white walls, a bird band, and books

Last month, on a day when I liked the light, I took some photos around the bedroom.  It's the one room in the house where we painted the (wood panel) walls white, as well as the floors, and it makes the room so light and airy.  My marble-top dresser and washstand look so good in there now.  And we've finally hung some things on the walls.

Clearly, I need more hooks for hanging jewelry, purses, etc.  That accordion hanger is conveniently placed next to the closet, so I can also hang the occasional dress from it.

Antique bird band!  Passed down from my grandmother.  They used to come out only for the holidays, but I think they deserve year-round display.

A lot of book reading goes on here.

This sweet knitted sachet is from VintageAimee on Etsy (unfortunately, I think she only makes them during the holidays).  It's filled with lavender and clove and smells so good!

xo

K

shop accessories preview

A few pairs of shoes, some BIG bags, lots of belt buckles...and a pair of horses!  Here's what's coming to the shop, accessory-wise, soon...

1940s white peeptoe slingback perforated leather shoes, by British Walkers.

1970s two tone t-strap pumps, by Naturalizer.

1970s red canvas sandals, by Hush Puppies.

1960s oversize tapestry bag.

1960s faux crocodile purse, by Caprice.

Large tooled leather purse.

1940s cordé purse.

1960s oversize tapestry carpet bag, by Julius Resnick/JR Miami.

Tooled leather wallet with outer coin purse.

Rainbow unicorn belt buckle.

Brass VOTE buckle.

1979 silvertone eagle buckle.

1982 brass Teamsters buckle.

1980s brass Keep on Truckin buckle.

1977 3-D deer buckle.

Mid century green Bitossi style sgraffito ceramic horse.

1950s ceramic horse.

xo

K

fashionable 1940s coeds

I've been a little bit obsessed with these Nina Leen images of "1940s St. Louis college girls" ever since they popped up on the internets a couple weeks ago.  I first saw some of them on the Honey Kennedy blog, and couldn't help but be drawn in by these fresh-faced gals with flowers in their hair and  amazing dresses.  Not to mention--St. Louis!  That's where my people come from, and where I was born.  I wanted to know more about these photos, but information was scarce.  I didn't have any luck until I searched the Life magazine archives (a separate beast from the Life photo archives).  There I ran across this brief article in an October 1944 issue of the magazine. 

I saw immediately that the few photos in this article were very similar to the Nina Leen photos in the Life archives, and seemed to come from the very same shoot.  The article is about Washington University students who act as a review board for R. Lowenbaum Manufacturing Co., a St. Louis-based junior dress maker (Minx Modes was one of their labels).  Apparently Washington University had a dress design program--no doubt to work as a feeder for the burgeoning St. Louis juniors dress industry, which many of my relations worked in, in one manner or another--and these lucky students got to have a say in which dresses were made.  The article identifies the women standing on the right as the dress designer.

This dress--which I think is totally cute--is judged "too plain" by the board.  Interesting tidbit that plainer dresses "go over best in the East"--because  the girls in the large eastern cities are more sophisticated?

The ladies dig the ruffles on this dress.

Most of the Leen photo don't appear in this short article, but you can see lots more in the Life photo archives.   Here are a few more shots I loved; be sure to check out the archives to see more.

xo

K

shop preview

1960s fashion, with its bold prints and bright colors, is pretty much ideal for summertime.  Here's a mostly-60s shop preview with a nice range of prints: stripes, flowers, checks, and even a little psychedelia!

1960s turf and clover striped Irish linen dress, by Country Miss.

1970s gold sparkle chevron stripe cardigan.

1960s watercolor print wiggle dress, by Tori Richard for Liberty House.

1950s pink gingham cotton blouse, by Jantzen.

1960s patchwork print romper dress with big pockets.

1960s blue gingham cotton skirt with belt, by Seaton Hall.

1950s saffron sundress with rhinestone flowers and cropped jacket.

1950s white linen blouse with embroidered rick rack-like trim, by Erwin Blouse.

1960s India flower print cotton dress with lace doily collar, by Alice of California.

Mod 1960s orange cotton tunic with big pocket and diagonal zipper, by Arnelle of California.

1960s floral cotton shirtwaist dress with belt.

1960s rococo psychedelia print sheath dress with fringed belt, by Toni Todd.

xo

K

the long weekend

I don't have a smartphone, so I don't do Instagram, but if I did, the long Memorial Day weekend would have looked something like this.

This shot is kind of typical of our summer weekends--Andy and me headed south into downtown Grand Rapids, laughing smugly at the cottage-bound traffic jam headed in the opposite direction (in this case, they were lake-bound).  Since we live on a lake already, there's no mad rush north or west for us.  (Do you like the crack in my windshield?  Keeping it real!)

Michigan beers and pinball at the Pyramid scheme.

Quality couch time with Lucy the dog.

We visited an out-of-town friend's chickens to feed them and collect eggs.

This little lady is also named Lucy, and I'm nearly as obsessed with her as I am with the canine Lucy.

Look!  She just hatched a baby chick...who did not want her photo taken, and tried to hide herself up in Lucy's wing.

Lucy the dog had, surprisingly, zero interest in the chickens.

We decided to give gardening--on a small, manageable scale--a go again.  Tomatoes, basil, rosemary, cilantro, petunias, marigolds, and a tiny lavender, pink, and white ground cover-y flower whose name I can't remember.  The lady behind the cash register was all, why are you taking a photo.  I thought the cart was cute.

Cobb salad season!  Well, salad season, period--but Cobb is the best!

xo

K