Some Girls Wander

Sailor Dresses

Via Etsy

Just something too nice not to share, here among the tumbleweeds!

Lured in By Another Fancy Collar

Dress - late 30's?
Cardigan & tights - JCrew
Shoes - Biviel
Birdie barrette & Mr.fox tote- gifts from Francesca

I know I've said it before, but finding a long-sleeved dress from the 30's or 40's that doesn't have silly/crazy sleeves feels like such a prize. And that this one had such a neat collar and is covered in little white square dots just makes it extra-good.

Okay, this dress is just covered in nice details...I didn't even think of the sweet scalloped trim!

This photo is from a few weeks back...it's starting to warm up a bit now, and I actually got to have bare legs today while I was out working in the yard. Pretty sure I'll still have some more chances to wear this long-sleeved gem another time or two, knowing the Portland Spring/Summer.

Green Apple & Mr. Fox

I've been on the lookout for more green dresses lately, and I recently nabbed this comfy, rayon, prettiest-green 40's number for a song. The only problem was that the neckline was a bit of a plain-jane. I remedied this when I hemmed it, by using the extra fabric to make a big, floppy bow I could pin to the top of the bodice!

It's also a smidgen too big, 'cause it's always easy to take things in, right? The enormous pile in my altering/mending basket says otherwise, but I keep it up! And I was too excited about the polka dots and green-on-green action to take it in before wearing it the day we snapped these.

40's rayon dress - Ebay
60's wool cardigan - Etsy
Tights - JCrew (my favorites - the super opaque!)
Oxfords - Biviel
Fox tote - Libris Lunaria

I was also really excited to break out my new fox tote from Francie's alter-ego shop, home of pretty prints, and now this excellent vulpine pal.

Here I am doing...I don't know what.
Modeling how one uses a tote? Checking on the family of mice that I'm carrying around?

I had been wishing a Mr. Fox tote would get made, and now he's carrying around all my necessities for me. It's a lovely size - not-too-big and not-too-small.

And I'm extremely impressed by all the delicate lines the printer was able to retain from the original engraving.  All those tiny bits of fur!

It's really sweet to be able to carry such a nice old drawing around with you.

Gingham Sailor Dress

Oh, goodness gracious - somebody please snap up this beautiful sailor dress from this really nice Etsy shop !!!

It is a total heartbreaker, and just the thing to wear on sea monster expeditions.

Lace-collared Love

Whilst doing a little new year's cleaning in my computer's nooks and crannies, I found some photos Josiah snapped of that pretty-pretty brown 30's dress I posted here a while back.

Dress & Bag - vintage
Shoes - Remix

The fact that it has semi-long sleeves and they're actually lovely and not awkward looking is such a dream with dresses from that era!

Plus...I mean, that collar is just the tops! 

New Old Stuffs

Ahoy there!
It's been a while, but I've been having such nice old-stuff-luck lately that I felt like it was time for a post in these parts.

Last week was the big thrice-annually antique Expo, and I found a few treasures (all but the dress are Expo finds):

The bunny boy is my new favorite trinket! Next to him is a child's wool coat...it reminds me of something my imaginary characters would wear. That row of buttons!

The chocolate-colored crepe dress is just a dream. I know you can't see it too well, but it has the most beautiful lace collar. I'll try to post pictures of the dress being worn soon, so you can see the details a bit better. And the blouse! It's just the best clothing-item I've ever found at the expo. The row of bobble-buttons, the fit, the lighter-than-air fabric. And I got it for a song, too, which makes it all the better!

Candystripes

30's/40's striped day dress - vintage
Tights - JCrew
Suede pumps - Kathryn Kerrrigan

When I was in college, my Faulkner professor was a Southern gentleman who used to wear seersucker suits and was irreverent and hilarious and really wonderful. At the time I took that class, I was in a bit of a rag-doll, striped-stockings-and-socks phase. When I ran into my professor a few years after graduation, he said "I hardly recognized you! Where are the red and white stripes?" Then he said, in his great drawl: "They are your signatuuure."

This a very roundabout way of telling  you how I've been searching for years for a great red and white striped dress. You can imagine how happy I was to find this one, in the perfect size, in great shape, and from my favorite era!

I've only had it a week, and I've already worn it twice - I think it will be in heavy rotation from now on!

Yellow Hearted Peonies

 
Linen dress - vintage
Tote - my own (Black Apple!)
Shoes - Jose Seanz
Cardigan - JCrew

I recently found this sweet, simple Summer dress in this little shop, and I wanted to be sure to wear it a few times before the Portland Fall sets in for good. The print is so perfect to me! And though I think it's probably from the 70's or later (not eras I usually collect) those scattered peonies made it so good, I couldn't resist.

 

Summer is at the end of its wick here, and it felt like it only just arrived. It's not my favorite season, but the quick way it comes and goes here is hard to get used to. I need to wear all the light floral dresses a few more good times before it's time for tweeds and wools!

Alameda Treasures

 

            

Here are some of the little things I took home from a really fun, really good treasure-hunting morning with Ms. F. We kept doing the frenzied running up to each other: "Oh my god! Look at this for you!" thing that is a sure sign of a good old-stuff-hunting day. There was so much to love and sift through, I could've come back with bags and bags and boxes and boxes if we'd had the time and the space!

The Eiffel Tower blouse is probably the most special treasure I got that day (Francesca grabbed and thrust it into my hands with enormous, excited eyes) and it's now all altered + taken in to fit me nicely. Also high on the special-o-meter, the Little Jack Rabbit book is from a series I didn't know about by the author of the Billy Bunny books (which are some of my very favorites!) And that Snow White + Rose Red was snapped up because of the incredible color, and, of course, that excellent bear. The gingham dress is probably 80's pretending to be 50's, but I think it's going to be so sweet with cardigans this fall.

Huzzah!

Carnival Dress

After looking for just the perfect thing (and a few misfires) this dress is the one I found to wear to my opening for Lost On the Midway earlier this month. I can safely say it's one of the most beautiful dresses I've ever owned. 

Cotton cardigan - via Modcloth with vintage knitted collar added
Striped 30's silk dress, golden heart locket & bag - vintage
Tights - Hue
Shoes - Remix

It is a gown from the 1930's made of rows and rows of scarlet satin ribbons sewn to a dark cream-colored underpinning. That lovely waist panel is silk-satin, too.

The colors alone were completely spellbinding -- the perfect (and unusual) warm, rich red with yellow-y cream. And all of the details are just so pretty - the ruching at the bust, especially. I knew it was the perfect opening dress for a carnival-themed show, so I nabbed it and altered it to suit me and make it wearable.

I was really sickly the actual night of the opening, and I was so sad that there weren't any good photos of the dress from that night. I wore it out last weekend on a date, and Josiah was sweet enough to take a few for me, so this dress would be documented at last!