My New Sofa

I picked up this vintage green MCM naugahyde sofa
the other day when I got all those great shoes.
(Ignore the ugly carpet, I pretend it does not exist.)
$50, it was a deal and almost what I have been
looking for. My dad said "looks like a $50 sofa".......
It is the most comfy sofa I have ever had.
That round pillow came with it.
Sweet.
So happy.

Vintage Shoe Orgy
Hot shoes, bad pictures.
Went on a buy last week.
Got lots 'o shoes.

Couple pair of Spring-O-Lators, some Delisio Debs......

All are sling back stilletos.

requiem in pace

06/02/07 Crouch, William J. DoD Confirmation

06/02/07 Catalan, Romel DoD Confirmation

06/01/07 Horner, Bruce E. DoD Confirmation

05/31/07 Domino, Chadrick O. DoD Confirmation

05/31/07 Baylis, Matthew E. DoD Confirmation

05/31/07 Bean, Matthew A. DoD Confirmation

05/30/07 Cuellar, Bacilio E. DoD Confirmation

05/30/07 Moore, Joshua M. DoD Confirmation

05/30/07 Lundin, James E. DoD Confirmation

05/29/07 White, Doonewey DoD Confirmation

05/29/07 Liggett, Robert A. DoD Confirmation

05/29/07 Correa, Richard V. DoD Confirmation

05/29/07 Weiglein, Joseph M. DoD Confirmation

05/29/07 Markham, Jonathan A.DoD Confirmation

05/28/07 West, Kile G. DoD Confirmation

05/28/07 Ewing, Anthony D. DoD Confirmation

05/28/07 Baker, Zachary D. DoD Confirmation

05/28/07 James E. Summers, III DoD Confirmation

05/28/07 Alexeev, Alexandre A. DoD Confirmation

05/28/07 Sanchez, Junior Cedeno DoD Confirmation

05/28/07 Church, Theodore U. DoD Confirmation

05/28/07 Heidtman, Keith N. DoD Confirmation

05/28/07 McFall, Thomas M. DoD Confirmation

05/27/07 Villarreal, Emmanuel DoD Confirmation

05/26/07 Hester, Charles B. DoD Confirmation

05/26/07 Smallwood, Erich S. DoD Confirmation

05/26/07 Trussel Jr., Francis M. DoD Confirmation

05/26/07 Blodgett, Clinton C. DoD Confirmation

05/26/07 Bailey III, William Lee DoD Confirmation

05/26/07 Dunn II, Clayton G. DoD Confirmation

05/26/07 Jaurigue, Michael J. DoD Confirmation

05/26/07 Millard, Gregory N. DoD Confirmation

05/26/07 Walsh, Nicholas R. DoD Confirmation

05/25/07 LaForest, Mathew P. DoD Confirmation

05/25/07 Rosa Jr., Alexander DoD Confirmation

05/25/07 Lindsey, David Paul DoD Confirmation

05/24/07 Caguioa, Mark R. C.

Vintage Video







Over on The Vintage Fashion Guild's Blog we are directed to
VIDCAT:Fashion Media Archives, a wonderful website FULL
of fashion videos. Fashion shows and newsreels from the 50's
and 60's are available for you to view.
Be warned I spent a few hours over there.

requiem in pace

LaForest, Mathew P.

Zylman, Casey P.

Ashley, Benjamin J.

Dembowski, Robert H.

Uruo, Iosiwo

Pulido, Victor H. Toledo

Winterbottom, Jonathan D.

Shoemaker, Russell K.

Dunham, Robert E.

Anzack Jr., Joseph J.

Cagle, Daniel P.

Higdon, Kristopher A.

Worthington, Robert A.

Kuehl, David C.

Montgomery Jr., Robert J.

Sauceda Jr., Oscar

Butcher Jr., Steve

Desilets, Benjamin D.

Woodall, Julian M.

Weaver, Shannon V.

Ardron, Brian D.

Davis, Michael W.

Wisniewski, Justin D.

Moore, Christopher

Medlin, Jean P.

Behrle, David W.

Gilmore, Joseph A.

Varela, Alexander R.

Haslip, Travis F.

Schumann, Jason A.

Collins, Ryan D.

Baum, Ryan J.

McCants, Marquis J.

Brown, Scott J.

Nash, Casey W.

LOST

DUDE!
OMG!!!!!!!!
and squee...
Jack, I hate you so much, but even I felt sorry for you at the end....though I did wish John had just shot you right between the eyes.


WHAT a way for a show to come back. Before last night I was really getting all "Jesus, get on with it" and thinking I might give up on the show....except no one on tv is as hot as Sawyer.
Now I can't wait for next season almost as much as I can't wait for Battlestar* to come back in FUCKING January.
Much Love to you Lost.


*BEST show on TV, if you are not watching it you should be.

SAVE GAS













Just a reminder to SAVE GAS and
shop online. Your favorite vintage
seller will love you for it and so will
the environment!

requiem in pace







Wright, Thomas G.
Walker, Jeffrey D.
Packer, Steven M.
Gautier, Aaron D.
Hamm, Jonathan V.
Martinez, III, Anselmo
Romero, Joshua

New Vintage Patterns at Sew-Retro

So I'm listing new vintage patterns at Sew-Retro as a way to get over my sadness that no one ever offers to sell me a box 300 vintage patterns (you know who you are) or heck just gives the damn things to me.
Where are my FREE 30's and 40's patterns?
Where I ask you.....
Yes I am bitter, why do you ask?

I do have some nice ones:


So 80's it scares me.

Pretty 30's Frock


This 30's ensemble came with a "free" Vogue Cape pattern
inside that I'm going to include cause I'm so wonderful.

40's Swing Dress Pattern


I really love this "Sabrina" dress that I have had a few times.



When did women stop wearing long skirts
in the evening? Very Pretty.

So that is my shameless self promotion for the next week or so.
Carry on.

requiem in pace

Hartge, Nicholas

Self, John T.

Bacevich, Andrew J.

Klasno, Rhys W.

Murphy, Christopher E

Connell Jr., James David

Happy Mother's Day to Me!!!!!





The PURSE has been discussed below.
The PURSE now belongs to ME!
The PURSE is FAB and so over-the-top in a "skinny rich woman with a great big head" kinda way that I will love it forever!





















The PURSE has bunny studs......
















and the PURSE has poodle studs....








and the purse came with a creepy lamb pin!
I am satisfied. and now I can tell you where it has been hiding low these last few weeks.
It was at Dorothea's Closet's real brick and mortar shop in Des Moines, Iowa.
Ya'll need to go buy some good shit from her now.
OK?

You know, I'd like to make this blog just about vintage clothes.
I'd like to just discuss fun stuff....lots of people do.
I'd like to not piss off potential customers.
Really I would.

But I just can't.
Everyday, in my name as an American citizen, more people die.
Solders die.
Civilians die.

And everyday the Bush administration sounds more and more like the Johnson administration during Vietnam.
They are lying to us and they are wrapping the American people in the flag and patriotism and "supporting the troops" that we will not see what a mess Iraq has become.
The press is complicit in this.
Where is the nightly body count? (for those too young I can remember watching it go up on the nightly news as a child during Vietnam.)
Where are the pictures of the flag draped coffins? (who cares what the Bush administration says. Only by showing their sacrifice to we actually honor and support our troops.)
Where is the outrage that the lives given are not being acknowledged or honored.

So from now on, amongst the fun stuff and the great vintage I'll be including the casualty count for both the military and civilians at the top of the page in the right hand corner.

• American Military Casualties in Iraq: 3,387 as of 5/10/07

• Civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq: 63,373 min.

I'll try to honor the fallen by at least making sure we know their names each week.

In WW2 the sacrifice was spread all around. Rationing, even in fashion, was an everyday sacrifice made by everyone. Now there are huge sacrifices being made by just a few while the rest of us go on as before. War is not fun and it is time that we Americans stop and think about what is being done in our names.

I hope this will not make me loose any customers, but if it does so be it, it is the least I can sacrifice for the sacrifice they have made.

Why I'm Broke









All last week I was buying vintage clothes from one of the BEST estate sales I have ever been to.
Tons of lovely vintage all in this small bedroom.
It was like walking into a vintage boutique except the clothes were all the same size.
Some of it needs work, but here are a few items that are going up in my store, Damn Good Vintage, this week.



A NOS Van Raalte Nightgown:












This snazzy 40's Linen Jacket:












A sexy Floral Silk Cocktail Dress with a Twist Bodice:












and this cool Pinup Tiki shirt:












I also got the most amazing 30's patchwork housedress frock that I have not gotten pictures of yet.

Vintage Shoe Porn

Go check out this animated homage to Salvatore Ferragamo.
Amazing!






Picture; "orthopedic wedge" 1935, Ferragamo

They Let Me In

I can't believe I forgot to mention that I am now a member of The Vintage Fashion Guild.











How cool is that?

Dude, the Republicans in Utah are NUTS

Not just nuts, but batshit crazy.

Don Larsen, chairman of legislative District 65 for the Utah County Republican Party, had submitted a resolution warning that Satan's minions want to eliminate national borders and do away with sovereignty.

In a speech at the convention, Larsen told those gathered that illegal immigrants "hate American people" and "are determined to destroy this country, and there is nothing they won't do."

Illegal aliens are in control of the media, and working in tandem with Democrats, are trying to "destroy Christian America" and replace it with "a godless new world order -- and that is not extremism, that is fact," Larsen said.

It must be some fun to live in Utah.
The whole story can be found here.

Personally I think my cat Nico is one of Satan's Minions....

Everyone Needs Bunnies and Poodles

So, I am not into cute.
Normally.
And though I like purses and have a nice little collection of vintage ones, I usually like to buy very utilitarian black bags with no style for my everyday use.
That is why it is so strange that I am actually dying to own this purse:













Not only that, I am thinking about spending money I DON'T HAVE on a damn purse.
I'm sure the purse snobs out that are all "what? it is not a Fendi or Gucci?"
Or whatever is the cool purses now.
Who cares? Do you see those gold rivets?













Bunnies and freaking poodles!
Bunnies and poodles on a great navy leather satchel bag.












I'm dying.
I refuse to tell you who has it or what vintage shop in Iowa it might be residing in.
Not.
A.
Word.

There Might Be Patterns

The other day I got a call from my friend who has a brick and mortar Vintage shop here in town.
She was going on a "house call" to a home where a woman had passed, her brother was trying to clean the place out to sell while caring for his elderly Brother-In-Law.
"There might be Patterns" she said.













So of course I said "yes"!
The deal is that she gets most of the clothes on these trecks, but she does share the pickings with me nicely and I get first pick on the patterns and sewing notions.
The gentleman's sister was a compulsive shopper.
Lots o' clothes that had NEVER been worn, I got a few items.
Not only was she a compulsive clothes shopper, she also was a compulsive pattern one. She saved everything from about the time she moved into the house in 79'. If only she had never moved. Who knows what we would have found.













And she bought almost ONLY Vogue.
And she did not use them.
AND she remembered to get the tags!
So there were about 300 patterns.
A number were too new, some had been used and the patterns just balled up and put back in the envelope (I weep at the loss of a Pucci and a YSL Russian) and they could not be saved.
In the end I have about 100 large format Vogues (Vogue Paris Original and the like) most uncut and with tags from the 60's-to late 70's along with about another 80 or so small vogue and other maker patterns.
Lots of Dior, Lanvin, Molyneux and more.













I've started listing them at Sew-Retro Vintage Patterns.
Stop by and take a look.

I Love The Pope

I love his red shoes, I love his cool hats, I love that has name is actually Ratzinger, I love that he was head of the Office of the Inquisition (how cool is that?), I loved Cardianl Ratzinger so much that I have a coffe mug that says:
The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club "putting the smackdown on heresy since 1981."
I love bizarre "Pope Facts".




I'm a good Catholic...luckily I have a sense of humor since I just read this over at mimi smartypants:

DISAPPOINTING TESTICLE RESEARCH

I recently read a book about transgendered teenagers on the West Coast, and one of the chapters gives some superficial background on transgender history, mentioning the "Pope Joan" myth specifically. It also states as fact that Popes used to sit on an open-seated chair during their elevation while a cardinal felt around for testicles. You do not know how sad it makes me that this is probably not true. However, in the course of my fact-finding I did learn that the Camerlengo used to have to job of hitting a dead Pope in the head with a special ceremonial hammer. Which is so awesome it almost makes up for the lack of papal ball-handling.

Reading that gave me one of those "laughing without making noise" moments where you can't catch your breath and tears are running down your face.

(I guess I could have said ROTFL and LOL, but except for OMG! I really don't get into netspeak and I'm over 25.)

*
An OPEN LETTER
Dear Ebay Seller:
I'm a great buyer. I pay right away, leave gushing feedback and am not hyper picky so will not freak if you missed a flaw and demand a partial refund. Unfortunately I did not bid or did not win your item for the reasons below;





Seller #1:
That is a lovely set of 40's PJs you have there.
I would LOVE to buy them except I can't.
Why? you may ask.
Well I refuse to pay $10 for an item that will cost you $4.50 (less if you go 1st class) to mail. I'm more then willing to pay a bit of a "handling" charge. We all have those built into our shipping costs, but that is a bit much. Plus you do not say how you actually plan to ship..."flat shipping rate" does not tell me anything.
Sorry you missed out on a sale.

Seller#2:
Wow what a coat! I would LOVE to own it, but you don't have a shipping charge listed and there are only 10 min left in your auction.
There is not enough time for me to "email me if for a shipping quote".
Sorry 'bout that.

Seller #3:
I am so happy with the cool leopard cape I bid on and won. I have taken a chance on you even with your crappy feedback AND no shipping cost listed
'cause I only bid the opening $4.99 bid and won.
$14.00 for shipping is a bit high, but that is still cool as long as the
cape is in the "excellent" shape you have said it is.
What really chaps my hide is the lack of response from you.
I emailed to ask you if that cute swimming suit had a metal zipper.
I emailed to ask you how much extra that dress would have been over the cost of the cape to ship together.
I emailed you from both of my ebay IDs.
Nothing.
Nada.
No peep. Just my invoice.
Guess what?
I did not bid on your other items.
They pretty much sold for the opening bids too.
THAT is sad. If you had just emailed me back you would have made more money.
Pity.

Seller #4
I wanted that dress soooo bad and even bid on it though your $10 shipping cost required me to go do all kinds of brain gymnastics to justify the purchase. Luckily you started the bidding at .99. The sad thing is if you had just started the bidding at a reasonable amount and NOT tried to make your money back on shipping I would have gone higher and YOU would have made more money.
Your Loss.

Sincerely,
A "just want to spend my fucking money why do you make it so hard?" ebay buyer.

ETA: I just came back from getting the mail. Today I got a lovely 40's sheer nylon dress folded in a manila envelope and mailed for $1.75 (I paid around $6.50 for priority shipping) and another dress rolled into a ball and stuffed into a way small box for which I DID pay $10 for shipping.
Sigh.

If you are a buyer do NOT take this as an indictment of all eBay/vintage sellers.
I never ship like this.
I have a ton of friends who sell on ebay and/or have websites and NONE of them ship like this. I hate, hate, hate that there are sellers out there who give the rest of us such bad names. And these items with the high shipping and crappy packaging could just as well been books or buttons or patterns or any number of items I have shopped for or bought on eBay.

*I just put Lucius up there cause he is so pretty and it makes me giggle thinking of Mr. Malfoy shopping on eBay for a new pimp cane.