Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Back to Ghoul

Sooner or later, summer had to end. Good riddance, I say. Bring on the decaying fallen leaves, the bonfires, black lipstick.
Black lipstick! Wait, What?!

Don't forget over-the-knee-boots.
Outfit Particulars:

1980's polyester crepe dress-Goodwill
1990's rayon crepe coat-dress-Goodwill
Over-the-knee boots-Goodwill
Vintage needlepoint handbag-gift
Necklace-Can't remember
Earrings-K Mart
Black lippy-Katy Kat matte lipstick by Covergirl (Sigh, yes I bought Katy Perry lipstick)
Danny seems to be going through a Helmut Newton meets David Lynch phase with his photography, but it worked well for this outfit. I'm not sure we've ever taken photos in the cellar, but he seems pleased with the effect of the low light photos.

We're off to the fair tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have good news when we return. They have a website, but no one has bothered to post the winning entries on it. They've been slow to adopt technology, so maybe next year. There's free wi-fi being offered this year at the fairgrounds, which seems like a step in the direction of progress. They probably know you can't get anyone under 30 to go somewhere without wi-fi.

Be good little bats and ghouls while I'm gone.









Saturday, August 27, 2016

Pants!

Where I grew up there was a shop that only sold jeans by the name of, "Just Pants." Whenever we'd pass by, my mother would shout, "Ha! That's just pants!" and she continued to do so until the place finally went out of business. I wasn't similarly tickled by the name at the time, but I do appreciate the oddness of hearing trousers called "pants" if you've always used the term to describe underwear. With that in mind, let me begin by pointing out that these are indeed, Big Pants!
When I first spotted the set at the costume shops's vintage rail, I thought they were 30's beach pajamas. They're not. The material is a heavy rayon crepe, and the wide legs would seem to fit with the period, but these are late 50's/early 60's. The maker doesn't even have a registered name patent until the mid-50's. What I suspect they represent is a 50's/60's version of nostalgia. Clearly, these were intended as resort-wear ("From Milan to Miami" proudly proclaimed on the label) in a period when women still wouldn't regularly wear trousers. Would this outfit have gone out to dinner in the 50's? Probably not, but they might have made it to the hotel brunch. I doubt very much they ever saw the beach (perhaps the boardwalk) and this pair still had the original paper tags inside next to the woven label.

The fabric is a very nice crepe, and the print appears to be screen-printed on with some sort of plastick-y paint. I dry cleaned the set not wanting to take any chances (rayon crepe doesn't do well in water under the best of circumstances, and I really have my doubts about the paint). The blouse has French cuffs, and are made in such a way that you could supply your own cuff links, or use the fabric covered buttons. I've run across a number of women's blouses from the 50's and 60's that sport French cuffs though finding women's cuff links from the same period is less common (I have a few sets, but I don't think the fashion lasted long enough for the accessories to become all that widespread).

The photos don't really convey just how wide these trousers are. And long. I rolled the waist, and put on the tallest pair of heels I own-and they're still cleaning up the floor. I'm hesitating to shorten them as I don't think this is something I'd wear, and I want them for my collection. If something happened where there was another fad for gigantic pants (heh heh, I said, "gigantic pants") I might reconsider.

 Outfit Particulars:
Vintage beach pajamas-Fairytail Costumes
Belt-Hand-Me-Ups
Bangle-Goodwill
Crystal earrings-New Life Thrift
Lobster brooch-Hand-Me-Ups
Vintage handbag-Goodwill
Shoes-Dillards
Fragrance-Lentheric Miracle


 Now that we have the big pants out of the way, I have some small pants to show (ouch!).

"Hey skinny jeans. Yeah, you. Up yours."

Why the hell do people like these things?! I keep trying to find a way of wearing them that doesn't make me feel like a complete idiot, and thus far haven't succeeded. Even thin people have their legs made to look like sausages squeezed into too small a casing-mine look like a joint of beef! Or ham. Gammon gams. I don't care if this trend lives or dies, but for me? That's it. No trousers are worth numb legs and looking this foolish. If you can wear them and enjoy them-by all means do so, but me? I'm done. 

I do think the, "Makeup of the un-dead" has potential though (The men in the household disagree, but what the fuck do they know about makeup?!). I bought a Maybellene ultra-saturated dark purple lippy that's almost black. Too much alone, it looks good with a lighter lavender over it. You can't see it well under the specs, but I'm also wearing a grey/dark blue eye shadow.

"Give us a kiss...hey! Why are you running away?!"

Outfit Particulars:
Vintage 80's top-Goodwill
Skinny jeans-K Mart
Clogs-about 10 years ago, Dillards
Vintage dangle earrings-New Life Thrift
Shoulder bag-Goodwill
Fragrance-Vintage formulation Courreges in Blue
Cazal frames-Mum's




Ideally, pants would fall somewhere in the middle of the extremes. With that in mind, I tried out a pair of, "Mom jeans" aka-High Waisted jeans.

 Hmmm. These could work. They're still a  bit on the slim side, but for six dollars at K Mart, I really can't complain. I wore my blouse untucked, but the jeans have enough room that I could tuck in my shirt-tails if I so desired, something that would be nearly impossible (for me anyway) in skinny jeans.



I also tried out the red eyeshadow trend so you don't have to. You're welcome. truth be told, I don't hate it with my skin tone and eyes, but I softened the look by mixing it with a bit of gold and purple. 
Outfit Particulars:
High waisted jeans-K Mart
Blouse-Missoni for Target
1980's Susan Bristol waistcoat-New Life Thrift
Vintage Tano of Madrid tapestry purse-Salvation Army
Ruff Hewn clogs-Dillards
Earrings-Can't remember
Charm bracelet-built over the years
1970's clamper bracelet-gift from my sister when we were young
Fragrance-None! The asthma monster has returned with the autumn mould season. Pray for a killing frost, please.

So how do you prefer your pants? Big, little, or somewhere in-between. All of the above? Do tell. 






Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Baker Dan

Apologies for the extended break. I've missed everyone and though I've been trying to visit your blogs, by the time I finally have time to do so, I'm unable to find anything intelligent to add to the comments. I mean, worse than my typical inability to say anything intelligent. 

I have managed to maintain my cheerful disposition through it all. 

We dropped off Danny's fair entries on Monday. The judging was yesterday, but we won't know how he did until the fair opens next week. Fingers crossed. That entire table was his baking/canning. 


 That violet and lavender lemon loaf not only looked beautiful, it smelled divine. I hope that one wins a ribbon.
 Cinnamon buns...
...apple/raisin tea ring...
...white cake, and many more. So now we wait, and hope for the best. It was a lot of work and dedication-much more effort that I would have put into anything when I was eleven!

I wore some clothes over the past few weeks, as you do. 

No, I don't typically wear gym shoes with a dress. The grass hadn't been mowed at the park for some time, and it was wet and muddy. There's only so far I'm willing to go for a blog photo, and destroying my vintage shoes is too far! My gym shoes were already muddy, so there you have it. And yes, they are godawful ugly shoes but it was the only colour they came in, and I have a hard-to-fit foot when it comes to running. By the way, if you're in the Omaha area and need expert fitting for your running shoes, Peak Performance might be worth a visit. They don't sell a million shoes (which is why you can end up with pink and teal ones) but they will get you into the right ones. I knew halfway around their track that it was worth the extra cost buying these shoes there. Probably, for the first time in my life, my feet aren't crippled after running. We won't discuss my hip and knees-but my feet are fine. I'm not being compensated in any way by Peak Performance-I'm just very, very happy with my experience buying shoes there. But not so pleased that I wear the shoes with dresses. Come on...mow the damn park grass already!
These two were more appropriately attired.

I'm going to do a quick outfit wrap-up of things I thought were interesting enough to show, but didn't merit a post of their own.
 Polyester zip-front house dress.
Vintage shoes. They were murder on my feet but...hey everybody look! Vintage shoes!  Not worth the blisters, trust me.
I had a bit of a flapper moment . The wide trousers and drop-waist blouse are wardrobe pieces that never seem to work with anything. I might have found the happy marriage in this outfit. The bag is rather special too
 I found it hanging lonely at the Goodwill for a few dollars. The bag is Crown Lewis, and still has the original hand mirror. The patent leather is genuine, and still in very good condition. I really lucked-out finding it.
 American Duchess repro shoes. They didn't murder my feet.


 The short necklace is something I bought in the early 80's. I remember my grandmother commenting that it looked like the sort of thing she wore when she was first married, which always made it seem more special to me. I don't know why now, but lately I've been missing her quite a bit. Must be something to do with getting older (and disgusted with everyone and everything!).

 The bangle watch also belonged to my grandmother. The bracelet was Mum's.




Having rid myself of the impulse to dress like a flapper, I moved ahead into the 70's and dressed like myself...in the 70's.
See kids, "athleisure" isn't a new idea-we were wearing rugby shirts in 1974! You can see the tag still hanging from the sleeve, which means it was a gift from someone and I had to model it for a photo to be sent off to the gift giver with a thank-you note. This was a Christmas (and Birthday) ritual so that far flung relations would get to see what I looked like as I grew, and know that their gift was appreciated.
I grew some tits since then.
This 70's polyester top is a curiosity. It has a faux drawstring at the waist to look like sporting clothes without having any functionality-sort of like faux pockets. What it really needs is a hood, but sadly the designer went for gigantic lapels instead. The skirt is polyester by Levi's (I don't remember them making anything but denim, but this isn't the sort of skirt I would have worn at the time).


Today, I dug out this skirt made from antique saree silks re-worked into a modern wrap skirt. The silk itself is a pale blue, but overlaid on the purple satin it takes on a beautiful shimmering quality in sunlight. I bought this years ago as a university student-and I won't tell you how long ago that was! It has started shedding sequins, so I wear it very rarely these days. 

Yet another macrame bag from the collection. I really need to stop buying these things because there's only so many macrame bags a woman can use! There's something great about a handbag you can wash with dish-soap. 



And that's about it for interesting clothes. For the better part of the past few weeks I've been living in shorts and tee shirts. Now that the heat has backed off a bit, I might be inspired to try looking human again, but I wouldn't bet on it. I need to finish my "Fair Hat" by the weekend, and I'll try to get photos up in a reasonable amount of time. School starts the week after next, which terrifies me because I still haven't recuperated from last year.  Thanks for sticking around, and I hope I haven't bored anyone to tears. Eventually, life will fall into some sort of predictable pattern again. I hope.

I'll be back with State Fair results as soon as I have them. I swear, I'm losing my mind with anticipation! Thank god Danny doesn't play sports-I'd be a nervous wreck watching. If you'd told me thirty years ago that I'd be getting emotionally involved in a jar of apricot jam, I would have laughed. I'm not laughing now. No. Not at all.









Monday, August 15, 2016

Jenny Can't Read

The insects are better dressed than I of late, so they're going to illustrate this post.



As the State Fair inches closer (eleven days, and only six days until the drop-off for contests) I thought I'd take a look at the website and see what musical acts they have lined up this year. Toto? No thanks. Lady Antebellum? No, but wait..."With special guest, Can."

Wow, that's pretty...I don't know what?! And at the Nebraska State Fair for fuck's sake? Well that settles it, I'm getting tickets for that one...I thought.

Upon closer reading, the opening act is someone named, "Cam." Not, "Can." That made me sad, because for a minute I was kind of excited. Bewildered, but excited. Guess we'll check out the agricultural exhibits and call it a day.

I was able to borrow a dehumidifier from the handyman, so weather be damned, our kolaches and biscuits are going to leave this house Monday morning in pristine condition. We're expecting more heat and rain this week, so that should help us keep things dry in the dining room where the finished baked goods are being kept. If you've ever tried icing decorated cookies in a Nebraska August, you'll know it takes forever for the royal icing to set. I was seriously considering purchasing a dehumidifier, so it was really wonderful being spared that expense. I know where all the extra baked goods we don't need for entries are going on Monday! The air conditioner is going nonstop, so if I die of hypothermia, I just hope there's a few blue ribbons to show for it. Ribbons blue as my fingers and toes.

I still haven't finished gluing silk plants and flowers on my annual, "State Fair Hat", but I have my glue gun ready to go. I'm excited about this year's hat as I have a rather lovely old hat from the 40's, that was too battered to wear as-is. As it couldn't really be restored, I'm giving it a second life as a Fair hat. Last year's had bees and flowers so I'm going for a bit more sophistication this year (mini-ears of dried corn *are* sophisticated...in Nebraska!

Blogging is going to be light. School starts the week after the Fair, so it will be hectic in these parts for a bit. I'm looking forward to some quiet so I might write, and be able to visit all your wonderful blogs.

And yes, I do have an eye appointment coming up in September. I still wish Can had been performing at the State Fair though. That would have been cool.