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? ;)