Style Icon- Mia Farrow

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I remember reading The Great Gatsby in either junior high or high school, and then catching the movie on AMC, I think it was.   I enjoyed the book, because I actually finished it, although I was a bit unhappy with the ending because I like happy endings.  Anyhow, it is one of the best novels out there and who am I to say otherwise?

Usually, jumping from the book to the movie leaves something lacking, but I loved the movie version and I adored Mia Farrow as Daisy.  Honestly, it was hard to root for Daisy in the book because she chose the power and status over love, but Mia captured the beauty and sadness of the character so well, that even though I did not like the feeling the book left me at the end, I watched the movie repeatedly. 

I have to admit, I did not watch her other movies as much.  I tried "Rosemary's Baby," but I started to become terrified, especially when a guy I knew said that was the freakiest movie he had seen.  But, once again, no one can doubt the beauty and stylishness of Mia.  Whether in a pixie cut, or long hair, she exudes chicness and what's even more wonderful is she became a humanitarian and activist.  What an amazing woman!

Vintage Hunting- Part 2

Since I had a fabulous vintage hunting weekend, I am going to forgo Movie Monday for this week to celebrate my vintage finds!  My husband had to remind me to calm down because I was on cloud nine after discovering such vintage goodies.  If you missed the first part of my vintage expedition, you can view it here.

Here are a few of the dresses I purchased from the estate sale.  I may wear the orange flowered one on the right to an upcoming wedding.  I'm still deciding.  But, there's a 1959 Lanz dress, a 50s L'Aiglon dress, and an early 1940s dress hidden in that pile.  I also didn't include the coats, sweaters, and blouses I got because I ran out of room and time!

Some lovely clutches and a huge tapestry handbag! 

I finally purchased some pretty items for the head and all are great colors for the fall!

These are mine and I'm not giving them away.  The Mark Twain book is copyrighted in 1920

and the orange book is from 1938.  Being an English major, I love to read and reading these will be extra fun!  I love the feeling of the pages.  Forget the Kindle!

If anything screams out at you, you can contact me here and we can talk! :)  Hope you enjoyed the summary of my vintage hunting weekend, because I sure did!

"Vintage" I Would Never Buy

Occassionally, I look through old magazines to study fashion and characteristics of that period.  I was browsing through this January 1976 edition of "Woman's Day" and came across this unappetizing picture of spinach soufflé.  Needless to say, I'm pretty sure Don Draper would NOT approve nor endorse this.  This is one "vintage" item that did not last, unless I'm unaware of it in the grocery markets.  If you can't read the pitch below the picture, here it is and it's hilarious!

Since man first tasted spinach, hardly anyone has thought of it with affection. 

Stouffer's changed all that.  By making spinach into Spinach Souffle.

And, quite simply, to taste this spinach dish is to love it.

That's because we take the freshest young spinach we can find.  Blend it with pure eggs. Pure milk.  and judicious seasoning.

And voila!  A light, delicate, delicious souffle.

We make 12 Side Dishes in all.  And if we can make spinach taste this good, imagine how good the others are.

Only Stouffer's makes spinach into Spinach Souffle.

Vive la difference.

I love how they focus on the taste and not how it's a big block of green.  Would you try it?

Vintage Hunting- Part 1

This past weekend, I ventured on a vintage hunt to an estate sale, early in the morning, and then a vintage appointment with an antique dealer in desperate need of downsizing that same afternoon.  Part 1 of my spoils is a beautiful 1920s lace dress and a beautiful full length 1940s gown.  Because the items have not been repaired or cleaned, I have not shot them on my dress form yet, but here's a small preview.  ( I apologize for the lighting, but I was too excited to worry about it!)

I was unable to capture the full length of the dresses, but they are quite breathtaking and may be the best deals I've yet to purchase.  I bought the 1920s dress for $5 because of some stains and the 1940s gown for $12!  What a great weekend.  More to come tomorrow with some more fabulous finds!  I'm so excited!

A New Season

50s inspired khaki colored shirtwaist dress

Vintage 1970s Daisy Print Cotton Dress

Left: 1940s Vines and Branches Cotton Dress

Right: 1960s Pretty Uncolor Striped Dress

Vintage 1970s Peach Tuxedo Front Blouse

Vintage 1970s Patches Cobalt Blue dress

Left: Vintage Mocha Latte Two Toned Loafers

Right: Vintage Vanilla Latte Lace up Granny Heels

Left: Vintage Periwinkle Cameo Choker

Right: Vintage Black Hole Ring

Although it's been over 90 degrees in southern CA for the last week, my shop yearns for the cooler temperatures of fall to sink in.  I am going to miss posting fun summer dresses in the shop, but then, I began to have fun hunting and posting lovely fall dresses and shoes.  The color palette is delicious with all the neutrals, but I also think a splash of color never hurts.  You can find all of these items in the Etsy shop!

As for my summer items, I'm having a huge sale, with some items marked up to 40% off!  Click here for the last of the summer fun!

Friday's Favorite Street Styles

This image was taken on The Sartorialist weeks ago, but I just stumbled upon it this past week and it's my favorite outfit of the week for several reasons. First, I love the vintage look with the ankle boots and airy, hot weather appropriate vintage looking dress.  Second, I love dresses.  I wear dresses like 6 out of the 7 days of the week during summer.

Kasia looks so hip and cool in these high waisted camel colored shorts, the straw fedora, and her sunglasses!  You can't see the sunglasses well in this shot, but the lenses' are the shapes of hearts!

Maryna Linchuk from Stockholm Streetstyle is so fun in this shot, and so is her outfit!  The other clothing I love for fall and summer are blazers, but I've not really paired one with shorts.  I have to admit though, I'm not a fan of short shorts with pockets sticking out, but it looks great on her. But, she's a model.

I love the color combo of tangerine and olive from Fashion Chalet and how she broke up a solid colored dress with that wrap sweater.  This outfit is completely affordable and the bag is vintage!

Share your favorite outfits, or do you love any of these?

Vintage Treasures~ The Church of Vintage

Some of the many reasons I love owning a shop on Etsy is the instant friends made through networking and the wealth of vintage treasures lurking in every vintage shop.  This week, I loved finding out more about The Church of Vintage, who owns a brick & mortar shop along with an Etsy shop, while raising twins!  She has an insane amount of vintage clothing and knowledge and I hope you like the feature! Here's Polly!

Why did you start an Etsy vintage shop?
I started it as an extension of my brick and mortar store and an opportunity to promote it.

I opened the Etsy shop a few months before the brick and mortar in August of '08 but didn't start selling full time on Etsy until May/June of '09.

The Church of Vintage

What is your favorite vintage era?
I'm partial to clothing that evoke a romantic feeling, so I find a lot of my favorite pieces are from the 1930s and earlier. I also am fascinated by fashion during the Depression Era and WWII; even during trying times, women still managed to maintain a high fashion standard.

What is the most favorite vintage item you own?
I have an oversized sculpted wine colored faille and velvet clutch w/ carved lucite catch that will have to be pryed from my cold dead hands. My mother's sweater from the 70s and a blue glass festoon necklace from the turn of the century are treasures that I will never sell.

Which item is your favorite in the shop right now?
This Dress!:

1940s GAIL BROWN Bombshell Dress

What type of music do you listen to while listing? If you don’t listen to music while listing, what do you like in general?

 I love music, so much so it's distracting for me. I get hyper, the babes get hyper, and before I know it, nothing is getting done. When I "work" I listen to language tapes, "Te amo ropa vintage!"

A few things I listen to as listed on my ipod: Pixies, The Decemberists, Neutral Milk Hotel, Devendra Banhart, Francoise Hardy, France Gall, Louie Prima, Beck, Nouveau Vague, Pogues, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Paolo Conte...the list could go on forever.

What is your favorite go to snack?
My snacking tendencies are a bit bipolar at the moment... my diet generally leans towards natural and basic, but put any type of pastry in front of me and I lose it, brownies in particular. Refined sugar is the monkey on my back and every now and again the "monkey" brings Funyons too:) BUT for the most part my snacking is pretty boring and consists of raw almonds, fruit or hummus.

Do you have a source of caffeine or energy?
Methamphetamine for me and pot cookies for the babes (SO KIDDING, I do not do meth)
(Me: LOL! Wait, you haven't denied the pot cookies for the babes...)
Seriously...

Going to bed early enough to allow my body to wake up when it's ready and not forced, eating a proper breakfast, morning exercise that usually consists of some sort of cardio or yoga. I don't drink coffee, but I do drink green tea or yerba mate on occasion. And I try and lay off dairy and pasta during lunchtime; those foods make me want to nap.

Is Etsy a job or a hobby?
What I do on Etsy was born from a hobby. But by far it's not a hobby anymore for me, it's a career. I do hope one day to be in a position where I can transition it back to being a hobby because I really would prefer to keep all of it:)

1960s CHERRIES n CREAM McMullen Dress

Isn't it yum?

Is there an item you sold that was hard to let go?
All of it is hard to let go! But this piece was particularly hard:

Vintage Roger Van S. Leather Bucket Purse with Brass Horse Closure

and a dead stock 1950s Ceil Chapman gown. Since then I have learned to be way more selfish and unapologetic about keeping things:)


5 words to describe yourself:
I had my husband answer this one:
1. creative,
2. a pillow thief,
3. sexy,
4. caucasian,
5. particular (I think he is implying I'm anal, he wishes!)

Me: I can't believe you said number 5..hahaha.

Finally, since you're a veteran Etsyan, what advice would you give to sellers, particularly new ones?
>Great photos is a biggie, it's your best marketing tool.

>Networking.

>Update regularly.

>Be yourself and stand out, the most successful shops are so because they do their own thing. If everyone tries to conform to one "model" you end up getting lost in the crowd.
 
Hope you liked the feature.  Polly is such a professional and a great Etsy friend to have!  You can also find her on her blog, where she has even more insights and hilarious commentary, while being serious too.

Movie Monday- Rachel Weisz

 

I want to bring back my movie Mondays because I watch movies almost every night with my husband, and like it or not, movie stars are such fashion icons that remain hard to ignore. 

I just watched another movie with Rachel Weisz and I believe she is one of the more elegant and underrated beauties presently.  I had to admit it, but I just watched "Definitely, Maybe" with Ryan Reynolds and Rachel's character appears in this amazing red dress, which is what I remember most from the movie.  She looks beautiful in both the natural look and the glam look. I especially adore the first vintage-y picture.  Doesn't she look amazing?  I'm glad there are still classy, fashionable women in the media amidst all the junk.

El Capitan Weekend

Our family spent a great weekend with some of our favorite friends.  Our location, El Capitan, sits right next to the beach, so here are a few pictures of the beautiful place!  You just can't beat California beaches and weather.   Oh, and there were many dolphins swimming and jumping in the air very close to the shore; sadly, I was unable to take any good pictures of that.  Nonetheless, we had a great time!  What did you do this weekend?

Our group, collecting sand crabs and building a moat.

My favorite tiny feet in the world.

There were lots of these.

Some beached whales called my husband and his best friend.

The cutest beach hair in the world!

Post beach relaxing.  I promise I did not force him to pose like this.  I have no idea where he learned this.