Vintage Outfit Post-A 1930s Suit For a Walk in The Park

There's no fabric better suited to autumn then tweed:

It just makes me want to wade through leaf piles and sip apple cider, and there's no better way to wear tweed then in a suit.  

I've actually had the tweed suit I'm wearing in this post for awhile it was one of the first vintage outfits I bought, and I featured it on the blog two years ago in a tribute post to one of my favorite fictional style icons, Miss Marple.  However, I was never completely satisfied with that post, I'm not sure why but I just didn't think I had done the suit justice.

Sometimes time passes and you sort of grow into an article of clothing, and that is what I think happened here.    

A few week ends ago, I wore the suit for a quiet day at home and walk in the park and felt like I had traveled in time back to 1932.

I paired it with my 1930s style oxfords from American Duchess and a brown 30s hat and a crochet 30s handbag that were also two of my first vintage purchases.  The dog brooch is a newer find, it's from Mrs. Polly's Lucite, and the poodle necklace is one of my favorite things ever because it was given to me by the lovely Jessica of Chronically Vintage.

Two years ago I think I worried that this suit was a bit, well, dowdy, but I don't really think that any more, or perhaps I just no longer mind looking dowdy.

 The 30s was a brilliant era for cut and this suit manages to be fitted without being tight, and unlike later structured suits, it's almost fluid.  The tweed is also nice and soft, not the nubby scratchy stuff you usually find.  The color weave is really neat too, it's mostly grey but upon closer inspection there are bits brown in it. 

One thing people are always curious about when you talk about wearing vintage is causal wear.  People are always asking what I wear for lazy days, and the answer is often something like this.  There's absolutely nothing uncomfortable about this outfit and I could walk ten miles in these shoes, people in the past new what they where doing, and I really feel that a cute vintage dress, nice high waist jeans, or a well made suit, are more comfortable then any pair of yoga pants could ever be, or at least they are for me.  I truly never felt comfortable in my own skin before embracing my vintage look four years ago and I love exploring looks from different eras for every season.

Fall is fleeting, enjoy every moment!

Happy Birthday Mr. Tuvok

I just cant believe this little guy is two!   

Where did the time go!   Anyway, Mr. Tuvok had a great time opening presents on his 2nd birthday, as did his pug brothers who seemed to think it was there birthday too.

Since Tuvok's birthday is in November we gave him gifts with a Thanksgiving theme.  The best was the beautiful sweater from Pug notes, Melissa did an amazing job again.

He also got a set of cute Thanksgiving bandannas

and a Tyler talking turkey from multipet.

Sadly, Tyler Turkey is already no more.  He survived all of four hours before a post bath Weasley and Fry tore him to bits.   

Despite Tyler Turkeys unfortunate demise, Tuvok seemed to enjoy his birthday, though he didn't love the party collar he is wearing in these photos.

He loved the burger from White Castle for his birthday cake, but there are no photos because for the 2nd time my Samsung Galaxy 6 overheated for no reason and had to be wiped.  I really don't like this phone but am stuck with it because of a contract.  I just purchased a digital camera with wi-fi from Amazon for blog photos and I'm hoping that will work better and improve the photo quality on the blog, which I do think is lacking.

Happy Monday everyone!

Adventures in Vintage Hair Styling-Happy Birthday to The Queen of The Bob-Louise Brooks

November 14 will mark the 131st anniversary of the birth of one of the most stylish women of all time, Louise Brooks.  The queen of the bob, Louise was known not just for her brilliant acting, but her rebellious flapper spirit and her gorgeous, shiny Bob.

Louise's hair was so striking that she was known as "the girl in the black helmet." Perhaps, her look was a little too iconic because she never transitioned out of her flapper image and her film career evaporated in the 1930s.

Louise appeared in just 12   films, yet nearly 100 years later she remains one of the most recognizable stars of the silent era, particularly for the 1929 German film Pandora's Box.

Louise will never be my favorite silent female star, my heart forever belongs to Clara Bow, but I do adore her and I think that in the flapper hair contest she passes the finish line before the others even get out of the opening.  No one has ever looked as fabulous in a Bob as Louise did.  I'm no Louise Brooks, and I'm constantly changing my hair, but for the past 15 years I keep returning to one particular style, the close cropped Brook's style Bob. 

 

 While I'm no Louise, I really think this is my all time favorite hair style and for now at least I've decided to keep it.  Do you have a favorite iconic hair style?

On another note if you read this blog you know we have had some pet health problems this month, though thankfully none too serious yet.   First Fry had a biopsy (benign yeah!), then our cat Ernie had a seizure or cardiac arythmia attack we don't really know which, and now 13 year old Ping has bronchitis.  She started honking and coughing on Election night, perhaps sickened as I was by the turn of events, and I was really afraid that she had pneumonia.  Thankfully, it's just bronchitis, but respiratory issues are always serious in pugs, particularly older pugs, and we are a little concerned.  Thankfully, so far she seems to be coughing a bit less and responding to the antibiotics, but any well wishes are appreciated.

Western Dress From The Black Pinafore

I've always loved  1940s and 1950s Western fashions.  The jeans, casual shirts, suede vests, beaded designs and ample fringe are all adorable and the whole look makes for perfectly stylish vintage casual wear.

My favorite  cowgirl, Dale Evans, wore  western wear throughout her life and always looked smashing.  Kitschy too, but in the best way possible.

 

 



I love seeing how her and Roy Rogers stayed true to their style over the decades.

Despite my love of  1940s and 50s western gear I didn't have any in my own wardrobe.   It is very hard to come by authentic vintage western gear and I'm not too crazy about many of the repro versions.  This fall though I added a few vintage and vintage inspired western pieces to my wardrobe that I will be sharing on the blog, the first of which is this charming dress from one of my favorite vintage reproduction designers, Debora of The Black Pinafore.  

I adore all of the clothes Debora has made for me and this dress is no exception.  I choose the cut and design from another dress in her shop, but the fabric and rick rack detailing are my own idea.  It's a simple dress with a really flattering cut, and I particularly love the neckline.

The white rick rack really compliments the print on the fabric which I love too. Debora found the perfect fabric, it's kitschy and western, but subtley so.

So many novelty western prints are just way over the top, but not this one.  I paired the dress with a red hair flower from chatter blossom, a western novelty brooch from luxulite

 my amazing 1950s novelty horse purse from annacatetsy (which is probably my favorite purse ever), and my black canvas Remix penny sandals.

I had some fun posing for pictures with Bob who has an adorable retro western bandanna we got years ago.

 

 


All in all this is the western dress of my Dale Evan cowgirl dreams.  I'm so greatfull to Deborah for bringing it into reality for me!


Outfit Details:

Dress: The Black  Pinafore
Novelty Brooch: Luxulite
Hair Flower: Chatterblossom
1950s Horse Novelty Purse: Annacatetsy
Canvas Sandals Remix Vintage Shoes

Note-This is by no means a political blog and I had planned this post weeks before the election.  I published it today to bring some light to what is in my opinion a very dark day for our country and the world.  Hate, anger, and fear have never made anything great.  I hope that some day we can move past this into a brighter future, but it seems very dark.  Find what ever your light is and cling to it now.

Ernie Update

The news for Ernie was pretty good.  On Friday he had an ultrasound of his heart and full blood work.  The ultrasound showed he does have an arythmia but it hasn't worsened much in the five years since his last heart ultrasound.  His blood work was normal.  The vet said this is all good, except we don't know what happened.  It may have been the arythmia, but was more likely a seizure.  For now we are watching him.  He's pretty upset and hiding alot so this is an old picture of him.

Ernie

Yesterday we had a very worrying event with Ernie our 13 year old tripod kitty.  He is very shy so is rarely on the blog.  Yesterday he was fine when I came home but 10 minutes later he begin wailing, went stiff, and then limp.  I thought he was  having a seizure so we rushed to the vet.   He has always had a heart murmur but now the vet hears an arythmia too.  He got xrays that where clear and blood work and today he gets an ultrasound of his heart.  The vet suspects cardiomyopathy.   Ernie really doesn't like handling or people, including me and my husband, so he is not happy.   I am very greatful that he has recovered for now and hopefully it was just a seizure.

A Cape for A Walk in The Woods-A Vintage Outfit Post Inspired by Dark Shadows

When it comes to movies I generally prefer films made before 1970, but of course there are exceptions.  One of my favorite films is the 2012 Dark Shadows starring Johnny Depp. I love its humorous take on the cult tv series, and I love the costumes.  The clothing in the film is a brilliant meld of Victorianna and early 70s that perfectly matches the story.  This is best represented by the character of Victoria Winters, a girl out of her time.

I love the ruffley dress, high neck blouses, and prim pinafores and sweaters:

  

My favorite of Victoria's looks though is a 1960s meets Victorian cape and pinafore combo.

I loved the outfit so much that about three years ago I had my vintage seamstress friend Kim Clark make me a copy.

She did an amazing job!  I actually like my version better then the one in the film.   I have no idea why it took me so long to feature it on the blog.   In these pictures I paired it with a 1940s hat from Lady Eve's Millinery, 1960s gloves, and  1940s style  spectators from Remix Vintage shoes.

I really feel like a cape is one of the nicest things to wear in the fall.

On the day these pictures where taken we took the Bob, Weasley, Fry and Mr. Tuvok to the Watchtung Reservation.  A nice big park with trails, a lake and a historic cemetery.  

It was a really lovely afternoon a perfect fall day!