The Vintage Lesbian Project

New Year, New Tumblr Account, and Goodbye Blog

2012-01-01T15:57:00.005-07:00

Sadly I think this blog is finally coming to an end.

After almost 3 years of really enjoying meeting new people through my blog, posting my fun outfits and adventures, it is a new year and time for new beginnings. For one thing, though I'm still as queer as ever, I'm dating a boy (a very awesome and queer boy) so the title of this blog seems kind of inappropriate; and really I enjoy posting photos far more than having to write stuff anyways, so...

I'm not disappearing completely, I'll now be posting all my outfits, vintage finds, cool photos, and a whole lot more, on my new tumblr page, The Vintage & Retro Closet. I hope you'll follow it and enjoy what I post there!

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

The last of 2011

2011-12-20T19:50:00.002-07:00

Well this year has gone very interestingly....

I haven't exactly been blogging much, but here are a bunch of photos from the last few months:

Me wearing the hat I won from Kalandra Jane at the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. I've been going a lot lately.

Wearing pearls, and my grandma's vintage hat at a drag show.

More amazing leopard print hat-ness! It goes so perfectly with everything that I've been wearing it constantly.

Vintage pink bottle brush wreath that I bought and then added extra bulbs to. Also note my 40's roll top desk and my...

...vintage Christmas ornament vase.

In one of her sweetest moments ever, my mom bought me this white Christmas tree that I loved as part of my Christmas present. They were sold out in the ENTIRE city, so she drove out of town to find me one!

So I set it up last weekend and it is full of pastel bulbs and cute ornaments like this little guy:

Happy Holidays!

Belated Halloween Post

2011-11-14T22:30:00.003-07:00

I finally had my Halloween party this weekend- I was super late this year, but at least it happened!

I really wanted to be Carmen Miranda, but instead I was a 'French Maid'.

The dress is stop staring, the apron was made by me out of an old pillowcase. :)

Winner! Ding ding ding!

2011-11-08T22:38:00.003-07:00

Thanks to Kalandra Jane Millinery and Musings! I am going to be arriving something very cool in my mail soon!

I was lucky enough to win her amazing leopard print satin fascinator as a giveaway to celebrate reaching 100 followers!

Check out her shop to see more of her drool-worthy hats :)

What have I been up to?

2011-11-06T20:51:00.004-07:00

Me with my amateur photography (the ones on the table are all mine, not the portraits on the wall :P )

I've been keeping myself super busy lately which includes all of the following:

Cleaning and reorganizing my entire house after ex moved out
Going on a road trip to Edmonton
Going on a road trip to Red Deer

Watching A LOT of Roller Derby
Spending a lot of time hanging out with friends
Getting drunk with friends
Putting my photography in an art show (see above)
Writing poetry
Writing songs

Buying new clothes, a new beret, and a vintage western bow tie

Getting my hair cut

Buying the softest vintage fur stole ever

Dressing up in costume and performing.

Cut! Costume and the Cinema

2011-10-16T13:42:00.002-06:00

So, this post is a little late coming, but I went to the local museum a few weeks ago to see an exhibit titled 'Cut! Costume and the Cinema' which featured several movie costumes from famous films.

Here are Sherlock Holmes and Watson's outfits from the recent Sherlock Holmes.

Christine Daae's dress from Phantom of the Opera.

Gertrude's dress in Hamlet.

Kate Winslet's dress in Finding Neverland.

Anjelica Houston's gown from Ever After.

There were so many more too.

Definitely a worthwhile exhibit, I'll have to look out for other costume exhibits that come my way :)

Zombie Walk 2011

2011-10-16T10:35:00.002-06:00

I've been to the zombie walk twice before, but not in the last several years. Luckily this year worked out well for me to go so I went as a Day of the Dead Zombie.

I wore my favourite wig and the biggest hair flowers I own. The dress is vintage and the sweater is rockabilly.

Me and my friends all zombified. It was pretty awesome actually :)

Single again

2011-09-27T18:16:00.004-06:00

Love Sucks.

My life is pretty miserable.

General large amount of angst...

And stuff.

If you can't tell, what I'm trying to say is that I am single and have been for a while, hence the lack of posts.

Need some time to regroup after having heart ripped out.

Will survive to become cool pink haired vintage blogger once more.

Hopefully...

Pride 2011

2011-09-04T23:20:00.004-06:00

Homo Hop Outfit from last night- Dress is from PinupGirlClothing. I wore it with a pink ribbon and a full crinoline.

Super close up!

My friend Fuzzy and I at the pride parade this morning. You can't see it in this photo but I'm covered in glitter and have a rainbow painted on my boobs.

Shrug is new from Rocksteady Clothing

Corset: A Little More Interesting

Costume exhibit promo at pride!

This photos is to illustrate the rainbow glitter carnage leftover from pride. I'll be picking glitter out of my scalp, fingernails, clothing, and various other body parts, for weeks.

Pink Hair

2011-09-04T00:29:00.004-06:00

I got this new dress ages ago and am finally getting a picture up. I love the floral pattern but unfortunately the fabric isn't that stable.

In other news I've dyed my bangs again. First I bleached my roots like crazy and I was super blonde for part of this week.

Then I added the pink!

and Voila!

2011-08-21T10:30:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick outfit post from last weekend that I've been meaning to do.

Dress- Tristan, bought ages ago

Necklace- pearls with vintage brooch

Hair flowers- H & M

Shoes- Fluevog

And the reason I haven't posted a lot recently:

Been busy rearranging the house, crafting in my new craft station (Yay!!), and buying Halloween decorations because it's my favourite time of year and I'm going to be even more prepared than usual this year!

Any other vintage loving paper crafters out there? Maybe as I start finishing projects I will post a few on the blog if there are any interested parties.

I love crafting but find that I only get the crafting bug once or twice a year and the rest of the time my stuff kinda sits there. But I still love it and continuously go back to it.

Oscars

2011-08-20T22:22:00.003-06:00

I was lucky enough to be the celebrity judge at Club Sapien this week for our annual Drag King Oscars, so I wore this as my red carpet attire. I think I looked pretty Marilyn Monroe. Wish I got more photos, but of course I left my camera at home.

Dress- Vintage 60's cocktail dress, Flashbacks in Toronto

Stole- fake fur, thrifted

Jewelry- modern but very sparkly

Too faced Matte Eyeshadow Collection

I got some new makeup recently, so here's a few photos of me in some of my delectable new makeup shades.

Topsy Turvy Love

2011-08-12T07:37:00.001-06:00

I have been in love with Topsy Turvy hats for years. I am never going to be able to afford all the wonderful hats from them I want, however I finally caved, and bought a pink heart fascinator.

You can buy this fascinator, called the Sadie (hehe), on their etsy store, but this one I got on sale and un-personalized. If I ever want to personalize it though, I'm sure it won't be that hard to add rhinestones.

Fascinator love <3 <3

Pink Lady

2011-08-11T07:23:00.001-06:00

This dress is officially had the fastest shipping I've ever seen. I bought it on Monday and it was in my hands by Wednesday. It helped that it was already in Canada, but still that is FAST shipping.

50's pink plaid, here I come! It makes me feel like a pink lady, just missing the jacket!

And since my cat insisted on getting into the photo I decided to give her a kiss. lol

Sun Bathing

2011-08-10T19:13:00.004-06:00

Fellow vintage lovers, I've been away on vacation but now I am back and in the coming days will have a few new dresses to show off!

I got this amazing Esther Williams bathing suit in Cherries Delight before leaving. The hat is a vintage 40's sunhat I bought ages ago and haven't worn till now. We went to Kelowna and these photos were taken at the beach in Peachland.

The reason for the vacation was that we went to Sadie's family reunion. It turned out pretty well and it was nice to meet a bunch of Sadie's relatives, but we're glad to be home.

Sun and Salsa 2011

2011-07-28T22:33:00.003-06:00

Sadie and I had an antique-y photo done. It was super fun. Sadie dressed like Kaylee in Firefly

Me dressed up for Sun and Salsa 2011. I can't believe this is the third year that I've blogged about sun and salsa... wow my blog is old!

Dress- Vintage 1940's from etsy

Hat- $4 from Le Chateau

Flower clip on hat- made by me

Angels

2011-07-18T23:21:00.003-06:00

Me at Angels Drive In in Bowness. It is awesome.

I'll have to go to one of their classic car meet-ups eventually.

Being all macho wearing my 'rock and roll' t-shirt, as I call it.

Dressed up for a friend's birthday party this weekend.

Dress- Tristan, modern but looks fairly vintage-y. I've had it for going on 7 years now

Bolero- Vivien of Holloway

Hair clip and Butterfly- Me

And last, but not least, my angel cat. She's making her 'yuck' face and it's gosh darn-it the cutest thing ever.

Birthday Love

2011-07-09T00:38:00.003-06:00

Why yes, that is a bird fascinator on my head.

Had an amazing birthday today! Between celebrating with friends last night, having an amazing dinner with Sadie, and then seeing Tegan and Sara in concert, my day was epic!

Tegan and Sara performing at The Grand in Calgary= AMAZING!

Tegan on Keyboard.

Outtakes from weekends past

2011-07-02T02:58:00.005-06:00

On the road to a gig. So funny.

Me dressing as my twin brother, Chris Class, in front of some beautiful 50's cars.

Pink Mustache!

Last photo of me in these glasses as I broke them a last last weekend :(

Marilyn Dress Photoshoot

2011-07-02T02:36:00.003-06:00

Amazing photos from a shoot with the very talented Jeff Rodier just came in!

They look so classy!

It's amazing how photographers can take a location that I consider common because I walk past it everyday, and turn it into a thing of beauty.

Photos by Jeff Rodier, 2011, rjeffphoto.ca

Hair and Makeup: Me

Dress: Vintage, a trade from Krista D

Fluevog Love

2011-06-30T13:48:00.013-06:00

As some of you may know, Fluevog is my favourite shoe company. I find their shoes to be the most comfortable vintage-y shoes I can find and I have had random people stop me on the street to tell me they love my shoes and ask me where they're from.

So I was ridiculously giddy to be able to go to a sneak preview of the brand new Calgary Fluevog store today!

The store location is fantastic--right downtown by my work-- on Stephens Avenue across from the Bay.
This will be the first Fluevog store in Calgary, usually I've bought them in Toronto.

I can tell you right now that this is going to be bad for my wallet.

Queer Vintage Bloggers

2011-06-30T07:50:00.000-06:00

I received a question a while ago from Anna and am finally getting around to posting it!

"Greetings Cheri!
i'm Anna from england.
T'was lovely to stumble upon your charming blog.
i wonder if you know of any other lesbian blogs / sites associated with vintage / retro / feminine stuff?
am feeling quite isolated loving vintage and being gay...
many thanks x"

Hello Anna,

There's actually quite a few of us that I have found! The blogs below all belong to people who I believe self-identify somewhere under the queer umbrella. Feel free to let me know if there are any others I should be adding to this list!

Harlean's Heyday is a cool lady from Finland with awesome style

A L'allure Garconniere This is a link to an awesome political/fashion blog from a Canadian from Quebec and although it isn't exclusively vintage she is really styling and also has a tumblr with lots of vintage images.

By Gum By Golly is an awesome blog of a lady who just got married to her partner (Yeah)!

Subversive Lesbian Anarchic Femme this is the blog of a cool lesbian in Australia.

The Right Amount of Sass, Class, and Ass- Vintage queer lady in eastern Canada.

Those are the main ones that I can think of!

If you find any others feel free to send them to me! If you start your own blog, send that to me too!

There's also a few vintage lesbian tumblr accounts, but I'm not actually sure if they are run by lesbians or not :P

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Thanks,

Cheri P.

If anyone does have any others they want to add, or want to add your blog to the list, let me know by leaving a comment! There must be more queer vintage blogs out there that I don't know about or may have inadvertently forgotten.

Oh, and Congrats New York!

Vintage style leather belts

2011-06-26T00:15:00.003-06:00

Weekend recap:

Sushi on Friday with fiancee! Vintage skirt, new leather jacket and modern top I got a long time ago but I love anyways.

Saturday: Garage Sale where I got to see Carla from RuebyRetro, looking awesome as always.

Vintage 50's/60's seersucker summer dress I got from Garage Sale!

Played with leather with Sadie and some awesome friends! Made 2 belts to 'go' with vintage dresses I have. This is belt one, in blue.

I bought the belts pre-cut and buckle sets pre-made, but I grooved the edges, added a tiny bit of detail, punched the belt holes, and painted both.

Belt 2 in cherry red.

Sunday: Made a bracelet from scratch with constellations and rhinestone rivets as the stars.

This one was super hard because I did it all from scratch, with help from my friends of course. I cut the leather, tooled the edges, created a pattern, punched all the holes, dyed it, set the rivets, and set the snaps.

Hopefully one day I will finally take a sewing class and learn how to make some big stuff!

Modern looks and Fascinators

2011-06-22T22:51:00.004-06:00

Modern look for work. Generally I don't do modern. But I've been doing about one a week lately and it kinda feels weird, but I also kinda like it.

Sadie and I

Back to Vintage! Woohoo!

I've been wearing a lot of hair flowers/fascinators likely. Pretty much wore one every day for the last week. Must be because it's summer.

Comic Con

2011-06-19T23:16:00.003-06:00

We had a super busy, but amazing, weekend at Comic Con (aka, Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo)!

I am in love with this adorable anime drawing I had made for me by some talented local anime artists!

Here's what I wore to the first day, where I got to meet the entire cast of The Guild and Felicia Day signed our copy of Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Other celebrities we got to meet include Adrienne Barbeau from Carnevale, Jeremy from Pure Pwnage, and Sadie met Summer Glau from Firefly. William Shatner was there too but we aren't crazy about him so we didn't meet him.

Sadie wore her Kaylee --from Firefly-- costume for day 2 and she was so adorable.

I got glitter-henna for my hand, which turned out awesome!

I even got to eat a chocolate Darth Vader! So much fun, will definitely have to go next year.

Wait a Minute Mister Postman

2011-06-14T22:12:00.005-06:00

Didn't wear vintage today, but did dye my hair this weekend. Woohoo! Instead I wore a hair clip made by me, rockabilly cardigan and regular clothes. Still, even my 'modern' clothes have the vintage flair; I think, anyways. I'm also modelling my new mac lipstick in 'lickable'.

But despite the postal strike across Canada, I got a package! I don't think most people in the states know this but USPS, British Air, and a lot of other companies, only delivers to the border. Once it's in Canada, Canada post takes it over-- Which is Awesome!

Purolator, FedEx, DHL, and UPS don't become Canada post, which sucks, because if you miss the parcel you have to go all the way out to the middle of nowhere to an industrial district to pick it up. None of them have locations across Calgary, it's only the one for each company and there's no bus service. Canada Post offices are everywhere and there's one two seconds from my house.

That is why I love Canada Post and hope the strike ends soon, but that the workers get what they hope for.

This dress was purchased from Fabgabs, and it is amazing. Totally perfect for the upcoming Stampede.

It has an amazingly cute novelty print of cowboy hats, guitars, bandannas, wagons, cowboy boots and horseshoes.

Here's me loving the sweetheart neckline and wearing my new Ruby Woo Mac lipstick.

Photobooth Love and Books you should read

2011-06-12T23:08:00.004-06:00

I adore photobooths --really, who doesn't? My lady and I got a new photo taken this weekend as our slightly overdue anniversary photobooth pictures. The only photobooths in Calgary are at malls so, while we were at the mall this weekend picking up a few things, we said 'lets get one'!

The sky was really pretty after we left the mall.

I picked up some new books and makeup at the mall and wanted to show it all off along with a few other recent book buys from Toronto.

This Elvgren book is fantastic. I highly recommend it as the best Elvgren book. It's better than all the other ones about him I've seen or own. Tons of photos of the original artworks and even the photos of the models he used.

Bizarre Books is hilarious. If you like funny books, this one is worth it.

Forbidden is an authentic 50's lesbian pulp novel. Haven't read it yet, but I mostly wanted to buy it because I've never owned a pulp novel before.

Pretty Things by Liz Goldwyn is a burlesque history book with tons of photos of costumes and burlesque performers. The hardcover is ridiculously expensive, which is why I 've never purchased it before, but the softcover was only 20 bucks in store (cheaper on amazon). Totally worth it for that price.

Burlesque Bible magazine was great. Never heard of it before, but it was worth it. Had lots of photos and interviews with modern burlesque stars including a good one with Dita Von Teese.

I also got two new lipstick for free from Mac from their Back to Mac program (donating old and empty cases from Sadie and myself for free stuff!).

Lastly, I'll leave you with a random photo of myself and the cat.

Plus Sized High-Waisted Pants from Vivien of Holloway

2011-06-05T21:15:00.006-06:00

I am loving this 40's day dress I got a while back. You know what else I'm enjoying? The sunny weekend and the fact that the sun stays out till after 9:30 pm. That much sun makes this time of year awesome.

Here I am with my lady taking in a burger and a milkshake on the weekend.

Canada Post is on strike, so I won't be getting any new stuff for a while, but I did get a Vivien of Holloway order RIGHT before the strike started in Calgary so I wore a bright red hat with my new bright red trousers from Vivien of Holloway! They were on sale last week and I got them at a great price.

They aren't bad, but I think I may need to get them tailored as they aren't really that flattering. The hips and thighs are plenty roomy so it fits quite well, which is awesome, but isn't giving the perfect 40's look.

Anyone know of a good website for getting high waisted pants to fit right? They aren't too tight and there's no camel-toe issue (thank goodness) but they're a bit too baggy I think... I finally found a pair of high waisted trousers that fit, but they just aren't as flattering as I'd hoped. Maybe I should just give up on swing trousers. I like dresses better anyways.

Anyways, the shirt is from Winners and was around $30. So all in all, 2 reproduction pieces didn't quite make my outfit today as 40's as I was hoping, but my vintage 50's hat got a ton of comments from hat-ccentric Calgarians.

Canadian Accent Meme

2011-06-04T00:07:00.002-06:00

I had a photoshoot earlier today, and I thought I looked great, (Can't wait to see the photos!) so I decided to do this!:

The accent meme that Andi B. Goode has done on her tumblr account! It didn't work the first time I tried to post it, but hopefully it should now!

TUMBLR ACCENT MEME

Your name and username.
Where you’re from.
Pronounce the following words: Aunt, Roof, Route, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Pajamas, Caught, Naturally, Aluminium, GIF, Tumblr, Crackerjack, Doorknob, Envelope, GPOY.
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is a bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?
Choose a book and read a passage from it.
Do you think you have an accent?
Be a wizard or a vampire?
Do you know anyone on Tumblr in real life?
End audio post by saying any THREE words you want.

Funny things of note:

I don't have a tumblr account, though I've thought of getting one a billion times.
Immediately after filming this, Sadie informed me that I never say 'Soda' I always say 'Pop'. I beg to differ, but must admit that yes I do use the word pop fairly often.
Watch for the evil cat jumping up onto my computer chair for attention at 2:15.
Canadians also say 'Sorry' differently than Americans. It makes them laugh the way I say it.
The beginning of the clip is cut off- what I said was 'Hi I'm Cheri of the Vintage Lesbian Project'.
I actually really do like the word 'nipple' It's been my favourite word since 2003.
I was freezing when I got home from the outdoor photoshoot (it was cold today), so I put on non-vintage pajamas.
It took me 12 tries to film this, I ended up going with the 3rd take because the rest degenerated to nudity and hysterical laughter.

Lilac Festival

2011-05-29T22:40:00.002-06:00

Today was pretty much the nicest day we've had all spring/summer so far. It was a gorgeous temperature, not too hot, but not too cold either: aka, perfect weather for Lilac Fest!

Sadie and I had a great day walking around in the sun. I dressed all in blue and wore a new dress that I bought from fellow blogger Riikka of Harlean's Heyday. It's a gorgeous baby blue brocade 50's party dress. Here's Riikka wearing it.

This very blurry photo is of me in front of the oldest library in Calgary wearing my new dress, new fluevog shoes and hair clip, made by me. Unfortunately, the photo came out super blurry, but I think you get the picture.

I tried so much new food today! Including an amazing new cream puff company in Calgary, called Cruffs.

Oh, and just to 'round out' the post, here is some glitter I was playing with recently. In case you don't know, I have an extensive glitter collection of around 50 different colors. I must do a post on it one day.

Oh, and here's another random fact about me: I like to take really close up photos of my eyes. Does anyone else do this? I just love it when I can get an amazing clear shot like this and see the one fleck of brown/amber in my otherwise blue-green eyes.

Toronto is Magical, oh yeah, and we got Engaged!

2011-05-24T18:28:00.006-06:00

Just got back from Toronto and, like usual, it was awesome. Every time I go there I sort-of don't want to leave, and, I'm happy to say, Sadie feels the same way. We're back in Calgary and have no actual moving plans (because we both have jobs, family, and friends here), but it remains our fav city other than Calgary.

I went to Change, the best bra store in the world in my opinion, and got a treasure trove of stuff. I also got a new pair of Fluevogs FTW!

We spent a day vintage shopping in Kensington Market and I got some great stuff.

Flashback and Flashback 2 are still the best stores. I can't wait to get photos of myself in the stuff I got there!

This turquoise Victorian row house in Kensington Market is my dream home.

So I decided a little while ago it was time to get her the perfect ring that she wanted and that I thought we were ready to take the next step in our relationship! I have been DYING to tell people that I bought Sadie's engagement ring since I got it over a month ago and it has literally been killing me that I had to wait to give it to her.

Tomorrow is our 4 year anniversary, but I wanted to surprise her before then and thought Toronto was the perfect place because we love it so much. I thought of a billion different ways to do it, but bad weather seemed to be spoiling all my plans (it rained a ton for the first half of the trip). So on the first nice and sunny day, while we were out shopping, I found a little park on Queen Street West (that kind-of over looks a highway lol), and bawled my eyes out telling her how much I love her.

Luckily she said 'Yes'!

I wore a new vintage dress that I had bought in Kensington Market and one of the first things Sadie said was 'But I am wearing my I club noobs shirt!' It was so cute.

When we got back to my grandma's place we got dressed up (here's another new dress from Flashback!) and celebrated with good food and Italian gelato for dessert. It was a pretty low key engagement, but I it was awesome.

I am seriously lucky to have such a wonderful fiancée!

All-in-all the trip was fantastic. We ended up going to way more vintage stores then I usually get to. I even managed to get to Gadabout which, though expensive, was less expensive than Cabaret, and I did manage to get a great dress there. Sadie even managed to get 4 amazing kilts!

Here's Sadie looking super cute at King and Yonge.

Here's me in the dress I got from Gadabout, a homemade 40's funky print dress.

Here's Sadie in an impromptu photoshoot at the Distillery District.

We rounded out the trip with amazing food, including tons of Italian food and bakery items, like to die for french macron's from Bobbette and Belle.

Yum! I'm so sad that we won't be back for a while, but at least we have great memories from Toronto that we can keep with us.

Ready for Summer

2011-05-11T07:44:00.004-06:00

Sadie dressed as Columbia and me in my Ruca Dress with pearls.

Long overdue post, but here it is!

Finally cut my hair short for the summer and I feel so much better now that it's done.

Now that it's short, it's curlier and as it grows a bit it'll be easy to make 50's short hair styles. This outfit is a 50's housedress I love with a modern, but rockabilly, cardigan and a vintage belt I found somewhere.

Speaking of vintage hair, I finally got a copy of Style Me Vintage which, for some unknown reason, took 6 months to get here (I ordered it in Dec!). It's not a bad book and it was quite cheap, but it only has a few styles that I'm interested in and, since I just cut off all my hair, it's a tad too late!

Here's a nice picture I took recently that I just thought I'd post. I don't have much new stuff at the moment as I'm still saving up for my vacation, but when I get back I will have a flurry of posts I'm sure :)

And just for good measure, here's Sadie's fantastic Columbia costume in full so that the Rocky fans can admire it's beauty, sequins, and accuracy. The coat is the only piece that isn't finished but hopefully someday it will be!

The End of Canada

2011-05-02T21:17:00.003-06:00

I interrupt our regularly scheduled vintage clothing program with the most depressing thing that has happened to Canada.

Unfortunately, Canada is going to have a conservative majority government tomorrow. Which means the conservatives have the power to take away my rights.

Although the NDP did very well and they have a huge percentage of the votes (around 30% and I voted for them!), the Conservative majority means that it is possible that they will pass things in the next few years that will take away my rights like my right to marry, my rights over my body, my healthcare, and so on, and so on.

It has been an incredibly depressing day for Canada.

To learn more go to http://www.whynotharper.ca/#printablelist

http://shitharperdid.ca/

:_(

Pink Butterflies

2011-04-22T01:23:00.004-06:00

50's novelty print butterfly day dress

50's sweater

Here's my Easter dress. It's made of the most amazing silken-rayon and has a fantastic pink butterfly print. I thought it would be an acetate fabric from the photos, but it's not, it's very soft with a huge circle skirt!

I think I'll end up wearing this a lot over the spring since it's so spring-y!

I had a great night out with friends tonight! I dressed up '80's' for the first time. In this photo is 'John D'Arc' and myself with my 80's hair and makeup (SO MUCH PINK) before I changed into my costume. Unfortunately, it wasn't the greatest costume ever as I try to avoid clothing from the 80's like the plague. I'll have to try it again sometime with some actual 80's clothes.

You know how sometimes you get a blurry photo of yourself and think- wow this is such an awesome photo! Well this is one of those cases from tonight, so I thought I'd throw it in. I think it looks like the camera was wearing beer goggles.

Princess Peggy

2011-04-20T21:51:00.004-06:00

New dress just came in. It's a 40's sweetheart neckline house dress. I have a serious house dress addiction, I know, but in all fairness I wear them out of the house :)

I'm in love with the fabric and the piping on the zipper down the front of the dress.

The brand of the dress is called 'Princess Peggy' and I feel like a 50's Cinderella before the ball when I wear it.

Grandma's Silver Bracelet

2011-04-14T22:39:00.006-06:00

I have very few things that belonged my Grandmother on my father's side, because she died when I was quite young. I do, however, have a few hats of hers and this silver bracelet.

I have it here with one of my favourite hair clips- this one is from H & M.

I'm not sure how old it is, although I imagine it's 1940's/50's. It's from Birks which is a famous Canadian jewelry store and silver maker. They are the 'Tiffany's' of Canada, according to some.

I'm so excited to be heading to Toronto soon! It's the place where nearly all my family was living in the 40's and 50's and I'm going to go visit my great aunt for more family photos and such. When I come back I'm sure I'll have some super awesome blog photos of me beside historic sites! And of course I'll have new vintage treasures!

Oui Oui le Fruit

2011-04-12T20:47:00.002-06:00

This summer dress arrived today. It's has a great French-fruit inspired print and it's from the 60's. It's too tight in the hips but, as I gleefully discovered, it has a huge amount of fabric on the inside so that it can be let out!

That is one of the benefits of vintage clothing: that it plans ahead for my hips!!

Butterflies in pink and grey

2011-04-11T22:46:00.003-06:00

I just got this dress in the mail this evening. It has such a pretty print and it's so comfy because of the fabric and the fact that it's a little big on me so it has lots of ease!

I just love 50's day dresses with pretty prints!

Finally new post!

2011-04-08T22:01:00.003-06:00

Today was this big event that I've been planning for months and I've been sooo busy with it that blogging has been virtually impossible.

It's finally over though! I looked great for the event, and the photographer got a quick photo of me so I hope I'll be able to get it from her, but for now I just have some photos from after I got home.

I took home a pretty carnation from the event.

Totally love the color of my eyes in this photo.

Currently enjoying a rewarding cocktail after my long day. 'The Casablanca' is currently my favourite cocktail.

The Casablanca:

1.5 oz white rum

0.5 triple sec

2-3 oz lime

Splash of grenadine

Here are some other recent photos I haven't posted yet because I've been too busy.

Here's a recent photo in a 50's navy day dress that I wear to work a lot. The 50's hat is from an antique sale a while ago.

I am totally loving the color of my hair. Most people call it 'green' though. Geez, haven't people ever heard of turquoise?

My verdict on this color is that it's great, but the chunky nature of how I dyed it looks better on straight hair than curly hair.

Consequently, I've been straightening my hair and wearing some modern clothes lately. This is an awesome blazer from The Gap circa 2005.

New Vintage dresses coming soon!

Turquoise Hair and Hair Color Inspiration

2011-03-23T08:26:00.004-06:00

Finally dyed my bangs turquoise! Scalp is a bit blue still, but you get the picture :)

Other Turquoise Hair Inspiration:

For the record- I don't know who this is, but this woman is awesome!

Mixed Colours Inspiration:

Maybe one day pink hair!

I also finally updated my 'inspiration board' with new photos of outfits and vintage things that inspire me. Note the Fabgabs dress and the Andi B. Goode outfit posts.

Marilyn Monroe Dress

2011-03-11T07:58:00.002-07:00

Dressed up in my new black satin traded dress yesterday. It reminds me so much of Marilyn Monroe's dress in bus stop.

I was happy because I did a cold curl set the night before and the curls came out pretty awesome.

Yeah for dressing up for a night out!

Primary Colour Plaid

2011-03-07T22:32:00.002-07:00

I saw this dress for sale online and fell in love with it. It is honestly the cutest thing I have seen in a long time and it came in the mail today :)

Hello outfit for work tomorrow!

It has the cutest pocket details too!

Trading dresses

2011-03-06T17:18:00.003-07:00

Had my hair cut and done by Krista yesterday and we traded some clothes!

The hair looked fantastic, so I got some shots in the two dresses she brought over and I wore the pink one to a friends birthday party.

Seriously, clothes trading is awesome! This black dress is so 'Marilyn Monroe'.

Pinups and Mobsters Photoshoot

2011-03-04T10:11:00.011-07:00

Official pictures are in! All photos are courtesy of Meaghann McInnis.

Hair and Makeup for all photos by Krista of Krista Dee- Rockin' Retro Hair and Makeup.

Eva Angel and I in a gangster photo...

... and a dominatrix one.

John D'Arc (aka Sadie) in his scivvies!

John D'Arc in his amazing white zoot suite!

Cheri and John D'Arc

JJ and me in our roller girl attire.

Chris Class my Ron Jeremy-esque alter ego.

St. Patrick's Day shots.

This one is my favorite photos of the bunch. Such an awesome photoshoot. Most of the photos are of me in my prized 1940's black cocktail dress with purple details and beading. I'm also wearing a 40's hat and fluevog shoes.

There are a bunch more photos too, so I'm going to have to do a second post with some more in the next few days.

Tell-tale Signs a Queer Femme is Queer

2011-03-03T22:19:00.004-07:00

I saw this a while ago and omg it is so true! I don't have any tattoos (YET!) but otherwise this is fairly accurate :)

Tell-tale Signs a Queer Femme is Queer:

She is WAY over-dressed

She has swagger

She tells loud stories and funny jokes and tries not to let anyone around her feel uncomfortable

If you make eye contact with her she does not break it, in fact she smiles back at you

If you talk to her she’s flirtatious

She owns a pair of cat-eye glasses

She has visible tattoos

She uses ambiguous pronouns to talk about her exes

She has extensive knowledge of women’s history, feminist art, and is involved with political issues of all sorts

She looks straight but all her friends are big dykes

If she tells you she’s gay don’t question it, SHE IS!!!

Ways to get a Femme Girlfriend:

Buy her zine, follow her twitter, shop at her vintage store online or in real life, read her blog, go to the dance party she djs, just generally learn what she is into and support it.

Tell her friends you think she is hot (she is then guaranteed to know within 5mins).

Make eyes at her

Be chivalrous

Look cute

Ask her on a date

Be charming

Be interested

Be good at what you do and impress her

Compliment her

Validate her queerness, tell her you knew she wasn’t straight all along.

Be amazing in bed…be mean in bed…leave marks.

DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED. We can smell fear.

Hehehehe. This isn't a come on by the way, I'm still taken, just a funny and true--for me anyways-- guide.

The original post is here.

House Dress and Cupcakes

2011-02-27T08:30:00.003-07:00

Finally got photos of this awesome house dress that I bought online on ebay. I got it for a steal at only $15 including shipping. It was totally worth it.

I also wanted to post photos of some cupcakes I made last weekend. I'm really interested in improving my cupcake decorating skills so I will be making a bunch of cupcakes in the next little while!

Antique Show Deals

2011-02-26T14:38:00.004-07:00

Today was an antique show and sale so I decided to dress up all 50's in a new look acetate dress that I just got in the mail this week.

Here is my treasure trove of finds! The theme of today was saving money! So I didn't spend as much as last time but I did end up getting some awesome deals!

Here's a close up of a clover on an awesome hat pin I bought.

This wooden cherry bunch is going to become a nice brooch, although it is currently missing a proper pin. It was $20

These pretty blue gloves were a must.

I bought this vintage lyre-backed chair which is my new vanity chair.

It looks great with the vanity and it was an amazing steal at $40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also got a vintage Bakelite brooch and a 50's hat and dress clips --that the lady thought were earrings-- for $5. I didn't get any photos of the event, but there were great deals to be had. We sort of ran in, talked to a few people, ran through the fair and then left! It was super busy and had a lot more jewelry this time then last. There were no lady head vases this time though. Oh well, I'll have to hunt for them at the next sale.

Sadie scored a vintage crokinole board. What is crokinole you ask? Well I didn't know what it was until today, although apparently it's a popular Canadian game because Sadie used to play it when she was little. It's like curling with checkers on a table.

We weren't sure how old the board was until we got home and found out it's a Bentley Crokinole Board made in Niagara Falls from between 1946 to 1958! Success! My vintage-ness is rubbing off onto her game geek-ness!

The Boudoir

2011-02-20T18:10:00.003-07:00

I spent hours yesterday cleaning and organizing my bedroom/vanity and the room feels so much better now.

So today I went out hunting to perfect the space with a lamp and a new chair for the vanity (the current one --pictured above covered in crochet lace-- squeaks and creaks so much it sounds like a train running into the house every time you move).

I had success with the lamp, buying this awesome crystal fancy lampshade one from Home Sense. The snake is a bracelet I wound round the bottom.

I'm still trying to hunt down a nice slipper chair to go with it, though. I saw a bunch of potentials but nothing quite like I was looking for. Below is some slipper chair inspiration to show you what sort of look I'm going for.

I believe this is from the boudoir of Vivian Von Dimples and omg that heart chair is soo cute.

The ultimate slipper chair! I would love to find one just like this one!

At least I can enjoy the beauty of the vanity for now and keep an eye out for that perfect vanity bench/slipper chair.

Modern Look (It's the hair's fault)

2011-02-18T18:03:00.004-07:00

I love getting all dolled up and heading out on the town. However, my hair is soo long that I can't curl it the way I normally do. My hair has a 'curl threshold' (it gets to a certain length and then will no longer keep any curl) and that threshold has clearly been reached. I haven't cut my hair on purpose because I wanted to see if I can grow it out a bit but since it will no longer curl, I must cut!

The consequence of this is that I straightened my hair and went 'modern'. I don't think straight hair with vintage dresses look good on me, hence no vintage clothes

However, it did give me a chance to wear a new pink fedora that I bought a while ago :)

Valentines 2011

2011-02-15T08:12:00.002-07:00

Just a quick picture of my outfit from Valentines Day. Sadie and I had a lovely fancy dinner last night as our present to ourselves.

Dress- Modern but bought on etsy

Sweater- 50's black knit from etsy

Brooch- Bakelite green flower clip - Christmas present from Sadie

Shoes- Naturalizer

Hair Clips- ?

Happy 102nd Birthday, Sewing Machine!

2011-02-13T08:12:00.004-07:00

I have been meaning to look up information about my antique treadle singer sewing machine for a long time and I finally ended up doing it!

Singer has the exact date of manufacture for most of their serial numbers so I just looked mine up on their handy website and, since it's a 'D' serial number, the date is listed on this cool chart!

Guess what? It was manufactured in Elizabeth New Jersey on February 13th, 1909! So I wanted to do a post for it today in honor of it's 102nd birthday!

I also found out it is a Model 27 and even found a manual for it online here. So the plan is to have it fixed up and be usable sometime in the near future!

Black Satin Ribbon Shoes

2011-02-11T23:39:00.003-07:00

It's a rare and beautiful thing when you can find modern shoes with a vintage flair for cheap.

Naturalizer is having a wicked sale right now so I was able to afford a new pair of black adorable and vintage-inspired shoes.

These are the Jasper's and I love them. My favourite part is the ribbon laces.

2nd Fake Mustache Photoshoot done!

2011-02-06T18:09:00.004-07:00

Playing with mirrors in a bathroom

Finished Fake Mustache Photoshoot, Part deux, today and I am just dying to see the photos!!!

Krista Dee of Krista Dee - Rockin' Retro Hair & Makeup did my hair and makeup again and it was just awesome!

One of the outfits I wore was this blue, white and grey 50's housedress.

Another was a 50's car hop waitress outfit with skates, although I had taken the skates off before I took this photo.

As soon as the official photos come in they will be on here! So excited!

Here's another awesome photo of my and my friend Jen looking fierce!

Hehe! Can not wait to get the official photos!

Food and 40's rolltop vanity

2011-01-29T21:19:00.004-07:00

I feel like I've spent the entire weekend cooking.

On the plus side, however, I've had great food!

I made lasagna on Friday.

Deviled eggs today,

And Cranachan today too! (It's a Scottish desert with whipped cream, raspberries, oats and scotch)

Part of the reason for the cooking was a small family Robbie Burns night party. Here's Sadie in a pseudo-kilt with the haggis.

On a different note, I finally bought a nice 40's vanity this week.

Vanities and vanity sets have been all over the blogs lately giving me great ideas.

For the last year I have been looking and waiting for a nice vanity to come up that is rolltop with a round mirror and in fairly good condition (and for a good price). Luckily this beauty popped up so I bought it!

I'm still trying to decide what will end up on the top of the vanity, but right now I have my green celluloid vanity set, and my collection of vintage beauty products (including vintage lipstick tubes). I'm just trying to figure out what to put in the drawers and where my practical stuff (beauty supplies, makeup, etc) is going to go!

Vintage Fashion Event in Calgary this Sunday

2011-01-28T10:34:00.003-07:00

Before I totally forget, I wanted to let people know that there is a vintage fashion event this Sunday at Art Central in case you live in Calgary and hadn't heard about it.

I will be there in my photoshoot attire (vintage hair, makeup, and dress) for the beginning of the event to do some quick shopping before my photoshoot.

In case you need more info, go here!

Photo shoot Sneak Peek

2011-01-23T18:52:00.005-07:00

Today was awesome! It was part 1 of our yearly Fake Mustache photo shoot and I can not wait to have the official photos to show you!

The day started off with coffee and banana bread (yum!) and I had my hair and makeup done by Krista Dee of Krista Dee - Rockin' Retro Hair & Makeup!

Krista looking smoking!

She was so incredibly awesome and the hair and makeup she did was fabulous! She is super cute with a fantastic style and she even has cool accessories like the vintage hair dryer (in the photo at the top of the post).

Here's a bit more about Krista and her retro makeovers:

"I've been into the vintage aesthetic for a long time in one way or another, and learning myself how to channel that "properly" via mimicking hairstyles, makeup, and clothing of the eras I admire has helped me become the person I am today - confident, feminine, unique, and satisfied that my clothing and style really do suit my personality.

Vintage style is exceptionally suitable to my body type - whereas mall clothing, or run-of-the-mill garments aren't necessarily. I've seen some horrible, shapeless, sacks of dresses out there and it's just not something I desire for myself. There's no doubt that a gal wearing vintage will turn heads wherever she goes!

Helping people achieve a vintage look and thereby the same feeling I get when I wear vintage, or vintage inspired clothing, is what makes it worth it. I've never had a woman look in the mirror after a "makeover" and not be happy, stunned, in shock and awe or disbelief that everyone, whether you think so or not, can look fabulous. Sometimes it's their style and sometimes it's not - but no doubt they love it! It's amazing what a touch of vintage can do."

So if you're interested in her work, you should take a look at her facebook page!

Here's the sneak peak!

This photo doesn't do the hair and makeup justice, but you'll see it in the official photos!

The best part is that part two is next Sunday and Krista is going to do my hair again for that day. Yeah for photo shoots!

The Tourists

2011-01-22T17:24:00.002-07:00

We decided to be tourists in Calgary for a day so we went up the 'Calgary Tower' which is actually just a small tower that gives you a good view of the city and mountains except that it's actually not that tall; there are taller buildings blocking the mountains in a few places.

View of the Mountains

However, we hadn't ever been up it together, in fact we were both under the age of 13 the last time we went!

Sadie looking at the view

Downtown Calgary

Us!

View of the Mountains again

Outfit for the day

After the tower, we went to an Italian store for sandwiches and some quick groceries. Overall, it was a nice relaxing Saturday!

Skirt- 50's felt skirt from etsy

Sweater- 50's red sweater from etsy

Shirt- Jessica Louise tank top.

Chinook Weather

2011-01-21T22:41:00.004-07:00

I enjoyed a lovely chinook by heading out to a show last night all dressed up in glitter and a vintage frock.

This is still one of my favorites of all my dresses. It's a 50's cocktail dress from Cabaret Vintage in Toronto.

I love glitter, especially hard core burlesque glitter like this. I used to wear glitter everyday, believe it or not, but now I only do it for performances (and rare ones at that).

I got told I looked like I had Hedwig glitter but it wasn't quite the same. I have done Hedwig glitter in the past and it was awesome.

Hedwig you are my hero. If you haven't seen that movie you should. I seriously considered, and still consider, getting Hedwig's iconic tattoo. Maybe one day.

Outfit posts- Work and 'Bright Squares' dress

2011-01-19T22:14:00.003-07:00

Here's my work outfit from today-

Skirt- 50's felt skirt from etsy.

Shirt- tank and white button up from Tristan.

Hat- 50's/60's from vintage store in Toronto.

And when I got home I found a dress I bought last week waiting for me in the mail!

50's house dress from etsy with a really unique and bright pattern

It's from Kerrybrooke by Sears so now I have to start hunting through sears catalogue books to try to find it!

I am an Aesthete

2011-01-19T21:08:00.004-07:00

Everything is art and I am and aesthete.

aes·thete or es·thete

1. One who cultivates an unusually high sensitivity to beauty, as in art or nature.

2. One whose pursuit and admiration of beauty is regarded as excessive or affected.

I've always been crazy about decoration and decorative elements. Clothes, furniture, household items, etc. I just think everything I interact with in my life should incorporate elements of art forms that I appreciate and find attractive.

Art forms that I appreciate: Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Rococo, Regency, elaborate, intricate, fantasy, Victorian, Edwardian, 40's, 50's .

Art forms that I do not currently appreciate (but I suppose may in the future): Cubism, minimalism, plain, utilitarian, 70's, 80's (lol).

Beautiful things are not necessarily expensive things. I've bought things that were a dollar that are beautiful to me and seen ridiculously expensive modern art that I wouldn't spend a dollar on.

Down to my toothbrush, my plates and my keyboard, I think of objects as art and what form and styles they emulate. Sometimes I can't find items that adhere to my preferred art styles, but I'm always on the lookout. Even my desk at work is something I'd really like to transform into an aesthetic sanctuary because being surrounded by beautiful things make me feel calm and productive. :)

So that would be why I love vintage stuff, why I collect some random things and why I wear different styles of clothes. If I ever change my aesthetic preferences then I'm sure I'll be as crazy for that style as I am for my current loves! I try not to be aesthetic elitists, it's just that the rest don't appeal to me.

So if anyone ever wonders why you dress the way you do, you can just tell them that you are an aesthete too.

I'm taking back the word (cause some people consider it snobby) and reclaiming it! So I'm going to say it loud and proud!!

I am an Aesthete!!

Hooray!

What do you think?

Washers and Rompers

2011-01-17T22:47:00.003-07:00

Just got this neat 60's romper and skirt set in the mail today! I wasn't crazy about the pattern but it is pretty cute on.

Sadly, vintage hasn't been a priority lately because of several reasons, but in general just being super tired and super busy.

On the plus side I got my first washing machine!

It's a portable Danby twin washer and I love it. It means no more running down to the freezing laundry room in our building in the middle of the night. Woo hoo!

I am hoping it will be able to wash my vintage stuff (on gentle mode!) pretty well and then I can hang dry it. I think I'll do a review of it at some point in the future once I've tried washing everything in it.

I do have some more stuff coming in the post so when it finally gets here I will have new posts!

Vintage in a Modern World

2011-01-06T22:23:00.003-07:00

Giveaway Winner!

My giveaway winner, Kate of Vintage in a Modern World, received her prize last month and graciously blogged about it as per my request!

You can visit her blog here and read her post here!

Quick Snap shots

2011-01-03T23:01:00.003-07:00

Still adjusting to the whole 'New Year' thing. Sadie and I had a very relaxed New Years at home. There was amazing cocktails involved though. Sadie used to be a bartender (and still is one at heart) so she makes the best mixed drinks. :D

For example, she made this one! And I took a photo of it with my amazing new camera.

I actually really love vintage cocktails so I'll have to do a post on those sometime soon. Seabreeze and Blue Hawaiians are my favourites!

Quick photo of another passion of mine- cameos! This is one depicting Hebe and Zeus as an eagle. I got this for Christmas from my grandma.

I've got new stuff in the mail so I'll post as soon as I get it!

Christmas Looks

2010-12-26T22:51:00.002-07:00

I had a great last few days and wanted to share my vintage Christmas looks. Wow my hair is getting long! I have had my hair bobbed to ear length for the last 4 years but now I'm going to grow it out a bit and see how it goes!

I am LOVING these soft curlers. They seriously do awesome things.

Sadie and I on Christmas Eve at a family event. I didn't get any full length pictures but I'm wearing my 50's fab gabs party dress from this post.

Awww.

Waiting for Santa in a vintage nightgown!

Santa brought me pearls! So I wore them with my satin Queen of Heartz dress on Christmas day to another family event!

And today, boxing day, wearing my 40's red velvet dress for another Christmas party, only 1 more family event left! Woot!

I also got drawing supplies and sewing supplies as gifts so hopefully I'll have some home made clothes to show off!

Outfit post: Plaid, Makeup, and Curls

2010-12-23T21:09:00.004-07:00

I had a great day!

Went to lunch with my dad and sisters and bought my last Christmas presents!

I wore a modern plaid blouse with my vintage 50's black wool skirt. I've been wearing this skirt a ton lately. It really was a good buy as it makes a great winter skirt!

I also did my first vintage nail polish set with half moons at the nail base. I totally need to do a simple tutorial for it in the future.

I also was able to do my makeup today, something I love to do but often have no time to do in the mornings! So this is all Makeup Forever and Mac products because I only wear those two brands at the moment. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to do some makeup tutorials as I've always wanted to do some even though I'm hardly an expert. Still, I'd do tutorials that would focus on cheap, quick and easy. Hopefully I will do some soon.

Happy Holidays!

Vintage Holiday Ephemera

2010-12-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

These are some of the amazing pieces of vintage ephemera that was in my great grandmother's possession. Most are cards or post cards sent to her from her family.

Even this funny card, which looks like it belongs in the Halloween section, is a Christmas card! This is what it says when it opens up:

I suppose the 'boughs of holly' around the black cat and the moon sort of makes sense now :)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Early Christmas Presents

2010-12-20T06:20:00.003-07:00

Sadie bought me some early Christmas presents that I want to show off. We went to an antique store so that I could pick some stuff out and since I've already picked it out I know what it is so we aren't going to wrap them.

This means I get to show you some presents before Christmas though, so yeah!

I got this amazing 1941 Simpson's Catalogue, from which all the photos above came from. It is in absolute perfect condition, it looks like it was never even looked at. The inside had 2 slips of paper that came with the original catalogue.

One was this slip of paper about war rationing. SO AMAZING! The other was a sales flyer. I didn't even know they made those in the 40's!

I also got these Marcel clips, super cute in their original box.

And a wave clip!

My favorite was this green Bakelite dress clip which might have had an identical mate but it is long gone. They had a lot of Bakelite and I'd really like to buy some Bakelite bracelets, but most I can't get over my hand so they aren't practical to buy for now. Instead, I'm going to start buying brooches that I like because then I can wear them with practically anything.

I almost forgot, I got this hat too. Not vintage, I bought it at a new hat store in Calgary called Chapel Hats (which has stores in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and California!). It is a super cute pink fedora with black trim. Too nice not to buy for myself especially since I was freezing and I didn't bring a hat to the mall.

Fashion Design

2010-12-18T06:13:00.000-07:00

Guess what?

I can draw! Actually I love drawing. I don't paint or sculpt or anything like that but I do love to draw and I've always wanted to design my own fashions so I decided to try!

I drew a fashion figure template of myself in order to use it to design any future clothes and to test and see what things would look like on me.

It's kind of like a Vintage Cheri Paper Doll!

Early 1940's gown style evening gown.

Ideally I'd like to find actual vintage pieces with similar styles to those I've drawn in my size. Till then, I'm considering having these dresses made for me, or making them myself by drafting my own patterns in my size.

50's princess dress and 50's bathing suit that I want to find similar versions of.

40's underwear on me and a 50's day dress with peter pan collar.

Reproduction vintage dresses available on etsy- they would look so awesome on me and I soo want to buy them but I'm not sure if I should or not!

My perfect prom dresses. *Sigh* wish I could find one of these in my size! This definitely makes me want to start designing my own vintage style dresses!

Christmas Dress and books

2010-12-17T08:36:00.003-07:00

Just got in these vintage clothing books. They aren't bad resource books actually, and they were fairly cheap (always a good thing).

I've been wanting this book for quite some time so I finally caved and bought it. It's got some pretty cool photos but was way to expensive for only 40 of them. Plus I was expecting more pictures of vintage gals in vintage clothes. There are some, but I think it's mostly guys.

Also finally caved and bought the EvelynEvelyn cd and All I wanna do, aka Strike aka, aka The Hairy Bird, aka has changed it's movie title too many times.

I wore my new vintage 1940's velvet Christmas dress last night to a Fake Mustache show so I finally got some photos of it!! I also did my hair and make up all fancy, which is nice cause I haven't done that in a while.

I think I may wear this dress every day for the next two weeks because I love it so much.

1940's velvet cocktail dress- ebay

(sorry to those who read this blog and bid on it too!)

Black cocktail hat- Le Chateau

Festive yet Professional

2010-12-13T21:43:00.002-07:00

Had a meeting today so I went 'festive' yet professional in a red satin shirt and red pin striped pencil skirt. All modern, but at least it doesn't look that way!

Hats Galore and new hair

2010-12-12T21:50:00.004-07:00

I finally dyed my hair this weekend. Thank goodness!

And I tried out some new rollers, Goody's Pillow Soft Foam rollers.

I slept with them overnight after having a shower and wow did they ever work. I didn't even use an ounce of product- no mouse or hair spray or anything!

Next I think I will dye my bangs turquoise! This altered photo kind of makes me look crazy but I think it will look good once it's done!

This weekend I went out and bought two hats from a vintage store in Calgary but I also happened to get my Christmas present from my grandmother in the mail today and she bought me two vintage hats too! So now I have 4 new hats to show off!

This is a cute 50's/60's headband with cream velvet flowers and feathers that my grandma bought at Value Village.

She also got me this 50's/60's beige felt hat with a bow.

I bought this 50's 'new look' pancake hat with gorgeous netting for $20.

And last, but not least, this huge 40's/50's sun hat.

The texture of the wearing is beautiful. It's so nicely done and soft to the touch.

Well that's all the new stuff for now. I've got a photo shoot coming up in early January so I'm super excited for that! Can't wait to do that and get good photos!

Tinsel Trees and hand knit gloves

2010-12-11T01:34:00.002-07:00

Here's what's new!

I bought some table top tinsel trees at Canadian tire ($10 each). They came with some small silver bulbs included but I also bought some fun colored small bulbs and made these!

I love them. I actually want to buy a billion more and just cover my house in different color themed ones.

Here's my mantle (and yes, that is 'Kiss' by Tanya Chalkin on the wall).

Also this week I bought a pair of hand knit gloves at a charity auction. Aren't they soo cute? I wish I could knit! Everyone was commenting that the pattern looks like porcelain or china.

Here I am showing off the gloves in the freezing cold.

I had a crazy awesome hair day this week which I documented in this photo.

That's about it for what's new at the moment! Christmas is coming before you know it and so I have been busy buying presents and avoiding leaving the house (cause it's cold!) with the rest of my time. I will hopefully make some new posts this weekend!

Vintage Rag Curls

2010-12-06T23:25:00.002-07:00

I really need to start doing rag curls every night. Pin Curls never seem to work for me (my hair doesn't dry for some reason when I pin curl it) and curlers work really well for a barrel curl look but not for authentic 40's/50's curls at all.

So I rag curled my hair yesterday (though I pin curled the bangs) and here is the result!

I'd really like to try using a hot sticks set so as soon as I find one I'll try that as well (it's what a lot of vintage gals seem to use). But for the time being I think rag curls are the way to go!

Vintage Christmas

2010-12-05T23:37:00.002-07:00

I thought today I'd share some photos of vintage Christmas inspiration.

In reality my house will look nothing like these lovely photos but hopefully next year I'll be able to buy a huge white or silver tree!

This year I just have this little one although it is quite cute with it's fibre optic ness. I think I may add somethings to it still so I'll probably have more photos of it later.

I hope there are a few vintage bloggers with vintage Christmas stuff that post pictures! If you are one please leave a link in the comments section. :)

So this weekend was mostly lazing about and putting up the tree but I also made some cupcakes!

Yum!

New House Dress & Vintage Christmas tree

2010-12-03T22:16:00.002-07:00

My new housedress from the 40's came in and I love it!

The fabric is just amazing and it has huge pockets and is super comfy. Only small problem is that the side is snap closure and it's a bit of a pain because the snaps pop rather easily. Trying to decide if I should leave it, replace it with a zipper or add newer snaps...

Gah! my hair is getting long. I need to make a decision about how (not if, but how) I want to color it and if I want to cut it or not. Sara seems to think that I should grow it out because she's never seen me with long hair. I am still undecided on the subject.

I just started my Christmas decorating and this year I am actually going to light up my ceramic vintage Christmas tree! It's a family tradition for me to use this tree, that my great aunt hand painted by the way, as a Christmas decoration.

Yeah Christmas stuff!

Pinup Sweaters and Pulp Fiction (NOT the movie)

2010-12-03T21:18:00.006-07:00

I finally got in a bunch of awesome things this week and snapped some quick pictures!

From VintageCurve on Etsy I bought these two 50's sweaters that I thought would be a good investment for my wardrobe.

Turns out I really think both of them work perfectly with this black felt skirt from the 50's that I got off of etsy ages ago. I'm wearing it in the above photos with the red sweater.

Although really, they can go with a lot of things. In these photos in the black sweater I am wearing a 50's Mexican style blue dress underneath.

The black sweater has some button holes that no longer work but I'm going to fix that right up and it shouldn't be a problem.

Here's an overexposed photo of the pattern on the sweater and the little collar.

The best part about getting these sweaters was that the shop owner sent me the loveliest gift of a lesbian pulp novel magnet!

Lesbian Pulp Fiction were sexploitation novels about rebellious girls (mostly in college, lol) in the 50's who decided to 'experiment' with the same sex.For many years it was illegal in the United States to publish lesbian stories with a happy ending so most of the pulp novels end horribly either by having the girls go straight and get married or die.

Lesbian Pulp is important though because, as the Wikipedia entry talks about, it was a way for real lesbians at the time to see themselves represented in the world and to feel like they had a community of other lesbians somewhere.

Giveaway Winner Announced!

2010-11-26T07:50:00.004-07:00

Congratulations to Kate of http://vintageinamodernworld.blogspot.com/!

You won the giveaway!

Contact me so that I can get your address! And for those of you who didn't win I'll be doing a second giveaway at some point early in the new year. I already found some cool stuff to use for it!

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Also if you happen to view my blog posts on an RSS feed- that's what I usually use anyways- head to my actual blog to see my new redesign!

About Me

2010-11-25T06:08:00.001-07:00

I'm a vintage obsessed, history loving, queer lady living in Calgary who decided about a year and a half ago to do something I have always wanted to do- wear vintage 24/7.

When I was young I always wanted to live in the past. History was always my favorite subject, with English Literature as a close second, and I grew up hearing stories from my grandparents about the past. I dreamed that one day I'd be able to wear vintage clothes and/or costumes every day, become the village 'eccentric' and live in a big old house (like the old aunts in Practical Magic).

In reality, I was far too poor to be able to afford anything, let alone vintage clothing, and couldn't find any that would fit! Luckily, I discovered online vintage, really started exploring vintage stuff in Calgary, and bought my first vintage dress! It was then that I found some of the crazy awesome vintage blogs out there and decided that I should make one too!

10 things about me you probably don't know:

I started my BA in English lit but I ended up with a degree in Greek and Roman History. I love studying Roman women. The social history of women is one of my passions. Especially women during WW1 and during WW2 as well as during the late replublic/ early empire of Rome.
I speak some Italian, some French and some Latin- all pretty badly. I can write French and Italian enough to get by- but if you try to say anything to me in person I probably wouldn't be able to say anything back!
I am Canadian so we spell favourite with a 'u' and same goes with colour! But I switch it up a bit when I write on the blog because I use the 'u' version and the non- 'u' version interchangeably. Also I love discovering differences in culture so I love learning about how Australia/UK/USA/Canada/Finland/Everyothercountry are all different in small ways. If you ever notice me saying something weird that you don't understand just ask!
I love costumes almost as much as vintage clothing! I have around 20 costumes and am always looking to grow my collection with good quality (preferably used theater) costumes.
I embrace being femme but I am hardly a 'high femme'. I often don't wear makeup or do my hair, even on days I go to work, because I never wake up early enough and somedays I really don't want to have to put makeup on! I love being dressed up before I leave the house but it's not a necessity to my existence.
I embrace gender diversity. I like to wear frilly things and I'm sure that whatever gender I'd be that I'd feel the exact same way! I love boys who wear makeup, girls who make really hot guys, and androgynous people! I really believe that gender is an outdated institution and should be done away with entirely. Looking like the 'standard definition of a woman' shouldn't be an obligation to anyone and doesn't necessarily prove what is between your legs. In short, gender shouldn't define who anyone is unless they want it to.
I collect dolls! It was actually the first thing I ever collected and I still have a passion for it. Dolls are very nostalgic for me because I loved them so much when I was little. Also, they often have fantastic fashions so it was how I first learned about different types of dresses and fashion styles from different decades! I collect Madame Alexander and Gene Dolls mostly although I have a few antique ones and china dolls too.
I work in a library and have for 7 years. Libraries are awesome, what can I say.
I met my girlfriend at the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I was taking pictures of the crowd and although I was super shy, I got her to pose for a photo because I thought she was hot. Best come on ever, apparently, because we've been together for 3 and a half years. She quite nicely helps me with my blog and lets me force her to take photos of me. :)
Vintage is my passion and my dream is to work with it everyday- either in a museum in the clothing/textile department, or as a vintage seller or picker.

Copy Cats

2010-11-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

Me in my Maxan dress purchased at a vintage store in Vancouver, BC in August.

Searching on etsy I happened across a copy of my Maxan hostess dress as well as other very similar Maxan items!

I love finding doubles of vintage items and also that I paid way less for the same item!

Here is an identical hostess dress.

And a coat made of the same materials.

And a Maxan robe that is very similar as well. Geez, I wish I could get paid to find details like this and track these things!

If anyone knows of any Museum jobs opening in Calgary I am all ears! I think my next big career move is going to be going to a Museum as I would really like to try working at one so that I can figure out if it's where I want to end up permanently. Or alternatively I could just purchase vintage clothing for a museum from home :) any takers??

40's fabrics

2010-11-23T06:18:00.001-07:00

I have a slight obsession with 40's fabrics.

I love cotton feed sack patterns but I also love floral rayon patterns too!

Here is a little selection to admire.

1- fabric sample from Ladies Home Journal ad in 1947

2-1940's cotton dress for sale on etsy right now- too small for me but I'd buy it if it wasn't!

3-Another 40's house dress on etsy. Are we noticing a theme here? Ok, so I have a house dress obsession and that *may* be why almost all these items are house dresses.

4-40's cotton house dress I just bought for myself on etsy *Squee!*

1-30's/40's dressing gown for sale on etsy.

2- House dress from Fab Gabs modeled by the lovely Solanah. I really want this one but I think it's too small.

3-Adeline's Attic dress on etsy.

4-Another house dress for sale on etsy.

Ahh I love vintage fabric in the morning! I think I'm going to have to start hunting for yards of vintage fabric so that I can stock pile for making into my own dresses.

My Vintage Hats

2010-11-22T06:06:00.003-07:00

I have a lot of hats! I love vintage hats and I actually do wear them quite a lot so I wanted to show them off and get photos of how I'm storing them.

What I really wanted, and still do, is to have a hat rack like those at stores that hold up to 20 hats. I haven't found one yet though, and I haven't had the money to buy any nice hat stands so most of my 30 hats are currently clipped to a wire in my bedroom.

It may not be perfect but I like the way it turned out and it certainly makes an impression when you enter the room! I actually have so many that I might add a second row above it just to hold all of them!

... and Harry Potter 7 pt 1

2010-11-21T21:56:00.002-07:00

Oh and a quick note that I thought Harry Potter was awesome and can't wait for part 2 in July!

Here's some more photos of Sara and I from a photo booth at the theater!

I think I'm going to try to re-read the series before then.

Giveaway!

2010-11-21T11:12:00.006-07:00

For my 200th post, and for getting my 100th follower, I am doing a giveaway!

You could win this lovely prize of:

Amber ring- new but with a vintage flaire
20's reproduction Cloche hat- made of felt and warm for the upcoming cold months!
40's/50's purse in perfect condition! It has a cute 'tulip' fastening too.
1930's Blackie's Girls Annual- there is no actual date but late 20's/ early 30's is the approximate time. It has a bunch of stories as well as colour and black and white illustrations.

Requirements:

I love blogs and the thing about giveaways is that I want it to go to someone who will appreciate it, and hopefully who will share a photo of themselves with the stuff after they receive it! So I've decided that the requirement will be that you must have your own blog to enter and do a blog post about it if you win!

The blog can be about anything and on any service provider (blogger, word press, your own website, etc).

I don't care about getting thousands of followers, just a few really awesome ones :) which is why the requirement is not that you do a blog post about the giveaway itself, or even that you have to follow me, just that it goes to someone who will appreciate it and blog about it.

How to Win:

To enter please comment on this post with a link to your blog before Midnight on Thursday November 25th, 2010. The Winner will be randomly selected the morning of Friday November 26th and I will post it on my blog as well as leave a comment on yours!

Good luck!

May you find old clothing at cheap prices!

-Cheri

Harry Potter and 100 followers!

2010-11-18T18:05:00.002-07:00

Sadie and I are heading out to watch the midnight release of Harry Potter... Woot! But before I go I wanted you all to know that I now have officially 100 followers so I'm going to do a giveaway!

Also, not only do I have 100 followers, but my next post will be my 200th!!

More details to come!!
!

Why I Wear Vintage

2010-11-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

Here are the five main reasons, to me anyways, to wear vintage:

It's Green.

It's Fair.

It's History.

It's Unique.

And it is (usually) a good Value for your money.

Green-it's reusing things that might otherwise be thrown out. Most people now feel that mending and darning is unnecessary and would rather toss or donate clothing rather than simply fixing them. Also clothing deemed too 'last season' is often tossed before they're worn out. This consumerism means that sometimes perfectly good clothing becomes landfill fodder. I always donate my old clothing so that at least someone may be able to enjoy it. Clothing swaps are gaining in popularity too so if you don't want to donate your old clothes to Value Village or another local charity shop then try to find out if your city has a clothing swap! Keeping clothes that only need to be mended and/or loved out of landfills and into closets is awesome! I like to think that clothing I buy is being rescued from destruction to be loved and cherished.

Fair- most vintage items were made either at home, by seamstresses, or in small factories. Often you find union workers labels in vintage clothing which just makes me feel great when I find them. I like unions because they help keep people from abusing their workers! It's hard to avoid buying sweatshop goods because almost everything made today- even thousand dollar 'haute couture' items-- are made in sweat shops, but I'd much rather buy from a small vintage store (online or in person) or even Value Village (who I don't tend to endorse because I think they are a bit of a rip off) than buy sweat shop goods. I haven't boycotted malls, I do go to them occasionally, it's just that it makes me happy that I am helping small business owners who run vintage shops afloat instead of huge corporations. I'd rather be wearing something made by a union worker in a small factory in North America 60 years ago then something straight out of a sweat shop somewhere.

History- to me the items are a piece of history that really tell a social history of our culture and more specifically a female history that is often ignored compared to male pursuits. These items were worn by real people- mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, aunts, etc and who knows what lives they lead. Your vintage item might have come by a really awesome lady who helped make history! You just never know what stories vintage items have to tell if only they could talk.

Unique- vintage clothes are somewhat rare and the chances of someone wearing the same outfit as yourself when you wear vintage is near impossible. The rarity also makes collecting vintage more addictive because the chance of finding another of the same item is so small. People who wear vintage often tend to look more unique and daring because of the style differences compared to today. Vintage style often makes the wearer look more unique, more eccentric, and more eclectic. I also tend to think of the quality of vintage as being higher (often disputed but it's what I feel) and the fabric quality tends to be higher as well. The fabric is so different to me than modern fabrics that it is usually how I can tell vintage clothing from modern.

Value- even good quality vintage can be found for less than brand new clothes. Usually I spend between $30 to $100 per outfit when I buy vintage online. Try to find the equivalent modern outfit in a mall for less.

Oh and a bonus reason is that wearing vintage dresses means that I don't have to coordinate an outfit in the morning (pants,shirt,blazer, etc) I just have to pick which dress to wear!

May you find old clothing at cheap prices!

-Cheri

My Wish List

2010-11-13T11:18:00.004-07:00

There are a few 'dream' items that I am always looking for. It's good for me to list them so that I can keep them in mind when I'm vintage shopping. My closets are so full, even after a ton of purging, that I am now really looking for quality over quantity.

One day I will find an example of one of these 'wish' items that happens to fit me and it will be perfect! They are out there somewhere, I am sure of it, I just have to be a vigilant etsy watcher!

Daniel Green boudoir slippers-

must find a colorful pair in my size (wide!)

50' s prom/ bridesmaid dress-

I really want one like this with a little lace bolero or one with matching lace gloves.

Lady Head Vases-

I totally want a collection that looks like this!

40's Satin Dress-

Like this one for sale on etsy.

I might just end up buying this Vivien of Holloway one to fulfill this wish!

40's velvet party dress-

on the top of my list at the moment. Here are two currently for sale online although they wouldn't fit me.

Here

and Here.

Vintage hats: tilt hats and perch hats-

especially ones that look like this. I'm in love with it but I can't buy it because the seller is evil and decided to way overcharge on price and make shipping to Canada $25. (Rant warning- YeahI'vehadsellerschargeme$25bucksbeforeandthenitgetshereandtheyactuallypaid$8inshipping!)

Vintage Plaid Dresses-

I never tire of them!

Vintage Housedresses-

I never tire of these either! This one from vintagecurve on etsy.

May you find old clothing at cheap prices!

-Cheri

Remembrance Day

2010-11-11T09:05:00.010-07:00

Today is Remembrance Day so I wanted to do a quick post in memory of the soldiers who gave there lives.

1940's

My grandfather is standing in the middle, to the left is his mother, Dolly and his sister Joanne. Seated is his brother Don, who was a soldier in WW2, and to the right are his sister June and brother Ted.

I'm lucky because only one of my grandfathers/great grandfathers fought in the world wars. The majority of my grandfathers were not in active service because they were too young or were working for an essential service- the railway- which was needed to transport war materials across the country.

Here's my grandfather at a school picnic in 1934 (bottom on the very left). When my grandfather used to show me this picture he would always say something about how of the boys in this photo, all of whom my grandfather new well, most had died fighting in World War 2. By 1944, just 10 years later, most of the boys in this photo were dead.

approx. 1916

Cecil on the bottom right with his soldier buddies

In the next two photos are a man who might have been my great grandfather, he was my great grandma Dolly's boyfriend during World War One, but he was killed. These are photos she had of him that she kept her whole life.

Another photo of Cecil and a buddy.

approx. 1917-8

I love this photo. My great grandfather is on the left and a soldier friend is on the right. Soldier with a camera! I love how candid this photo is. They're sitting on the steps to some local store in Streetsville, Ontario taking photos. I also love the vintage advertising "Everybody Smokes Old Chum Tobacco."

As my stepfather said when he saw this photo- These men never thought that almost a hundred years later someone would be looking at this photo and thinking about them.

We remember.

1940's

2010-11-09T06:19:00.011-07:00

So I know you've been waiting for me to get to the best decades of fashion so here is some everyday fashion from the 40's as worn by my grandmothers and great grandmothers.

High school girls in Toronto in the mid to late 40's. In the top left corner, giving a cheeky look, is my great aunt Betty.

My great aunt's looking like they're going out for a special day in the late 40's. I love their coats and hats!

The ladies above are the daughters of my great grandmother, Dolly, here with her sister in the early 40's.
Here's Dolly with her other sister Mabel during the war. Look at those victory rolls!

Now we're onto my other side of the family. Above is my grandmother at a very young age (maybe 15?) in the early 40's on the left. In the middle is my great grandmother and my great aunt is on the right. These photos are all from Regina, Saskatchewan.

Here's my great aunt Irene, again, with my grandma in the early 40's.

Here's my grandma in a fabulous coat in the mid 40's, probably on her way to work.

Grandma in the mid- 40's. Her 'pompadour' hairstyle is awesome!

Here's my grandma in the mid 40's in a gorgeous 'princess' coat.

And again in the same coat but with an amazing tilt hat. I love this photo so much.

November already!

2010-11-08T20:27:00.002-07:00

Ah! Where has this month gone?

I feel like I've spent it waiting for the mail man to come but he (or she) finally did!

Hello Dream Shoes!

They are the Naya Briar Shoes from Naturalizer.

They're just so darn 'deco' that I needed to buy them. They were really expensive though, so I waited and *huzzah!* I got them on sale for 40% off.

The other thing that came in the mail was my 'instant' vintage lipstick collection!

I bought it off of etsy from a great seller and I am so excited about them.

Here they are! 13 lipsticks in total! Most of them are Coty, Max Factor or Revlon.

I love the names of the colors!

I also decided to play 'dress up' the other day, so I wore my $8 mink stole, my pearls, and a shoe clip as a hair clip:

But don't have any other good photos... :(

Hopefully I'll get a good outfit post soon.

Lastly I've been working on my 'inspiration board'. It's a cork board directly above my computer screen that I plan on loading with vintage photos and other things that inspire me :)

I hope I can pull it off because I think it's a neat idea.

Halloween Continued...

2010-11-01T07:10:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to show some more Halloween photos from this weekend. They're all from my phone so the quality isn't that great, sorry!

This was our Halloween Pumpkin this year!

Here are the 'finger' cookies Sadie made.

Our Pumpkin punch bowl!

Friends in Day of the Dead Costumes!

Snow White and Alice! I decided to not wear the black wig on Saturday because my curls were so cute I didn't want to squash them. Also, somehow, an arm and mouse stuffy ended up in the picture.

And finally my costume for Halloween itself giving out candy- A Brownie! The dress is dead stock that I found in Toronto last month. It was some sort of uniform from the 60's but I'm not sure what it was from (restaurant, school?). However it does look very 'brownie'. The sash is from when I was one! As you can see I didn't go very far in it but it is pretty cool that I still have it!

We took this Halloween off' shadow casting Rocky Horror Picture Show cold turkey. It was much more relaxing then having to work our butts off and be up till 3 in the morning 3 nights in a row!

Halloween Costume!

2010-10-29T19:36:00.004-06:00

I wore my halloween costume to work today:

I've been wanting to be snow white for a while so I decided this was the year!

I think of Snow white as being one of the quintessential Halloween costumes. Snow white became a huge hit when it came out in 1937 and throughout the 40's and 50's it became one of the most popular halloween costumes. It's still fairly popular today as well which is good because it was easy for me to find a fairly good one.

It was pretty good for a bag costume!

Anyone know of any other popular costumes from the 40's- 50's? I know Pierrot and Pirouette clowns as well as Little Bo Peep were popular but other than that I'm not really sure!

(Those are two I also really want to make/buy at some point!)

What are you being for Halloween? Anything vintage-y?

Cleaning out my closets

2010-10-27T21:54:00.004-06:00

My closets are full. And by full, I don't mean full, I mean bursting and unable to cope with a single new item being added.

Technically there are two closets in our house. Sadie and I each get one half of each closet (one is a lot bigger than the other so one person getting the big one wouldn't be fair). This is our main closet. The other one contains more of my reproduction pieces, my costumes, my 40's wedding dress and some other formal and cocktail vintage dresses.

But both needed to be cleaned out so I've documented the cleaning of closet one.

So I emptied out my half of the closet entirely.

First I put in my vintage summer day dresses. During the winter I might wear one or two on days when I miss the summertime. I love these patterns. Floral 40's/50's patterns are pretty much my favorite thing ever!! They go to the very back of the closet.

Next come my formal dresses. Mostly cocktail dresses- fancier than your average day dress but that I still wear to work on days I want to be 'dressy'. The cherries and sailor dress are technically not vintage, they're reproduction but I love them so they stay.

Vintage Day dresses are next. I wear them to work all the time, I love them, and they're great!

Then comes my suits. I need to wear these to work more as they're so professional looking. My fab gabs suit is in the blue bag because it wrinkles easily. The pinstripe one isn't vintage but the other two are.

Next comes the vintage lounge wear: My house dresses and things I generally don't wear outside of the house. The patterned 50's wrap dress is what I wear around the house most days when I'm not heading to work. It's soo fantastic and so comfy!

Lastly there are a few accessory type things like my vests and belts.

I took out pretty much all of my 'modern' clothes and right now am debating what to do with them. I already have 3 bags of donated clothes (mostly 'modern') and there's more of that coming too. I would really like to buy a 40's armoire but at the moment I'm just going to clean out my dresser and hide any modern clothes I want to keep in there.

It was hard because I also pulled out some vintage dresses that I need to sell. I just have too many and there are a few that are too tight in places or not as flattering on me as they should be. Still trying to figure out if I should consign them or open an online store. Or, as many bloggers do, just sell them through my blog. It's so hard to decide if I should keep them or not. *Sigh*

I have about 7 that are in my 'I have not yet decided what to do with you' pile. If they weren't vintage I would donate them in a second, but because they are I kind of don't want to because I feel that they're valuable, not just in monetary terms but they hold historical value and I just don't want them going to a Value Village.

Does anyone else find getting rid of vintage hard?

Vintage House Inspiration

2010-10-22T06:19:00.000-06:00

Vintage House Inspiration!

I am in the process of learning photoshop and sort of did this as a way to learn how to combine images. Also I'd really like to do image inspiration posts and there's no better time than the present.

These are all photo from my 'Vintage Inspiration' folder.

I've been adding to this folder for years so I don't have the source info for these images but they are all pretty cool in my opinion. One day I hope to have a 50's kitchen like some of these!

Hair Flowers Tutorial

2010-10-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

How I Make Hair Flowers for less than $2 each:

There are a bunch of tutorials out there for making these, but here's another one! All the necessities were bought at Walmart and in total, to make each hair flower costs less than $2. Which is crazy considering at several stores the cost of one hair flower is around $20. There are great makers of hair flowers on etsy and some of them do have great prices but you can make them at home for cheaper if you'd like to.

1. Buy the following if you don't already have them:

Scissors

Glitter Glue (optional)

Glue Gun with glue sticks

Hair clips (only one of or both of these two kinds, not the kind with bars in between the prongs! also I've made these with hair combs as well but they just don't work as well because the flowers are quite large)

Fake Flowers from Walmart- if you're flowers look radically different than these some of the steps I outline may need to be modified slightly.

2. Remove the flowers and leaves from the plastic stems over a disposable surface like cardboard (so that you don't get hot glue all over your 50's kitchen table!).

3. Remove the little plastic base from the leaves only (not the flowers)

4. Decide what color combination/arrangement you want. Can do 1, 2 or 3 flowers in a bunch. Turn on glue gun.

5. If you are doing one flower- Stick the orange stem of the flower through the opening in the middle of the leaves.

6. Double check that the combo works well and decide how you want it to look when it's on your head.

7. Use glue gun to glue together flower and leaves. I just put a dab of glue at the base of the inside of the leaves and then push them together trying not to burn myself on the glue.

-If doing 2 or more flowers I glue the flowers together then add the leaves after but either way works. It depends on how many leaves you have and how you want the flowers to look. Also if your flowers have the flowers attached when you buy them you can obviously skip some of these steps.

8. Take a hair clip- large or small depending on how big your flowers are (usually one is enough)- and use the glue gun to glue one side of the metal. Apply hot glued clip to the back of the flower in the area that you want to be the 'top' of the flower.

Make sure to open the hair clip as you're glueing it on so that the clip doesn't glue itself shut. When you open the clip, it may look like the photo below. Make sure you just wipe off the stringy glue from the part of the clip that isn't glued directly to the flower so that it looks like the clip above.

9. This is how it should look. Now I take my scissors and snip the little orange stem tip off the back (or it will poke you in the head) and then glue the stem tip area so that it stays in place.

Here's how they all look once done:

10. Apply glitter/ sequins/ rhinestones, etc however you'd like! This glitter glue...is glue so obviously I don't need to use the glue gun, but I would use the glue gun if I were using sequins or rhinestones. Sometimes I don't apply anything, but I do really like the way glitter glue looks on these flowers so this time I'm applying lots of glitter. Also I don't have any rhinestones at the moment *sigh*

11. Wait for glitter glue to dry, turn off glue gun and you are done!

Yeah! Now you have cute hair flowers for cheap and more money to buy vintage clothes with!

Urban Eccentric Dress again!

2010-10-20T06:21:00.000-06:00

I am so crazy in love with this dress that I just had to post more photos of me in it.

I wore it to work on Friday and now I know from experience that it is super warm and super nice to wear.

Dress- 50's Winter Dress from The Urban Eccentric

Hair flower: H & M

Glasses: Le Chateau

Purple to honour the new Mayor!

2010-10-19T17:46:00.004-06:00

Calgary did something super historic yesterday and to celebrate Sadie and I wore purple today!

Sadie (looking very cute and butch) and myself in front of city hall

Sadie and I voted in our civic election and there is now a new mayor, Naheed Nenshi! A more liberal mayor!! Woohoo! We were so excited that we wore purple today to celebrate.

To make things even better last night after we got home from voting this purple dress I bought off of etsy had come. It was practically fate! It's a 60's purple dress which also happens to have a little bolero with it as well. So awesome!

Dress- 60's from etsy

Coat-50's from Cat's Eye Vintage

Purse- 60's from Vancouver

Hair flowers- made them myself.

I wore purple makeup and flowers too just to add a bit more purple!

Yeah Calgary!! So excited for a new mayor. Not that the old one was that bad actually, it's just that Calgary was always very typically conservative and now it seems to be changing. :)

Grandma's hat

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One of the best things ever about my photo unearthing and digitizing is that I found these photos:

Grandma May of '55

(back of my grandma in very bottom left corner talking to her mom, my great grandma)

They are of my grandmother at her brother's University graduation in May of 1955. They aren't even great photo except for the fact that she is wearing a hat.

I got this hat sometime in the late 90's after she had passed away and I now love and cherish it as one of my favorite hats, particularly because it was hers but also because it is fantastic!

Now I have actual photos of her wearing it and that makes it even more special!

I love this hat so much it's on the header of my blog!