Weekly Wishlist: New Year's Eve

Well, it's New Year's Eve-- the biggest party night of the year. Unfortunately for me, I have to work. Yes, it's also the most lucrative night of the year for waitresses, so I'm going to suck it up and forgo the party dress for an apron in hopes of making some much-needed mad cash. Ah well, c'est la vie. To cheer myself up, I did some "window shopping" on Etsy today, and here's my wishlist entitled "What I Would Wear" this NYE, featuring lovely shades of pink and silver!

1. Vintage 1940's Everlasting Light Party Dress, by Dear Golden Vintage

2. Afternoon Delight Floral Headband, by Crafts2Cherish

3.  Vintage Fluorescent Orange Pink Coat, by Animal Head Vintage

4. 1920's Pink and Silver Beaded Belgium Clutch, by Frocks n Frills Vintage


Happy New Year's! See you in 2011!

XO,

Jess

Thrifty Thursday! on the road in Atlanta

Happy Holidays! I hope Santa was good to you all. I just returned from a week long trip to my homeland, Atlanta. It was great to spend so much time with the family, as well as old friends. We didn't do much besides eat, drink, watch the snow fall (yes, we actually had a White Christmas in Georgia!), and of course, shop. Josh was such a good sport-- on Tuesday he let me drag him all over town to various thrift stores, antique malls and vintage boutiques. Mostly, I re-discovered places that I had been to before- Little 5 Points is a favorite neighborhood for shopping vintage.

These pics are from a vintage shop that I've been to several times- the Clothing Warehouse. I was really bummed when they recently closed their "clothing by the pound" outlet store on the south side of Atlanta, but their flagship store in Little 5 is always worth a visit. It's a tad pricey (like most stores in Little 5) and very popular with the young hipster crowd, but I love browsing their  selection of dresses from the 70's and 80's, and especially their huge wall-o-boots!
Btw-- in case you can't tell from my "Hipstamatic" photos-- I got an IPhone for Christmas! It's a huge step up from the archaic flip-phone that I formerly used. . . I'm so excited!

My absolute favorite vintage store in Atlanta has always been Stefan's, also in Little 5 Points. This place has been there for as long as I can remember. It's very swanky and, of course, pricey-- but everything in the shop is in pristine condition, and most of the items are at least 40 years old. They have a great selection of 1950's party dresses, furs, men's suits and rhinestone jewelry. I splurged on a lovely black cashmere cardigan from the 50's with pearls and beads lining the front and hem.

So, when I googled "great vintage shops, Atlanta" this place came up several times-- Kudzu Antiques in Decatur. I couldn't believe that I'd never been! The place is huge-- we must have wondered around for at least an hour and a half, and I'm pretty sure we didn't see everything. In classic antique mall-style, they have it set up in booths, which vendors can rent and do whatever they like with. The refreshing place about Kudzu is that all of the booths are great-- they have very high standards for what kinds of items people can sell- no junk. Everything is authentic vintage and in great condition. Again, that makes for pretty high prices-- I found some great vintage dresses in one booth but they were all over $100! Still, if I were looking for a special occasion outfit or a nice gift, this is a great place to go.
Well, we're home now, and I'm pretty excited to get back to work on the website. However, I'm not excited about tomorrow- I'm working at the restaurant for their NYE extravaganza which goes until about 6 am. Better rest up!
Happy New Year's!

XO,

Jess

Gift Wrapping

Tonight I'm staying in and getting some last-minute gift wrapping done before Josh and I head to Atlanta on Thursday to spend Christmas with my family. I think this year I put as much, if not more time into wrapping my presents than I did picking them out. But presentation is important, right?
I know you've probably all seen several how-to-make-a-bow tutorials out there. I've been obsessed with vintage bowties lately (maybe you read my earlier blog post. . . ) and recently decided to make more bows with all of the scrap fabric that is accumulating in my studio. I use them for all kinds of things-- bobbypinned in my hair, safetypinned on a jacket, or sewn onto a piece of clothing, like in this skirt that I recently put up on the website.

Most recently I decided to use fabric bows to decorate gifts. It adds a nice touch because the recipient can re-use them over and over again! Here's my version of the bow tutorial:

In addition to the bows, I found these adorable gift tags to add to my gifts! Download this one and more designs by Amy Moss at Eat Drink Chic!

The final composition (with vintage fabric instead of wrapping paper). . .

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

xo,

Jess

Thrifty Thursday!

Wow, yesterday was the most amazing thrifting experience I've had in a long time! I was out running errands, and decided to "quickly" stop in this new-ish thrift store to see if I could find a winter coat for Josh. . .Well, 2 hours later, I left with a full cart of beautiful vintage goodies!

 

As soon as I came home and dropped the bags of clothing on the floor, Hank the cat made himself right at home.

I got everything cleaned, steamed and hung on the rack last night.  I was trying to decide what, if anything, I would keep for myself. . .Here are 2 of my favorite things that I'm having trouble parting with:

 

beautiful 1940's-inspired dress from the 1980's: silky semi-sheer black fabric with a red and blue floral pattern, and the sweetest little buttons at the cuffs. For sale on the website.

Metallic Silver Oxfords! Amazing, right? Unfortunately (for me), they're a half size too big for me. . .oh well- they're on the website too!

So, in case you're wondering-- yes, I also found the one thing I was looking for. . . an amazing 1960's plaid peacoat for Josh. . .and one for me!

More lovely items will be up on the site very soon.

Happy Thrifting!

XO,

Jess

new additions. . .

I'm finally getting around to putting new items up on the website. . . Some pretty yummy goodies, I think.

 

1940's Saks Fifth Avenue Blazer

AMAZING mint green and white 1950's party dress

Super-cute black and white patent leather oxfords. . . unfortunately a 1/2 size too small for me :(

You may notice that I'm trying new things with my product photography. . . still not totally happy with it. Any suggestions?

XO,

Jess

Thrifty Thursday! The Wishlist.

Brrr. . .it's nasty cold outside! It's snowing. It's been dark for hours. I do not feel like leaving the house. So instead of going out thrifting today, I decided to stay in and do some "shopping" from my computer, with a cup of hot tea and my coziest sweater on. I started out looking on Etsy for Christmas presents. . . my sister wants a pair of black cowgirl boots, my boyfriend needs a new winter coat. . . but, of course, I ended up finding several things that I want as well. I'm so selfish. Anyways, here is (part of) my Holiday wishlist:

I mentioned before that I'm obsessed with gold. . .This is an amazing black and gold lace party dress from Maries Vintage! After all, a girl can never have too many party dresses, right?

What a divine peacock blue peacoat from Nickie Frye. I can't have enough blue in my wardrobe, and I always love a pop of fur! Great for this chilly time of year.

Ok, I really don't need another pair of boots. . . I believe I'm up to 9 pairs now- cowgirl boots, ankle boots, snow boots, etc. I'm obsessed. I still don't own a pair of Frye boots, though (well, not in my size. . .I have one pair in my shop in a 6 1/2).  I also don't own a pair of camel-colored cowgirl boots. So, these very reasonably-priced Frye boots from Bootmeister are going on my wishlist.

One thing that I do kind of "need" is a new go-to handbag. I currently use (the majority of the time) a wonderful cream-colored leather bag, much like this one, from Valhalla Brooklyn.  I simply cannot say enough wonderful things about these handmade bags. For one thing, every time I look at mine, I think How did someone make this by hand? it's too perfect! That being said, my current VB bag is still in amazing condition (nearly 2 years after I bought it!), but it may be time to change things up a bit. I'm thinking something darker this season. . . maybe chocolate?

What's on your Holiday wishlist?

XO,

Jess

Pop-Up Shop Wrap-Up

So, I haven't been blogging lately because I was so incredibly busy this week with the Vintage Madison Holiday Pop-up Shop! We started setting it up last Monday, opened on Thursday and took it down yesterday. It was a whirlwind! I had a ton of fun though, and was quite sad packing everything up yesterday.
Thursday night was our "sneak peak" opening party, with DJ Record Jammer Slayron (great name, right?!) providing music, and I was so pleased with the turnout. We were really busy all weekend, and everyone who came in was so sweet and wonderful. It made me think even more about opening a "real" shop of my own. . . Well, I've been thinking about it for a long time, and think it would be great. However, I'm aware of the fact that having a shop wouldn't always be as fun as the pop-up shop was. But, still, it's an idea that I'm kicking around.

I think we had a pretty good variety of clothing, accessories, Holiday gifts. . . And people were amazed at how well we transformed the space in only a couple of days. So, I'm curious-- what do you like about your favorite vintage shop? Or, better yet, what makes you excited about any shop in general? Now that I've gotten my feet wet, I'm thinking of ways to improve the next pop-up shop (or full-time shop).

XO,

Jess