Monday, March 25, 2013

Weekend Finds

Good morning, folks!

And phew, what a gusty, blowsy, overcast and drowsy kind of Sunday it was yesterday! Friday I went to the flea market with my pappy, Saturday I feel like I ran errands all day (and bought out the 70's paperback occult books section of McKays...when you feel a hankering for good trash non-fic lit, you feel a hankering!), and Sunday, I met up with fellow bloggers, galore! Lauren from Lladybird, three traveling Chicago-based vintage collectin' connossieurs, and I all descended upon the last day of the flea and hit some Goodwills and Athens Family Restaurant. Laughs were had! LA Gear backpacks (well, singular, but still) were bought! Leilani, Sarah, and Kyla, it was great to meet you and I can't wait to see all the fabulous pictures you took on your respective blogs! Hope the results of the times I was behind the lens aren't too fuzzy. :)

There's a lasso like ribboned embellishment that the camera didn't pick up-- know that it's there.

I'll tell you, I came out pretty good on the first day of the flea! This one, endearingly gabby seller was at the fairgrounds in the Antiques Shed when I went with Rae and Travis a few months ago, and upon my buying a red, patio squaw dress from him for five dollars (And Travis found it after I'd walked by the booth twice. He and Rae are pro level item spotters), he said he would be back in the spring with a whole table full of old clothes. The seller, who may be distantly related to Andy Devine, he's a dead ringer for the old actor except in Liberty overalls and a long hair/beard thing going on, didn't tell any lies, either. When I got to the shed, there were PILES, AND PILES...two feet high!... of musty, dusty, pulled from someone's barn clothes. And clothes. AND CLOTHES. I saw sundresses with matching belts, and button-up-the-back blouses begging to be worn with skinny sixties' capris, in every color of Kool-Aid and impressionistic flowers spattered across them.

Oh là là, mesdames et messieurs! Voilà "le crinoline"!
Now, mind you, nothing was in particularly good shape. Owing to its provenance more likely stretching back to a long neglected attic or hay loft type thing, there were holes and stains and faded, ripped things as well as some real gems. I pulled out the taffeta, I-Love-Lucy era skirt you see above (with surprise built in red crinoline!), three black wiggle dresses, a white dress with lipstick-red polkadots and a lipstick-red swing coat with matching lining, and satin dress you see below:

This thing is in poor shape, but that material is actually to die for.
And talked the man down to forty bucks for the whole kit and kaboodle. Six dresses, a short coat, and a skirt. More than I usually spend, sure, but I was buying in bulk! And this satin dress....whooo, this satin dress, folks. If I can get it cleaned (it has a water spot on the shoulder, some staining, and is in desperate need of pressing), this may well be a wedding dress candidate. The skirt is SO. FULL. Imagine what it would look like with the white crinoline I've been hoarding just for the occasion! If I can just squeeze down another inch or so in the waist measurement (those wrinkles are actual signs of life at the rib cage, because I think I made one every time I drew breath...this thing is tight on me!)...it's super cute.

On the trip with the girls today, I found this Whiting Davis mesh bag from the fifties' ($8), and this pin with parrot/birds on it made of celluloid ($10...I always end up buying some extravagant pin at these things, but it's so hard to find delicate brooches in good shape!). Do you see the weird, box-like way the purse opens, rather than the traditional envelope clutch style thing? After this picture was taken, I went and shined the silver clasp of the purse with some polish and you can see yourself in it now!



I've also been hoarding wire racks when you weren't looking. This record rack ($2.99, Southern Thrift) looks completely innocuous without records in it, and totally awesome when they are present:



See what I mean? I always have stray records laying around out of pocket, so this will be a cool way to not have them stacked up behind the actual container in which they're kept (overflow, accounted for!). This magazine rack ($10) was at the second day of a Patterson sale two weekends ago, and my, isn't it yar:


This hairpin, sharp, sharp atomic stuff is something I'm seeing less and less of out in the wild, so I had to get it. Plus, it holds my Valley of the Dolls cover issue of LOOK and this copy of Blood and Glitter by Mick Rock with grace and aplomb. Tangent: have you SEEN the stuff they have at the V & A right now? Bowie, Bowie, BOWIE, Bowie, and more Bowie. I might do a whole post on it soon, it makes my heart literally swell with joy to see things the man himself actually stood onstage in. Imagine seeing them in person!

Speaking of costumes, one last thing...my friend Caroline is getting hitched in Texas, as I've repeatedly said...I have two dresses vying for supremacy for this very special social occasion! I might just wear one to the reception and the other to dinner wherever we go in Austin the next night. Or I might just never take either off, because I love them so much. Donelson and Rivergate Goodwills, respectively, you have been very good to me lately:

Choice A, The Cher Affair


I somehow managed to photograph a little dumpy in this, but I really don't think I've worn a more flattering dress in any of my nine lives. Tight but not uncomfortable in the top, perfectly cut at the straps, and flowing down to a full length hem. It's all yellow polyester gathered in a faux pearl encrusted diamond at the center. When will I otherwise have a glamorous enough occasion to wear this?

Choice B, the Blanche du Bois dress


I really should be flouncing around the quarter in New Orleans, accessorizing with some "inexpensive summer furs she's had a long time!" (my style icon...oh, my literary style icon), in this dress. It's a sixties' or seventies' piece by "Miss Elliette", but it looks so thirties and dreamy to me. Now that I've said it though, I might well accessorize the former with a stole...again, when do we get occasions to be as dressy as weddings! I am not wearing something simple, even if I have to wear it on the plane with me, by Godfrey.

Anyway, I have to get going....how do you like my weekend finds? Which dress do you think I should wear to the wedding? Did you find anything crazy out at the sales or the flea market this weekend? Let's talk, let's talk!

That's all for today...see you kids back here tomorrow. Til then!

27 comments:

  1. ahh ohhh this beauties!!!
    good finds this weekend lisa. i really like the black skirt. so flowy. i feel the need to sew one for me, somewhere must be a plain black fabric in the sewingroom......
    and i would find a way to wear both dresses in austin :-)

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    1. Re: finds: Thanks! I was so happy with my haul. I always go "I didn't even get ANYTHING this weekend" and then when I try to put everything together for a post, realize I did pick up quite a few things!

      Re: skirt: You should make yourself a circle skirt, tout de suite! I feel so frou-frou and fancy in mine!

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  2. You always have the best vintage hauls! Especially loving the first and last looks.

    Adrienne
    What Lola Wants

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    1. Thanks--- the odds were with me this weekend! I'm still torn between the polyester and the faux chiffon! Wouldn't it be funny to wear one or the other on the plane at 6 in the morning? So jet-setter, haha!

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  3. oh my goodness - that yellow dress looks like it was made with you in mind!

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    1. RIGHT? I picked it off the rack with one of those "OH. MY. GOD." moments. It really does look exactly like a costume not only from Cher, but specifically the Cher dolls Mego made in the seventies'. I have this one in the pink dress, and I thought "YES! I CAN LOOK LIKE MY CHER DOLL!" when it miraculously fit!

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  4. You found such great treasures and sounds like you had an awesome weekend! And yay for meeting bloggers! I have to say that the second friend's wedding dress candidate is AMAZING. I choose that one. It's incredible on its own but it looks great with your complexion and hair.

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    1. That second dress was funny because I picked it up and just loved the ruffle at the bottom and the weird, wing-like overlays on the sleeves, but thought "This is going to look absolutely insane on". Instead, it actually makes way more sense and looks way more subdued on a body rather than on the hanger! Isn't that weird?

      The other bloggin' ladies were nice! WE STILL HAVE TO DO CRAFTERNOON SOMEDAY, OMG.

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  5. Wow, Lisa! You found some amazing stuff! The yellow dress is killer! You're just so glamorous (as always)! <3

    I'm also pretty envious of your rather yar indeed magazine rack. The shape is fantastic!

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  6. I'm in love with that skirt! And that it had a built in red crinny just blew my mind! Cute wee birdie pin too! I'm a sucker for vintage pins. When I used to go to Portobello Road on Saturday, one of the highlights was always the 'pin lady'. She had a big folding table that she'd pile sky high with vintage baubles...mostly pins...that you could literally spend hours digging through. Of course you didn't really want to do that as she'd shoo you off if you took too much time deciding. She was like a cockney soup nazi. So abrasive, but lovely!! It wasn't a Saturday in Portobello without standing in lines to get a Hummingbird cupcake and an insult from the pin lady!
    I'm excited to see what you can do with that gorg satin dress! Is it champagne coloured? I hope you can get the stains sorted as I do think it would be simply LUSH as a wedding dress!
    I'm glad I'm not the only one who's obsessed with those spindly metal shelves and racks! And they are getting harder and harder to come by lately. I used to have a bunch when I was younger that I'd bought at yard sales, but sadly I sold all of them in yard sales years ago. I've been trying to build up my collection again, but it's bloody hard! They're few and far between and most of what you do find are in such a state...or insanely expensive! Good work!
    As for the dresses, I love them both on you! If it's an early in the day wedding, I'd go for the 'Blanche' dress for the wedding and then the more glam one the next evening. But if they're both nighty night affairs, I'd go the other way round!

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    1. 1) Where do people like that GET all those pins? Isn't it funny when they have a blue million on display like that to the point that you can't even really take in everything you're looking at?
      2) The dress is a champagne satin! I'm going to take it to be cleaned and keep my fingers crossed! :)
      3) I agree about the racks-- I hardly had room for the second one, and that was before I bought the one I wrote about first in this post! I'm just afraid five years from now you won't be able to get one outside an antique store, period, you know?
      4) Like I told the commenters above, I think I'm just going to take them both. And Austin's supposed to be in the seventies' this weekend, while it is SNOWING outside right now, as I type, in Nashville. WHAT IS THE WEATHER COMING TO?

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  7. I WANT THAT YELLOW DRESS! AND THAT BEADED CLUTCH! AND THAT RECORD RACK! so cute. Can we flea together this spring. Maybe I will have good juju with you!

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    1. Yes! We should make it a plan! Maybe we can get Rae and Eartha and Jamie to go, too!

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  8. I love it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have such fab finds!! My vote is also for dress #2. Whichever one you choose, bling it up and have lots of fun. :)

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    1. I'm thinking of pinning a big, sparkly brooch in my updo and wearing some kind of out of control rhinestone earrings. It's exciting to get to "put on the dog" as they say! :)

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  9. im' so bummed i didn't get to meet up with you guys! of course lelani had to come into town on the first weekend of the year i've been out of it! i loooove that first dress, and that white one would be stunning as a wedding dress! i think i vote for the second one for the friend's wedding, but they both look so good i might change my mind tomorrow.

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    1. Aw, I know! You were missed! We Nashville bloggers need to get together soon, I need a meeting of our kitsch support group! :) And haha slash thanks about the dress advice, I'm on the fence, too! There's even a secret third option I didn't post about (shhh). Weddings are such a good excuse to get dressed up!

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  10. Ah, I didn't realize you cleaned out the clothing piles on Friday! No wonder I didn't find anything on Saturday ;) I love that satin dress as a WD contender and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that yellow dress. GIRL. I have an equally frivolous (ok mine's probably more frivolous, if we're telling the truth around here) orange chiffon maxi with rhinestones at the waistline that I have no real occasion to wear... I think in addition to the future cocktail parties, we should also have some future outdoor brunch patio parties, complete with frivolous maxi dresses. What do you think? :D

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    1. Oh, I agree times about 1,000,000 on your brunch patio party. We can all do our hair in bouffants and sip crazy fruit-based drinks in the late AM of the day! In addition to the cocktail party, obvs. Let's get on this! I need more reasons to get dressed up, other than smuggling fancy dresses under cardigans and blazers as "workplace appropriate attire"! :)

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  11. That yellow dress is to die for and I promise you didn't photograph dumpy at all. You look perfect. The Blanche dress, Be still my heart. I'm very jealous! It's hard to decide but I think I'd go with the yellow.

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    1. Thanks, Jodi! I need some silver platforms for that yellow dress, I think. I hope I can find some before Friday!

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  12. Ooh ooh I particularly like that hairpin stand!! Nice finds. And the dresses look great on you!

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    1. Re: dresses:Thanks, lady! Re: stand: I was walking through the house and that poor stand was the only older thing in a dimly lit, semi-renovated attic. I couldn't resist!

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  13. Lisaaaa! It was so nice to meet you on Sunday!! I hope we're able to hang out again. You were so much fun.

    Sarah
    zzouzivintage.com

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    1. Hi! Likewise, sister! Next time I'm up in the uppermost of Illinois, YOU fabulous girls will have to show me around! :)

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  14. You have the soundtrack to The Boyfriend! I'm dying.

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