Tuesday, February 14, 2012

What's Love Got To Do With It

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I am still technically on a small blogging hiatus due to moving. I'm not even checking in on all the blogs I read, well at least not as much as I normally do. My bloglovin' account is so overloaded! I should be back more regularly soon since we are almost done setting up our home but I thought it would be appropriate to write a small post about love being that it is Valentine's Day. Now you might be a little confused since this is a blog about sewing and vintage clothes and you could be asking yourself "What's Love Got To Do With It?". Well I just thought I would write about one of the things that I love and yes it is related.
One of the things I love more than anything is dressing up, more specifically, dressing up for an occasion. It doesn't have to actually include a dress and heels (although that combo is a fave). I just love having a specific location to go to, or activity to do and finding the perfect outfit for the situation. It can be anything from a birthday party to a baseball game, going to the grocery store or going to to dinner. Sometimes I tend to go overboard and I end up looking like I am wearing a costume but honestly I kind of look at getting dressed for the day as playing dress up. 
My love and I are keeping it low key today. Our wedding anniversary is in a week and we tend to hold off on the big celebration (gifts, dinner out, champagne and the such) till then. The hubs is making me dinner at home tonight and there might be a movie in our future so my outfit includes the coziest dress I own. 
Now if you have big plans for tonight, do me (and your date) a favor and dress the part! Pull out that pretty red dress, who cares if its a little too fancy. Or grab the pink skirt you've been waiting to wear till the weather warms up (that's what tights are for). Bonus points if any of your pieces of clothing have hearts on them. Most importantly though, make sure you put on your sky high heels! Even though we are staying in tonight, my heels might make an appearance ;)

What's Love Got To Do With It by TINA TUNER on Grooveshark

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Take Me Home Tonight

Well I can now officially say that we have completed our first goal on our list. We are moving back into our house!
As some of you know, we rented our place out last year due to Pete's band, Ivan & Alyosha, being on the road so much. I was traveling with him for a couple months and it just didn't make sense for our place to stay empty (and for us to pay to live there) while we were touring the country so we rented it out to some of our friends. We weren't sure when we would be moving back in but after a couple months of talking it over everything came together and the timing couldn't be more perfect. I am so excited that I can say to Pete, take me home tonight and it won't be to my parents' house!
However, this does mean that my store opening will be postponed just a bit. Just about everything is ready but for the next few days I will be concentrating on unpacking boxes and setting up our home (yay for having room for all our stuff again!!) rather then getting everything set up online. It will be soon though friends, very soon!


Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money on Grooveshark

Monday, January 30, 2012

Sleep

I recently added a new item to my "always look for" list when thrifting. Before I even step into a thrift store or vintage store, I come up with a plan. Some days I am looking for something specific for myself, something I have been wanting for a while. Sometimes I am there to stock up on inventory for the store so I will search through each section and take home items to alter and play with. Other times I only look in a certain few sections. The sections change from time to time but generally stay the same. Every single time I go thrifting, even if I am looking for something specific or stocking up for the store, I always look in these certain sections. Right now they include dresses, coats, shoes, pillow cases, and my newest item ... (I feel like it needs a drumroll) ... vintage slips and nightgowns.


I think becoming obsessed with Mad Men last year has a little to do with my love for vintage nightgowns. Betty and Trudy's pajamas are so much more glamorous than the usual leggings and husband's old shirt combo I normally go for. Sometimes I honestly feel a little like I am playing dress up when I wear the vintage nightgowns (I do try to channel a little Betty from time to time) but it makes going to sleep so much more fun. If you don't believe me, take a look below.








Sleep by Azure Ray on Grooveshark

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Best Dress

I'm not sure if it was the sense of accomplishment I felt after successfully altering the red dress or if it was the absolute boredom that came over me after being snowed in for two days and having the only human interaction be watching my favorite TV shows and then reminding myself that the characters are not actually real people nor are they my friends (did I just divulge too much personal information?). Either way, I altered another dress for my store. 
It was once a way too long, frumpy floral frock from the 90's. Now it is a just the right length, fabulous floral frock from the 90's. In fact, I think it could even win a best dress award if entered in a contest. Okay, maybe not, but I do think it turned out pretty great. Especially since I am still figuring out this whole sewing thing and didn't have my sewing machine with me (I was staying at someone else's house) therefore, I stitched the whole thing by hand. My poor little aching back and pin pricked fingers at least deserve to be awarded a massage.




Best Dress by Damien Jurado on Grooveshark

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Rabbit Fur Coat

The crazy snow storm we are still recovering from has got me dreaming about beautiful winter coats. There are a few different clothing items that I collect and coats are definitely one of them. I should probably stop soon before I become a coat hoarder and my husband puts me on a TV show. Until then, I am going to keep searching for beautiful vintage coats every time I go thrifting. I have yet to own a fur coat (unless you count the one I had when I was four years old) but have definitely been tempted by them. I decided that there are few things more glamorous than a rabbit fur coat and my collection could use a little extra glamour!


Here are a few amazing ones on Etsy right now.



Faux fur but still just as glamorous!



Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins on Grooveshark

Monday, January 23, 2012

Red Red Wine

My husband and I set four goals for our family in 2012. We made a plan to not announce each goal until we have achieved it. At this point I have nothing to report about (come on, its still only January, I have 11 more months to go) but hopefully soon I will! I also set a personal goal for myself. In the past I have not been a big fan of red, and no we are not talking about red wine, I have been a fan of that for a while. My personal goal or should I say style goal for myself in 2012 is to embrace the color red. I am going to wear it more (and not just on my lips as I have already mastered that), shop it more and style more outfits including this color. So far I would say I have done pretty well. I recently purchased a new red coat which brings my total for red coats and possibly all red items of clothing up to 2! I also just altered a pretty darn ugly red dress into a brilliantly beautiful red wrap skirt that I am so tempted to keep instead of selling in my soon-to-be store. You will have to wait and see where it ends up, either in my closet or yours!



P.S. Does anyone else love UB40's version of Can't Help Falling In Love better than Elvis's?? Yeah, me neither ...


Red Red Wine by UB40 on Grooveshark

Friday, January 20, 2012

Say You Miss Me

You can all rest assured now. I am alive. I will squash all the rumors by saying that no I was not kidnapped and held for ransom, no I did not run away (although I did think about it), and no I did not lose all my fingers in a freak boating accident and therefore all ability to type. I simply have taken a little six month break.
So much has changed in the last six months and I will get to it all at some point but for now I just want to concentrate on two things. First, please know that there is no reason to say how much you miss me, my heart knows and that's all that matters (but if you really want to tell me, you can). Secondly, my Carole & Clarence store will be opening very soon!! I have a ton of work to do in the next couple weeks but my goal is for it to be open by the end of the month. I'll keep you updated so please stick around and I will promise to stick around this time too!

Say You Miss Me by Wilco on Grooveshark