gone wandering in woods.

Probably my favorite kind of dresses are floral cotton dresses from the 1930s and 40s, they're just easy and pretty. I bought this pretty one just the other day, and it's easily become one of my favorite dresses already.


These days I've mostly been lazing about; I wander, read Voltaire. Take naps with my kittens. Debate taking up painting once again, when I spy my lonely easel resting in the corner, but remember how fruitless it always is. I bore so easily. or distract, rather. A million unfinished books and paintings and half knitted scarves. It's inevitable.


I'm still waiting on Winter to arrive, Fall even. It's been quite mild here and although I do like that sort of weather, a bit of frost would do to help me feel more festive. Something feels a little off this year, I usually get excited about the holidays pretty early but that just hasn't been the case lately. Maybe I'll dedicate this week to baking and pom pom ornament making. St. Augustine is still on the schedule since we didn't end up going last weekend like we planned, so maybe that's what's missing.

(I can't tell if these photos are really blurry or if my vision is just off from lack of sleep. having kittens is like having a newborn, I swear. I was awoken extremely early this morning by Beatrix jumping on my face. So, sorry if they are.)

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

dream within a dream.

This past weekend and the end of last week were uncharacteristically nice weather-wise, instead of the mid-ninety degree weather we'd been having, it returned to a late Winter/early Spring-like (for Fl) mid-seventy degrees. I had a big list of things to do on Saturday but when I felt how nice it was outside I decided that those things would just have to wait and threw on this cotton 1930s dress I'd been really excited about wearing, grabbed a picnic basket and hat and out I went. It was such a lovely, lazy day filled with peach iced tea in pretty glass cups, warm grass, and just enough sunshine. I snapped a few photos for my shops, and some of them unintentionally turned out sort of Picnic at Hanging Rock?

The dress. The dress is a light pink cotton 1930s dress with navy blue swiss dots, little ruffle sleeves and three little navy colored bows at the neckline. Oh! and the buttons- big, carved plastic, perfect 1930s navy blue buttons down the back. I'm facing a bit of a dilemma, however. This dress as it is is quite the dream dress, kind of a pretty lawn dress inspired sort of thing, but I'm not sure how practical (for me) it is right now and I'm really considering removing the ruffle at the hem. I'd really hate to alter or hem a vintage dress, and it's super pretty how it is, but I feel like if I removed the ruffle I would not only like it way better, but I would live in this dress, like wear it to pieces until it was a pretty little scrap to be hung on my wall I would wear it so often. There are a few scattered stains on the bottom so it's not like it would be pure frivolity, right?

vintage straw hat available here

antique picnic basket available here

UPDATE: I went ahead and pulled, yes pulled, the ruffle off, and I don't feel one bit bad about it. I inspected the seam more closely and there had been numerous poor mends in the past, and it seems that the ruffle may even have been a later addition using the same fabric. So I found a spot (there were several) were the seam was already separated and gave it a gentle tug and the seams pulled right apart, no seam ripper required.

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.

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