Sewing Savant and Possible Psychic

I love this dress:

Love the print, love the fit, love it. 

I mean, look at this thing.  It’s amazing:

It's perfect for swishing about, dramatic walks down spiral staircases, Mama Mia! viewings and casual summer parties.  I'd just add a white blazer for cool nights and I'd be set.  You can see it with a blazer at Everything Just So where the lovely Jill has included my pic with other party pics.

The best thing about this dress though?  It's handmade.  I’m always yelling about how much I love handmade vintage and this dress is a prime example why; it looks like it was made for me.  It wasn’t, of course, unless… Unless my 70s toddler-self sewed it for my future-self, at which point I should probably go on the next season of Project Runway because I’m clearly a sewing savant and possibly psychic!  

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

Lucky Lamb

This outfit was directly inspired by an outfit that I saw in Lucky Magazine a couple of months ago.  And by a trick of Catherine’s at Not Dressed as Lamb:

A couple of months ago, Lucky suggested pairing a super-full skirt with a turtleneck layered under a printed shirt.  I knew immediately that I wanted to try to recreate the look but didn’t have a suitable skirt.  And then, a couple of weeks later, I found this skirt so I thought I’d give it a whirl:

And I love how it turned out.  In spite of it’s awkward length, this skirt has become one of my favorites to wear and today’s outfit is no exception.  I paired the skirt (Ralph Lauren via Goodwill) with a burgundy turtleneck (Gap) layered under a houndstooth shirt (vintage via Vintage by the Pound).  I also added a tie belt (DIY with belts from St. Vincent de Paul), tights (Hue via Nordstrom Rack), booties (Nine West Darsy) and a neon necklace (Target).

Although I do love the skirt, I was a bit iffy about the shirt.  It’s vintage and therefore has an appropriately crazy collar.  Which is where Catherine’s trick comes in; in this post here, she pins the collar of a shirt into a stand-up collar.  I did something similar with today’s shirt.  My collar wasn’t robust enough to pin behind my neck, so I folded the collar inside the shirt and used a stick pin to keep in place, creating a sort of mandarin collar:

And I think it worked.

So, thank you, Lucky.  And thank you, Catherine.  Also, a special thanks to my friend, Jeanne from I Dream of...{by Jeanne}.  She was with me when I bought this shirt and swore I could rock it.  Best enabler ever.

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Lord Jeff’s Cousin, Chet

In November, I wore a vintage cardigan made by “Lord Jeff” (you can see it here).  Well, I’m pretty sure this cardigan was made by Lord Jeff’s cousin, Chet:

Excuse me, I mean LordChet.  My understanding is that Lord Jeff and Lord Chet were minor royals/playboy cousins during the 70s.  They spent a lot of time in Ibiza, of course, but also in Switzerland.  It was their time in Switzerland that encouraged them to create their own lines of après ski wear.  Like this sweater:

In the spirit of the 70s, when they wore the heck out of some turtlenecks (and also because I love turtlenecks,) I layered the sweater (vintage via Vintage by the Pound) over a black turtleneck (Hinge via Nordstrom).  I also wore a pleated skirt (Goodwill), tights (Spanx via Nordstrom) and my new rain boots (Merona “Zajac” via Target).  I feel like Lord Chet would totally approve of this look.

You know who else would approve?  Starsky.  Little known fact: Starsky, of Starsky and Hutch, was dressed almost exclusively in sweaters by Lord Jeff and Lord Chet.  From what I’ve heard, their cousin Penny was the costume designer for the show so they had an in.

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

I couldn't find my exact cardigan anywhere, but there are a lot on eBay and Etsy vendor hellhoundvintage, has a great selection.

Spanx Tight End tights

Similar skirt

Similar turtleneck

Merona Zajac Rain Boots (I think you can find them in the store for 1/2 off)

** Disclosure: Actions taken from the hyperlinks in this blog post may yield commission/compensation for the writer. Please see the Disclosure tab for more details.

Drama! Polka Dots! 70s! Coats! Dresses!

I didn’t do a lot of thrifting this weekend, but the little bit I did do was fabulous.  I found two skirts for my sister and two coats for myself.  This is one of the coats:

Isn’t it adorable?!  I love the polka dots (of course) and the crazy, dramatic collar.  Not only is the coat (Mycra Pac via Goodwill) spotted and dramatic, it is also water-resistant, wrinkle-resistant and reversible!  And, you can find it here, but, be warned, it costs considerably more than the $12.99 I paid at Goodwill.

In addition to my new coat, I also wore this dress (vintage Coco of California, thrifted):

It’s sooooo 70s, I couldn’t resist pairing it with my also-very-70s Eye of Sauron belt (thrifted, Goodwill).  But, I did also add tights (SPANX via Nordstrom) and booties (Luxury Rebel “Yuma” via Piperlime) to try to modernize the look a bit.  Because I do wear a lot of vintage clothes I try to be careful not to look like an extra in a period piece and I usually do that with my shoes.  It’s hard to resist the urge to go full 70s though; if I’d had the right pair of heeled boots, I think I would have worn them.

What about you, Reader Friends?  Do you try to modernize your vintage or do you go full Foxy Brown?

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey

Stripes and Mia-Approved Pockets

My dress today has stripes and what I believe would be Mia-approved pockets:

This pose is soooo smarmy; it makes me laugh.

Blogger friend Mia wrote that she used to use pocket size as criteria for buying clothes.  If the pockets were big enough to hold a book, it was meant to be hers.  I’m pretty sure my pockets today are big enough to hold a book.  Maybe not a trade paperback, but a couple of Harlequin Romances for sure.

Not that I’d ever put books in these pockets.  When I my hips found out I was even just writing about it, they started preparing Molotov cocktails.  They like to make it very, very clear that they won’t accept any added bulk in their region; they’d secede before they let that happen.  And, of course, my thighs are always up for a revolution so they lent my hips some matches.

Even if I don’t use the pockets for books, I still think this is a pretty great dress.  It’s been on the blog a couple of times before, but not at all this summer.  So, I figured I’d get in a post while it was still summer.  The dress is vintage Raoul (thrifted) and I paired it with an embroidered belt (Target) and platform sandals (Franco Sarto via Nordstrom Rack).  If yesterday’s outfit was a bit 80s, today’s feels a bit 70s to me; like I’m applying for the position of art teacher at that aggressively feminist all-girls summer camp I ‘worked’ at earlier this summer.  I love that imaginary camp.  

And I love this dress.

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey