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Tuesday, January 10, 2017

First Vintage Handbags of 2017

Back Row L-R:
Vintage straw bag with Jordan Marsh, Boston label inside, Enid Collins bag with suede interior made for a dress shop in California, Miami Creations carpet-bag.
Middle Row:
Blue suede and leather Lifestride bag, blue Deco-ish box bag.
Front:
1960's metal purse trying to look like a Dorset Rex (it is a cheap knock-off).

The Collins bag was the steal of the day at $1.98. It was buried in a pile of cheap gym bags and carry-on luggage. Marked, "As Is" due to a couple missing stones and some dust, it was easy to clean up and replace the plastic gem (I have a bucket of replacement gems to fix these bags). The most expensive bag was the Miami Creations at $22.00 which is more than I would typically hand over for a bag, but it spoke to me...so I answered. I only wanted to be polite.
All in all, a good start to 2017 for vintage handbags. I've curtailed my clothes purchases, but bought a crazy, patchwork hippie dress that probably won't fit but was too good to leave. Otherwise, I've been good...for the last ten days anyway.
In other news...I sprayed some temporary green in my hair for the hell of it. I rather like it. 

Don't like it? 
Outfit Details:
Vintage blouse-Thrift World
Vintage Pendleton kilt-Can't remember-had it for years
Vintage mohair cradigan (fully lined too)-Goodwill
Boots-K Mart
Vintage handbag-Goodwill
Earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Celluloid Scottie brooch-Etsy
Scarab bracelet-Et Cetera, Seward
London tourist charm bracelet-New Life Thrift
Fragrance-Chamade
 The doggy is grey-I don't know what happened with the light.
 I should never look at my skin at that magnification! Time to get out the heavy-duty hand lotion.
 How's that for matching your earrings to your hair?
We're back to school this week and it hasn't been easy finding my routine. I build a great deal of flexibility into my lesson plans permitting me shift around as needed. When I put the syllabus together last Spring, I didn't anticipate current events necessitating a re-adjustment of our readings. Ha! Anyway, last May I didn't think I'd be ploughing through two volumes of Saul Friedlander second semester, but here we are. Sometimes, things come together by chance like the year I was already teaching 1984, when the Snowden thing happened. As a teacher, I couldn't asked for a better coincidence. Anyway, I'd have rather been covering Romantic poets, but they can wait another month.  

Anyone reading anything that isn't utterly and completely depressing? 


















11 comments:

  1. 1) I very much like the green; it's very Enid in GHOST WORLD.
    2) GIMME DAT COLLINS BAG NOW AND NOBODY GETS HURT.
    3) I am rereading Sinclair Lewis's THE JOB, which I would recommend only to Lewis completists. Also slogging through Ian Pears's AN INSTANCE OF THE FINGERPOST. It's a riot. FOUR unreliable narrators!!!

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  2. Amazing bags! I love the wicker one especially. I went to the Guild House today - induction only - and I'm sure there is a vintage pleather/leather/plastic handbag for sale. I will check it out properly when I start on 24th; if its still there, of course!

    Loved your mohair cardigan and kilt - you look very cozy and chic; it's the green hair and matching earrings that do it.

    I've just finished 'Long Live Great Bardfield' by Tirzah Garwood (wife of artist Eric Ravilious) and an artist in her own right. It's her autobiography and very interesting and absorbing it was, too.

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  3. Anonymous12:47 PM

    I hope that is not a photo ( snow) where you are but fear it must be!
    I just finished reading "Brooklyn" having watched the movie last summer. I loved it. Jan

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  4. DROOLING!!!! Mucho handbag envy.

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  5. I'll take the fake Dorset Rex in all it's early 60's glory!
    I really can't handle current events anymore. TrainwrecK is an understatement.
    I'm thinking of buying a kindle (or at least a tablet of some sort) now that there are more books available for it- actual books are inordinately expensive and hard to get here in Nepal due to shipping costs. I miss taking a book everywhere I go in my purse in case the need for portable entertainment arises.
    Yay for green hair! I butched my bob into a lavender tinged Billy Idol pixie looking thing. Why? IDK. The world is so nutty now I don't think anyone will notice much anyway.

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  6. @ Bibi Maizoon - try bookdepository.com - free shipping worldwide! NB I am just a satisfied customer who also lives somewhere where shipping is a problem, and not all English language books are very available. They also often have reductions on the cover prices.

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  7. What a splendid collection, well done! The fake Dorset Rex looks very interesting - is it a rigid box or is the reflectiveness deceiving me? I also love the knit of your cardigan, quite unusual.

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  8. When the bag calls, you should indeed answer. Especially as the bargainous Collins balances things out. (Gisela is probably booking plane tickets and planning a burglary at this very moment.)

    I'm reading a horror novel for Horrorville magazine. As I'm in consultation for my job - though right now I'm quietly optimistic that they'll keep me - I'm trying to mop up as much freelance as possible right now, just to ensure that if I do lose my job, I'll have at least a few drips of income coming my way. The last book I read for fun was Terry Pratchett's Night Watch. I'm increasingly convinced that the world needs a dose of Pratchett's humane wit and tolerance right now.

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  9. The Art Deco bag and scotty pin remind me of my mum's 1940s acquisitions in NYC. The bag is still active in the working wardrobe of her granddaughter-the-lawyer; the pin appears on my shoulder when I'm wearing a twin set.

    I'm drifting through the Jane Langton mysteries, marveling at her line drawings (which I aspire to emulate), and admiring her wit as she weaves stories into realities. "Murder at the Gardner" is fun!

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  10. Great handbag haul! Start as you mean to go on, I'd say. I've already bought 4 handbags this year, in spite of a handbag ban. Oh well. Love the Scottie dog brooch, whether he's brown or grey. Great charm bracelet, but surely nobody's skin looks great at that magnification, heavy duty hand cream or not. Noticed that the green in your hair is exactly the same colour as your earrings! xxx

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  11. @Propagatrix
    Mr. ETB had heard of the Pears book and wondered if it was worth the time-thanks for the suggestion. And if you want that bag, you'll have to fight me for it!

    @Veronica
    That will be great having a new charity shop to volunteer at, and have first pick of the items that come in. That sounds like an interesting book-I've never heard of her (or her husband).

    @Jan
    That was last year's snow as seen from my balcony. We live at the top of a hill that is impossible to navigate in snow and ice. Those people found out the hard way when they couldn't make it to the top.

    @Miss Magpie
    Thank you. You've found some wonderful bags too-that Corde purse was magnificent.

    @Bibi
    "Omnishambles" is my favourite description of late. I bought Mr. ETB a Kindle two years ago, and he's never without it. Once you get used to reading on it, books seem like more hassle than they're worth. There's a whole bunch of copyright free stuff you can download for free.

    @Radostin
    The box is rigid, and the inside is lined with a heavy cardboard-like material. It seems sturdy enough, but I wouldn't want to take it out in the rain.

    @Mim
    "Humane wit" sounds good to me. Better hurry up and get it read before they start confiscating and building bonfires.

    @Beth

    I've never read Langton. Murder at the Gardner museum? Was kinda a tough neighbourhood twenty years ago when I lived in Boston, but *murder* IN the museum?! Oh my! I'll look for it.

    @Ann
    Now that the ban has been broken, might as well go for a record ;)
    That green spray ended up in my nose and I was having very interesting sneezes for a couple days after. It is an aerated chalk, and though it washes out easily, it gets everywhere.


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