• Violet millinery flowers pinned in hair – vintage shop in Seattle
• Teal earrings – urban outfitters
• 1940s? floral dress with flower baskets and purple ric rac – buffalo exchange
• purple plastic flats – Melissa, from my trip to Brazil

What a lovely little frock I’ve found! At first, I was drawn to it because it looks like a pinafore apron, especially because of the ruffly shoulders. It has little purple and teal flowers ribbon trailing out of baskets. And ric rac! I’m such a sucker for ric rack. Unfortunately, we were hit by a giant thunderstorm this evening, and as I was running to my bus stop with my bike in a downpour, I slipped and fell with my bike on top of me. I suffered a scraped shoulder and arm, and my dress was crushed with dirt and blood. I also had my millinery violets in my front pocket, and they bled a huge purple stain down the front of the dress. As soon as I got home, I soaked the stain in my own personal savior, Biz Laundry Stain Fighter and the stain has nearly disappeared! I first found out about Biz when I worked at the Antique Expo in Portland, during a conversation with a woman whose hobby was to restore Edwardian linens. She swore by it, and now that I’ve been using it for two years – I do too!
My tattoo is now two years old, and I’m still smitten by the design. My friend Grace drew the bunny and the hand is based off of Victorian mourning jewelry. Annie Mess is my artist for this piece and my Valentine leg pieces, and if you’re in the Austin area I highly recommend her. She likes to brought cupcakes to tattoo appointments

• Headband with vintage millinery flower, electric blue lace and maroon accents by Louise Black
• 1950s style electric blue lace dress – Buffalo Exchange
• Black stretchy belt – American Apparel
• Alice in Wonderland brooch – gift from my sister when she was in England
• Locket – my 6th birthday present from my grandfather Burch
• Maroon flats – Target

Before I get to work, I need to arrange the wall of Ugly Dolls! I realize that I always take outfit photos outside of the toy store, but I hardly ever show the inside. It’s very colorful and hard to focus on just one background. I like this dress, as I feel it strikes a balance between my vintage style and the colorful background in which I work. We have a selection of vintage photographs, including my boyfriend Clark Gable and a charming poster for Waring’s Pennsylvanians.

• Bow snipped from a Hello Kitty plush and affixed to a clip
• Glass umbrella earrings
• Polka dot umbrella from Toy Joy, Austin, Texas
• 1930s flower dress – Buffalo Exchange
• red stretchy belt – American Apparel
• Red tights – American Apparel
• Black shoes – Melissa store, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

I wore entirely too much makeup last night (detailed post to follow) that my eyes were a little puffy this morning and my sink is filled with gold glitter. Today is entirely beautiful outside – not a cloud to be seen! Wearing these tights proved too hot in the afternoon, but they were perfect for my early morning bike ride to work.

• Navy beret that I sewed pearls on. I got the idea from Karin of http://www.blog.lilyofthevalley.se when she did the same!
• Orange paper flowers
• Pearl/Glass earrings – made by my sister
• Vintage navy jacket – Austin clothing swap
• Green belt – Decades Vintage, PDX
• 1930s flame colored dress – ebay
• Remix vintage shoes

I bought this dress on ebay with the original intention of cutting out the pattern and using the shape as a projection screen as part of my MFA thesis. It’s difficult to capture on film, but this fabric is absolutely luminous and glossy – it burns with so many colors! However, the projection idea proved too obtuse, and luckily, was scrapped. The dress remained, quiet, in my closet.
The first strange thing I noticed about this dress was that the piping around the pockets and sleeves is the sweetest color of periwinkle. But, I’ve never ever even thought to pair periwinkle with orange, but I think it looks quite lovely. I also like how the breast pockets look like folded envelopes! One thing I wish I could change about the dress is the length. It has a full zipper, like that of a house dress, fancy as though this fabric may be. It was probably a glorified dressing gown. We just got these paper flowers in at my work. I had a fun time today moving them from my hair to my blazer and back again. I got them in almost every color so brace yourselves to see some in the next few posts.
My remix shoes are still pleasing me with every time I wear them! These got a little beat up in the back when I rode on my bicycle.
Now my favorite! The sleeves! These are the kind of poofy sleeves I draw on all of my cartoon girls:

I think in this image I was literally chanting “Puffy sleeve! Puffy sleeve!” in a muppet voice.

The first time I wore the dress, Halloween, 2007:
I was posing as a living mannequin inside and outside of Decades Vintage Clothing in downtown Portland. I started out in the window, but I am too tall for most people walking by to notice. When people made eye contact with me, I winked at them! When I posed outside, two men pulled on my fingers to see if I was real. I held a dish of candy and whispered Enjoy when people took a piece. One woman yelled the loudest I’ve ever heard in real life. Her friends laughed at her. Two business men tipped me.

• 1930s angular beret – Alexandra’s Vintage, PDX
• 1950s? Cotton Dress with leaves and rooster print – Buffalo Exchange, Austin, Texas
• Yellow hair facinatior I’ve worn as a brooch – www.etsy.com/shop/giantdwarf
• Yellow ribbon as belt – I think this was tied around something I got from etsy!
• Black patterned stockings
• Yellow road stripe heels

I look pretty wholesome and sweet, save for the black, pointed nails!
It’s so very windy outside today! All of my wind chimes woke me up this morning!
I love these garters! I bought them from an etsy store that only had one thing for sale, EVER, and it was this pair! They are hand-painted little flapper girl faces. She’s perfect: reddish hair, blue eyes and red lips! I’ve emailed the company several times to see if they were going to make more but I’ve never gotten a reply. Etsy is like that sometimes!
There was a band playing at my house until 3 am so I’m a bit tired. It was difficult to sleep.

Have a nice Sunday, everyone! I hope it’s sunny where you are.

• Red corduroy bow – snipped off one of my Hello Kitty plush dolls and affixed to a pincurl clip
• Red Scarf – Thrifted in Lawerence, KS
• Red leather gloves – estate sale, Eugene, OR
• Black jacket with Red/Yellow/Blue flecked Tweed Details – Buffalo Exchange, ATX
• 1930s dress with Primary color daisy details – Buffalo Exchange, ATX
• Red knee high socks – URBN
• Black Patent Shoes – Target

It was actually raining really hard when I took this photo!
Like I’ve said before… I LOVE MATCHY MATCHY!
Just the small bits of primary colored tweed that compliment the dress make this outfit very successful in my eyes
Here are my little bows! I scalped my Hello Kitty plush and now she looks SO much like Dear Daniel with no bow!

I stitched one single pronged pin curl clip to the back of each bow, so I can slip it on when I feel like channeling Hello Kitty.

• Coral knit beret – URBN
• Aqua patina earrings – URBN
• 1940s long navy dress – Alexandra’s Vintage, PDX
• Navy Socks
• Pink Lacy tights – URBN
• Navy shoes – remixvintageshoes.com

• Black metal lace earrings
• 1950s (?) Vintage black dress – Nobody’s Baby, Eugene, OR
• White socks from sockdreams.com
• Pointy shoes (traded with Belleweather)

I think this s probably one of the most perfect little black dresses I’ve ever found. It was only $22 to boot!

• Black Damask earrings – Urbn
• 1950s Jade/Green dress – Big Bertha’s, Austin, TX
• Green Cameo Ring – Uncommon Objects, Austin, Texas
• Black socks/Leggings (I wear these everyday to ride my bike in the cold)
• Black flats (Also, for bike riding)
• PS I was also wearing a coat through most of today but I went out in the cold for this shoot.

This is a cameo ring I got at Uncommon Objects a few weeks ago. I’ve been searching for the perfect nail polish to match! Too teal? Too green? Too expensive (it’s up to $140 on ebay)? I finally settled on a matte color from OPI called Gargantuan Green Grape. Here is my fake senior portrait…
My pin curls have been multiplying. I’ve been setting my normal forehead one and it transforms into two or three by the end of the morning. After seeing Fantastic Mr. Fox yesterday, I bought two holiday dresses: one in green and one in red. This green one has big fat pleats and a cute little tie around on the neck.

I’m done with school! I’m done with school!
Well, at least until January…

• Headpiece from GiantDwarf on Etsy
• Black chandelier earrings from URBN
• 1930s black dress with ruching details and red, blue and yellow flower print – Buffalo Exchange
• Black socks
• Garter from Norma Valentine
• Yellow Strappy shoes – Buffalo Exhange

I don’t know why my face read as sullen here, I had a fantastic day at work that involved jumping into a pile of stuffed animals and smothering my co-worker with a stuffed pink dolphin.
I’ve never been one for primary colors. Primary colors are not very often shown together in contemporary wear, and they carry the same connotations for me as when I wear navy/red/white. That is, when I wear those colors I feel like I’m dressing up to be patriotic or as a flag of some sort. The primary colors are childish and basic, which was always a bad thing in my mind… until this dress.

I very nearly did not buy this dress because I thought, “Ew, primary colors…that will never get worn.” There was also a 1/2 foot rip in the back of the dress. BUT I got it for half off (so, $8 total!), and I sewed it up the very same night I got it and it wears beautifully. The lace around the color was once black (my guess) but it has faded into a brown/purple. I love the little splotch daisy print and it gives me an excuse to wear all of my yellow accessories at the same time. Now if only I hadn’t sold my 1960s road stripe yellow bicycle last summer…

A-ha! Here is the smile!

Now to match the parking lot stripes: