In Stereo

My mother-in-law Joanie is a collector of these stereoscope pictures, when I visited them last year I kinda fell in love with them also and have decided to get my own as a little Xmas pressie to myself. When we go antiquing we try to find these pics for Joanie and recently we scored a whole bunch, my favourite is this Edwardian (?) wedding scene which I may just have to keep.....it's a little hard to see here but that bride really isn't smiling.

Rear View.

The other night while strolling through the little town we were staying in we passed this antique store and my heart skipped a few beats when I saw this dress form, it is so amazing! I hope you can see it clearly enough, who needs a Wolf size 4 when you can have a Victorian bustle form....found it quite hard to walk away as I want this dress form SO very much, I need it like a hole in the head but oh dear I want it!

This lead to some bustle research online, turns out the bustle went through some rather dramatic changes between the 1860's and 1890's when the bell shaped crinolines gave way to the draped, plumped up rear ends, making the waist teenier and the silhouette slim from the front.....the bustles must have been immensely heavy, especially the horsehair variety, "care for a horse strapped around your middle today dear?"..."no, just a petticoat today thanks".

If this dress form is there the next time I visit it's coming home with me.

Weekend of (fun) Horrors

This weekend we visited some friends in upstate NY, they have a super sweet house across the street from a lovely river complete with little waterfall and dense woods....to get to this delightful river however, you must first pass this HAUNTED HOUSE FROM HELL. It's quite alarming and this morning I risked life and limb (well you know) to get you these pictures. Alone. I took these alone in the woods, easy prey for a bear or zombie axe murderer, you choose. Other horrors this weekend included octogenarian wife swapping and a pig head.....but that's another story! Happy Halloween week.

the black and the pink

Love a LOT of black and just a tiny bit of pink.....though I can't wear pink as always feel a bit
too much of a girl, kinda pleased my nieces are well past the pink stage too though neither is showing as much love for black as I had in my teens, I can hear The Cure right now...... I am also on the hunt for more of these antique capes, got myself a little addiction, 2 in the shop right now!

Saving bucks.

Now that I don't have a job except this vintage biz i am really having to save my pennies. A friend's birthday recently put that to the test as I didn't have a lot of money to spend on something nice....I started off by baking her favourite cookies (they are called Afghans are are a staple biscuit in New Zealand...where cookies are biscuits). Then I found this pink box and covered it in pages from a fashion magazine from 1911, it turned out quite well and because my friend loves vintage it was well received! the card is a vintage postcard which I always pick up for that very purpose....nothing like recycling and making something by hand...more care and less $....I may cover a bunch of boxes for the holiday season, look out I'm going crafty!

Screaming Mimi's Halloween Window!

Apologies for quality, I took these pics as I was walking past Screaming Mimi's (great long standing vintage store) here in NY, it was such an incredible window I had to share....so elaborate! brick wall with candlelight burning in a window, piped in 'fog', yes FOG! every couple minutes to fill the window with an eerie mist! SO GREAT. I am a little addicted to versions of Jack the Ripper (except that travesty with Johnny Depp and Heather something....sorry Johnny but yikes)....how GOOD is this window! love Screaming Mimi's, you rock! Can's imagine a more fun job than putting this window together....

Vintage men.

Usually when I pick up antique photos I go for the girls, but this time the men really stood out, such great poses and expressions,  love that rakish guy in the middle, he reminds me of a cross between Pete Doherty and James Dean....not sure how that would work out. Strange how antique images can be quite modern, Elijah the bearded man looks just like the barista down the st (slightly longer coat)

In Mourning.

It's no secret that I am utterly obsessed with Downton Abbey so here is a gratuitous shot of the lovely ladies from that fine show in their mourning 'finery'. The Edwardian mourning dress above is coming to the shop, to be listed as a 'study piece', I just couldn't leave it behind, the sequin, soutache, lace....oh my is it fabulous and in it's day, when it was pristine, must have been an amazing piece of clothing. The Victorian (Edwardian?)  cape is also shop bound and is in incredible condition, it is so wearable, quite modern and I was super glad to find it, you know when you turn something over waiting for the holes...well they aren't there. nice!

Up up and away upstate.

Little buying spree upstate this weekend, such a gorgeous spot and one of the most beautiful B and B's I've ever stayed in, complete with little cat door and painted doorways....bonus was this Brazilian parade, it was great fun, lasted 5 mins but made our day....the fruits of this trip are coming up this week!
p.s. 70s clogs care of Fab Gabs, haven't taken them off since I bought them!

restoration follow through!

So a while back I had posted some restoration projects. This distressed Edwardian (99% sure?) one above was more of an experiment, the chiffon fabric was damaged (still is) , a very dull bluey-gray & there were gaps in the lace...no buttons. I figured I had nothing to lose so I dunked it in a bath of chocolate dye and this is what happened....a pumpkin orange! It mostly covers the damaged areas though the dye clung to some and there are spots which are much darker. I had some mixed Victorian buttons from Etsy and thought they might look great here, the button loops were all different sizes so my perfectly graduated button exercise ended up being all over the place but....well whatever! It's too big for me but am thinking it might make a nice display piece at the market for fall....I am now planning a fun dyeing project with the marvelous Greedy Seagull....yippee!