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!

gloomy days

It's such a rainy, gloomy Sunday. There was supposed to be a shop update today but there's no light for picture taking so I suppose that will have to wait. I have about five or six nice 50s and 60s dresses that would be perfect for fancy Spring lunch dates... they'll be in the shop before the end of the week, if the sun ever comes out, but who is thinking of Spring lunch dates when the weather is so gloomy anyway?

 oh- I got a bed! I put it together last night and I think it looks quite nice. And I managed to grab some shelves so I can finally unpack my books! No more boxes cluttering up my floor! I also picked up a few plants that I though would be okay for kitties- a peace lily and a cute but tragic looking aloe succulent- but it turns out that peace lilies can be toxic to kittens so that one is either going waaay high up on a shelf, or out in the parlor of my building where my kittens never wander. I'm researching cat-safe plants that are also easy to care for so any suggestions are welcome! I have visions of greenhouse-living but am completely inept at anything more than an occasional watering when it comes to plants. 

I bought this edwardian blouse at the beginning of Summer last year but had to wait for the weather to cool down to wear it because it has long sleeves, and you also have to layer it under something because it's super cropped, too cropped for even my highest of shorts! And then I sort of forgot about it over the Fall/Winter season but I saw it hanging in my closet today among the other pale/cream/cottony/lacy blouses that make up over half my closet and thought it would be perfect for a gloomy day like today. The collar is pretty amazing. I'll take a big floppy scalloped embroidered edwardian collar over a regular collar any day! 

The sweater is 1950s and the color is some kind of slate/lilac/gray hybrid which actually makes it a pretty nice neutral. The high-waist sailor shorts are from forever 21 (womp womp, I know), I do not typically shop there but sometimes they're okay for cheapish basics and I had been looking for a pair of shorts like this for aaaages and these happened to be just what I was looking for and so cheap too!

The weather has once again been back and forth, this was taken on Tuesday when it was chilly but today was 85° and tomorrow is suppose to be colder again. It makes dressing a bit confusing, it's still technically 'Winter' but most days feel like Spring or even Summer, but you kind of just want to wear tights and cardigans up to a certain point, and then when it gets warm enough, move on to just floaty dresses and skirts, right? It's no fun going back and forth. I have to say, though, I'm a bit terrified about what this Summer will be like, considering the number of 80° days we've had so far in January and February. I foresee many 100° days and much complaining about sticky heat and humidity. The warmer days have actually been nice though. It's not humid yet so you can still walk around outside and not feel like you're suffocating. I've been walking downtown a few days a week, getting coffee and a cupcake or pastry and poking through all the little shops...antique shops and curiosity shops and such. I really need to get one of my bicycles fixed or get a new one because it's such a perfect area to take little bike rides, especially when the weather is so nice like it's been.

I still haven't really started decorating my apartment yet, I'm still looking for a couch I like and I gave up searching for the antique metal bed frame I had in mind...I found a few but they were either way out of my budget, or just not exactly what want...painted a weird color or something. My brother calls them 'scarlet fever beds' (nice), but I've wanted one for such a long time that I don't care one bit. I was walking around ikea the other day just to browse and maybe get some shelving and I stumbled upon a bed frame that's pretty much exactly what I wanted...not quite the same as an antique but in the same style and maybe it's better this way...I love old things but you kind of don't want to sleep where some other stranger has. The bed wouldn't fit in the car though so we borrowed a friend's truck and we're going back tomorrow to pick it up and maybe finally get a hold of that elusive shelving. My books need a place to go, I just don't feel like myself without my books at arm's reach. I hate having them still in boxes.

Another reason I held off on decorating, hanging things, etc, was because my downstairs neighbor moved out and I heard that that apartment was really cute..and there was mention of a fireplace. So I waited to start putting holes in the walls until I looked at the place, and it was super cute, but it's a studio and I didn't realize that so I decided to stay up here. I was kind of relieved not to have to move again even it it was just a staircase below, and now I can really get to the fun part... I started framing up all my old antique prints and book plates and making little diagrams of how I wanted the walls to look and what I wanted to go where...so now I just need a few big things and a lot of little things and I can start putting it all together. I've also been finding so so so many good things that I need to photograph...so maybe I'll actually get around to that soon.

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!

ollie.

It's cold again. It felt like Spring the other day and now it's freezing, which is fine with me. I went to the library last night and checked out three Nabokov books, maybe the only ones I haven't read. I'm fairly certain that I acquired and read all the books I ever wanted to read by the age of eighteen. I own them all and I've read them all, multiple times, so now what do I do? If you have book suggestions, I'll take 'em. If not, well I guess I'll just keep reading the same ones over and over.

This right here is Oliver Francis, and that little black pile on the pink chair is Henry. Henry is a girl.

This whole week has been busy, moving in and getting ready for a yard sale my mom is having. Going through all my old things and deciding what to get rid of is not my favorite thing to do. But next week things will be a little more calm and I'll actually have time to rearrange and hang pictures and get my house looking how I want it and also start adding new things to my shop again. Since I have less room now, I'm thinking about just gathering up some really great things and doing little 'themed' collections each week or at least a few times a month, instead of just adding things as I find them. Also next week, I'll be able to start going to estate sales and flea markets regularly again, so I hope the weather stays cool.


and here's one more of little Ollie.

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.