Cabin Fever, Part Three: Seeing Spots

Inspired by 1920s vintage cartes de visite bathing beauties, I donned a pair of 1920s canvas bathing/beach shoes, a polka dotted bandeau (which matched the lichen-spotted rocks!), and a black cotton tank top + shorts combo that I hope adequately "passes" for a 20s swimsuit :).  The beach shoes are destined for the shop, but I just had to try 'em out. FUN!

Cabin Fever, Part Two: Beach PJs By the Bay

Every time the boat departs from the little marina, I smile at the jaunty colours of the little boat storage "houses" along the shore (see below).  This year, I brought my bright red & white gingham 30s beach pjs to wear down by the bay, so I can feel jaunty, too! 

Cabin Fever, Part One: Glam-ping, Lady Mountaineer Style

Hello again!!  Fresh from a few days at a lakeside cabin, here are some fun vintage outfit posts.  First up, my own attempt to emulate the glam-pers I posted about earlier this summer, with the aid of a pair of vintage riding breeches (As I was wearing this outfit, I was also flooded with memories of the four long years I once spent writing a doctoral dissertation related to women mountaineers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, so this outfit actually is kind of a tribute to the intrepid women I studied--although few of the earlier "lady alpinists" ever wore trousers, at least not in view of the climbing hut or chalet).   I digress:  The photos below my outfit photo capture evidence of some of the "wildlife" encountered: on the left, huge holes bored into a tree by the most gigantic woodpecker I have ever glimpsed.  I caught this avian giant working on the tree after I had returned from a morning canoe ride. Alas, he flew off before I could get my camera, so, the story of Big Red, as I called him, remains a legend to those who didn't see him with their own eyes.  At right, a sign spied at a roadside rest stop on the way to the cottage.  Thankfully, I didn't see any snakes so there was no need for braking!

I'll Be Back

Darlings! I'm sorry I haven't done the scarf top tutorial yet.  I will try to get my act together and post one soon.  In the mean-time, forgive me if things around here slow down to a stand still. I've decided to take a summer break from the wired world for about a week. That means, the shop is on vacation mode and I'm going to force myself away from Twitter, Facebook, email, the works.  I hope to come back to you a refreshed and creatively reinvigorated "baroness." :)  Happy summer vacation, all! I promise: I'll be BACK....but not until I've had my fill of lake splashing, mini-golfing, book reading, crossword puzzle finishing, etc etc!!!

1930s style Playsuit & Skirt: nudeedudee

My Monday Make Do n' Mend Look

For months now, I've ben frustrated by my inability to find the perfect 30s style shorts...you know, higher waisted (higher rise), not toooo short in length.  Well, since the weather is well near boiling, necessity became the mother of invention today when I took matters into my own hands and turned a pair of repro. 30s style trousers that I just hadn't been wearing because I think I shrank their length at some point), and, inspired by By Golly By Gum's recent jeans-into-shorts conversion, I made what I could not find.  Voila! I was on a roll, so I made the halter top out of an old synthetic silk scarf.  I got the idea from an earlier 30s issue of the french fashion periodical, Modes et Travaux (apparently, it was really popular to turn tourist scarves into little beach bags and tops.  I'll have to share a tutorial or two. Really took me no time at all to whip up the top).  Finally, a note on the shoes: I got these for FREE: I took some of my old clothes into this used clothing shop and got these cuties with the store credit my clothes earned!  They had these sort of punk rock studs sewn on them, so I cut those off and now they feel sort of like Busby Berkeley 30s beach sandals.  In fact, the whole outfit makes me feel like a chorus girl from Dancing Lady or 42nd Street (though the inspiration for the look came from a 30s photo of two ladies on the beach).  THERE, that's better!!! Just need the sun hat!

It's a Jungle Out There

Although the weather outside here is already as hot as the desert and as humid as Hawaii, today involved a visit to an even sultrier place: "Tropical House."  It's not very big, but it's actually a really lovely little oasis, with all sorts of exotic plants and flowers blooming, and a neat little grotto for the resident turtles, one of whom (Charlemagne) came out to pose for a picture.  Anyway, it was fun little outing and the perfect setting in which to snap my latest vintage acquisition: an adorable 30s novelty print linen overall and bolero jacket set (the style of which is sort of similar to the 30s overall pattern I had previously posted)!  Since the lighting wasn't always ideal in the greenhouse, I snapped one more outfit pic in my own backyard jungle....which I had better attempt to tame soon, before the wisteria takes over the house!

     

Outfit:

30s overalls + bolero set: svintage on etsy

30s carved celluloid bangles: etsy

shoes: joe fresh, thrifted ages ago

Anything Goes

I had completely forgotten that I had recorded the 2011 Tony Awards, so I only JUST watched them today.  Imagine my glee to (belatedly) discover that a revival production of Anything Goes is playing on Broadway.  Check out the COSTUMES!!!!! Oh yes, I will see this show this fall if it's the last thing I dooooooooooo!

Candy Colours on the Cote D'Azure

Black & white photos are great, but I love these colorized early 30s postcards of fashionable beach-pyjama-wearing holiday-ers on the Cote D'Azure (although it's still rather painful to look at the gal in the striped set below--a reminder of the "ones that got away" sniff sniff ;)

Images all from: Pyjamopolis

If These are YOUR striped pyjamas...

If you are the lucky so-and-so who nabbed these AMAZING 30s striped seersucker pyjamas, you'd better thank your lucky stars (and stripes!!).  Aren't they HEAVENLY??? I can totally picture the glamourous lady who strutted down a beach on the cote d'azure in these once upon a deco dream!

Deauville Dreams

Just can't get Seeberger's Deauville babes (and early 30s resort fashions in general) outta my head, so, on a whim, dashed together a feeble attempt to emulate even one ounce of the chic coolness of these 30s Riviera goddesses. Aww, I was just messin' around!

Trousers: Heyday

Knitted Cap: Greetz from Tiz

Top: nudeedudee

Pretty Peasants

Thanks to you all for your kind words on my beloved bohemian vintage blouse.  If you are looking for similar, here are a couple of lovelies spotted on etsy (I was lucky to snag mine for a very very good deal, but these beauties look like they'd be worth every penny).

Source: The Littlest Sister

Source: Dear Golden Vintage

Source: Posh Girl Vintage

Lovely Bones and a Bohemian Blouse

ANOTHER outfit post? Yep, I'm a roll here. One of the many things I love about where I live is that I am surrounded by beautiful historical structures. Today, as I was out and about running errands (and gathering some great new items for the etsy shop) in a couple of the nearby areas, I thought about how wonderful it is to see that this part of Canada has done a great job of integrating "old" and "modern." Well, most of the time...a perhaps less well integrated site is the Loyalist cemetary in Burlington, that is really awkwardly sandwiched between a highway and a strip mall parking lot.  Very bizarre.  Yet, standing under the old maple trees leaning against the outside brick wall that ensconces it, I thought how it really is a wistfully beautiful little oasis of contemplation. I snapped the middle photos while buying from the little butcher and grocery shops in Dundas.  I LOVE that, rather than tearing these beautiful old brick structures and putting in a Walmart or other stripmalls, the town of Dundas has clearly put in concerted effort to preserve many of the lovely "bones" or foundations of wonderful old buildings, while revitalizing other bits where needed, so that really great little shops can be housed inside historical facades. I love that. What do you love about where you live?  Do you live somewhere that clearly values history and preserves the architectural "bones" of the past?

         

Details on Buildings in Dundas

Outfit details:

1930s embroidered "bohemian" blouse (wish you could see the details and vibrance of embroidery better): Wildfell Hall Vintage (like my lovely fellow vintage bloggers--including Tickety Boo Tupney, Wearing History, A Cat Among the Pigeons, Tuppence Ha'Penny and others....I am a lover of the 30s embroidered blouse and this beauty is one of those effortless pieces I've been wearing so much this summer. I also love how each of us wears this style in our own unique way!).

1930s/40s wooden bead bag: etsy

1930s style skirt: nudeedudee

1930s style shoes: Re-mix

1930s carved celluloid bangle: etsy

               

Down By the Bay

After a little accident involving me dribbling black tea down my white tank, I had to do a quick outfit swap (I grabbed my favourite 30s resort dress that I bought last year),  before we headed out for a lovely dinner, followed by a walk down by the shore.  Whenever I miss the ocean (before moving to Ontario, I lived out on the West Coast for ten years), it's great to be in close proximity to a Great Lake that has an ocean-like look and feel to it.  Anyway, until I saw these photos, I didn't realize how tanned I've gotten this summer--despite wearing spf 45 every day, all that walking in the sun to the post office to mail shop parcels has given me a faux resort-tan.  Oh, well, as Fleur and Lolita Starlet and Miss Matilda have blogged recently, at certain points in history, a gal with a tan was the picture of ideal beauty (also as The Painted Woman blog has established tans were a mark of the leisured class in the late 20s to 1930s).  The way I see it, Coco Chanel would be proud. hehe.

Outfit: 1930s "life-preservers & nautical flags" novelty cotton resort dress and Haivanas flipflop (not as stylish as the shoes from my other outfit, but these things last forever..I've had mine for three years and very little wear n' tear!).

Music for My Mood

Music to go with my fashion mood right now.  This also makes me want to see Woody Allen's film, Midnight in Paris, that much mooooooreeeeeee.....

Perfectly Prada

I don't really follow mainstream fashion trends or own much in the way of contemporary designer clothing, but Prada's Spring 2011 and Resort 2011 collections are really speaking to me right now....undoubtedly due to their overt stylistical allusion to 1930s fashion (esp. late 20s/early 30s resort fashion) and to figures like Josephine Baker and Nancy Cunard.  Bring on the bright colours, the bangles, and shoes to absolutely swoon for!!!

Back Yard Glam-ping

After being back home long enough to count the actual number of mosquito bites accrued during our camping trip, I am reminded that backyard glam-ping is the best camping of all :). Besides being virtually insect-free, one can wear vintage (white linen vintage, no less). Erm, okay, excuse me as I go back to trying to create my own little faux-Riviera experience in the yard, with the aid of the new canopied swing & some good reads (including the Land Girl-related book, "Sucking Eggs," alongside the first contemporary magazine I've bought in a LONG time...Elle Canada).  Happy 4th of July to my American friends! :) PS: does anyone know why my photos are uploading all pixelated lately? I never had this problem before--didn't change a thing on my computer or camera.  Wonder if it's a blogger issue/change??

Outfit details: 1930s linen skirt; 1930s inspired plaid halter top.

Pokey Monday

Since first hearing of Pokey LaFarge (thanks to SuperHeidi) my summer's been a-jumping!  Heard them again on the radio this past weekend!  Love 'em!

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay

I wish I could say I "glam"-ped it up during our short but sweet camping experience this weekend, but I admit I was so into lazing by the lake or reading by the campfire or hiking in the woods or swatting mosquitoes that glamourous outfit shots didn't take much precedence.  However, I *did* put on some red lipstick when I went swimming in my vintage inspired Esther Williams swimsuit, and the first day, I *did* run around in my 30s-inspired playsuit (made by nudeedudee). Since we're going to be spending at least a week this summer at a remote waterfront cabin in the woods, I do think I will need to continue to explore outdoorsy/camping-appropriate outfit options, however, so do expect more posts on this subject! :)