Red Skirt Refashion

Yesterday I was feeling crafty and strangely motivated, and because I had a day off from assistant directing the play our theatre program is working on, I decided I was going to work on some sewing.
I'm not the best sewer. I tried sewing my Prom dress last Spring, but eventually that became a project for my mother and grandma, because they didn't want me to mess up the expensive material. So I decided that refashioning something I already own would be a nice stepping stone from me. I bought this really 80s, ugly red skirt from a thrift store a couple weeks back and I've been meaning to do something to it, so I got it out and tried it on. It was way too long, almost down to my ankles (and it's a pencil skirt, pencil skirts should not be that long!) and really tight around the waist.
I keep stupidly forgetting to take a before picture of the clothing I refashion, but I found a picture online that may or may not be the original skirt, but even if it's not, it looks exactly like it:

Of course, I have stubby legs, so the skirt is longer on me. But you get the general gist. Not a very flattering length. I shortened it about four inches, moved the back clasp on the waist for a wider fit, and with my extra red fabric I made a little bow to go on the waist-band! Here is the finished result:



Bah. I still need to iron it, the bow is all wonky in this picture. But I'm very pleased with the result! The waistband is snug, but much more comfortable than it was before, and the length is perfect. I think the bow is a cute touch as well! And I did it in two hours, which is rediculous if you know me.

Blouse-Forever21, Skirt-refashioned, Necklace-H&G, Shoes-Bass

This is definitely one of my favorite outfits I've worn so far. I've always loved the red with polka dots look. Of course, this morning when I put it on, it was sunny and warm in my town, which is almost unheard of, but when I drove to school it got progressively foggier and foggier until I couldn't see where the horizon was, which is normal for Morro Bay, but I was very dissapointed. Also, I didn't bring a cardigan or jacket, so I was cold.

It was kind of worth it though.

1940s Army Wife

I went thrifting yesterday (again) and found some really cute stuff. In fact, my entire outfit today was thrifted. I was told that I looked like a young lady saying goodbye to her sweetheart as he boarded a train going off to the war, which is sad, but I can see the resemblance. If there happens to be a draft soon, at least I'll know what to wear!

Blouse, skirt, and shoes-thrifted

I love this outfit. The blouse is awesome, it has the obnoxiously named "Pussybow" collar that I've been searching for all over-and guess what? I found it at the bottom of a Goodwill warehouse bin and bought it for 58 cents! What a score. That is why I always dig to the bottom of the bins, no matter how heavy everything is. I had Gryphon use his man-muscles to hold everything out of the way so I could dive to the very bottom and extract treasures. It's a good way to shop.
The skirt and shoes were from the Goodwill thrift-store, actually, which is the higher end Goodwill where they take all their nicer stuff. They were definitely pricier than 58 cents, but I'm not complaining.

"Bye honey, don't worry about me, I look fabulous!"

My friend Erica was destined to end up on my blog at some point. She's a master thrifter, she somehow finds the most outlandish garments and wears them beautifully. She's the one who tought me the bottom of the bin technique. Today she was wearing a lovely patchwork dress that I had to get some pictures of.

Isn't it cute? Erica is a goddess in thrift stores. I make an effort to take her with me whenever I go. She'll most likely be a regular on the blog!

Middy-Cut

After many long weeks of nagging my mother to schedule me a hair appointment, today I finally got my wish! I decided that I was going to get a Middy-cut, which is a popular hairstyle from the 40s. You can pretty much do anything with it, it's perfect for updos, pincurls, and just leaving it alone. Heres the diagram I took in to help the stylist get the cut I wanted:

I decided to do the exact cut, but leave my bangs a little longer in the front so I could still do Victory rolls and tuck it back into a bun. Here is my hair before...

And here it is afterwards!

Shirt-thrifted, Belt-thrifted, Cardigan-thrifted, Jeans-Mossimo, Necklace-H&G

I'm very happy with the way it turned out. My stylist blow dryed it out for me, so this isn't my natural hair texture. I'm excited to wear it with my regular curl, and also with updos and pin-curls and the lot. It's so flattering! If you ever want a change, go for a middy-cut in any length. They're so versatile, I'm so excited to start playing around with it!

While we were out today I went thrifting and brought home almost all of my ensemble. I bought this necklace at H&G, which has some great stuff, and it pretty much looks great with anything I want to wear! I've wanted one of these for a long time, I'm excited to finally have one.

I'll post something later with all the stuff I thrifted today!

Body Image

I'm really tired of hearing girls complain about their "problem areas". I hear "I have a flabby tummy" or, "my thighs are huge" and even "the mole/freckle/birthmark right here is so ugly!" It is incredibly sad that girls can be so critical of even the tiniest "imperfections" on their bodies. Of course, this is a fact of life. I don't know one highschool girl who doesn't think theres something wrong with her.

I know it's cliche to say, but the only real way to learn to love your body is to learn to love your body. I know. I used to have problems with myself too! (Still do, but I have to realize that nobody else cares!) It's silly, but wearing vintage clothing has made me grow to love my body. All the cute vintage dresses fit my curvy shape, and since I'm also petite, almost everything I find fits me!

It's funny that curvy girls wish they were stick thin, and stick thin girls wish they were curvy. If you're curvy, realize that you have something that every girl wants, and don't be afraid to show it off! Skinny girls, realize that you're probably the only body-type that looks good in all the latest crazy fashions, so rock something that shows off how slim you are.

Everyone has a beautiful body. Some real women have curves, and some real women don't.

I was really inspired by a poem I read online, but I can't remember what it's called or who it's by. It deals with the topic of what a "real woman" is. It's just as unfair to say "real women have curves" as it is to say that skinny girls are the most attractive.

Anyway, sorry about the rant. I'm a little frustrated with girls at the moment!

Heres my outfit today:

Blouse-Forever 21, Jeans- Mossimo, Shoes-Morona, Necklace-Vintage, Hair clip-handmade

This blouse is one of my favorites. Everyone suspects it's vintage, when in fact I bought it at one of my rare trips in to Forever 21. (Shopping there is not a bad thing, I just can't stand how loud the music is.) The necklace belongs to my Great-great Grandmother, and it's one of my favorites. It's so colorful and works perfectly with modern clothes. I know you can't see my hair clip in either of the above pictures, so heres a picture of that:

I love this clip, and the hairstyle is surprisingly easy to do! It looks so elegant, but it only takes me about ten minutes to do. Sometimes I put it up into a bun too, and it looks just as pretty!

Alright, that's it for today! I'm in the middle of a school week so theres not much I'm working on right now clothing-wise. Hopefully this weekend I can start working on my dress-form!

Ta-ta!



Business Casual

I wish I had more money and more time to go thrifting, learn to sew, and refashion things. I have an idea for a project that I'll hopefully do this weekend, which I'm sure will be very helpful to me. I found a tutorial online about how to make a dress form out of your own body shape, and I can't think of why anyone wouldn't want to do it. I need a good dress form, and it'd be so helpful to make adjustments to garments on a body identical to yours!
I love the look of this floral fabric covered form:

The process of making a dress form involves covering my semi-naked self in heavy duty paper mache, standing completely still for two hours while it dries, and then cutting it off of my body and filling it with plaster. Definitely sounds like fun.

Hopefully I can at least go shopping for some pretty fabric for my dress form this weekend. I procrastinate so hard that hoping to accomplish the whole project in one week is pretty far-fetched for me!

My outfit today was very "Business Casual", as one of my friends called it. I straightened my hair for the first time in months in order to do proper Victory Rolls, but for some reason they didn't quite turn out the way I wanted. They look good, but I think my hair is too long to keep a good shape. I will definitely experiment with these in the future.





The top roll turned out nicely, but the bottom one...blegh. It's much harder to shape rolls on top of your own head than it is on somebody else, especially when your hair is more than a foot long and thick. And frizzy.

Blazer-thrifted, Blouse-ELLE, Jeans-Levi, Shoes-Vintage

Today I began work as an Assistant Director for the school play. It's called Wait Until Dark, based on the 1967 movie with Audrey Hepburn. A friend of mine, Jamie, is doing hair and makeup for it, and there will be a ton of retro costumes that are most likely vintage pieces being worn. I'll definitely get pictures of everyone dressed up as time goes on!
I need to think of a clever ruse in order to get subscribers. I'm not that boring, am I?

Shoes. Shoes. Shoes.

For some reason, shoes never attracted me as much as other girls my age. And I mean that as in, other girls were attracted to shoes more than I was, not I was attracted to girls my age more than shoes. AP English has taught me really good syntax. (That was a joke)
Anyway, now that I'm a teenager, I've found that my lack of interest in shoes has led me to be slightly shoe-stupid, as in, I don't know what kind of shoes are cute.
All of that changed when I started going to thrift stores. Oh lordy, are the vintage shoes cute. Sadly, very very few of them fit my size 7 feet, as people tended to be much tinier back then for some reason. So retro inspired shoes have become my friend.

I love this shoe. It's from Modcloth, and I'm saving up my money to buy it at once! Seriously, I know some of the hardcore vintage enthusiasts might call it cheating to buy modern shoes that are inspired by vintage designs, but it is incredibly hard to find vintage shoes if you are more than a size, say, 4. Modcloth definitely has the best shoes I've seen. I have my own shoes, of course. Here are a few of my favorites:

These belonged to my second cousin, who thrifted them from an unknown source. I believe they are from China, because they don't have "made in China" printed on them. Only Chinese characters!

These are cheating, because they're not Vintage, and they're from TJ Max. But they're awesome, and go with just about everything. And they're super comfy!

I bought these for $5 at a thrift store in New York. They are incredible, aren't they? I have yet to wear them for the sole purpose that they are so loud I can't find anything plain enough to wear them with. Hopefully I can find a little black dress soon..

These are my favorite pair of pumps ever. I wear them almost every day, they are so comfortable! I'm sad to say I bought these at Target. They look so classic!

These beauties were thrifted from Buffalo Exchange in Fullerton. They're my special occasion/party shoes.

Hm. Apparently I'm lacking in the flats department. I should probably get on that since wearing heels to highschool everyday gets you mistaken for a teacher.

I know. I want you too.

TGFVD

I'm so clever. The title of this is a clever play off of the common saying "TGIF" or "Thank god it's Friday". Indeed! But also, "Thank god for vintage dresses!" More on that later.
My outfit today was very librarian-esque. Many people tell me that I look like a librarian most days, actually. So heres a photo of me in my natural habitat:

Blouse-Old Navy, Skirt-Francie's Boutique, Shoes-TJMax, Necklace-Vintage

So while I was at school today I realized that I have a ton of awesome vintage dresses that I never get to wear because they're either too wild for school, or they don't fit me quite right and I still need to make adjustments to them. Since it's Friday, I decided to have two of my awesomely beautiful friends over to help me model them! Introducing Wren:

Wren obviously has very short hair, but I decided to branch out of my usual hairstyle repitoire, and I gave her a faux-bang. It looks so adorable on her! Ah! This dress is vintage and I love it to pieces, but the button-holes are so large that they keep popping open over my much larger bust. In fact, they were even popping open on Wren, but at least it wasn't quite as constant. If I were to wear it, I doubt we would have been able to get a decent picture.

My other friend, Verona, is the female version of my boyfriend, who happens to be her brother. She is tiny and probably wouldn't fit in any of my thrifted items, so she brought her own vintage dress, given to her by an Aunt. It is adorable, and I wish it fit me.

She looks stunning in everything, but I'm definitely going to make her wear her hair and make-up like this every day. Her jewelry is mine, or my great-great Grandmother's, I should say. I recently got a huge box of vintage jewelry that my own Grandmother found and thought I would probably wear. And I have. Almost every day. And I love it.

For a while I just thought I sucked at making Victory Rolls. But after doing Verona's hair, I've realized that it's just my hair that sucks at Victory Rolls. Straight hair is definitely the way to go. My hair is obnoxiously curly, and it just turns out looking like I have two large tumors on my head. After many long years, I shall be breaking out the hair straightener specifically so I can do lovely rolls on my head!

And last but not least, me, in a thrifted dress from (I'm guessing) the late 40s. I love this dress, but obviously I can't wear it to school. I'm putting it on the backburner for Prom later this year. You'll probably see it on me again in the months to come!

Yeah, I know. I'm a ham.

EDIT: The rest of the photoshoot is available to view on my photobucket account here! Enjoy!

Longing for Fall

I love fall.
I love wearing cute skirts and cardigans, I love wearing warm colors that reflect the leaves and the pumpkins that are growing in the fields by my house. I start thinking about mulling spices, cocoa, and pumpkin pie halfway through summer, and at the beginning of fall, I am soooo ready.
I've been seeing so many cute vintage-inspired high waisted skirts and embroidered sweaters floating around the web lately, and I've come to the conclusion that I NEED to add some bright green to my wardrobe.

Super adorable outfit from Modcloth.com's Go For It! collection.

Ah, the scalloped collar on that polka-dotted blouse just beckons to me. For some reason I have trouble finding blouses with scalloped collars when I'm thrifting. I'm starting to worry that all the authentic ones have been snatched up! Ah well. I can always buy a $30 version from Modcloth. Which is perfectly fine with me. I enjoy modcloth.
I've never been a huge fan of green, but for some reason this particular shade in this style of clothing just looks adorable to me! I must get my hands on something this color, and then I'll feel complete. And those shoes. Those shoes are amazing. Good pumps are a Fall essential for me.

Unfortunately, in Los Osos, fall doesn't really happen until October. Right now it's foggy and cold outside, which is typical Summer behavior in the area. Of course, that doesn't stop me from dressing like it's warm and cheery!

Blouse-Forever 21, Belt-Francie's Boutique, Skirt-Old Navy

Sadly, nothing vintage or thrifted was incorporated into my outfit today. Usually I manage to include at least an accessory or two! Even when nothing is vintage, I still try to keep to the classic sort of sillhouete from the 40s or 50s. I hate looking boxy in the waist area. Ugh.
Sidenote, I am in LOVE with the lipstick I'm wearing. In fact, I don't know if I have gone a day without it since I bought it two weeks ago. It's Outlast Lip-Stain from Covergirl, in Crimson. It's awesome. I can drink out of cups, eat sandwiches, and kiss my boyfriend without anything coming off! It took me a while to convince him of this, actually. He's so embarrassed if he gets lipstick on him!
I have so many garments I can't wear yet because of how cold it is, including the cutest red high-waisted shorts! Bring it on, Fall. I'm ready for you.

An intro and a few garments!

Hello!
Well, with that greeting you can probably tell how painfully new to blogging I am. This is definitely a venture into a new world for me! At this moment, I'm a 17 year old girl living in California, who is in love with vintage and vintage-inspired clothing. Everything about the 40s and 50s is beautiful to me, and I love taking inspiration from that time period to build my own personal style. My love of thrifting began about a year ago when I found an adorable sun-dress at a local resale store, and since then theres been no going back. I still shop at modern retail stores to find wardrobe staples (it's hard living off of cardigans, blazers, and sundresses alone!) but I tend to find things there that have a vintage twist to them.
While I'm hoping this blog will mostly be about thrifting and wearing retro garments, I will admit that you will probably enjoy lots of food porn as well, because I'm also obsessed with baking all sorts of things, especially cupcakes! Theres no telling when a cupcake post will crop up.
Anyway, now that the intro is over with, I'll post a few garments I have pictures of!

This is the dress I wore to my Junior Prom last year. I sewed it myself from a Vintage Vogue pattern from the 50s. Well, my grandmother the seamstress did most of the work, and I had to endure many painful pin pricks when she needed a model. The dress turned out fabulously, but due to my loosing quite a bit of weight over the past year it doesn't fit me very well anymore, so perhaps alterations will be made in the future...hm...

The shoes were thrifted, and the crystal necklace belonged to my great-great-grandmother. I'm proud to say that among the sea of skin-tight tube dresses at Prom, I definitely stood out in a good way!

My boyfriend, Gryphon, shares my love of all things vintage, and even lets me drag him around thrifting sometimes! Perhaps you'll see a post about our adventures together sometime in the future.

This is a cardigan I refashioned using Casey Brown's tutorial. It was incredibly easy, even for a beginning seamstress such as myself! I shortened the waist and arms, added vintage mother of pearl buttons, and found a lovely exotic bird pattern online to embroider onto the breast. After this, I doubt I will ever try to embroider from a pattern on to black again. Picking out the little bits of paper left over was barely worth it!

If you want to use the tutorial I did for refashioning cardigans, check out Casey's blog! She is one of the lovely vintage ladies online who inspired me to start my own.

Well, that's it for now! I haven't gotten into the habit of taking outfit or clothing pictures yet, but there are definitely many to come!