Test shots of my new old dress.

Remember how, in my last post, I said I had a dress to share? I spotted its fantastic color combo at the Roycroft Festival and made a beeline for it. I tried it on as soon as I got home, and it fit like a dream. I wasn't quite sure that it suited me, however, so I asked Dave to take some test photos. Looking at them a few days later, I've decided that I really rather like the dress on me! The colors are so perfect (pink, navy, + grey = ♥), and that's the original belt! It's a homemade cotton dress from the 40s. Sometimes the home-sewn ones are the best.



Please excuse the mess!



(See that awesome painting in the background? That's some of Dave's work! He made it from my old parking stubs, and I just love it.)

Roycroft Festival 2010!

This weekend, Dave and I headed out to my favorite little local festival, the Roycroft Festival! It's something I look forward to with an almost religious fervor each year. My parents used to take me when I was little, and we would visit my grandmother, who always sold her watercolors at the festival's art show. We'd also poke around and look at all the handmade crafts, watch a bagpipe parade, and get some popcorn from an antique musical stand. It's one of those things that I'm not sure I particularly enjoyed when I was little, but now that I'm older I appreciate it much more - especially the antiques! I find something to take home from the antiques portion of the festival just about every year.

2 or 3 years ago, I found my favorite vintage dress at this festival. That same vendor also had some other amazing pieces; a novelty print 50s skirt and a suit caught my eye in particular and I never forgot them, but I only had enough money to buy the dress. I looked for the vendor in subsequent years, but could never find her. This year, I had just about given up but my eyes were trained for vintage clothing in general. After walking aimlessly for a few minutes, my eyes zeroed in on a vintage clothing rack. "This is my booth!" I called out excitedly to Dave and didn't even wait for the poor guy to catch up with me, I ran to it so fast.


Bonus hippie dude on the left!

Hidden amongst the pretty old dresses in that rack was the very skirt I regretted not buying years ago!! I snapped it up of course, along with a super-pretty 40s dress. The skirt did not fit, alas, so I'll be putting it into the shop. The dress, however, fits like it was made for me! I'll be sharing that little beauty with you tomorrow. For now, I hope you'll enjoy the photos from the festival (which Dave was so thoughtful to take)! I also invite you to click on the photos for more detail; there's so much hidden vintage goodness to see! Oh, and I forgot to take a snap of the old banjo-playing guy who sang "Moon River" to me, but it was so awesome that it still deserves a mention.




Adorable alpacas! I love them so!


I'd really like to start a little collection of vintage linens. I love them, but never buy them! I guess I'm too afraid I'd ruin them? Still, I wish I'd bought that pretty little piece with the embroidered lotus flowers.


This was the most breathtakingly perfect purse. At $75 though, I had to leave it behind. (My mom, who went to the festival earlier in the day, saw this and loved it, too. Funny that it caught both our eyes!)


We had brunch at my favorite local coffee shop, Taste. I finally got to try their tiramisu french toast with marscapone cream and real maple syrup. It didn't really remind me all that much of tiramisu, but I still highly recommend it.


Dave. <3


Hallo! And goodbye! Thanks for reading - hope you'll tune in soon to see the dress!

OMG, shoes (on ebay)

I've been cleaning out my shoe closet! It's time to de-clutter and make room for new treasures. I've put the shoes up on ebay, with a starting bid of $9.99 on everything. They end this afternoon; won't you please have a look?


Naturalizer sandals, size 8.5



Irregular Choice floral flats, size 8 or 8.5



Hollywood Heels pin-up pumps, size 9



Carlos by Carlos Santana stilettos, size 8.5



Bruno Magli gunmetal peeptoe pumps, size 9.5 (really luxe!)



Salvatore Ferragamo sandals, size 10AA



Moda fondant flower sandals, size 8.5

Thank you!
(Please forgive the sketchy photography - I have a lot to learn, still!)

Paprika and Turmeric

Just a little brightly-colored, spice-inspired outfit post on this gloomy Sunday morning. I actually wore this to work about a week or so ago - it might have been a little loud, maybe even a bit precious, but the colors buoyed my mood throughout the day.



Blouse: Banana Republic
Skirt: H&M
Sash: Borrowed from another dress
Spectator oxfords: Steven by Steve Madden
And as always, photos by my wonderful Dave.



Thank you, also, for the lovely and supportive comments you have been leaving me! I appreciate them so very much; they make my day!

France Gall

Are you familiar with France Gall, French teenage ye-ye singer of the 60s? She is my 60s ingenue inspiration. I've had an ongoing love affair with her music over the years; her songs are so catchy that I often find myself wishing I spoke French so I could sing along! She's also just so charming; she had a certain wide-eyed innocence and earnestness that makes it hard to take your eyes off of her. She seems like she was a really sweet, nice gal who you definitely would have wanted to be friends with in high school. I really like her hair, too! Here are some of my favorite music videos of hers:




That dress is to die for!


Not exactly the super-coordinated Beyonce dance moves of today, are they?


The mischievous Serge Gainsbourg wrote this song for her (as he did many of her songs). Unfortunately, she was much too naive to realize what the song was actually about, and was unprepared to deal with the fallout.


Dave and I might play this one at our wedding, since we met on the internet. <3