GREEN YOUR: BEDROOM

Yesterday was a special day.  I had my first blog interview!  It was for an upcoming issue of Coulee Region Women.  CRW is a regional home and healthy living magazine for La Crosse, WI.  That means local people could start reading my blog!  Exciting … and odd.  I’m still getting used to the idea of family reading my ramblings.

The interview went well, I thought.  I met a doll named Mary – Hi, Mary! – and then proceeded to talk her ear off for the next hour – Sorry, Mary.  She was wearing fabulous boots so I knew immediately I would like her.  And I did.  It was like having a coffee date with a girlfriend.  I wish all client meetings were like that.

Speaking of shoes, were we?  One of my Flickr photos ended up in Explore!  A photo of the shoes I wore to my interview no less.  Now that’s exciting.  I’ve had these shoes for a year, but this was their maiden voyage.  Special shoes are saved for special days.  This was both.

So, what did I wear, you ask?  A good representation of vintage, thrifted, indie, modern, and purchased locally.

You can never go wrong with a LBD.

Starting from the top:  my fascinator is a modern piece from Target, the earrings came from Goodwill, my dress is vintage from Vintage Vogue {local}, the belt is secondhand from Treasures on Main {local}, my clutch is vintage from an antique mall in Hixton {local-ish}, that watch and bracelet were thrifted from garage sales, my cocktail ring was purchased from an independent Silpada representative, my tights came from ModCloth, and those special shoes are from Indie designer Poetic Licence purchased locally at Kick.

showing off the shoes

Damn squirrel!

The squirrels were not happy I was under their tree.

I love this dress.

Special shoes for a special day.

Flickr Explore October 19, 2010 #451

THRIFTED/VINTAGE/INDIE PIECES
  • 1960′s wiggle dress {purchased locally at Vintage Vogue}
  • Earrings, watch & bracelet {thrifted locally}
  • Heart belt {secondhand, purchased locally at Treasures on Main}
  • Vintage clutch {purchased from a local antique mall}
  • Sateen tights {purchased online at ModCloth}
  • Poetic Licence shoes {purchased locally at KICK}

Rebecca Jean

{ 7 comments }

Post image for Unchartered Waters

I have reached the point where buying vintage clothes “as is” is not enough.  Now I look at things and think, “Yeah, that has potential. If I took it in a little here, shortened there, it could be fabulous.” A needle and thread still scare me, the sewing machine leaves me clueless, but I’m always up for an adventure.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained!  Sew here I go…

Since I am working with vintage clothing I didn’t want to do anything too crazy for fear of ruining the garment.  Altering vintage pieces makes me nervous.  It feels wrong in a way, like you’re messing with history or something.  I need to get over that, they’re just clothes.  Ladies living in the era my clothes are from would have ripped that dress to shreds and turned it into ten different items.  In fact, many of my pieces are home-sewn, maybe it was once something else before becoming my favorite frock.

Make Do and Mend

The “Make Do and Mend” mentality of the 1940′s is perfect for today’s climate.  We have become a disposable culture.  Our clothing tears, we throw it away and go buy more.  Something breaks, we do the same.  Items are even manufactured for planned obsolescence.  What sense does that make?  It seems silly to buy something knowing that in a few years you will need to buy it again.  What ever happened to “built to last”, “will withstand the test of time”, “takes a licking and keeps on ticking”?  I think it’s crazy that my dresses made 70 years ago are outliving the ones I purchased last season!  In just one year Americans throw out 6,330,000 tons of clothing and footwear!!!  Really?  All 6,330,000 tons of clothes and shoes were unusable?  Somehow I doubt it.  I am sure most of the items were just fine, perhaps needing a minor repair.  Many of them probably needed nothing at all, other than to be passed on to someone else who would make use of it.  We tend to be fickle folks, buying for no good reason and then tossing when we tire of it {i.e when society tells us that’s sooo last year}.

But I digress… back to the sewing.  Since this is all new to me, I decided to start small.  I figured I could handle a hem.  I have a home-sewn dress I think is from the 50′s that I have worn once before, but felt a little matronly in.  A shorter hem might just give it the updated feel while maintaining the vintage look I am going for.  I didn’t want a row of straight stitches all the way around showing and the folding for a blind hem on the machine drives me nuts, so I decided to hand stitch this one the way it had been originally done.

The Nina and Pinta were docked on the Mississippi River, so Mister and I took a little detour on the way to return the chitlin boy to his mother’s house to see them.  How often do you get to climb around on 15th century ships?  Well, replicas of 15th century ships anyway.  I figured it fitting to wear my newly hemmed masterpiece since Columbus and I had both sailed into unchartered waters {and it matched The Penguin Zesto where we went for ice cream afterwards}.  He was far braver than I.  Have you seen these ships?  They are tiny!  Okay, not tiny, but much smaller than I had anticipated for crossing the ocean in.  I cannot imagine living for months aboard one of these things.  How do you people living in one room apartments do it?  Cabin fever anyone?

The Penguin Zesto

The Pinta

The Pinta

The Pinta

Ooh flowers... ooh bees!

The Nina

The Chitlins

THRIFTED/VINTAGE PIECES:

  • 40′s Wilshire of California hat {VINTAGE VOGUE}
  • 50′s Home-sewn dress {VINTAGE VOGUE}

Rebecca Jean

{ 3 comments }

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