McCalls Style News 1953

More Three Wolf Moon

In this post I brought your attention to the best, most awesome T-shirt of all time.
The Three Wolf Moon shirt offered on Amazon.com.

Now there is a video in honor of this mystical garment:



Warning! Do not watch with liquids in your mouth.

McCalls Style News 1953

Alley Cat's Memorial Day

This is how we all spent the day and it was good.

Memorial Day 2009

Memorial Day Sale

Vintage Balmain

I love this picture from the backstage of a Balmain fashion show in the 50's.
No, not because of the wedding dress, which is lovely, but for the dame in the back in sunglasses with the cig in her hand.


Awesome.....

Time For A LOLcat

Three Wolf Night

Via Pajiba.

This T-shirt is selling like hotcakes over on Amazon.com.
Pretty cheezy, but dude the user comments are a hoot.

"bought this shirt, and instantly old girlfriends started calling me again. The shirt has an amazing pattern, and feels so great on my skin. Nothing brings out the man in me like this wolf shirt"

"You wouldn't believe the tail I pull in this f'n thing. Every male should invest in one."

"came to this site looking for a nice two wolf shirt maybe with one black wolf and one white wolf. Then I saw this three wolf shirt and instantly ordered it. Upon receiving it I put it on. Now my bucket seats look sweet. I hope I can afford to buy another one for the passenger seat before they are sold out. A Trans-Am can't have too many Three Wolf Shirts."

Funny shit.
The best part are the real reviews stuck in between the tails of healing and the dead being brought back to life.

Found Things

This fell out of a vintage pattern when I opened it up to count the pieces.
Jonathan Logan Ad, 1962
Too cute!

RDJ

Squee!
Robert Downey Jr.
Badass!Sherlock Holmes.

I need to fan myself....

Glee

Jesus, "Rehab" done by a show choir.

"Is she gonna diva out after every rehearsal"
"You think this is hard? Try being water boarded, that's hard."
"and I want the agony out of your eyes."
"Your resentment, is....Delicious."
Jane Lynch was just deeee-lish.

I think I might be in love. We'll have to wait till September when Glee returns, but the preview show they had on tonight was just wonderful. Funny, ironic and made the drama club member in me squee with, well...glee.

Color Me A Bad Parent

But I have to ask, why do we respect the wishes of adults, but treat teens as little kids?

(unless they commit a crime and then we want them to act like adults and be treated like adults)

Adults make mistakes, bad decisions that effect their life and the lives of others, but it is teens that we say "oh they don't know what they are doing, they don't understand the consequences".

They have a right to self-determination and the right to fuck up their lives just like adults.

This question came as a result of this story of the 13 year old who wants to forgo chemo for his cancer even though there is a good chance he will be cured.

I think that this 13 yr old has thought long and hard about his treatment and has decided what HE wants, how he wants to live and if it comes to that, how he wants to die. Maybe 13 is too young, I don't know since I do not know this specific kid, but he seems to know what he wants.

Personally I think the "bad decisions" teens make are more an aspect of a lack of information, low expectations and stalker parenting (parents who hover and have made all a kids decisions and never given children any freedom within their lives).

Our society and the way we parent have basically created the circumstances that lends itself to this child/adult that cannot be trusted to make responsible decisions. Teens used to expected to live like adults, make adult decisions and guess what...they did. I understand that some research says that teens brains have not fully developed and unable to see the ramifications of their decisions, but that does not mean that all teens are unable to make life changing decisions.

If my teen had cancer we would look at all the information, talked to Drs. and give him our advice and opinions, but in the end we would RESPECT his RIGHT to refuse chemo if he wanted to and look to alternative cures.
Of course if he did not want to make a decision we would, as his parents, make that decision for him. I would respect his decision the same way I respected my husband's decision to opt for radiation for his cancer instead of surgery or how I would have accepted his decision if he decided not to do anything or if it returns and he says "no more treatments".

I wrote this comment on Daily Kos and of course was then told I was a bad parent and that they need us to make these decisions for them and that my respect of my son was disturbing.

(and seriously, The Boy does some stupid shit, just ask me about him and the Jelly Belly candy dish, he is not perfect, but he has demonstrated a disturbing habit of making choices that are scary in their commonsense and more adult then a lot of adults I know. )

So I responded "then prepare to be disturbed" and went on to let them know that I would respect my son's wishes. I wish I had added that not only did I not insist on helmets, I also let him play in the front yard ALONE (gasp), allowed him to take walks in the woods ALONE (gasp), don't worry about porn on the web (i assume he looks at it), or violent video games (i know he plays those and seems pretty non-violent), we let him drink some wine if he wants in our home, and would not freak out over weed. Not only that, if we lived in a city with a subway and he had wanted to ride alone, at 9years, after much planning I WOULD LET HIM* and if he had a brother and they were fighting in the back of the car I would PUT THEM OUT ON THE STREET** to teach them a lesson.

Like I said, color me a bad parent.

*of course that means you make a number of runs with the kid and educate them. Wow, trusting our kids to not be idiots. Knowledge really is power.

**of course this would be done close to home (maybe a mile or less) on a street with sidewalks and businesses, not out in the middle of nowhere. I would probably just go around the block and then stalk them to see how they handled it. If your children have half a brain and you live in town, they know how to walk home.

EDIT:

I have also been called a coward (on Daily Kos) and told to "grow a pair" and got this awesome strawman argument "And I'm assuming you would be supportive if the little shit decided to be a heroin addict, too ???".

nice.

Vintage Pattern Watch

This week on eBay I am watching:

This Vogue Special Design pattern, the side treatment is scrumptious.



"This week I am featuring a great selection of patterns that belonged to a lady that made all of her own clothes. Some of them are sultry and maybe a little Boho – she lived in a really cool house tucked away on a side street in town – she has recently passed away at the age of 92. Be sure to check all of the patterns out – there are a hundred or so of them and I think I’ll list them 25 or so at a time – to help keep myself straight. They are all 30’s – 40’s – 50’s – mostly Vogue and Vogue Special Designs – with some Butterick and Simplicity. "

From the same seller, Vogue 5256:



Oh just go and look at her listings, there are some snappy designs there.

I'm also watching Vogue Couturier Pattern #890 that was mentioned on Dress A Day.

I love ballgowns with huge ass pockets.

How awesome is this strapless cat suit with swing jacket, Vogue 7439?

Meow....

Oh, and this delish Jo Copland that was just listed.

I Will Not Be Cramered!!!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Dan Choi Is Gay
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

As always.
Daily Show.
Nail.
Head.

LOST...here be spoilers

First off I was blown away by the finale and quite annoyed that we have to wait till January for our ending.
Now a picture for those who do not want to be spoiled.




Yes, June JULY 9th.

Back to Lost and my random thoughts:

Just a couple of comments.

Thank you! Finally Bernard, Rose AND Vincent (bonus!) happy and free of the madness.

Well hello Jacob and Silas Adams/Evil Dude in Black (who from now on will be referred to as EDIB...of course we don't really know who if he is evil, if either are evil/good, or if it is just a bunch of shades of gray). If you noticed Jacob touched each of the losties when he made contact with them in the real world. He did not meet Juliet. I think that might have sealed her doom.

The first thing I thought of during the beginning scene was the book Good Omens with the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley discussing humans and the coming apocalypse, no real link there, just what popped into my mind.

Flannery O'Connor was a devout Catholic and her books are rife with Christian/Catholic symbolism, God's grace and strange ways to redemption. Her collection of short stores Everything that Rises Must Converge is the book Jacob is reading (which I actually have sitting on the side table here in the living room. When I saw the book I told The Boy "oh look, he likes O'Connor too") when Locke falls out of the building behind him. (and I will admit that I guffawed when I poor John fell down behind him, it just struck me as quite comical.)

If you've read The Sandman comics (Sandman, in which the anthropomorphic personification of dreams is locked in a huge glass globe of a prison within a magical circle.) by Neil Gaiman (or The Dresden Files...or any book about magic) you'll be aware that the circle can both be used as a prison OR for protection and is useless once any small bit of it is disturbed. So we can assume that the cabin was a prison for EDIB and Ben must have broken the circle when he brought John to the cabin. I assume he was the one who said "help me" to John.

The statue must be the Egyptian God Sobek. Four toed God with the head of a crocodile:
"Sobek's ambiguous nature led some Egyptians to believe that he was a repairer of evil that had been done, rather than a force for good in itself, for example, going to Duat to restore damage done to the dead as a result of their form of death. He was also said to call on suitable gods and goddesses required for protecting people in situation, effectively having a more distant role, nudging things along, rather than taking an active part."
Nudging things along...reminds me of the God/Gog in Battlestar.
Hmmmmm.

So Richard is/was once named Ricardus (latin for Richard)...so is he old enough to have once used Latin as his native tongue? What lies in the shadow of the statue? "He who will protect us all." or something like that.*

Poor John, nothing but a dupe of EDIB who found his "loop hole". I even felt sorry for Ben, except in the end it was all about HIM. His failing is that he is just so selfish and can only think of himself. I assume that is why he was banished from the island and why Jacob said that last line so coldly. Even after everything that has happened Ben is still only thinking about how it affects him. None of the growth I have a feeling Jacob hopes that humans will achieve, no redemption. That brings me to my last comment.
Is this all just some eternal test that Jacob is playing with man? Trying to get human beings to learn how to get along and prove EDIB wrong?

*EDIT: I forgot that Latin is the language of The Others.
Another EDIT:
I forgot to add Doc Jensen's theory on Oceanic 815 and the Ajira flight:

"Ajira isn't a ''replacement event'' for Oceanic 815 — Oceanic 815 essentially sabotaged the fated arrival of Ajira! Jack is actually correct: Oceanic 815 was never supposed to bring the castaways to the Island. It was Ajira that was always supposed to bring the castaways to the Island! This is the mistake that Fate/the Island has been trying to rectify: The premature arrival of the castaways to the Island! While I'm not ready to pitch my guess for the perpetrators of the quantum hijacking that was Oceanic 815 — my early call: Ben — I'll bet you the pilot of Oceanic 815 was one of their members, which is why Smokey killed him. This could be one reason why Ilana asked Ajira pilot Frank Lapidus the codeword question, ''What lies in the shadow of the statue?'' Because so much was made to establish correlations between the two flights, Ilana's conspicuous question was meant to prompt the audience to consider anew the old speculation that the pilot of Oceanic 815 was part of a conspiracy to bring the plane to the Island."

Hmmmmmm......

and more! Read the first theory here.
Oh snap, Jacob's "failsafes" are coming via Juliet's sacrifice.

and even more:
And since the very beginning, we've been given hints, such as in the pilot, when Locke taught Walt the rules of backgammon. ''Two players. Two sides. One is light, one is dark.'' The opening sequence officially activated this Big Idea. We now we see that the entire Lost saga is contextualized by a centuries-spanning conflict — or maybe just a game — between two beings, enchanted and long-lived but not necessarily immortal.

YES!
I watched the pilot the other day and this scene, mostly because of Walt whom we have seen so little of, stayed in my mind.

Added:
Message board comment:
"Did anyone notice that Juliet was wearing Star Trek red - the color of the uniforms of the dead extras?"
Oh Noes, Juliet was the red shirt in this episode. Totally missed it.

"Sanitary and Dependable"

I picked up this little envelope at the antique mall on Saturday.....mix "human hair" with "sanitary" and "dependable" and I'm on it.
Plus the vintage gal is quite pretty.

Of course it begs the question, why?.
I had my own ideas, but decided to ask around and Jonathan from Kickshaw Productions provided the historical perspective.

"Yes, they were made of human hair to blend in with your own, and this was in the days before hairspray, so they were to keep the hair in place. They were made for waved and smooth hairstyles that could easily become mussed or frizzy....

The pic on the cover is showing the relative size of the hair net to your head. They are elasticized around the edge but they can be pulled taut to that size, depending on whether you are using it to cover your entire hairstyle, or just part of it. This one says its 'bobbed' size, so there are larger sizes for long hairstyles, like Veronica Lake. I remember watching a movie with Barbara Stanwyck and she had a long turned under pageboy, and at one point she moved her head and you could just glimpse the hair net used to keep that long smooth under turned hair in place. "

He also reminded me that hairspray was not commercially available until 1956. The net is very, very fine, lightweight and blond. I can see how it would be almost invisible over your hair.
So there you go, they are still a good option for those of us who wear vintage hairstyles and do not want to use hairspray which can make those soft styles of the 20's, 30's and 40's look stiff.

Crazy Cat Lady

Red Carpet Vintage

Marisa Tomei wore a fabulous Adrian to the Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2009 in New York City! White halter gown in what is probably a rayon crepe with gold beaded feather design and what looks like a back drape towards the hem(?), simple but stunning.

Madonna on the other hand wore teh crazy.


Don't get me wrong.
I love the crazy and think that as we age if we want to fabulous we need to either go very classy or bring on teh crazy. I think we know which way Mags has gone.

First Lady in a Corset

Ya'll, Michelle Obama is just so fierce.
Via Mrs. O:
Red Carpet Fashion Awards reports that Mrs. O wore a simple black sleeveless Azzedine Alaia Micheal Kors gown, with a Peter Soronen corset, accessorized with multiple strands of necklaces by Loree Rodkin, and simple diamond stud earrings.

A corset folks. This woman is fearless when it comes to fashion and what a First Lady should or should not wear.
Here is another picture lightened up so you can see the back detail...and no I do not know what Hasselfuck is trying to do, but I assume that Barbara is warning Mrs. O to not get get them wet and never feed after midnight.

Free Range Kids

I avoid blogs and sites that are focused on raising kids since we are pretty much done.
The Boy is 17 and our relationship is undergoing a subtle change so I'm not really looking for advice any more. He is turning out pretty well and even with his various learning disabilities we are getting a good vibe on how he will be able to navigate adult life and his ideas of what constitute success and happiness.
Except when my our parenting style and beliefs are validated by others. We decided a long time ago that you cannot protect your kids from everything, that harsh dictatorial discipline (you know who you are in my family) does not help kids learn about life or make help make them happy/successful adults, that they need freedom to grow and should be allowed to make their own choices within a sane structure.
So, of course, I am now loving Free Range Kids.

Basically the writer (who is the "horrible mom" who allowed her 9 yr old (gasp!) ride the subway alone...I ask you how do they ever learn to do this shit if you never let them?) pretty much sums up how I think kids should be raised:

Do you ever let your kid ride a bike to the library? Walk alone to school? Take a bus, solo? Or are you thinking about it? If so, you are raising a Free Range Kid! At Free Range, we believe in safe kids. We believe in helmets, car seats and safety belts. We do NOT believe that every time school age children go outside, they need a security detail. Most of us grew up Free Range and lived to tell the tale. Our kids deserve no less. This site dedicated to sane parenting. Share your stories, tell your tips and maybe one day I will try to collect them in a book. Meantime, let's try to help our kids embrace life! (And maybe even clear the table.)

Sane parenting.
Awesome, and she has collected them into a book called, what else?, Free Range Kids.
I've added the site to the blog roll and suggest my more "intense" parenting readers might want to buy the book and relax.

Chief Monorail

Tiparillo Skank©

I just realized that it has been way too long since we have peeked at The Girl Can't Help It blog and see what Kim is up to because with Kim, you know it will be crazy awesome.
I was right.
Look, it is those dirty vintage Tiparillo ads. When I was a kid, I just knew that there was something naughty about these.
I was right.
(come on, why not just say it! "should a gentleman offer his penis to a dental hygienist who obviously has an oral fixation?")


You've come a long way baby.....but I would still like to be a "Tiparillo skank"©.
(copyrighted to Kim)

Vintage Mall Site Updates

There are a number of online "malls" that have sprung up in the last few years each with varying degrees of success.
Some of them work very well, have good search engines, lots of traffic and are easy to use for the vintage clothing seller.
Some not so much.
Luckily when I decided to leave eBay behind almost 3 years ago I took a chance with a new venture called MainStreet Mall.
So far it has been a very good fit for me and my inventory.

Yesterday one of the owners announced a new way to sell on Mainstreet Vintage....free "mini" stores.

The MSMO site owners are pleased to announce the launch of FREE "mini-stores" on the Main Street Vintage (MSV) vintage clothing and accessories mall. The mini-stores are similar in features and function to regular stores on the site but are completely free for as long as the seller wishes to keep them. There is no monthly rental (our only regular fee) and no listing fees or final sales commissions. The only limitation is that only 10 simultaneous listings are supported.

If you've been thinking of trying the site this is a great way to get involved. If you only have a few things to list this may be all you ever need. You can upgrade your account to a paid store with unlimited listings at any time.

Here is a link to Mainstreet Vintage.
Go here to sign up.
Go here for more information on being a seller on MSMO.
Go here to discuss MSMO on their public discussion forums.

Watching

Not much time left, but this first pattern has been on my list all week.
Vintage Vogue S-4795
This pattern I added last night.
Modes Royale 1543

Last, but NOT least, this Charles James pattern for The Weekly American.
I have NEVER seen a Charles James sewing pattern.
Just lovely, but auction ended a few weeks ago and sold for $124.

One Last Picture

Fang listening to some critter moving around underground.
She followed it around for awhile sniffing, then standing real still while looking right at the ground.
I kept expecting her to start digging, but she never did....last week she brought a dead mole into the house that she has killed for me.
Good doggie.

May Day

Lovely weather, even Nico and Fang posed for me.
I just put in the Variegated Siberian Bugloss, very happy with it and I think I'll pick another one from the nursery next week.
This year we are trying going our veggies in containers to see how that works for us. In hindsight the choice not to go with raised beds was a mistake, but now we can't afford to do it, so hopefully the containers will allow us to grow veggies without having to deal with, what my husband calls, the "cursed earth" we have. I'll save the old veggie garden for sunflowers, zinnias, onions and garlic.
The honeysuckle is just beginning to bloom, this weekend the place will smell wonderful.

Shop Like An Heiress

Dior Cocktail Dress, ca 1950

The Newport Restoration Foundation which was founded by Doris Duke has just opened an exhibit of a portion of her extensive couture collection.

"Shop Like an Heiress: Buying Fashion in the 20th Century is a celebration of fashion and shopping through the experience of Doris Duke. Miss Duke's closet represents a wide selection of international designers and shopping destinations. The exhibit explores how she shopped for her wardrobe from French couture houses to American department stores in search of stylish, chic clothes that established her as one of the best dressed in society."

If you are a vintage clothing lover and happen to be close to Newport, RI between now and Nov. this exhibit would be worth a nice day trip.

Boston Globe article on the exhibit.