I turned 30(I got pictures y'all) , One Shop I Heart, Weave Musings and an Interesting Bit of History..

So remember when I promised to post every Monday?Yeah well, tell that to my Internet. For some reason, I have not be able to publish anything all week. It would time out every time I tried to lay some magic on you in the form of the written word. Argh! All is up and running now, though I have no idea what changed. Ill thank the gods in charge of the Internet post this on Sunday for Monday (just in case)and move on.
So, last week I turned 30. I'm not sure where exactly I expected to be at 30 but I certainly didn't think it would be as f*cking FABULOUS as its  been. I took a step back last week and examined my life.I have a fantastic job that I find fulfilling and enjoy going to every day. I have an amazing fiance who I literally adore ,admire, respect and love. Ive got fantastic friends and my hair is finally doing what I have been training it to do since I was 14. Life is good.Which is surprising.When I think back on how 12 year old me imagined my life the only thing that rings true to that fantasy life is my wardrobe. Don't get me wrong, i am far from satisfied, I am not done lining my closet coffers with more vintage jewels,  I'm just saying . When I look in my closet every morning, it looks just like 12 year old April imagined it would look.Full of vintage gowns and day dresses, 40's heels exploding out and onto the floor and various counters, hats and scarves and belts abound. Perfect.
Perfect is a weird word isn't it? When you say you want something to be perfect you usually mean you want it to turn out just like you had planned in your head.My 30th birthday party? Was perfect.Not that it didn't go off  without a hitch, there were many many hitches but it ended up just the way it should have.My hair looked great, my Frank Starr dress was the bomb and almost all of my closest friends came.We even had surprise guests! Plus, dude, there was burlesque!
We went to Ivan Kane's Cafe Was for their Burlesque review called Forty Deuce. if you click on the link? You can see where we sat . We were eating dinner on those red couches behind the piano. We had a great time, but I only stayed for the first set because I'm an old bird and old birds get tired after 11.Especially when they get up at 4:30 in the morning to go to work.
The Frank Starr Dress was bought at Ryan-Nicole Vintage Attire.  Take a look see at the dress and pictures of the fun! Some of these are blurry  cuz we were drinking and they were taken on a phone.:-D*Pics courtesy of KC because we were tards and forgot our camera*
The Dress.That look on my face? I'm thinking"When is he gonna take the picture?I have cigarettes to smoke and people to call!"

Dacia and I.Looks super hot in the dress I let her borrow no?

This is me super surprised that our friends( My Lover Mans Best Man for the wedding) came.The have 4 kids under the age of 6.2 of em? 1yr old twin boys.I almost plotzed myself.

Here they are! Kenny and Sharon. Love them!

Me, my Lover Man and our  usher for the wedding Kai

                                                    We shared a moment there.

                                            One of my Bridesmaids Ronda, and  yours truly.

Me and my other Bridesmaid Emi.

A sample of what we witnessed at the 40 Deuce.

Attack of the foreheads! A terrible pic of my Maid of Honor K.C and I.

Dacia and I looking Fancy.

I'm waiting on pics from my girl Brenda so there are not many on here. A lot of people couldnt make it but we still had so many folks that Kenny and Sharon had to sit at their own table!Hopefully I get them sometime next week so you can see B's hair! It was bomb.

Mk so,is that dress not awesome? It was only $75 dollars! Ryan's prices are reasonable and? She's a really nice girl.I actually met her when she moved from...somewhere to Los Angeles. Ryan and her boyfriend met me at the coffee shop up the street from me to deliver my dress and hand me a freebie! She is a really sweet girl, I actually meant to extend myself and try to show her around but you guys? I am so busy.I'm not even fake busy! You know what I mean when I say fake busy right? When you tell everyone you have plans and all you really have to do is go shopping and catch up on the  slew of"How to be a Girl" magazines that somehow managed to pile up on the divan, unopened and unread for months. Ahh to experience those fake busy days again. Nowadays,I literally never seem to have a free weekend .Something is always planned, especially since the engagement. So now you know one of my dirty little secrets.

 I'm a crap ambassador for LA. Sorry.

To make up my my lack of ambassadorship , to help out a small business, and because I have been coveting items from her store,I decided to feature it!

Ryan focuses mostly on the 80's so its a great pace to get reasonably priced items from that era. 80's is in for some, and you know what I always say, why buy repro in the mall when you can buy the real deal at a better price? Unless you just like to throw your money away.

 Since we all know I'm more 40's and 50's, the things I picked to feature are from that era, but she has TONS of other items in different era's to choose from.

The first item I'm featuring is a darling little blue  50's velvet vintage purse! Its only $25 dollars! I could totally see you stuffing your mints and lipstick and credit cards in it, all excited about your night out.

I even have the perfect earrings to go with it for you from the shop! These little baubles are only $18 dollars!

last but not least? I love mink y'all.I know its terrible that alla those cute little minks died, but they died like 50 years ago. I cant reincarnate them so I'm gonna make sure those little critters did not die in vain! You want a mink? Buy vintage. I'm not knocking you if you want a new one,I'm just saying the new ones give me the heebie jeebies and Id rather not support any more minks going to the great hearafter because I'm cold. Mk, off my soapbox.

This mink is gorgeous! Only $135.For  REAL MINK! :-O

Here's Ryan rockin it casual style.

Great shiz no? To check out more of her lovely things go here! You wont regret it.

I normally have some sort of silly musings on vintage living but I think today I'm gonna talk about the magic of the weave. Yeah, that's right, the weave. I used to be scared of the weave. I'm not sure what exactly I thought it was. Maybe I thought it would damage my hair somehow, or fall out at an inopportune moment? I don't know, I do know that I was pretty sure that I never wanted to experiment with that particular branch of hair design.

So, you know the blond in my hair in the pictures? Totally fake. I took the partial weave plunge. I had that shiz weaved in because I like to change my hair color, I'm just too lazy to do it myself and I don't enjoy the damage that bleach does to my hair.I like having long nice hair, I don't want to ruin it because I got a bug up my ass to try something new. 

How do I feel about it? Well, I have to admit it feels a little weird when I brush or wash it.Its only weaved in at the top, leaving the rest of my hair free but still, its weird. Its like there is something in there that I need to comb out.Like a monster tangle or something. But I totally get why people get extensions. Its like having a whole new look at the snap of a finger.

If a finger snap took 4 hours. 

I didn't get mine to have my hair longer but I can imagine the amount of time THAT must take.I literally almost started crying I was getting so antsy. Since I don't trust myself to cut it out, Ill have to wait 6 weeks to get it taken out by my beautician. While its going to feel strange having this weave in for that long, I'm going to try and have fun with it, see how many different ways I can use the blond highlights to emphasize my retro hairstyles. 

One of my attempts.

 :-D

Im gonna leave you with a link to a comedy short that I found on Archive.org.Its pretty terrible but also interesting to see an all black cast in 1949. The plot makes practically no sense, but people are dancing  and wearing feathers.I can totally get behind that. See if you can spot the chick totally pretending to sing the horrible horrible song they showcase.Check this shiz out.

Till next Monday My Dears!

Your VFG

2More Shops I Heart,Appreciation pics and Wedding Planning is Silly

As promised, here is my next post.I know its been a few days so maybe you will be expecting a lot.Hmmm, I don't want you to be disappointed so think of this post as if you took it to a pawn shop. If you were to try to trade it for something of value? Maybe you could get a nice pocket watch and pen set.

Now that Ive primed you, lets begin shall we? The first shop I am featuring is Tiddleywink Vintage! MK so I love this girl. For reals y'all.Not only is her store the bizomb?  She's a really nice, sweet, interesting person! Also she has great taste.
I bought a fantastic robe dress from her! It was in pristine condition, and it came super fast! Some pics for your pleasure.

 But enough about me, lets get down to brass tacks! Back to Wink.Wink organizes her store by waist size which you KNOW I love. Lets jump right in shall we?
I call this cutie pie The Sophie. Sophie is a sophisticated Momma who loves to crash cocktail parties.She gets all dolled up in her 50's black crepe, dons some  40's style heels.I don't usually go for ANYTHING made in the 70's or 80's but these were too cute to pass up pairing with this dress! And they're 30 bucks! THIR-TY. Need I say more? Yeah no, I thought not. But I will. Sophie is always a hit at a party and no matter where she goes she is always asked back because she "Classes up the joint."
                                                                        The Sophie $49.00

 Look at the Satin Bow!

Sophie's sexy shoes size 8. At the risk of repeating myself, $30.00!

Next up is one of my FAVORITES!I would buy it if it were in my size. With the red and white checks on the neckline sleeves and belt and the FLOWER! Ugh! Love!

I'm over the moon for details and contrasting fabric so excuse me if I  gush a bit. I call this The Mary.Mary is a nice girl.Really. Yeah, sometimes she's loud,and she doesn't always say bless you when people sneeze, but that doesn't make her a Bad Betty does it? Mary's not antisocial she just likes to take long walks by herself.Walking alone makes her feel free .When she's alone she can think and she can hear her inner voice and her inner voice told her to put on this frock because today, on one of her walks? Maybe something wonderful might happen.

The Mary $24.00!

And now for....The Party Dress's! Ok so normally I don't pick more than one more dress to showcase but...I'm calling these two dresses  sisters, twins if you like! That way I can get away with it. They are Fraternal of course. The twins are know as the Sharp Sisters, Cynthia and Lynette if you please.Why is this? Its because they attend every event dressed to the nines.

Sharp.As.Tacks.

But they aren't really sisters you know.In point of fact they used to be grifters and their  sister act was well renowned along the grifter  circuit. And it always worked. 

One would charm, the other would roll the mark.But they weren't bad girls, they  were just fashion junkies who couldn't afford to dress the way they wanted on their Drug Store pay.  

They were good girls and since they were, like all good girls, they finally went straight.They found office jobs and fantastic deals on sumptuous clothing and no longer found the need to run the con.

Cynthia Sharp $57.00

Lynette Sharp $139.00

For more amazing vintage tidbits check out Winks store Tiddleywink Vintage !

Here is the part where I go all international on yo ass. Stylelog is from Tokyo,Japan and her store is called Grosgrain Sophisticated Hat ! I have to admit I was a little hesitant to shop with her for fear that it would take the item forever to get here.Guess what?! It didn't and I love her store.Take a look see at one of the dress's I bought from her!

Don't fret, I did not buy all the cute shiz! Her stuff is so cute it makes me re think my fear of the late 60's. Check out Greta.Greta loves  to shop.She shops for a living in fact.She writes for a small fashion magazine in Germany blogging a fashion on a budget feature .In essence its her dream job.She spends her days combing through vintage treasures taking pictures and sometimes purchasing for herself. This is her signature skirt.

The Greta $19.00!

This is Paula. Paula loves to make a statement with her clothes.She's the kind of girl that would wear a ball gown to the grocery store if she could get away with it.Since she knows she cant she goes for subtle statements.I sparkly broach here, a sassy pair of silver shoes there and her dresses! oh her dresses do make a staement! Take this one for instance.A silver grey 60's number that catches all the gentlemen's eyes.The silvery grey threads sparkle under the light and sometimes, when you see her in in it, you think of otherworldly pleasures and smile.

The Paula $68.00

We are down to the last item featured and I wanted to showcase one of her handmade straw hats! Dude. She MAKES THEM.Do I even need to go on? This hat doesn't even need a story its so awesome.Check it out! It totally reminds me of something Audrey Hepburn might wear no?

$128.00

Its handmade people so its gonna be a little more expensive then if you just went to the Ross. Beautiful no?!
She's added even more lovely things to her boutique(recently!) and I only highlighted my favorites, why don't you go check out her store and see if you can find your own? :-D Grossgrain !


Mk now its time for my boring musings.I was going to muse about Old Hollywood, or maybe my obsession with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes (No other does the great man justice in my humble opinion). But then I had a whirlwind weekend of looking at wedding shiz and I wanted to chat about it.
OK so I was kind of shocked by how much planning goes into a wedding.There's the dress and the flowers and the decorations and the seating and the napkins and the preacher and registering and tuxes and... I mean really? REALLY?! Its all a little silly to me. Now I'm not knocking those brides that want everything "just so" I'm just saying I'm not like that so I don't get it. Let me give you an example of some of the silly. While waiting for my Mom to go over the contract with the  scary dragon lady with the beige make-up on, she gave me a wedding invitation book to peruse. I am not kidding you when I say it looked like this.

I looked at that big messy book and thought "Oh HELL no." I do not have that kind of patience people .Its an invitation to my wedding not an invitation to the Queens house. It just has to look nice.
So I'm flipping through the book as this lady and my Mom were negotiating and with my two bridesmaids looking on in wonder. 
I flipped through to page 5 found one I liked and said "I choose this one!" The lady looked at me like I was crazy, then shrugged and said "Oooook.Well, now you have to pick the font."
I'm like"The what?" She flipped  to the front and showed me pages and pages of fonts.All lined up together, each subtly different and said"Have at it!" There was like 1600 fonts in there!
I looked at my bridesmaids ,the book, then the lady and said "Yeah no. Just give me whats on the sample.If it was good enough for a sample? Its good enough for me."  I mean no wonder brides go crazy and turn into bridezillas! Its like...designed to make you crazy.
As I wrote down the page number, the dragon lady um, I mean the wedding coordinator and my Mom started to have some sort of snippy voices raised but trying to be nice argument so I took my girls out for a smoke break.

I found out later that I'm gonna be having appointments with the lady or someone like her  for approx 2 Sundays a month till the wedding. Quelle Horreur!
I'm kind of hoping we can knock this planning shiz out of the park in like, a month or two.I'm not picky, I just want a nice wedding filled with friends and family and I dont really care what font I use to announce the good times.

As advised in my last post Ill be posting once a week and I have chosen every Monday so I don't turn into a crazy person . So much stuff to do and just, not enough time to do it. Both Jojo and I have requested an extra 8 hours be added to each day.

We'll let you know how that goes.

Till next week kiddies!

Your VFG.

A Vintage Wedding

I love my blog.I love having an avenue to write down my musings, share my love of vintage with others and help to promote small business. Its..fulfilling. The only problem is I'm kind of overwhelmed! It just hit me today that I'm getting married in June..June 4th to be exact and I guess Ive been kind of blase about it.Well, not blase.More like I guess it doesn't really matter to be about all the details, I'm just stoked that I am marrying the most awesome man on the planet. For reals. He is such a good person and he's funny and smart and most importantly?He figured out a way to make me a kinder gentler version of the raging b*tch that lives inside me. He helped  give me the confidence to be less hard and to let my soft underbelly show. He makes me feel safe and loved. Those feeling are priceless and I cant believe Ill get to have him forever.
That said,I'm pretty much letting my mom do everything but I know I have to start being pro-active and help her, I just hate planning shiz.I'm the least organized person I know. If you need something to go off without a hitch?Don't ask me.You might as well just light a fire and burn your ideas of a nice well planned time because I specialize in chaos. And having too many choices makes me confused and vaguely angry.Oddly enough, I'm an auditor for a bank. And I'm damn good at it, but only because I take large amounts of data that's already there for me and I figure out whats wrong then I tell people to fix it.Easy Peasy.A wedding?A vintage themed wedding at that is not easy to plan. And we are doing it in less than 5 months.Proposal in Jan, no ring yet because both bands are being designed but we needed to start planning before the ring because we are doing it so soon.Why so soon? I'm not knocked up yo.We knew we wanted to get married 6 months ago but wanted everyone to feel comfortable that we'd been together long enough.In  June it will be 2 yrs.
My Mom called me today as I was putting together my next post and reminded me that I have to choose food and favors and invitations and meet with the dress lady Kara Saun(I'm kind of stoked that Moms knows her. I'm all kinds of excited.I'm like"I saw you on Project Runway!"),figure out where the brides maids are getting their dresses made, pick the flowers and reiterate the colors.Brown, cream and leopard.Yes Mom, I know you think its tacky. thank G its not you getting married right? LOL
So I'm going to have to cut my posts down to once a week otherwise I will be getting married in a potato sack with El De Barge singing a capella in the alley behind the McDonald's. Don't worry! I am still planning to showcase the same sellers I promised, it might just be a few days cuz...well...I like the McDonald's but I don't want to get married there.

I will be working on my weekly post all week so its bound to be better! I just didn't want to cheat any of my sellers by doling out some half ass'ed piece of poo.I enjoy making up names for the clothes and creating little stories and trolling through the stores trying to pick the best items to showcase! It kind of takes forever but when you enjoy doing something, its like no time at all.
Small request.
If any of you ladies know of a place be it online or a person(In Los Angeles) that can make me some nice bridesmaids dresses for like 150 that would be great.Also, Ill need something blue and something new.If you see anything you think might fit the bill, send me the link!
Much Love,
Your VFG

2 Shops I Heart, and It Never Hurts to Smile

After much agonizing,I finally narrowed down my choices and decided to feature Missing Bird Vintage and DearGoldenVintage ! I'm a little behind in the picture taking because my Lover Man's been working late at the digital factory advising other plant workers on the correct way to screw on electronic toothpaste caps. Or something like that. I haven't had the heart to make him get off his ass and immortalize me, so that really helped the narrowing down process. ;-)

First, Missing Bird Vintage. Love the way her store is organized.Its done by size so you can just select your size and start shopping!  One of the things I noticed about her store was the versatility of the sizing. She's got  items for  Tiny waisted Tina's AND Curvy Connie's! The dress I purchased from her was only $45.00! Did you just die a little inside at the price because it was so reasonable?
                                                                              The Dress

I noticed that I have been featuring dresses in smaller sizes and I wanted to make sure I didn't leave anyone out so today's picks include a little something for every size. Also, I wanted to showcase items of different price ranges since not everyone's budget is a tight as mine! So I'm gonna work on that in this post and in the future.Don't be afraid to remind me, my memory is terrible!
The first  item featured is a 50'S Green Dream dress in plaid cotton voile. Its an XL kittens and let me just tell you that looking at it makes me yearn for some Bon bons so I can fill out my shape and sport this little honey.
Hello there Gracie. Bound for the train are you? Well be quick about it but watch for puddles.We wouldn't want to ruin a frock as nice as that now would we? $85.00
The Front

The Detailing at the Neckline

This next dress is Circa 1950 and is an XL to an XXL. Its a navy blue and grey  wool gabardine!  I  only thought one thing when I saw it. Lucy.Is this a Lucy dress or what? I could totally see her sitting on the terrace in this dress plotting and planning  with Ethel over how to get Cornell Wilde into her rooms at the BHH, cant you? Only $75.00!
The Front

The Neckline!

This next dress?  Circa 1940/1950 , though Id lean more towards the 50's if pressed. Its  in a Medium Size.I like to call  this dress Sara.
Sassy Sara will rush into a room, fill it with gay laughter, intrigue and expensive perfume. You hardly ever see her but every time you do, you wish you saw more of her. You promise to write more often  before she leaves and once she does, you find yourself thinking the same thing you think every time you see her. Where DID she get that outfit?!  $95.00

The last dress I am featuring I call Lauren because it reminded me of something Lauren Bacall would wear if she were  playing the part of a  spoiled yet steely socialite who is totally going to get her heart melted about 75 minutes into the movie by her nameless Star of the Moment costar Hunky McFoxy.

Its in Bronze Sharkskin taffeta!

The Front. It comes with a bronze jacket y'all.

Take the jacket off and? Tadow!

You totally did not expect that did you? Take a closer look why don't you?

This is a special dress ladies .Its not cheap but neither is it ridiculously priced at $145.00.Ive spent more at Bebe for a dress that everyone and their Mom is wearing and I cant ever wear now. Hmmm thinking of that dress I'm wondering if I might do a few give aways in the future. I donate like, 2 bags of clothes a month to Goodwill to make room in the closet for more shiz, maybe I can donate to you? Some of this shiz still has price tags on it! Its an idea anyway. A new way to recycle?
 I focused on the  more expensive pieces that I love  in this store but they have a treasure trove of lower priced  accouterments ! Check out the Store for more goodies!

The next shop I am featuring has the sweetest name DearGoldenVintage. It makes me think of treasured keepsakes locked away in a hope chest, up in an attic somewhere waiting for someone to happen upon it. Ive bought from this store more than once.In fact? I'm wearing a plaid jumper I bought from her today! I got so many compliments! Even the man at the 7-11 who speaks virtually no English and grunts at me every time he sees me said I looked smart.He actually said that. That I looked smart. I instinctively knew he did not mean intelligent. LOL If that isn't a rousing endorsement to click on the link to her shop? I don't know what is.
Some pics of this fabulous frock. Ive been going for a post war 40's look lately.Thanks to The Westmore Beauty Book !

Mk enough of me!Now its time to open the attic and unlock the chest . Get excited.

 The first item I'm featuring is a feminine pair of chocolate brown 50's heels.I named these shoes Sadie.Sadie is a good girl who loves to dance.She dances in the morning on her way to work, she dances through her filing for the day then  shimmies her way on home to rumba up some dinner. $75.00

 I think they'd also work with this 1940's ensemble in navy blue cotton in a LG, XL size from Golden's store. Sadie's Dress is always the best no? $104.00

Or, if you'd prefer a more 50's look (you could actually go 40's or 50's with this depending on your hair) for a dinner with the Boss.Even Sadie's got the be sensible once in a while. In a Medium size.$88.00

In this post I focused on my more higher priced vintage  loves but Dear Golden has a myriad of lower to mid priced items. There are skirts and bags and broaches, and dresses galore! Look through her hope chest ladies, you are bound to find something fantastic.

Now onto my boring musings. I'm going to talk about the art of the friendly smile.Will someone please tell me when it became cool to not smile? I know ,I know, you think you look sexier and more intimidating sans smile but you can also look sexy with a smile.A smile is one of the sexiest charms a woman can possess. And forget about sexy, what about  all the other types of smiles there are? There is the enigmatic smile. The perplexed "Who me?" smile. The coquette, the flirt and the plain ole friendly smile.

What ever happened to the friendly smile?When did we become afraid or unwilling to offer up a free big bright smile to a stranger?

 A smile is like a germ free handshake and I am all for bringing it back.

 People that don't smile freak me out. I'm already paranoid from listening to too much Johnny Dollar(incidentally, did I tell you we named our clown fish Johnny Dollar? No relation.) and think that people are secretly plotting to kill me anyway. I'm TOTALLY distrustful of people that don't smile.And don't get me started with people who look away or frown when you smile at them. I know I just committed cool people suicide but  can you please have the decency to not look embarrassed for me! Jeez. Its a smile, I did not just flash you.

I cant believe I am outing myself but its one of the reasons that I only went to Viva once. Don't get me wrong.I think Viva Las Vegas is an AWESOME event and I totally get the idea behind it.A bunch of like minded folks getting together to party down! Whats not to love about that? Nothing. But for me? The sheer number of people that walked around with frozen or dagger like expressions freaked me out yo. I love to meet new people and make new friends and Viva intimidated the hell out of me. No ones face said"Hi.Im nice, wanna play?"Dude. I love the same shiz you love! Why the Frowny McMeany face? We should all be so full of joy that the smiles are practically bursting forth from our lips!Or is it me? Maybe I am misinterpreting the dagger face. Maybe in that world that expression is like...your version of a "Howdy Do" and Ive been reading it wrong this entire time. Hey, it could happen.We live in world of mixed signals and minsunderstandings.Who know's, I might even give it a try again! Someday... Maybe when my skin is a little thicker?

Listen, all I'm saying is I am a nerd. I listen to Doo Wop and Swing,  I geek out over OTR and extravagant period movies. I own all 4 Seasons of The Venture Brothers.  I smile a lot and I think you, all of you, should smile back!  Lets bring back the smile!Or at least if you see someone throwing a smile your way? Look them in the eye and smile back! Or at the very least don't look away or frown.Don't take yourself so seriously! I'm super lucky that I have friends that will call me a douche to my face if they think I need it. If you don't have friends like that? Self monitor! Tell yourself once a week

 "I'm not that hard! I am a melty marshmallow slurped through a straw on a chilly evening.Smile Gorgeous!"

You ll live longer.

And do not even get me started on holding doors open for people.Which everyone should be doing because its the polite thing to do.I could write a book.Nobody would read it but goshdarnit toheck I could write one.

Tomorrows featured shops will be  Tiddlywink Vintage and Stylelog(from Japan). Im getting International y'all! Not sure what I'll be musing on yet but you can bet  your bottom dollar that you'll get some sort of two cents from yours truly. Wink gave me a few ideas. Musings on Old Hollywood perhaps?

Kisses!

Your VFG

PS: My BFF has a 45 waist so I'm always on the look out for goodies that would work for her.If you have something in your store or you know of larger sized vintage hit me up! I'm going to try to find items in her size and post them here in a sort of tribute to  both her and my larger sized Mamma's in the future!