Fall Inspiration

The weather has seemed to turn chilly overnight. One day it was summer and the next it was autumn. I love fall more than any other season and I'm currently busy sewing myself some lovely new (warm) clothes. For a bit of inspiration I was flipping though the only two autumn magazines in my collection (I think I may have to buy some more when I get a job...). Here are some of my favourite images of fall fashion:

(The first three are from 1935 and the others are from 1941)

(Anyone else think the girl in the above picture looks a bit like Dita Von Teese?)

What is on your autumn wish list?

By the way, I've noticed I am two followers away from hitting 200. I have a giveaway planned for when I do reach 200 so stay tuned!

That's All.

Summer Inspiration

I hadn't planned on posting again so soon, but I'm avoiding school work at the moment so I thought I might as well. There seems to be a lack of inspiration in the blogging community lately. I suppose it's partly due to summer, and I know I've been feeling it too. 

As such, I have been looking at some of my magazines I managed to digitalize before I left home (I had planned on scanning images from my entire collection but only had time to do 3 magazines unfortunately). Luckily one of the magazines I scanned includes lots of pretty dresses for spring and summer. Here are some of my favourite images to bring a bit of summer inspiration:

That's All

PS: It looks like I'm going to be all alone on my birthday. Anyone have any suggestions for something special I can do? I really wanted a teaparty but that seems a little pathetic to do all by myself. 

Movie Night Outfit

It might be a while until my next post. This weekend I am moving into my new place and I start school next week. The worst part about doing a university co-op program is a tie between moving every 4 months and having to be in school during the summer.

I did manage to get out with some friends and see a movie this week. We went to see Water for Elephants. It was alright but I had hoped it would be better. I knew all of the 1920's/30's songs in the movie though. I was proud :P

Anyways, here are some rather blurry pictures of my outfit:

Outfit Details:

Top: Smartset

Skirt: Made by me using my simple skirt tutorial

Earrings: Also made by me.

My hair was curled and pinned up in a faux bob

That's All.

Is it Spring Yet?

I am getting mighty sick of winter! It is almost April but the weather forecast predicts snow next week! Oh well, I am just going to stay inside and start working on some new dresses for spring. After a very stressful week of calculating finances for my next school term and signing a lease for next term, I am in need of some relaxing evenings spent by my sewing machine. I figure making new spring clothes should also save a fair amount of money and use up some fabric in my stash.

So for some spring clothing inspiration, here are some pictures from a 1938 Spring Edition of Butterick: (By the way, the DIY tutorial will hopefully be coming next week. I just haven't had time to take pictures yet. Sorry!)

That's All.

Awards and Things I love

This was originally going to be called "long overdue post #2". Before Christmas, Miss Margarita was kind enough to give me a blog award. The next day, I sat down and wrote a post about it with the intention of adding pictures later. Unfortunately with exams it completely slipped my mind, for which I apologize! The conditions of the award are

1. Post who gave you this award.
2. State ten things you like.
3. Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment.

Since then, Frl. Irene Palfy has also been kind enough to give me another blog award. The conditions for this award are

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

As you can see the conditions are very similar so instead of doing two long boring posts about myself, I have decided to condense it to one (with some random pretty pictures to keep you all entertained!). So here are 7 things I love:
1)Stationary: Nobody sends letters anymore, which is such a shame. There is something about receiving a letter in the mail that just brightens up the day. I love sending letters and I have a massive collection of pretty stationary on which to do so. It would just be nice if someone actually wrote back!

2)Frozen Juice Boxes: I realize I am likely the only person who does this, but I love eating frozen juice boxes. It is better if you freeze them upside down then allow to thaw just slightly, then cut open the top, grab a spoon, and enjoy!

3)Books: This one is quite obvious. I have a complete obsession with books and have run out of places to store them all (over 400 last time I counted). I tend to favour murder mysteries, novels set in the 20s/30s, and large beautiful coffee table books about any subject.

4)Rain: I love when it is raining. I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon than at a great little cafe (with a newspaper and a latte) watching the rain pour down outside. I also love rainy evenings spent inside watching Masterpiece Mystery with my family.

5)20s/30s music: It seems I always have some Annette Hanshaw or Whispering Jack Smith playing in the background. Drives everyone else crazy :D

6)Farms: I would love to own a farm someday, with a Victorian brick farm house, at least 10 acres, and a large old barn. I have it all figured out. I would raise sheep, alpacas, angora bunnies and have a couple llamas too. Then I would make yarn from their fleece and have a little shop selling the yarn, knitting supplies, and completed projects. (Yes, highly unlikely to actually work out but a girl can dream...)

7)Number 7 already? But there are so many other things I love! Oh well, I suppose I will just have to put down Crafting: I do a little bit of everything: knitting, sewing, embroidery, painting, using a glue gun on just about anything, etc.

Well I hope I didn't bore you too much! And now to pass these awards onto other people. I always have a hard time deciding who to pass these awards onto. I have decided to let the winners pick which award they would like (partly because I was afraid of someone thinking something like "wait, what do you mean you are giving me the sweet friend award? Are you saying I'm not stylish enough for the stylish blog award?!" ). So I pass the award of your choice onto the following:

Tickety Boo Tupney

Missy Vintage

I've Got An Island

Red Lips and Corsets

Land Girl 1980

Sirens Sexy

Baby Steps into Vintage

The Girl with the Star-Spangled Heart

For the Vintage Fashionista

Good Rockin' Baby

That's All.

Antique Market Goodies

One exam done, three to go. So far it isn't going well. I am always amazed how I can be able to do all the practise problems, have all the formulas memorized, and still do badly on the exam.

I took a much needed trip to my favourite antique store today. It may be my last visit before I move back home for another 4 months. It was warmer today so I decided to dress up a bit. All my dresses are back home already so I just wore a big poofy skirt, a sweater and black ballet flats. The flats were a bad idea though, since I had to wait for the bus in several inches of snow.

The hat I bought at the market. It was in a pile of other hats which were all $4! They had had a tough life. If I had a hat block I would have bought more to try and reshape. This one seemed in decent condition though. It is black velvet with the cutest little bow at the back. I also bought some postcards. My collection is strictly from before 1920, and I only buy ones that have cute messages on the back. This time I obtained ones from 1912, 1910, and 1902 (my oldest one so far!). To add to my collection of scanning materials, I bought two magazines. I think I need a larger scanner though. It is too small to fit the whole magazine :(
That's All.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Brrr, it is getting cold outside! I woke up this morning and it was snowing!

The sight of snow has gotten my starting to think about Christmas. December is such a busy month, so I need to get most of the Christmas planning done in November. Instead of giving everyone gifts, this year (for my moms side of the family) we are all being assigned one person and get to buy them a $100 gift. This means less little gifts and instead one big one!

After much consideration I have decided what I would like most is a vintage suit. It is both practical and fun. I have been looking through some of my old magazines and I have come up with these for inspiration:

I have posted this picture before but this is my dream suit. The longer skirt likely wouldn't suit me (hehehe pun) but isn't it lovely?

And then I see a pretty dress like this and all thoughts of practicality fly out the window... I want a pretty evening gown for Christmas :DThat's All.

Ginger, Is That You?

Is it just me, or does this illustration look nothing like Ginger Rogers?

I've got a super busy couple weeks ahead of me so there may not be as many posts for a while. In the mean time don't forget to enter my giveaway (so far your odds of winning are pretty good...)

Murder and Old Magazines

Sorry, once again there are no pictures of my room. I am still not fully unpacked yet, due to a very inconvenient cold that has caused me to spend the last few days in bed.

Instead, I thought I would post some great jewelery I have been eyeing on Etsy, in honour of Agatha Christie's (belated) birthday. It is all from this lovely shop. I would love one of the charm bracelets, but unfortunately I have to save for silly things like food and textbooks :(

AGATHA CHRISTIEs MISS JANE MARPLE Artisanal Charm Bracelet

METHODS OF MURDER Mystery Charm Bracelet

AGATHA CHRISTIE Mystery Quote Typewriter Pin

Mystery Theme Charm Set No 2 (Ok this one leans more towards Sherlock Holmes but I just had to include it. It has Jeremy Brett on it! <3)>

In completely unrelated news, I have just discovered that the Jalou Archives have digitalized copies of L'Officiel de la Mode, dating all the way back to 1921 on their website. I highly suggest you go check it out. You can view them all online for free here.

So far I have only had time to browse through the ones from the 1930's, but they are quite lovely. Unfortunally, despite 5 years of French classes, my French remains quite rudeamentary so I can't actually read them. Luckily the pictures are so pretty that you don't need to be able to read french to enjoy them. Here is a sample page:

That's All.

Autumn Fashion (via 1934)

Autmun Fashions from a 1934 magazine:

Note: This may be my last post for at least a week (or two) as I get moved into my new place and start school. Of course if the first week isn't as bad as I assume it will be I may be back sooner with pictures of my new room (it is soooo pretty!).