I've done so well lately with my 'hauls'. "How well?", I hear you ask...well, for one thing, I've got a backlog of stuff to show you. So without further ado, here are some more of the loverlies that have been patiently waiting their turn to star in their own blog post:
My last haul post included a pretty little Jackie Kennedy suit by Pendleton. I've also acquired a second, slightly older Pendleton suit from the same shop....
The same day, I picked up this little beauty of a rayon dress....
She wouldn't fit on Hazel and looks absolutely boresville on a hanger...but you should see her on! Gorgeous! And the print!!...
Aren't those colours just the living END??!! They've not faded a bit in 80 years!
Now on to the lovelies that have made their way to my closet in just the past week:
About a week ago, a high school friend of my mother (they've been planning their 50th reunion together!) messaged me that she and her family were cleaning out her parents' home and there were several articles of clothing that she thought would fit me, including several coats, and that if I wanted them they were mine They belonged to her mother, Lois Ann, and her grandmother, Maude. I wasn't prepared for the gorgeousness I found when I went to have a look see at them last Monday morning!
I wish I'd taken some pics of the house because it was absolutely beautiful. A bungalow built in the late teens, it was a masterpiece of solid oak craftsman style. Soooo pretty!
But on to the clothes!
Brace yourselves.
First, the dresses.....
Check out that collar!!
And the detail on the pockets!...
Next up, a Pennette shirt dress.....
This one has a great collar too! I really don't think it was worn much. It literally looks brand new!
This one is considerably older.....
Can you believe it still had it's belt? This is the contrast fabric on the under side of the belt....
There were a couple of lovely tops. One from the early '60s:
It's got some stains I've yet to remove. I have high hopes though as it's got a really nice look and will be lovely with a pencil skirt!
There was also this beauty....
Willya look at that collar!
The back view.....
You can also see the killer diller fabric better in that shot. It's a waffle textured crepe. It had some stains here and there, but after less than 5 minutes of soaking, they were completely MIA!
I touched up a couple of tiny little holes and took the buttons off and replaced them with red bakelite. I think it looks quite smart!...
There were two of these beautiful crocheted capes.
This one in brown and another exactly the same in red....
And hats....oh, there were hats! Three of them and they're all beautiful!! Of course, I never met a hat I didn't like and I have even more that I've gotten recently that I'll show you soon in a specific 'hat collection' post....
I've already worn this black one....
This one is just fun fun fun!! How about that 'bow'?
And this feathered piece of heaven...
Couldn't you just die!!??
Well, don't die just yet. Because I haven't shown you the best yet.
The coats. Ohmagod, the coats!
This one was her grandmother's and was purchased at George R Lane's, a very popular store in my hometown many decades ago....
It's not only crazy warm (I wore it along with the hat when the weather turned cold a couple of nights ago!), but it's also very stylish!
Look at the little rhinestone encrusted bow on the back of the neck! What an adorable detail!
The tag...'Melisse by Ricemor'.....
Chocolate suede with a fur collar.....
Mint green nubbly, again with a fur collar.....
And a smash smash cream coloured one with a pretty champagne fur collar.....
The detail on the lining....
.
Not a blemish on them and they fit like a glove!
Now, I don't know what it is that makes people just give me things, but after the generosity of my mom's friend (she also gave me a fab MCM pole lamp that I'm IN LOVE WITH...I'll post pics once I get it cleaned up, spruced up and rewired!), I thought I'd surely used up my good vintage karma for the remainder of the year and most probably half of next year as well! Not so!
A week or so ago, a lady who was shopping at the gift shop where I work complimented my ensemble. This lead to a lovely conversation about vintage clothing and how beautiful, well designed, and quality conscious clothes of 40 years ago and before were compared with the tripe we are subjected to today. She loved that I wear vintage instead of just boxing it away and mentioned that she herself had a beautiful vintage gown that she couldn't get rid of but couldn't wear either and felt guilty about it being stored away.
A couple of days ago, she came back in bearing a package. She handed it to me and this is what I pulled out.....
Pure late '30s/early '40s bliss. Black crushed velvet maxi with the prettiest little rhinestone buttons you ever did see! The dress belonged to a lady named Louise Simmons who, I found out from my dad later that night, was a teacher at a local high school. He said she was 'old' when he was in high school (he graduated in 1965).
The lady told me that the buttons had actually belonged to Louise's mother and Louise had added them to this dress herself. I'm pretty sure the lace trim is not original to the dress and added in the '70s or '80s...but it's beautiful nonetheless!
I can't tell you how in love with this dress I am. It's literally PRISTINE. I mean, honestly. It looks like it came off a rack yesterday. I'm now anxious for an opportunity to wear it to a party or something....although it would even be beautiful with a pair of boho boots on a slightly warmer fall day, so it may get worn soon!
Speaking of boots, I've been on the hunt for simply AGES for a pair of 'go go' boots. You know the drill: You find them on ebay or etsy and they're either ridiculously expensive, or they're not remotely the right size, or the pics make them look a little sketchy. And even if none of that is true, the shipping is always super high and it's scary buying shoes on line as they may not fit anyway...and on ebay/etsy you never know if the seller really knows how to measure shoes anyway! Nightmare.
I'd bought a pair of cute, boho '70s-ish boots last year from Forever 21 but, as lovely as they are, I've still been wanting some real vintage ones. I walked into a friends shop the other day to help him identify and price some vintage and was instantly met with my dream boots!....
They're Jack Rogers, and while the right one is missing a bit of its lining (that's why, when not on, the right one looks a little shorter than the other), but they are super perfect otherwise...AMAZING for their age and especially for their colour, pure white! They've been worn, but very lovingly. The embroidery is beautiful and there are no pulls or broken threads.
Love them! These will be my spring summer boots from here on out!
A few bits and bobs that I've picked up that will be available in the DB shop in about a month:
This fantastic atomic genie bottle lamp base in black and gold. This would be fab with a tiered fiberglass shade!...
Great set of mod orange melamine cups and saucers....
These pretty little decorative trivets were a Mid-Century promo from Ivory Soap. They are very MC views of London squares. These two are Grosvenor Square and Berkeley Square...two that I used to pass every day on my walk home from work when I was in uni!
I know what you're saying..."But, how can you sell those? The connection, the fact that you're a trivet fiend...does that mean nothing? How???"
Well, the "how" is that I already have a full set of these that were my great-grandmother's. There were four Squares in the set (Grosvenor, Berkeley, St. James, and Sloane) and she had all four, along with an extra Grosvenor.
The Berkeley, Sloane, and Grosvenor next to my stove....
And the St James and extra Grosvenor above it.....
I have picked up a couple more smalls though that will not be leaving the 'Brady Ponderosa' anytime soon...
This WWII Army frame, found for a dollar fifty at my favourite local thrifty.....
...will be holding a photo of my sweet Pappy, who was a WWII Army veteran...4th Infantry Division, second wave at D-Day, wounded at St Lo, pulled out of hospital in England still half deaf from the mortar blast that wounded him, and sent into Germany alongside General Patton's tanks to fight the Battle of the Bulge. He's been gone for a couple of months, but I still miss him so very much every day. A lovely man and a hero...and the best grandfather a girly ever had. I think he'd like this frame a lot!
I also picked up this great melamine platter at the same shop on a different day. Not bad for a dollar and it matches my kitchen so well that I couldn't part with it!
Here's a sneak peak at the dress that I made for a photo shoot I had at the 'Ponderosa' yesterday. I won't divulge the inspiration just yet, but I will say that it is VERY appropriate for the time of year and I'll post the shots in the next couple of days as soon as the photog gets them edited and to me! You guys are gonna love them!
