Modern Purveyors of Vintage-Camp Kitschy Knits

I find that one of the biggest misconceptions about vintage style is that people awesome, vintage mean dressed up.   In fact their a plethora of comfortable and casual vintage options.  Much of my wardrobe is pretty casual and I find my casual vintage items to be much more comfortable then vintage ones.   One cold weather causal vintage item I really appreciate is the Cowichan sweater.

These colorful zip front sweaters with their fun novelty prints are inspired by the knitting style of the Cowichan people of British Columbia.  They first became popular in the 1950s with the advent of the Mary Maxim sweater patterns and they've since been worn by everyone from Marilyn Monroe to the Dude.  

Kitschy motifs like curling, cowboys, bowlers, country western dancers, and skiers are de-rigeur for Cowichan sweaters.  

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That kitsch appeal is one thing that Camp Kitschy Knits on Etsy really understands.   This fun repro shop makes hand crafted sweaters using the original Mary Maxim patterns and warm thick wool. 

 Their patterns include a copy of the famous Marilyn sweater, 

as well as other fun prints.

They even have a copy of the Apollo 11 sweater worn by Danny in The Shining.

I ordered my first Camp Kitschy Knits sweater after Christmas, using an etsy gift card I was generously given.    I choose an ice dancer pattern.

The sweater is beautifully made and toasty warm. Perfect casual vintage winter wear.

I wanted a 1950s fitted look so I ordered a small, but Camp Kitschy sweaters come in a wide range of sizes for men and women.

I even found a cute vintage ice follies pin to wear with it.

I really love my sweater and I'm sure I'll shop from Camp Kitschy Knits again.  I have my eye on the Apollo 11 sweater it be great for Halloween!

Sci Fi Saturday (A Day Early))-Remembering

I'm not the sort of person who scrap books or saves momentos and photos. I started blogging six years ago because I wanted to create a record of memories that I could visit any time.  I figured, that for me at least, a photo saved on the Internet was safer from loss  then one languishing in a drawer.  

Recently circumstances colluded so as to make me look back a year ago.   It happened because I got a notice from the library  that a book I had placed a hold on a year ago had finally came in. 

I Am Spock by Leonard Nimoy.  I requested it a year ago after he died but so many other readers had the same idea that it took me a year to make it to the top of the list .  After I picked up the book I remembered my pug Spock tribute from last year. 

Such cuteness and there is my darling Tubby on the left.  This was taken about 7 weeks before he passed.  At the time he was feeling good and in apparently great shape for a nearly 14 year old pug.  I'm so greatfull for this memory, particularly because I love seeing him next to little Fry, they had such a short time together.  It's so important to treasure these times. As Nimoy said in his final message to his fans

My Interview at Chronically Vintage

I am uberexcited to be interviewed on the blog Chronically Vintage.  Jessica is one of the most knowledgable and successful vintage bloggers out there and there blog is a must read for anyone into the vintage scene.  She has been doing a series of interviews with vintage bloggers and mine up today (link) .
I'm so honored to be featured and very excited to perhaps attract some new vintage readers to my blog, I think most of my readers know are more in the pet blogger realm which is great but since at least half of my posts are on vintage I'd love to have more vintage lovers on board.   Anyway thanks so much to Jessica, a truly awesome person and proof that  you can meet amazing people online.  

Vintage Outfit Post-1960s Style For a Wedding

Nearly three years ago when I first started this blog I did a post on a 1930s outfit I wore to a good friend's wedding (here).  It was just as I was getting really into vintage and her wedding was one of the first events I attended dressed in full on vintage style:

Eeek only three years ago and I look so much younger!

 

I had a great time at the event and greeting dressed up made it even more fun.

Today of course I dress in vintage, or vintage style looks, nearly every day, but I still relish the chance to go the extra mile for a special event.  This past Friday a good friend of mine got married in a  really lovely ceremony in Manhattan.   

I've been getting more and more into mid century looks lately and I really wanted to wear something  1950s or 60s to the event, plus the bride is a Mad Men fan (a show I don't watch, but I like the look of).  So as I was shopping I was looking for a cocktail dress with a Mad Men feel to it.

I found the perfect dress just before Christmas in the Etsy shop fab gabs, and for a great price!  I nabbed it during one of her flash sales at a big discount.   The dress is grey and gold which was nice because grey and gold are the brides favorite colors.

I paired the dress with a white and gold hair flower from Chatter Blossom and clip on hoop earrings from Mrs Polly's Lucite.  

My husband looked pretty fab too (and the dogs helped us keep it real by getting us all haired up before we left).

The wedding was beautiful a gold cake, a Mariachi band, and the couple looked amazing and glowing with happiness. Sadly it was dark and a little hard to get photos, but it was perfect.  

While my dress was great fun to wear it did hi-light some perils of wearing vintage.   The style of the dress with my body type and all the food I'd eaten over my vacation necessitated some shape wear underneath.  I wore a waist cincher  from What Katie Did.  They make great vintage style shape wear that really holds you in and gives you an era appropriate look.   In general their stuff is pretty comfortable and very pretty, but by the end of the evening I did fill a bit like this:

Sadly the dress didn't really survive the night.  Perhaps because the fabric is lame thread and delicate, it did not hold up well, and by the end of the evening there where several rips that I don't think can be repaired.  I'm still really glad I had the chance to wear it.    You always take a risk wearing vintage that it won't hold up on wearing it, but I hate to think of beautiful things languishing in a box instead of being enjoyed.  

Outfit Details

Dress: Fab Gabs

Hair Flower: Chatter Blossom

Earrings: Mrs. Polly's Lucite

Lucite Box Purse-Thrifted

Shape Wear and Stockings: What Katie Did 

Shoes: Remix Vintage Shoes

Sci Fi Saturday Fry and The Planet Express Stuffies

Some  of our readers might remember that our Fry's full name is Philip J. Fry.   His fictional name sake is the main character from Futurama 

See the resemblance? 

For Valentine's Day my sweet husband gave me two new Futurama Stuffies, Morbo and Dr. Zoidburg, to join my Kiff stuffie.  We had fun photographing Fry with his friends

The shoot was pretty short because was Fry was keen to eat the crew.   So they had to go back in the china cabinet.

  I'm a very lucky lady the Stuffies weren't even the best part of my I also received the greatest piece of Star Trek kitsch ever.  Leonard Nimoy's 1969 album: The Touch of Leonard Nimoy. 

I don't have a record player but now I may need to get one.  I'll need to devote a full post to the record kitschy glory  at a later date.  Hope Everyone has a fabulous weekend.  

Spot's Stew

While opening our mixed bag of Halo pets cat food.  I found our new favorite flavor Spot's pate.   All the cats liked it, especially Spot. After all it's named for him 

He seemed to enjoy it as much as feline supplement 221, his namesakes favorite food (Star Trek reference explained below) 

Remembering A Sunny Hey Day in Princeton

It took awhile, but it has finally gotten really cold in NYC.

Never being a fan of cold weather I can't help but long for warmer days.  That  is why I've decided to share these pictures from a September outing, a time when my blog was on hiatus.  John and I decided to celebrate Fry's first birthday by taking him to Princeton, NJ.   I've always liked Princeton.  The town is lovely and the buildings have a great sense of history.  Plus Einstein was  a resident for years which is neat.  (Incidentally it's pretty cool that Einsten's theory of relativity has basically been proven due to the fact that scientists have heard echoes of two black holes colliding billions of years ago.   I can't pretend to fully understand the video explaining it below, though maybe scientific advisor Bertie could help.  Either way black holes sure are pretty.)

Anyway another cool thing about Princeton is dogs are allowed on campus.  So we got lots of nice pictures of Fry out and about.

Fry wore his ensign Wesley Crusher sweater (I wrote about it here) and I wore a dress from Hey Day vintage.  It is a really fun repro dress in a style called called the Fleur, it's named after a vintage blogger.  It's done in a 1940s wrap dress style,  which means its very comfortable to wear and can accommodate a range of figures.   Dresses like this are proof that vintage style can be comfortable and casual.  Seriously this dress is way more comfortable then a pair of jeans.

The Fleur dress comes in lots of fun prints, I have the holly berry one too.  The one I wore to Princeton is in the All Aboard! print.  A cheery vintage train motif, with a novelty wheel button. 

I love whimsical prints and this one is so much fun.  It reminds me of 1940s and 50s toy trains.   

I accessorized my dress with a 1940s hat I got on sale from Fab Gabs, bakelite bangles, my 1950s poodle purse, American duchess shoes, and a sweater from Old Navy.

It was a lovely day, I can't wait for Spring so that we can have more of them!