The Closet Historian: Gumshoe Glamour

Hanging around outside the courthouse in a black coat, just looking for a story? Or for someone in particular? Surely no one would think to hire a lady private detective?

The moment I spotted this coat on Etsy the silhouette made me think of film noir ladies standing outside at night in some dramatic lighting thrown from nearby street lamp. Some styles just have an iconic look about them, and since I needed a new coat I decided to splurge on this femme fatale vintage number as a sorta Christmas present to myself (those are allowed right?). For its first outing I paired the heavy (lots of layers, much shoulder pad) coat with my tan asymmetric skirt and an ivory silk blouse. This blouse has to be one of my best ever thrifted finds, 100% silk with fold back cuffs (with included pearl button cuff links), like new from Eddie Bauer and I think I paid $8! The shoes are my trusty Royal Vintage Marilyn's of course, and I kept most of the other accessories black too except for my new pistachio colored gloves.

Aren't these green tiles pretty? This courthouse building is from 1907 and was conveniently closed on New Years day when we stopped by and snapped some photos. I had driven past so many times before and I'm so glad we finally decided to park and poke around outside and look at the building. Here in Colorado 1907 is pretty old for a building, the oldest (European/American built) buildings in Colorado are the surviving bits of a place called Fort Garland from 1858. Though we also have some of the oldest buildings in the US here in Colorado, as there are Pueblo dwellings which date back to ancient times. Old photos show this courthouse all alone but now it has a recreational community center right next to it on one side, a busy road along the other, and just opposite are the tracks for Denver's light rail trains. I imagine people who have lived in Denver a long while have seen the city's metro areas change quite a bit even just over the last twenty years or so.

I hope everyone is having a good week back to normal life (and work...) after the holiday madness. I am slowly putting together my new years goals and to-do lists as I come out of hibernation!