How Did I Miss This?

Today's Vintage magazine.
Online and in a hard copy delivered to your mailbox.
Cool.

Also, over on Liana's Paperdoll Blog she has created
a dress for her doll based on this 40's chiffon dress that
I could not save.
Now that is very cool.

What You Should Be Watching

Just in case you have HBO you need to spend some time watching John Adams.
Compelling, inspiring and just plain entertaining.
The cast is perfect, the acting spot on (with actual quazi-British accents and not modern American ones), the steadfast and enduring love between the Adams is apparent....throw in a few HottieMcHoties in the form of Thomas Jefferson and John Hancock and you've got damn good TV.
I'll admit I was moved to tears more then once during the first two episodes.
It is an awesome and sobering story how our country was formed and during this election cycle it would be quite beneficial to be reminded again what a gift (a flawed gift to be sure, but a gift none the less) we were given by these brave people who were willing to sacrifice fortune and life in the pursuit of liberty.
Paul Giamatti as Adams is a happy surprise and Laura Linney's Abigail is brilliant. THIS is how history should be imparted and once again HBO shows how well TV can be done.
It will be airing for the next 6 weeks.

Vintage Montgomery Ward Catalog, 1954

Look what came in the mail today.
Bought it off ebay on a whim since I have yet to find a fashion catalog in all my estate sale visits. I put it down to paper, heat, humidity, lake of AC and that most folks just do not keep catalogs.
It is the Montgomery Ward Midsummer Sales Book, 1954.
Of course there is a good amount of vintage fashions in it for the whole family, but there is furniture and appliances and bikes and pretty much anything you would find in one now.
Seriously cool.
That is the cover above and if you click on it you will get a bigger image that should allow you to read the copy.
Just an excerpt:

"You'll present a pretty picture in this graceful Princess Dress made in "Texlin," a crisp, finely woven, Rayon that is washable and resists wrinkles. The style is so young, so flattering-with its high-rise waistline, slim fitting midriff and wonderful rolled gore skirt that ripples into a smart flare. Smart stitch trim outlines empire midriff and deeply curved neckline....."

Pages 2 and 3 have more of the same great Princess cut (seamed?) dresses.

Makes me wish for an un-discovered storage room full of these dresses.
I'll post some more pics later this week!
Enjoy.

Vintage Fashion Video, 1954

Via Vidcat on YouTube.

Anthony Bourdain

Have I said that I want to have Anthony Bourdain's babies?


There is NO ONE on TV I would rather sit and eat and
drink and smoke and talk with then him.
If you are not watching No Reservations on the Travel Channel
then you should. It is about food and travel, but so, so much more.

I love a man who loves his liquor and smokes and good food.
The episode in Ireland was classic with great food, lots of Guinness
and smoking.
Plus he is not pretentious about food. A well done, home made meal
made with love is a great meal in his book.

What a man.

Vintage Eyecandy

If you love vintage clothing, especially the Diors and
Lanvins and Balenciagas then go spend some time
at BygoneFashion over on Live Journal.
Beautiful, amazing vintage fashion.
Luscious photographs.
This post of the photographs of Henry Clarke is just too divine for words.

Look at the sleeves on this Balenciaga suit.
Just brilliant.

File This Under "Dur"

The big Harry Potter news this week is that Deathly Hallows will be
split into two, yes two films.
This means lots of face time for Professor Snape...of course Rickman will be
like, what, 70?
I am doing a happy dance....even though the film will not be out until
2010.

Paper Dolls

Erin over on Dress A Day posted a link on Friday that I missed.
It was to Liana's Paperdoll Blog.
Sweet!
Liana draws dresses and whatnot for this paperdoll.
Cut them out and play.
I could waste all day print all of those out and playing.
Alas, no color ink....

On one Hand (rant about the suckiness of TV)

I can count the number of really good tv shows that I make any effort to watch on one hand:
The Wire
Battlestar Gallactica
Pushing Daisies
Dexter (on Showtime, not the water downed version being shown on network TV right now)
Lost (and "The Constant" maybe one of the single best episodes of a TV show every, I love Penny and Desmond's story, the ending made me weep.)



If Fox did not suck as a network (Arrested Development, anyone?) I would assume that Firefly would still be on my list too.
Sadly, it was gone way before it's time and there is a nice room in hell just for the Fox execs who cancelled it populated by rabid Joss Whedon fans.

Sunday night was the last episode of The Wire, which was probably the BEST TV show ever.... that you were not watching.
Why were you not watching?
To realistic, too depressing, too many black folks...don't have HBO?
Bah!
Who cares about depressing and realistic (I'll accept no HBO since until this season we have watched The Wire on DVD via Netflix) when the acting and writing rose to a level of excellence seldom seen on the boob box, except that which we get from the BBC.
All I can say is, unlike Firefly or Deadwood* (HBO co$@suckers), it was a fine ending to a fine show and I feel completely satisfied.


So now I wait for BSG (also a last season ~sob~) to show back up in April and will be on YouTube when the new season of Dr.Who starts in the UK. Lost will keep me going, but there really is not much to Tivo and I'm not even excited that some of the Network shows will be back soon.
I think I maybe going though Project Runway withdrawal......

*I wonder what it is about The Wire and Deadwood that made me love them so much. Of course the writing and acting are stellar, but there is something more. I guess it was the feeling that deep down inside I know that humans and our institutions really are that fucked up. That the only hope is what we, as individuals can do to by our actions, to pull gold out of the shit we are fed everyday.

Vintage Work Weekend (and in which I rant about getting old)

This weekend I did NOT vege out in front of the TV (ok, we did begin watching State of Play, which we had seen before on BBC America and loved and were jazzed to see is finally out on DVD and so I got a bit o' Bill Nighy time...and The Master, John Simms.) with Mr. Vintage Goddess, nor did I drive to any sales or spend the whole time playing on the net.
I worked.
I hand washed, I spot cleaned, I steamed and I took pictures of what will be going up on Damn Good Vintage in the next week or so.
I was quite the busy fucking bee...not to mention I did laundry and made chcolate strawberry muffins AND Roast BEEF with mashed taters AND gravy.
DAMN I am a goddess among housewives, fear me and love me bitches!

On the vintage front I am going to begin selling a bit of vintage jewelry.
I took some pictures (I am not happy with them) of a couple of pieces.
Yes, those a freaking bongo drums. I love 40's quirky stuff.


Cute 60's(?) multi colored pin and earrings.

I have this awesome vintage 60's lace cocktail wiggle dress, it is an XL.
This amazing Henry Rosenfeld bronze rockabilly dress. VLV?
Cute vintage pink gingham shirtwaist dress....shirtwaist dresses make me very happy.

I have to say I'm really happy with my new dress form and backgrounds, but my back is killing me today which brings me to the most important point of this post.
I hate getting old.
The older I get the more of a bitch I become BECAUSE everything fucking hurts and has begun to fail to listen to my commands.
Yes my back, which used to be cool with the extra weight and bad posture and all the crazy sitting positions, no longer is happy. It wants me to sit right, loose weight and get a new mattress.
My eyes, which have never worked properly, have decided that they do not like the bi-focals (yes, bifocals) and now require me to take my glasses off to read and the put them back on to see.
Except, get this, I forget WHERE I put the fucking things.
And lastly, when I cough, liquids seem to be leaking out of me.
WTF?
I have been coughing A LOT the last few weeks.

The worse thing is one begins to worry about their father who has had a heart attack and even though he does not need to go anywhere insists on shoveling the fucking snow off of his huge ass driveway just in case he has a heart attack and my mom needs to take him to the hospital, I guess.
When I share my concern with my mother, what does she say?
"We have an ergonomic shovel."
Seriously?

Buy a damn snow blower so I do not have to worry.
K,thx.
And he is chopping wood for his new play toy, the fireplace/Franklin stove that came with his new house. (of course I know I should be glad he feels buff enough to do all this stuff.)

Vintage is awesome in clothes, but sucks when it is a human body that is slowly decaying.

OMG! SNL

Via the guys on Project Rungay!



Now that was the perfect way to start my day.
Fierce!

House Call O' Rama

Went to a "house call" with a good friend.
It was awesome!
Lately all of the house calls for vintage 40's and 50's were actually full of late 80's and 90's clothing. I've seen some really GREAT Alfred Dunner let me tell you.
~sigh~
Not this time.
30's bias cut nightgowns and Mexican painted circle skirts and cute 50's sundresses.
The house call was my friends (it amazes me how generous she is and we have such a good time when we go hunting vintage, I can count on one hand the other vintage sellers that I think would be so kind to a competitor) so I normally pick a few things out right away and then wait till she is done picking to get anything else.
Of course you know inside I am thinking "nononono don't pick that, yessssss pass it by, good girl, move on now, nothing left to see here......leave it for me" because in the end I'm such a selfish bitch.

This time I got these saucy green suede 1940's wedge peep toe shoes. I love the little gold trim and the leaf accent on the toe box.

Fucking hot, that's what they are.
LOOK at this dress.
Look!
Atomic food novelty print.
Cocktails and B-B-Que, baby, right on your patio.
And yes, these will be on Damn Good Vintage very soon.
Be patient.

More Snow!

None all winter and now twice in one week.
I know there are those of you who have had snow since December, but I am so excited we finally have winter. Spring should be here in, oh, about one week.
The birds were crazy at the feeders.
I tried to get a few pics, but they just would not cooperate.
Little bastards.

FIERCE!!!!

That's all I have to say for now!

Snow and a Memo From A Neighbor

Well it snowed for the 1st (and probably) last time here in Central Arkansas.
Pretty in the am and gone by noon.


Last week I got this memo in my mailbox....well a few of
us did. I actually have no clue who it was from, but
I assume it is the group of morons who live up
the street who caught their pool on fire last
summer while burning trash. They have a habit
of leaving the bags just laying about until there is
a nice mountain of trash to burn on a windy day.
Brilliant, right?
I assume someone got tired of looking at it and
bitched about it to their "landlord".

Please notice the craptastic use of U in place of
the actual word "you".

I fear for all those teens out there who only seem to know
how to use netspeak as a form of written language.

I marked the letter with a red pencil, gave it a C and
mailed it back with this note:
Hiya Neighbor,
Thanks for the letter you left in my mailbox.
I have no idea what you are writing about, but have
given you a C- for spelling, the use of netspeak in a memo and a lack
of commas. Next time you might want to do a better job and
someone just might actually give a shit instead of laughing
at your note and blogging about it. By the way, it is a federal
crime to place something in a mailbox that is not actual mail.
Thanks for playing,
Your Neighborhood Blogger!

LOL Vogue

Over on Jezebel they periodically LOLcat the newest Vogue.
This is shit is gold, GOLD I tell you.
*Tard=tired...


I love the Anna Wintour fear.
BTW, is it just me or does the model in the right look to be about 12?

In Which I Seethe

This has me boiling and banging my head on the desk.
"This" being a column in this weekend's Washington Post
by Charlotte Allen titled "We Scream, We Swoon. How Dumb Can We Get?"
in regard to some woman acting like idiots over Obama.
If she had left it at that, I might be agreeing.
I'm a little annoyed at the gals who scream and act silly about Obama.
Unfortunately Allen goes on to say that all woman are the
dumber sex because some of us think Obama is hot, watch Oprah,
read chick lit and can't do math.

Seriously, you ask are you sure this is not and article from The Onion?
Yes, I would assume the gal is serious and this is the Washington Post.

Sure I think watching Oprah is dangerous, and stupid and a complete waste of time (and that one of my reservations about voting for Obama is my extreme Oprah hate and a need to make sure she does not feel more powerful then she already does) and I hate Chick Lit, but I don't think that is because women are stupid, I think it is because some women have really crappy taste.
I can't do math, not because I am a chick, but because I can't do math.
It would be just as easy to bring up all the craptastic things men do, generalize them and decide that there really is nothing more moronic on earth then a man.
If men are so smart how does one explain The Man Show and American Gladiator?

There is so much in her article to piss me off that I'll let the gals over at Jezebel and Feministing
and Firedoglake where there are tons of ~gasp~ really smart women speak for me.

I will comment on this:

So I don't understand why more women don't relax, enjoy the innate abilities most of us possess (as well as the ones fewer of us possess) and revel in the things most important to life at which nearly all of us excel: tenderness toward children and men and the weak and the ability to make a house a home. (Even I, who inherited my interior-decorating skills from my Bronx Irish paternal grandmother, whose idea of upgrading the living-room sofa was to throw a blanket over it, can make a house a home.) Then we could shriek and swoon and gossip and read chick lit to our hearts' content and not mind the fact that way down deep, we are . . . kind of dim.

Tenderness towards men?
WTF?
Maybe I'm not a chick since when I look at most men, tenderness is last emotion I feel.
Or does she mean tenderness for them because in the end they are like little kids?
Or does she...arrrggghhhh...I give up.
I think I'll go hug my washing machine and be happy to make this house a home.



EDIT: Here are a few stats about how "stupid" women are from the comments on Feministing;

"For every 100 girls who graduate from high school 96 boys graduate"

"For every 100 women who earn a bachelors degree from college 73 men earn the same degree."

"For every 100 women who earn a masters degree from college 62 men earn the same degree. "

"For every 100 women who earn a doctorate from college 92 men earn the same degree. "

(The National Center for Education Statistics)

Thriftin'

Not much in the way of garage or estate sales
lately, but I did hit one today.
Look at the cute vintage fish I got!

The little one is too sweet.

Oscar Tag...goodtimes

Jesus.
Ang over at eVintage Society's blog Vintage or Bust has
tagged me, she obviously has not noted my distaste for:
A. Inspirational Jesus Emails
B. Joke Emails
C. OK, any kind of forwarded email except LOLcats
D. "Tag Your It" blog thingees

Its blog tag time! eVintage will kick it off with some questions about the Oscar awards (fashions, not the awards themselves….who was paying attention to THAT part?)….

~sigh~ Remember, I spent the night in a haze of temperature induced hallucinations (so who knows WHAT I really saw) and various flu/cold meds.*

1) FAVORITE GOWN OF THE NIGHT & WHY?

Really, for me it was a tie between Mrs. Seal (Hedi Klum) and La Mirren (whom it can be said even my 15 year old thinks is hot)...they made the rest of the ladies look like sad little Haus Fraus.

2) WHAT ERA DO YOU THINK IT REPRESENTED BEST?
The body conscious designs of the late 50's and early 60's like those William Travilla made for Marilyn Monroe.

3) LEAST FAVORITE GOWN OF THE NIGHT & WHY?

I thought Cameron Diez (whom my kid also thinks is hot) was a hot mess. What is it with her and her "I just got in from the beach" hairstyles and makeup? Plus her dress did just not work for me and needed a good steaming.
I would add Daniel Day Lewis' wife's dress except they (as a couple) are much like Tim Burton and Helena Bonhem Carter in the wearing of the strangely goth evening wear that shows much boozums so this was par for the course for them....at least the hubby is yummy and it still is no swan dress.

4) WHAT ERA DO YOU THINK IT REPRESENTED BEST (or worst, as it were)?
The same as #2 except done wrong and it looked like it was too tight and her ass looked huge.

6) TILDA SWINTON, FASHION SCORE OR SCARE?
Score.
I really liked it, for Tilda (you have seen what she has worn before, right?) it was avant garde while still being very classic. Lux fabric, great cut....my only problem is the neckline which would look better cut bateau instead of scoop.

WHAT DID YOU EAT WHILE WATCHING THE SHOW?
7-up and crackers.

And let me just add that there is NOTHING sexier in the world then guys who bring their mom with them to an awards show instead of some starlet. Props to Colin Ferrell (even if you still looked a bit skeevy) and Javier Bardem for loving their mums.

So I will pass this bit o' torture fun on to Carol over at Jersey Girl/Dandelion Vintage.

*I'm feeling better, thankyouverymuch, and while there were a few misses on the red carpet, all in all the gowns were just lovely to behold and there was nothing truly crazy. I miss Cher and Bjork.

Obligatory Vintage Oscar Dress/Drinking Game Post

This would be my obligatory vintage Oscar dress post…..
if I was not down with The Crud.

Not the flu, but The Crud.

I feel yucky….but not OMG! Kill Me Now sick.

Just, ~meh~ I need to go back to bed and sleep.

I have done nothing for 3 days. Mr. Vintage Goddess has been a trooper. Made dinner for 3 days, cleaned the kitchen, did the laundry and cuddled with me last night when I got the chills from my temp.

That is why we get married ladies, so that someone is there a 12 midnight when you are cold or to make sure you did not fall asleep in the bath and drowned.

So here is Liz Taylor in a great dress from Edith Head in 1969. Here is a paperdoll of Liz Taylor and her hair from Fancy Ephemera:

Fancy Ephemera Paper Dolls features Brenda Sneathen Mattox's original art.
Paper Dolls include: literary heroines, royalty, Hollywood costume, classic movie stars, Victorian ladies, historical fashion, and vintage brides!

There are tons of cool links and information on her site go by and take a look around and buy some paperdolls.

I will not be taking part in the Oscar Drinking Game (which basically is a shot every time you say “OMG!”, “What was she thinking.”, “Who let her out looking like that?” and “It is called a fucking bra Gwyneth.” ) since the meds already make me feel dunk.

What I will do is begin writing down my impressions of the cracktastic Oscar fashions I see as long as I can stay awake.

Enjoy the show and I’ll get back with you later….

Please Don't Eat Jebus's Head

I've have always marveled at the crap religious stuff that is out there in "bible book stores".
It all seems slightly creepy to have Christian mints with bible passages or little Mass kits for kids to play with.

As always the folks over at Cracked.com have taken my shudder meter and made me laugh with the list is of 20 Tacky Religious Products Guaranteed to Anger God.

The list is has such gems as Grow Your Own Buddha, Teen Witch Kit and the Ten Plagues of Egypt Toy.

#14 is just wrong:

#1 is a dog nativity set:

As you're no doubt aware, the most common complaint about nativity scenes is they're too prejudiced against non humans. After all, who are the dogs supposed to pray to?

Luckily, some intrepid inventor out there took a stand and made the Dog Nativity Scene featuring Mary, Joseph, some wise men and the Messiah Himself, all as partially clothed canines. It's blaspheming fun for the whole family, assuming your family enjoys dodging angry thunderbolts and plagues.

I think eating a chocolate Jesus this Easter just might cross that "piss off God" line.
Good Times....

Yes, It is a Poddle Purse

Scans of my favorite vintage purses from my calendar for the month....so far.

Beaded Poodle Clutch, 1950
How fucking cute is this?
Comeonyouknowyouwantone!


Floral Plastic Box Baguette, Early 1950

Velvet Heart Purse, Elizabeth Arden, 1930's

Seriously, I would be happy to have any of these vintage purses to carry around.
How awesome would it have been to go out to dinner last Thursday with that 30's heart purse.

Princess Puffy Sleeves

Via Carol over at Life of a Jersey Girl.


"her dress is a hot mess"
Say what you will about him, the boy has talent.