4.30.2009

the surprise

i started this blog because i was tired of running my etsy shop and thought it would be nice to just buy vintage for other shops and not have to do all the photography and measuring and trips to the post office. while i do have fun buying more vintage and traveling around selling it, it turns out i miss running my own shop! curating my finds down to the best of the best and posing in front of my little tripod is actually pretty fun.
so i've decided to have my cake and eat it too. i'm restarting deborah jean vintage and will be listing these items (and many more) tonight and in the days to come.











p.s. part of the goodness of deborah jean vintage - i try to put only items made with natural fibers in the shop, and everything is constructed in the highest quality and virtually flawless. this ish is primo!

4.29.2009

pintucks make everything better

a lot of my favorite finds lately have had one special design characteristic in common....the glorious pintuck.
no matter where they're placed, they just make everything that much prettier.
see my point...

summer top from sally jane vintage

pretty pretty from planet claire vintage

what proves my case from traven7

another goody from raggedy threads. i told you, i'm in love!

4.28.2009

the one that got away

of all the shops i planned on visiting in la last week, raggedy threads vintage shoppe is the one i'm most bummed about missing. i think i found their myspace page first, and seriously, just their profile page is cute enough to make me have to see the store. luckily, they also have an etsy shop for the rest of us.
the more i look, the more i fall in love....



..not everything in the online store is in primary colors, but if it was, i don't think that would be a problem. it would just be that much more adorable.

you can't weed vintage

last night i cleaned out my closet to make room for all the spring things i've been collecting and to try to pare down to my absolute favorites. it's lovely now that i can somewhat see what's in there again, but the 'paring down' part is so hard!
as vintage collectors, how can we ever get rid of things? there are tons of 'rules' out there on how to weed out a closet, but i think that for more 'creative' dressers, those rules do not always apply.
one in particular i'm against is the 'if you haven't worn it for more than 6 months, toss it' tip. some of my most beloved possessions have been items i found buried in the closet after years of neglect. some things need time to ripen!
when i 'clean out' my closet, i make a pile of things i love love love, a pile of things that are still growing on me, a pile that maybe just needs a little alteration to make it back into the closet, and a pile to think about getting rid of. only the first two piles get put back on hangers.
this last pile will probably sit in a bag stuffed into the back of the closet for the next few months, giving the items within a chance to become more necessary. then i let my girlfriends go through the things i don't want -- we do this pretty often and with the rule that if anybody ever desperately needs something back, you give it (knowing you'll probably get it back from them again someday anyway). there's a shirt in my closet right now that has gone through all four of us and returned back to me, the original owner! this way, the things you're not ready to let out into the great unknown of thriftland are at least out of your house while you think about it.
basically, my point is that i just need a bigger closet because i still have decades of shopping to do and i don't plan on giving up much of what i have to make room for it!

p.s. isn't it funny how we love to take pictures of our closets? what good is one outfit post a day when you can see the makings of countless outfits all at once?! i think the stylish wanderer and dear golden would agree...

4.26.2009

marc jacobs who?

i know everyone flipped out over these sequined boater hats from marc jacobs in the new issue of lula.....
...but when i found this one by chance on etsy today, i thought, isn't that just about twelve times better?
a) it's vintage, b) it's ribbon, and nobody will ever have as cool a hat as you, and c) it's about a tenth the cost!

just thought you would like to know that revival house rocks!

4.25.2009

i want

i, of course, and as you should too, check ramona west's inventory every day. if you are lucky enough to be size 6.5, rush to her shop right now and buy these!!! i am already super jealous of you and your amazing new shoes.

what day is it?

time seems to have escaped me this week -- three nights in la, good eats in some santa monica and westwood restaurants, and trips to a handful of thrift shops, but no pictures to show for it. i have a hard time documenting my trips because i get wrapped up in the moment - which is something i really need to work on since i am supposed to be sharing my adventures here! the travelogue might be kinda boring....but here's some highlights.

we stayed in the creepiest holiday inn i've ever seen. i think it's the most i've ever paid for such a terrible place to stay. security glass on the windows, no lounge area inside or out, and they locked the front doors from 6pm! i'm glad that it was 'secure,' but it didn't really give me any warm fuzzies about the place. the room ended up being pretty comfortable - and it did have hbo - so we spent the first night in, recuperating from the drive and watching the new grey gardens. oh my god, it is magnificent. i konked out after about a half an hour of the movie, but in that time i fell in love with the young big edie's coats and hair, and little edie's hooded evening gown. for a while, i thought hoods belonged on everything. i think it might be time for more of that.

the vintage shops i had scouted out were spread out along sunset blvd and in silver lake and echo park, but the hassle of traffic just getting from santa monica to westwood (where we visited my uncle) was enough to scare me out of trying to get all the way across town. lame, i know, but better for my psyche.

luckily, we were staying in a bad enough part of town that there were thrift stores abound. by the way, 'thrift' has a different meaning there. la 'trash' comes to the stores in huge yves saint laurent bags, and antique furniture is delivered all day long like beat-up baseball caps would be here. even though i couldn't afford most of the finds in those thrift stores, i would love to spend more time digging for designer treasure.

on a vintage-related note, we got to eat at a couple of institution restaurants that don't seem to have changed much since the 60s. i think our waitress at dolores restaurant (a super cute all-hours diner) has probably worked there since 1975. and it looks like the only thing that's changed about the beanery in santa monica is the addition of about twenty-five lcd screen televisions. i could have spent at least an hour in the 'powder room' looking at the magazine ads they've pasted to the walls for the last 40 years.

i'm going to spend this weekend recovering from my little vacation, and on monday get back to work. there's a little surprise i'm working on and lots more vintage finds to share.

4.20.2009

la la land, here i come!

tomorrow my mommy and i are going to l.a. for a few days. i imagine those days will be filled with lots of visits to vintage shops and thrift shops, and hopefully many hours lounging on the beach in santa monica.
i've spent the last few days looking through all the vintage shops in the area, trying to narrow down my list of stops to make. there are a freakin' lot of vintage shops.
i've also been reading a ton of other fashion blogs lately. all my favorites and probably 5 to 10 new ones every day. it is so inspiring (and intimidating) to look at all these others. the content and the photos are so professional looking. i think it is so amazing that if you want to be a fashion model, or photographer, or writer, or shop owner you just can, without waiting for anyone to tell you you're good enough to do it, and god damn, these girls are amazing!
i think soon i'm going to compile a bigger list of must-read blogs, although the readership on these sites shows they probably don't need a plug from little ol' me!
anyway, back to preparing for our road trip. stay tuned for lots of pics and stories from our adventure!

*photo from an old postcard a friend found for me after i spent two-and-a-half ridiculous hours trying to find one to use. don't know the link.

4.18.2009

new antler!

the new issue of antler mag is available now -- issues come out the 15th of every month and i look forward to it like something you look forward to a whole bunch. my favorites this time are the illustrations of brett manning, the photography from ginger lilly tea, the adorable typhaine (cookies), and the article reiterating why annie hall will never get old.
ahhhh, inspiration...







4.16.2009

shopping trip

today's shopping trip was a good one.
these first two pieces are actually night wear, but the designs are so amazing, i think they could definitely stand their own out and about.

look at those ruffles! i would love to see this in lightweight cotton fabric. it's pretty much the perfect blouse.


this is one well-designed robe. it's so gorgeous with its kimono flutter sleeves, there's no way it was supposed to just sit at home on the couch. i think i'm probably keeping this one.


pretty silk chiffon party dress in poppy orange. yum. it kind of looks like the sister to the one at ver unica.


i'm way into disco dresses lately, and this one is super sheer and the best shade of grape.

this last dress almost didn't make the cut. it's barely vintage and i feel like it is maybe too plain to sell in a vintage store. i was going to buy it for myself, but i still wasn't sure because of the color scheme -- it's a little too pastely for me. but then, the tiny buttons, and the full skirt, and the sash, and the sleevelessness of it convinced me to give it a shot since it was only $2.

when i got home, i tried it on, and i'm so glad i bought it! it might be one of my favorite dresses ever! when you do this....
...it looks like this....
....and it turns out this dress has the best fit for me. it stays pretty blouse-y above the waist, but the waist is perfectly nipped in. and the skirt is full, and just the right length, and it has pockets! i adore pockets on dresses and skirts.
much love to the thrifting gods today.

4.15.2009

no way!


sorry to bother you with a picture you've already seen before, but this lovely lady has just been featured on the market publique blog! hurrah! you have one day left to snap it up. hurry hurry now.

on a side note

i spent the afternoon relishing in (very sophisticated) day-drinking with an out of town girlfriend.
girls beware!
we were accosted twice by ridiculous drunks thinking that since we were two girls alone we were obviously looking for some male attention.
wrong!
the first one was harmless enough, giving up after a few minutes of silence blatantly protesting his existence, finally telling his buddy that we were the most unfriendly people he's ever met (as if that was supposed to make us feel bad for having him crash our intimate conversation).
the second guy, upset (that i lied) that i was married after he grabbed my hand and observed there was no wedding ring upon it, proceeded to insist that we 'need to look at both sides' before we come up with our 'ignorant' views, no matter how many times we told him that we are college-educated, well-informed constituents of the united states.
never try to hold a political conversation with a belligerently drunk horn dog!
and, probably, don't try to blog about it after a couple of pitchers of stella between friends.

this is where i am

another picture post day, this time (hopefully) illustrating what is going on inside this head of mine.
most movie watching lately has been documentaries on 1960s superstars.
first, there was bob dylan's no direction home, which we watch pretty much every day.



and then i brought home ciao! manhattan and factory girl.




my head is filled with dylan, joan baez, edie sedgwick and the rest of the factory, and lots of peripheral 60s happenings. i love it.

oh how i wish i could

i just found out there is a vintage expo happening in santa monica on the 25th and 26th with 75-100 dealers! i. want. to. go. i'm planning on being in la the whole week leading up to the expo but for some terrible, life-must-hate-me reason, i won't be able to stay for the vintage extravaganza! bah.
if you are in the area, or can figure out a way to be there, please check it out for me!



the vintage expo also travels to san francisco twice a year, so hopefully i'll be there in september. maybe by then, i can even finagle a way into being one of the dealers!

*photos from past exhibitions