Update: Obviously I wouldn't make a pun about a French cathedral had I known what was going on in France before posting. I'm looking at the news in horror like everyone else right now.
They call me second hand rose (window), I'm wearing second hand clothes...
Fine, I've run out of stained glass jokes-but hey, check out this blouse I bought for a buck at the Goodwill.
There's a pleat down the length of the front, and buttons up the back, but I still love it. The material is a heavy satin that drapes so beautifully. The leg o' mutton sleeves likely featured shoulder pads which have since been removed, but it still wears OK without them. I'd guess this was an expensive blouse at the time (80's, I think) and is much nicer than the sort of thing I wore under my suits.
I unpacked some of the velvet clothing, though it does feel a bit early for t (I hear you goths out there laughing). Time to get out the lint brush too, but that's just part of wearing dark, plush fabrics. This is an older skirt, and I can really see the difference in quality of velvet. I suppose for enough money you might be able to buy fabric of this weight, but clothes right off the rack in a department store? Doubtful. Sometimes I could cry at how nicely made vintage clothes are, and how far we've gone in the opposite direction in recent years. I don't thrift shop only to save money-I do it to rescue all the beautifully made garments that would otherwise end up on a barge to the third world for recycling.
Dressing as stained glass does require accessories that can stand-up to the brightness. Oh, I know some people would go all minimalist and wear a simple pair of ear studs. Those are the people that go bare-legged in January, always have a scowl on their faces (probably 'cos they're freezing), and then go drink a glass of green sludge and call it a meal. Fuck them, I like baubles (and warm feet).
Outfit Particulars:
1980's blouse-Goodwill
Liz Claiborne velvet waistcoat-Goodwill
Susan Bristol velvet skirt (80's-ish) Goodwill
Brooch-An antique store in Massachusetts ages ago
Earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Ring-Can't remember
Handbag-Goodwill
Fragrance-none, but I have enough Adorn hairspray in my hair (to no avail) that you can smell me at 100 paces. In a way, I'm glad it is still around, and that they didn't try to modernise the scent like Aqua Net did. Adorn smells like a 1960's beauty shop-as it ought to.
Sigh. I just can't do anything with my hair-and I never could. I'm thinking it is time to get it cut again (my last haircut was in February) but I'm loathe to lose the option of pulling it back. Maybe when I grow-up I'll learn how to use rollers and hairspray.
Good trick photographing the back of my head with the use of mirrors though. Amazing I didn't re-pull my neck doing this stunt. Seriously, what the hell was I thinking?!
We had a new visitor to the feeder today. I would have thought it was just a Hairy Woodpecker, but Danny informs me it is in fact a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. Eventually, he figured out the seed is at
the bottom. Watching him peck at the plastic was sort of pathetic.
A weekend without any chores?
Allllllright.
Have a great weekend.
What a gorgeuos brooch! And the perfect blouse, earring, ring, & clutch to pair it with!.
ReplyDeleteLove my Elnett Satin hairspray, smells like Jovan Musk for women.
On those 'beautifully made garments that would otherwise end up on a barge to the third world for recycling'-
We have occasioned to visit Inland Container Depot, ICD, in Tughlakabad to pick up or ship out goods by sea. (Tughlakabad is a village on the outskirts of Delhi where the mountainous municipal garbage dump for Delhi NCR is located as well as where the depot for containers that come & go daily by train or lorry to the ports of Mumbai & Kolkata.) I counted 72 containers full of donated woolens are left abandoned at the ICD as their recipients could not or would not pay the customs/duty required. Much to my husband's embarrassment, I briefly sifted through the contents of one such container whose door was ajar- nearly all "Made in England" labels, coats, sweaters, mittens, scarves, etc. Looked to be late 60's & early 70's, some were worn, threadbare, or shredded beyond use - but many (although crumpled) were darned near new. Amazing that someone would pay the $7,000 it costs to ship a 10'x40' container from the UK to India, plus rental fees on the container, but not figure in the customs/duty?
Your observations about the heavier "hand" of vintage velvets and satins resonates with me, Goody. Even 50-year-old winter coat linings are made of better stuff (using the British usage for 'fabric') than modern wedding dress materials. Pfui.
ReplyDeleteThe blouse, the bag, the earrings, le toute ensemble is exactly what I'd be delighted to wear to the nicest holiday event for which I'm invited. And I'd be comfortable, too, especially if I could score some tall black velvet boots with (gah!) sensible heels.
Good grief, that IS a yellow-bellied sapsucker. Well spotted, Danny! Be sure to put him on your Life List.
@Bibi
ReplyDeleteThat's fascinating how the containers just sit there. The duties can't be *that* high? I'm not sure I could have resisted poking about either.
@Beth
When I need new shoes/boots I try K Mart first-they have a halfway decent shoe department that won't put me in debt. I know I've seen tall suede flat boots there (not sure about velvet) and they often have a BOGO sale so you can pick up a couple pair at a bargain. I'm not sponsored by them (I SHOULD be!) but I do shop there.
I bought some velvet flats last week, but they really look like house slippers-something to be aware of when wearing velvet footwear.
HOW DO YOU DO IT? Only you could pick out a bag to match that blouse. Only you. I'd love to see you and Vix shopping together; she'd pick out something in about 30 seconds using her vintage-locating powers and you'd find exactly the right accessories to go with it while I was still mumbling about a black bag because black goes with everything.
ReplyDeleteOh, Paris... so sad. Apparently a number of attacks here in the UK have been stopped; decades of having to be wary of an IRA attack has probably made us more prepared the anticipate and deal with terrorist attacks than most of our neighbours, though there's not a lot you can do about nutters with guns.
@Mim
ReplyDeleteI confess to a large handbag collection. When I couldn't afford clothes, I bought bags because they tend to be cheap at thrift stores. I think being able to spot the stuff is just experience. Like Vix, I spent years working with the stuff-myself as an antique dealer. I didn't do much vintage clothing, but I learned how to spot it for my own collection. I wish I could go shopping with her-it would be a blast.