sweater love

Wool sweater, dates from first third of 20th century. 

Lizzie over at The Vintage Traveler blogged on Monday about 1930s knitwear.  She posted about how hard it is to find sweaters dating to before the 1940s.  (Go read her post to see the reasons why, and to peek at some really cute 1930s sweaters.)  Lizzie's post made me realize that I'd be much more excited about finding 1930s knitwear than a 1930s fancy gown.  Overall, I'm more fascinated by the everyday things people wore in the past.  Not to say I don't see the beauty in a gorgeous gown--I do!  But...there's just something about day dresses, pants, workwear, shoes...and sweaters.  Lovely, cozy sweaters.  Look at these first four examples from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, plus--further down--some gorgeous examples of 1930s and 1940s sweaters from vintage crochet and knitting patterns, and see if you don't agree.

Late 1940s cocktail sweater. 

1950s Elsa Schiaparelli sweater. 

1950s wool deer vest.

The following examples are from wondertrading's collection of 1930s and 1940s knitting and crochet patterns on Flickr.

And finally, how amazing is this jabot print 1930s or 1940s sweater pattern, from Skiff Vintage Knitting Patterns?

xo

K

pastry fear: conquered!

Andy does all our cooking.  He enjoys it and is good at it.  (Yeah, I have it good.  I know.)  I do like to make the type of thing that's in one dish and requires lots of chopping and slow cooking (I make a mean bolognese), and I do like to bake.  Which is a bit weird because I'm more of a savory person than a sweets person.  Anyway.  I've been avoiding recipes that require making pastry from scratch, ever since a disastrous experience with making gnocchi a few years back.  (Yeah, I know, gnocchi isn't really pastry, but dough, pastry--anything involving flour being worked into another delicious substance makes me nervous.)

We came into possession of a huge surplus of apples from the farmer down the road, and so I decided to try something a bit more challenging than the usual apple crisp.  Enter the simplest apple tart recipe from smitten kitchen.  (That recipe name inspires confidence.)  Though I had one moment of panic as I was peeling the rolled-out dough up from the table, it really was fairly easy and turned out tasty.  (And looks very cute with all the sliced up apples crowded together, too!)

Yum.  Next maybe I'll try a savory tart.

xo

K

shop accessories preview

Here's a peek at the shoes, boots, and other items (some really cool 1960s sunglasses!) coming to the shop shortly.  (Actually, the first couple items are already in the shop and are linked to the shop.)

Ferragamo pewter and olive green metallic leather bow flats.

1980s black leather boots by Dexter.

1940s black suede scalloped edge sandals.

Ferragamo nubuck pumps with gold decorations at toes.

1960s oversize round tortoise sunglasses, made in France.

1950s browline eyeglass frames.

Tin autumn leaves tray.

1950s Russel Wright melmac leaf plates.

Abercrombie & Fitch leather and wood safari stool.

1930s mink stole.

And hey, remember my post last week where I was wishing for snow?  Look what happened!

xo

K

return of the printer tray

Remember the printer tray (or drawer) that Andy hung on the wall for me in September?  That I found at a thrift last February?  It's okay if you don't.  Well, I've finally started to fill it up, so I thought I'd show it to you again.

  

It's brilliant for smaller perfume bottles (and my little self-labeled decants).  Most of my larger, more commercial perfumes are in bottles too big to fit on it.  But I love how my little bottle of 10 Corso Como (with the red cap) looks there.

Andy found that little circus dog figurine for me.  I've also discovered that rings look awfully cute displayed on the shelves.

xo

K

snow day?

This winter is turning me back into a kid again.  We've had hardly any snow--none that has stuck around anyway.  I was grateful for the unseasonably nice weather back in November, when Andy was working on our roof.  But now I'm starting to get peeved at the lack of Lake Effect.  Yeah, I'm a weirdo.  I would like to get out and do a little cross country skiing, though.

Here's a preview of what is coming to the shop over the next week.

1960s cherry red shirt dress, Cobbies by Cos Cob.

1980s Ralph Lauren wool cardigan with lace collar.

1960s blue wool and mohair sweater with roll collar, by Glasgo.

Antique Edwardian tea dress with filet lace.

Pendleton brown wool plaid bathrobe.

Needlepoint tapestry vest, by Aladdin.

1940s abstract mosaic print voile dress with bow and belt.

1950s brown striped pencil skirt.

1980s cream sweater with lace collar, by Koret.

1960s geometric print dress with roll collar, big pockets, and belt, by Herman Marcus.

Mint green nylon slip with ruched bust, satin ribbon trim, and appliques, by Carol Brent.

Cobalt neo-Edwardian sweater with leg-o-mutton sleeves.

1960s Adolphe Zelinka skirt suit with gold lamé checkerboard bow blouse.

Gossamer crochet cape.

1960s folklore print dress with sewn-in belt.

xo

K

i shopped for you

Did you get any Christmas money this year?  I did, and though I'll probably use it toward a little trip somewhere, it didn't stop me from doing some fantasy shopping on Etsy.  And because I'm such a nice person and couldn't afford to buy all these things (even if they were all my size, which they aren't), I thought I'd share them with you.  

Keeping track of these finds was made a little easier than usual due to my signing up with Pinterest.  Pinterest is, basically, an internet-based inspiration board.  You can follow me there at this link.

  

Gorgeous 1950s brown party dress / SwaneeGRACE

Buffalo check wool coat / stonecoldvintage

1960s dress with satin collar / DearGoldenVintage

Pringle 1950s wool plaid sweater / PomegranateVintage

1970s stack heel oxfords / IveGoneModVintage

Charmingly macabre mouse requiem locket / shopfeverfew

Danish modern teak ice bucket / thecircamodern

Framed Scottie painting / jbyjosephine

Danish modern teak duck / luola

Victorian steamer trunk wall art / Canal-Side Studio

xo

K