Birthday Shopping Haul

After so much Konmari and decluttering, I decided to treat myself to a bit of birthday shopping! Konmari and minimalism has totally changed how I shop! For my wardrobe, I keep a list of pieces I want to replace or add to my wardrobe. This helps me stay focused while out shopping and keeps my impulse shopping to a minimum. I also do one in one out. When I buy a new piece, I let go of an old piece. Having to decide which piece to remove from my wardrobe helps me decide if I really like a potential new piece in the store.

So what did I buy? Watch to find out!

Black Friday Haul 2014

All of my Black Friday purchases have arrived so it's time for a haul video! This year, I didn't do nearly as much Black Friday shopping as I usually do but I still managed to pick up a few things for myself.




Here's what I got!

June Shopping Haul

I just adore shopping! I did quite a bit of shopping in June (although, admittedly, some of this was purchased at the end of May.) A couple of these lovelies have already been featured on the blog but there are quite a few new things too!

Also, this video features some footage of my baby Kiwi bird! :D

Costume College: Haul

A big part of Costume College is shopping! Especially if you don't have really good local fabric stores. So let's see what I got!

2 yds red rayon for a blouse

3 yds of 30s looking striped rayon

4 yds of pink rayon for a 40s blouse and skirt

5 yds of embroidered cotton for an Edwardian dress

While I didn't buy anything at Mood, the guy there gave me a bag to commemorate my first visit (or possibly for the free advertising....)

McCall's 9953 50s evening gown patter which I got for a steal since it was missing the envelope. Also some vintage crochet hooks.

Remix shoes! I thought they were so Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday plus they were on sale so I had to have them! I also got a pair of seamed stockings from What Katie Did.

Huge stash of buttons! The bottom sets are vintage and the rest are modern.

I also snagged 100 yds each of black and white rayon seam binding and some pretty floral trim.

Costume College: Thursday

Phew! I'm still recovering from Costume College but I know you're all dying to see photos so let's get started! Thursday was travel day so I was up super early to catch my flight, but that meant more time in LA to do fun things!

 First stop was Mood! It's not actually in the garment district so I didn't get to go last year. I didn't end up purchasing anything because it was pricey and I wanted to save for deals in the garment district. But if anyone wants to buy me really nice gold lame for Christmas, it's $99/yd at Mood. ;)
 

Then it was time for Remix and shoe shopping! Shoes can be hard to buy online because of fit issues so it was super nice to be able to try on shoes and handle them in person.

Me and Ginger of Scene in the Past at Remix.

I did end up buying a pair of shoes that were on sale, but I'm saving all my trip purchases for one big reveal post. (And I'm feeling too lazy to get out my camera and photograph them right now.)

We also hit the What Katie Did shop in LA! I did pick up a pair of seamed stockings to try out. Need to see what all the hype is about!

Thursday evening was the pool party and I wore this dress. I didn't take any pictures myself since I'd been up about 20 hours at that point but if I find any floating around the internet, I'll be sure and share!

***Edit*** Ooops! Found this one on my camera! Guess I did get one shot after all!

Youtube: How to Tell if It's Vintage

Let's talk about dating clothes! It can be daunting to try and thrift for vintage or shop for vintage online when you are just starting out. Here are some things you can look for when shopping for vintage.

The Importance of Silhouette

When going for a vintage look, silhouette is important. It really goes a long way towards making you look authentic vs costumey.

A while ago, I mentioned on facebook that I had bought a vintage style bra at Kohl's and I've been trying it out ever since. (You may have spied it in a few previous outfit posts.)

 The bra I choose was Playtex 18 Hour Classic Support style 20/27 wire free. The website lists them a bit odd and B&C are here and D&DD are here.

 I did have some trouble with finding the right size. One cup size was completely full, possibly too full but the next cup size up had a lot of empty space. I went with the smaller cup (which was smaller than the cup size I wear in modern bras. I'm still not sure I ended up with the correct size but the shape is definitely more 40s/50s! :D

Tasha of By Gum By Golly has an excellent post on how to find a great 40s style bra. That's what I used when shopping for my bra. Hint: You'll want to look in the old lady section.

And goodness, it sure worked! My girls are definitely NOT modern shaped. They are higher, pointier and quite separated. Check out this outfit with a modern bra here.

It looks great under sweaters (and vintage dresses) and just gives a bit extra umpf to my look. I'd definitely recommend this for you gals looking for an affordable vintage style bra.

It's pretty comfy and isn't too odd looking. I don't have quite enough guts to wear a bullet bra. This particular one gives a nice 40s/conservative 50s shape.

I'm so happy to finally have this piece of my vintage foundations down! Costuming has taught me that the correct underpinnings are so important! Do you wear vintage style undergarments or do you stick with normal ones. What's your favorite brand?

Birthday and Anniversary Swag

It just so happens that my birthday and wedding anniversary are just two days apart (and usually right up near mother's day for when we get to that stage). Which means May is everybody loves Stephanie month. :) And this year I got gobs of vintage and sewing related things from people who love me.

Patterns! These I picked out myself with birthday money. I love birthday money especially since the stuff I really like other people would have a hard time picking out for me. But I never ask for it because it's just awkward.

This little beauty I had spied a few months ago at a used bookstore. It's a huge 1951 catalog.  It was still there when we went back last weekend and my hubby sneakishly bought it for me. :D

And look at all of the pretties! I really want to make some scans to share but we'll have to see how the scanner behaves.

I also spied these vintage confetti earrings at a near by vintage store the same day I spied the catalog. They too were still there so they just had to come home with me! I like to do that sometimes. Wait and see if something is still there. If they are, great. If not, it's not meant to be. If I completely forget about it, then I must not have really wanted it that much in the first place.

A local sewing store called Sew Dayton was having a vintage fabric destash sale so I picked up these two beauties. The left one is a suiting and someone had bought almost the whole bolt because there's 7 3/4 yds here! The right fabric is possibly cashmere and it feels divine. Only 5/8 yd here but I couldn't pass it up! My dad also got me a Jo Ann's gift card. Yay for sewing!

And last, but certainly not least, Wearing History's 1940s overall pattern. The hubby and I weren't planning on doing anything big for our anniversary this year. (We did go to Disney for last year's though.) So this is what I asked for.

What kind of birthday gifts do you like? Do your friends and family buy you vintage or sewing related things?

Black Friday Haul Video!

I'm not generally a fan of haul videos but I think such an epic shopping event such as Black Friday calls for one so here's what I bought (for me anyways) this Black Friday. (And here's last year's haul video if you're interested.)




In case you are wondering, this is more the type of thing I wear to work (because I can't wear vintage or vintage style easily) although I was a bit more dressy than usual when I filmed this.

And I promise that the next video with be a 1950s pixie style! It's been harder to film videos now that my husband works from home but I'm working on them. I have one filmed and several more planned.

Urban Nights

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I and two of our friends went out to a local event called Urban Nights. Several areas downtown have activities going on like musicians and performers and a lot of the local shops are open late. They have this event a couple of times a year and it's always fun.

I wore my embroidered circle skirt and my new sweater. Yay a finished sweater that fits!

The pattern is from a Stitch in Time Vol. 2 and is called Ribbon Threaded Jumper. So cute! It's knit from a pale green acrylic yarn from a baby line so it's nice and soft!

Bow! The Ravelry page for this project is here. I started it way back in April but I finally finished it.

A cute sewing shop had their grand opening that evening. It was very cute!

The local vintage store was open and packed!

There was a new hat shop! They were mostly modern but there were a few vintage inspired lovelies.

And I couldn't resist a used book store.

I loved this singer's style! So cute and retro. That night I really wanted to go and chop my bangs off again but I resisted.

Fire spinners! :D

All in all, it was a fun night!

If you can't wear a pretty dress, you might as well go shopping

Since the forecast for today was overcast and rainy, this Renaissance Faire trip was not a good one for costumes, but we made up for it in shopping! :)

My splurge for this year was a lovely leather corset from Brown Cow Art. It makes my waist look like it's been photoshopped. :) And it's not even nearly as tight as it could be. I'm sooooo happy that I was good at Jo-Ann's this weekend and only spent $10 instead of bringing home the 6-10 yds of $10/yd fabric that I fell in love with.....

The lady who helped me was very enthusiastic and let me try on several corsets before I found one I liked. Of course, now I need some appropriate clothes to wear under my corset.

My husband's big purchase for the season was a kilt and accessories. He's been wanting one for a while and aside from the fact that wool is ridiculously expensive, I have zero desire to do all of those pleats so he opted to buy one instead.

I also got some accessories for my new Renaissance costume.

I got earrings to match my growing collection from Stillwater Chainmail.

A nice black belt from Blue Flame Leather.

And a leather pouch found at a corset shop of all places (Renaissance Fashions). It's not nearly as nice of a quality as the leather from Brown Cow Art or Blue Flame Leather but I really wanted this size and shape and it was not too pricey either.

If you missed last year's haul, it's here and here. To catch up on all of my Renaissance costuming adventures, set aside a few hours and start here.