Category Archives: vintage

June 15, 2010 · 7:07 pm

Clothing Swap

In a three-pronged attack involving 1. Getting Out Of The House, 2. Meeting New People, and 3. Cleaning My Closets, I participated this weekend in a clothing swap. Outside of an informal “hmmm, I think this would look better on you” with my friends, I’d never done anything like this before. Lucky for me, the gals who organized it (mostly, I believe, members of LUPEC) do it every year, and had their proverbial act together.

Capelli Floral provided beautiful (and sizeable) studio space, clothing racks were wheeled out, tables were set up, and a system of organization (t-shirts here, slacks there, sportswear over on that table, etc.) was put into place. Organized, that is, until some latecomersâ€”myself includedâ€”took over a second room all willy-nilly.

I arrived with my yard-debris tote filled to capacity, and the excess packed into my Ginormous Suitcase. If you’ve traveled with me to Viva, you know the hideous orange one to which I am referring. And lo, it was full as well! Didn’t I just donate three trash bags full of clothing and handbags to VVA a few weeks ago? And a box full of dresses and shoes to Adams 12 School District in April? My closets apparently open into Narnia.

Knowing that any “leftovers” would be packed back up and donated to local charities, I planned to head home empty-handed. Well no, I’m no fool. But I planned to head home with a small fraction of what I’d arrived with, and at that, I succeeded. It turns out that one gal and I have similar taste in clothes, and are similarly sized, so we both wound up with a bag of each other’s things.

The photos throughout this post are of my “loot,” some of which is vintage. Not shown is one squee-worthy vintage black party dress, omitted only because I immediately put it in my Fancy Dress closet and forgot to fetch it when I was taking photos. So, um, I need a party to attend. Anyone? Anyone?

I succeeded in emptying out a chunk of space in my closet, got some new-to-me wonderful things, others picked out new-to-them goodies, and three local charities (Goodwill, SafeHouse, and Father Woody) got boxes full of the leftovers. I’d call that a win-win-win-win situation.

Many thanks to Michelle and Andee for including me in the fun!

mail order 8149

Doing a little research for 11 (eleven!) vintage aprons I’m preparing to list, and I came across this ad for mail-order sewing pattern 8149 in a copy of The Pittsburgh Press dated February 26, 1948. I love the shirring at the shoulders, the scalloped button detail on the bodice, and the asymmetrical gathers on the skirt. I could see this in a cotton print with eyelet ruffles as a very nice day dress, but also a lovely party dress if done up in a taffeta or crepe with rhinestone buttons.

Even with the unique details, it looks overall like a fairly simple dress to construct. 11 pattern pieces as best as I can tell, including the self-belt. Plus neckline facings. If I were a decent seamstress, I could work this one out. Actually, I could probably work this one out anyway, were I more inclined to do so. But it’s not as though I’m running around naked for lack of dresses in my closet!

I couldn’t find it at http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com nor in a Google search. I suspect that someone, somewhere, has a copy of it hidden in a cobwebby box in the far corner attic. And this is why we go to estate sales. :)

Well, Yellow There!

Friend and fellow Twitter-er Betty Red asked today, “Why is so hard to find cute, yellow retro lingerie!?”

My first thought was that yellow can be a difficult color to match against your skin tone and as such is often overlooked by clothing manufacturers. But for those of you who are confident in your ability to wear yellow, I present the following uncommon treats:

Click on the photo to go directly to the Etsy treasury where all of these vintage lingerie items are available for purchase.

â€“EDITâ€“
I should also mention here the Etsy shops that are represented in the above collection. Reading left to right, from the top:
VintageFray
lexismonkey
TavinShop
thedabara
sewninpieces
KitschAndCanoodle
tiddleywink (that’s me!)
vintagerunway
ShonnasVintage
wunderlustvintage
fadedfrocks
HartsCloset
FancyPantsAndMore
GeneralWhimsy2
sewingmachinegirl
CapricornOneVintage

Pink Kitchen

It’s Friday, and I had cash in my pocket, so I decided to go to an estate sale that I’d read about. The organizer’s website was chock full of photos that scrolled way too quickly, but I did spot a Formica dinette set flash by, and I figured it was a good indicator of what else might be in store.

The dinette set was still there, at an unheard-of $135. Alas, I didn’t have that much cash, nor the tools required to disassemble it so I could cram it in my car. My bad luck, someone else’s good fortune.

I picked through a few things, found some earrings and a kooky little how-to-rumba pamphlet (oh yeah, that came home with me), and then walked into the kitchen.

Ohmigod, the kitchen.

The house was built in 1952, and the kitchen was NEVER REMODELED. Actually, that can’t be true because the Frigidaire Flair Custom Imperial range (AND IN PINK!!! COVET!!!) was only available between 1960 and 1968. So okay, the kitchen hasn’t been remodeled in 42-to-50 years. Everywhere I looked were strips of masking tape saying NOT FOR SALE and I tell you I would have rented a truck, maxed out my credit card’s cash advance option, and picked up that entire room otherwise. Pink refrigerator. Pink countertops with gold flake. Pink built-in banquette booth (with that same pink Formica surface as the counters). My heart was beating so fast!

I took my own crummy photos, ill-prepared as I was with only a cell phone and with people milling about and clutter everywhere. See teaser photo above. BUT… when I got home and looked up the address to get the build date, I saw that the house is for sale and the Realtor has provided some lovely photos. So here they are, and a bonus photo of the pink-and-black bathroom. [insert choir of angels here]

Bonus bathroom photo:

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Filed under kitchen, nostalgia, vintage

April 23, 2010 · 4:35 pm

New-to-me sewing patterns!

I realize that I have a stash of patterns that so far remain unsewn. However, I recently bought myself some vintage red-white-blue striped fabric that is begging to be made into a summer frock and the patterns I have on hand simply aren’t appropriate for what I have in mind.

What do I have in mind, you ask?

Well, that’s actually hard to say. It’s a boldly-striped fabric which immediately made me think of a gathered skirt made from rectangular cuts. That is, if I want to go for a full-skirted look of the 1950s. I do love a full skirt, but I also love an efficient 1940s silhouette, although there isn’t quite as much of that in my current wardrobe. And what with this fabric being so patriotic and all, I thought that a 1940s look might be the way to go. With those two ideas in mind, it was off to Etsy I went.

A short time later the following items were en route to my home, from Vintage Rouge and Dawn’s Divine Finds (click images for larger views):

I was heavily leaning toward Sew-Rite 8045 (Oh, those turnback cuffs! That roll collar! Those not-eleven-buttons!) until Mikhaela posted the below pinafore pattern on SewRetro, and now I’m smitten with View 1.

Sweetheart neckline! Ruffles! POCKETS! I’ve found this exact pattern in a couple of places online, but those listings are out of my budget. It was a popular look at the time, so there are many options out there. It’s just a matter of me matching myself up with the right one. Oh dear, oh dear, so much candy in the candy store!

Of course, I’ll keep you all posted as (if?) the project progresses.

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Filed under collections, fashion, sewing, vintage