11/10/10

Vintage Here, Vintage There: Week One

A New Collaboration
I have become pretty comfortable in the last few years with my eye for vintage furniture and kitchenware and have taught myself how to mix certain silhouettes, play with patterns, and pair the old and new for a fresh look. I'm not quite as self-assured in the vintage styling department when it comes to fashion. However, I've been inspired by a host of vintage-loving friends to explore a more exciting (and sometimes more affordable) wardrobe infused with vintage pieces.

Vintage For The Both Of Us
The darling, RubyEllen, and I have been hatching up a plan for a few months now to share how we wear vintage throughout the changing seasons and to encourage others, moms or not, to do the same. It's also a way to keep us interested in dressing up when some days the cold weather might tempt us to stay in flannel nightgowns. Just kidding. No flannel nightgowns in my closet.

Vintage For The Both Of Us
We decided to do a little Q&A to get familiar with each other's vintage back story.

Q: When did you start wearing vintage and why?
A: My best friend, Katy, and I used to hit up the Salvation Army for grandpa cardigans and fun shoes in high school. We lived in Central California at the time and had a casual, surfer, boho style. My vintage fixation shifted towards home goods and random industrial pieces about midway through college and our current furnishings are mostly vintage. I'm most excited to start figuring out vintage shoes!

Q: What do you look for in a piece when you're shopping?
A: I have been gravitating towards blue and red dresses and feel most comfortable in classic prints but I'm trying to diversify!

Q: Favorite vintage find to date?
A: I found a pair of vintage FRYE boots in college for $4 that I wore until I got pregnant with Sebastian and my feet got wider. They stopped fitting so I sold them to a consignment store in the U-District in Seattle and now wish I'd kept them just in case. I'm happy to know that someone else is enjoying them.

Q: The one piece that got away (or would've broken the bank!)
A: Oh, there are so many beautiful 50's cocktail dresses on Etsy that I would add to my cart in a second if they were about $80 cheaper.

Q: How do you style your daughter(s)?
A: I have a lot of vintage dresses for Ruby but not a lot of pants and shoes so I tend to mix the dresses with leggings or skinny jeans to even out the silhouette and have recently stocked up on adorable tights for the colder days.

Q: Favorite sources for online vintage?
A: Obviously, I love the vintage dresses at Red Velvet because they have such a strong collection. I also have purchased items from or plan on purchasing from 3 Ring Circus, Lishy loo, Cherry Bloom Vintage, Ms.Tips Vintage, Oh Sydney, and Fine And Dandy Vintage, and Freckle Wonder!

Mixing Old and New

I'm Wearing

Vintage dress gifted from RubyEllen
Vintage belt, thrifted
Shoes, Target

My Ruby is Wearing
Vintage sailor dress found locally
Jeggings from Target
Mocs from Old Navy

vintage at the patch
Head on over to RubyEllen's beautiful blog to see more on what she and her sweet girls wore on a recent trip to the pumpkin patch. They are darling! We're going to be posting 'Vintage Here, Vintage There' once a week and can't wait to share some of our favorite vintage mamas and online sources with you. Stay tuned!

xoxo,
Rachel

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love you both! You and RubyEllen have such wonderful style and loving families and it is a pleasure to share in your lives. Thanks for opening your lives to us!

nicole said...

That dress is to die for. You are the cutest little mama :]

Anonymous said...

so sweet!! i have added 2 new blogs to my roll this morning, thanks for the shout out too! since you mentioned lishyloo on your blog, free shipping for your next order! little promo thingy i have going through xmas!

Megan McKean said...

Such a wonderful idea! Can't wait to see what you both share each week!
x

Nell said...

Both outfits are amazing. Cutest Mama and daughter pictures! xx

Courtney said...

Love this idea. Vintage is amazing, but overwhelming. Also, how do you pull off the dresses while nursing Ruby (if you still are)? I'm nursing my baby, and haven't figured out the logistics yet!

bethan said...

what fantastic hair! i wish my curls would behave that well!

x.

Lauren said...

im so excited to see more of these posts. i want to try new styles but get worried about some of the same stuff you mentioned. can't wait for the next one!! :) <3

Hannah said...

how exciting! i can't wait for the upcoming posts!

Stacy Hart said...

how fun! i am trying to incorporate more vintage into my wardrobe but i find it way harder than dressing my little girl in vintage. and any tips on dressing in vintage while pregnant would be awesome! looking forward to this feature :)

Unknown said...

so fun! it was interesting to hear your" vintage background." i'd like to start wearing more vintage pieces but it is intimidating! thanks for all of the recommendations - i'll definitely be checking those out.

alyssa said...

You look SO super adorable in that 2nd photo. So cute!

ronda said...

Thank-you so much for sharing this. Recently, I too started shopping for vintage at the Salvation Army and can say that I've found some wonderful things. It's so much more fun and easier on our budget! Can't wait to see what else you two find! Ruby is one of the most adorable little girls - lucky lady!

Kat said...

I love vintage clothing and would love to incorporate more into my wardrobe. Until about 6 months ago I was a uni student so did not have much money to spend on clothes and now I am waiting to go to the uk in March so all available funds are being put away for that. A lot of vintage on etsy and ebay is quite expensive but I would love to buy a few items and gradually add vintage into my wardrobe.

Alexa Raye said...

I really enjoyed this. Looking forward to the next posts :)

MargaretB said...

What a great post! I love the length of that dress!

Rach H said...

eeekk!!...I love this post!! thanks for the links + how cute do you look in this post!! Look forward to next weeks post already!!

Anonymous said...

Your daughter is so adorable and looks like she has so much personality!

Annie, The Friendly Fox said...

Oh, this is such a great idea! I love reading your q & a.
I'm 7.5 months pregnant, and have loved wearing large vintage dresses with tights and boots instead of new maternity clothes! It makes me feel a bit less frumpy, its cheaper, and I can resell the dresses after the baby comes!

Rubyellen said...

great job partner! and you (and ruby) look so stylin'!!! love the dress! ;) so excited!!! yay!!!

Geek+Nerd said...

Lookin' good! Thank you for sharing your favorite vintage links - I've already been oohing and ahhhing over some of the shops :)

Unknown said...

I love the vintage. I would love to wear vintage clothes entirely and nothing else. Maybe one day. I will always have a love for vintage housewares and furniture more than anything. Once me & my boy have enough, I plan on getting vintage furniture for our new house. ^_^

Thanks for sharing all of those awesome links, btw!

the whyte house said...

off the vintage subject...

a big thank you to you, brett and so many others for what you do. :)

http://emilyaidenwhyte.blogspot.com/2010/11/thank-you.html


susie

Anna of The Analog House said...

Lovely blog. Just discovered. Also just discovered the thrill of buying vintage! There's nothing like scoring a find at a vintage/consignment/thrift store!

xo, Anna of Green Gable
http://annaofgreengables.blogspot.com/

LindseyRae said...

Well I'm hooked. I went in search of a pie plate (I don't have one and prefer not to buy too many new items when the old is just as functional), so went off to the local antique mall this afternoon. I got a pie plate, but also discovered the zillions of childrens outfits there as well. Since we don't have kids yet, this will be a fun discussion when my husband comes home from work. ;)

letter A studio said...

Oooh, this is fabulous! Because of you, Elsie & Leigh-Ann, I have fallen in love with vintage & can't wait to see what you have to share :D

RachelDenbow said...

LindseyRae,

Sounds like you've just found yourself a new hobby selling children's vintage on Etsy! ;)

Cynthia said...

Your dress is super cute! I'm still trying to figure out how to make vintage look good on me!

Mandi Johnson said...

Oh I look forward to seeing this! :) I think some of the best ways to become a better wardrobe stylist is to just keep up with taking pictures, because it kind of forces you to be creative. Know what I mean?

cupcakesandcoffee schwartz said...

SO So cute. You can make vintage clothes look adorable! It is hard for me to envision the clothing outside of its decade, but you find a way to make it look so modern with your acessories and the way you put it together.

cupcakesandcoffee schwartz said...

SO So cute. You can make vintage clothes look adorable! It is hard for me to envision the clothing outside of its decade, but you find a way to make it look so modern with your accessories and the way you put it together.