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.

Some Awards and Forgotten Photos

First off I would just like to thank Presley from Young Vintage Girl for passing on these three awards to me. I've done quite a few awards lately so I won't pass these along, but I just wanted to give a big thank you for these awards! I really appreciate it :)

Exams have been taking up most of my time lately. I wake up, I study, I go to bed. Not very exciting. However I was looking through the files on my computer last night and I noticed there are quite a few photos I planned on using for my blog but for one reason or another never did. I suspect this is common among bloggers. Since I have nothing better to post at the moment, here are some photos that never quite made it to the blog. 

 This one my friend took a looonnnggg time ago. 

 Aren't these bookends fabulous? They were given to me by my grandma who got them in the 1940's.

 This is from last fall. I love this 1940's (?) dress but it very fragile so I don't wear it very often anymore.

 I loved this outfit but was unable to get a decent picture of it. My friend said I looked like Minnie Mouse. I chose to take that as a compliment.

 Isn't it cute? This was the last knitting project I completed before the weather became too warm to knit. I love knitting stuffed animals. Too bad I don't know any young children to give them to... 

 Some forget-me-not's I dried and framed.

 This outfit is actually only from a few weeks ago but I forgot to post it. The skirt is made by me, the sweater is from Winners, and all the accessories are vintage. 

 A great hair day from a year ago. 

 This was my "uniform" when I waitressed the Victorian Teas at the Bowmanville museum last summer. Although it was really, really too warm for a summers day, I did LOVE that outfit!

 My very first time wearing Ruby Woo lipstick by MAC!

This is a cute little 1960s dress I picked up last year. 

My cat trying to sleep :) 

That's All.

It's been a rough couple of weeks....

Thank goodness for retail therapy! Pretty things may not solve life's problems but they sure help ;)

(I should add this shopping trip was my first time out of the house, other than to campus, in almost 3 weeks! How is it that I can do so much work and still not get enough done?!)

Anyone know anything about "topper" dresses? I couldn't find any info about this lovely "new" dress I bought.   My best guess would be it's late 40s/ early 50s. 

That's All.

What I Normally Wear, Birthday Gifts, and Some Projects

I was going to do a proper post but instead here is a collection of photos of things from around my room. I've been taking lots random pictures of stuff with the camera by parents gave me for my birthday.

I will do a real post when I'm less sleep deprived, I promise! I actually do have some stuff I want to post about, including a blog award from the lovely Nabby. I haven't forgotten, just too tired to do a proper post! Also apologies for my lack of comments on everyone's blogs lately. I promise if I follow your blog I really do read every post. I've just been too busy and tired to come up with anything clever to say (although my "clever" comments normally sound something like "Lovely outfit!"...)

 Left-over chocolate butterflies are lovely with fresh local strawberries!

I knit myself some slippers from here. I think I just liked them because of the name!

I have plans to embellish them a bit but who knows when I will get around to that.

 When I was home on the weekend I managed to sew myself this fancy little 1930's top from one of the Vintage Vogue patterns. It looks rather purple in the picture but it is actually a light smokey grey colour. Now I just have to come up with an excuse to wear it... 

 I used to keep my sewing pins in a box but I wanted a pincushion too. This jar pincushion is the best of both worlds. Tutorial found here.

A couple of my birthday gifts. Ok, the Bob Hope boxset was actually a gift to myself. My dad wouldn't buy it for me. He thinks I have awful taste is movies :p 

 I am completely in love with this 1959 Needlecraft book I also got for my birthday. I actually have an earlier edition from 1947 and it is really interesting to see how the information and style of the book changed. The earlier version assumes the readers have a lot more knowledge and provides lots of "inspiration ideas" but very few real tutorials. The 1959 version assumes you can't sew without a pattern and provides a lot of easy projects! 

I always think it is interesting to see what bloggers wear on a day to day basis. Often only "interesting" outfits get posted, but I thought it would be fun to take a picture of what I normally wear to class. As much as I love wearing dresses and skirts, when I'm getting up at 6am for class it is rather the last thing on my mind. For my long days of classes (8am until 9pm!) I often opt for mens-wear inspired items.

Blouse and Vest: Smart Set

Trousers: Winners

Earrings: Made by me

Tie: Shamelessly stolen from my dad last time I was home

What do you wear on a daily basis?

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. 

My First Sweater!!!

I finished my very first sweater a few days ago and wore it to work yesterday. It isn't the best sweater (I re-sized it too big!) but I am super proud of it!

It is from a vintage pattern and I did it as part of the Briar Rose Knit-a-long over at By Gum, By Golly. I decided that it looked better on me with an open neckline so I didn't bother to attach the buttons to the front. Now on to another knitting project!

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.

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing

Due to the fact professors are evil, I haven't had much free time this week. I have so many assignments and projects due in the next 2 weeks, I barely have time for sleep. Thus no outfit post or anything this week. But I feel compelled to post something so here it is:

I love cocktail rings. I always have. You know, the big bright shiny ones. Due to a very limited budget, I only have a few cheap ones, but with the holiday season I thought it might be time for a mini splurge. As I was flipping through a 1941 issue of Photoplay, I came across a small article about rings. So for your viewing pleasure, here are some photos from the article:
The last one is my favourite, but I am loving Martha Scott's hair in the second last picture.

One last thing, I just want to give a big thank you to LandGirl1980 for giving me a blog award :) When I have more time, I will try to think of some more bloggers to pass this onto, but for now thank you very much!