the frost is on the punkin

Actually, it looks like it's skipped straight to snow! Time to start thinking holidays, I guess. Here's a link to my new favorite seasonal tune, "Time of the Season" by Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan.

The song inspired me to make this pretty little Etsy treasury:

xo

K

vintage prom

Although I'm way past my prom days, I still thought it would be fun to do a post about vintage prom dresses. And I was hoping to start things off with a photo of me in my prom dress (circa 1987). Unfortunately, I could not find the photo. I didn't wear a vintage dress to prom, although I had started thrifting and wearing vintage at this point. My dress was, however, vintage-inspired. It was a pretty amazing black satin floor-length sheath, with a fishtail hem, and I wore it with long gloves and rhinestone jewelry. Very Hollywood movie star! The effect, however, was pretty much ruined by my giant hair.

Since I don't have a photo of me and my dress (and my cute prom date!), here's a photo from the same time period of me and the hair (and our cute college counselor! Who is obviously quite rightly puzzled by the hair).

The rhinestone earrings? I wore those to prom!

Anyway, if I were 18 and attending prom today, I would want to go wearing one of the many amazing and well-priced vintage dresses you can find on Etsy! And naturally, these vintage party and cocktail dresses work just as well for more grown-up affairs. I put together an Etsy Treasury of 16 of my favorites. Click the photo to see a larger view of the treasury (links to each seller's dress below the photos), or click this link to go directly to the Treasury itself, which includes clickable links to all the dresses.

Row 1, l-r: 13bees; AdelaideHomesewn; HuzzahVintage; DearGoldenVintage

Row 2, l-r: swaneegrace; thegreedyseagull; persephonevintage; HinterlandVintage

Row 3, l-r: shopREiNViNTAGE; MariesVintage; denisebrain; landof1000dresses

Row 4, l-r: brownbagvintage; salvagelife; VivaLaVintageShoppe; studio1950

And here's a little selection of prom/cocktail party-worthy dresses from the shop.

Clockwise, starting at upper left corner: 1950s Black Taffeta MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION Party Dress; 1950s Blush Pink Chantilly Lace Dress; 1950s MIDNIGHT Sparkle Peg Palmer Party Dress; 1950s Satin BLUE HEAVEN Satin Cocktail Dress by Miss Brooks

Clockwise, starting at upper left corner: 1950s LILAC SMOKE Lace Party Dress; 1940s Black Taffeta R&K Originals Dress with Rhinestone Buttons; 1980s Metallic EMERALD Party Dress; 1960s Abstract ORCHARD Print Tiered Skirt Cocktail Dress

And hey, if you have a chance, check out this week's prom themed Etsy Voter, and if you're so inclined, put a vote in for my 1950s Lilac Smoke Lace Party Dress, which was nominated--my first time ever in an Etsy Voter!

xo

K

400th sale!

We had our 400th sale in the Etsy shop tonight! Which is terrific in itself, but the best part is that, by chance, the 400th buyer was my very good friend, and old college roommate, Jessica, who happens to be one of the most stylish people I know. (She's also one of the smartest: she's a Doctor and an art historian, and writes about perfume on the Now Smell This blog, which anyone who has any interest at all in perfume or scented body products and candles should be reading.)

How cool is that? Thank you, Jessica--and everyone else who has bought from us! I have absolutely loved my first year on Etsy. Andy and I are full-time vintage sellers; it's not a hobby for either of us. It's a lot of hard work and it's often frustrating. We know we'll never get rich from it. But we are lucky to be able to do something we love and believe in. And the Etsy shop has totally rekindled my love for what I do.

In other cool news, my wacky vintage mod harlequin boots were on an Etsy admin-curated front page last night with a Holiday Gift Ideas theme. They do totally look like elf shoes don't they? Hmmm... *off to change some tags*

I hope everyone is having a good week. Andy and I are busy (um, well, in all honesty, Andy is doing all the work. Thank you Andy--you rock!) trying to get an indoor photo studio set up in the basement. Finding good light for photo-taking is a challenge in the gray Michigan winters. Wish us luck!

xo
K

two stout doors

My claim to fame as a youngster was that I read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books seven times over. My sister and I would play Little House dress-up--I was always Laura and made her be Mary--complete with bonnets, and with the teenage boy from next door mocking us. On one hot August road trip to visit relatives in St. Louis (in a Dodge Duster with black vinyl seats and no air conditioning), my dad, knowing of my obsession, drove us 100 miles off the interstate just to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder home and museum. (It was closed. I still hope to visit some day.)





But who wouldn't be obsessed? Log houses, playing catch with a pig's bladder, maple syrup candy, Pa's fiddle-playing, salt pork, Ma making hats from the harvest straw, the sod house, calico dresses, corn cob dolls, coyotes howling in the night, fever 'n' ague. And, of course, Garth Williams' beautiful illustrations. Williams was the illustrator of my childhood; all my very favorite books were illustrated by him. The Cricket in Times Square. Charlotte's Web. The Frances books. Stuart Little.




I still have my original yellow cardboard boxed set of Little House paperbacks and am now re-reading them for the eighth time. They are just as wonderful as when I was eight or nine--I still get a little scared when Ma pets the bear, thinking it's Sukey the cow; I still get worried that Jack the bulldog won't made the swim across the rushing creek. I still want to live in a sod house and eat salt pork.

But instead, I made a Little House-inspired Etsy Treasury.

xo
k