Sunny Stripes for April Showers A Vintage Outfit Post

The weather has been decidedly odd this year, 60 plus degree days in February and now in April when things should be warming up temperatures are dipping into the 40s  Not my cup of tea at all since I love warm weather and have an urge to sport my spring time fashions rather then being stuck in sweaters.

Basically I want tot live in this picture

 I did manage to put together one spring timey outfit the first weekend of April.  I think its a particularly good outfit for a rainy day, which this was, and of course we all know that spring showers

bring May flowers.  

I built my outfit around a Hey Day Judy dress in Penny Arcade, one of the prettiest and most versatile prints I've ever encountered, a bright multicolored stripe, with orange, red, and turquoise among the colors.   I love the Hey Day Judy dresses.  They are super comfortable with an adjustable tie belt that acommodates a range of sizes, I'm usually a 12 or a large in Hey Day clothes, but I wear a medium in the Judy dresses.   Judy dresses are also great for vintage fans like myself who appreciate a range of eras because the cut is based on a 1950s style but could be 1940s, or even 30s.  Though I really do think that the playful primary print on my dress, which I was lucky enough to nab on sale along with several other Hey Day items after New Years, places it firmly in the 1950s.  It just has the bright playful look that I love from that era.

The different colors in the stripes give plenty of options for accesorizing with different colors.  I choose to focus on the turquoise and added a vintage head scarf and gloves.

The stripes also scream for bakelite so I wore almost my entire bangle collection.

I kept my shoes neutral, a cute comfy pair of Playtime wedges from Remix.

My favorite accessory in the outfit though is my vintage doll purse.  These where originally intended for children but I love them.   I had another one I showed in this post, but tragedy struck and the head fell off.  So I was thrilled when I found another.  I love this little lady with her big sun hat and tropical accents.

Spring is all too fleeting make sure you cherish every moment!  

Outfit Details

Judy Dress in Penny Arcade Print-Hey Day Vintage Clothing
Playtime Shoes in Tan-Remix Vintage Shoes
Bakelite Bangles-Brighter Bakelite
Turquoise Gloves-The Road Less Traveled
Turquoise Scarf-Dorthea's Closet
Vintage Doll Purse-W.Kay Vintage

Luck of the Irish-Vintage Outfit Post (and seeing beautiful with a sweater and a close canine companion)

There is no color, if you ask me, that is more beautiful then green.

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Green means spring, and its particularly inviting after a long cold winter like this one, reminding us of all the beautiful like this one.  That is one reason why I really like St. Patrick's day, and yes I know its not celebrated in Ireland.  

 In my dreams I live in an Irish cottage like this one:



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and not a row house on a crowded city street. 

Thanks to the lovely  sweater I got from the wonderful Regiane from vintage and cool knitting.   I can feel transported right out of my city dwelling and into the Irish country side this St. Patrick's day.



I discovered Regiane through the blog of fellow vintage lover, Jessica at chronically vintage.  Isn't it amazing how blogging can connect us to beautiful things, and more importantly beautiful people?  This is the second sweater Regiane has made for me, I wrote about the first in this post, and I love them both.

I also have to say I love the 1940s land girl style pants I am wearing in these pictures, form Hey Day Vintage, which I also discovered through blogging

and the cute little 1930s or 40s St. Patrick's day pin from Etsy shop SoCal Jewelry Shop.


Of course by far the most beautiful thing in these photos is my darling, some what reluctant co-model, Norbert. I've been more then lucky to share my life with him for 11 years, I can't believe  he will be 12 in July.  

Among the myriad of ways that Norbert and my other dogs  have enriched my life is through building my self confidence.  I've always loved clothes and dressing up, but in the past I rarely had the confidence to wear full on vintage style, because I worried what others would think.  Or that I was too short, chubby, etc.   In my teens and early and mid twenties, I never wanted to have photos taken of myself, and in fact I have almost no photos from this period.  I first started posing for photos with the dogs because it was easier to get them to stay still for their pictures with me in it.   Overtime, I started to feel more confident about having my picture taken and even to like it.   I also started to realize that the dogs don't care what I wear, they love me regardless, this helped me to develop the confidence to dress exactly as I please... and confidence truly is a think of beauty.   

Vintage Treasures-Cowichan Sweaters

Even though my favorite vintage eras are undoubtedly the 1920s and 30s, I've always loved the 1950s too.   One 1950s item I've always had a hankering for: a cowichan sweater.   

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Cowichan sweaters hail from Vancouver Island, British Columbia.  The native Cowichan people developed the knitting technique by combining their traditional weaving with European fair-isle knitting techniques that they learned from missionaries.  Cowichan sweaters became a popular tourist item and reahced their zenith during the 1950s and 60s, when they were often knitted far away from Vancouver.  Even Marilyn Monroe posed in a Cowichan sweater:

The sweaters traditionally featured Animal or Native American Motifs, 

 

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but as time progressed many other images became popular.  Ice Skaters:

 Square Dancing couples:

 Bowling:

 Even Mexican Palm Trees appeared:

 By the late 1970s and early 80s Cowichan sweaters had definitely faded from the fashion scene.   They did resurface in 1998 in the cult Coen Brother's film The Big Leowski. (My husband's favorite film and one of my favorites as well.)
Jeff Bridge's character, The Dude, definitely loved his Cowichan sweater, which he wears pretty much throughout the entire film:

Cowichan sweaters may have lost their main stream fashion status, but their kitschy appeal has insured their popularity with vintage style lovers.  Indeed today the sweaters are quite expensive, selling for as much as 500 dollars!  Since I was not about to pay anywhere near that much for a sweater and as my heart was set on an animal theme, it took me some time to find my sweater.  After being outbid many times on ebay I finally found a sweater in my price range from Sugar Shack Vintage on Etsy.  I'm not sure if it was really knit by the Cowichans, though the label does read made in Canada, but its very warm and cozy.   The perfect thing to wear for walking dogs on a cool fall day:

If you are looking for a Cowichan sweater of your own Etsy and Ebay are probably the best sources.  Experienced knitters can also find vintage patterns for sale on Etsy, Ebay, and ravelry.