Leproust Vintage is having a $25 and under sale, so I snagged this darling blue 50s dress with an amazing collar and neckline.
Dress: Leproust Vintage
Hat: Sacramento Antique Fair
Purse: found on the street
Heels: MIA
I recently came back from a family cabin weekend. I’ll post pictures soon. Going up to my step-mom’s cabin and paddling around the lake in an inflatable boat is now one of my favorite things to do. This last trip I taught myself to knit and made 3 mini purses and a sunglasses pouch. I’m eager to start working on some 1950s patterns from a couple knitting magazines I picked up at the antique fair. Specifically the adorable sweater and shorts set on the cover of that one magazine, and the one piece bathing suit (seen on that woman lounging by the pool). I gotta get good at this! There’s too many things I want to make!
Thanks to all who entered the bloggiversary Laurel’s Bench necklace giveaway.
The prize is the lovely Silence Between necklace from Laurel’s Bench.
And now for the winner:
Congratulations Jacqueline L. I’ll be emailing you soon!
I had a jam-packed weekend, hence a picture-heavy post that spans three days or so. I’ll try to be brief.
On the fourth of July my sister and I visited the Marin County Fair, the fair we went to as kids. We got there around 5pm and stayed until the fireworks, so I didn’t get to see all of the fair. There’s always next year!
I felt like my mom a bit because I dressed festively — kind of like the way my mom wears glittery puff-paint holiday sweaters. Here’s me at the fair, and a picture of corn on the cob cupcakes!
top and skirt: F21, espadrilles and watch necklace: ebay, hat: Ross
We spent the night at my grandfather’s house:
dress: Red Light in Portland, OR, shrug: some store in a mall
And while my sister was visiting with a friend on 4th St in San Rafael, CA, I went for a stroll and picked up some 7″ records for my boyfriend at Red Devil Records and found an amazing dress at Aubergine. This was my first time in this vintage store and I was completely wooed when they had me pick a vintage scarf for them to wrap my dress in. They made the scarf into a bag! It’s eco-friendly and I got a cute scarf for freebies! I will definitely go there again.
My sister and I then drove up to Sacramento. My boyfriend Ben made us a delicious dinner and even baked a strawberry pie! KEEPERS!
I wore the dress I bought at Aubergine to a show I was hosting at the Sacramento Punch Line. This dress was hanging out in front and was the first thing I picked up. It has the most unique neckline and pattern. I love it! I think it’s late 40s, early 50s? What do you guys think? I need to get better at dating garments…
Tomorrow I’ll post the winner of the bloggiversary Laurel’s Bench necklace giveaway.
My sister is in town visiting from Portland, OR. We had a big day starting with a good lunch with our Dad and step-mom at Burma Superstar and then ice cream at Toy Boat on Clement Street. Then we drove to the Sunset and our Dad showed us the house he grew up in until he was 11 years old. From there we went to Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park and went paddle-boating! We stopped by the conservatory of flowers and peeked at the dahlia garden and then my sister and I did some quick shopping on Haight Street. I scored an amazing black and lacy vintage Jantzen swimsuit (I’ll definitely do a post on it), and a nice white blouse. Phew.
I wore some shorts I picked up at a thrift store. I added a scalloped hem, much like the other pair I did. This time I left them a little longer. Unfortunately because they’re lighter you can see any mistakes I made from sewing, but whatever, I love ‘em!
outfit one- Top: F21, Shorts: thrifted and hemmed by myself, espadrilles: ebay, watch necklace: ebay, hat: JJ’s Surplus, purse: found on the street
outfit two- Top: thrifted J Crew, Jeans: Alloy, Jacket: H&M, espadrilles: ebay, watch necklace: ebay, hat: Berkeley Hat Company, purse: found on the street
Don’t forget to enter my bloggiversary Laurel’s Bench necklace giveaway!
It was a beautiful day in San Francisco today. On my way doing errands I snapped some outfit shots. I included the scenic views you can see from this one hilltop near where I live. I’m a lucky girl living in such an awesome city.
jumper: Down at Lulu’s in Oakland, CA
tube top: J Crew thrifted
espadrilles: vintage via ebay
vintage 60s wind-up watch necklace: ebay
hat: Berkeley Hat Company
purse: found on the street
Don’t forget to enter my bloggiversary Laurel’s Bench necklace giveaway!
I found this adorable pink gingham dirndl top with embroidered and scalloped sleeves at a vintage store on Haight street. It makes a cute little crop top. I paired it with this ultra high-waisted skirt with suspenders that I found at Ross years ago on sale for $2. I’m still debating on whether to take off the gigantic buttons. What do you think… buttons yay or nay?
One of the purses I’m toting is a purse by Mugwump made from recycled materials and features an Auto Bingo card on the front. It’s exactly like the ones I used to have as a kid for long road trips. It’s handmade from an artist in Portland, OR. When I went out later I donned a little cropped jacket because it was nippy and I exchanged the purse for another.
dirndl blouse/crop top: vintage, skirt: Ross, shoes: TUK, jacket: Tulle, purse 1: Mugwump, purse 2: found on the street, seamed stockings: Sacramento antique fair
Don’t forget to enter my bloggiversary Laurel’s Bench necklace giveaway!
It’s been a year today since I did my first Mary Van DAAAMN! post. To celebrate I want to say thanks to my readers with a special giveaway courtesy of Laurel’s Bench. I remember the first night I looked through Laurel’s Bench on etsy. I was with my friend Laura and we were oohing and aahing over the natural beauty of Laurel’s classic and yet utterly unique designs. Her individually hand-crafted pieces are made in her home studio and she even boasts a green and eco-friendly business which is no surprise when you see the way nature inspires her pieces. One of the pieces Laura and I loved so much was this pearl ring. We both said it would make the most romantic wedding ring. Please take a look at her shop and let me know what made you ooh and aah.
This giveaway is for a gorgeous mother of pearl necklace called “The Silence Between.”
All you have to do to enter is comment under this post with your email. You can get bonus entries by:
This contest is open to all readers and will close a week from today (July 7, 2010) at midnight (PST).
Thank you all for a fun year.
I went to a wedding this weekend. I spent many a moments thinking about what I would wear. There were a lot of factors involved like the Sacramento heat, it being an informal backyard wedding where there would be port-a-potties and having no idea whether I’d be sitting on dirty tree stumps or something. I love wearing vintage, but not to places that could POTENTIALLY DAMAGE OR HARM my treasured vintage pieces! Ha ha! So I decided to go with a dress I bought at the Dress Barn a couple years ago (funny, cuz I would probably never walk in there now). It’s a dress I’ve worn once before, but after donning it again, I realized how much I liked it, and how I don’t wear it enough. It’s a modern dress, but it definitely has a 1930s kind of style to it. The bartender at the wedding complimented me on the dress and I said, “Thank you. I was worried it was too Easter Sunday looking.” She said, “Easter Sunday? That’s when you wear all black!”
Dress: Dress Barn, Espadrilles: ebay a long time ago? I forget…
These pictures were taken in my boyfriend’s backyard next to our garden (and his black cat, Evel). It’s my first time gardening in soil (in the ground and not in pots), and I’m pretty proud of it. We’ve got basil, green beans, corn, green onion, and various tomato varieties. Once we get some time we’ll make another plot with squash, cucumber and watermelon. I’m hoping to plant some more herbs too.
Mary Van DAAAMNers! I’m sorry to be away from you for so long. Sadly the day before the Lyres & Lace show I got a massive sore throat that became a head flu/cold dreadful thing. I had to cancel several things I was looking forward to doing like hosting that Lyres & Lace show, being with my granddad on his 91st birthday, and selling my crafty zine wares at the Haight Street Fair.
My brave and sweet boyfriend came down to care for me. I was a lucky girl having such a fine man force me to eat vegetables and fruit. I felt immediately better the next day — which was a good thing since I was auditioning for Comedy Central that night. I did well despite not being 100%. The only bummer was realizing after my performance that I completely forgot an extra punchline on one of my bits. BAH!
Before I got sick, I took a 4 day sewing class where I sewed my first complete garment! It’s a dress from a modern pattern (which I mistakenly bought in my wrong size) and it didn’t come out exactly how I hoped, so it’s still a work-in-progress. I was a bit hesitant to use this vintage fabric I found at The East Bay Depot for Creative Re-use (my absolute favorite place to buy fabric) because I loved it so much. But I’m pretty happy with the way it came out, especially after adding some vintage lace I thrifted at the collar and on the hem.
You can also see some sewing goodies I found at a thrift store in Arnold, CA like a wooden thread organizer and a sewing book from 1941 filled with tutorials and “right” and “wrong” ways to dress according to your body type. It’s got some great sewing tips on the kind of details from 1940s apparel that I love and hope to replicate in my own sewing projects. My hope is to get good enough at sewing to sew dresses from the 30s, 40s and 50s from original patterns. I already have a small collection of vintage patterns waiting for me.
