Favorite things, jacket and coat edition!

I started out today by going into my crafting studio to get creative then I saw these pants and then this  shirt/dress across the room and something clicked.  I decided that they would go well together and put them both on.  I had this shirt/dress in my store until a few minutes ago, opps.   I had never even tried it on as it looked to small but when I saw the pieces laying together I knew I had to give it a try.  I really like the color combo.  As I was playing dress up I decided to experiment with some different coats and jackets which then led me to a moment of clarity.  It has come time for a  new "favorite things post".
It's been a really long time since I have done a "favorite things" post.  I can't believe I've never done a coats/jackets post because they are one of my favorite things to wear and I have a huge collection.  The fact that I am older than many other fashion bloggers makes me more likely to have a larger collection of vintage just because I have been collecting for much longer and have seen many trends come and go.  Yes folks, I am old.  Ha!!  Anyway I had a bit of fun today dressing up in some of my all time favorite coats and jackets some new to me and some I have had for years.  Here are my self taken shots.  I'm wearing no makeup and my hair just came out of a topknot so please excuse the sloppiness.  I hope you enjoy.  Which is your favorite?

Hat-can't remember Ross I think

Vintage 50's mustard coat-Savers with gift certificate from SFstyle ( I love the sleeves on this coat)

Vintage 60's faux snakeskin dress-Thrifted

Vintage silk leggings-Savers with gift cert from SFstyle

DKNY shoes-thrfited

Brocade Jacket-Savers with Gift Cert from SFstyle

Vintage Seal fur cape-Gift via thrift (I found for a friend then she bought it and later gave it to me)

Vintage authentic military jacket-thrifted years ago ( I love the shoulders, they are so modern, no?)

Vintage band Jacket-Gift from X boyfriend years ago

Vintage long velvet jacket-gift from friend, same as fur cape (what a great friend hu?)

Im obsessed, military edition.

Lucky for me I have always had a thing for milatary inspired looks. It all started with my ww2 green army pants in high school, I loved those things so much, they eventually became a skirt hemmed with safety pins. Damn, I should have never gotten rid of that piece. It didn't make the cut when I moved to SF from Seattle. Ever since those amazing pants that started it all I have gotten many military issued coats, a cropped one ( I used for DIY), a longer one, a parka, the great brown one and the wool cape. I love them all so much yet I seem to not wear any of them very much. I have been wearing the cape more lately. There is a problem and it is this... I have too many coats and I have a really hard time getting rid of any of them. I did a huge purge when I moved here but the coat collection has built its way back up. Maybe I need to be a coat/shoes dealer. That would help immensely.

I love this is Balmain jacket, photo from the Sartorialist

Parka, longer in back, so cute!

Super warm cape, almost too warm for Sf. It was perfect this winter in Portland.

Simple and slim

This one is seriously old, I had to replace some of the buttons, which is why they all don't match. Anyone know what/where this is from?

I cut this one up as a DIY, I made a tail with a bustle in back.

This pakistani vest is not really military but I love the rope work and mirrors, it reminds me of the first photo from Balmain. It's new and I can't wait to wear it.

I Heart Oldies!!!!

I was turned on to my favorite new blog today, Advanced style!  Its so amazing and you should go check it out right now.

Their tagline is this....

PROOF FROM THE WIZENED AND SILVER-HAIRED SET THAT PERSONAL STYLE ADVANCES WITH AGE.

I am in love!!

Favorite things vintage dresses edition (20's-50's)

I haven't done a favorite things post in a long time so I decided to show some of my huge collection  of vintage dresses.  These are some of the oldest ones I own and the most interesting.   I will do another post soon of 50's-80-s dresses, I have some great ones from those era's too.   If you are interested in more of my favorite things you can go to my archive list and check out some other fun things from my collection.  Thanks for all the great comments lately, I heart you people!  Don't forget to click on photos for more details. 

Handmade 20's silk dress with beautiful embossed silk.  This dress is immaculately made with so many wonderful details.  It's also in perfect condition.  I found this in one of the only vintage store's in my home town of Vancouver WA, I think I paid around 30$ for it. 

This dress is most likely 30's or 40's, it has snaps on the top arm area and is floor length with most of it being see thru and the rest being velvet.  Around the bottom it has these great ribbons woven in and out of the fabric, its gorgeous and I usually wear it on Halloween for some of my darker costumes.  It is in decent condition with some ripping around the bottom.  I got this for free from a guy on the street in Seattle that was selling things, he got kicked off the corner and said "every things free"  I got so many neat things that day.  What a great day!

Im thinking this dress is around 40's-50's its beautiful with the tulle over the satin underneath. It is also floor length and has some major ripping that I want to fix eventually. I found this at a city wide garage sale in Jacksonville OR for 6$

This great 50's dress was handed down to me by my grandma who wore it.  I love it because it has her essence! 

From Messy to Dressy

I decided it was time to organize my pletera of shoes.  I convinced my boyfriend to let me line up some of my boots in our extra bedroom.  I have a super small closet, so they were overflowing and I could'nt choose the right shoe because I could'nt see them or find the matching pair.  It was BAD.    Luckily I have 2 hanging bars in my closet so I can organize my clothing properly with all my vintage dresses and my designs in the back as well as things I don't wear as often.

Below are the before and after pictures.  I have to stack them up on each other becuase I have so many, but at least I know where they all are now.  I should have counted how many pairs I have. Maybe I could have a limit on how many pairs I'm allowed at one time.  Then when I buy a new pair I would have to get rid of one.  Currently I have about 15 pairs that I am getting rid of for various reasons.  I can't decide if I should just make a trip to buffalo exchange or try to sell them online.  It seems easier to just hop on down to the buffalo exchange for instant gradification.  

Before, messy!

Overflowing out of the closet

I snuck in a pic of my belts, they are finally organized

All the nice vintage ones are in the front!

Heels go on the top

Most of my black boots, some are in the back of the closet (the ones that aren't worn as often)

Other colors and shorter boots.

Nice to meet you

Hey there people!  I know who some of my readers are , friends, family and other bloggers.  I just want to extend a invitation for you to inroduce yourselfs.  I would love to meet more of my readers and get feedback from people.  I want to do some more interesting posts that are not strickly just me in outfits, how boring! 

I was really into the posts I was doing showcasing some of my colections and favorite things such as hats, jewely, shirts.....ect.  I think the next one will be shoes, I love shoes!  I also want to do more DIY posts and maybe some tutorials and video blogs. 

My mom told me once that when I was really young the first thing I would do when she brought me to anyones house was go straight to thier closet and try on the shoes, how funny.  And of corse when you are young they all kinda fit because they are all too big and you can fit into any and all shoes.   I also used to wear around my grandmothers 40's and 50's heels when I was really young.  She had super small feet, a size 5.  I remember the man who lived next door called to tell my mom I was wearing heels around the hood, like he was trying to get me in trouble.  My mom said "ya, so what"  I was a girl, what does he think.  

Anyway to make a long shoe story short, let me know if you any ideas or would like to see something special.

Thanks for being a reader of my little blog, I started doing this thing  on valentines day and I have been really enjoying it, so thanks fo reading. 

Favorite things, photo edition

I've been busy with the day job, so I thought I would post some of my favorite old pics, I guess this would be considered some of my favorite things. So for the 4th post of my favorite things, it's old photos.....HA!

Me in Sara's sunglasses for Seattle pride 06

I am wearing hand dyed vintage lingerie

photo by Ed shivley

At a dance club in seattle, I am wearing a vintage 80's dress

photo by sara

This was taken at the oregon country fair festival outside of Eugene OR.

Accidental awesome photo by me

Photo of my hand altered hippy pants and ring from Italy.

Photo by Ed Shivley, see above for link

Me in Italy 2006, very happy!

Photo by my mom

A house party in Seattle, on the back porch.

Sunset at Golden Gardens park in Seattle, my body is painted pink because I was in the solstice parade as a naked biker.

Favorite things, vintage shirt edition

Here are some of my favorite things, Im onto shirts, so I decided to do vintage shirts cause they are always my favorite.    

Vintage Butterfly shirt!

This is my all time fave, I love, love, love this shirt

More detail of the crystal and pearl neckline

60's fringe shirt, super fun!

Vintage metallic brocade

Vintage ethnic vest, love it!

My jewelry, favorite things

I got a chance today to take some shots of my jewelry.  These are some of my favorite things. Like I have mentioned before I was starting from the top (of my body)so I already did hats and now the jewelry.  I hope you enjoy looking at pic's of some pretty things.

On the left, my granny's old glasses and the right from F21.
A large mess of necklaces
Assorted earrings 
And my gorgeous new jewelry box that my sweet boyfriend got for me on my 30th birthday.