Miss Maime

Lately, I have been really loving and looking for big hats with a lot of feathers, statement hats if you will. Granted I am not looking for ones as commanding as the ones seen above, I am searching for more of the 1930s variety, but still, it is timely that I decided to do this post as Maime is sporting some serious feathers on some serious hats in some of these photos! This is a guest blog post of sorts. Maime is the great grandmother of my amazing, lovely and sweet friend Emily (Duff) and while at her house I was looking at her old photos and we both agreed that Maime needed a dedicated blog post...so, from Duff:

Mamie Barbara Grass (my great grandmother)

Mamie was born in Wisconsin in 1882, the youngest of ten children. Her mother was from Czechoslovakia and her father from Germany.

When she was 20, she married Frederick Duffelmeyer. The wedding was in Chicago. This is the announcement that was printed in the paper:

"Fred Duffelmeyer, Jr, will be leaving sometime next week for Chicago, where he will be married on January 14th to Miss Mayme Grass, a popular Galena girl, who is now visiting in Chicago. Mr. Duffelmeyer is highly esteemed and well known here, having lived in Joplin all his life. He at present holds an important position with the Illinois Zinc company. The bride is a pretty brunette, popular in Galena society and is a sister of Mrs. George Immel, of Galena. After spending a few days in Chicago and Kansas City, they will return to make their home in Joplin, where they will be welcomed by a large circle of friends." They had one son, my grandpa (also Fred).

When my grandpa was 5 (1911), Mamie took him on “a pleasure journey to Europe.” I can’t imagine what this entailed – buying 1^st class tickets on a steamer, arranging transportation and lodging, etc. At the time, Mamie had a sister living in Paris. She and my grandpa made a stop there, which is where the fancy photos were taken (the studio no longer exists – I looked for it when I was in Paris a couple years ago. It is a “Diesel” store now!) In addition to visiting France, Mamie and Fred visited Germany, Finland and Russia.

I would give anything to meet Mamie and talk to her – I have so many questions. I would also give anything to see her closet, circa 1920. She obviously loved dressing up.

Guest Blog! Ring stack-em-ups.

Hi there! Lauren has been so kind as to let me guest blog about my ring stacking fetish. I'm her friend and sometimes Dear Golden model Amy, often known as Sacky. So in honor of the Dear Goldens' nickname for me, I'll call them Sackstacks. I have a blog too, but I stick mostly to art-related topics and rarely cover fashion, though I do have a particular affinity for vintage duds. Thanks to my cat Ramona Quimby for lending me her tail to feature in this photo of a Sackstack I call
Tails from the Crypt:


The top one is vintage carved or cast plastic flanked by winged scarabs. The bottom is wood resin set in brass made by a Hungarian designer. I like it's ambiguous coffin/space shuttle-like shape.

As you can see, I'm big on having a single finger on one hand adorned with rings. I love the way that multiple rings can seem to glom together to form the illusion of one large decadent ring. To me, the most arresting effect is created via contrast. Lauren mentioned the importance of contrast in her post on The Soft & Hard. Girly pretty rings--pearls, coral, rhinestones--are paired with wooden, brassy, brash rings.

Snake in the Garden

Sucker Punch

Of the Elements

Scarlet Begonia

Sea, Land, Sky

Wooden Heart

Cluster Pluck

Bad Luck

Keep Your Enemies Closer

Tree Rings

I always wear this simple gold ring on my right little finger (bottom). It used to be my mom's engagement ring, but when my dad presented her with a new setting, they took out the old diamond and cage and made a pinky ring from it. The littler ring in the middle of my finger is my baby ring. I guess baby jewelry was big in the 70's, because I also have a bracelet that's too small for even a few fingers to fit into.

Thanks again to Lauren and to you for entertaining my little sojourn into finger adornment!