Kitschmas Chic: Christmas Corsages

 

Christmas is a great time of year for lovers of mid-century Kitsch there are silver trees:

Glittery Putz houses:

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Jewel Bright and Shiny Ornaments:



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Flocked Deer, Santas, and Elves

 

 

 

 

 And the Colonel Sanders Christmas album

to name a few prized pieces of Christmas Kitsch, but from a fashion perspective nothing says Kitschmas like a big, glittery Christmas Corsage.

 

The fabulous vintage blog Wacky Tacky had a great post on Christmas Corsages last year that included instructions for making your own.  I have no crafting ability however and knew that even this simple task was beyond my skills, and besides I kind of wanted the genuine article.  A corsage that came to be during a mid-century Christmas decades ago.  So I turned to Etsy where I found an adorable glittery corsage that must have been purchased at a five and dime 50 or 60 years ago.

  I've worn it nearly every day since Thanksgiving and I admit its lost a bit of glitter and sadly one bell has cracked, these big corsages are hard to fit on your coat!  I still love it though and I've gotten plenty of compliments, as well as a few odd looks.  Perhaps the over the top festiveness of the Christmas Corsage is a bit too much for some people, but for me it makes the season!

Vintage Collectables-Letterman Sweaters

I won't lie, I've never had any fondness for athletics. While I enjoy a long walk or a bike ride, I avoid any sort of organized sporting event like the plague.  However, this aversion doesn't stop me from appreciating some aspects of vintage athletics, most specifically the sweaters........letterman sweaters that is.

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There is just something so autumny about a preppy letterman sweater.  Looking at the vintage photos of these sweater clad teens I can almost feel the chill in the air and hear the leaves crackle as they stroll around campus.




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While my feminist leanings leave me somewhat ashamed to admit it, my personal favorite letterman sweater look is the borrowed from the boys one.  Like the co-ed who below who appears to have kept warm by slipping her boyfriend's sweater over her dress or skirt and blouse.

 

 



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I may be more then a decade and a half beyond my school years but that didn't stop my collegiate yearnings for a vintage letterman sweater of my own.  Luckily, I found my perfect sweater match on Etsy thanks to the wonderful seller Dust and Daze.  While my sweater isn't the borrowed from the boys look I originally sought, it apparently belonged to a sporty young lady named Annelise, it is more than made up for by its pristine condition and vintage beauty.   Seriously this sweater looks like it was made yesterday despite being over 50 years old.  It has all the letterman sweater essentials a big fuzzy letter, classic red stripes, warm thick wool, and plenty of athletic pins, and during Dust and Daze's summer sale it was a steal. 

 

I wore it with my Freddie's of Pinewood Jeans, a red beret, and my tweed clad sweet heart, Weasley, at my side.

 

 

 

 

Now I'm really not sure why but this outfit got the comment? compliment?, it was said with a smile and thumbs up,  that I looked like a cartoon character.  Perhaps this guy:

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Outfit Details

 

Letterman Sweater from Dust and Daze

Red Beret Amazon

Freddies of Pinewood Jeans

Bakelite Bangles, thrifted

Bass Loafers

Weasley's Tweed Jacket, Rover Dog



Vintage Outfit Post-Oodles of Poodles and some Pugs in Hats too!

Lately, while I am an eternal bulldog and pug addict, I have been really admiring poodles.  I blame the scores of gorgeous vintage poodle photos ,

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 the dozens of cute kitschy poodle collectables on ebay and etsy:

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and the delightful blog Time for Poodles and Friends.

So I decided to get a poodle of my own:



I got this adorable purse for my birthday from the Etsy shop Rabbit Heart Designs and its absolutely my favorite purse ever.  I liked it so much that I had fun putting together an entirely black and white outfit to go with it.

 The hat was a Christmas gift from my sweet husband, the gloves I have had forever, the shoes are mod cloth, and the dress is the Mary Dress from Hey Day Vintage.   Its the same style as the Blue Dress I wore for Easter.  I absolutely love these Mary dresses because they are super easy care, don't wrinkle, and the rayon fabric completely resists pet hair!  This is the first black dress I have ever been able to wear without being coated in dog and cat hairs.

Weasley's hat is from Mattionline

Ping's hat is from Pug Posessed

The fabric of the dress really is amazing, after taking these pictures I was able to just brush of the dog hair.

Since their mama loves hats my pugs have learned to wear hats too, or at least for Special occasions like Easter.  Weasley's hat was made by Matti Online and Ping's hat was made by our dear friend Debbie of Pug Possessed.  Now I not only have my adorable pugs but a poodle to!

Vintage Collectables-Old Fashioned Valentines

I still fondly  remember one my first vintage purchases many long years ago. I was probably 9 or 10 and my father and I stopped at an outdoor flea market where I bought with my allowance money a stack of vintage postcards from the 1930s and 30s.  

Not my post cards but an approximation.

The best thing about the cards was the notes on the back. A few were sent home to parents from college, others detailed vacations, but the one that stands in my mind all these years later was a love note.  It was written by a man who felt his sweetheart had forgotten him.  I remember my father saying how sad it was.  I knew it was special and displayed it on my bedroom wall. I wondered if the man and his sweetheart reconciled. Or if he found a new love. Sadly over the years my post card was lost, I'd give quite a bit to have it back because I think it was the seed that started my love of vintage and collecting.  It taught me that aquiring something with a history is almost always better then something new.  

Today, I have a collection of vintage valentines from the 1940s and 50s that I display every February.   They are the school yard kind and purchased from Etsy and eBay.  These are easy to comeby and make cute displays. 

If newer valentines are your thing or you are looking for inexpensive cards to give to friends then Amazon has a good book of vintage reproduction valentines

for sale for a mere five dollars.  They are not as good as the originals, but they make a close approximation and are super easy as they just punch right out of the book.  These would be perfect for a child to give out at school.

Sepia Saturday-Vintage Photo of Herding Dogs

I'm participating in the Sepia Saturday blog hop hosted by the adorable Ruckus the Eskie.  This hop is right up my alley as many vintage photos of dogs are Sepia tinted.  Below is a 1930s photograph of a women and her two dogs, one is a German Shepherd and doesn't the white collie dog resemble a larger version of our blog hop host?  Many people collect vintage photos of dogs, I hope to start, and one source is the online site Deco Dog which sells vintage dog collectables of all times.  The picture below is priced at thirty six dollars, a little steep for me but its a nice photo.

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Collectables: Vintage Barettes

Lots of vintage lovers collect jewelry from Victorian necklaces to Art Deco earings to Bakelite bangles.  My personal vintage jewelry favorite is the humble barrette.  Barrettes have a lot going for them from a collecting stand point, they are pretty inexpensive to collect and they are plentiful since they were manufactured in large quantities.  My collection is still small, since I only recently started collecting barrettes, but I am hoping to keep expanding it.  I particularly like pre-1960s barrettes, and I'm partial to anything with dogs on it.  So far these are my favorite barrettes.

 I got them from the lovely Etsy shop Rose Bud Cottage which has all kinds of gorgeous vintage hair accessories.  I took some not very good selfies of the barrettes in my fairly unruly hair.  If like me you are not adept at styling hair and are eternally in awe of the elaborate vintage hair styles shown on style blogs and you tube then barrettes give you a chance to easily add a little vintage flair to your locks.

Another vintage barrette source on Etsy is Sophie's Hats and More.  This shop has a lot of barrettes and hair clips made from recycled vintage jewelry.  I got this yellow barrette made from a broken Bakelite flower.

 I like how something damaged was given new life in this barrette. 

  Of course if you frequent flea markets that would also be an excellent source for vintage Barrettes, and it most certainly would not be hard to recycle broken vintage jewelry into new barrettes with the help of a hot glue gun and a plain clip.  Whatever vintage jewelry you collect its fun to think about who might have owned your treasure previously and to cherish a little piece of history all your own.