors right now, sage. :

the perfect everyday blouse, with the perfect little collar to match:

on a related note, i've been adding to my collection of pretty 1920s and 30s underthings lately- tap pants, corsets, flapper bras, etc, and purchased a 1930s lot this week. while not always practical, they're perfect to hang on walls and will undoubtedly pretty up any room!

(all images found via google search)

new year.

these are sort of embarrassing and i can't believe i'm posting them, but they are the only photos i have of myself from new year's eve (standing on a toilet, no less) and i guess i don't mind that they're a bit silly, i think maybe they sum up my year pretty well. i took these before i made a grocery store run to grab some last minute NYE essentials, and i just wanted to be comfortable and a little bit cute.

pink knit 1960s sweater ∙ thrifted
 black suede 1940s heels ∙ ebay

1960s carpet bag ∙ dear golden

i actually spent new year's eve alone at home, drinking woodchuck and champagne and watching the rules of attraction and probably my favorite modern film of all time (among a few others), eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, and i wouldn't have had it any other way.

i don't make resolutions, but i do make lists. i'm constantly making them, i'm always jotting down things i would probably otherwise forget. but, there are two kinds of lists, the necessary lists that serve as reminders or dictate what is to be done, and then there is the fun kind. wishlists, pretty things you want to buy, fun things you want to do, places you want to go- and those are the best kind. here's my list for the new year, a little bit boring, but mostly fun, things that i'd like to do, eventually, one day, in the future, no pressure.

1. thrift out of town more. take day trips to far away towns and dig through shops to which i've never been and visit estate sales in places i've never seen.

2. take swing dancing lessons. again. when i was ten, my little friends and i went to a one-day swing dancing lesson, and it was amazingly fun, and somewhat easier than i imagined (the beginning stuff, at least). i think i'd enjoy it even more now.

3. take a train somewhere. anywhere.

4. finally watch boardwalk empire. who would have thought that my obsession with the 1920s and my infatuation with michael pitt could come wrapped up in one package that also includes steve buschemi and martin scorsese? i started to watch the first episode online but it cut off midway, but what i saw so far was amazing. which brings me to my next goal...

5. find more pieces from the 1920s. this has always been my favorite era, but i've found it so hard to come across garments/shoes/accessories from this era lately. my ultimate vintage-related goal for the year (aside from business things) is to begin building a pretty substantial collection of amazing 1920s pieces.

6. speaking of business related things, i really want to focus more energy on my shop this year. i had a good momentum going for a while, but got pretty discouraged around the holidays and kind of neglected it a bit. i have so many lovely pieces to list, so i'm planning to start having bigger updates, and getting some of my stock listed.

kind of awful photo of an amazing lavender 1930s dress that needs some tlc

7. i guess maybe i can squeeze in one resolution-type goal. i'm going to try to be less hard on myself in general, especially when it comes to things that aren't my fault, and things i have no control over. i know that was as vague as it could possibly be, but i think it certainly applies.

happy new year!!

also,

8. how could i forget to include my objective to obtain and master the banjo? my effort to acquire one via ebay has thus far been fruitless, but i'm not giving up! i WILL learn how to play before 2011 is over, and fulfill my dream of starting a jug band. (i'm serious.)

9. i don't have a number 9 but i hate even numbers so i'm sticking this here anyway. maybe i'll think of something else i left out and come back and fill this in with a proper goal.

xx

needlecraft scans.

here are some scans from the march 1928 edition of 'needlecraft magazine' that i bought yesterday. i can't get over how lovely the everyday looks in the 1920s were.

 'for wee maidens'

 

 'smart new flare'

'for the smart matron'

'smartly correct'

even the ads are stunning!

i love the hair and the sweet little collar. now if only i could come across some of these dresses on my searches!