Spring is in the air!

It may be a little bit premature to  proclaim my love of the start of spring weather (as Oregon has a nasty little habit of mid-spring hailstorms) but it's how I feel nonetheless. As most of my blogs seem to start, I must apologize for the absence. My life has been two things as of late: Busy and boring.

As soon as spring break ended for my university I found myself spending more time in the library than any first weeks prior to this term. In addition, after a weeklong break from Kiss Me, Kate the cast was lagging a little, especially in the dance sequences. Outside of the theater, my term is filled with accounting, macroeconomics, media writing, and retail buying classes. As a studious college girl, responsible cast member and choreographer's assistant, I threw myself into my real life, completely forgetting about my online life. Only after I caught up reading blogs that I had neglected to check for the past few weeks, did I feel like writing again.

I regret this, but I have not been wearing vintage all that frequently lately. I shall blame the weather and my constant running between my room, the library, and the theater. However I must confess, dear readers, that I've also been bit by the lazy bug. Having piles of washing, mending, homework, and books to sell can do that to a person. But fear no more, for I am back and as fresh faced and ready to return to the interwebs as ever!

After quite a drought of good shopping trips this past winter, I am glad to report that my last few shopping attempts have treated me well. I've added five dresses, a shorter length crinoline, navy pumps, a purple hat, and a babydoll nightgown to my clothing collection in the past few weeks! In non-vintage buying, my mom treated me to new black and white cardigans which I have been wearing all the time! And then, there are the things. I try to keep my collection of "things" to a minimum because my storage space in my world is minimal at the moment. Still, I could not pass up mini-muffin pans for $3 apiece. Likewise, a jewelry holder for traveling, a dress pattern, and a card of snap fasteners, the book The World with a Fence begged to be taken home as did a red-handled biscuit cutter (which I have needed for some time).

After all of my previous indecision, my hair is brown again. It really was a fluke, because the result was much darker than expected, but I've been told it suits me. Brown may suit me, but this monster that is residing atop my skull does not. Very high on my to-do list is to get my hair cut, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for a middy long cut, which is what I'd really like. Oh decisions, you must wait until another day.

In the meantime, I'll be dreaming of summer and relaxing in style like Ms. Charrise.

Raven or Auburn or Platinum... oh my!

I'm one of the most indecisive people you will meet.When I was younger, I swore that pink was the worst color ever to be invented. Now, I can't get enough of it! I switched my major from Environmental Science (aka: rooting around in the woods) to Merchandising Management (aka: being an aesthetics expert). And now, finally, the thing I haven't been able to keep from toying with for the past 6 years has come back to haunt me. Yes folks, I am talking about my innate need to change my haircolor.

I was happy enough as a child. Born a blonde, my hair had darkened to a light brown by the time I was finished with middle school. The summer before high school and a bottle of Sun-In left my long hair with some lighter brown and blond tones, but by sophmore year, I had to change again. I took my hair up to my shoulders and a dark blonde shade. I was happy for quite a while, but after a few months, it was time to go darker. A dark brown and some side bangs gave me a new outlook on life, not to mention they were a perfect contrast to my milky complexion. Senior year saw me wanted to change again. This time, it was a burgundy-red color and a shorter length that was way too hard to keep perfect. I went down a few shades to a brighter red, but knew that it wouldn't stay for long. After getting some of the color bleached out, I was a gorgeous strawberry blonde for my senior prom. I didn't do much with my hair that summer, because of the damage the bleaching did. But by the time I was about to move to attend college, I decided on an a-line bob, blunt bangs, and a deep brown shade. The bangs reminded me of elementary school, so I started growing the whole lot out and didn't dye for a while in an attempt to look more natural. This past summer, I was stricken with a fever to change my hair drastically and went a dark brown that might as well have been black. I was so happy, that color and I had a long and healthy relationship. Subsequently, when I started to see my romantic relationship tumble down, I decided that black and I were not meant to be. A weekend was spent stripping the dark out of my hair and getting to a natural auburn shade, which is where I am now.

I am now stuck. Where do I go from here? As of now, my hair looks ginger-peachy (does anyone get my pun, or have I just seen Meet Me In St. Louis too many times?). I had planned to go the whole nine yards and further lighten my hair over spring break in hopes of going platinum this summer. But I've begun looking at pictures of Dita Von Teese, and I feel like rekindling my romance with raven locks.

See my jam? Which of the colors do I choose? I know what Marilyn and Grace would say, but I've always been more of a Jane or a Bettie. Still, that iconic color captured best by Lucy and Rita gets me every time.

A salute to girly underthings!

I can already see that this post is going to go from a little blurb to a full scale proclamation of love. I've been enthralled by lingerie since the tender age of 12 and my first viewing of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, a great movie that my mom still has on VHS. Anyhow, from the opening scene and "Twenty fans were Turning" to "Itty-Bitty Pissant Country Place" and finally "Hard Candy Christmas," all of the ladies are decked out in their best (80's) lingerie. Let's not discount the lovely Miss Mona (Dolly Parton) in all of her buxon blonde glory, too! Now, I'm not trying to scare anyone away by discussing bad lingerie, but giving a base to my thoughts. The 80's is a decade I try to pretend didn't happen, most of the time.

On to my actual topic: vintage lingerie! I started dabbling in underthings when I started seeking out slips and nightgowns last year. I have quite a little collection of those, now. Next came my corset. I wrote about my corset around Halloween, but not much after that. It's an authentic overbust, steel-boned corset (for tightlacing, not fashion) that resides in my room at home since I can't find a place for it here at school. Upon finding my peach pegnoir set in November, I was really ready to admit that I was loving the girly things and underthings of my favorite eras. In December, I bought a bunch of 50's stockings from a lovely woman on craigslist. I was super nervous that they would be in horrible condition, but they were beautiful! Since then, I've had them sitting in my drawer just waiting to be worn. What's a girl to do without a suspender belt? I'll tell you: She waits and thinks and waits and waits a little longer. Soon, she goes stir crazy and takes a leap of faith and orders a couple of little underthings to keep up her stockings!

Yes, I hate internet shopping, but I took the plunge and ordered two different styles from the same site I found my corset, Orchard Corset. I was so pleased with their prompt delivery and quality workmanship from my first experience, I was happy to go back. They arrived just 3 days after I ordered and I couldn't have been more pleased, although I'd really like to be able to get the clasps all done up more quickly! Once it gets just a little warmer here, be on the lookout for my legs to finally be ladylike and covered and all that jazz!

From this...

To this!

Get comfortable... it's going to be a long post.

I am such a bad mother to my little blog. After leaving it neglected for nearly a month, I'm wondering if I'll even be able to write a decent post. Well well, many things have happened in my life since that last entry, but I'm not sure where to start.

My birthday was right at the end of January and I went home to see my sweetheart and my family. We all went out to as delicious thai restaurant and had a great time! My favorite aunt (on my dad's side) got to come, which really made the night fun. The cupcakes were... well, you just had to be there. The cake I love more than any other is a version called "Grandma's Chocolate Cake" which is best with penuche frosting. For those who don't know what that is, it is a cooked brown sugar frosting that you must try immediately. I didn't get to blow out any candles due to restaurant policy, but I did get some thoughtful gifts from my family which really deserve to have the spotlight.

My Aunt got me a pretty Brighton necklace composed of a darling little heart on a sturdy chain. My favorite part is the saying on the back of the heart, "Love Always." It's really the perfect heart necklace that I've needed for awhile.

Next, my mother got me a few things, but I will only highlight the best. She found two books for me at Christmas, but decided to hold them over until my birthday. They were well worth they wait, so I'm not unhappy. The first, I've read through a couple of times already, but I haven't had time to curl up with the second yet. Charmed by Audrey is just that: charming. It is basically a photo montage of Audrey on the set of the movie Sabrina. Sabrina is definitely one of my favorite Audrey movies and I love looking at all the prints and quotes from or about Audrey. She really was a wonderful woman, inside and out.

The second book has yet to be delved in to, but it is called Very Vintage and it chronicles styles in the 20th century, I believe. There are some great pictures and lots of reading. I have a feeling that I won't be able to put this one down once I pick it up!

The last present that really needs some limelight is the most perfect collection of movies. My aunt (on mom's side) always finds the best movies for me. I don't know if I ever thanked her fully for finding the collector's edition of Meet me in St. Louis and she really outdid her herself with this one. She got me a collection of 4 major musicals with Howard Keel. This was especially welcome because I wanted to see the original movie version of Kiss Me, Kate (you'll find out why later in this post) and I've also been searching for Showboat since I found out Marge and Gower Champion danced in it.

Now, the next exciting thing I've been doing actually corresponds with my last post. For my Fashion Trend Analysis class, we were working in groups on trend boards. A trend board is part of a trend forecast and just gives a visual feeling of the season or style to come. A girl in my group and I completely connected and planned the entire thing. Our season? Summer 2012. Our trend? Pin Up!

I'm very happy with the board, we ended up with more modern images than I would have chosen, but it's still adorable! I know the picture is blurry, but all I had at that moment was my phone. Our colors were pastels with a strong red and dark denim base. Motifs included card suits (diamonds, hearts), polka dots, and horizontal stripes. We really had fun accenting with gold buttons, leaves, and rope, red ribbon, and little knit doilies one of the girls found at the fabric store.

All of this Pin Up energy has just renewed my love for the style in daily life and I've really been working on keeping with my vintage look more. I've not been focusing on it lately because it's been very cold here. Now that it's warming up a little, I'm at it full force again. In honor of this, and just to have fun, I took some current photos for my sweetheart with some of my new finds. Here's a little taste:

Yes, this is what I do when I'm procrastinating. I change clothes all the time when I'm trying to focus on homework. My sweetheart let me borrow his amazing camera, so I finally got to take quality pictures. This outfit is completely thrift-store stuff. Shirt: Arc Resale in Philomath (I found this the other day!), Skirt: Salvation Army in Grants Pass, Belt: St. Vincent De Paul in Grants Pass, Shoes: Arc Resale in Philomath, and Bag: Buckingham Palace in Corvallis (Also a recent find!). I finally got the buttons sewed on to a suede and shearling coat I rescued this summer and wore it to the first rehearsal for Kiss Me, Kate on Monday night.

There's another thing that needs to get some time in the limelight of this blog. I got involved with Corvallis Community Theater (CCT) last year when I got to assist the costume mistress for the musical, Guys and Dolls. It was a lot of fun, and I was actually asked to play a part since I had some stage and singing experience. The show went off wonderfully and the group of people I met really made my day (week, month, months, however long we worked on that show..). This year, I was e-mailed by the director to inform me that he would be directing another musical this spring, entitled Kiss Me, Kate. I asked him if I could do the same job that I was originally asked to do in the last show and he said he'd be happy to forward my request to the costume mistress. We talked, I researched, we met, picked fabrics, watched auditions, and finally got to measure our cast at the first rehearsal. I don't know all of the cast, but as far as I've seen they're all wonderful people.The second rehearsal, the director approached me and asked me to be in the play. I have dance experience and can pick up whatever I don't have experience in pretty quickly. I also sang throughout high school and don't have too bad of a voice, if I do say so myself. This is how I became a cast member in the show! I still hope to be able to spend some time around the costume department, but I know my replacement will serve the costume mistress well. Let's hope there's some intricate, interesting dancing I get to do for this show!

There's something I'm leaving out that also deserves a little bit of time in this post too. I will not delve into this subject, because it is more personal, but I've really been working to change my eating and exercising habits. I come from a very healthy family and college has kind of ruined my healthy eating, so it's about time for me to seriously get back on trace. This isn't about someone telling me I'm fat, but more about feeling comfortable in my own skin. I haven't felt truly comfortable for most of my life and I feel that it's about time. In short, I've begun to change my habits by getting more sleep, exercising 6 days a week, and eating more balanced meals. 

I know you'd like to read a couple more pages of me rambling on, but I do believe it's about time I start steaming the gorgeous red wool pencil skirt I got today! Cheerio!

Encounters of a stylish kind

Now, I did try to summarize my break in the last post, but I thought that this little experience deserved a post of its own. It's not very frequently that I see anyone dressed in a similar fashion, but this is exactly what happened on December 30th. Let's cut me just a teensy weensy bit of slack when I post the link to my picture and focus on the amazing experience.

I was in Fred Meyer's, back in my hometown. Why, you ask? Well, I obtained the most gorgeous cut glass punchbowl for Christmas and just had to make a punch for New Year's Eve. Since I was trying to waste some time after finding my ginger ale, I perused the after-Christmas CD sale (and scored some Perry Como I had been looking for) and meticulously picked out gum. While roaming through small appliances, I bumped into a woman who was dressed! No, my town does not have a large nudist society, I simply mean that in front of me was a woman who had taken the time to look clean, crisp, presentable, and ladylike.

After a quick "So sorry" we parted ways - until she flagged me down between furniture and area rugs. She introduced herself as Danielle and even gave me her card (ladylike and professional!) while explaining she was a clothing designer and blogger. After sharing our oddly similar childhoods, both of us having lived on South Pacific military bases when we were young, she asked to take my picture for her blog. I was flattered, but secretly wished I hadn't put myself together in 20 minutes before going to town. Anyhow, true to her word, Danielle posted my picture on her blog, http://danielleceleste.tumblr.com/, and you're all welcome to check it out. She also has a twitter and sells her designs on etsy, which I believe her blog can link you to.

Overall, this quick exchange really reinforced my belief that I'm not completely insane in hoping that the concept of dressing will see a recurrence in the near future!

I adora these

I seem to be having a problem, I keep finding the most delightful pictures and saving them for posts, but there are so many cluttering up my computer that I need to let everyone see before filing them away. So here goes!

Here are Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen playing sisters Betty and Judy Haynes in White Christmas. Today is definitely a day where I wish I had a big feather fan to match my outfit. It'd have to be peach, as I'm still in my peachy keen pegnoir set.

Another Vera Ellen that was supposed to go on a Halloween update, but there weren't enough pictures of my costume to actually update here. Just know that my fiance and I went to Rocky Horror and it was fabulous! It would have been even better if I had her legs, but alas, I do not. I believe I found this at Wearing History.

The prints below are variations on the "New Look" of Dior. I especially love the first one with the necklaces draped across her back. If there is a perfect little black dress, this is it.

This beautiful photo below is from a 1958 version of Vanity Fair, I believe. The shape is nothing I'm drawn to in everyday life, but the whimsical feeling made me covet it.

Yes, believe it or not there is a Marge and Gower Champion photo that I didn't include in my large post on them back in October. Why, you ask? Besides the enormously obvious "getty" across Gower's pants, I believe this is a publicity shot from Showboat, which I have never seen. When you haven't seen a musical, you can't make remarks about it.

Who are these lovely ladies exactly? I have no clue, but I found this poking around the archives of my school. This is in the main lounge of our Memorial Union, which was opened on June 1, 1928. It's really a huge room, this picture does not do it justice. Anyhow, I think I can safely say that this was taken in the first 5 or 8 years of the MU's existence.

There is nothing about this picture that I would change. I think my favorite things are the tiny candelabras and that green quill poking out of the inkwell. I don't know how long ago this was, but within the year, I believe. I actually found it on another blog I frequent, Vixen Vintage. 

I don't know where I found this charming lady, but I'm sure glad she was around. In fact, the only thing that could make this picture better is if that candy dish under her left arm was actually one of the tall chocolate pots I always associate with French culture. I've always wanted one of those.

If this is a cat lady, I'll be the first in line to grow up and be a cat lady. Too bad my first thought when I saw this was "There's going to be hair all over her dress!" I guess I've just lived with cats for too long and know the evils of cat hair and the way it lingers absolutely everywhere.

A little too much PDA? I do't think so. Doesn't this remind you of the canoe scene in the movie based on Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook?

 This picture clearly states that there can  never be too much muchness. I quite thought the Queen of Hearts in Tim Burton's Alice would look like this, but I suppose she wasn't supposed to be a pretty woman. The grandness and proud look of this ensemble would surely strike fear into the hearts of her enemies, though

I love this color palette! The primary yellow and red with just touches of blue and neutrals works wonders in this shot. Also, the matching canisters for flour, sugar, coffee, and tea in the background are a definite "want"!

Here's another photo I couldn't help but nicking from one of my must-read bloggers. Doesn't Jessica of What I Wore make packing look fun? 

Here's another archive from my own school, in fact this one is from the hall I live in, which has the best archive photos of all the residence halls on campus. This is all my opinion of course. I can't pinpoint which room this was taken in, as we have 4 or 6 common spaces that look similar to this, but we do still have those light fixtures, which have gold-colored hardware and light blue-green glass. 

This is the best way I can imagine utter opulence and bare simplicity coexisting. It looks almost Grecian, and even though I'm not fond of Grecian-inspired designs of today, I do like this one.

Here's another lovely image I found on a blog I just started reading, My 50's Year, from early last January. I can't remember what kind of cover is on that teapot, but I'd like to have one so much! Of course the focus point of the image is the parakeet (yes, it's real) perched on the pen cup ever so delicately, which almost makes me want a little bird, if only for the beautiful powder-blue cage I saw in one of my favorite antique stores the other day.

This bathing beauty sure looks like she's having fun, doesn't she? I sure wish they still made bathing suits like they used to.

Here's a picture I gathered from yet another blog I read, COLLEGE. which is authored by Devin Lytle (the Starkid who played Cho Chang in A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel). 

I don't know the era of this picture exactly, but she reminds me of a silent film star. The dark lips, penciled-in eyebrows and veil hiding her somewhat just screams silent movies to me. Also, that neckline is something that is gorgeous in this instance, but has been done wrong by Hollywood lately.

Finally, this picture may seem a little bit odd with everything else, but it's one of my quirks. I love the movie Fight Club. I suppose the woman is supposed to be Helena Bonham Carter's character, Marla. I can't explain why I like this movie or how it makes me feel, but the impending doom lingers like Marla's cigarette smoke.

And there you are! My first decluttering of the picture folder on my computer. Hopefully I will not let it get this backed up again and subject all of you lovely readers to my collected pictures.