Open Tabs

My open tabs in the last week included these:

Department Stores is a fun website with lots of historical information about department stores in the US with an emphasis on the Portland, OR area.

Over on Pajiba they had one of the funniest conversations concerning dogs, vandals, spoilers and the movie Marley and Me. Be aware there are SPOILERS in the thread.


I wish I had found this Dean Martin Christmas CD before it was too late, besides the cover being super cool it has all my favorite Christmas songs done by Dean-o.

Speaking of Christmas songs, Fairytale of New York, The Pogues and the late Kirsty MacColl, still tops my list of Christmas songs.



Yes, that is Matt Dillon as the cop.

Dickipedia now has a listing for Rod Blagojevich.
"On December 9, 2008, adding dick insult to dick injury, Blagojevich was detained by the FBI and charged with conspiracy to commit fraud as well as solicitation of bribery for allegedly trying to sell president-elect Barack Obama’s vacated seat in the U.S. Senate. This happened the day before Blagojevich’s 52nd birthday. One imagines they canceled the stripper. "

What can I say? Fuck You, Penguin...."A blog where I tell cute animals what's what".

What-I-Found, a new blog from Tina who travels the country with her hubby in an RV and sells patterns with me on Mainstreet Vintage. Her new blog has oodles of vintage catalogs and vintage advertisements scans.

Hollis from Past Perfect Vintage has begun blogging about the Inauguration fashions of our former First Ladies. Great idea, great images....all I know is there is Mamie in all her pink glory and in comes Babe Paley in this.

I agree with the Sartorialist, Morris Day had a fabulous sense of style. (you have to scroll down a bit to see the post) Plus Jungle Love is one of the best songs evah!

And last but not least, Jonathan over on Kickshaw Productions has done a couple of interesting reviews on the historical accuracy of the fashions in some recent movies. Here and here.

Open Tabs

Let's see, this week Angie posted a video interview filmed at Dorothea's Closet, her vintage clothes store in Des Moines Iowa, from 512 Magazine.

Kim got a bird zombie in the the mail.

The Smoking Gun finally got a copy of that Van Halen Rider with the "NO brown M&M's".

Carol over at Dandelion Vintage is having an end of year sale.

Jodi at Couture Allure always has the most interesting links. This one is to the Morris Museum which is presenting an exhibit on outerwear; "Stepping Out in Style: Outerwear from the Past 150 Years".

The VFG Blog featured vintage jewelry this week. Look, one of my items made the cut:



Fun post about adding a bit of Burlesque to your life.

What Mamie Wore on Mrs. O.

Not Quite Nigella...Luxurious Rocky Road...heaven.

Vintage Airstream Home

I want some of these "vintage" hairpins from Cara Lyndon.
(I don't think they are really vintage, but vintage "look".)

This was a new one for me. Lotion Candles...candles that burn at a low heat and when melted you can massage the "wax" on as a skin lotion.

Open Tabs

Carol from Dandelion Vintage interviewed Marzipan Jones as she tries to live the life of a 1950s housewife. The interview is here on Vintage Bulletin.

Couture Allure reminds us that the Constantiner Collection of Photographs will be auctioned off at Christie's on Dec 16th and 17th. If you live in New York you can go see a preview from Dec. 12th - 16th.
My favorite photograph is this one of a Mainbocher Corset by Horst P. Hors:

The Vintage Fashion Guild is featuring vintage with bling this week.

Debutante Clothing on a chic Dior vintage find.

Hahahahahah, the director of Twilight (ask your kid) may have been canned because she wanted to make the movies better.

Kim is still counting off the 12 days of Christmas in her own cracktastic way.

Lizzie over on The Vintage Traveler is doing a give away! (I mention this because that creepy elf on the right makes me giddy.)

National nightmare is almost over and get over it, Obama is an American and the truth matters. Both from Deus Ex Malcontent.

Big ass pockets on Dress-A-Day.

12 "Vintage" Days of Christmas

(I'll admit to a bit of a Danny crush in days gone by...too bad he
ended up being such a douche-tool as an adult.)

Kim over at The Girl Can't Help It is doing the Twelve Days of Christmas, vintage-crack style.
Day one:

"You don't have to say it. I know this is quite possibly the lamest picture I've ever had the displeasure of finding on the internets, next in line to the nude picture of Pete "homo-erotic" Wentz that's floating around out there, but do you know that there is nothing great in vintage land to show you for neither partridges nor pear trees? (Unless you find a 1980's Avon partridge in a pear tree collectible figurine with Bonnie Belle gingerbread Lipsmacker lip gloss hidden inside a great vintage score. Then it's your lucky day and I think you may also be mentally disabled from smoking too much of the crack and I will have to say GOOD DAY SIR. (See? Christmas is such a freaking joy already! I'm already yelling at crackheads and it's only day one!)"

She is up to day 4 so far.
I gotta hand it to her, I have a hard time blogging once a week, so 12 days in a row is pretty impressive.


(No, you are right, it really does not take much to impress me.)

Word.

More pearls of wisdom from Kim over at The Girl Can't Help It...this time it is birds.

"I hate birds. They're flying disease machines with eyeball-scratchy claws and beaks of pokey torture and just the thought of them flying anywhere near my personal space is enough to make me run for the hills. If the hills were made of Xanax. Am I a mental case? Magic 8 Ball says "it is certain"! Ever notice how sometimes they're ganged up in the parking lot and when you walk past them they don't even flinch, but instead give you the "oh no you DIDN'T" look? They're up to something and probably shouldn't be trusted. Those arrogant flying jerks."

Too much Hitch?
I don't know, but some birds do seem to be up to something.
On the list of creepy things birds are below clowns and fucking dolls, but they are above squirrels and giant badgers.

No Context Needed

There is no fashion-forward or vintage-loving folks around here, no rockabilly hipster scene, no nothing. But we have hippies. Dirty, stinking college hippies. The WORST kind of hippy known to man.

and

Men should never, under any circumstances, wear sandals. This also applies to hippies and their Birkenstocks, who also should never wear them in the winter with socks. You know what? No one should wear Birkenstocks. Men's feet are the second ugliest thing on their bodies and should not, under any circumstances, be on display in open-toed footwear.

No context needed, funny no matter what.
From Kim over at The Girl Can't Help It.

How can I not LOL?

Kim, over at The Girl Can't Help It is fucking hilarious.
Not just tee hee funny, but spitting out of the nose Muhwahahahahaha, gasp, sigh kinda funny.

Case in point her post on the places she wants to visit.

Giant Things. World's largest badger in Wisconsin. That's gross, crawling out of the ground, Night of the Living Dead style...in Kimspeak that means freaking AWESOME.

She is right.
Night of The Living Dead kind of awesome.
and what would possess someone to make this? Why scare the children?

Here are a few new LOLcats.
Enjoy.

"Sisterhood of the Travelling Dress"

I have been asked numerous times why I sell vintage clothing by friends and family members who know how much work is actually involved and how little money I make. My husband is constantly trying to get me to work PT at a "real job".
This story on the Bangor Daily News which comes by way of Couture Allure
is one reason why.
It made me tear up, stories about vintage clothing and their previous owners do that to me. Vintage and Pre-1980's clothing, shoes, purses and other accessories such as
sleepwear and lingerie are links to the past. It connects us to the women
who went on before us and their daily lives.

By buying and collecting vintage you and I are preserving our history everyday.

I wonder what is the story of the dress above.
It is from Horrockses in Great Britain. Did the original owner purchase the dress on a trip to London? Maybe she was on her honeymoon? Was she a transplant from the UK who married a Yank after the war. I love thinking about how it got here to me so I in turn can pass it on.

That is why I sell and collect vintage clothing and sewing patterns.

Crocodile Tears

Lisa on Random Acts of Vintage writes about one of the dangers

of selling vintage clothing.

There is always a chance you have to part with what you love.

Like these RED FREAKING FAUX CROC 40'S PLATFORMS.

And part with them she must.

These shoes are fantastic! I have held onto them for months, just so I can look at them, because alas, they do not fit me -- but I love them, nonetheless. Screamin' 40s fashion, they are constructed of red faux reptile, and feature a slingback style with a gold colored buckle. They are marked a 6 1/2. My friend tried them on, and they fit her fine -- and she wears a 7. Imagine yourself poolside at VLV with these little babies! They are pinup-worthy, and ready to wear. Check the package for my tears, because I will surely cry when I ship them, they are so beautiful!

They are up at auction right now on eBay.

Fun Stuff and Geekdom

Over on Life of a Jersy Girl (which is the blog for Dandelion Vintage) I was reminded of my uber-geekiness. Harry Potter and the Dangerous Hallows is the totally stupid name of JK's last (weep) and probably longest Potter book.
Why uber geek?
Because I must dissect the name. Deathly Hallows. What does it mean?
My first thought was that it deals with locations. Godric's Hollow is where Harry's parents lived and died when he was an infant. Could the graveyard where they are buried
have "hallows" in its name? Deathly Hallows sounds like a wizarding graveyard. Will the final battle be fought in Godric's Hollow?
Will Snape be allowed to live?
Probably not.
Damn you JKR for your obvious Snape hate.

I was also pointed to Vintageswaps.com by DV.
How cool! I will be signing up.
I lurv to get goodies in the mail and send them.
On the Vintage Clothing board on eBay we have a Secret Santa each year.
We get the best stuff.
See what I got this year from Cim in Oregon.

Look:

A 1948 Good Housekeeping along with 2 copies of "Le Petit Echo de le Mode, Hebdomadaire" 1950 and 1949. I have no idea what they say, but there are some great fashions and I think they are, I want to say, pattern magazine/newsletter type thingee.

Ymmy candy, great soy candle, beeswax lip balm (how did you know I am obsessive about lip balm?), shea butter leamongrass lotion bar (last 3 from a friend of Cim's who makes it all), some notecards with fab shoes on them, and a vintage liquid measuring glass in french.
















Warm and soft scarf that Cim's mom made, vintage clip (yea!) earrings, vintage pin, scarves and a pretty vintage stocking/lingerie holder.

See what I mean.

I also want to point you to the website where you can buy the amazing Shea Butter Lotion Bar I got. It is GREAT. Smells wonderful and my hands love it.

Go check out Beecrowbee.