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

christmas dress.

i know i've already said that i was probably going to wear that blue 50s dress for christmas, but i think i'm going to wear this one instead.

it's just a simple black rayon 1960s dress with a wide satin peter pan collar, and i think it's more suitable for my holiday plans this year, or rather the fact that my holiday plans consist of opening presents at my house, and then lounging around eating snacks and watching 'a christmas story' all day. the other one seems a bit too fancy for that sort of thing. maybe if i was going to a holiday party it would be more appropriate, but for now, i think i'm sticking with this one. of course, i'm very fickle when it comes to deciding what to wear and sticking to it, so there's every likelihood that i will change my mind again.

on an unrelated note, i found these little 1940s heels hiding in the back of my closet the other day. i bought them probably about 5-6 years ago at a thrift store for a dollar (and likely didn't even realize they were 40s at the time) and had completely forgotten about their existence. if anything, i think that is a sign that i need to clean out my closet more often.

new things.

1940s brown suede beaded peeptoe platform heels

i've been wanting to do a post for so long about some of the new things i've been finding, but i've been putting it off. things have been so busy lately, which is good i guess, but there hasn't been much time to just stop and relax. i've been finding so many amazing things for my shop, and finding them quicker than i can wash/dry clean, mend (if needed), measure, photograph, and get them listed. so i've amassed quite a collection of lovely pieces. some have already hit the shop and some will be showing up very soon! i had planned to do a big shoot today, so that i could get almost everything listed tomorrow and tuesday, but the weather was so dreary and there was absolutely no light, so i'm glad i was able to sneak in a little photo session yesterday before the sun went down.

i'm finding, lately, that making connections can be extremely valuable for my (or any) vintage business, and i've made several wonderful connections in the past few weeks. it seems that once you tell someone that you sell vintage, they suddenly want to help you out; they have some things you might be interested in, they know someone who knows someone who has an attic full of vintage clothing, that sort of thing! one of the best connections i've made recently happened by accident. i had been looking for a reputable dry cleaner for some of my dry-clean only shop items for quite a while but hadn't had any luck finding a quality one with vintage clothing experience, so i posted on facebook asking if anyone had any recommendations. no one really seemed to have any, so i kind of put it out of my mind. then, a week or so later when i had almost given up searching, an acquaintance responded to my post with a glowing recommendation for a cleaner that she occasionally used to do alterations for, and it seemed promising.

so a few days later i gathered up several thing to take to the cleaners, which was located in one of my favorite areas around; a group of streets in the historical district lined with pretty brownstone buildings, old medicine shoppes, cute french bistros, and little antique stores, called canal street. it was decorated for the holidays, with little white lights everywhere and garland wrapped around the lampposts, and the weather was so nice and it really made me excited for the holidays. i was just planning on dropping off my items and then heading back to a few thrift stores close to my house, but i passed a little antique shop that i could not resist. it was probably the best antique shop i've ever been in; not one of the ones that are junky and fun where you can sometimes find amazing valuable things amidst the junk, but the kind where they had clearly already skimmed through all the junky antique stores and picked out all the amazing valuable things and then compiled a storeful of their amazing findings. everything was stunning, but way out of my budget. they did have a few clothing items though, and some of them weren't expensive like everything else, so i ended up buying a 1950s black cashmere sweater for myself because i've needed a plain black sweater forever, and you can't find a cashmere sweater, or even a plain cotton sweater, anywhere for $20 these days. i also left with a 1950s black cashmere sweater with a mink collar, and that went straight into the shop.

black cashmere 1950s sweater with mink collar

the ladies working there were so nice, and showed a lot of interest in what i do. when they asked me if i collect for myself or sell and i told them, i do both, but i sell vintage online, they got really excited about it and kept asking me questions and showing me things. they kept bringing me things to look at that were lovely but ridiculously expensive, like $200 turn-of-the-century quail feather hats, and then they told me about a little vintage shop a few towns away that i have no idea how i didn't know about until then. i got really excited and hurried out and went straight to the shop, which turned out to be the BEST shop ever. the lady was so nice and excited about the fact that someone younger was interested in vintage clothing, and i found so many amazing things. i found more in the hour or so i spent in there than i had over the past few months combined.

one of my findings, soon to be added to my shop.

the lady took my information and told me she would let me know as she got new things in, and i've since been back one other time and again left with a pile of amazing things, including a 1940s floor length frank starr original gown, a beaded 1950s dress, a 1960s novelty print dress with the best print ever, a silk 50s dress, a velvet 50s top, and a bunch of hats and bags from the 30s-50s. so i now have an amazing source that i never would have found had it not been for this series of random events!

1960s lion print dress! heading for the shop soon!

another good thing that came out if this turn of events, the lady who originally recommended the dry cleaners to me, who had mentioned she used to do alterations for them, is now doing alterations/mending for me! now i just need to find a good cobbler...

i'll have to go back to canal street and take pictures for a later update. i also have a christmas dress update but it's way too late so that will have to wait until tomorrow. night!

wishlist.

it's been a bit since i updated, and i planned to write a long post about my weekend and all the lovely new things i found for my shop, but i'm operating on two hours of sleep so i think that will have to wait until tomorrow. but for now, i figured with christmas just around the corner, what better time to compile a little dream wishlist?

clockwise from top:
1. 1920s flapper beaded necklace by HendricksandDaughter
2. 1930s rose pink dress by pistolpoppy
3. 1960s turkish kilim purse by NiepceGallery
4. 1960s rhinestone bow necklace by jeanjeanvintage

clockwise from top:
1. felted mittens by aureliaLT
2. hand knitted bow cowl by bysweetmom
3. hand embroidered wishbone pendant necklace by merriweathercouncil
4. tempest black lace necklace by treeandkimball

i'm keeping my fingers crossed!