Return of the yellow jacket

I've had the worst luck at estate sales over the past few months and I really wasn't wanting to get up for this morning's, but I felt like I had to go since it promised vintage clothing and was only three miles away.  But unlike the sales I've gone to lately the clothing promised really was vintage!  Well, mostly '60s, but cute anyway--some little lace dresses and a tweed jacket and some '60s coats. The best thing I found by far was this little goldish-yellow jacket . . . Supposedly it had belonged to an actress in the '60s; her daughters were in charge of the estate sale and--in terrific New York accents--kept trying to get me to buy a similar green coat instead, saying that it was in much better shape, but I only had eyes for the yellow one.  And of course when I got it home I saw that they were right--it needs a good drycleaning and the hem's completely undone.

I really don't mind paying a little extra to have it freshened up though because I think it might be the '60s jacket I've been looking for.  My love of yellow coats started up almost three years ago when I found a little Aquascutum coat at the thrift store.  I wore that thing as much as you can get away with wearing a yellow coat . . . it may have been bright, but back then I was into much brighter things than I am now, and whenever people made jokes about how they could see me coming from blocks away I just fake-laughed them off.  And then when my style started to gravitate towards more subtle colors and less graphic shapes I put the coat in the back of my closet and forgot about it.

The Aquascutum thrift store find . . . . . Trying on a Milly coat in the dance club mall . . . . . Elizabeth Hooks in an old issue of Lucky.

But then last year some time I saw the most amazing goldenrod-y yellow '60s coat worn by an Anthropologie fashion merchandiser in Lucky Magazine, and it sent me on a hunt for a new version of a '60s yellow coat.   I ended up selling the Aquascutum coat, but never found a replacement 'till today.  The new one is a bit more subtle in color than the more mod one that I sold, but I think that the best thing about it is its shape--smaller and more fitted, with a daintier (I kind of hate that word, but it fits!) collar and sleeves, and then little rhinestone covered buttons that are sort of old lady-ish, but maybe in a good way.  And then the length is absolutely perfect, which you really can't tell from the photos since the hem's hanging loose and looking terrible.  Actually the whole thing's in pretty bad shape right now, but by Fall I'm going to do my best to have it all dry-cleaned and tailored up and ready to put on my blog.  And I'm crossing my fingers that by then my hair will be long again, too--seeing photos with my hair all long and kind of ratty makes me wish I never cut it!

New this week . . .

Coming to the store . . .

I'm not feeling the best right now (I know, I'm a sickly person!) so instead of coming up with a post I'm just going to post a few pictures of some things that will be going in the store tomorrow.  I'm especially excited about tomorrow's update  . . . there will be lots of summery floral dresses, two wonderful cotton blouses, a '60s bikini, shorts, and the most wonderful little white sailor dress.  And I think that this week's batch will be going back to my Ebay store--not that I don't love Etsy (I really do!) and I haven't entirely given up on the idea of an Etsy shop, but I just can't say goodbye to Ebay yet, I suppose.

Pretty things I found in my mailbox . . .

Well, I guess most of these pretty things found their way to my mailbox because of my crazy June online shopping spree.  For the longest time I was having an impossible time finding anything online, too--I was doing daily searches on Ebay and Etsy for the perfect vintage dresses, only to end up finding them on Etsy after they had already sold, or on Ebay only to forget to bid on them.  But then all of a sudden wonderful things started showing up--this little '40s dress was one of them, and even though I had already bought two dresses in the summer sales (I still feel half-guilty for buying them so they'll make their debut later!) and even though I've been trying to ween myself off of dresses like this I couldn't leave it behind.

The pencil portraits were actually a gift from the lovely Maria Confer, who wrote to me a few weeks back offering to do a drawing of Scarlet.  She has an Etsy shop called Lulu Letty that sells her drawings and custom portraits, and it was all so cute that I took her up on her offer in a hurry.  It really couldn't have been better timing.  I remember walking into the dance club mall just after I found out that Scarlet had died . . .  we had gone there to get my mind off of sad things, but of course all I could think about was Scarlet, and really out of nowhere I suddenly remembered the portrait Maria was making, and it made me feel a bit better.  I don't know; is that strange?  I got the same feeling later on that day when it rained for the first time in weeks . . . it just seemed so fitting.

Anja's the one to blame for June purchase number four, since she sent me the link to a Marion Davies biography on Etsy.  Well, really it was nice of her--I'm in the middle of reading the book now and it's put me on an even bigger Marion Davies kick than I was on before.  If I had been around in the '20s I would have tried to be her friend for sure!

At the moment I'm obsessed with the Etsy shop Rosebud Cottage and the vintage barrettes it sells, even though my hair's still at a weird in-between stage that makes me look extra funny when I wear any sort of barrette or headband.  But when I saw this little pale yellow rhinestone barrette from the '40s I just had to buy it.  

And you've already seen these sandals in two of my outfit posts, and I guess it's safe to say that you'll be seeing a lot more of them since I've been wearing them about every day.  I just love them; they're the '70s ankle strapped sandals I've been on the hunt for for months, and the 2 inch heel makes them just right for weird summer adventures.  But really I'm just waiting 'till Fall when I can wear them with a pair of black tights.  I don't think I've ever been so excited for cool weather in my life!  

4th of July Fun

Photos by Drew!  (more photos on Lauren's blog!)
 
On me:
'80s Laura Ashley dress and belt: thrift stores
Necklace: antique store
Sandals: Etsy
Purse: Tiny Rose from SWANclothing.

On Lauren:
The cutest little gingham dress ever: thrift store
Socks and barrettes: Forever 21
Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Thanks for your 4th of July well-wishing!  I ended up having such a terrific time in Tennessee with my family that I was sad to get into the car to go back to Atlanta.  I could have easily spent more time there . . . Most of our time there was spent at my grandparents' house for their annual 4th of July party, but I did get to spend some time with my mom and sister Lauren, talking about Scarlet and Michael Jackson (I think they're pals in Heaven, because Scarlet was so much cuter than Bubbles!) and relaxing while Drew and my dad went on long bike rides in the countryside.

On Saturday two of my college friends came to the party, so it was nice to be able to joke around a lot and get my mind off of sadder things.  It was a blast--there was lots of food (all the men on my dad's side of the family are obsessed with cooking, and Lauren's husband Neil is a cooking star, too) and wine (rum and coke for less fancy people like me) and fireworks, which I don't like much either, so I was a little relieved when they got rained out.

 On Sunday it didn't start raining 'till later, so we drove out in the country with Drew so he could take some quick blog photos.  I thought the old Laura Ashley dress I brought to wear was cute 'till I saw the little blue gingham dress that Lauren had found at a local thrift store.  If it hadn't been made for tiny-waisted girls like Lauren I think I might have stolen it.

These photos also mark the debut blog appearance of my new denim purse.  The lovely Tara at SWANclothing must have known that I was getting bored of the 2 or 3 purses I carry around on a regular basis, because she offered to send me one of her new Tiny Rose purses, which I'd been eyeing.  I think I've used mine about every single day since it came in the mail--small cross-body bags are just perfect for summertime anyway, but this one is especially nice and light.  The denim fabric gives an edge to my a lot of times too cutesy outfits in the same way that a denim jacket does--I was actually tempted to wear a jean jacket with this dress, but it would have been way too hot and I would have gotten teased, and, besides, the Tiny Rose really gives the dress the same sort of feeling.

After we took these pictures I realized I didn't get any sorts of close-ups of the purse, but I'm sure it will be making plenty of blog appearances from now on so I'll be able to get some soon.

Weekend in Tennessee

Photo by the amazing Ellen Rogers

This photo may be of the English countryside but it sort of reminds me of rural Tennessee where I am right now for my grandpa's annual 4th of July weekend party.  My sister Lauren and I are crossing our fingers that the thrift stores will be open tomorrow, but even if they're not I'm sure we'll find something to do . . . it's so pretty around here that it always makes me wish I had lots of extra hours to go exploring and do silly things like take blog photos and go on nerdy historic house tours.  As it is I'll probably just spend the weekend eating a bunch and hiding from fireworks with little Rufus.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

New this week, from the '40s and '50s . . .

I'm doing a little experiment this week and will be selling these on Etsy instead of Ebay--I have an Etsy shop I used to sell in years ago and I've half-forgotten how, but I'll see how it goes!  

So you can find all these items right here.