[ a little vintage eye candy, from 1945. ]

Just a quick note to say I hope you all have a delightful weekend! I’ve got a packed schedule the next couple of days, but am planning on squeezing time in to prep some fun new posts for next week. Namely a much-overdue tutorial! This week I did try and work on not one, not two, but three, and epically failed because for each one I lacked some supply that I needed. lol. A quick shopping trip to the fabric store should fix the issue and get the tutorial ball rolling. Also: more scans of the 1944 catalog as well, some knitting, and hopefully an outfit post. This week, in retrospect, was kind of “blah”, so I’m looking forward to wiping the slate clean and starting afresh!

Until Monday!

[ cue excited exclamations. ]

Yep. The thing I’ve been coveting for years. They go for quite a bit on Ebay and at most antique stores, but I’m assuming because the economy is still so crummy here that the dealer priced it to sell. Because it’s pretty much in perfect condition (aside from the usual foxing/age marks). To think I nearly walked past the booth it was in too–it’s normally just full of overpriced kitchen wares that I skip it. Boy, am I glad I didn’t! This is so much fun to look though–especially all the women’s fashions. And the shoes. Oh my–let me tell you that my friend E. came over Sunday afternoon and we were squealing over the adorable shoes. If I could figure out a way to rig up a time machine (or bribe a mad scientist), I would go back and pillage all the department stores of the era. lol.

[ click for a larger view. ]

[ all the details in this outfit--I love it! ]

[ the shirring on the jacket of the center suit is quite an interesting feature. ]

[ such smart looks! ]

[ the embroidery detail on the far right dress is quite fun! ]

[ border prints (top right) yum. ]

[ more cute rayon prints. ]

[ ruffles and fun pockets! ]

[ I love the striped dress (top right). ]

There’s lots more to show you, so I have plenty of inspiration post fodder for at least the next couple months! Enjoy!

[ nail polish ad from 1945. ]

I was flipping through one of my 1940s magazines when I noticed an ad for “Chen Yu” nail polish. Now I don’t know about you, but when I think about the 1930s through 50s, red is the color I associate with nail polish. I tend to shy away from many of my more outre colors that I have stashed away in my box of polishes when wearing my distinctly 40s outfits because I always thought it seemed a bit out of character for the outfit. So I was utterly delighted that not only did the ad show colors that we don’t normally associate with the 40s, but color samples too! How about bright yellow (“Ming Yellow”), cotton candy pink (“Sea Shell”) and even black (“Black Lustre”)?! Talk about a world of possibilities for some fun… (You could also get matching lipstick for some of the shades too!)

This little fashion revelation came on the heels of going through some old snapshots I had saved over the years of average people going about their daily lives. Just looking at the images, expressions, clothing, and poses made me just all the more aware that even though there was more of a pressure to conform in previous eras, there were (and will always be) the distinctive personalities. While most women may have veered more towards the conventional shades of red for their nail polish, I like to think that some woman out there was a bit theatrical and liked to sport colors on her nails that weren’t the norm. We tend to so often just group people together when looking back at history, and expect they had more of the “conform mentality” than we do in the 21st century. But it’s amazing when you start to peel back the layers and go beyond the history books, how many variations there were (just like today–on a smaller scale though!).

[ two 1940s nail polish ads. sources here and here. ]

After I saw this article, I went and dug up my dark blue nail polish (MAC’s “Blue India”); with a bit more determination to do something a little “vintage unconventional” myself. (On the topic of unusual nail colors from previous eras, you might enjoy this post by The Vintage Baroness.) However, I think black shall be the one color I don’t try. I went through my black nail polish phase a few years ago, and it really is a ghastly color on my nails! lol.

Are you more adventuresome when it comes to nail polish colors? Or do you not bother with it at all?

Tuesday found my sister and I in the kitchen, along with lots of baking ingredients, fixings for cucumber sandwiches, and John and Paul. (What?! I know what you’re thinking… but John and Paul are the two Beatles figures that my sister brings with her on every trip. It’s an ongoing source of amusement/joke that we take them everywhere and do “touristy” photos. lol.) One of my favorite outings with my sister (and mom) is afternoon tea. However, instead of going to a tea room this time, we decided to make what we were really craving (scones and cucumber sandwiches).

[ click for a larger view. ]

The scone recipe I used can be found here. As usual, I tweaked things a bit (rarely do I follow recipes to a T), and we ended up using dried figs instead of raisins/cranberries/blueberries as the recipe suggested (non of which the commissary had in stock!). Plus my sister had never had a fig outside of a Fig Newton cookie, and being a fan of the seedy fruit myself, we had to remedy this. They turned out okay–I’ve definitely had better (and much worse). I think the problem was the amount of moisture in the dough; with the air as humid as it is here in FL, I sometimes run into this problem with baking. Things come out far too moist and end up taking too long to bake. Still, they were good enough, and they’ve all disappeared! The only thing we were missing was Devonshire Cream, which I adore, the commissary carries, but it awfully expensive for a tiny jar. *sigh*

[ click for a larger view. ]

We opted for ice tea with our goodies, since it was so hot, and neither of us felt like hot tea. I had made a batch of Harney’s Black Currant ice tea the evening before (my parents got me a four box set for my birthday, and it’s been quite nice to brew some yummy iced teas the past couple weeks!). That we served in rum glasses. How classy! lol.

[ click for a larger view. ]

Sometimes it’s really nice to do something a bit special just because, like an impromptu afternoon tea. I find it causes me to slow down a bit and appreciate those small interludes in life that are relaxing and fun. Have you done anything impromptu lately?

[ some things I've been "hearting" lately! ]

If you happen to be already following my Tumblr blog, you may have noticed an uptick in activity lately. I have been trying to be better about shoving a bunch of images (usually vintage fashion or classic film stars) in the queue every week–it’s slowly becoming a habit. But one of the reasons I’ve started to post a bit more consistently* is because I really enjoy the visual aspect of Tumblr. I’m one of those people that learns most easily by seeing–things click a lot faster if there are pictures, and I have always deeply enjoyed looking at interesting images. Tumblr fits quite neatly in my need for a little visual thrill to get the imagination going, plus it allows me to create a constantly evolving “mood board” and keep track of things I find that inspire me. Problem is not spending too much time browsing all the interesting bits and pieces I stumble across!

*I have probably totally jinxed myself! I’ll probably fall off the face of the Tumblr universe next week… lol.

If you have a Tumblr, please feel free to link to it in the comments–I’d love to see!

p.s. My apologies that posts have been so brief/sporadic the past couple weeks. With my sister visiting, we’ve been up to other things, and so my writing time has been limited. I’m also working on a new (and hopefully improved!) “blog schedule”, so things should be back to normal (with more sewing/creativity post) in the next couple weeks!