The parking lot where I take my daily outfit could use a good sweeping. The best part of cleaning up in a toy store is that there is always a lot of glitter, stray bouncy balls, and rubber cockroaches mixed in with all of the dirt. The worst part? Sometimes the cockroaches are real.

• Creme Cloche from Yellowfield7 on Etsy
• Creme knit blouse with polkadot tie – Buffalo Exchange
• 1930s silk dressing gown worn as camisole
• Wine accordion pleated skirt – Banana Republic by way of Buffalo Exchange
• Wine stockings
• Bone Tstrap shoes – Dollhouse

My only quarrel with Texas is that there are not nearly enough cold days to wear fancy hats.

This amazing cloche is hand-crafted by Behida Dolic, one of the most talented people selling on etsy. Her designs are breathtaking & delicious – a dangerous combination for me and my tastes! I love how cloches like these are just little sculptures to wear on one’s head.
I have these three hats on my fantasy wishlist from her shop on etsy:

Rather than Austin City Limits, I spent the day seeing my favorite bands for free, including the radiant Agent Ribbons, pictured below. Natalie Ribbons and I also ran into Sonic Youth drinking wine at a bar, and we cheers’ed them!

Natalie uses a finger monocle to peruse the Pernod list. Gentlemen kept handing us roses throughout the night.
Laura (another ice cream maker in town) & I water down our cocktails.

My striped ensemble for Tranarchy! this weekend
& I ended up looking like a cross between a German Flapper, Louise Brooks, & Friend the Girl
Which, is never a bad thing.

• Lucky vintage Gucci blouse
• Romper from Urban Outfitters by way of Buffalo Exchange (but I took the stupid buttons off of it and put anchor buttons on instead)
• White socks that I promptly stained with my bicycle chain
• 1930s reproduction shoes from remix vintage

We didn’t have an American flag or a Texas flag at my work, but we oddly enough, had an Arkansas flag for me to carry for the holiday. Hooray for the Natural State!
My lucky blouse, given to me by my aunt when I was 15. She bought it in 1986.
Is that vintage yet? I feel weird saying that. Here’s some more photos of me wearing it through the years.

This is my swimming costume from the 1950s. I traded a girl for it about seven years ago – I had one of those “Mary is my Home Girl” shirts and for some reason this girl really wanted it. I’d say I got the better part of the trade!
These four suits are from Drama Queen on etsy, who hand makes vintage inspired suits. I have my eye especially on the absinthe colored one!

I have a very small head (my mother always laughs at me) but it’s quite handy for fitting into tiny 1920s cloche hats, which are usually size 21 and smaller. The next time you’re at the beauty parlor, request for the back to be “stacked” and they’ll usually cut your hair shorter beginning at the occipital bone. Think Louise Brooks. It’s a very handy cut to have for making hats fit. There is your beauty tip for the day.

Most of my cloches are ill fitting at the moment because the back of my head is overgrown. I haven’t had my hair cut in a while because I haven’t any extra money – a ladies’ haircut in Austin is $50 in most places before tip! I feed myself on nearly $90 a month, so it doesn’t really make sense to spend food money on something that will grow back in 5 weeks. I can manage trimming the front and sides okay, but I can’t stack the back myself. I wish I could pay for just partial haircuts, because I would gladly pay $25 for just the back to be cut and the rest left alone. I have a special technique for cutting my hair that is probably not approved by most stylists. It involves dry cutting the ringlets and then twisting sections that I pincurl and thin them out.

Close up of kitten fabric! I borrowed this image from the Jitterbuggin Etsy shop. By the way, I own another blouse from this shop and I can’t say enough nice things about it. It’s all handmade in Portland, Oregon by the cutest girl, too!

This is a very New Orleans outfit. I got this necklace on my first trip there in 2003 when I visited to photograph graveyards and drink gin and tonics at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop in the evenings. When I’m in New Orleans, I always stop by Trashy Diva to see what kind of pretties are there that season. This dress originally had halter straps, but I began sewing it last night and I like the straps sewn strait to the back as it is now.

• Cloche straw hat with black ribbon – Urban Outfitters
• Pink sweater with ribbon roses – Betsy Johnson by way of Buffalo Exchange
• 1940s skirt - 13 bees on Etsy
• Maroon velvety shoes – Melissa Store, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Download the The Old Codger‘s podcast on WFMU

“The Codger: Older than the first knock-knock joke”

Oh, Courtney T. Edison, how I love you! There are many podcasts that feature old timey favorites, but not all of them are manned by such a charming cantankerous charm. His whiskey coated voice, shuffly shoes, and rambly stories about transporting his 78s in his signature shopping cart make the in-between time of 78 records all the more sweet. His show on WFMU has been going on since 1991. I’m not sure how new the “newest” shows are. Sometimes his sweetheart, Blossom Moskowitz, will show up and help him DJ. It’s so sweet!

Gramophone Kit, From Make Zine

Evidently, you can record sounds on old cds, or any smooth surfaces that can have a groove cut into them. I haven’t been able to find any demonstration videos of them but I think they are very interesting to look at. I think if I was a Science teacher I would definitely get this when I taught about sound waves and vibration.

Stemming from my love for mice and their antics with phonographs, here is a Phonograph and Dancing Mice Crochet Pattern from Etsy. This is so ridiculously cute that I can barely stand it! I so want this to be put on a tilt hat or a birthday cake or even as a wedding topper!