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Friday, August 11, 2017

Best of the 80's-More Black

One of the better things 80's fashion had to offer was polyester crepe. 
 Wash and wear-are there more beautiful words in the English language? Well, okay, "Free money", but how often does that come up? I can do without the oversized jumpers with leggings, and the linebacker shoulder-pads, but give me a polyester crepe dress with an elastic waist, and I'm all over it. As they're underappreciated items, I frequently find them for a dollar or so.
I think this dress probably would have had shoulder pads originally as it is large in shoulders, but no matter. I love the (washable) lace detail, and the nice pleat down the centre. My first impulse was to wear it with my black and white cameo, but I'm breaking out of my tendency to wear black with silver, opting instead for gold accessories. I'm still not convinced, but sometimes it is worth trying something different. I also really wanted to wear my new brooch!
 Gosh, I wore a lot of black when I was young. I look back at photos of myself in the 80's and I'm always wearing a black suit to work-I swear, I wasn't working as an undertaker even if I looked the part. I'm fortunate that I look good in black, but once I moved to Nebraska from Boston in 2001, I noticed almost no one wears black. It was one of many culture shocks. That's not to say we don't have stylish people here-we do! They just don't tend to wear as much black as people back East. Over the course of sixteen years my wardrobe shifted from mostly black (or grey) to only a few items. I jumped at this dress when I saw it as finding a nice black, non-formal dress in Omaha is no easy task. The fact it cost .99 cents made me even happier.
 Outfit Particulars:
1980's polyester crepe dress-Goodwill
Shoes-Goodwill
Vintage tapestry handbag-Goodwill
Belt-Hand-Me-Ups
Brooch-New Life Thrift
Bracelet-New Life Thrift
Jacket-Goodwill

Granny Hands!


I'm going to pack these shoes away so I wear something else! What can I say? They're comfortable, and they go with (almost) everything. Still, if I'm going to own as many shoes as I do, I should wear them once in a while.

Bake-a-thon rolls on today with oatmeal raisin biscuits, ginger nuts, and coconut washboards. Next week the breads and rolls start-that will be busy, ending with cakes. We perfected a chocolate/raspberry icing that can sit at room temperature without going off, or becoming too soft. That had me losing sleep, if I'm honest. Only three of the cakes require icing, and we'd already decided on the spice cake/maple combination, and the yellow cake with penuche icing-but the Devil's Food cake was worrying us. The fresh raspberry puree in the frosting we developed will avoid any concerns about cream at room temperature for a few days. I was pleased with how easy it is to spread-even a twelve year old can do it!

Finally, I won the auction! Here's this year's State Fair hat (unless something goes wrong) I bought from 1860-1960. It should arrive Tuesday. This is my fourth purchase from this seller and I can enthusiastically say, "She's one of the very best on the web." I'm not being compensated in any way to say that-she's just one of my favourite places to buy great vintage.
I still have time to glue some mini-tractor toys and dollhouse pies to it before the fair. Fingers crossed it arrives in good condition.

That's about it for now. Busy week ahead, but I managed to get in a quick 10 miles today to save my mind (and my back). I'm going to go drag Danny outside in a bit to look at the meteor shower. Hopefully, we won't go blind or hear any tapping plants in the garden😁

Have a great weekend.



















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10 comments:

  1. ThriftyParka4:38 AM

    Bwhahaha! I was entralled with the dress, the lustrous elegant jacket and the pretty jewellery. Then you mentioned blindness and tapping plants and I started laughing. That was a great movie!!!

    Good for you for squeezing in 10 miles!

    Happy thrifting ;)

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  2. Polyester Princess10:35 AM

    Such fabulous details on the black dress, and of course the fact that it's wash and wear makes it even better. I too wore black almost exclusively in the 80s, which is why I hardly ever wear solid black now. That said, I didn't buy a fabulous black dress today, which I now regret. Wow, that hat! I can't wait to see it after you perfomed your magic on it. 10 miles! You are kidding me! Better be careful, don't like the sound of tapping plants ... xxx

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  3. Anonymous11:33 AM

    What a wow of a hat! I hope you are serious about the miniature tractors and pies going on it, and that we'll get to see a photo.
    Isn't that the same jacket that you are wearing in the sidebar photo marked Library? JanF

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  4. Bibi Maizoon12:41 AM

    I am guilty of the all black wardrobe in my youth also. Between school & work there wasn't much time for artful mixes & matches that were work/school appropriate (at least that's my story.)
    That jacket adds just the right almost metallic accent to your ensemble that I love!
    (I want that ginger nuts recipe after you've taken all the prizes at the fair. I have grown quite fond of them with my tea.)

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  5. Beth Waltz5:15 AM

    The hat is perfection! Dunno about the tractors, but I'm all in favor of the pies! (When I was a kid, there were still bins of "novelties" in fabric shops. Ladies pawed through them for the seasonal redecoration of their "Sunday straws" -- which I suspect is the origin of your fair hat.)

    I agree with you about gold with black; however, the bronze/taupe bolero jacket works well as a transition piece in both color and texture.

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  6. Goody7:26 AM

    @Thrifty Parka

    So far, so good-nothing scary in the garden (except for some sorrel that won't stop growing).

    @Ann
    Go back and buy it :)
    It is hard to wear black though, isn't it?

    @Jan
    Yep, same jacket.

    @Bibi
    You have the hair and complexion for wearing black and looking elegant. I promise all recipes will be forthcoming in a few weeks. I had one of Danny's biscotti for breakfast this morning with my tea-I'm going to insist he make those year 'round.

    @Beth
    Are you familiar with those mini-tractor toys they sell near the checkout at farm stores? I was thinking those could be cute. As I recall from when Danny played with them there were little hay balers, anhydrous tanks, tillers, etc. I mean, why own a glue gun if you don't use it? ;)

    I rarely wear red hats lest someone think I'm RHS. Yeah, I'm definitely old enough to join, but I don't need a club to do my own thing and dress as I please. I'm not really good in groups anyway, be they red hatters, red commies, or "Go Big Red." When I die I want an obit that reads, "Well-dressed loner dies of outrage fatigue after one too many pair of white shoes were spotted post-labour day."

    Will you make sure that gets printed when I go?

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  7. Mim1:12 AM

    That black dress is lovely. I wonder why polyester crepe is so rare nowadays? Pretty much everything on the cheaper end of the high street is cheap jersey, usually viscose, which shows off too many of my lumpy bits. Crepe skims the worst of those!

    Looking forward to seeing the hat makeover...

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  8. Vix8:07 AM

    I always snap up those polyester crepe dresses when I find them, a dream to wash always look so damned good on my rails. The one you're wearing is a beauty. Very Victorian.
    On the rare occasion I wear black I tend to add gold, too. Silver seems a bit cold and flat with it.
    That hat is utterly wonderful. xxx

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  9. Emily from Etsy5:24 PM

    You've accessorized the black outfit perfectly! And yes, wearing lots of black is an east-coast thing.

    My husband continues to wear a long black wool coat every winter, even though hardly anyone else in Oregon does. Brightly colored, water-repellent parkas from sporting-goods stores are the norm here, as if everyone has just returned from a weekend of camping.

    People have literally asked him, "Are you an undertaker?" or "Are you a jazz musician?"

    Congratulations on the red hat. Keep up the good work on the baking.

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  10. Radostin12:49 PM

    Mmmm, ginger nuts are my favourite! I do love your perfect black dress. The detail of the trim being applied in different directions is most excellent. I wore black most of the time for most of the nineties, but I still love wearing it; don't expect I'll ever stop. I don't even care if it makes me look sallow.

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