the mix-up

If ever I wanted to call a thing "my precious", it'd be this blouse. Sumptuous 1920s silk with the right amount of sturdiness for wearability. It never had a chance of making it into the shop and if I could I'd hunt down every garment like it on the face of this earth. I'll admit that I am not entirely sure if this is a 1920s middy blouse (though those are usually in slightly more casual fabrics) or a little girl's dress from the 1920s. My inclination is that it's a middy blouse, but really it doesn't matter what it is, it's a thing of beauty! I like mixing it with very modern jeans and boots.

1920s silk tunic ◊ antique mall

jeans ◊ top shop

brown leather boots ◊ anthropologie

1920s necklace ◊ antique shop

vintage silver squash blossom comb ◊ jean jean vintage

birthday black

The weather is always pretty horrible on my birthday, others with a birthday in February can sympathize. I always wanted a birthday in September or October when the weather is ideal.  This birthday was no exception - freezing cold, but a little sun!  So yesterday I let my jewelry be my "fancy" and the clothing be cozy and warm. It is befitting since I am thoroughly obsessed with Victorian lockets right these days.

black babydoll dress ◊ thrifted

wool wrap sweater ◊ anthropologie

tan & black tights ◊ hansel & basel

black mary janes ◊ owned since high school

gold Victorian locket ◊ antique mall

vintage elephant hair ring ◊ jean jean vintage

bundle back up

After a brief flirtation with spring here in Michigan, winter is back with a vengeance. I feel for all the little yard birds that sang so sweetly outside my window last week. Today there's feet of snow topped with ice and no singing to speak of. Tights and warm knits rule the day. March may come in like a lion and out like a lamb, but it seems February has come in like a lamb and is going out like a lion. I'll be staying in and out of the weather all day listing a whole slew of vintage in the shop, pieces for all kinds of weather!

vintage 1970s knit dress ◊ thrifted

gray tights ◊ ?

brown lace up boots ◊ bird in sea

vintage 1930s ring ◊ antique mall

vintage 1930s necklace ◊ antique shop

starting small

Usually an outfit starts with the inspiration to wear one certain piece - some sweater, some skirt, etc., this outfit is built entirely around this gold-filled monogrammed Victorian locket. I personally love the color combination of pale pink and gold. I feel like there isn't enough of it, I can't recall seeing a dress that was pink and a golden yellow. If you know of one, show me!

vintage petal pink silk t-shirt blouse ◊ thrfited

khaki cotton skirt (shortened by me) ◊ thrifted

brown leather platforms ◊ jeffrey campbell
salmon leather belt ◊ thrifted

antique Victorian locket ◊ antique mall

unintentional valentine

Though Mr. Dear Golden and I do not celebrate Valentine's Day we had planned to go out last night (kind of like this past summer when we planned to go out the night of our anniversary although we had both completely forgotten that it was our anniversary). I figured since it was a holiday of sorts to some people that I'd wear the color of love. 

vintage necklace from antique mall

First we went to an antique mall where I bought the most lovely necklace (above photo), a vintage deck of cards, some lace bits & a vintage cocktail shaker. Next stop was Roast where they make THE MOST perfect and amazing Ramos Gin Fizz ( & believe me I have had the cocktail many, many places) and finally to dinner at Cliff Bell's Jazz Club. We sat near a very nice couple who had been married for longer than I've been alive and though they live nearer to Detroit than us they were staying the weekend in a bed and breakfast in the city, how cool is that? The woman, who teaches ceramics, had on a pretty fabulous statement necklace from Anthropologie which I told her I liked. Right before we left she turned to me and gave me her necklace! She said she just was ready to let it go and wanted it to go to someone who appreciated it - so sweet! So that's my Valentine present, from a sweet stranger.

1930s/40s crepe dress - private estate

1930s felted wool flower hat - same private estate

black cotton lace tights - Macy's

1940s pumps - vintage shop

i am 16 going on 17

Well, obviously not, but this outfit feels very Sound of Music to me and so that song played in my head while I took these photos. This is an awesome dress, for it's versatility alone, it's dark charcoal gray wool by Jonathon Logan with a big swingy skirt and the inside in lined in tiny pink & white gingham. It's an excellent dress to wear when it's super freezing cold, in fact I wore it this weekend while I sifting through vintage in that freezing cold attic. No I did not wear these shoes, heck no. 

Also, I have been trying to work this 1960s lace blouse into an outfit for ages, but was never really "feeling" it, I think I found the best way to employ it - under a jumper dress! Do you know what I would love? I would love to see other girls in these blouses because there seems to be so many of them in floating around the vintage world that I am guessing so many of you have one - show me how you wear it!

1950s wool Jonathon Logan dress  - can't remember!

1960s white lace blouse - thrifted

1960s Ferragamo Mary Janes - thrfited

1960s jewel bee brooch - antique shop

i was/am serious about the 70s.

A little over a week ago I felt the 1970s coming on and it's reared it's head once again, but then, I don't think I am alone in my love for certain 1970s fashion. Sure there is some truly awful '70s trends, and even moreso some awful fabrics, but there are things like tight space dyed sweaters and sweater dresses, tall boots, high-waisted and wide-leg pants and wood heeled platforms that I will enjoy wearing once the weather is warmer.  This Organically Grown label, which came out in 1971 is always fun to see. It is part of the Young Edwardian (formed in 1964) family and we can all attest to how popular that particular label has become. I just love tight space dyed knits, always cute and always easy to wash acrylic!

Oh & also a little pic of Ella showing you how she makes it real hard for me to peel myself out of bed in the morning.

Handmacher tailored

 

While photographing this skirt I thought, "hey, this is a real nice skirt & I think it'll fit me", then when I took it off the dress form and saw the label I knew I'd be keeping it. One of my favorite labels is 'handmacher" but until this skirt I had only seen it in suits from the 1940s and early 1950s. Perhaps this skirt had a jacket with it at one time, the fabric certainly feels "suit-ish". You can read more about Handmacher here.  

1950s white cotton blouse - thrifted

1950s black & white suit skirt - private estate

belt - thrfited

canvas oxfords -Becky Drolen Vintage

felted flower brooch - Capricious Traveler

Two 1950s advertisements for Handmacher

very faves

There's favorites and then there's very favorites, at least for me. And with all the dresses that pass through my hands the faves and very faves are always changing. But this little 1930s number stays steadfastly in the 'very faves'. If you ask me it's sort of perfect - 1930s light rayon-crepe with wide neckline and billow-split sleeves with a cuff! fitted and bias cut with beautiful flare at the hem. And the label? I could squeal, it says 1934 right ON it! For all of you that are reading this, please bury me in this fine fine frock.

kept simple

I wanted the perfect oversized blue and white striped button down shirt. I saw it online at various shops for more than I wanted to pay (of course) so began the hunt. There's a lot of blue and white striped shirts at the thrift stores, a lot. But I felt like goldilocks - some where too stiff, some were too straight across the bottom hem, some were too big in the shoulders and instead of looking nicely slouchy just looked crappy, some were all cotton which means ironing which means never wearing it fter the first washing...but then, last week I found it. The perfect shirt, cotton/rayon/raime (no ironing!), super soft like a jammie top and all kinds of perfectly slouchy. So this post might seem like I am wearing "whatever clothes", but nay dear reader, I am wearing a hunted and hard-won blue & white striped shirt of perfection!

striped shirt ◊ thrifted

jeans ◊ the gap

brown platforms ◊ urban outfitters

vintage scarab necklace ◊ jean jean vintage

a vintage smidge

It's a rarity when all of the pieces that I am wearing are brand spankin' new. There's pretty much always vintage or thrifted items in the mix. But here I am in all new clothes, only the necklace is vintage/thifted. And I have a confession to make - although one of my most favorite things in the world to do it thrift and/or vintage shop it's IS my job so when I am feeling cranky or in a particularly bad mood I sometimes shop - for new clothes. There's something comfortingly mindless about it. And it's how I ended up with this top and these pants. Good thing I am rarely in a cranky mood, lest my pocketbook would be a lot lighter...

rust silk tunic ◊ Banana Republic

stone pleated crop pants ◊ Club Monaco (a store I just discovered, and love!)

brown leather platforms ◊ Jeffrey Campbell

vintage enamel necklace ◊ thrfited

old dress ◊ new shoes

Yes, I am totally goo-goo gaga over this dress and over the shoes, so why not where them together? Sometimes I think it's sort of nice to break from the dressing head to toe vintage and feeling a bit costume-like. While I can't say that I am totally convinced that these work paired together I can say I sort of like it anyway. The dress is a pretty fantastic 1930s wool number by Joan Norton Irwin and I am well-smitten with the label along with the dress. One of Irwin's dress was on the cover of Mademoiselle 1940, and that particular magazine is on eBay for $399! Wild.

1930s wool dress ◊ eBay

black leather platforms ◊ Urban Outfitters

mastering the art of cozy

This blog post is alternatively titled, "mastering the art of working from home".  It is now, when winter has really set in that the inclination to wear long johns and flannel shirts all day makes a major play. Were I to be required to leave the house this would not be a problem, and so I have decided that there is an art to wearing cozy "working from home" clothes without wearing "hey, I just rolled out of bed" clothes.  This outfit is really jammies in disguise (again). Sure my collection of vintage dresses are getting very cold on their hangers, and I feel a little bad about that, but not THAT bad...

1980s oversized sweatshirt dress -  thrifted

ribbed cotton leggings - calvin klein

charcoal sweatshirt cardigan - thrfited

black leather boots - Palladium via Nordstrom

brassy linked chain knot necklace - Target

channeling gene kelly for NYE

I once read that for the iconic Singing in the Rain scene, the one where Gene Kelly dances, sings & splashes in the rain, the actor actually had a 103 degree fever and did the scene in one take, afterward going straight home and was sick for days. Well I spent the week having the flu and was in the bed more than I care to admit, right up until 5pm on New Year's Eve. But I channeled Gene Kelly and got myself up and ready for the night just the same. The dress is something I got for the shop that I didn't anticipate wearing because I thought it was too small, but my eyes deceived me because it fit perfectly and now is mine!

Mr. DG was out until 5am the night before NYE so basically 

this is how the two of us REALLY felt before heading out last night....

Our friends just got this new pup and it's the wiggliest, cutest little puff ball of a thing I just had to post some shots of him. 

geometry

The shape I like right now is big and baggy on top and skinny on the bottom. It doesn't exactly work with my body style, but that is of no matter.  I cobbled this look together inspired by this blog post, but it's too cold to wear shoes without socks.

oversized geometric print blouse ◊  thrifted

black crop pants ◊  jcrew

leather ankle boots ◊ Etsy

brown belt ◊ thrifted

necklace ◊  thrifted

a sheep in sheep's clothing

Ah, the art of not looking like a total slug when it's 20 degrees outside...winter has taken hold. I've set out on a search for every wool maxi skirt that I can find because they are basically like wearing a big wool blanket all day! I can sneakily wear my long johns underneath AND giant snow boots! I will admit to you that I slept in the long johns and the shirt under the wrap cardigan, but so what!? It's freezing in my shop/office and the house is frigid when I get up, I think it's pretty awesome that I only have to slip on a wool skirt and a cardigan and I can pass for dressed. Throw on the rhinestone bow earrings and well, I am dressed!

vintage cream acrylic wrap cardigan ◊ thrifted

1970s wool maxi skirt  ◊ thrifted

gray scarf ◊ ?

1950s rhinestone bow earrings ◊ antique shop