Easter Favorites

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Easter is my favorite holiday.  Not only is it usually around (or on) my birthday, but it's full of things I love -- colors, baby animals, and chocolate.  Plus, it's tradition in my family to eat Chinese Food on Easter Sunday.  And blow up Peeps in the microwave.

What more could you want in a holiday?!

All dress available in the shop!

Yves Saint Laurent

The man who is credited for bringing couture back to the sixties was Yves Saint Laurent, a French designer whose innovative looks and creativity breathed a new life into the fashions of the time.

He is noted highly for his Le Smoking look, an androgynous look for women that resembled a sleek tuxedo.  He believed that women should wear this look to resemble the power and influence men usually emit in the same style of clothing.

He also create the iconic Mondrian Dress, made a craze from safari and ethnic inspired prints, and popularized the shirtdress as high fashion.

In the world of runway, he also was one of the first to feature black models in his shows, something that wasn't very common in the late 60s and early 70s.

He was praised for his work by his fans and the press through much of his career, until drugs and alcohol really began taking their toll and he began to give more and more of his work to his assistants.  After retiring from the company in 2002, he died a few years later of brain cancer, leaving a legacy behind and a company that is still running to this day.

We have a beautiful, black velvet, strapless, mermaid dress from the 1980s in the shop by Yves St Laurent, and I can see why he was praised and appreciated so much.  The shape of the dress itself is beautiful, but the neckline is slightly futuristic and really shows why his designs were so popular for so long.

Image Sources

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Inside the Red Border

I love magazine covers of decades gone by.  I find the headlines to be refreshing in review of our world today that is generally unphased by most things.  For example, "The Computer Moves In," making the front cover, as more of a warning than a celebration.  Nowadays, it takes something completely off-the-wall to really catch our attention and get us to grab that magazine off the stands while we stand in line at the supermarket, if we're even bothering to read the headlines over our Smartphones.

See more magazine covers here.

Springfield, Georgia

Living in the South is really a big difference from living in the North.  

Other than the sweet tea and the Southern Charm, it takes some getting used to to realize you live in a city, then fifteen minutes away is the country.

Last Thursday, we went on an adventure that ended up taking us to Springfield, Georgia, whose main street was all antique stores.  

I was in heaven.

Store after store, we picked through the, usually, cluttered racks like our very own episode of American Pickers, bargaining with the shop owners, as most pieces didn't have prices.

Needless to say, we walked away with some pretty great things.  I got lots of jewelry for the shop, a few trinket boxes and a new lamp for my apartment, and, my favorite find of the day, two 1950s end tables at $20 for the set.

Currently, the tables are on my balcony, having just gone through the first round of renovations to revival. 

We plan on going back, of course, and going farther in the countryside.  These small towns are really hit or miss (Claxton, Georgia, the Fruitcake Capital of the World, was a definite miss.  We found a cockroach so big you could saddle it and ride it around the shop, but we did find some really good barbecue [not in the same place, don't worry]).

The Lorax

Above is a film I worked on right before I moved to California.  It was shot on a real film (you know, that had to be developed), in a lumber warehouse on a very chilly day in January.

I was contacted via Facebook to help with the hair/makeup of the short by the girl who was the costume designer.  I had worked with her friend on another film over the summer, and she recommended me.

Honestly, it was a lot of fun.  I was onboard the moment they said "blonde afros" and "fake beards."  What more could you ask for?

Plus blood, fake tan, and ridiculousness.

Everyone on the crew I would eventually become friends with after I moved back from California.  Funny how it works like that, sometimes.

P&P

Having studied costume design in college, I am always drawn to period dramas and movies.  Luckily, I have people in my life who will go and see these movies and not put up too much of a fight about it.

The first movie that made me realize, "That's what I want to do when I grow up," was Pride and Prejudice, the Keira Knightley version.

I remember going to see it with my sister, and I became obsessed.  I loved it.  We went to see it three times in theaters, and I quickly devoured the book before we went to see it a second time.

I was in high school, and it was the moment I found my focus, wanting to do something fashion related, but not with the cut-throat environment of the design world.

To this day, it still is my favorite movie, and I have a strong obsession with Keira Knightley (often joking with people by saying, "If KK isn't in it, I haven't see it," since I apparently don't see any movies the rest of the world and pop culture has seen).

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Dressing for Vintage

Personal style is really important, and it's taken me my 23 (almost 24) years to figure out what I like to wear and what I feel comfortable in.

Owning a vintage store, I always feel like people expect me to wear all vintage, as if they'll walk up the stairs to the shop and see a 50s housewife standing there complete with crinoline and red lipstick.  Though I do tend to wear something vintage every day, I feel very costume-y if I wear a full-on vintage look.

Generally, I pair a vintage item with something modern, skinny jeans or a cardigan, military boots or patterned tights.  This keeps away from looking like a costume and looking more fashion forward.  If I want to wear something simple, I try to do my hair in a vintage style or something special with my make up.

It's all a series of balances that need to be thought out at 8 in the morning when I'm getting ready to open the shop (so naturally, sometimes I look at myself at 1 in the afternoon and think, "What was I thinking?!").

Also, the saying goes "Don't get high off your own supply."  My shop would be a giant closet for myself if I let it be, but it takes a lot of self control to not let that happen.  However, I do treat it like one when I go on buying trips, as I tend to pick things I love (patterns, colors, and textures), but, keeping in the sense of fashion-forwardness, I also choose styles and cuts that the runways and seasons call for.

What to Look for While Thrifting

I recently took my intern Darby on her first buying trip.  She was pretty excited to go, and I was pretty excited to see what she had learned from her few months of working at the shop.

Before we started, I gave her a quick run-down on what to look for when quickly going through the racks at the shop:

Tags
-Look for decorative tags with fancy writing or pictures on them.
-"Made in USA" proudly displayed on a tag generally indicates it is from the 1980s.
-Check for union labels.


Construction
-Does the garment have a metal zipper?  Metal zippers commonly indicate the garment are from the 60s or before.
-How are the seams finished?  Are they surged or left unfinished.  Unfinished generally indicates an older or handmade garment.
-What does the hem look like?  Does it have a facing or is hand finished?


Material
-Polyester indicates from the 70s on up.
-If the garment has a weird material composition, such as a synthetic material you've never heard of, it's probably from the 70s.
-Is there no material tag at all?  That might be an indication of the garment being older or handmade.


Shape
-Full skirt dresses could be from the 50s.
-Mod or a-line shaped, knee-length dress could be from the 60s.
-Long, polyester dresses could be from the 70s.
-Shoulder pads and puff sleeves can be from the 80s.


Condition
-No matter what era an item is, if it's stained or ripped, it's worthless.
-Look for snags and tears.  Determine if they can be fixed or not.
-If there are stains, do you think they can be easily removed?
-Polyester is usually quite easy to get old stains out of.  Cotton and silk are more difficult.


Darby did a great job with the general guidelines above, but, obviously, these are just guidelines and there are always exceptions to the rules.  However, if you're trying to quickly go through the racks and pull things, these are great guidelines to follow that will help you get a cartful of things before you leave the shop!

Shop Update || Buying Trip

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 Last week, we were closed for a couple of days because our stairs up to the shop had to be replaced, so me and my intern Darby went on a buying trip.  This was her first trip out, and I was really pleased with how easily she picked out great things without any coaching.  She's great and really smart, but I was glad to see that I had actually taught her something.  Made me happy.

Wallets

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 When I first started selling on Etsy, many moons ago, I was selling the wallets I made from paper.  At first, I would make them from magazine articles with celebrities on them (the first wallet I ever made was with Keira Knightley.  I have a strong love for her), then I started branching out into interesting papers I found at different shops.

Now, as I sell mostly vintage, I don't really focus on the wallets as much, but I still love searching out papers for them.  Recently, I found the papers above and thought they would make two really lovely collections.  So, you have the Steampunk-inspire collection and the Whimsical-inspired collection.

Hope you guys enjoy!