details

that's the best I have for this here blog right now. necklace made by my aunt's best friend in the 90s, edwardian blouse from lucky vintage, and 1950s skirt from the thrift by my house.

i want to be what my body wants me to be

  Some of my more recent shop photos. Taking "good" or flattering photos isn't THAT hard. Taking unflattering photos is obviously very easy. However, I love the strange ones (like the first one) best of all.

Film #15: The Butcher's Wife (1991)

    The Butcher's Wife is a film that few would consider good. But I loved it! It is about a beautiful clairvoyant woman who marries a butcher after knowing him one day because she is convinced he's her true love. He takes her home to his adorable New York neighborhood. She starts giving his customers romantic advice along with their pork chops and chaos ensues!
    The thing I found most remarkable about the movie was the beautiful antique and vintage clothing Demi Moore's character wears. The costumes in this movie were designed by Theadora Van Runkle, famed costumer for Bonnie and Clyde (it was her first movie!) and The Godfather Part II.
Dream wardrobe much?
(all stills by me.)

 

 

A old favorite

As a vintage seller I constantly try to purge my wardrobe of things I no longer wear. Months ago, I shoved this 1940s rayon beauty into a bag with the intent to sell. I haven't worn it in a while and thought it deserved to be loved by someone who didn't think it old hat. However the moment I put it on again, I knew I would never part with it. It was the first 1940s dress I ever owned and has fit me like a dream ever since I received it as a birthday present at the age of 17 and twirled around my room singing "I feel like Ginger Rogers!"

Without further ado, one of the top five wackiest prints in my closet (and that's saying something), the lollypop tree dress! The print literally looks like blue + purple trees bearing spiral shaped lollypops.

Film #14: Cracks (2009)

Cracks is a disturbing and atmospheric drama set at an all girls boarding school on an English island. It is set in the 1930s and the costumes and set designs are superb. I kept stopping the movie ever 30 seconds or so to take a screenshot, prepare yourself for one of my most photo heavy posts ever!

all my stars aligned

Although the title of one of my very favorite St. Vincent songs, the phrase never applied to me until now. As I mentioned I bought some edwardian clothing at an estate sale on Saturday. On Sunday, I went back. I bought a stained but super soft feedsack dress with a cotton yoke and a corset cover. Later that day my aunt + uncle called while I was grocery shopping to tell me that they could buy every all of the clothing left in the room at the estate sale cheap. Did I want it? Of course I did! A few hours later they appeared at my house with an extra large packing box full of edwardian clothing, a vintage/antique drying rack for clothing and a green 1940s ironing board. A lot of the clothing is super damaged or of a small child or in need of a dye but there's a calico dress, a monogrammed men's jacket/bloomer combo, another feedsack dress, a corset cover, and a really simple yet pretty ruffled blouse.

I feel loved. I feel lucky.

almost magical

  I wish I could explain to you how it feels to not sleep, to toss and turn in the night. To set your alarm for 5:45 am and wake up 5 minutes before its scheduled to go off out of sheer excitement. To not shower, to dress quickly and practically in jeans and sneakers and old army jacket. To rush your family in the most passive aggressive way to the car. To wait for three hours for a maybe, full of hope and nauseous from nervousness.  To stand in line with a bunch of equally passive aggressive Pacific North-westerners that all would trample you if it meant getting in five minutes early.
  I went to an estate sale. A really really good estate sale. Possibly even the defining one in my surprisingly long career as an estate sale devotee.
  It was the home of a still-kicking 93 year old woman, according to her strangely accented neighbor who appeared in the line maybe an hour before the doors opened. She had excellent taste, sharing my passion for chenille bedspreads and Edwardian clothing. She had nothing but Edwardian clothing. I don't know how she got it, she is far too young have actually worn it during the era, maybe it was her mother's. I wish you could feel what it was like to walk into a room full of  Edwardian clothing. It is heaven. It is bliss. It is the type of excitement that make your body actually tremble. I bought way too much and now I'm in debt to my aunt. At the same time, it manages to feel like I didn't buy enough. You figure that out I can't. I mean I left with 3 dresses, 2 skirts, one blouse, a skirt slip, a 1940s head vase, a 1940s chenille blanket, and a cake plate + dome.
  Afterwards we went to the U-Distrct farmers' market and I ate my all-time favorite cinnamon roll (from Tall Grass Bakery) and there was an old french woman playing the accordion with a little velvet cloth on her lap.