Bridal shower

Saturday afternoon my Tia Gail threw me a wonderful bridal shower. It was set up under a gazebo that is across the street from where we are getting married, and it was the perfect day for it! There was blue sky, swallows were flying all around, and that weekend a car show was in town so about a dozen of the most amazing 1950s cars drove by all in a darling line. I kept saying "I want that one!"

Of course there was lots of great food, and yummy cake, and a table full of the best gifts. Among other things, I received lots of blue kitchenware, the cutest apron, and my great grandmothers pyrex mixing bowl. I'll have to do a little kitchen photo shoot soon, it looks really cute!
Such a fun afternoon, thank you everyone who set it up and attended!

Oh the little drawing is what my cousin Pearl drew. It is a picture of me as a princess, too cute!

Let them eat cake.

THIS is why I haven't made that hat I've promised for a giveaway, or cleaned my house, or listed barely anything in my shop. I was busy making fabulousness :)
Saturday I had both my bridal shower, and a costume party to attend, but I couldn't wait to show off the costume, so it comes first.

About a moth ago my mother and I were invited to a party and her friends house, I had gone to parties there before with her, once it was circus themed, such fun! The theme for the party was 18th century, and as soon as I heard the hat was the first thing that came to my mind. I have often seen drawings of entire ships in 18th century hats, and thought that would just be a dream. My mothers friend was kind enough to lend me one, and from there the costume was inspired.
I went to Johanna's 18th century blog for tons of insight and inspiration, it's full of beautiful photos, costumes, and authentic clothing from that period. I wish I could have been more authentic, but time and budget were scarce.
Actually, almost everything for the costume I already had. The main fabric is a vintage upholstery, I have no idea where I got it from, and the base of the sleeves are old curtains. The only material I purchased was the blue and white trim, the buckram for the hat, and the big blue feather.
Everything, including the hat, is made from scratch, and I did use a bodice template I found online, but had to alter it quite a bit since it had no sleeves, and was way too short. After I made that structured part I draped on my dress form, over a petticoat and homemade panniers (they were like hip pillows, hehe).
The absolute best part was the hat. If you can believe it this was the first time I had ever made a hat from scratch, I'm pretty proud of myself. I shaped the buckram over a foam head, and covered it with fabric. I wanted the ship to look as though it was caught in a storm, and the feathers were giant waves about to crash down. The pink tassels were just for giggles ;)
Near the end of the party they had a "best costume contest" for men and women, and I won!


On the left, a couple that reminded me of "Pirates of the Caribbean", her hair was so high! On the right myself and the host of the party, Brian, complete with sword!


I embellished my mothers dress a bit, she bought it at my work, it was one of those 80s prom dresses that looks like a princess would wear it.
The party was bundles of fun, there was music, dancing, food, a scavenger hunt, and sword fighting of course :)
Chris, on the right won best mens costume, he reminded me of a cartoon, hehe.


There were such fabulous costumes, and I was really happy to see some hats as well. I especially love the top hat with the big jewel in the middle.


I think that was the most grand I have ever felt, and the biggest fire hazard...

A bit of nostalgia...

This was one of my first vintage dresses, given to me from my aunt Nichole when I was around 10 (ish). It was originally a dress up frock for me, but I remember one warm summer day I decided to wear it for a walk around the neighborhood. I completely loved it, the way it draped, the pattern, the way the light fabric caught the breeze. Something about it just felt really grown up and dreamy. And the rest is history....

Well, ok, it took some more time to realize there were more dresses like this one, but, you get the picture.

The necklace is one of my favorite costume jewelry pieces, it was my great grandmother Lois's, she was a master sewer and her backyard always smelled like warm tomato plants. I know those are unrelated, but it smelled really good!

The shoes are actually 70s, looking 40s and despite having a wooden sole are really comfortable. They make me tall :)

Does anyone remember their first vintage?

Today I was a nurse... Not really though.

When I found this 50s nurses uniform at work I was so excited. I have been on the lookout for one for a while (along with many other vintage uniforms) and this one fit perfectly! I wish the photos didn't turn out so bright, because the details and closures are really unique. Honestly I've always disliked white, cream is nice, but white is very stark on me. For some reason I love it as a nurses uniform. Last night I embroidered "Sunny" on it, my name means sunshine is spanish, and that's what my mom calls me. I paired it with a brown felt 50s hat (I didn't realize the camera cut it off, oops!) and leopard shoes. The glasses were a must, as well as matching white gloves. At work a woman came in and asked if I would be interested in buying a nurses cape. Since my boss is the only one who can buy at the shop, I had to tell her to come back, but I sure hope she does! A matching cape would carry this dress into the fall ;)

Photo found here.

Blue feather day

Today my friend Kendra and I went to Fabric Depot to find her some pretty material for her bridesmaids dress, and me some material for a honeymoon dress. Whenever I go there I get flooded with ideas, and just want to buy everything and make everything, and try not to think of the amazing circus outfit I could create with the pink striped sequins textile. I got away with some plain pink cotton for my dress, buckram, and some pretty trim and this giant blue feather for a project I'll show you this weekend. If you know don't tell! It's turing out quite well, and I'm having a lot of fun with it.
I wished I could have bought all the big bright feathers, they looked so amazing. Feathers as just plain fun.

40s Blouse and shoes-Buffalo Exchange.

Skirt and purse-The Urban Eccentric

Flickr woes and blog love.

As much as I like that my readers can have access to blog photos via flickr, I just can't get over how many creepers are lurking on there. On the bright side, easy access for people who want to do features and interviews, but on the dark side: Creepers.
Plus flickr says that I have to upgrade to a Pro Account ( I would have to pay for) otherwise only my latest 200 photos would be visible. I'm just kind of sick of the whole thing. It was causing me much more stress than enjoyment, and guess what? I'm getting married in less than a month, so any un-needed stress is being thrown out the window. So I deleted my account, and now if you need photos for something just ask and I will send them to you, its no problem at all. I will most likely open an account back up, and was thinking of just not tagging any of the photos, that way I wouldn't show up in searches. Any thoughts?

On a much brighter note my friend Shayla is having a Fantastic giveaway!. A vintage hairstyling book I have been pining after, as well as hair accessories she has personally put together to go along with it.

Sandra D of Debutante Clothing has featured me in an interview this week! She's so much fun to talk to I wished the interview could have been face to face :)

I was featured as a style muse a few weeks ago on the visually scrumptious blog Pugly Feet. Since then an interview has been added, complete with yesterdays to-do list. Unfortunately not all on the list got done....

A modern touch.

I keep forgetting I have this dress. It's a Dian Von Furstenberg I found at Buffalo Exchange about a year ago. She is a modern designer I like, partially because her prints are so amazing. And she is credited with making the wrap dress popular in the 70s, which is pretty cool. This dress is very comfortable and flattering, I think it would be a perfect dress for travel, and to put a vintage spin on it I paired it with a hat and 50s sling backs. And gloves of course, but I forgot to wear them for photos :)

Dress-Buffalo Exchange

Hat-Unknown

Shoes-The Urban Eccentric

By the way, the shop I work at has opened an Etsy shop! The Urban Eccentric will be selling vintage clothing as well as accessories and sewing supplies. I actually picked out the buttons to be listed, there are some really cute ones. So check it out, there will be lots to choose from!