Mini Ship

When we went to The Queen Mary I took some photos of the miniature ship they had on display, I found the little replicas and people pretty cute :)

I'm finally a Girl Scout! Kind of...

When I was a little girl I was a Girl Scout Brownie, the mini version of Girl Scouts. All I remember is making puppets and most of all, wanting to become a Girl Scout for the cool uniform. I still have a bunch of badges that never made it on a sash or vest, one day I'll do something with them.
Anyway, since then I've always wanted a girl scout uniform, and in recent years, a vintage one. But whenever I came across one, it would be much too small so I figured I'd just leave that dream behind and forget about it. Here's a little secret, you are more likely to find something you've been looking for for ages, when you stop looking.
I went to work the other day to visit my boss and she was showing me a bunch of stuff she had just purchased from a theatre company, and as soon as she held up this dress I said "Ahhhh! I want it!" And then she showed me the matching scarf and socks (Socks!!!!), and that was the icing on the cake.
I'm pretty sure the uniform is from the 1940s, it has that style, and the little picture above looks like a 40s girl in the same uniform. If anyone knows anything else let me know!

Now, I wish I had some thin mints....

1940s girl scout uniform-Urban Eccentric Vintage

Colors of the day

Today was a colorful day. The nice people at We Love Colors sent me some fabulous goodies (!), Sam took me to the craft store for some ribbons and barrettes, and I searched for a knitting pattern to make a sweater just like Keira Knightly wore in this picture for The Edge of Love. I've actually been looking for a pattern to copy that sweater for months, and today I finally found one! this is about as close as one can get to what she's wearing, and I even have the perfect yarn in mind, in the perfect color (Turmeric, down at the bottom), but of course, the color is not available until August. Deja vu. Last fall I made this cardigan, which happens to be in the same film, and it's the same color. So I was going to buy the turmeric colored yarn, but it was not available for another few months. Am I not meant to have a mustard colored cardigan?
Anyway, I hope everyone has a nice weekend planned, for us here in the states we get a three day weekend! That is if you work a normal job or go to school. So in my case, just another weekend ;)

Paris circa 1959

It's been one of those "I have nothing to wear" sort of weeks. It's rainy and bleak, and a little bit chilly, which makes me want to stay in my pink striped pajamas all day and watch old movies while knitting a sweater. Oh, and drinking tea, let's not forget the tea.
But I must go to work and so, pajamas are not an option. Even cute ones. When I'm in an "I have nothing to wear" situation it usually means I am overwhelmed with choices and my brain freezes up, and I can't think of what to pair with what, or how. The best solution to that is go with something simple. Let my mind re-charge for another time, and just pick something that requires no "putting together".

I got this dress on my last trip to California, how could I resist a giant chiffon bow? I kept things black and classic, easy as pie, and carried Christian Diors Little Dictionary of Fashion in my purse, it is a perfect little companion.

Key to Good Dressing

"There is no key.

If there were it would be too easy, rich women could buy

the key and all their fashion worries would be over!

But simplicity, grooming, and good taste-the three fundamentals

of fashion-cannot be bought.

But they can be learnt, by rich and poor alike."

-Christian Dior

Dress-Flashbacks, Hillcrest San Diego

Lamb pillbox-Don't remember

Little dictionary of fashion-Birthday gift from my brother.

My vacuum matches my kitchen appliances.

I get a lot of nice emails from Vixen Vintage readers. However the other day I got a rather unusual one :" This is probably going to sound funny/odd but 'Do you want my vacuum?"

As a matter of fact I do!

Even though we moved into our place in April (or maybe end of March, whatever), Sam and I had yet to buy a vacuum for our carpeted apartment. For the record, I hate carpet. Rugs, I am in favor of, but beige industrial carpet? Just writing that sentence makes my nose wrinkle.
So if having an ugly carpet was not enough, I would also have to get an ugly vacuum. No thanks, I'll just keep the curtains closed and pretend the floor stays clean, and buy a hat instead. That is my logic: Why buy something ugly and practical when I can have something pretty and unpractical?!

And for that reason I have more hats and dresses than I can ever hope to show you, and until yesterday, no vacuum.

But when pretty and practical marry, and have gorgeous, useful offspring, I am in heaven.

Jessi, a sweet and need I say generous blog reader, stopped by my workplace yesterday and dropped off this little beauty of a vacuum, it's a reproduction 1950s Eureka! She is moving and didn't want to haul it with her, and thought I might appreciate it's retro prettiness. I have not been so excited over a vacuum since I asked for one for Christmas when I was 4 (I was a weird kid).

When I got home I used it right away and it is surprisingly powerful! Now I can open the curtains! Woohoo!

I currently cannot bring myself to put it away in the closet, so it sits in my living room, just being pretty. The only info I could find on it (actually Jessi sent it to me), is this Amazon listing, which doesn't even have them for sale, it just taunts you.

So thank you a million times to Jessi, now I can pretend to be June Cleaver without a hitch ;)

The winner of the $100 credit at LA Vintage!

And the winner is Lisa! Of Our Vintage Life.

Thank you all who entered, it was so much fun to hear what you liked! Everyones tastes are so varied, it's nice to see that all come together in one place :) I'll have many more giveaways in the near future, so stay tuned!




Do you love this bowling shirt? I do, and not just because it's a bowling shirt, and matches my kitchen, and says "Doris". I love it because it has "Vancouver Wash" embroidered on the back. And even though sometimes I have my issues with the fair city, it's still where I was born and raised, and where spend my summers, falls, winters, and springs. And we have some cute little retro buildings downtown, like the original drive up Burgerville, which if you've never been, go. Right now. They have seasonal strawberry shortcake. Although there might not be any left, because I may have eaten it all.

1950s bowling shirt-Urban Eccentric Vintage

Skirt-Can't remember...

Hat-Not Quite Vintage

New stuffs.

I just about screamed when I found these shoes. Ok, well, I squealed like a little piggie (Eeeeeee!), which is kind of the same. They are EXACTLY what I've been wanting for ages, and even though they are the teeniest bit big, I just wear socks and all is well. It's a nice change from trying to fit into the same style shoes that are two sizes too small/narrow.
And the dress my dears, I just love this dress. It's that weight of material that clings and drapes beautifully, would make a great dancing dress if I danced!
Instead of pairing it with bakelite I went with a locket and and my mothers charm bracelet, they kept the look soft and romantic, and I jingled every time I moved :) You can see it here, I couldn't get a great picture of it in the fading light.

Dress-Fab Gabs

Hat-Urban Eccentric Vintage

Shoes-Flahsbacks

Locket-Magpie Vintage

Fab Gabs!

I think we've all drooled over Fab Gabs at one point or another, Julie always seems to present the most covet worthy items on Etsy. And then one day she asked if I would like to come over, put on fabulous dresses, sit on fabulous chairs, and take fabulous pictures.

Um, yes please.

Yesterday I met up with Julie and her photographer Lulu for all those things, and we had a ball. And with each new thing Julie pulled off the rack I went "Oooooooo!". Honestly it was hard to not just take everything home, but at least you can! Above I've posted some of my favorites, but there are so many more. My very favorite (which was hard to pick) would have to be the turquoise 40s frock in the second photo, if you look close the print on it is pretty ladies in dramatic hats! Eeeeee!

These are all sneak peeks, nothing listed yet, and you can always follow Fab Gabs on Facebook for sneak peeks all the time!

All photos by Lulu of Camera Bandit.

Win a $100 shopping spree at LA Vintage!

Sunshine Romper,Red Loafers

Switzerland scarf,Straw Purse

I've been at a loss for a good giveaway lately, so when LA Vintage emailed me with an offer for $100 for one of my lovely readers I jumped at the chance! They have a wide selection of dresses, shoes, mens clothing, and everything in between! They even have a plus size section, how cool is that?

All you need to do to enter is visit LA Vintage, browse around, and comment back here telling me what you would buy with your possible $100, and don't forget to leave your email address. Thats it! Just browse and comment. Aaaaaaand, it's open to international readers!

The winner will be picked Friday May 21st at random.

Above you can see what I've picked out as my favorites, a perfect little summer outfit. So now go find something perfect for you!

California day 7, lounging around

Our last day in California involved lounging at the pool, eating good food at The Zinc Cafe, and shopping a bit here and there. Now it's time to pack up to leave in the morning, and while I enjoyed my time here immensely, I miss my husband, my hats, and my cats. Oh wait I don't have cats. Well if I had cats I would miss them too.

I got this swimsuit at a fabulous estate sale a while back, and this week has been the first time I've worn it. The estate I bought it from was amazing, with gold and velvet wallpaper, a pink bathroom, and this was one of two things I grabbed before any other dealers (I wanted the tiger print pin up suit too, but was too late!). The woman had fabulous things, the kind of woman who wore feather trimmed robes and traveled with her red monogrammed trunks. Since the tag in my swimsuit is in french I like to think she picked it up somewhere on the french coast in the 50s, and had the most fabulous time in it.

Thanks a million to my fabulous mama for taking pictures all week, and Twila Jean for lending me her lense!

Blogger meet-up with The Vintage Wife!

It was days like today that remind me how lucky I am to have started blogging. Without Vixen Vintage I would not have know of all the awesome people out there (yes, you!) who love vintage as I do, if only we could all meet for coffee and chat away!
Well this afternoon I did just that with one of my favorite bloggers, Cedar of The Vintage Wife. I can't begin to say how much fun we had, we met at a coffee shop, talked non stop about vintage, estate sales, and how there are so many cocktail dresses and not enough cocktail parties. She is so sweet, and enjoyable to hang out with, and oh how adorable! I think we were both a bit nervous at first, but it was so funny when we first saw each other and realized we wore similar dresses!
After "coffee" (a smoothie and ice tea) we walked to Frock You!, a great vintage shop with so many pretties! I tried on a lot, although nothing was quite the right fit, we had so much fun looking at some crazy purses and trying on hats (there was one little black Jacques Fath hat I fell in love with), and talking poodle skirts with the guy working there. A little side note, I love seeing guys who work at vintage shops, it's great to see their take on vintage!
After Frock you! My mother drove us a few blocks to a vintage shop that had unfortunately closed, but we did pop into Fables, the darling storefront for this Etsy shop, you've probably seen the darling sailor swimsuits all over Etsy! The owner was so cute and nice, it was really cool to meet her even though we weren't planning on it, and I just couldn't get over the shower themed dressing room!
So as you can see it was a wonderful afternoon, I hope this will be the first of many blogger meet-ups, and I really hope to see Cedar again, she is the kind of friend I'd love to have!

California, day 5 Coronado

This was my third time visiting The Hotel del Coronado, and it never ceases to amaze. It's very elegant, and you might recognize the setting from Some Like it Hot.
It was such a warm day I brought my swimsuit just in case I worked up the nerve to wear it (wearing it on the beach is so much more public than a hotel swimming pool!). I did get some crazy stares from a group of Japanese tourists, and while I was in my dress a few of them kept trying to take my picture standing like three feet in front of me. Seriously, just ask and thats fine, but I'm pretty sure they just got snapshots of me scowling.
I would love to stay there one day, it's so nice just to be in, stroll, sit on the decks. While there I felt like I was in a Miss Marple episode, specifically The Body in the Library. The whole time I was there, and on The Queen Mary, I kept thinking what amazing locations they would make for a murder mystery photoshoot. Yes these are the things that flow through my mind constantly, I blame it on all those years of only reading Nancy Drew.

Oh and we had to cross that bridge to get to and from Coronado island. It freaks me out every time.

1940s Swirl dress-Grandma got it at an estate sale.

1950s sunglasses-Won them on Pretty Little Things