Thursday, February 04, 2016

Fuck the Empire (Waist)


I bought this dress without looking too closely at it, and mistook it for a square dancing frock. At home, my heart sunk seeing the empire waist. I let the elastic out of the sleeves which looses the puffed detail but keeps my arms from making me look like Popeye the Sailor. Elastic on short sleeves is always annoying-just stop it. OK? Thank you.


 This cardigan is barely holding together. It was falling apart thirty years ago when I bought it, but at a certain point it will be irreparably damaged and I will only have these photos to remember it. That's the difficult part of loving vintage - that sooner or later it ends up in the rag pile if you wear it. I've been shedding sequins like crazy today, so I know it is time to decide whether to pack it or wear it to the bitter end.
 Outfit Particulars:
Empire waist dress-New Life Thrift
Lilian Albus 1950's cashmere sequined cardigan-Some long gone thrift store on Southport Ave. In Chicago in the 80's
1950's clip crystal earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Lisner choker-Sequels thrift store
Vintage clutch bag-Goodwill
Old Navy shoes-Goodwill
Enamel bangle-can't remember
Fragrance-Bvlgari Omnia Amethyst (heliotrope and iris=meh)





Danny put his "snow day" off school to good use. When he gets to 100,000 on Centipede I'm going to make him a trophy. 
Danny's been digging through my records now that we have a turntable again, and he's finding liner notes fascinating. Some of them really did border on short novels with separate booklets, etc.
"Hey, do you have any records by people that aren't dead?"
"I never really liked The Dead..."
"No, I mean dead people."

God, was January a bad month to be an aging rock musician, or what?

Anyway, in the course of digging through all that vinyl the kid got dollar signs in his eyes and went off to check their value on eBay. I didn't even realise I owned an autographed copy of Bare Trees that had been signed by Christine McVie. I picked it up used at some point in the 70's, and never really gave it much attention. Curiously, it sells for about $150.00 which isn't bad, but the same record signed by John McVie sells for $200.00!

"See?! I told you men earn more than women for the same damn work", I yelled to Danny.

I think I'd better hide my records before he tries selling them-apparently there's people willing to fork over upwards of $700.00 for an autographed Ronnie James Dio record. I mean, that was a great day, and it was worth standing around for hours waiting to meet him and get the record signed, but $700.00?! That's fucking nuts.




 I spent the snowy day Wednesday,  chipping our car out of a block of ice. I kept trying the doors, but they were frozen shut. I nearly dislocated a shoulder tugging when I realised the doors weren't frozen but...locked. A couple beeps on the key fob and magically the doors opened. Sigh. In my defence, you can no longer tell if a door is locked by looking at it, but yeah, I felt about a million years old. Happy Birthday to me. I become my grandmother more and more each year.
 If I'm going to act like a crazy old lady I might as well dress as one. This polyester gem of a dress probably began life as a maxi but was shortened to change with the times. There's enough of a hem to let it down a few inches, but I rather like the length it is at. I don't need more things to trip over.
The previous owner tacked the top closed at a more modest spot, but I still managed to go flashing my tits all over Omaha. It is a bit loose (the top, not my morals) so perhaps a few alterations are in order.
 Outfit Particulars:
1970's polyester dress-New Life Thrift
Cardigan-Goodwill
1970's clip earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Necklace-Salvation Army
Enamel brooch-Goodwill
Bangles-all over
Handbag-Hand-Me-Ups
Fragrance-Oscar de la Renta Ruffles



I was thinking I might treat myself to a professional haircut this weekend, but I think what I really need are hot rollers that work. I suppose I could just hack away at it with a pair of office scissors like I usually do when it starts getting annoying. "Almost cut my hair, happened just the other day..." I should have Danny go see what that record is worth these days.

I was going to say it is almost Friday...but for some of you it already is so, Happy Weekend.






















6 comments:

Mim said...

"Tits over Omaha" sounds like a great war film.

Aaah, Lisner! My 'best' costume jewellery is Lisner, I love it. Your choker is a smasher. Good luck on deciding what to do about the cardigan; I always end up hanging onto things for far longer than is sensible just because I can't bear to get rid of them.

Bibi Maizoon said...

EARTHQUAKE!!! We just had another earthquake. M5.2! If this keeps up we're going to be living in Tibet soon.
That embellished cardigan/shrug looks so gorgeous on you! Even I'm sad it's falling apart.
Bvlgari = meh period. Full stop.
I'm still looking for a set of hot rollers that work. My Revlon set suffered a meltdown from a power surge (we have voltage regulators on nearly everything because of this) and my cheapie $12 dual voltage Revlon 1.5" curling iron from Walmart in Ft Lauderdale went kaput after only 6 months. Phooey on Revlon!

http://calmlycookingcurry.blogspot.com/2016/02/mughlai-haraa-murgh-mughal-style-green.html

Vronni's Style Meanderings said...

Oh, it's such a shame about your cashmere cardigan - it's absolutely beautiful and really sets the dress off perfectly. You look very glamorous - as if you are about to go to a cocktail party!

The other outfit is lovely too and the jewellery looks good enough to eat in those lovely, delicate ice cream colours. I wanted to lick the earrings as they looked like minty sweets!

Ciao

Veronica
vronni60s.blogspot.com

Goody said...

@Mim
"Tits Over Omaha Beach." Now I need a joke about a pontoon landing.

@Bibi
I don't know what happened to Revlon. My curling iron started flaking off bits of the coating on the barrel after a few months. I think I'll stop by the Sally's and ask the pros what to use.

@Veronica
I wish I were headed to a cocktail party. I guess it will just have to be cocktails as I write lesson plans. I don't think I could drink enough to make this material interesting.

Beth Waltz said...

Oh, dear, that posh cardigan makes the Empire dress wearable! Would it be possible to locate a bridal gown dressmaker with the skills and silks to give it a muslin backing and restring the beadings?

Love that spring-like color scheme of light green with tan!

Sue said...

love all the outfits, and shedding sequins is so in this year I do believe!