Vintage Street Fair Market Haul : VIDEO

I recently visited a monthly antiques street fair market and found a few goodies I wanted to show you all! I spotted a surprising amount of 1940's things, it's always nice to see real vintage out in the wild :)

More Thrifted Finds - I Love Hawaiian Shirts

And I wore a swimsuit on the internet, is this wise? Probably not. The Hawaiian shirt took over my brain and made me do it, or perhaps it was my overwhelming need for a vacation that I am just not going to get. I must dress for the tropics despite staying here in Colorado. 

If anyone wants to take me on vacation, or just to Disneyland so I can go to Galaxy's Edge, please do. You know in video games where a character has like a "life" bar that runs out as they interact with the world and enemies? Well Disneyland fills my own personal "life juice" bar like nothing else I have ever found. Really a couple loops on the Indiana Jones ride and I'd be recharged beyond belief...

Instead it's back to work for me, I hope you all had a good Memorial Day!

A Very Retro Thrift Haul - Video

I recently spent a full day adventuring to several thrift shops and these were the spoils that I came away with! Lots of blouses/shirts from this day, but two dresses as well and I never seem to find dresses so I was surprised. I hope you enjoy the video, I'm excited to get back out there in a few weeks and hopefully find more vintage appropriate items out there in the wilds :)

Wearing & Collecting Vintage Gloves

While I may not be an expert of gloves through the ages, I do love collecting them now and wearing them as you all see often here on the 'ol blog. I decided to collect my glove knowledge and opinions into one video over on my channel, and boy did this video come out quite long!! Oops! I hope anyone who has ever been curious about some basic glove etiquette and knowledge enjoys this video nonetheless!

Video links and info:

Chronically Vintage's posts on gloves:

https://www.chronicallyvintage.com/2015/01/my-top-tips-for-glove-etiquette-and.html

https://www.chronicallyvintage.com/2012/10/how-to-size-vintage-gloves.html

Vintage Dancer's Glove timeline article: https://vintagedancer.com/vintage/vintage-gloves-styles-1900-to-1960s/

(Pinterest found) Source for Paris Gloves Handout : http://denisebrain.blogspot.com/2015/12/vintage-glove-etiquette.html

Source for Your Right Glove article : http://shewasabird.blogspot.com/2014/06/your-right-glove-when-to-wear-what.html

Dents gloves: https://www.dentsgloves.com/us/ladies-gloves/6-2043-womens-cotton-gloves/

Music:

Local Elevator by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

other music from Epidemic Sound

Thrifted & Vintage Haul Video - What I Picked up on my Last Thrifting Trip!

Well, after a rough start to my day last Friday, including finding out I am going to owe twice what I thought in taxes and my old faithful car finally dying out on me, I finally got over to my favorite Arc for a little thifting to turn my day around. I was happy to find a few things (for cheap...because if I was on a budget before....well now...damn) that were on my mental wishlist or just fun finds.

I hope you are well, I have to go get back to writing now!

Side Husselen no. 4 and Another Vintage Haul : VIDEO

As I have mentioned often here on the blog, I have been attempting to query literary agents to try and find representation, and here is a Side Husselen video all about that experience.

Why yes, I did start tearing up while recording the end of this script. That's why I used the first take where I could hear my own voice breaking in the end. Even though I had already written the script and it didn't stir anything to do so, while I was reading it aloud it instantly became like a pep talk to myself, the most confident part of me telling the rest it was going to be okay. Sometimes little moments like that can sneak up on you. So if you need to hear this tonight: KEEP TRYING. Never giving up is what separates the passionate from the regretful.

And in completely different news, another vintage haul from me...

Thrifting Haul : Video

I had such good luck on these thrifting trips! I can't wait to style these new-to-me items in outfits here on the blog soon :)

Video : Vintage Haul - Fall 2018

What have I been shopping for this fall? More gloves of course. I'm a glove addict, I'm going to need a bigger drawer for them all soon. I feel like the older I get the more my style evolves towards simpler clothing and more elaborate accessories, and gloves are a big part of that equation. :)

Video : Royal Vintage Spice it Up Collection Mini Haul

You all know I get excited whenever Royal Vintage announces a new collection! For this fall's release, the Spice it Up Collection of 1940's shoes, I was able to pick up two different styles...but 3 pairs as I snatched up the Alice lace up oxford heel in two colorways! In this weekend's video I talk about the two styles I got, show them in detail and on my feet, and rave about Royal Vintage like always!

Did any of you get anything from the fall collection? What are you excited to wear them with this season? 

Video : How to Shop for Vintage

Okay, so this may not be how you shop for vintage, but this is exactly how I shop for vintage. This isn't funny business you guys, this is serious strategy all right? Building a vintage wardrobe ain't for the faint of heart kids! All jokes aside, while shopping can be fun and an enjoyable hobby in itself, I have reached the point in building my wardrobe where I do plan most of my purchases so I though I would detail my process for those looking to implement a bit more structure into their own habits as well.

Then again I bought two pairs of shoes this weekend that I totally hadn't planned to, so just because I have a strategy doesn't mean I always manage to stick to it ;)

Video : How to Build a Vintage Style Wardrobe

I suddenly find I may be becoming a bit of a vintage style evangelist, I want anyone who desires to start wearing vintage style to do so, to jump in, to join in!

Seeing as I have built a vintage style wardrobe over the last several years myself, I thought I would share some more of my tips on how to compile such a wardrobe for those who are considering starting to wear vintage style or buying vintage in general. I know most of you over here on the blog are already long time vintage lovers, but for those new to the style I wanted to start a video series with the principles I use to build my wardrobe.

Also, great news everyone, its September. Which is almost fall :)

Video : A Retro & Vintage Haul

It's Sunday night and I think it might just be time to relax a bit? Hmm. I've got a movie queued up on Netflix, my cat here asleep next to me, and even some chocolate near at hand, so perhaps for once I'll take a night off from working on the book and just relax. I forget I am allowed to just chill sometimes! I tend to work on writing and editing into the wee hours, but I need to get better at giving myself breaks. Breaks and time away are good for perspective, and actually help make the manuscript better, so I must remind myself to do better at balancing it all.

Anyways, if you are also relaxing on this calm Sunday evening, and would like to hear a girl ramble on at length about her vintage shopping habits, have I got the video for you!

New Video : Some Current Favorites

Have a good weekend everyone!

Video: Fabric.com Haul!

Stop buying more fabric? What? Never. Here are a few more fabrics I have added to my stash for this summer, and hopefully they will move into my closet soon and won't remain folded fabric very long. I have so many projects planned and yet I still have dozens of more ideas I'd like to get to as well, as always there is never enough time!! I am almost done sewing a new fresh summer dress in pure white sateen, and after that I'll be jumping into a quick one day dress project that I hope to film the process of making to share with you all. I want to get better at sharing my making process with you all, and hopefully video will finally be the best form to do that well. I hope you all had a great weekend and I'll see you again soon!

Video: Vintage Style Undergarments

I have written before here on the blog (though briefly) about vintage style bras, but in this weekend's video I decided to outline just what vintage style undergarments I wear and why! I'm sure I have raved about the Bali flower bra and Malco Modes petticoats before, but in case you are still curious about what I wear to achieve a more vintage fit and silhouette, I hope you enjoy this video ;)

Video: A Spring/Summer Fabric Haul

Well, as excited as I was to start making videos again, the universe was less inclined! My editing software and my computer (and my constant trouble with microphones/clean sound) were all conspiring against me this weekend-- but I prevailed! 

So here is a video of me rambling on about pretty fabric for a while, and boy am I happy it is finished! Now I need to go do some sewing as a nice little break, but I'll have more videos coming soon ;)

4 Favorite Fabrics From Joann's & How I've Used Them

Here in the United States, fabric stores other than Joann's are getting harder and harder to come by, especially if you live out in suburbia in the mid west like me. So what's a seamstress to do? Sure you can buy fabric online, but it's just not the same when you can't touch and feel and see the textiles there in front of you. When you only have Joann's small selection of apparel fabrics to choose from, which are the best? One can't make everything out of quilting cotton after all...

If they offered 5% of the adorable quilting cotton prints they have at Joann's in an apparel weight as well (a nice voile perhaps? Sateen?) I would be more than happy to buy yards and yards of them, but seeing as modern fabric and craft stores cater to quilters and occasional textile crafters (and once a year Halloween costume shoppers) and not apparel seamstresses, we're just out of luck most of the time. Unless you love polyester, and who loves polyester?

So today I thought for those of you who are stuck in the same Joann's dominated wasteland predicament, or are perhaps just new to sewing and would like some fabric recommendations, I would go over my top 4 favorite fabrics available at Joann's and explain why I return to buy more of them again and again.

Sew Classic Bottomweight Stretch Sateen Fabric - $12.99 a yard

This is my top favorite pick from Joann's. Granted I love me some cotton sateen in general, but the weight of this particular sateen is perfect for so many projects being neither too heavy for dresses, nor too lightweight for more structured pieces. The amount of stretch (97% cotton, 3% spandex) is just enough to not be annoying and allows things move nicely when you've made something more fitted. As a rule I never buy stretch fabrics, I like structure, but this fabric is the exception to that rule for me.

At 49" wide, I feel I get a little more for my dollar with this sateen since many Joann's fabrics are only 45" wide. This slightly wider width means I can eke out fuller A-line skirts and longer sleeves without having to buy more yardage. I find this fabric washes well for me, and for a sateen it's not too shiny. When I'm buying sateen fabric I prefer they not be too shiny despite the name, if I wanted a true satin finish after all, I'd buy satin. This fabric currently comes in 7 solid colors, but they need to add at least one green, come on Joann...

I've made a lot of projects with this fabric over the past few years. Most notably I like it for crisp full circle skirts, I have one in black, bright red, and the dark purple. I also have used the dark red/burgundy shade to make a sheath dress and a pencil skirt, have a dress out of the black (seen below), and used the navy and red colorways to make a dress inspired by of one of Peggy Carter's dresses (seen above). Then I've got a basic black pencil skirt out of this sateen too, it's really all over my closet! I only wish they would add even more colors to the range, but I don't hold out hope.

Sew Classic Bottomweight Cotton Twill Solid Fabric - $12.99 a yard

Another classic bottom weight (what does this even mean? Like, it's thick enough for pants? ... okay.) is cotton twill weave of course. Similar to denim in many regards, since denim is woven with a twill weave as well, twill fabrics have a small diagonal ribbed texture up close. Supposedly this weave structure is both strong and helps hide dirt, which is why it's used for more rugged apparel sometimes. Twill is a great fabric for more structured summer projects, which is what I have mainly used it for in my sewing.

In 100% cotton, this particular twill from Joann's has no stretch, which as previously noted is fine by me. They actually have a smaller different selection of cotton twills at Joanns and they all have their uses. I've used another version from them that's a bit thicker to make a more utility looking army green a-line skirt before and liked the results. Perhaps a little too bulky/weighty for something like a circle skirt, I like using Joann's twills to make pencil skirted suits for the summer time like the two you see below here. I've also used them to make more skirts all on their own, but something I always do now with this sort of fabric is to add top-stitching for that extra rough and tumble looking (ahem, safari ready) effect, even if the actual garment style is tailored. 

Sew Classics Linen Look Fabric 54''-Solid - $12.99 a yard

If you are sensing a theme, its because all the best apparel fabrics at Joann's tend to be on the same aisle, the bottom weights are where it's at in Joann Fabrics. Of course you can find some nice rayon challis or a wild voile or cotton eyelet in their seasonal ranges, but the reliably in stock apparel fabrics in natural fibers tend to be of a heavier weight. Which is why it's nice that they have this rayon linen blend available in so many colors (14 shades) when you need something with just a bit more drape. It's got the crisp slightly slubbed natural texture of the linen, with the the added benefit of the silkier rayon helping out with linen's stubborn wrinkle factor.

At 54" wide this fabric also helps you economize on yardage for budget friendly projects. Iv'e used it to make two bolero and A-line skirt suit combinations in natural and black, for a fluted turquoise 30's skirt, and to make my dark red 1930's inspired wrap dress. I'm always trying to find time to make a 1930's dress in the rusty orange color of this fabric with nice vintage carved wooden buttons to wear in the summer. I know this is a fabric I will be returning to again and again as the texture is just perfect for making warm weather apparel with that natural linen look.

Fashion Brocade Fabric 45" - $9.99-$14.99 a yard

Okay, to be fair, this last one could be rather polarizing. Some people just find polyester Chinese brocades like these cheesy, and that's totally fine, it's just I disagree. I think the fabrics and resulting garments can be really fun if used in the right way, which I have tried to do with my more recent projects.

Of course vintage styles out of similar fabrics have several advantages going for them. The brocades of the past were more likely to be real silk or at least rayon, instead of the polyester Nylon blends we get today. Real silk fabric just looks a hell of a lot nicer, and feels nicer, but polyester is much less expensive of course. I do think the Chinese brocades at Joanns really vary in quality these days compared to the standard quality that were available 10 years ago when I first started sewing with them. Sometimes you can still find one with a higher thread count and nicer structure, but it's rarer these days. I'll be looking into other sources for similar fabrics soon, but I still have my eye on some new dark plum purple brocades Joann's have in stock online.

I have used Joann's poly brocades to make several dresses and a few pencil skirts over the years, and I want to make a circle skirt out of the aforementioned dark purple fabric soon. Of course more typical (or stereotypical really) apparel items made in this fabric would be vintage style cheongsam dresses or jackets with frogged closures, but be careful with projects inspired by garments that may have possibly been culturally appropriative in their time and can remain so now. It's important to just be aware these fabrics and projects can easily come off costumey which is something to avoid when making real clothes of course.

So those are my top picks from Joann's! What are your favorite fabrics from America's most pervasive fabric store? The only US state without a Joann's store location is Hawaii by the way, but they do still ship there. Are you lucky enough to live near real fabric shops with nice apparel fabrics? Feel free to brag about that and make me want to move ;) I am lucky that here in Colorado we do have two main other fabric shops near enough to Denver that I don't go too mad stuck with Joann's small selection. I do love shopping from Mood Fabrics online as well, and though sometimes I still get surprised with just how the fabrics look and feel when they arrive in the mail, I have yet to be actually disappointed with anything I have ordered from Mood.

Also-- I know I usually post a new ensemble on Mondays, but it's been snowy and too cold to stand outside for photos so I hope you can forgive me for not documenting my pajamas since I'm staying inside! Stay cozy my friends!

New Video: Vintage Accessories Haul

A habit of mine that never changes, my devotion to vintage accessories! In this video I talk through some of my more recent acquisitions and why I added them to my collection :) And now I've got to get back to working on fiction because that's all my brain really wants to do today <3

Patent and Purple

I think for a long time I avoided adding patent leather accessories to my collection because I thought it was just too easy for them to look like cheap plastic, and well, my opinion hasn't exactly changed. In fact none of the pieces I'm wearing here are real leather, all of them are faux patent leather (and the coat is faux fur!). The thing is, it seems like patent leather pumps were really popular in the 1940s, so I was forced to reconsider their appeal, and in doing so I discovered I really wanted a pair! 

So I headed over to Bait Footwear and picked up their Vonda heel in black. What can I say to defend myself? I am bad at saving and real good at "collecting" which is my fancy way of saying shopping. *ahem* I think for vintage style black patent pumps, the Vonda's are the best looking pair available anywhere right now. For some strange reason it is quite difficult to find basic pumps out there in the world, all the modern ones are pointed toe, or stiletto heel, or have weird platforms, or stacked heels, or some other quality that disqualifies them from my standards for basic pumps. 

I'm looking for: 

a) an attempt at a well balanced  heel (Royal Vintage have turned me into a stickler for heel placement! I've been spoiled), 

b) the same finish throughout (uppers and heels covered in the same leather/fabric),

c) a heel around 3 inches high, 

d) nothing too decorative making them either too fancy or too casual. 

My idea of a perfect heel is Royal Vintage's Marilyn, Remix Shoes Carmen, and when desperate Bait Footwear's Vonda (only because they are not as comfortable as the Marilyn or the Carmen). The thing is, none of these three options come in all of the neutrals a large vintage wardrobe demands. Where are the navy pumps? The dark brown pumps? (and yes, again, I know I am a spoiled brat...). I never shut up about shoes lately, I need to get over it. These are my petty concerns okay? I don't want to think about all my real concerns, let me think of shoes instead.

Anyways, here is the purple hair in its true glory. I can't help but love it, even while a little voice in my head shouts about it not being very adult or sophisticated. In truth I am bad at adulting and am hopelessly less sophisticated than I'd like to be, so perhaps indeed fun hair suits me just fine. Should I write a post about how my desire to be demure and elegant goes directly against my clumsy and lazy nature? Perhaps one day, but doesn't everyone want to seem demure and elegant? I'll at least dress the part as best I can...

Dress: Made by me
Clutch, Belt, Gloves, & Necklace: Vintage
Coat: Vintage (huge 80's faux fur realness)
Shoes: Bait Footwear
Fishnets: Amaon

New Video: Review of American Duchess & Royal Vintage Shoes (Yes, more shoe talk...)

Was my video last week about shoes? Yes. Is this week's video all about shoes again? Also yes. Hey, I'm a shoe lover, and an accessory hoarder, it's who I am okay? 

I just wanted to ramble on at more length about my love for American Duchess and Royal Vintage shoes. As you all know, I wear their shoes all the time and am a big fan! Mostly this video is for the people who haven't ordered from either shoe shop before and are curious or perhaps hesitant to shop online, but I hope you will all enjoy it regardless. I will indeed have a video about something other than shoes for you soon!