Saturday Shop Talk – Night Atop the Stars

"Night Atop the Stars"

Personality: The Sparkling Beauty
Places you'll find yourself: Glass of champagne in hand as you dance, bubbles tickling your nose and laughter ringing through the night

I'm just bubbling over from excitement about this one! I couldn't wait to share her with you as she is one of my very favorites in the shop right now. This headband is made from two reclaimed antiques. The beadwork is a Victorian mourning lace (late 1800s/early 1900s) with tiny irregular black glass beads sculpted into this glorious design. One end resembles a heart, then a flower, followed by consecutively smaller scrolls. The ribbon is an antique Polish velvet in jet black from the 1910s. I didn't sew the beadwork to the ribbon, allowing the piece to be moved in ways appropriate for different hairstyles. Plus, this allows you to interchange ribbon if you would like varied colors (I think a pink or dusty blue would be gorgeous too!). You can wear it flapper style, as seen on me in these photos, or you can wear it as a traditional headband (see here for photo example). 

I'm styling this piece for my outfit on tomorrow's Sunday Snag, so stay tuned!

"Night Atop the Stars"

To view my entire shop, click here.

Last Week's Saturday Shop Talk:

Paisley Plumage

Friday Photo Swoon – Sweeping Lines, Towering Design

{photo source}

Art Deco "debuted" in the 1920s and was quite the contrast from the previous era of Art Nouveau. Deco styles featured bold geometric shapes while the previous Nouveau period was known for organic designs that incorporated the natural environment. Granted, these two periods overlapped and you will see many examples of both styles within the same art/fashion/what have you. Today however, in anticipation of this weekend's Sunday Snag, I wanted to bring you a collection of strongly Deco images. Don't they just make you feel empowered and strong?! Enjoy!

{photo source}

{photo source}

{photo source}

{photo source}

{photo source}

{photo source}

{photo source}

Last Week's Friday Photo Swoon:

Shorts Season Shortening

Thursday Thrill – Summer Fashion Recap: Part One

Time for a summer fashion recap! I haven't been dressing in vintage very long (a little less than a year now) and I'm not an everyday vintage dresser (although I would be happy to do so).  Because I'm still cutting my vintage teeth, I thought a showcase of my summertime outfits would be nice even for me to see. Gives me a chance to remember all the fun I had this summer too!

Because there were three months full of outfits, I decided to break this recap into two parts, so that it isn't overwhelming.

I would really really really love to hear from you! Thoughts, advice, observations are all welcome. Any particular outfits you like, specific questions you have, or ideas for future? Anything at all!! Grab a cup of tea and chat with me a bit if you can! 

You can click on any photo to go to the outfit post for more information as well.
***Side Note: You can easily see any and all of my outfits anytime by clicking on "outfits" under the Labels section located at the bottom of the left-hand side bar.***

             

       

         

Last Week's Thursday Thrill:

1940s Photoshoot

Wordless Wednesday – Gossamer Wings

Last Week's Wordless Wednesday:

Deadly Beauty

Treasury Tuesday – Coral Zen

Recently I was thrilled to see this treasury, curated by Mercedes of DigitalCS, on the front of the Etsy homepage! The thrill came from the fact that my earrings, "Foggy Day in London Town" were featured in it! It is quite the rarity to have your creations make it to the front page for a few reasons. First, the person making a treasury actually has to find your item out of the gazillions available on the site. Second, they have to select your item for their treasury. Third, the treasury has to be eye candy enough to get noticed by admin and make it to the front page. Well, I lucked out because Mercedes' curation is gorgeous! Refreshing, calm, cool and relaxed. A little zen for your Tuesday!

To view individual items in this treasury, click here.

Last Week's Treasury Tuesday:

Last Call for Summer Travel

The Sunday Snag – Sugar 'n' Spice

Here it is, the closest to pinup I can manage. I just adore the pinups of the past and wanted to create a version myself. However, if you've ever tried, that can be exceedingly difficult! Those girls were talented and made it look easy. Heck, I thought it might be easy too, but sheesh! Seeing how they posed and actually posing that way yourself are VERY different things. They really knew how to create length of legs and curvaceous shapes by subtle movement and placement of the body. It really intrigues me and I've been trying to emulate those ideas. Man is it challenging though! Have any of you ever tried doing a pinup pose for a photo? Or maybe just a flattering pose in general? I like to break down the technical sides of these things. Am I alone?

This particular day, the hubs and I didn't really have any plans. I just wanted to fool around with some pinup like shots so we headed out with the camera around our neighborhood. There are some really lovely places around our home to snap photos and hopefully our neighbors don't mind too much.

My outfit is just one of the sweetest pieces of vintage I own. The shorts are actually the first in person piece of vintage I ever bought. I had only purchased my first vintage anything (online) last September and that was a dress (seen here). From that moment I was hooked, so I was thrilled when, last November, I got the chance to see vintage clothing in person at the Eastern Balboa Championships (a dance event in Raleigh, which I will be vending at this year!!!). That is where I purchased these shorts and my green floral dress (seen here). I believe those were my only two purchases that time around. I imagine that won't be the case come this year's event! Watch out wallet!

And lo and behold, who did these shorts come from? Yup, said all my consistent readers, The Cleveland Shop. Where does she get all these treasures?! And how am I going to continue buying them all?!! Haha Well, I'll figure something out I'm sure. Eating beans from a can maybe. Could you blame me though? The shorts are ridiculously adorable! They appear to be a 1950s, silk/cotton blend, high waist, zip up back that feature three stitched patches. The patches!! They are candy shop themed! One is a candy jar marked Spice, one is a jar labeled Orange, and one is a jar labeled Jelly Beans! AH, it just melts me! Plus they are in a color that I very rarely wear. Yellow tends to be a difficult color for me up near my face, so this is just perfect.

My shirt I bought recently from a tiny Etsy shop called The White Woods for an extremely reasonable price. It seems to be a 1950s piece that was handmade. The construction is a little wonky, but it looks fine when on and tied like I have it in the photos (which is really the only way I'll probably wear it). It is a cotton button up in pink and white gingham, which only adds to the sweetness of this outfit. 

I don't really have any pinup shoes because they are usually a bit too pricey for me to justify if I can't dance in them (which I can't because they are usually a higher heel). I would love to have a pair of those high heeled, ankle strap 40s shoes. Someday. The shoes I'm wearing here were purchased a few years ago for my sister's wedding. The wedge seems to fit well with the vintage vibe though, so I thought it worked well.

My accessories are a three fold grouping of items from my shop. My hair flower, "Let's Fall in Love" seemed fitting as it has an ombre effect of the colors in my outfit. My earrings are the "Lemon Drops", which are fun little vintage square buttons. The ring I'm sporting is "Paper Moon", which just seemed like a fun addition to the candy-like playfulness of the entire ensemble (Update: If you were looking for this ring in my shop, the reason you can't find it is that I recently sold it to a friend). Only other thing added was my vintage picnic basket which served only as a prop this day because it was crazy hot and humid and not ideal to go on any actual picnic.

Outfit Details

Shirt: 1950s Gingham from The White Woods

Shorts: 1950s Novelty Patch from The Cleveland Shop

Shoes: Purchased years ago from Nine West

Hair Flower: "Let's Fall in Love" from my shop ChatterBlossom

Earrings: "Lemon Drops" from my shop ChatterBlossom

Ring: "Paper Moon" from my shop ChatterBlossom (sold/unavailable)

Picnic Basket: A church rummage sale

Last Week's Sunday Snag:

Sherbet Carousel 

Saturday Shop Talk – Paisley Plumage

"Paisley Plumage"

Personality: The Starlet
Places you'll find yourself: Finding the spotlight!

This gorgeous Art Nouveau necklace was created with an antique Parisian button. The title of the button is Peacock with Tail Displayed and it was made in Paris between 1890-1910. The button shows a magnificently plumed peacock with tail feathers spread and tinted in a fuchsia pink on silver. 

"Paisley Plumage"

View my entire shop here.

Last Week's Saturday Shop Talk:

Hum My Heart's Song

Friday Photo Swoon – Shorts Season Shortening

{photo source}

Although it is still plenty warm to wear shorts, the season is indeed ending soon. At least for me anyways because I get cold rather easily and reach for warmer duds early on in the fall. Dancing doesn't follow that vein though. I can wear summer frocks year round in that arena of high tempos. How long do you all wear your summer gear? Obviously it can depend on where you are located. North Carolina is pretty temperate and the seasons aren't drastically different. I imagine I'll see people in shorts and tanks until October. 

This post full of pinups in shorts is also a bit of a teaser for this weekend's Sunday Snag! Ooooh, can't wait to share it with you! Stay tuned!

{photo source}

{photo source}

{photo source}

Last Week's Friday Photo Swoon:

Sweet Singing Companion

Thursday Thrill – 1940s Photoshoot

So you know how sometimes opportunities fall in your lap? Me neither. That rarely happens to me because I'm not highly connected or super social. I'm introverted. Very. That doesn't mean that I don't like people, or that I can't turn it off and on, or that I don't want to talk to you, or that I'm shy. I'm just perfectly happy to be cooped up in the house by myself and prefer one on one interactions rather than groups of people at parties. Okay, this is a bit of a tangent to what I'm trying to say...which is that because I'm not naturally a "connected" person to the social realms outside my home, I rarely have opportunities present themselves to me. Rather, I have to go searching for them or miss them entirely because I'm unaware they are even out there. That said, I had one fall in my lap recently! 

At an art college in the area, there was a photography student who was chatting with people that she wanted to flesh out her portfolio a bit and had thought about doing a vintage (40s-50s) photo shoot might be fun. Well, lo and behold, my neighbor girlfriend hears this conversation and pipes up that her neighbor (me!) dresses in vintage. And whomp! Opportunity falls in lap! The photography student, Tomiko Jones of ICU Photography by Tomiko Jones, asked me if I would style and model for a simple, 1940s ish photo shoot. I said I would be thrilled to do so! I got to do my neighbor's hair and makeup too and put her in one of my vintage dresses. She has never done anything like that before, which made the experience even more fun! She looked freakin' gorgeous too (see below)! Very Veronica Lake, don't you think? 

I had such a good time! Tomiko and the two men helping her made the shoot easy and they did a fabulous job. I got to download a few unedited photos to keep and that is what you see here. I edited these three (and made varying versions with different filters, etc.) which I had a terrific time doing. The photos are just gorgeous and I am thrilled that I got to help fill out her portolio! She is crazy talented!

The photo shoot itself was really funny! I had never done anything like this (I shoot all my own photos on the blog with the help of my hubs and have only ever gotten professional photographs done once as a special anniversary treat). It was really neat to see the "behind the scenes" action! Plus, it was pretty hilarious to see their reactions to our outfits, especially my bullet bra. It was the oddity and real star of the day! Hahahaha! 

{all photos courtesy of ICU Photography by Tomiko Jones}

Fun Side Note:

I found this photo the other day of Loretta Young in the 40s and was so excited! She has a similar knit sweater, hairstyle, and red lips as I do in this photo! Plus, she has my pants (see here)!! 

{photo source}

Last Week's Thursday Thrill:

Cleveland Night Out