Sneak Peeks

I thought you lovely readers might like to see a sneak peek of some awesome things (if I do say so myself) that will be going into my Etsy shop soon. So here they are:

40's hand-painted blouse

I've got to find a really good & careful dry-cleaners for this gorgeous shirt, and while it's being cleaned I need to do some research. Anyone out there know much about these blouses? I remember seeing a blog post (or something out there in the internets) about these recently, and now that I need it, I can't find it for the life of me.

Catalina playsuit

Look at this swimsuit/playsuit! The bottom has the craziest design...you sort of step into it (like a diaper, for lack of a better description) and then tie it around you. The good thing about the design is that it makes it very adjustable. Another funny thing is that the label (Catalina) actually lists the WEIGHT range they recommend, which is 115 to 130 lbs. instead of the more usual size. Isn't that odd? I'm guessing it didn't go over well...

Plummy 1940's handbag, suede

I love it when I find old things from a previous owner inside purses. Frequently I find handkerchiefs (clean, thankfully!) hairpins, and coins. This purse had two movie ticket stubs from the Selwyn Theatre, August, 1948. Sadly, it didn't say the name of the film or show, but it did say that the price was $1.35.

Summery striped dress, late 50's/early 60's

I love the vertical stripes on the dress. They really are flattering! This dress needs a bit of work...I have to replace the zipper and mend a little hole on the front.

high-waisted shorts with cute Asian-inspired print

I wish these shorts would fit me! Aren't they cute? The print looks like lots of pretty parasols. But alas, the waist is seriously the size of my thigh. Well, pretty close to it anyway ;-)
These beauties will all be going into the shop as soon as they're cleaned & fixed up!

Vintage Fashion Book Reviews

 For your enjoyment may I present three quickie book reviews:

I got all three of these books from my local library. I'm the biggest library nerd! Seriously, where can you find a better deal than the public library? Any book you want (generally) and you can (again, generally) keep it for weeks & weeks, for free! Anyway, these were fun to look over for a while. First up:

The Fashion File:  Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men
by Janie Bryant

A fun little book that's a little bit about the TV show Mad Men, and more about vintage fashion & style in general. Something I really enjoyed about this book were the lovely & whimsical watercolor illustrations by
Robert Best. This one shows a 50's circle skirt and how it might be incorporated into a modern look.

 Another nice bit was the section about "Icons & Inspirations"

Beautiful Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot

You'd think a book from the Mad Men lady would be about Mad Men style, lots of late 50's & early 60's, right? Not so much. Instead there's a lot of generic "10 Pieces Every Woman Should Have" and "Which Body Shape Are You?" kind of stuff that we've all seen a million times.
 In total, it's a lightweight, entry-level, but fun little book. I'm glad I didn't buy a copy at full pop. I really love those watercolor illustrations, though, so if I ever see this at a thrift store (which I may, once the Mad Men craze dies down) I will definitely add it to my personal library!

Next is a book I've actually checked out twice over the years:
Dressing Up Vintage by Tracy Tolkien

 This book covers vintage fashion by the decade, from the 50's through the 80's. Each decade is broken into key designers and styles.
One thing that's really weird about this book is that there are about two pages covering the 40's. As compared to the bajillion pages about the 70's & 80's, it's kind of a snub to my beloved 40's. I wonder why? I guess it's the author's prerogative. Maybe she thought it had already been done enough.
 The coverage of the 70's and 80's is pretty major, and as it comes from an English perspective, it's pretty fun and informative for me as an American reader.

Last but not least we have:
The Art of Vogue, Photographic Covers, Fifty Years of Fashion and Design.

I <3 Jean Patchett

Gorgeous 40's covers

I want this issue!

Twiggy lookin' fab

This book is pure eye-candy! I had a lot of fun going through my stash of vintage Vogues and seeing which ones were featured in the book. I especially love the pic on the cover...the iconic Jean Patchett!
The cover art of Vogue has been held to a beautifully high standard for decades and decades, and it's great fun to see how the cover styles have changed over the years!

Have lovely readers seen or read any good books about vintage fashion lately? I'd love to hear about them!

Ebay Alert!

I just found this super-amazing Bakelite (or maybe Lucite) bangle on eBay (OK well, actually, I found it surfing eBay on my phone in the middle of the night). I've never seen one quite like it so I thought you lovely readers might like a peek:

a-mah-zing vintage eye candy

To go to the auction on eBay click here

I love vintage jewelry with a bug theme! I think these little cicadas look like gummy bears. I kinda want to eat 'em. I sure don't want to eat the real kind :-)
The ebay seller doesn't say specifically  that this is Bakelite, but judging by the looks of it, I think it could be...I don't really care, I love it anyway. Unfortunately with the dollar conversion and the shipping from England it's a little rich for my blood right now, but maybe one of you gals will snap it up!

UPDATE:   This cool bangle ended up selling for $81.57. I think that's less than it's worth, if it is in fact Bakelite. What do you guys think?

Estate Sale FAIL

Usually when I buy vintage items I'm really careful to check them over first, to make sure they're in good shape, but estate sales can be so hectic (with all the other dealers hanging all over you like vultures) and frequently it's also really dark inside the houses. So occasionally I end up buying something that turns out to be a total dog once I get it home and into good lighting. It hasn't happened in a while, so I guess I thought my buying skills were improving...think again!

Example:  take these lovely gloves...you can't see it in the pic, but they are covered with elaborate beading. Really beautiful!

Here's what happened when I went to slip my hand in:

Aaaaarrrrggghhhhh! Ka-BLAM!! That puppy blew apart like it was made of tissue paper. Sad face.

I'd never had that happen with a pair of gloves! I think it's funny the way that, just when you think you've got it all figured out, guess what? You don't! Oh well, live & learn, right?

Oh, and , yes...that's me. I figured I'd set the bar low and show myself for the first time sans makeup, uncurled hair, crummy clothes. That way I have nowhere to go but up! :-)

Estate Sale Tales, Episode One

This morning I went to an estate sale in Bel Air, which if you're not familiar with Los Angeles, is a really fancy-schmancy part of Beverly Hills, where a lot of celebrities live.
This one was a first for me...we (the shoppers) actually had to park off-site and be taken by van to the home, which was behind a big gate on Sunset Blvd.
The lady of the house was a truly inspirational gal...she was a real spitfire! Teeny tiny, and with bright-red hair, she apparently got a boob job at 82 years old (!!!) and was so proud of it that she'd show anyone who wanted to look. She was a MAJOR shopper and a bit of a hoarder in the fashion department. She had over 500 pairs of shoes! Yes I said 500! Piles and piles of purses, jewels, clothes...an absolute mountain of lingerie and negligee sets...I've never seen so many. Needless to say there were a million clothing dealers like myself there all vying for the best stuff.
Here's what I managed to grab:

Mostly from the early 80's, purses, shoes, belts, gloves, etc.
Unfortunately, this lady wasn't much of a long-term "saver" and there wasn't a thing there that was before about 1979, but still, I got some cute stuff.
I'm thinking about keeping one of those two pairs of fabulous sunglasses in the front, there...they look amazing on!

I also got two things for myself:

this cute summer bag with straw veggies on the front, and...

this cool flower. It's made of a shiny faux-patent leather. It's got a pin back on it right now, but I think I'm going to convert it to a hair flower. I love it!

All the other goodies are going up in my Etsy store as soon as I can inventory/clean/photograph and list them!

Handbags by Caron of Houston, Texas

A few years back I found a beautiful vintage handbag, peeking out from under piles of tacky purses, at the grungiest of thrift stores. Shining like a pearl inside an oyster...there she was...
The cute label inside said "Hand Decorated by Caron of Houston, Texas". I still have her. Here she is:

My first Caron bag

I'm not sure what it is I like about these bags so much...they really are kind of tacky & almost ugly, in a way. I think it's best described by the french phrase 'jolie laide", which means "pretty/ugly".
Since then I've run across many bags from this maker, but never saw much about the company or designer in any book. No one seemed to know anything about this company! I did manage to find one 80-something year old lady who said that back in the 50's, Caron bags were "all the rage" and she just "had to have one!"

Here's what the tags look like:

Two more Caron beauties

I'm thinking about selling one of the two above in my Etsy shop. Anyone have an opinion as to which one I should sell? I like them both equally, but they are similar enough that I think I should sell one...I can't decide!



Here's the most recent addition to my collection. This little golden cutie was a filthy wreck and I got it on Ebay for about ten bucks. A little TLC, and she cleaned up nicely!

My new baby...I love the boxy shape!

The most common pieces are black wool jersey, with a single top handle. One side is encrusted and bedazzled with a thick layer of all kinds of gewgaws...beads, needlepoint flowers, rhinestones, metal and/or plastic leaves, three-dimensional fruit...all framed by a strip of coordinating braid or gimp. There are other colors out there, most commonly navy blue, brown, tan, taupe, and occasionally metallic gold or silver.
Here are some nice & somewhat unusual examples from Ebay.

Current eBay auction Very unique (and overpriced)

The straw ones are fun, too! Another Ebay auction

There are other companies that made similar bags during the 50's and 60's, notably Soure' New York.
I have a couple of those, too. Here they are:

Two bags by Soure' Bags, New York

These bags are frequently beaded on one side and sort of a mesh-type fabric on the other, whereas the Caron bags are most frequently knit fabric. I've also never seen a Caron bag with a lucite, faux-tortoiseshell handle like the ones above, but it wouldn't surprise me if one existed! I'm going to list one of the two above in my Etsy shop sometime soon.

The Caron company was started in Houston, Texas, by Mrs. Velva Pepper (great name, huh?) who began embellishing handbags in her garage in the mid 50's and selling them to her friends. Soon, her daughter joined her in this enterprise, and soon thereafter their respective husbands joined in as well. Caron, Inc. of Houston was formed in 1957.
According to an old Kiplinger's report, Velva took her little garage enterprise to pretty great heights...in 1963 they had 65 employees and annual sales of $2,000,000. Impressive, I think!
I haven't been able to find out when the company shut down, but my best guess is in the late 60's or early 70's. Mrs. Pepper passed away in 1982 at the age of 68. I wish I could find a picture of her...if I do, I'll post an update.

I think that's a pretty cool story. It would be a big deal nowadays, but back in the 50's? You go, Velva!

Burbank Vintage Clothing and Textile Show, Part 2

As promised, here are some pix of what I bought. I didn't buy much 'cause I'm on a pretty tight budget right now (who isn't?), but I did manage to pick up a few cute things...I HAD to, right? I mean who goes to a vintage show just to look?

This is my favorite thing! It's super soft cashmere, and the color is just soo gorgeous. This pic doesn't really do it justice at all. (As an aside, my camera doesn't seem to be able to capture greens very well...does anyone else have that problem?) Anyway, I'd say this sweater is early 60's. I paid a little bit more for it than I probably should have, but I'm sure I'll get lots of use out of it and have it forever.

This cute little sundress will be perfect when it starts to get really hot this summer. The fabric is really lightweight and yet not so sheer that I have to wear a slip or something underneath it. It's got a couple of minor stains on it that I'm hoping will come out with a little TLC.

This is fabric...a couple yards of lightweight cotton. I just think the pattern is funny and the colors are cute. I think I might try to make a little sleeveless shirt out of it someday, when I learn to sew more advanced-type things!!  I really am going to learn...someday :-) Although I must say the idea of making buttonholes is very scary.

This is also fabric, just a little scrap of it, but enough to make a couple of cosmetic bags or a purse or something else that's small.
I love the atomic 50's print and the colors.
I spent about 100 bucks on the four things, and most of that was for the sweater. I sure could have spent a lot more so I feel like I escaped without too much damage!