A Big THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last week one of my readers contacted me because she came across a pair of vintage shoes she thought I'd like. Rosie over at Pondicherry Cottage works at a thrift store and last week the above shoes came into her store. I told Rosie I would love to add the shoes to my collection and she promptly sent me a box packed full of vintage Christmas goodies!!!! Rosie, being the extremely sweet gal that she is, sent me all the goodies as a Christmas present!!!! She wasn't sure if the shoes would fit and when I got the box yesterday and tried on the shoes, they fit like a dream...a perfect fit!!! Now I cannot wait until warmer weather to take these cuties for swing around the block. Rosie also sent along a vintage apron, tablecloth, and runner; which all coordinate so well together. My mom loves the runner and I have a feeling it might adorn our Christmas table for dinner this year!! Rosie also sent a vintage corsage that is still in the box and a vintage Santa's boot which was filled with candy, but I have since devoured it all and have placed the sweet little Christmas hankie she sent in it. This was such a lovely surprise!!!!! I am so grateful to have such sweet and generous readers out there!!!

Thank You SOOOOOO Much Rosie!!!!!! I Love Everything!!!!!!!

Emily

Film Fashion Friday: Since You Went Away (1944)

So, I have a mini obsession with Joseph Cotten, which is reflected in this week's picks for Film Fashion Friday. I apologize now for the lack of pictures. I got both of these films through Netflix and sent them back before I took stills from them. Anyways, the main film is Since You Went Away (1944). This has an all star cast including Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, an older Shirley Temple and of course...Joseph Cotten!!! The story revolves around the girls (mother and two daughters) and how they cope when their father/husband enlists in WWII. There is a great love story between Jones and Robert Walker, who was her ex-husband in real life. I have never been a huge fan of young Shirley Temple and this was the first "older" Shirley film I had seen. I must say that I am now a fan...but only of old Shirley. :) She has great clothes and shoes in this film (and in the honorable mention, too) and I really loved her hair too. I am going to have to study them and try to attempt one of her styles soon!!

Elmer Ellsworth was in charge of the wardrobe for this film and really did a good job. What many may not know is Ellsworth helped in the wardrobe department on some really great films such as Gone with the Wind, Marked Woman, and The Petrified Forest.

Both films this week take place during Christmas and both have great dance party scenes, making both film a must see!!!

I am sure many have seen I'll Be Seeing You (1944), it is a Christmas classic of sorts. Although Ginger doesn't have many different costumes (she mostly appears in one suit with different blouses) there is a great New Years scene that features a lot of lovely ball gowns. The extras are also very well dressed in this film. Edith Head was in charge of Ginger's clothing which shows some of her signature touches.

Next week I am going to try and round up some more films that take place at Christmas time!!

Emily

Mad Men Plaid

Lana Turner's daughter has said how her mother had the tendency to nickname her jewelry and other items. I have found myself doing this lately as well. I have named this dress my "Mad Men Plaid" dress because it reminds me of something Peggy would wear. This dress came from the sale mentioned in my last post and is a homemade flannel wiggle. I looked at this dress the first day of the sale and decided I liked some other dresses more and put this one back. Afterwards, I was a little bummed I didn't get it because how often do you see a vintage flannel dress?? When I returned to the sale two days later, it was still there, so it came home with me! All of this lady's dresses had their original belts and this one did as well, but I liked how it looked with my wider silver belt instead.

The coat is a perfect match for this dress (I put a sepia overlay on it for flair). I found it at a garage sale two summers ago for only $20. It is such a lovely combination of blue and grey; something not often seen in vintage coats...or at least not around here. I love how much I matched and felt sooo dressed up for my afternoon lunch with a girlfriend.

Emily

Dress: Estate Sale

Belt: TJ Maxx

Shoes: Adrienne Vittadini

Coat: Garage Sale

Gloves: JC Penny

Purse: Michael Kors

Pretty Pinks

This past Thursday, my mom and I ventured out to the farmland of Michigan to attend a once in a lifetime estate sale at a farmhouse. This sale was UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! It contained three to four generations of vintage goodies and everything was truly "priced to sell." The sale's description said there were over 100 "movie quality" clothing items from the 40's to the 60's. My mom came along to help me get some new items for my closet. She did a great job of picking out some wonderful pieces!! I have to say the majority of the clothing was 30's/40's farm dresses, and I picked up quite a few. They work well with cardigans and I want to pick up a pair of boots like the ladies wear in The Edge of Love.

The lady or ladies of the house were seamstresses and there were a lot of vintage patterns and fabric, both of which were added to my purchase. They also made a lot of their clothing and saved everything....even if it was torn or was no longer wearable. I came home with two whole bags of stuff the first day and another bag two days later when the items were at a discounted price. I was so elated to cross off a few things from my look out list, including vintage heel over boots and a high waisted girdle.

The robe in the above picture was one of the hand-sewn items and is well made. The cream top in the picture next to the robe is also from the sale. It is a pajama top dating probably to the early '40s based on the label. My mom treated me to both--Thanks Mom!!!!

These pictures are from the weekend and I am just now getting around to posting about them. It's finals week and I have been crazy busy with studying and paper writing...Saturday I regain my life!! :) This past weekend I also tried out a new hairdo to go with my new clothes!! I hadn't done pin curls in a while, so I set my hair with those and styled some faux bangs. I really enjoyed the faux bangs and plan on doing them again soon!!!

Most of my following outfits will be of the clothes I picked up at this estate sale...stay tuned!! :)

Emily

Picture One

Robe and Head Scarf: Estate Sales

Picture Two

Top: Estate Sale

Sweater: American Eagle

Jeans: Levi's

Shoes: Nordstrom Rack

70th Anniversary Gone with the Wind Box Set Review

I am finally getting around to posting this review!! I wanted to watch all of the extras included in the box set so I could make a fair assessment of this edition of Gone with the Wind. When I found out that this and the Wizard of Oz were going to have 70th anniversary box sets, both available on Blue Ray, I was super excited. When I went out to get the sets (my mom was treating for Christmas) Costco only had the Wizard of Oz on both Blue Ray and DVD; GWTW was only on DVD. Since I already own Wizard of Oz on DVD, I opted to get that one on Blue Ray and just stuck with the DVD version for GWTW. Anyways, to my understanding, both films were rescanned to create the Blue Ray version. I have not yet opened the Wizard of Oz one (my mom is waiting until Christmas for me to open that one), but I will tell you that the picture on GWTW is impeccable, even for just being a DVD.

I had been waiting to replace my VHS version and am so glad I waited for this box set. I have a guilty pleasure of made-for-TV movies and was super thrilled when I found out that included in this box set was the 1980 made-for-TV movie, The Scarlett O'Hara War. I have been trying to locate a copy of that for A LONG TIME!! This made the whole box set worth it, in my opinion. There is also a feature length documentary on 1939, "Hollywood's greatest year." This was very interesting and informative. Three of the five DVDs contained all the extra material and were well put together, giving a lot of information that many may or many not know. It was also nice to take peeks at some of the numerous screen tests. There are many clips of Paulette Goddard and Vivien Leigh, among others.

The box set also contains many of what Warner Bros are calling "collectables." These include ten watercolor reprints of the sets, a 52 page coffee table book, copies of some of the correspondence from David O. Selznick, a reproduction copy of the 1939 program and a "bonus" CD soundtrack sampler. Everything is high quality. My favorite picks are the book and the program. Both have really nice touches and photos, along with some great historical information.

I give this set a 5/5 only because of my made-for-TV movie obsession. The "collector" items are nice, but mine will stay in the box. Someone who isn't a diehard fan could live without all of these and could definitely get away with the older box set for a much cheaper price. I believe this box set cost $46 at Costco, and for me was totally worth it (again because of my NEED for the made-for-TV moive it contained). I also want to note that the packaging it comes it is really superb, complete with velvet exteriors and interiors - it really is a nice presentation.

If anyone has any questions about the set, ask away!!! It's always nice to be able to ask someone who already owns a box set any particulars before they purchase it.

Oh!! These box sets are in limited edition and this time I really believe this is true. Mine is numbered and there were only 10 other sets at Costco when I bought mine and they didn't have anymore in stock (I asked because I was interested in a Blue Ray edition, which no Costco in Michigan has, so if you live in MI you might have to get that online). So, I suggest if you are interested in adding this to your collection to act fast!! :)

Emily

Film Fashion Friday: Changeling (2008)

Welcome to another week of Film Fashion Friday. As I am with just about every week of this series, I am so excited to share my film choices for this week. This semester I had an opportunity to create a nine to twelve week screening series with the theme of my choice. We had to have theories and research to back up our themes and I thought it would be interesting to see what I could come up with related to costuming and how it affects the viewer. As I assumed before I began my search, there isn't really a lot out there on costuming. Film costumes are really overlooked and taken for granted. I really feel the vintage community is one of the costuming department's biggest fans and advocates.

The primary film for this week is Changeling from 2008. Even though I am not normally a huge Clint Eastwood fan, I couldn't wait for this film to come out. The costume designer, Deborah Hopper, had worked on two of Eastwood's other period films which were set in the forties (Letter from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers). I knew she was going to do a really good job with Changeling and thus my excitement for the film's release grew! What I didn't know until I had watched the DVD's extras and read interviews for my project was that most of the costumes for the main characters in the film are in fact period pieces. Hopper said that she flew around the United States in search of vintage garments indicative of the period. In days when most designers are creating their own looks for films, Hopper held true to making the period film look and feel as authentic as possible. She also said that she looked at old Sears catalogs and yearbooks from the time period to get a better grasp on what the average person in the late '20s - early '30s wore. The overall outcome is shear amazement! The film is cinematically very beautiful and tells a great - but heartfelt - story. Changeling is available on DVD and through Netflix.

This week's honorable mention is the HBO made for TV movie Grey Gardens (2009). This period remake of the documentary spans from the mid-1930's to the 1970's. The beginning of the film is full of wonderful period costumes. Costume designer Catherine Marie Thomas did a brilliant job of putting together a well dressed cast. Like Hopper, she used some period pieces, most notably the white dress Little Eddie wears to her coming out party. I couldn't find any for sure remarks about the shoes in this film, but to me, many look like period pieces and if they are not, they are surely crafted extremely well. Drew Barrymore has the most stand out pieces in the film and I would suggest watching it, if only to see her spectacular wardrobe. Grey Gardens is available on DVD and Netflix.

I wanted to end this week's film suggestions with a website recommendation. I recently found the site ClassicFlix.Com which is very much like Netflix but only provides classic movies and television shows. What is so great about this site is that they are the only rental company to offer the Warner Bros. Archive DVDs. I took a quick look at their offerings and I must say they include a lot of older movies that are extremely hard to find on DVD -- even to buy a used copy on half.com or amazon.com. Their plans are a bit on the pricer side; at least compared to Netflix but it is totally worth it if you are a classic film fan. I think I am going to ask for a subscription for Christmas!!

Emily

Oh! And don't forget to check back for my review of the 70th Anniversary Edition of Gone with the Wind. If you have any questions about the box set, let me know and I will answer them to the best of my ability in my post.

My Prefect Vintage Christmas

Super Kawaii Mom is hosting the most scrumptious Vintage Christmas Competition! The prizes are simply divine!! I was so excited when I found this and could not wait to get started on creating an entry. There are some really great entries so far. To check them out, click on the link above.

Here is what my idea of my perfect vintage Christmas would be:

Having a perfect vintage Christmas, for me, would be entertaining my family. I love to throw parties and play hostess! In preparation for my guests, I would need to decorate my home. One of the key decorations would be the silver feather tree that was been passed down through the female women of my family - first belonging to my grandmother (who turns 90 in March!!), then my mother, and now me.

While decorating, I would watch my favorite classic vintage Christmas movies; The Bishop's Wife, It Happened on 5th Avenue, Christmas in Connecticut, and of course, It's a Wonderful Life.

Christmas would not be Christmas without special Christmas cookies. My mom and I have been making Christmas cookies together ever since I can remember. Using my vintage Sunbeam Mixer and vintage rolling pin (both of which belonged to my Grandma), I would bake up some yummy cookies all while watching the first snow flakes of the winter outside my kitchen window.

While the cookies were baking in one side of the oven, I would get the rest of my Christmas dinner put together. Being the glamourous vintage homemaker (that I hope to be someday ;) all this would be done in style, in a lovely 40's rayon dress and babydoll heels to match. I also couldn't forget to don the prefect vintage Christmas apron, complete with cutely decorated trees.

While my dinner was cooking and the tasty smells were filling my little Craftsman bungalow, I would begin to set my table. Being that Christmas would be a "special occasion" in my vintage household, I would break out the sliver 1847 Rogers Bro. silverware that also belonged to my grandmother. The table setting would also include some lovely green mix matched Depression glass and Jadeite.

One of the best parts about having a vintage Christmas would be using all the lovely hand-me-downs I have received from my grandmother and mother. These are things I truly cherish and bring back so many fond memories of holidays past. But the really best part of my perfect vintage Christmas would be spending time with my amazing family and celebrating with them the birth of Christ.

Emily

A Girl Can Never Have Too Many Coats

I feel that a girl can never have too many coats. Maybe this is because I own an embarrassing number of coats, but regardless, coats are just divine. They can complete your outfit or add that extra flare or give your outfit that oomph of edginess. Vintage coats are one of the simplest ways to incorporate a vintage piece into your wardrobe. Most of the time they are easy to find and there are options in almost every price range. The best thing about coats, especially vintage ones, is the classic designs they feature. Many cuts and shapes never go out of style and fashion is very reciprocal.

I bought this coat over the summer and have been waiting ever so patiently to wear it. It is more than likely a homemade or custom tailored piece, as it has no label to it or signs that there was ever one present. It probably is from the 50's because of its swing design, but somehow when I look at it, the late 30's come to mind. At any rate, I am in love with the built in scarf, which is right above the mink, tucked into the coat. I also love the single side closure, giving it an off beat feel to it.

Coat, Gloves, and Shoes: Estate Sale

Emily

The Winner Is.......

Congrats to Heidi Ann!!!! I want to thank everyone who entered my little giveaway!!! This blog is so rewarding on so many levels. I truly enjoy it and am so grateful to all my readers!!!

Emily

Thanksgiving Recap and Last Day for Giveaway

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful day on Thursday and filled up on lots of yummy food!!! I was really excited for Thanksgiving this year -- I love the food my mom makes and I really enjoy helping out in the kitchen. Each year I learn more and more from my mom and I know that years down the line, when it's finally my turn to host I'll be prepared.

We normally have dinner with just our family of my parents, brother, and maternal grandmother. However, this year we had some guests over; my grandma's sister Frances and her son joined us for dinner. Like my mom, I love entertaining and it was so fun to have dinner guests this year.

While my mom was finishing up the cooking, I got to set the table with some of my vintage linens. I love that my mom lets me do this. She normally gives me the job of setting the table and always gets a kick out of what I come up with.

I decided to wear this dress I traded for at Lost and Found Vintage. I had mentioned it in a post a few months back and it has been hanging in my closet ever since. I was waiting until I found the right sweater to go with it to wear it. I found a sweater a week or so ago and was itching to wear my new pearl necklace and earrings, so Thanksgiving was the perfect opportunity to do so.

Dress: Lost and Found Vintage

Sweater: J C Penny

Lizard Heels and Pearl Necklace: Estate Sale

Pearl Earring: Halzberg Diamonds

Don't forget, today is the last day to enter into my giveaway!!! If you posted about this, don't forget to comment and send me the link. I will be drawing the winner tomorrow evening.

Emily