My new (old) glasses

I am one of those people who has been dreaming of having glasses my whole life.  Until this month my eyes were never bad enough.  This being said, my eyes are still not really bad per say but they are bad enough that the insurance will pay for glasses now.  I always knew I wanted to use these frames that were my grandmothers.  So here I am new glasses and all.  I am in love with them.  These are my favorite of the two pairs that I have from my grandmother.  The other pair is smaller and pinkish/silver.  These seem to suit my face better so now I can see a tini bit better.  

Stepping back in time, a blast from the past

Here is a little peek into our spare bedroom where I do all my crafts, sewing, haircuts for friends as well as my self taken outfit pictures.  I am obsessed with vintage hats, dresses, shoes and decor.  Most of the things you see are handed down from my lovely grandparents.  By making the photos black and white, I feel like it really takes me and hopefully you back to the days of old. 

My dresser

Small pictures on the wall are both old sheet music from my Grandma H, I have so many more of these and they are all beautiful.

The larger sheet in the middle is a piece of wrapping paper that my Grandmother M had, I believe it's a reproduction from the 1980's

Large leather Suitcase-My grandfather H brought over when he came to the states in 1930's from Hungry

Vintage leather

 doctor bag-Etsy

Misc vintage hats-from Grandma H mostly

Vintage dolls-From Grandma M, who was a collector of dolls, the smallest one is from the 20's (it's a pin cushion doll from germany)  The other two are most likely 40's-50's

Beaded purses-from Grandma H

A closer view :)

Details of todays outfit

Dress-vintage

Coat-Kings Tailor Hong Kong (thrifted in small town in Oregon) I'm not sure if it is vintage but it's really well made.

Necklace-F21 (first run) these are really popular now and also smaller

Boots-Vintage from ebay, I'm in love with them

Look Magazine from 1967

I found this magazine at my local thrift a couple weeks ago. I just love vintage magazines and this one was particularly interesting. It has some really neat pictures of some psychedelic face and body paint, that I believe I have seen before. I got super giddy when I spotted it. There is also a lot about the Vietnam war which is such a historic nightmare. Two of my uncles were in that war and one died (years after the war) because of complications from toxic chemicals he had been exposed to. The other also died of cancer years later, which most likely was due to the same problem although never confirmed. I hope you will enjoy these historic photos as much as I do!

I want to thanks you all for your lovely comments lately. I have been blogging for quite a while now and it took so long to get feedback from readers. I love reading all the kind words you have to share. If you have any questions you would like me to answer please leave a comment and I will try to answer them all.

The gorgeous cover that drew me in!

The article about painting your face! Doesn't the lower blond look like lady Gaga? I also think the brunette in the picture below this one looks like Minnie Driver.

I love the caption of this photo, it reads "The blond hair and the frekles suggest typical california surfer. The beads are hippie. She is neither."

Some of the photos got cut off, the title in full reads "What we can do to end the agony of Vietnam"

These could be my uncles, RIP Butch and Roger

schauplatz vintage

This cute little vintage store is about 3 blocks from my house. They have a great selection of vintage clothing from many eras. I found many things I wanted, but didn't buy anything. It was a rare moment of a non-shopping mood. My friend did buy a couple things that she was really excited about. The guy working, not sure if he was the owner but he was very handsome and friendly.

This is a skirt my friend tried on.

View from the front door

This coat was hanging up really high and I was admiring it, the guy took it down for me to try on. It had to have weighed about 15 lbs, it was crazy. It's gorgeous but made me look like I was about 200 lbs. It think it will be perfect for a drag queen.

Outfit for a failed excursion

I was getting ready for work, when I got a call that my only client for today had canceled. Her son is sick. This is what I was going to wear to work, but I am no back in my cozies becuase it is freezing here. If I go out today I will most likely wear jeans so I can stay warm.

I am wearing

Coat-vintage, thrifted I was selling in my store but I decided to keep it for a while.

Dress-Ross

Belt-Etsy, vintage

Leggings-Burlington

Boots-thrifted and new

I have been loving all the nudes and peachy tones lately. This dress was a great find at Ross yesterday, it was only 8.50$. I also got some super cute new flats and some light baggy jeans with holes already in them. I only spent 40$. Gotta love Ross! Let me see here, this whole outfit cost.....jacket 8$, Dress8.50$, Belt 30$, Shoes 8$, Leggings 8$ 62.50! Pretty great!

Sailing Away

I decided today was the right time to work on this skirt. I love the print and have been wanting to shorten it for a while now. It was a lucky find at a ongoing garage sale on Vashon Island, WA. The people who lived there had purchased a lot of stuff that was from abandoned storage units. Let me tell you, they had the most amazing stuff and it was really cheap. There was so much stuff that they were just trying to get rid of it, especially the clothing as it had rained and some things had gotten a bit damp. I purchased a bunch of other things that day as well, all amazing. The reason I havn't worked on this skirt was because I was still trying to figure out the best way to do it. I think the method I came up with worked perfectly. First I cut the skirt off the band, leaving about a 1/2 inch below the band. Then I Sewed it back on the fabric below the band making sure to only use the same length it was connected to originally. Lastly I ironed it down and wallah, perfect. The shirt I am wearing is also a creation of mine. It's actually a dress that I am wearing as a shirt. I made it out of thrifted, vintage fabric I got in Seattle at my favorite thrift store that is sadly gone now. I also made the necklace I am wearing today! I love it when things I make seem to all match each other.

The details-

Shirt/dress-Pretty Pirate Designs

Skirt-vintage DIY shortened

Belt-Vintage thrifted (leather with stamps and beautiful buckle)

Rings-Shell ring (arkay workshop) Large silver ring-Multi Culti

Necklace-Pretty Pirate Designs

Earings-Old can't remember

Bracelet/chocker-Mom's from the 70's (made by KIM)

Shoes-Rampage from Ross

New dress, DIY

I've had this vintage fabric for a long while now, I got it in Seattle at a thrift store, when I used to live there. I love the colors and the simple florals. I finally got around to making it into a dress today. YEA!! I love it. I was really wanting to wear something just like this tonight so I just whipped it up real fast. It only took about a hour, it's a simple 2 piece design/pattern that I created.

Dress-Pretty Pirate Designs

Shoes-Burlington coat factory

Belt-vintage and thrifted

This would have been a perfect 4th of July dress

My pictures are a little blurry today, maybe I'm shaky from the coffee I just had. I have been drinking it black which is a whole new experience. I am usually a cream and sugar gal. This dress is one I made a couple years ago. I think I am going to make another dress today, I have this great vintage black/floral print that has been laying around far too long. I'll post pics later if I get around to making it.

I'm wearing

Dress-made by me (Pretty Pirate Designs) out of thrifted (in Seattle), vintage fabric

Necklace-Thrifted then altered

Shoes-Thrifted (I love the little rhinestones)

Bracelets-Thrifted over time

Summer of love!

Here are my new, gently used Hudson Jeans that I scored at crossroads for free! I exchanged some clothing that I don't wear or that I have decided is not as flattering as it could be. I am in the midst of cutting down my wardrobe to things I really LOVE! This process has just begun and I plan on having a clothing swap soon, to get rid of things and hang out with lots of pretty ladies.

This shirt was a dress that I thrifted, it was already cut and so I just hemmed it on the bottom so it was more clean. I also shirred up the top under the bust today to give it a more fitted look. I like how it turned out. The fabric is so pretty, I love the colors.

Details-

Hair-braided on both sides

Vintage dress/shirt-Thrifted and altered

Jeans-Hudson (crossroads)

Shoes-from Bali (purchased at a street fair in seattle years ago)

Necklace-thrifted in seattle years ago (one of my faves)

Earings-Purchased in Italy in 06

See you at the crossroads

I went to crossroads again this week. I love exchanging clothing I don't wear anymore and getting new stuff. I took a bag in and they took everything except 2 things. In addition to these items, minus the last black dress which I got at a vintage store, I got a awesome pair of Hudson jeans that fit like a dream. I spent a total of 6$ at cross roads and 18$ on the vintage ethnic dress which I had to alter just a bit on top (took in the sides a couple inches on each side). I'll show the jeans soon. Im wearing them right now with a cool vintage dress DIY, you will see in the next post.

Details of clothing

White blouse-f21 and so pretty

Black/white dress-not sure what brand but awesome for summer

Blue/cream dress-Dress up NWT very 40's looking, fits perfect

Black ethnic dress-Clothing by the pound on Valencia (LOVE it)

My cute grandpa!

My mom just sent this cute picture of my grandpa to me via Email. He was a hard worker who worked up until he passed away a few years ago. He was also really funny and had jokes that he would tell, most of them regulars that many of his friends and family had all heard at one time or another. I have a few pieces of his clothing that are pretty neat. One being a old cop shirt from when he was a volunteer police officer, the cool thing is that he was always a thin man, it fits nice and snug. I also have a great old plaid wool coat that is almost too warm for california, but I love it. My favorite piece is this great black vest with threads of silver and gold, I'm pretty sure my grandma made it for him. She was a seamstress and made lots of the clothing that the whole family of 8 kids and her husband wore.

Fashionable era, the 60's hippies

I'm a huge fan of the hippie fashion from the sixties. Many aspects of the trends are found back in the day. Fringe, native american, ethnic, cut off shorts, head bands and natural long hair are all popular now. I am getting really sick of studs and the punk rock esthetic. I'm going to revive the 60's vibe in my day to day dressing. I'm sporting a very 60's look tonight to go see Devendra Banhart. I'tt try to get a outfit shot to share tomorrow.

One of my fave bands ever, Led zepplin

Hot hippie ladies

Jimmy had the most amazing clothing, I got to see some of it at the E.M.P in Seattle.

Janis rocking the 60's

Touristing in my own city

We had a nice city adventure today.  It's funny after living here almost 2 years I had yet to see many popular tourist destinations.  We went to Coit tower and took some photos from the top then headed over to Marin for some amazing Italian food.  Somewhere along the way we ended up at the George Lucas campus and saw some super dork statues.  It was a fun day!

Im wearing

Tank-F21

Blazer-thrifted, can't read the brand

Skirt-80's vintage thrifted and altered (shortened)

Boots-Blowfish

Purse-Marshals, DIY studs

Glasses-corner store

DIY Fur scarf

As I was sitting around today waiting to go to work, I decided to look for a project.  I started going through my many drawers of fabric and discovered a forgotten gem.  This fur was from a stash of vintage fabrics that I inherited from my grandmother who was a seamstress beginning at age 3.  It's real fur and is also older than I am.  I would never buy new fur, but if it's vintage there is nothing I can do about it other than try to honor it by making it useful.   It was originally 2 separate pieces (most likely from a old coat) that I sewed together.  I then added the nice soft fabric on the other side as a liner.  I like how it turned out.  Now if it would just get cold enough to wear it here, the weather has turned into summer around here.  It's nice that it's warm, but I was enjoying the layering.