Vintage finds, AKA the only shopping I've done in months

Last weekend was the Chicagoland Vintage Clothing, Jewelry and Textile Show, an overwhelmingly large show about an hour away from Chicago in Elgin. Last year I had a great haul. This year I was a bit more restrained, even though this show, more than any others, often has the largest portion of things to my personal style and taste (though not always my budget, of course).

Once we knew we were going to buy a house I stopped shopping of any kind that wasn't food or essentials... unless you call inspections and earnest money and packing supplies and iPad games to keep me sane "shopping" (I consider it essentials). So while it was a nice treat to actually go to this show, as it was the only vintage show or shopping I'd done since last year (wow!), I passed up a lot of great things.

Here's what I wore...

Outfit details: cardigan knit by me, pintuck blouse from Small Earth Vintage, wool skirt from Retro Kitten Vintage, 40s peep toe shoes from Randolph Street Market, vintage brown basket purse

Mel and I each picked up four things. (Mel's all went into the laundry already, sorry.) You'll have to pardon the fact that I clearly did not iron anything. They're going to get packed right away so I couldn't bring myself to iron, not even for the blog. ;)

These first two of my finds came from Nicole Hughes of BombshellShocked. I was so excited to see her there. Not only does she have great taste and prices on vintage clothing, she is a super awesome person!

First up is a pleated shirtwaist dress, white with a thin checkered print in red and light gray. I think this will be a great summer dress, and layered with a cardigan it will work nicely in spring, too. (I might even dare to combine prints and try it with my cardigan above.)

I love the mother of pearl buckle and flower-shaped buttons.

It has great puff sleeves, too.

The next is an absolutely killer pair of 50s pedal pushers. I commented to Niki when I bought them that I rarely find actual vintage pants that look good on me (more like rarely find them, period), and the two pair I have are both from her, and both pedal pushes from the 50s, and both plaid. I guess when it works, it works!

Have you ever tried to photograph pants on a dress form?

Yeah, it wasn't until I was actually trying to do it that I remembered there's no crotch on a dress form. Never mind the fact that the dress form currently stands in our living room and I look at it about a 50 times a day. 

So you'll have to make do with a photo on the hanger. Trust me, they look fabulous on. I can't wait to wear these this summer!

I need to sew up a top or two for them—what style or color would you recommend?

Oh, they also have a great label with a needle, fabric and scissors motif. It's really fun.

The third item on my list I got from Karyn Dethrow of Dethrose Vintage. I was so pleased to finally meet Karyn, who is gorgeous and charming!

I've been hoping to find more solid-colored skirts. I say "hoping" because of the aforementioned not shopping for months, so it's been more like "hoping in the future to obtain (or sew)". I go back and forth about why I don't really wear my short-sleeved sweaters in spring and fall as much as I think I want to, and I've decided one of the reasons is I don't have very many solid skirts to pair them with. This light blue one will be perfect. It will also be great with a yellow v-neck pullover I plan to knit from A Stitch in Time vol. 2 (just started swatching for it last night).

I love the details and the topstitching on the top of the pleats. I wish my topstitching could be this even!

And last but not least is a dress I bought from a vendor whose name I unfortunately don't know. If any of you out there who went to the show can identify her, please let me know. Her booth was upstairs, to the left of the entrance and she had a rack of some of the best printed cotton day dresses I have ever seen. Many in larger sizes, and all in beautiful, bold prints. (I'm actually kind of kicking myself for not buying this second one of hers I really liked.)

Now, it should be said that I don't usually wear a lot of purple. Actually almost none. It's never been a color I particularly liked. But I love this dress something fierce, and I already know it's going to be a summer favorite. Though it will require a bit more shopping to properly accessorize due to the aforementioned lack of purple in my closet. (Tsk tsk, what a shame, right?)

The whole thing is just a great mix of lavender, eggplant, white, navy, sky blue and royal blue. Throw in tiny polka dots, flowers and an overall checked print. And look at that amazing collar! I just love it.

Awesome pockets and buttons, too.

And last but not least, another fun label. I love the candy canes for Kandy Kottons.

So there you have it, that's what I found at the show last weekend. I won't be doing any more shopping again until after we've moved and settled in. As of this week, closings are a month away. Back to packing!

Randolph Street Market Editor's Choice for Charity

This weekend I was honored to participate in an event that was not only fun, but for a worthy cause!

I was asked to be a part of the Randolph Street Market Editor's & Designer's Choice for Charity. Randolph Street Market is a big vintage and antique market that takes place in Chicago different times throughout the year. On Friday evening, I joined bloggers, designers and fashionistas for their first Editor's & Designer's Choice for Charity.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew ahead of time what the concept was. Basically we would get to walk through the venue early, and would select 5 great items (whatever we wanted!) to receive a blue ribbon. If any of the items sold, a portion would be donate to the charity of our choice. Even if nothing sold, they would donate $100 to each participant's charity. Awesome, right? I selected Tree House Humane Society, the no-kill cat shelter where we adopted Dinah 7 years ago.

Here was my outfit for the evening. Pintucked vintage blouse closed with a cameo (from Mel's mom's collection), trousers by Heyday!, saddle shoes purchased last weekend at the Vintage Bazaar, green tweedy vintage jacket, Bakelite and celluloid bangles, a beret knit by me (finished recently, I'll be posting about it soon) and a shrug you can't see in this photo.

(Remember in my sponge roller tutorial I talked about those little pieces of hair that don't play nice? I swear I almost always have one. See my neck.)

There was a nice little spread for us when we arrived.

Mel went as my guest. We enjoyed some wine, got the lay of the land, and then I went to select my top 5.

Not all the vendors were finished setting up, but here's what the main ballroom looked like Friday evening...

And what were my 5 selections? I tried to vary it a bit in terms of items and prices.

A gold tone lucite-handled purse...

A wicker basket purse with a horse's head (dang, I wish I had bought this myself!)...

A first edition of a Nancy Drew book from 1934...

A 60s formica tiered end table...

And a butterscotch-colored jewelry set...

Here I am, writing up my selections!

All in all I was pleased to participate in the event. Almost all of the blue ribbon items sold, and the final donation count (split between the various selected charities) was $3,150! Outstanding! (ETA: I later found out my charity got $150 and all five items I selected sold!)

On the way home Friday evening, I got a couple of really interested city shots to show you. Look at the sky!

Blurry, but I love the train going by on the platform, with downtown in the background...

And one more gratuitous outfit post, once we got home that night...

On Saturday morning, Mel and I went back to the market to actually do some shopping! It started off as a horribly dreary day. This was snapped under the shelter of the train platform as it rained cats and dogs. Outfit details that you can see include the same jacket, a black purse that got a strange amount of compliments that day, a skirt featuring scottie dogs, and wedges formerly owned by Beth of V is for Vintage! The big bag in my left hand is a vintage knitting bag.

Here's a selection of photos of some other neat things we saw around the market.

A pretty good variety. I was so glad that when we went back outside from the indoor portion of the market the sun was shining. It turned out to be a nice day, after all.

Here are a couple more photos from errands later in the day. I love this close-up of Mel's deadstock tie. The jacket was Mel's dad's from college. Family vintage!

Knitting while waiting for Mel to get a haircut...

But... of course you want to know my haul from the market, right?? Well, here's a funny story. While we were there for the Editor's Choice event Friday evening, I saw a pair of shoes that I fell in love with. They were a gorgeous 30s/40s pair, perfect for me, looked to be my size and a beyond reasonable price for the condition. Only, that seller happened not to be at her booth, so I couldn't even attempt to buy them that night. I couldn't stop thinking about them, however. We returned on Saturday morning and when we got there, the shoes were still there! Phew. I tried them on, they fit, and now they're mine! For whatever reason I have had a hard time finding vintage shoes that fit and are comfy (thus I wear a lot of repro shoes), so this was a big score for me. I mean, look at them! They make me so happy.

But it must have been my day for shoes, because I found another pair that I had to have, too. These were a little big (nothing an insole couldn't fix), but the older gentleman selling them was so dapper and gave me a great price, and they were Cuban alligator peep toe pumps, and I rarely wear heels but they were a sturdy and sensible height, and well, I couldn't resist. You can see why.

I also picked up a couple of inexpensive bracelets that I forgot to photograph, but I didn't forget to photograph my last big score, a Pendleton jacket. Now I need another Pendleton like I need a hole in my head, but this one has my perfect pillar box red! Plus I've been starting to wear them occasionally as kind of over-sized blazers to work, and it was a good price and in nearly flawless condition, so it wasn't hard to justify the purchase.

And that's it from Randolph Street Market! But here are a couple of photos from Saturday evening, partially because I love Mel's vintage fisherman sweater and tweed cap so much.

Sunday was much less eventful, spent inside during another rainy day, mostly involving projects I couldn't get off the ground. I was going to finally sit down and sew my Wearing History trousers, having cut out the pieces a few days before, except I realized I didn't have a matching zipper. And then I started a swatch for my Vintage Knitting College kickoff (thanks for all the support!!), except the colors looked horribly 70s once swatched. So not a very productive day for me, unfortunately. Don't you hate it when your best laid plans for your projects are foiled?

Hope you had a nice weekend!

Introducing...Vintage Knitting College

Happy Friday! Thanks for all the positive comments about my sponge roller set tutorial! I'm so happy to know some of my tips may help someone else out there. :)

Today I just have a brief post to unveil an exciting and big new project for my blog: the Vintage Knitting College!

I was chewing on the idea for the Land Girl sweater knit-along after I proposed it ever a couple of weeks ago. There was some interest, but not as a much as I was hoping for, with at least one or two people interested in the idea of the KAL but wanting to do a different pattern. That got me to thinking that it might be better to do something more like a series of posts and tutorials about vintage knitting and colorwork. Out of that (plus my obsession with campus-inspired fashion this Fall) hatched the idea for the Vintage Knitting College!

Basically, it will be a long-term project of instructional posts about knitting, geared towards knitters who knit from vintage patterns. I'm not going to set any specific deadlines, but figure I'll continue to periodically post tutorials and informational posts for the Vintage Knitting College over the next year or longer (possibly including fun things like guest posts and giveaways now and again, too!).

Because my Fall-focused mind is on colorwork knitting right now (fair isle and other stranded projects, as well as intarsia picture knitting), and because it did seem like several of you liked the idea of a fair isle knit-along, I'm going to focus first on vintage colorwork patterns.



In a series of posts over the next several months in a "class" called Colorwork: 101, I'll cover techniques that can be applied to vintage patterns that involve colorwork. Such as converting patterns to knit in the round, steeking, and charting colorwork when the pattern doesn't include charts (many vintage patterns don't include charts for where you change colors, which slows you down like molasses). I'll also probably wax poetic now and again on picking colors with a vintage look in mind, yarn suggestions, and more. And while it looks like from my opening logo that I'll be focusing only on sweaters, I won't! Expect accessories to crop up now and again, too.

Over time I'll probably cover some of the basic concepts I went through in the Briar Rose KAL, such as resizing patterns, creating your own sleeve caps and the like. I hope to have several posts per topic area, like colorwork, basic techniques, advanced techniques, lace and such. This will get fleshed out more thoroughly as I go along. If you can't tell, I'm trying to take this fairly easy, so it remains fun for you and fun for me! :) Expect things to go at a fairly slow pace sometimes as I don't always knit only vintage patterns, and not everything I plan to knit will get documented in the Vintage Knitting College, or I'll never get anything else done. lol

Many of the posts on a given topic will follow through the life of a project. So even though it won't technically be a knit-along, I'll let you know ahead of time what I plan on knitting and instructing on, so if you'd like to follow along with that or a similar project, you are more than welcome to. And depending on interest level, I may start a general Vintage Knitting College Flickr group for people to post inspired-by creations to! I'm hoping over time for this to become a nice resource for vintage knitting, and will probably devote a separate page on the blog just for the knitting college, once it gets rolling.

And the first project on tap? Well, I admit I'm still deciding! But it will be a vintage stranded/fair isle pullover pattern from the 1940s, and possibly one of the ones shown in my logo! Oh speaking of logos, as this gets going I'll create little logos in case you'd like to promote it on your own blog. :)

Phew, I've finally shared my little (well, big!) idea. Do you like the idea of the Vintage Knitting College as an ongoing knitting resource? Let me know via comment or email if you have any suggestions (for colorwork or other knitting). I'd love to hear from you.

Have a great weekend, and happy knitting!

And the winner is...

The winner of two tickets to this weekend's Modern Vintage Chicago Spring Fashion and Jewels Show is the talented Chicago blogger Liz of zilredloh.com!

I hope she doesn't mind, but I had to show you guys the vintage sweater Liz just knitted up.

Image from zilredloh.com

Isn't it fantastic? Not only that, but she used my knit-along post about sleeve caps to re-draft her sleeves. They look great! Don't you love the collar and sleeve details that match? Check out her blog for more info on this awesome project. She's a super talented sewist as well.

Congrats, Liz! I'll email you more info about the tickets shortly!


And I'll be back later tonight or tomorrow with my birthday weekend round-up. :)

Modern Vintage Chicago giveaway and interview

Awhile after the vintage show we attended in late February (I demand to know how it's already April!) I was contacted by some of the brains behind Chicago's well-known Randolph Street Market and several other local vintage and antique shows. Their next show is the Modern Vintage Chicago Spring Fashion and Jewels Show on Saturday April 16th and Sunday April 17th.

Today I'm pleased to share an interview and a giveaway they've sponsored for Chicagoland readers. More about that giveaway below the interview!

My interview with Sally Schwartz, founder of Randolph Street Market and producer of the Modern Vintage Chicago shows.

Q: What started your love of vintage and antiques?

A: I was always fascinated with old, well made stuff. Even as a kid, I was into vintage and wore baggy painters pants and fatigues as a kid in middle school. I loved finding old mink stoles when I was in high school and I inherited a bunch of art and artifacts from my grandparents, including an ornate cigarette lighter collection.

Q: What is the most satisfying part about producing vintage and antique shows?

A: It’s watching people as they explore their own pasts, seeing beautifully preserved pieces find new homes and new lives. And just the excitement and inspiration of seeing exceptional items for living.

Q: What inspired you to start the Randolph Street Market?

A: I had a party planning and decorating business. I was known to elaborately design period décor, which relied heavily on props and authentic pieces.

Q: The Modern Vintage Chicago’s Spring Fashion and Jewels Explosion is coming up the weekend of April 16th and 17th. What makes this show different from others you produce?

A: This show is exclusively fashion, jewelry and accessories, the entire two story building is filled to the rafters with the most fantastic, affordable mostly but some luxury items – all in fabulous condition. Most vintage shows are stuffy or smelly or tattered, this one is just straight up chic but great great prices. We get buyers who come in from over seas and around the country because they’ve heard this is the largest concentration of great pieces at great prices.

Q: What’s the one thing you’re most looking forward to about this year’s show?

A: It’s always about seeing what’s new and what fits me!!!

Q: If you had to narrow it down, what’s your favorite era for vintage and antique collectibles?

A: I really love art nouveau in terms of furnishings and decorative art, for fashion it would have to be the 40’s through the 70’s.

Q: What’s your most prized vintage possession?

A: Hell of a great question!! I have a super cool Hermes pressed leather, interchangeable handbag. And on a sentimental note, I have my grandmother’s wedding fan that she wore, framed against blue velvet and mounted on my wall.

Q: Is there one elusive vintage or antique item you’ve yet to find (for yourself or as a dealer)?

A: I’m always looking for really intricate tabletop cigarette lighters but they are super hard to find these days. I especially love the ones that play music.

Q: Last but not least, many of the readers of my blog hail from all over the country and the rest of the world. What would you tell them is one of your favorite things about Chicago?

A: Chicago is a city of extremes – tall buildings against lots of beachfront and park land; super rich yet down to earth folks. Educated elitists and bubbas who love their sports. Amazing gourmet food and the best pizza and hot dogs anywhere. Beauty and blight, it never gets boring!!

Modern Vintage Chicago is also sponsoring a giveaway for my Chicagoland readers!

The winner will receive two free tickets for their Spring Fashion and Jewels Show on Saturday April 16th and Sunday April 17th. The show will be held in the West Loop at Plumbers Hall, 1340 W. Washington.

Granted, I know not many of my readers out there are actually from Chicago, so if you enter you'll probably have a pretty decent change of winning. ;)

How to enter the giveaway:

1. Be a follower of this blog, if you aren't already.
2. Live close enough to get to Chicago the weekend of April 16th-17th.
   
3. Leave a comment on this post. Don't forget to leave a way to contact you if your blog or profile doesn't have your email address!
4. Want an extra entry? Post about this giveaway on your blog, or link to it on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Just post a separate comment on this post with a link to where you mentioned it (make sure it's a separate comment since I'll use Random Number Generator to find the winner). You can get one extra entry this way.

The giveaway ends a week from today on Monday night April 11th. 

ETA: Giveaway now closed! See you there. :)

I know I'm looking forward to the show, so good luck!