Mary Van Notes

I had the opportunity to dress up twice for NYE celebrations.  On Friday night I performed at Snob Theater at The Dark Room Theater in San Francisco.  These photos were taken backstage.  For this evening, I wore a 1940s evening gown. It has stains, but I still love it and thought a night like this would be a great time to wear it, kind of a one night only dress before I try to fix it, dye it, etc.  There’s one stain on the front you can see near the sequins, and more on the back of the dress.  But, I think the low-light atmosphere helped to conceal them.  A lot of the comics there said I looked like the statue of liberty.  I took the liberty to wear a stained dress because it’s still awesome.  : )

(can someone tell me why I’m getting these corrupted pics?)

1940s evening gown: ebay (I love the sequins detail, how it wraps around the hips, and the ruching right under the sequin swirls.  So beautiful!)
1930s wax flower bridal tiara: ebay
vintage gloves: gift
heels: Pour La Victoire
vintage seamed stockings: garage sale
vintage sequin coat: Costume Party, SF

(Ashley of Fancy Fine wearing a coat from my etsy shop in the swing of things)

Please visit Ashley’s latest post.  She’s wearing the most beautiful outfit where she pairs an amazing vintage Gucci peach blouse with a 60s swing coat from my shop.  There’s a certain excitement and thrill that comes from seeing your vintage pieces find such a good home.

For NYE I had a couple of friends come over to perform a live variety show in my living room.  DJ Real and Uni and Her Ukelele and I had tons of fun.  If you missed seeing it live you can watch the fun here:

I took the opportunity to wear a 1930s ensemble.  A very Art Deco black silk dress, and a separate beaded neck wrap amazing thing which I clipped a sweater guard on in the back to keep it from flopping forward whenever I moved.  Miranda July wears something similar in design to this in her new film I haven’t seen yet, but am looking forward to see.  I’ll try to get photos of the dress again, because I really want to capture some of its amazing detail.

1930s black silk dress, 1930s beaded blouse wrap, vintage sweater guard clips: ebay
1950s rhinestone hair comb: Sacramento Antique Fair
black patent heels: Bunny’s Shoes, Santa Cruz
vintage seamed stockings: estate sale

If you live in Sacramento you can see me in this month’s issue of Midtown Monthly.  I was snapped for The Sactorialist feature while shopping at last month’s antique faire (my all-time favorite Sacramento happening).

vintage floral headband: Picket Fence Antiques, Sacramento
60s knit dress: Fashion Forestry
vintage wicker elephant purse: ebay
white socks: Macy’s
floral oxfords: F21

It’s supposed to be stormy in a few days, so I thought I’d savor the sun and frolic a bit in some accessories that nod to spring.  As broke as I am now, I’m happy to have a stockpile of vintage accessories to freshen up any well-worn dress in my closet.  I’m like the arctic fox that buries dead prey in the snow to be eaten when hunger strikes.  Although instead of carcasses it’s a stash of 40s hats and silly brooches to be worn when I have no money to buy new duds.  Vintage accessories are a great way to go when you got little cash.  They can be found for cheap if you look in the right places and they can be worn with most of your pieces to freshen up an old-to-you wardrobe.

I still haven’t figured out why my camera gets these corrupted pics every so often.  As annoying as it is there are some shots that come out looking kind of cool.  It almost reminds me of film cameras, every so often you’d get those shots that came at the end of the roll and looked all funky.  Those shots always became some of my favorites.

I also can’t help looking at these photos and thinking of how much I miss my dear friend Nicole.  She gave me this dress, along with a new-found love for wicker animal purses and flowers in my hair.  At least she’s still blogging while in London so I can still be inspired by her, but I miss our adventures together.  I love you girl!

70s dress: thrifted
rust colored tights: F21
oxford heels: Payless
satchel: Le Mode Accessories
necklace: antique store in Santa Cruz, CA
pearl ring: Laurel’s Bench; cameo ring: gift

Every once and awhile I go back to my roots and enjoy the simplicity of wearing a dress with tights.  It’s what I’ve worn for years, and will always go back to.  This dress is new-to-me.  I thrifted it for $4.  I’m planning on hemming it shorter with a double-tier skirt to maintain the print that edges the bottom.  Of course it’ll become yet another addition to my growing pile of pieces to alter and mend.  Oh, well.  Such is the life of a vintage enthusiast.

Speaking of roots it’s really no surprise that I grew up to become a comedian, and a person who makes silly videos on YouTube.  In middle school my childhood friend Sarah had a video camera.  We spent days making elaborate movies in silly costumes.  In one I played a robber and Sarah had thrown a chain around my neck when she “apprehended” me.  I said, “Stop.”  And Sarah kept acting right along.  I tapped her arm, and still no response.   I finally whispered, “I can’t breathe!”  Of course that lead to unending giggle fits.  I have to see if Sarah still has those videos, they’d be a riot to see. I’m pretty much doing the same silliness today.  I headed over to my friend Nick’s house and we made the first of many videos we’re planning on making together on our new youtube channel.   It’s pretty much the same as what Sarah and I did in middle school.  I think I’ll never be too old to have fun and be silly with a camera.  Here’s War:

40s/50s Bermuda knit sweater: thrifted (only $1.50!)
1940s dress: etsy (also worn here)
floral socks: H&M
vintage salvatore ferragamo flats: ebay
satchel: Le Mode Accessories

I was back in San Francisco last week to accompany my boyfriend at his work installing an exhibit at the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate park.  He was also being filmed by the local news station.

I wore one of my latest thrift scores: a 40s/50s light pink angora sweater.  It’s always a joy to locate the vintage label while scouring the racks at a thrift shop.

I’ll be in Portland, OR this weekend!  It’ll be hard to visit some of my favorite vintage stores with little to no spending money in my pocket.  Back in the day Portland was my vintage mecca and I found some amazing pieces there that remain some of my favorites in my wardrobe.  It’s been a while since I’ve been back.  Last time I visited was while I was on tour in November 2009.  The reason for this brief trip is a performance I’ll be doing on Monday, Jan 23 for Back Fence PDX a live storytelling show.  I’ll be telling a story for the theme I DIDN’T THINK THIS THROUGH.

Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m., Monday at The Gerding Theater at the Armory, Portland Center Stage, 128 N.W. 11th Ave.  Tickets are free, but the reserved tickets are “sold out.”  Although some people reserve tickets and don’t use them so there might be some available at the door.  If you’re in Portland, I’d love to see you.  And if you know of any Portland fun things to do or see on the cheap, let me know!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting the beautiful Solonah of Vixen Vintage.   We grabbed breakfast, saw The Artist, and took some fun photo-booth pictures.  Please head over to Vixen Vintage to see more!

photo-booth pics via Vixen Vintage

It was a total blast.  Thank you, Solonah!

(pics taken by and with my fabulous sister)

vintage early 60s dress with purple velvet bodice, organza skirt with ruffles and velvet bows (the back of the skirt matches the front of the skirt!): Red Light Vintage, Portland
vintage early 60s purple velvet flower cocktail hat with veil: AlexSandras Vintage Emporium, Portland
white tights: thrifted
heels: Delia’s catalogue from high school : ) resoled a couple years back

I might believe in vintage gods.  I picked up that purple velvet hat on Saturday.  I didn’t know at the time what I’d wear it with, but I loved it and took it home with me.  On Sunday I walked into another vintage store on another side of town and found the purple velvet dress to match the hat.  They match too perfect  to not believe in some sort of vintage magic or guardian vintage angels.

I ended up wearing the ensemble on Monday night to the storytelling show I performed at.  The show  was awesome and I had so much fun.  I told a story I haven’t told publicly before.  Not even my sister in the audience knew it.  It was a packed 600 seat theater and I was high after the show for at least 24 hours.  Performing in front of a great audience, telling a story I haven’t told before… it was a real thrill.