Highs and Lows

Photo by Clayton Churcher










I took an unintentional blogging break.... I'm sure you noticed.  I thought I'd drop in and write a few words before the blog got all mossy. Hmm virtual moss... anyway, it's been one of those not so great weeks.  I don't have much to say in the way of vintage or clothing, or fashion today, I just feel like writing what's on my mind.  This is as good a place as any to lay it all out there so what the heck!

The week didn't get off to the greatest start.  I had a terrible meeting at work that put me in a tailspin about where my future lies, what I want to get out of a job, and how my current job makes me feel.  It's a terrible feeling knowing what you want out of life, but thinking that it is so out of reach.  I work a regular 9-5 job to pay the bills, but I would really love to have my own shop.  I feel stuck professionally and that has got me down. 

Tuesday proved to be no better as I mourned the loss of a loved one.  Dealing with heavy stuff this week really puts things in perspective and makes me question a whole lot of things.  Consequently those thoughts made me feel like I'm sucking at being an adult and not getting all I want out of life.  On top of all of this I haven't been motivated to go to the gym this week, and my scale is telling my I'm five lbs. up.  All this has piled up, and all I want to do is curl up on the couch. (maybe a little bit of this too is due to the fact that I've been glued to the TV watching my newly acquired first season of A Different World).  That said I haven't been feeling creative this week. 

Things are looking up though.  I've dedicated myself to improving in all the areas in which I think I'm failing.   It helps too, that tomorrow is a holiday and we get to spend it celebrating a dear friend's wedding, which I have been looking forward to for so long.  Ultimately life is a series of peaks and valleys, so hopefully my climb upwards has started.

I've got a few blog posts swirling in the old noggin, so get pumped!! have a lovely weekend ♥

Friday's Most Wanted, The ' i had too much fun yesterday, and forgot to post this' edition

Good weekend to you all!  I am well rested, and clear headed today after a much needed day off.  A little trip to Orono with the mom-in-law for another antique crawl, then great dinner with friends.  So amidst all this fun, I forgot to do this post.  I had all my favourites lined up, and the day just escaped me!  So here is this week's list of favourites...

Loving the combination of leather and plastic.  Found Here

The feathery quality of this necklace is great. I also love that it is metal and circular.  Found Here

These bunting banner flags have such a great design and would be perfect for outdoor parties.  Found Here

Flutter sleeves get me every time.  Not to mention the minty green in this dress.  I'm in love.  Found Here

aaaand, these shoes would be perfect with the dress above.  Found Here

What a photo... barns are just so cool.  Found Here

Hope you all enjoy the rest of our weekend.  Lots of fun planned for us tomorrow.  Come back on Monday for a chosen one post!  

Disguises

This doesn't happen very often, but sometimes I'll come across an item that is completely useless to me, but that I simply cannot do without.  One such example would be this glorious sweater. Usually quirkiness, combined with wit and charm will always make me cave.

Last night it happened again.... As I flipped through the men's shirts, looking for a little something to bring home for the mister, I came across what I thought was just another skeezy wide collared 70's disco shirt with a Grecian motif (which made it even more skeezy).  But with magnetic force, the shirt would not leave my hands, and upon further inspection I discovered what the print actually was.... So let's see if you can tell what makes this shirt so special.

First glance...lots of pillars. Brown. Pretty ugly.

Second glance.... you may have already "solved" the mystery...

if not, here is why I fell for this shirt... It's Holmes! Sherlock to be exact.  The optical illusion had me, and for that reason, I had to own this shirt. 

p.s. I would love to have met the man who wore/owned this shirt... a preppy disco intellect with a penchant for history perhpas

Dress Up That Dress DIY

I had this dress in my closet for a while, and I've never worn it.  There has always been something missing from it, and it had to be shortened. Never getting around to remedying this, it sat between other dresses I never wear... So I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and make a matching belt with a little added "je ne sais quoi".  The fabric I cut off to hem the skirt, was used to make the belt.  The only thing that went in the trash was some extra fabric that made up the lining.

If you have a dress that needs a little something, and want to try this out yourself, here is what you'll need.

-About 4-6 inches of matching fabric.  Depending on how thick you want your belt cut your fabric accordingly.  I wanted a belt that was about 2 inches thick, so I cut about 4 inches to make the belt.

-Any sort of embellishment i.e. vintage buttons, feathers, lace, brooch, whatever your little hearts desire!

-Hot glue gun, and 1 one glue stick

-Two snap buttons

The first thing I did was cut off a few inches from the bottom of the dress.

Then I removed the lining from the cut off piece.  This makes it less complicated to fold over and make a belt.

Once your remnants are all cleaned up, fold both sides over to meet in the middle and iron.  Then fold in half and iron again. This gives you a clean edge on both sides. 

Pin down the side that needs to be sewn, and then sew straight down the one side where both sides meet.  After sewing down the pinned side, I sewed around all the other sides to give the belt more stability.

I chose to use a peacock feather and an old copper button to add to the end of the belt.  Before gluing your embellishment down, position it on the belt. Once you have determined where the embellishment is going, start gluing!

I added my feather and button to one end of the belt. 

This next step will depend on how long you made your belt.  I made mine 1 1/2 times longer than my waist, so I could add extra snaps to secure the belt and have it lay nice and flat around my waist. 

And that's it!  You have a smashing belt that adds instant interest to an otherwise simple dress.

This was really very simple and only took about 1/2 hour to do.  This makes me want to problem solve the rest of my clothes that sit unworn in my closet.  Now I just need somewhere to wear my new dress to!

In A Thrifty Mood...

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Ours was spent hanging with our dads.  Clayton and I are lucky to have two amazing dads, who coincidentally have the exact same birthday! They are alike in many ways but totally one of a kind.  One trait Clayton and I both picked up from our dads is an appreciation for antiques and other odd things... which came in handy this past weekend as we put our thrifting muscles to use.

We were up in the country for the majority of the weekend, and usually going to the country means, visiting junk shops.  I think this is my favourite kind of thrifting, because there are things to be found, that you don't normally see at thrift stores. And the hunting is much more challenging.  Treasures are usually covered under piles of stuff that you have to dig through to find, or you'll strike up a conversation with the proprietor, and they will pull out their special stash just for you....  A true treasure hunting experience that we have only encountered in the country.   But, don't get me wrong I love my local thrift stores, and actually found some pretty great stuff this week that I'd like to show you if you want to see...

 I dropped in to Goodwill last week, and found this serving tray, set of  chinoiserie glasses, and this perfect summer glass carafe... the wood stopper on the carafe was the clincher for me on this one.

The glasses and this tray are perfect for summer porch gatherings.  I love the green colour on the glass, and the cherry blossoms painted in white over the green.  I was thrilled to find 8 of these.  A perfect set for entertaining.

I filled the carafe almost immediately... I had been wanting to make sun tea, and this was ideal since it had a stopper to keep the bugs from swimming in my tea.  The sun tea was yummy.....

Also at goodwill was this lovely old photo.  The woman in the photo is so pretty and the frame it came in was equally charming.  Some people think it's weird that I have pictures of people I don't know, but this is one of my favourite things to collect.  It makes me sad to think that old photos like this could possibly be wasted or thrown out.  And old photos, especially portraits, just have a romantic air about them... 

The trophy was $1 at the junk shop, and I couldn't pass it up.  I was smitten with it's classic shape, and the tarnished silver.  It's also very wee, and, maybe it's cause I'm short, but I'm always drawn to miniature things. I couldn't get a good shot of the engraving on it, but it is from 1925.

This camera case was also at the junk shop, just waiting for me to come by and pick it up.  I had been looking for a leather case for our little digital for a while, and this one was truly meant to be since our camera fits in it perfectly.  I love this case cause I can carry it as a cross body bag.  It also has loads of character.

All in all it was a successful week of treasure hunting.  Clayton also bought a vintage light up exit sign, that we'll be putting up somewhere in the house. 

How has thrifting been in your parts lately?  I'd love to hear what you've found!

Lazy, Crazy, Whoopsy Daisy

I'm sad that today is the last day of look book posts. This has been so fun to do, I cannot wait for the next one.  It makes me want to do more regular outfit posts, but gahhhh I just don't think I can get over my fear of being in front of a camera... I think I'm much more comfortable being a shy blogger with mystique haha at least that's what I'll tell myself....

I have two looks left to show you. So enough small talk, I'll just get to it!

Horizontal stripes, vertical stripes, diagonal stripes... it turns out no matter what direction they are going in, stripes are always awesome.  This could be the easiest dress you wear this summer.  Here I've paired it with a simple black platform sandal, but clogs would look really cute too, or a pair of huaraches. 

Somehow, what could be considered a very "country" looking hat, makes this dress very urban and a bit edgier.  I chose a wide brim hat once again,  because it adds style and function to summer outfits.

I like this look cause it's a no fuss no muss dress.  One of those items that can be interpreted so many ways and will cross over other seasons.  Add tights, a kimono jacket, or layer with a collard shirt and sweater.  The possibilities are endless!

For some reason, ethnic prints always screams summer to me.  Maybe it's the colours, but there is something care free about an ethnic print that is really expressed in summer dressing.  I love this top not only for it's print, but also for it's big sleeves.

One of the best parts about this top is it's loose fit.  Clothes that don't cling in the summer heat just seam to make sense.... The pairing of this top and jean cut offs plays up that hippie style, but this top would take on a whole new meaning with a pair of leggings and flat strappy sandals.

All Photos By Mandy Harrison

And that concludes TVR's first look book!  I would love to know what you thought (good or bad) I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't, and that will hopefully help in coming up with any future looks.  I've always loved dreaming up outfits, and seeing them on others is what really makes me happy, so this was a delight!  Come back and visit on Monday, as I'll have surprise to share with you all.  Until then happy weekend!

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

An unexpected trip to get my computer fixed yesterday kept me away from all you lovely people, and I missed posting yesterday's look.... subsequently since I was so behind on  yesterday's work, today's look is a little late. But have no fear, I'm back and ready to share TWO more looks with you today!

Big sunglasses are my favourite.  They seem to compliment any face shape and add instant vintage appeal.

This is one of my favourite dresses in the whole lot. I love how dramatic this floral print is. It's bold and the black makes the flowers stand out in such a vivid way. It almost looks photographic.

The accessories are earthy and really 70's.  I chose a tooled leather shoulder bag, and chunky heels.  The hair was simple too, but gave the outfit a delicate touch that went well with the floral dress.

The second look, is a bit daring, but I love it!  If you are in to maxi dresses this summer, this dress takes it up a notch with it's bright embroidery and long bell sleeves. 

This could be lots of fun to dress up with boots in the fall, and lots of wooden beads and a great hat.  I think the appeal for me, once again, is the dramatic black.  Although completely different from the previous dress, the black with floral embroidery make a striking statement. 

For this outfit, I wanted all the emphasis to be on the dress, so Laura's hair is pulled up in braids and pinned across the back of her head. I love braids when you want to add a bit of an exotic touch to your look. 

All Photos By Mandy Harrison

Tomorrow, I'll have the final two looks to show you.  I have something up my sleeve for next week... and then back to regular posts including a few DIY's and some recent thrifty scores! 

Twofer Tuesday

Today I thought I'd show you two looks, they both have a similar feel in my opinion...both pretty relaxed and playful, and maybe a little unexpected.

Are you in to maxi skirts this summer?  I wish so much that I could pull it off, but sadly I am way short and haven't really been able to get it right.  So this was a fun outfit for me to put together.

I added a couple of accessories to this look.  A vintage mood ring and copper necklace added some natural elements to this otherwise colourful outfit.

The second look is also a bit more on the playful side.  The bright pink mini dress could be paired with so many items.  It's simple and has a great shape. I paired it with these suede feather laden boots to give it a bit more of an unexpected twist.  It would seem that mini dresses/skirts go great with platforms, but they work really well with flat boots too.

All Photos By Manyd Harrison

Tomorrow, we're back to one look which I'm very excited to show you!