Stripes and polka dots outfit

Happy Friday!

I just have a little outfit post for today. This was actually an outfit I wore a few weeks ago when it was ungodly hot out. I tried to be as cool and comfortable as possible, while wearing a new pair of shorts I bought.

Outfit details: sailor top from Bombshell Shocked, high-waisted shorts made by Sunny Threads via eBay, espadrilles from Mod Cloth, purse made by Milloo on Etsy.

My hair was being uncooperative in all the humidity, so I tried to get a little finger wave in my bangs since it was so flat. While it looked okay from the front...

...I laughed when I saw this next photo. Um, not exactly neat and tidy. Oh well, sometimes things don't work out as well as you planned! I'll just keep blaming the humidity.

While I tend to prefer smaller vintage purses, sometimes you just need a big ol' bag to tote everything around in. I love my red canvas Milloo bag, all the way from Greece! I ordered it over a year ago and it still looks great. And of course it goes without saying (though I'm saying it anyway): I love supporting small DIY businesses.

Accessories details: bamboo bangles and heart necklace were gifts, and the amazing 'Fakelite' ring, scarf and earrings were all from Etsy.

Anyway, it was a fun outfit to put together. I liked all the red accents, especially with the polka dots and striped trim on the blouse.

Have a great weekend!

Winner of That Clever Clementine Giveway #1!

And the winner of the Briar Rose Loopy Lulu bag is....

**drumroll please**

Casey of Elegant Musings! Lucky number 10. Casey, I'll be emailing you later today about mailing off this fab little bag!

And everyone should keep their eyes peeled for another That Clever Clementine giveway! I'll be giving away another great bag soon. I'll give you a little hint... it's a cinch sack. I know that was a favorite type of many people who entered the first giveaway. So look for that giveaway in the next several days! Yay!

Campus-inspired vintage fashions for fall

Autumn! Crunching leaves, cooler temperatures...oh I know, I know, it's still summer! But if I don't start thinking about fall/winter sewing and knitting now, I may not get to the projects I have in mind until it's starting to warm up again next year!

August is when everyone involved in school life beings to gear up for the start of a new school year. While my own 10-year college reunion took place two years ago, reminding me that it's been quite some time since I headed back to school in September, I'm not sure I've ever really lost that feeling that a new school year is about to start. And that's had me thinking a lot lately about campus-inspired vintage fashions for fall!

I've been having a marvelous time bouncing around ideas for my fall wardrobe. I'm thinking about basics this season: pieces that that would have served me well if I went off to college in New England in the 1940s (instead of the mid-90s as I actually did). I'm picturing crisp blouses, trousers, plaid jackets, wedges. Loafers and socks. Smart printed dresses that could be layered with cardigans. Slightly oversize handknit pullover and cardigans. Like many people I rarely think of the old adage "less is more" in terms of clothing and accessories, and my small closet is busting at the seams as proof. I'd like to simplify a bit for fall and try to focus on less pieces. Great staples that I can mix and match as opposed to just more pieces, period.

In order to do that, there will have to be some accessories to pair with the basics to to keep things interesting! Perhaps fun scarves, brooches, earrings... souvenir jewelry from all of the places I traveled to during my holidays away from school to remind me of my adventures when my nose is buried back in the books. That's a good excuse to occasionally include a peasant blouse or my Mexican felt jacket in the lineup, too. (This is built around a fantasy, after all!)

I'll share some of the photos that are inspiring me right now! Some straight off a college campus, some just along that vein.

I like the variety of clothing in the photo of these college girls playing cards below. Two basic pullovers, two basic dresses, and a plaid skirt peeking out under the table.

{source}

I like the well-worn saddle shoes, wool skirt and plaid shirt below on the girl to the left. And there's knitting in the far corner! Those do look like they might be handknit socks, though it's hard to say for sure.

{source}

Here are a few images from a 1940 LIFE magazine spread on the popular campus trend at the time of wearing men's clothing. This girl was wearing men's trousers, shirt and moccasins (though I think of those more as loafers)...

{source: LIFE Magazine September 30, 1940}

Men's trousers paired with an oversize pullover on one girl, and with suspenders and dress shirt on the other...

{source: LIFE Magazine September 30, 1940}

I particularly like these girls since they were from my alma mater. The girl on the right is wearing argyle socks with her plaid men's blazer.

{source: LIFE Magazine September 30, 1940}

I love the slacks featured in this 1943 Sears catalog, combined with tailored blouses or what looks like a t-shirt (even though it's called a pullover)...and as low as $1.59 at the time! I'd happily wear any of their outfits, head to toe.

These "Lady Hercules" overalls, trousers and jacket were designed as work-wear, but I'd include them in my casual wardrobe...

Dresses like these in checks, plaids, and solids would pair nicely with knit cardigans to transition into cooler fall temperatures...

Now I don't usually go for plaid skirts, but they are unarguably a campus staple in the 40s. These girls sure look sharp.

I know I'll need to knit some good staple sweaters this fall. I've had my eye on this pattern for awhile, and have even set aside some bright red yarn for it. We'll see if I get to it before winter.

This pattern from 1945 says, "Try and top it...Just what you've been wanting...long sleeved pullover, its stripes sharp and clear". I definitely think of stripes as fitting into a campus look. (A good thing, too, as I'm currently knitting a striped cardigan.)

Lately I'm loving the look of slightly oversize and longer sweaters. These boxier pullovers and cardigans were very popular in junior and women's fashions in the 1940s. Here are two examples below from the 1946 Sears catalog...

Here's another version below from a 1940 knitting booklet. This pattern is called Rough Diamond. The amusing thing is the description says it's a "cardigan with super-pockets". What's a super pocket? I admit, pockets are pretty super in general! I will definitely be knitting at least one cardigan with pockets this fall or winter.

And in 1945, Sears featured several cardigans of this general shape, including a variety of necklines from a crew neck to a v-neck to a shawl collar on what they're calling a Shaker sweater.

This style was also featured in my 1947 copy of Fleisher's Campus Classics knitting booklet. These were both knit with worsted weight yarn and labeled "jiffy" sweaters, because you could knit them in a jiffy compared to fingering weight sweaters!

Of course, sensible shoes will be a must. I don't wear heels that often but adore the cutouts on style K shown below...

And I love all these "casual wedgies"...

Solid-colored blouses fit the look, too. I'm so used to wearing patterns that these white blouses are very appealing to me right now.

I'm finding all kinds of inspirations for fall and am already starting to think about how I may incorporate some of these campus-inspired fashions into my wardrobe. There are items in my closet that I can build on: a few pair of "sensible" shoes, cardigans, a couple of pair of dark trousers. I'm really lacking in solid-colored blouses, so that will be a sewing priority for sure. I also need to knit a boxy pullover, and a cardigan or two. I'd like to sew at least one pair of trousers as well. And I'll need to hunt down a solid-colored tailored fall jacket to contrast with my more casual plaid, boxier ones.

I don't know what ideas and inspirations will actually turn into reality, but it sure is fun to think about. I hope I've helped inspire you some! Have you started thinking about fall yet, too?

Volo antiquing

Our original plan for Saturday was to take a day trip to a state park or forest preserve since we've been itching to get into nature. With the wedding, work and the general obscenely hot temperatures, we haven't been able to go camping or hiking almost all summer. But we woke up to rain Saturday morning! Lots of rain. So we decided to do a day trip that involved one of our favorite indoor activities, antiquing, instead. (Of course by the time we were on the road it was sunny again, so we just consoled ourselves with the fact that anywhere we'd have gone would have been a mud pit.)

We headed out north and west of the city to the little town of Volo, Illinois. Now my only previous associations with this town were 1) an old-time band when I was growing up, the Volo Bogtrotters, made up of my friends of my mom's and 2) a ski shop my dad and I would sometimes go to when I was in high school. I had no idea that it had a huge antique mall complex including three separate malls and an antique car museum. (Though when I was relaying the day's events to my dad he mentioned that the ski shop was right near an antique car museum. The things you don't know when you're young!)

We didn't feel like hitting the museum that day, but Mel posed by one of the cars outside.

For the outing I wore a 30s day dress and moccasins.

At the entrance Mel snapped this photo of lawn flamingos, but what I loved about it was the 'dead' flamingo accidentally in the background. Creepy!

There was almost too much to see in the antique malls to take it all in!

These photos were from one of my favorite booths. Oh, how I love vintage kitchen paraphernalia. I wish my teensy kitchen was bigger to make room for more goodies! I have a bit of both of the turquoise and white Pyrex patterns on that top shelf (the Amish and snowflake patterns), and I once owned that same red Burrite pitcher on the second shelf down.

But the most surprising part of the trip? Being recognized from my blog! It was one thing to be recognized at Viva Las Vegas, but being recognized in a small town an hour and a half from Chicago, now that's pretty crazy! I couldn't believe it. We talked for awhile about vintage clothes and style, and sewing and knitting, and she showed me an awesome yearbook from the late 40s. I love drawing inspiration from "real" people vs. film stars and the like. So hi Julia, it was so nice to meet you!

After an afternoon wandering through the antique malls, we had lunch. I matched the decor at Culver's. This is a good closeup of the bias yoke of my dress. The rick rack is sewn to a strip of bias tape at the bottom of the yoke. I didn't discover until that day that the bias tape was originally navy blue, not the pale blue you can see! Incredibly nothing else on the dress but the bias tape seems to have faded, but I know the bias tape faded after it was sewn onto the dress because it's navy on the backside and under the rick rack.

You can also see a glimpse of my charm bracelet. The bracelet itself was my mom's when she was young, and she gave it to me several years ago. It retains the few original charms that were hers, including an inscribed 16th birthday charm given to her by my uncle, her younger brother (so cute!). I've added to it since, and you can just make out the EL and S of "ELVIS" from a trip to Graceland, the rest of the letters obscured by a trolley car from a trip to...shoot, I'm not sure if I got it in New Orleans or San Francisco, at this point!

I didn't buy many things, but came away with a few finds. A cute pair of earrings, for one.

Another purchase was a set of embroidery transfers of the state flowers of all 50 states. Ironically I saw a post at A Rarer Borealis a few weeks ago about quilts made from a set of 50 state embroidery transfers and I went ga-ga over them. It wasn't until I was actually paying for the transfers at the antique mall that I was reminded of those quilts (as I mentioned it to Julia and the woman who was checking me out). But I didn't actually realize until I got home that the transfers I bought were the same transfers used in the quilts. Maybe I'm meant to learn how to turn these into a quilt, someday??

And last but not least, a cowboy print barkcloth pillow. I initially thought I'd use it on my bedside chair, since our bedroom has a bit of a Western theme, but I'm kind of loving it on our sofa with all the other greens. It's making me rethink some of the plans I had for our living room, and I think I may incorporate a bit of fun in kind of a travel-oriented theme.

It gives the other barkcloth pillows a run for their money, that's for sure!

It was so nice to get out of the city for a day. It's something we definitely need to do more often. I dislike really hot and humid weather in general, particularly when shared with millions of other people in a city full of buildings and pavement that just lock all the heat in. Our city seems that much worse right now with throngs of people coming into town for the beaches and activities and the summer feels like an endless string of festivals, ballgames, litter, stinky sewers, overflowing trash bins and traffic. In the summer getting around from Point A to Point B takes even longer than normal, whether by foot, car, bus or train. So at a time when people are frolicking in the sun and enjoying all of the fun things the city has to offer in the summertime, I feel like a curmudgeon and just want to get away from all of it. Leaving town, even just for an afternoon, is a much-needed getaway!

Hope you all had a nice weekend. Don't forget, Wednesday is the last day to enter the That Clever Clementine giveaway!

That's a wrap

Once of the interesting things I've discovered in the relatively short time I've been blogging here is that I find myself thinking about my own vintage style more than ever before, including my knitting and sewing. I never really used to contemplate how items would work together in my wardrobe... if I did, it was usually more along the lines of, "Uh oh, why am I knitting a chartreuse pullover when I have nothing to wear it with?"

Back in February I attempted to challenge myself by focusing on a color palette and a plan for sewing and knitting.

While a good idea in theory, I lost focus pretty quickly. How easy to get distracted by pretty fabrics, yarns and patterns! I forgot I'm not always the most monogamous knitter, either.

Now the things I've completed do fit into the color palette I laid out for myself, for the most part, and I have one sewing project and two knitting projects in progress that will also fit in whenever they're completed. I did sew one skirt (on my "Thing I would really like" list), one dress, one sleeveless blouse and knit one short-sleeved sweater (all on my "Things I absolutely need" list). Part of the problem was that I wasn't nearly as productive as I would have hoped.

But I guess I didn't do half bad, did I? A cardigan, a sleeveless sweater, a skirt, a sleeveless blouse, a short-sleeved sweater, restyled shorts, and a dress. I'd hardly call it a 'wardrobe', but it's not too shabby.

I think I shall draw this project to a close, since I never really felt I jumped in with both feet. And that's fine, because it was a good learning experience for me on how I do (or don't!) focus on project planning, and through it I think I learned what I'd change in future challenges to myself.

And the future is nigh! I'm already starting to think about my fall wardrobe. More ramblings from me soon on that. Have a great weekend!

That Clever Clementine Giveaway #1!

Today starts the first of my two upcoming giveaways, both sponsored by someone extra special to me: my mom!

My super crafty mom has recently started a new shop, selling fantastic bags on Etsy as That Clever Clementine. She combines interesting fabrics (often vintage or re-purposed) and makes a few styles of bags that are perfect for knitting projects, makeup, little baubles, you name it! Her descriptions and vignettes are creative and so much fun, too.

Here's how she describes her inspiration:

	My tastes are eclectic -- I am inspired by vintage and retro textiles, but equally smitten with cutting-edge contemporary design. From the whimsical and amusing to the "sensible and clever," I love combining new and repurposed materials in new (and quite possibly eccentric) ways! My motto is "so practical and SO fetching!" I don't think there's any such thing as "too many bags," "enough hats," or "too much paper ephemera." My feeling is that clever accessories and useful-but-delightfully-decorative items make each day richer and more fun. So I hope you'll enjoy the figments ... I mean "products" ... of my imagination.

So today kicks off two weeks of That Clever Clementine giveaways! Each week, one lucky reader will win an awesome bag, made by my own awesome mom!

This week's giveaway is for a bag specially designed for the Briar Rose Vintage Knit-Along that I hosted earlier this year. Except you don't have to have participated in the KAL, nor even have to be a knitter to enter!

The winner will get a Briar Rose Loopy Lulu Bag:

The bag is fully lined and interfaced (both sides shown, though the giveaway is for one bag), with enclosed seams, two sturdy inside pockets, a handy little hanging clip, and a nice long loop handle that feeds through a smaller loop so you can easily tote around your goodies. Laid flat the bag is 10" tall, 9" wide and the handle is about 9.5" long. Don't you love the contrasting prints with the main rose print?

Now for the important part!

How to enter the giveaway:

1. Be a follower of this blog, if you aren't already.
2. Live anywhere on the planet.
   
3. Leave a comment on this post. But first, head over to That Clever Clementine on Etsy and check out the goods, then come back and in your comment tell me what your favorite item was. (I love the bird cage patterned cinch sack!)
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.
5. How about another way to get an extra entry? Friend That Clever Clementine on her Facebook page,  or add her shop to your favorites on Etsy. Post a separate comment on this post if you do.
6. Don't forget to leave a way to contact you if your blog or profile doesn't have your email address.

The giveaway ends a week from today on Wednesday night, August 10th.  I'll use Random Number Generator to draw the lucky winner.  Giveaway now closed, thanks for entering!

Good luck! And stay tuned for next week's Giveaway #2, because I'll be giving away probably my most favorite That Clever Clementine bag! ;)