summer days

One day last weekend, my mom came over to get lunch and walk around downtown a little and poke around in all the antique stores. We started to walk there and only got about half of a block before we decided it was just too hot to walk. So we took a few photos under the shade of a big oak tree and then made our way back to the car to drive. When we arrived at the little cafe where we planned to have lunch, it was closed, and then we realized it was Sunday and everything in the historic district was going to be closed. So we made other plans and started to walk back to the car.

There's this little tiny red, white, and blue building downtown that used to be an old hot dog stand/diner. It's so cute and quaint and has a row of carnival lights across the top and a tiny window for where the vendor would serve the patrons. It's one of my favorite buildings in town, and I've been wanting to take pictures of it for the longest time. It's been up for sale for so long with no takers so I was worried it'd be torn down soon...so since I finally had my camera we stopped here to snap a few photos on the way back to the car.

...and then this happened:

Not only will the building not be torn down, but apparently someone already bought it, and turned it into a little hair salon. This hilarious guy came out to see what we were doing and when he saw that we were taking photos of the building, he made us come in and take a tour. One of the other men working at the salon said he loved my outfit ('it's like so, vintage or something'), and demanded that I take a photo of it against his backdrop or he would be utterly offended. So I did.

I got this skirt in an ebay lot last Winter and had designated it a "Fall skirt' because of the colors and pattern, but I pulled it out of the back of my closet the other day and realized it would actually make a nice Summer skirt too. And then I realized that it would be the perfect thing to wear with my new antique top. 

Right then... it's really hot today so I'm going to go drink another cream soda with a fancy red and white striped straw and traipse around in a vintage bathing suit eating handfuls of berries and waving sparklers til the sun goes down. I hope you are all having a lovely holiday if you are in the US, and a lovely regular day if not!

cat snaps / house peeks.

After looking in nearly every antique/used furniture shop in town, I pretty much gave up searching for a kitchen table... but when my downstairs neighbor was moving out I took a peek at that apartment to see if I liked it better and I noticed his kitchen table was the only thing not moved out, and it was exactly what I had been looking for. I asked him what he intended to do with it, if he was selling it, and he said it belonged to the building and had been there when he moved in, so I went right ahead and usurped it for my own apartment.

It's normally situated right under my front window, where there's lots of nice light to enjoy while drinking my coffee and eating blueberry scones and reading in the early afternoons, but the other day I tested it out on the opposite wall (where my elusive future yet-to-be-found settee will eventually go) and I quite liked it. It didn't stay for long, however, because Oliver and Gus were so excited to finally be able to reach all those frames they'd been so curious about, and they almost knocked one or two down. Oliver managed to grab that little dried pod/stem branch and pull it down, so I decided maybe it was best to move it back for now.

And here we have Oliver looking so fancy on the tabletop. The cats are normally not allowed on the table, and they're usually very good about it, but with the novelty of the new location they were extra curious so I let them hop up a time or two. (also, please excuse the mess that can be seen in my room. there were cat toys laying all over the floor that I couldn't be bothered to pick up for these photos).

I wore this dress on Easter but I only went to my mom's in it and no one saw me so I thought it'd be okay if wore it again a few days later. I bought it from one of those cheap mall shops about five to six thousand years ago when I was working at the mall, and I had never worn it all those years for some reason so I pulled it out on Easter and it seemed just right for the occasion. I was much cooler in this than in the 1920s dress and slip I wore last Easter. It seems the perfect warm weather dress so I can see myself wearing it a lot this Spring and Summer. The cream bow fascinator was a gift from my friend many many years ago, she bought it for me from an antique shop in Hawaii.

I found the pretty lace treasures hanging on my door at an estate sale a few weeks ago, the pink lace dress is 1950s and the ecru ruffle top is Edwardian. Both need a few mends and then they will be put right in the shop. The white one in the center is a big fluffy crinoline which I will be keeping for displaying clothes in shop photos. I have two others but neither is as full as this one and I've been searching for a new one for quite some time.

I hope you all had a nice Easter and have been enjoying this nice weather we've been having! (I'm just assuming here that we've all been having nice weather). I am still stalking craigslist for a new bike, which I'll hopefully find before the hot Summer rolls around.

shop update preview.

We had a bit more sun today, so I was finally able to photograph this weeks' shop dresses. All of the dresses shown (except the blue beaded one- I decided to keep that one for now!) will be in the shop this evening or tomorrow at the latest. If you have any questions about one of the dresses or would like to reserve something, you can contact me here.

I still haven't gotten around to putting my shelves up yet...I need to borrow a screwdriver (and maybe a ladder) but I think I'll have a little helper this weekend to assist with hanging shelves and picture frames and mirrors and all the pretty little things that make houses cozy, so expect house-progress updates next week!

my new little aloe plant and peace lily that are waiting for homes!

mini shop update:

A little shop update- click the links at the bottom to go directly to the listings.

1 → vintage 1950s rhinestone necklace
2 → vintage 1950s tulip pin brooch
3 → vintage 1940s white sequin and beaded clutch
4 → vintage 1950s bird stick pin

pâtisserie

Some confectionery dresses I found today:

some for me, some for the shop. (maybe? I haven't tried them on yet but unfortunately they look like my size). If I do part with them, they'll be in the shop just as soon as I spruce them up a bit. I have a mini shop update planned for tomorrow or Friday at the latest...a few pretty jewelry pieces I've collected over the past few weeks and maybe a handbag or two. And then I should have another tiny update of tiny dresses the following week, two or three sweet cotton 1930s little girl dresses and the loveliest 1920s baby dress I ever did see. It looks like a tiny version of an adult dress. I have a little stack of vintage children's clothing and I was never quite sure whether I'd list them in fanciness or not, but they're really cute and I have no need for children's clothing so I'll most likely be putting them in the shop very soon.

Also,
I noticed some new followers from the giveaway I held at Vixen Vintage- thank you for following and I hope you'll stick around!

i'm here!

After a few apartment key mix-ups and leaky plumbing-related ordeals, I'm finally moved in to my new place. Aside from my dress form and record player and a few big boxes filled with my books, furniture is still scarce, but only because I'm selling all my old furniture at a yard sale this weekend so I can replace them with new old ones. I've been on the lookout for a sturdy antique bookshelf, a parlor table, and a velvet settee but I haven't had any luck finding what I have in mind. And to think of all the perfect ones I've passed by in the past for lack of a place to put them... 

I've been moving things around, trying to find the wall with the best light for my dress form...I'm planning to start adding new things to the shop very soon, with my new yellow walls as the backdrop but I'm a little nervous about the transition from the gray walls and my shop not having a consistent look. We'll see. 

I went to an estate sale yesterday that had hundreds, maybe thousands of records from the 1930s on, and like a dummy I wore this little dress because it felt like Spring, not realizing that the house was on the water and that they would be set up outside, on a sun deck. Windiest day of the century. So I couldn't even dig through the records, since both hands were full with gingham skirt pleats and tightly grasped at each side, holding my dress down. I was able to look through a box of old Decca records that was inside, and I left with an Ella Fitzgerald 33 and a few pieces of costume jewelry, so not a complete loss. 

I feel like I should apologize to anyone who had to see this. my legs, I know. So pale. Also, I went into a store wearing this dress and the girl at the counter said I look like Mary Poppins? okay. And that hair, well I'm just about ready to chop it.

betty evelyn.

here are a few photos of my grandmother, taken in 1950, that my lovely cousin sabrina tucked into my christmas card this year. she looks so darling in her little dresses with her dainty box purses and perfectly simple accessories, and i love her little hairstyle (which hasn't changed much in the 61 years since). i can kind of make out some really cute oxfords in the second photo!

i believe she was 17 in these photos, and already married to my grandfather! i have a photo of the two of them standing in front of their car in the late 40s or early 50s but i misplaced it when i moved. i'm hoping i'll come across it one of these days, because it's one of my favorites.

on an unrelated note, here's a sneak peek at what's coming in a future post:

early 1930s catalogue scans. xx