You probably remember this skirt from my Modern Vintage post where I waxed poetic about how this skirt was probably inspired by someone’s grandmother’s couch.  I think it’s probably one of my favorite weird wardrobe staples and readers agreed – strange in a very cool way.   Primary paisley brocade with oversize gold buttons.

I wore this outfit all day, just like this – though the hat was an outside-only deal because I know people in the office would totally make fun of me.  Jerks.  It’s a sorry scenario when the only way you can get your rocks off at work is to wear goofy shit and pretend you’re secretly a Russian Spy in a vintage fox Ushanka.  They wouldn’t know style if it kicked them in the kneecaps.

It’s not really a vintage Ushanka – I wish!  But it is vintage, and it came from Dana at Sustalux (who loves me).  It’s currently my favorite accessory.

Showing off my shoes…  Miz Mooz… And I’ve been living in this coat.  It’s light enough to wear indoors without being overly warm.  It’ll be perfect for spring.

I’m wearing:

• Envelope collar asymmetrical walking coat from All Saints
• Vintage paisley brocade skirt
• Black boatneck sweater
• Charcoal trouser socks from sockdreams
• Miz Mooz Symphony heel
• AMAZING hat from Sustalux!
• Black glasses – BCBG

If you had only one ridiculous accessory in your wardrobe rotation, what would it be? I think you know what I’d pick!

So I made this treasury (click the pic to go to the Treasury Page…)

Relentless Caper - Etsy Treasury

Inspired by this:

Legend, by Harold Hart Crane

I’m surrounded by the lore of all things old – the calling of dusty books and antiquities.  Today’s inspiration is brought to you by that, and the letter B.

I had a date with Mr to the Seattle Art Museum to see the Picasso exhibit.  We had our evening planned, complete with delicious sushi and a night à la musée.  Of course, I dressed up a little, because I got this amaaazing fox hat from Sustalux and needed somewhere to wear it.

Foxy!

I know, you’re probably thinking “EW! FUR” and I think  it’s okay because this hat is 50+ (?) years old (the interior lining is very 60′s).  I think this piece tells  a story of style in an era long gone – defining luxury in a way so vastly different from how we define luxury now.  And though we’re so much more conscious about our environment, the luxury of fur still is carried over into today.  It’s so anti-the-way-the-world-is now, yet we still have this antiquated statement of personal status in our present society.  It’s a luxury that’s even been mimicked through synthetic-materials, and the fashion world continually vocalizes on this ever-present trend – for fur or not for fur (let alone faux fur and issues of environmental damage and sustainability).  I think this hat tells a story… And before I wax too poetic, here’s the rest of the outfit:

Pictured in:

• Fox hat from Sustalux
• Black scoop tee from Spun
• Blue wool pencil skirt from Deco Modiste
• Gray herringbone tights from Gap
• Blue J Shoes Spring oxfords from Planet Shoes
• Art Deco style Earrings from Mosey Dog
• Blue lace overlay clutch from Torkiska Bags
• Black geometric Paloma Picasso bangle from Tiffanys (A birthday gift from Mr!)
• Black and silver wide belt from Charlotte Russe

And a close up of the shoes…

We arrived at the museum to an enormous crowd, stood in line for 10 minutes, and were told that the exhibit was sold out until almost midnight.  Super Bummer.  We weren’t going to wait 5 hours to get into the exhibit so we marched across the street to our dinner date where we gorged ourselves on sushi and tried to decide what to do next.

I sighed over my sake and mused how fantastic it would be if there was something fun happening at Benaroya Hall that night.  Mister lit up and mentioned that they usually have Thursday concerts.  A quick check on my phone, and a mad dash placed us front and center in the auditorium to hear Gil Shaham play a Bartók piece on the 1699 Comtesse de Polignac Stradivarius.

It was like some magnificent joke – turned away from the SAM (the guy didn’t even offer tickets to view the rest of the galleries, which were free that night – what the hell?!) we ended up listening to a violin virtuoso play an instrument a) made for the Countess who was favored by Marie Antoinette, b) made 300-something years ago by Antonio Stradivari, and c) that is worth more money than I can imagine seeing in my lifetime.  The violin came from Stradivari’s “long period” where he changed the shape of the instrument by lengthening it without changing the sound, making that instrument even more valuable than other Stradivari.  And the Bartók wasn’t bad either!

While we were out, I garnered polite stares, several compliments and strange looks.  It was exciting.  And warm.  And the hat sheds like you wouldn’t believe, but it’s beautiful and maybe a little magic?  Cos really, our adventure was a little magic – like some cosmic goof up that turned out in the best way possible!

If you look hard, you can find some great new-old pieces and gorgeous vintage gifts for you and yours – LUXoutlet on Etsy is one of those places. They have some fabulous finds for the vintage lover, or that girl who sometimes secretly shops for herself during the holidays.

On My Wishlist:

Images courtesy of LUXoutlet

1. RESERVED for etsuneko Vtg Guilded Scarlet Letter Bag by LUXoutlet
2. VINTAGE 50s 60s RARE WHITE Mother of Pearl Sunnies by LUXoutlet
3. VINTAGE Frye Western women’s boots size 95 by LUXoutlet on Etsy
4. Vintage Metallic Cherry Box frame Bag by LUXoutlet on Etsy

Vintage sunnies never go out of style, and what girl doesn’t want a gorgeous, luxurious designer leather wallet?

LUXoutlet isn’t just another Etsy vintage seller – it is the result of a life-long reverance for fashion & it’s makers, a shopping addiction, and the joy that floods a room when someone finds their new favorite piece. They focus on vintage because they’ve found a quality and authenticity in each piece that you can’t often find these days. Their pieces come from an era when each piece was envisioned and constructed by the designers themselves along with a team of patternmakers and seamstresses – not like the machine-made designer apparel of today. At LUXoutlet, they have a tremendous respect for their work and take great pleasure in sharing their visions of the past with the fashionably concious of today.

Dana, from LUXoutlet treasure hunts night and day for the *special* pieces that clients and customers can’t live without. It’s a labor of love; just to bring you the best of past and present. She’s more concerned about the quality of the garments than their labels. LUXoutlet offers high-quality, stylish pieces from any era, that are functional and wearable today.

For Cyber Monday, Dana at LUXoutlet is offering 15% off to all clients ~ this sale runs through the week!

Also if you’re in Seattle, come down to the Closet Candy sale.

The lighting was a little dodgy – we had one light and my flash.

And then we started mixing-and-matching… a little DM here, a little Sustalux there (you’ve already seen this photo and I’m reposting because I love it so much…).

And then we just ended up playing around in all the vintage goodies…

I know I should be like “OMG FUR?!?! NOOOOOO!”  Except that didn’t happen at all.  It’s all vintage and we couldn’t have prevented the animals from dying/becoming wearable, so we decided to make photographic use of fur that’s been around since long before we were even a twinkle in our mamas’ eyes…  Truly, buying fake fur is bad for the environment, right?  Buying new fur is unethical.  But recycling vintage fur (by donating for like Coats for Cubs/Wildlife Rehabilitation) seems a little… oh… Soylent-Green-creepy to me – moreso than me parading around in it for a photo or two.   Quelle conundrum, eh?  But I’m rambling…

All in all, a hilariously fun day where I came home with a cute vintage dress (more on that soon) and a CF card full of photos.  Till next time!

Today, in the spirit of creativity, we at Deco Modiste, are looking back on those women who had to creatively endure in times of Depression, Recession, and Rations: In the 40’s when materials like silk were rationed for WWII, women had to selectively choose what they could afford to wear based on War Ration Coupon Books like this:

As Pauline Weston Thomas writes at www.fashion-era.com :

This meant that women were forced to wear clothes that they had in their wardrobes before the [1941] announcement [of rationing clothing], adding items only as if essential. The coupons were also reduced as the war progressed. Mid war they fell to 48 a year and by 1945 clothing coupons were as low as 36 a year. The scheme continued to issue coupons until 1949 with all forms of rationing ended in 1952.

One aspect that never seems to be much accounted for is the fact that even with the coupons some women and families were simply too poor to buy new clothes at all. To some having the coupons made no difference as money was still needed to pay for the goods.

–

Imagine you’re living in wartime Europe, and you’ve been given a coupon book that rations not only your groceries and household items, but your clothing as well.

Head on over to Deco Modiste to read the full post, and tell us: what would you buy, if you only had so many rationed items for the next season, or the next year?

One of the better resources I had was this link to VintageHairstyling.com, who has a GREAT book on vintage styling.  In fact, Polly Wood from Sinner Saint Burlesque turned me on to it, and if Burlesque girls love it, you know it’s gotta be good.

I busted out all the bobby pins I own and got to work.  My hair was clean and dry, so I used a damp cloth to wet down the strands to be curled.  I made little tiny curls, which I rolled around my index finger, being careful not to twist them as I rolled.  The small curls seemed like extra unnecessary work in retrospect – the bigger curls make bigger fun waves.  When the hair was fully coiled, I pinned them down using a combination of U-pins and bobby pins, crossing the pins in an x over the center of the curl.

Blur-tastic!

I did the area around my face in an attempt to do waves, and around the crown so I’d have something to hide all the hair I was too lazy to curl…

More progress.... it took ages, for a first try!

When I was finished curling and pinning, I put a scarf over my head and went about my business till they were dry.  Then I pulled them out:

Here's what they looked like -   Boingy!

It had crossed my mind that this could end horribly for my ‘do that night, since I was using an event that night as an excuse to pin up my hair.  When I pulled the curls out, I immediately thought “EEP!” because they were so springy – I had to find a way to tame the curls around my face.  I pulled the back up into a twist, and then brushed the curls into semi-waves, pulling them back and pinning at the crown.  I left curly bits hanging down over the top of the twist to camouflage it, and the end result looked like this:

Not bad, eh?  It’s not *really* that retro, but it did look pretty amazing.  This is when I realized that I should have done bigger curls up front, like Miss Morgie’s  (courtesy of Rita Sue: Vintage Inspiration).  The bigger curls do create fantastic waves – and look much easier than fingerwaves  (also courtesy of Rita Sue).

Here's the outfit I wore....

I felt sort of retro after slapping on a little red lipstick and a pair of big old eyelashes.  I was excited to accentuate the outfit with a tatted bracelet from TotusMel and the DIY shoes from this project.  It was the perfect outfit for taking photos at Scarlet Room’s Triple Door show.

Have you ever tried retro hairstyles?  Do you have tips for a girl looking to do the same?

(Photo courtesy of Kerry Thalmann, who maintains a great webpage for large format fans)

It’s a large format camera; the film cells are generally 4″ x 5″ or larger.  This week, I learned the process behind using one of these cameras, and the detail in lighting that goes into taking 1930′s Hollywood -style portraits.  Think Clara Bow:

Taking this style photo is a complex process – since black and white is all about values, there are certain tricks to lighting these portraits so as not to have “hot spots” (see that blown out white on top of her head?), and that are lit well enough to show the detail and depth of each photo.  Using this photo as our model, I sat for a good 15-20 minutes, in approximately this pose, while Kirk and I tried to guess the best light position.

Kirk took a bunch of test shots with the Nikon to try to figure out lighting and position, and then it was time to shoot with the big camera.  The process takes ages, but it’s a lot of fun.  You open the shutter and focus the lens using knobs underneath the body.  This can be tricky, since when you’re looking at the image, it appears both backwards and upside-down on the screen.   We used a magnifier to focus in on the subject’s eye, then hit the trigger to close the lens.  The film cells come in large cartridges that are loaded into the back of the camera body while the shutter is closed.  There’s a screen in front of the film that keeps the film from exposing – this gets pulled out and the shutter is snapped to make an impression on the film.  The screen is pushed back into the cartridge and the cartridge slides back out – the image imprinted onto the film inside.

The model needs to stay very still for this methodical process – which seems to take forever under the hot lights.  During the sitting Kirk mentioned that when you see these portraits, the models are often leaning against something or seated – holding the same pose for so long can be pretty tiring.

Our results looked like this:

(Kirk says: “4×5 Shanghai iso 100 shot at 200, developed in Diafine.”)

The image is amazing with impressive detail – you can see the outline of my irises on even this small image.

Kirk had two cameras we played with – one mounted large format, and one hand-held large format camera, so I tried my hand at using the hand-held version, only to realize they weigh, like, 10 lbs.  My skinny little arms wouldn’t be able to hold it up long enough for the proper exposure (without shaking) so we set it on a tripod and I took this photo:

(Kirk’s Street Glide)

It’s a little over-exposed up at the top, but it’s one of my first big film shots.  Whaddaya think?