My Lucky Day?

I've come to believe the luck o' the Irish isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Maybe my luck hasn't changed, but I had some lucky little moments this weekend in my travels.

Soooo, I drive through some small towns on alternate routes to visit various branches of my family, grasshoppers comb their hair (not really, just wanted to wedge my favorite Stevie Ray song in there), and I happen upon places that Google didn't even know existed.  I found this:

With four-leaf clovers, lucky numbers, an elephant with a raised trunk, rabbit's feet, a wishbone, and a horseshoe, it's apparently the luckiest tea towel ever.

Now, I have never, ever, evereverever owned any Bakelite in my whole entire life... until yesterday.  I found these cherry-red carved dress (or shoe or scarf or fur) clips...

...and these butterscotch clip-on hoops.

Of course, I found them super el cheapo.  I find Bakelite all the time, really- it's just always beyond my budget.  My millinery professor told me when she and I were discussing vintage jewelry, that her mother had loads of Bakelite jewelry but got rid of it because it was dime store jewelry way back when. She didn't realize people like us would want it now, and that she could have gotten a pretty penny for it all.

Alas, I'm pretty sure I can't rock that butterscotch color, with my complexion and all, so I'm pretty sure they'll be consigned or meet some other "for sale" fate.  The dress clips, though, are probably mine forever.

Black Beauty

I wanted to get a few more photos of sleepwear from my collection, but Sleep Week didn't result in any more sleep for me (wishful thinking- silly me!), and therefore resulted in decreased productivity.  (Don't you hate how that happens?)

Anyway, here's a set by Vanity Fair that I love:

 Both the nightie and robe are double-layer nylon- translucent cream and sheer black.

 The details are so pretty- lace flower appliques and little pearl beads.

We'll see what turns up this weekend... and what next week will bring.  Happy Friday!

Pretty Pleats

I have a penchant for crystal pleated nylon.  When it's allover and see-through, who wouldn't?!  This is a Vanity Fair babydoll nightie from the early 60s.

These panties, also Vanity Fair, are later- different tags, different pleating, different lace trim- but they match well enough.

I have this peignoir in my Etsy shop, where you can see the whole set.

It's by Formfit Rodgers and has a robe to match.  Gorgeousness!

sLeapin' Leopards

I could make a week's worth of blog entries on my Vanity Fair leopard print collection alone.  Today, you get to see some of the sleepwear.

This little nighty was a super el cheapo find at a resale chain in Austin. I love pleasant surprises, like when buyers don't care (or don't know) about things I love and price them el cheapo.

I've found the hip hugger panties and tap pants, just in case I feel matchy-matchy.

I usually just use the tap pants like bloomers for swing dancing so no one sees my skivvies.  I suppose they could make the nighty like shorty jammies if I wore them together.

I have these jammies on Etsy, although I'm tempted to keep them myself.

With a chill in the night air lately, I gotta stay cozy somehow.  I might as well do it in style.

Peachy Keen

Once upon a time, my dear friend Karen gave me a lovely quilted bedjacket.  I'm about to start using such things as I keep the windows open on cool nights.

It's handmade, and silk.

This pretty thing was found in a questionable neighborhood, hiding in the lingerie and sleepwear rack.

It's a no-name, but pretty nonetheless.  

Very reminiscent of Gil Elvgren pinups, backlit in sheer robes and nightgowns. 

So, the moral of the story is: If you have friends who also hoard vintage, or you venture into sketchy neighborhoods in your thrifting adventures, you get pretty things.  The End.

It's Sleep Week!

I know when I began this blog, I promised you a "Lingerie Week".  You can thank my apparent ADD for that not happening yet.  The shorty pajamas I posted about yesterday (a week late themselves), coupled with my longing for a full night's sleep since about March, have inspired me to post about vintage sleepwear all week.  It's Sleep Week!  I know, I knowwww- it doesn't sound quite as exciting as Shark Week, unless you're sleep deprived or love vintage sleepwear and loungewear.

Let's start with a piece Evelyn gave me.  Back when we worked at a resale chain together, she would wear this piece layered with lots of other things, pinned up to create texture and show colors of pieces underneath.  (We're creative types, me and her.)  In my ubergoth dreadlocked youth, I still harbored an affinity for vintage that went waaaaay back- it just had to be all black for a while.  And so when I saw the nightgown incorporated into her ensemble, I said "If you ever get rid of that, I love it."  When Evelyn purged her closet, she remembered the suggestion that I thought had been in vain (and forgotten), and passed it along to me!

It's an old Kickernick gown, and the little bow on the bust bundles an applique bouquet between layers of sheer nylon.

Speaking of appliques... Being a Texas gal, I have a special place in my heart for yellow roses.  This Vanity Fair piece has appliqued lace roses at the bust and hem.

Yellow is not my best color.  I do not care.  I love it.

Some of these nighties are so pretty and dress-like, that ladies sometimes mistake them for dresses.  A dear, sweet, very fashionable friend once told me she needed a petticoat for a vintage dress she recently bought.  We went shopping at a few local vintage stores in search of one, and when she brought the dress in to try with a petticoat,  it turned out to be a blue nightgown like this with different embellishments.  Then again, I used to wear vintage slips with combat boots and religious jewelry, so who am I to talk? ;)

Vintagey Goodness at Home and Abroad...

So last weekend, I figured it'd be warm enough to wear my red sarong one more time for the season to vend at the vintage market with my friend from EaDo Vintage.  Houston got a cool front that day, and I put on cozy jammies that night and slept with the windows open, listening to the leaves (it reminds me of the sound of the sea, and puts me to sleep almost instantly).
The jammies I got in trade from another vendor did not get worn that night (yaaaay for moving merchandise and getting what I want at the same time!).  I'm pretty sure they're old stock, and I washed them last week.  They're adorable.

Pink elephants!!  Rhinestones!  Sequin bubbles!  They're Lady Duff shorty pajamas.  If you read up on her, you'll know she was a badass.  She had passed away by the time these jammies were made, but the company was apparently still producing lingerie and loungewear well past her death in the 30s.

It's rare to find shorty pajamas or a babydoll set with the panty or bloomers still with the top.

I also got an open-bottom girdle in the trade. Looky.

It's by Goddess and it's gorgeous.  Garter tabs are present, and still in good shape.  I think I traded pretty well for a panty girdle and a half slip.

That was last weekend.  This weekend, I made a road trip to visit family, stopped at a car show on the way back, and of course, stopped at a few antique stores along the way.  I'm proud (and a little pained) to say I passed up a couple of pieces of luggage like this.  I'm exhibiting more self-control these days, forserious.  It probably also helped that the car show was in a small town where almost all of the antique stores were closed on Sunday, and the one I found open did not accept credit cards.  About a third of the cars were newer, but I did get to see a few early 60s Studebakers, several late 20s Fords, a couple of late 50s Galaxies, a few Bel-Airs, and a couple of 40s Mercurys.  I've got to remember to start bringing a camera along with me, and then remember to use it.

I was barely prepared for the cool front that snuck up on the area overnight, but the angora cardigan in my trunk saved me.  My hair held up so well in the wind, I figured "why not take a picture?".  I'm a little reluctant to post it, but here goes.  Barely anyone reads this anyway, right?! HA!

I love my brown blouse.  :)  Some color is usually added to me in studio shots like the recent doll shoot by Mileslove Studios Eye Candy. I turn out extra-pale in photos.  A few friends have suggested I do hair tutorial videos.  Any thoughts?