A Brief Detour Back to Vintage

It's been such a whirlwind of activity lately that we haven't had time to do any sort of photoshoot for the Etsy store...items have been selling, but I haven't been able to get any new inventory added!  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I bought out the remaining vintage clothing contents of an antique store.  I'm keeping a few items for myself, and the rest will be hitting the Etsy store as soon as they can be photographed, measured, and checked over.  Today, we got a few of these pieces photographed.  These two lace dresses have been listed in my Etsy store.

Absolutely stunning 1930s sheer tambour lace dress with fluttery sleeves and a purple velvet bow in front!  This would be SO perfect as either a wedding dress, or as a lovely gown to wear to an outdoor party this summer.  I'm having a hard time letting this one go, but I know it will fly away to a wonderful home...

Just LOOK at that lace!!

Next up, we have an absolutely lovely ~1940s vintage lace hostess gown by "Henri Bendel."  It's surprisingly comfortable - I really feel as though I could lounge around the house all day in it!

Now, I want to show off some of the pieces that I'm keeping...we'll call this "bragging rights."

From the first moment that I originally stepped into this antique store, I lusted after this vintage 1930s/1940s beaded & embroidered blood red velvet cape!  Unfortunately, it was very dusty/dirty, and had a rather high price tag of $250.  Definitely not in my budget!  However, when I did the vintage bulk buy, the price went down to about $85 for the cape - SOLD!  The cape is actually a deep, dark red in real life, but the camera was having trouble capturing it.  No matter what, it is an absolutely stunning piece of history, and I adore it!  I just got it back from the dry cleaners, and finished repairing the lining (which had come loose in many spots).  The cape has beautifully padded shoulders, detailing on the collar and the arm holes, and the entire back is gorgeously decorated with medallions.

The back is seriously just incredible...

Next, I wanted to share the final dress out of that lot of TLC vintage clothing I purchased months ago.  This is the estate that I purchased, amongst other things, the vintage westernwear set from.  I had been waiting to get my lovely red 1950s wiggle dress back from the dry cleaners.  I LOVE this dress!  It is so sexy and yet at the same time so modest (which is perfect for me!).  I think I may wear this dress out to dinner for my wedding anniversary later this month...
 

Now, back to the vintage bulk buy...Please Note: If you have problems with vintage fur, well, you probably shouldn't read this blog anyway, but definitely don't proceed any further with this post!!

WARNING: DECADENT VINTAGE FUR PICTURES BELOW

I know that not everyone agrees with wearing fur.  In fact, people can get down right nasty about it on either side of the argument!  Personally, as a farmer who has raised and helped to slaughter her own meat animals, I do not have a problem with wearing vintage fur.  I would not wear or buy new fur (though if I ever catch that family of raccoons living under my chicken coop, it's going to be a different story!).  As a serial thrifter and vintage clothing enthusiast, I see SO much vintage fur around that is lost, neglected, and unloved.  I usually end up buying the pieces, just to give them a home where they will be appreciated.  I have both helped to bring life into this world, and also to send life out of it.  I understand that there is no easy way to die, and I also understand the sacrifice.  I'm not naive.  But I think that the old furs out there should be worn and loved, instead of thrown away.  So that is my personal stance.  If you don't agree with it, don't proceed any further down the page.  Nasty comments will be deleted.

And now, my new favorite outfit!  I think I might wear this ensemble out to my wedding anniversary dinner!

This crazy vintage white fox fur piece was (and still kind of is) in very poor condition.  When I bought it (not quite realizing just how bad of shape it was in!), the pelts were almost completely dry, with TONS of shedding, and many tears.  I sent it off to a professional furrier to be cleaned and glazed (which was a bit painful to the pocketbook).  When I got it back, it was definitely softer than before, though still "shedding glamour" worse than my cat.  Definitely wouldn't wear it with a black dress!!  However, because my red dress is a smooth satin material, the fur doesn't stick to it quite as badly.  Therefore, this is my new sultry evening "go to" outfit.

The cape/wrap/stole/whatever you want to call it, is composed of two whole white foxes.  Their twin tails fall down the front, and in back of the tails are little pockets with a button closure.

Seriously, LOVE.  I know I'm a freak, but I totally adore this amazing vintage piece!  It looks like something out of a Frank Capra movie!

A Fabulous Weekend!

For pretty much the first time since 2013 began, Ryan and I managed to have a completely fun and stress-free weekend!  It was like a miracle on the farm...

We managed to be both insanely productive on our farm/garden To-Do List, yet at the same time make sure to have lots of "us" time and mini-dates.  This is a great deal more difficult than you'd think!  One of the hardest parts about being 20-something and running a full-time farm & home business is that it is incredibly difficult to find a way to balance work and pleasure.  There are months (especially in the spring, summer, and fall) where all we seem to do is work-Work-WORK, and never manage to find much time to enjoy being young and in love.  We are constantly attempting to strike a balance, and this weekend we succeeded rather spectacularly!

On Saturday, we went out on a coffee date to our favorite coffee shop - the Goodbean, in Jacksonville.  Then, my dear and patient husband let me drag him around town to all of the major thrift stores in my hunt for vintage scores.  We headed back home, changed into our grungies, and spent a few hours working on the farm, garden, or in the workshop.  Then, we did evening chores, and got changed for a fabulous night out at the Peerless Restaurant & Bar in Ashland!  I wore my "signature" look: a breathtakingly lovely 1930s black rayon crepe dress with gold sequins and peplum detail, my favorite pair of 1930s black leather heels ($28 at a local antiques store), 1960s silver fox fur convertible coat/cape by "Joseph Magnin" (gift from my grandmother), and my favorite "Jillian Garrett Original" green faux bird tilt hat.

Unfortunately, getting home late and then having to set all of our clocks forward for Daylight Savings made Sunday morning a little brutal, but we got through it!  Ryan and Grandpa did some tractor work - refilling the raised beds with fresh compost, putting the remaining finished compost on the garden, etc.  I thinned and replanted the walking onion bed, replanted my pea bed (the raccoons dug up and ate my previous planting) and covered it with chicken wire, planted more tulip bulbs, pruned the final raspberries, and rejoiced over the fact that my turnips and arugula seeds were germinating in the raised beds!

A little after the noon hour, we stopped work for the day, got cleaned up, and headed into town.  Since it was so pleasantly (and might I say unseasonably) warm out, I decided to get dressed up in my favorite red cotton vintage 1950s dress.  I also wore a necklace and earrings set that I had made myself out of vintage plastic fruit/leaf beads that I got at the thrift store for a $1 for all of them.

We hit one of the local antiques store, where I found the most wonderful 1940s straw tilt hat with crazy leatherwork detailing by "Gimbel Brothers" for $15, along with a 1940s green wool uniform (which I am told may be an old Girl Scouts uniform) for a grand total of $8.  The uniform and hat matched perfectly, so I was pretty pleased to have found an entire outfit for under $30!

Sunday Date & An Outfit

Yesterday, my husband and I decided that we needed to get out of the house and have a fun little date together!  I dragged him to the local thrift stores, and then we went antique-store-hopping.  I wore the cutest little 1950s ribbon/circle skirt that I found at a local antiques store on Saturday.  I need to take it in a bit at the waist, and the shirt I was wearing was much too large (unfortunately, I had nothing else in my closet that would work), but I liked the color combo.  I need to find a vintage sweater to match the skirt!

In any event, it was a VERY profitable day!  I found a gorgeous blue felt for my millinery endeavors at the first thrift store,  and an amazing late 1930s or early 1940s wide-brimmed vintage hat at the second!  Then, we went to one of my favorite antiques store, and I discovered this GORGEOUS vintage 1940s dress hidden in the back of the clothing rack.  It was in serious need of TLC (mostly lots of seam separation, but there were definitely a few large tears that needed fixing), but I love a challenge!  I spent about 30 minutes on Sunday afternoon repairing it, and now it is wearable again (though I may need to re-do my front tear repair...I'm not 100% happy with how that turned out).  The dress is a gorgeous blue-ish/lavender rayon crepe (I'm not good with identifying materials, but that is what I would make my guess).

Ironically, the dress and the hat go really well together!  And I purchased the AMAZING 1930s beaded Degas heels for $25 on Saturday (at the same place I bought the ribbon skirt).  They match my outfit pretty darn well!

And look at the beading on them!  If that isn't enough to give you a shoe fetish, I don't know what is...yummy...