Bridesmaid Dresses

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six degrees of vintage clothing.

there are so many things that i love about vintage clothing...the timelessness of it, the fact that almost every piece is unique and so flattering on most figures, the price. i love that when you buy vintage, you are doing the world a favor. what i really love is that every piece has a history. each dress has probably been to some special occasion, been broken up in, learned good news in. the possibilities are endless. don't you wish you knew even just one small story about a piece of clothing you have?

a funny thing happened at work today. i was wearing this great dress i found at a garage sale. a woman walked  past me and stopped dead in her tracks. she stopped and was just staring at me. finally she said, "i think i used to have a dress just like that. it was my mother's." i told her that i did buy it used, so it very well could be her old dress. she then thought again and said, 'well i don' think so because mine had a high collar." to which i replied that mine does, too...i just chose to wear the buttons open (times have changed). we chatted a bit more and i decided that in my version of this story, the dress was for sure hers, and it somehow had made its way back into her life. perhaps another day i will sit down with her and talk about the dress and where she might have gone and what she might have done while wearing it.

i think i will start to make note of special things i do while wearing certain pieces in my wardrobe. i already planned on saving my favorites for my daughter to have when she gets older. but now maybe she will also have a little bit of insight on what i have done in each piece. and maybe one day when she's in her 60s, she will see someone else wearing an old dress that used to be hers.

boots!

i love these boots. in fact, i just sent an email to two of my sisters with a link to these boots and one word: LOVE! my sister wrote back that she loved them too and that i had sent her this link already a few days ago! so, i decided they should be blogged about. they are amazing, and in such great condition for a vintage pair of boots! and every pair of great boots needs a great sweater. perhaps this one, this one, or this one???

fashion lessons from our kids

i think we can learn a lot about fashion if we look at our kids. i have never been one of those parents who tells their kids what to wear. it wasn’t until my son started kindergarten that i realized that maybe i had to say no to certain outfits.

i guess there comes a point in time where kids just can't wear pirate costumes to school, because face it, in this day and age, i’m pretty sure you can’t bring a sword to school!

but really, i have learned a lot from my kids. for one: who says everything has to match? i adore when my daughter puts on some striped tights, knee high pink boots and a floral dress. it’s eclectic, organic and she loves it. people look at her and know that she dressed herself. i love it. when i do the same thing, it’s not always as endearing to other people.  but you know what? i don’t care. i wear my pink tights and cowboy boots to work.

someone at work once said to me, “it’s not like leggings and cowboy boots are in style.” to which i replied, “actually…”

another thing i’ve learned from my kids: wear what you want. don’t dress for other people, dress for yourself. If you like vintage dresses, wear vintage dresses. if you like sweats and tees, wear them! don’t worry about what everyone thinks. i know that i used to spend a lot of time wondering what people at work would think if i wore a 50’s secretary dress. one guy told me once that he didn’t realize we were supposed to dress up for cinco de mayo because I was wearing an old vintage mexican dress. yes, maybe your feelings get a little hurt every once in a while. what I’ve learned, though, is that if you truly love your style, than even if no one else does, it doesn’t matter. clothing is a way to express yourself, who you are, what you like…keep at it and don’t worry about what other people think.

there are times when i don’t want to stand out in a crowd. sometimes i like a nice crisp, clean look; a bright white shirt and some great black trousers. but most of the time, i want to wear striped tights, knee high boots and a floral dress. try it once…i bet you’ll love it.

fab finds for the vintage loving kiddo

speaking of kids, i just found this great site that has the cutest vintage coats for kids! check these out!

seriously? i want each one in my size!

i also think any one of my nephews would look quite dapper in this sweet getup (found here).

kiddos

megan and i are both moms. she has two kids: the five year old boy wonder, henry and the fabulous eva, who is three and a half. my deliciously adorable daughter, amelia, is 5 months old.

eva, also known as 'diva', is most definitely a fashionista. and if megan, myself, and, most importantly, eva have anything to say about it, amelia will someday have a passion for fashion as well!

i must say, she looks pretty fab in these 100% cashmere pants, thrifted for $1 (seriously!) by my friend heather in chicago (thanks heather)!!! she's also rockin' that pink patchwork jacket that was made with love by her grandma catherine! so fabulous!

winter's coming, time to shop

i’m in that mood this week…the shopping mood. not that this is different than any other week, but i really feel like shopping. being the kind of person who never pays full price for anything, i always start off my shopping excursions at garage sales. just last week, nora and i found this ridiculous sale full of vintage clothes. we started pulling clothes from the multitude of racks at the sale (it turns out that the woman’s dream was to own a vintage store…she bought everything she needed and then didn’t start the store) not knowing prices on anything. then we heard these words that melted our hearts, “all dresses are $2, coats are $3.” let me tell you, they had to create a whole new rack just for nora and me. at this point, we were both just grabbing things, hoping they would fit. we ended up each coming home with about 25 pieces each. what a day!

however, that wasn’t enough. i am still in the shopping mood. i don’t know what it is. i think it’s the change of weather…the feeling that soon i will have a whole new batch of clothes to choose from. i don’t love winter, but i do love chunky sweaters and blazers and old weathered boots. i know that I will fulfill most of my shopping itch at Mighty Swell this weekend, but I also want to have a few winter necessities.

to start off, everyone needs a nice long layering tank. we found this great one at Forever 21.  i think i might buy one in every color.

nora found this great blazer there, too.

put these together with a nice chunky boot (like these in gray) and leggings or a short skirt, and you’ve got a great outfit!

i’m also loving Kohls this week. i went on a clearance rack shopping spree and found some great pieces that really surprised me. first of all, the new Lauren Conrad collection is pretty cute. i can’t say that i ever watched her on any of the mtv shows, but i really like a few of her pieces, specifically her skirts. this one, for instance, is only $17.60! Vera Wang’s boyfriend jeans are also on my “have to buy list” at Kohls.

so now i have a few necessities. the rest i will buy at vintage stores and rummage sales. i have noticed that even throughout the winter, people are still hosting garage sales in their homes. plus, two birds will be having more sales and hopefully with the success of the first Mighty Swell sale, many more will come!