A pair of off-white boots were just the thing as our weather couldn't decide if it was spring or winter. I had boots like these in the 80's (didn't everyone?) but didn't think to hang onto them. Thanks to pack rats donating their 80's boots to the Goodwill, I'm happily reunited with what is turning out to be very practical footwear. Leather, $5.99 Goodwill
Uh oh, there's a spot on my boot. There's a family story about my uncle, aged about three stopping still on the street and crying because there was a spot on his new, white shoes. He wouldn't budge until my poor grandmother got down on her knees and wiped it off with a handkerchief. When I bought the boots they were filthy, but in otherwise good shape. As my nan is no longer around, I had to clean them off myself. I did a rather good job-they look like new.
This dress is gigantic (the bust must be at least 50 inches) but rather than do alterations, I stuck a blouse beneath it and wore it like a pinafore. It has an Italian Label, and I would place it either late 60's or early 70's by the print and colours (in the US anyway, that sort of thing persisted into the mid-70's, but I suspect the Italians were ahead of us fashion/design wise). It is a very casual dress made of barkcloth, and was probably intended for wear at home, or possibly on holiday. How it ended up in Council Bluffs, Iowa is interesting to imagine.
Outfit Particulars:
Vintage Italian dress-Goodwill
Talbot's cardigan-Hand-Me-Ups
Vintage leather boots-Goodwill
Vintage Act III blouse-Goodwill
Handbag-Jenerations (in the abandoned mall) Omaha
Vintage woven metal and enamel earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Bangles (2 Bakelite, 1 brown not)-All Goodwill
1970's Enamel brooch on cardigan-Goodwill
Fragrance-Chanel #22
For the days when the weather behaves, I have a lovely pair of vintage Selby shoes to get me between seasons. These are " Old Lady Shoes" but perfectly appropriate as I am an old lady.
I don't ordinarily bother with back and side views of a pair of shoes, but the details on these were just too nice, and I had to share.
These shoes set me back two dollars at Sequels Thrift Store (in the Dairy Queen) in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I do love that place.
One of my other favourite haunts for a good bargain is New Life Thrift. I found this set of lucite bangles (there's a red one too) and the quartz bangle sitting there in the case unnoticed, and unloved. You know what a soft-touch I am, so rather than feel bad about the lonely bangles wondering why they were abandoned in a thrift store, I took them home. I should stop anthropomorphising my vintage.
Anyone care to place a bet how long the bangle lasts before it slips from my wrist and crashes to the ground in a million pieces? I lost a nice glass bangle that way, and it is the reason I don't own any jade-I am too careless for anything that delicate.
This necklace? Plastic. So much less nerve-wracking to wear.
Oh would you look at that? No, really I have no idea what I was looking at. This must be my day for, "Glancing downward photo."
Hey, how about that bag?
It was falling apart, and it could still use some serious repair, but for a dollar I thought it was a good purchase, flaws and all.
Some patience and a bag of assorted seed beads will take care of that.
Outfit Particulars:
Home sewn (not by me) skirt-Goodwill
1980'sBill Blass jacket-Hand-Me-Ups
Silk novelty top-Goodwill
Vintage Selby shoes-Sequels
Caron of Houston vintage handbag-Fairytail Costumes, Omaha
Vintage Lucite and quartz bangles-New Life Thrift
1960's clip earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Plastic Necklace-Shop-Ko
Fragrance-Annick Goutal Eau d' Hadrien (for that fresh lemon scent that says, "I just washed up the dinner dishes!)
We're due for more snow tonight (I promise, no singing) so I'd better go cover the garden with the fleeces. I harvested a large bowl of spinach, sorrel, and pea shoots to serve with tonight's salmon salad. I'm sure by this time tomorrow, we'll be eating hot soup.
P.S. My first Gladiola is pushing up through the ground.
What's that lippy shade you're wearing with the silk novelty blouse? That is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteUmmmm.......what's this about a 50 inch bust being huge? My bust is 49 inches even after the breast reduction. Now you know why the 50's sweater girl look is the only style I can really rock. Unless I want to look like a burlesque dancer. Or Mae West. Oh hell I look like Mae West already. Anyway, I love that barkcloth Italian dress & those boots look fab with it!
Spoke to a pharmacist friend at the practically bankrupt poison control center in California about vit D poisoning. She says it like never happens. Did you know a sunburn is the most common form of vit D overdose? Here's a link to all the wild & wacky dosing of vit D going on from the Mayo clinic -
http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/vitamin-d/dosing/hrb-20060400
From thyroid function to fall prevention vit D is purported to work miracles. Judging from the varied dosing though it looks like nobody is quite sure how to administer the stuff though.
That's one of the Christian Siriano lip crayons I bought after Christmas at Walgreens for $2.50 I'm glad I bought three sets because this shade is the only purple that works on me. I have no idea how I'll cope when it is gone.
ReplyDeleteI suspect they're over-selling the vitamin D right now and we'll find out years from now that it does something terrible no one saw coming.
50 inches is huge on me, not huge in general. I should mention that although it fit loose on top, it was damn near perfect in the lower half. I'm blaming gravity.
Argh, everything here is wonderful. So wonderful. I absolutely anthropomorphise things in the thrift shop, too - and favourite books. If someone has left a copy (in a pleasant edition) of a wonderful book on the wall, I can't just leave it there to maybe get soaked or dirty or torn. I did have a jade bangle that I bought in a community garage sale... For some reason, the one time my then-one-year-old eldest had a tantrum whilst having her nappy changed, my husband thought it would be a great thing with which to distract her. I do still love him, but one day he's gonna hafta buy me a replacement ;-)
ReplyDeleteExcellent boots! If I could go back and reclaim one pair of shoes or boots from any time in my past, it would be my black suede pixie boots from the 80s, which I wore to death. I never owned any white ones, though. Your white boots look great with that Italian dress, all very World Of Tomorrow somehow.
ReplyDeleteMy eyes are glowing green at the splendor of those boots! Glittering, too, at those elegant shoes which this old lady who can no longer wear real heels would gladly claim! However, the "catch of the day" award must be shared by the bangles and the $1 bag. J'adore the clinky music of bangles with spring/summer ensembles -- reminds one of ice cubes in a tall frosted glass. The bag is a project for a leisurely afternoon by the pool, the aforementioned glass on the table for sustenance.
ReplyDeleteGoody
ReplyDeleteI posted a comment yesterday - I was the first, I think and it was quite a long one. It hasn't appeared so I can only assume it's related to the problems with Blogger that I and many others are experiencing. Goddamn it!
Have a lovely Easter
x
Veronica
vronni60s.blogspot.com
@Radostin
ReplyDeleteI gasped as I read that (and thought, "noooooo"). Oh, he definitely owes you a replacement.
@Mim
Pixie boots are all over the stores right now-go get thee your favourite boots (in the sales, of course). They looked so good with leggings, didn't they?
@Beth
You just inspired me to wear the tall boots with a swimsuit to the pool. I know that wasn't your intention, but now that the idea is in my head I can't escape it.
@Veronica
Google is not all it is cracked up to be. Since joining the plus a couple months ago, I'm getting all sorts of people showing up to the blog leaving odd comments I can't post, and asking to be put in circles, etc. At my age a few perverts might sound exciting, but really, I didn't go looking for that!
Anyway, don't fret, I'm sure you'll get it sorted soon. Enjoy your holiday and time away from the frustration of a computer.
I love the print on that dress, definitely something I would have gone for. Love the boots too. Not for me though, as they would be ruined after the first wear. Those Lucite bangles are very pretty. And there's nothing wrong with a good "Old Lady Shoe" once in a while. xxx
ReplyDeleteBack in the 1980s there were two types of girls, the townies or "the Sharons", who listened to mainstream music, dressed in high street clothes and wore white boots and the weirdos, who wore second hand, Doc Martens and listened to the Smiths & Joy Division. I was one of the weirdos.
ReplyDeleteI can appreciate them now. They look very lady-like with your outfit. I even own a pair of 1970s white leather platforms . xxx
@Ann
ReplyDeleteI knew you would approve of the pattern. I suspect I will be spending a good deal of time cleaning and polishing these boots.
@Vix
I think at various points in the 80's I did all three. I might have started the decade out wearing "Old Clothes" (it wasn't "Vintage" yet), but by mid-80's I had to look, "Normal" for work. Then the 90's came and I was self-employed and could dress as I pleased again. I should dig through some old photos, if only to laugh at the silly hairstyles.
Do show us the white platforms, I'll bet they're incredible.