Dusty Buttons Vintage Shop

While Daughterlypoo and I were wandering the tree-lined streets of the East Village in NYC last weekend (previous post here), we discovered Dusty Buttons, the most beautiful vintage shop!  This gorgeous window drew us into the shop:

 

(Photo courtesy Dusty Buttons)

 

I just had to slip on the black polka dot and yellow roses dress...

 

 

Eek!  I fell in love and bought it!

 

Dusty Buttons has a fabulous selection of authentic, vintage dresses, and some new, retro options too.  And sprinkled throughout the shop are other vintage collectibles...

 

 

...and amazing retro-inspired shoes:

 

(Photo courtesy Dusty Buttons)

 

Amanda, the beautiful shop owner, is absolutely delightful!

 

 

Please visit her shop in person if you can or online here.  And please check out her Facebook page and become a fan ~ you're sure to fall in love with her like we did!

Easy Alteration for a Vintage Dress

I found this fabulous vintage dress at the thrift store for $12!

 

 

The waist and length were perfect.  The bodice, well, not so much.

 

 

I think Jane Mansfield may have worn this!

 

(Please disregard the mess in the background ~ this is our basement.  What a mess!)

 

A quick alteration was in order...

 

First, I slipped it on, inside-out, and pinned it along each side, from the arm holes, down to the waist.  Then I took it off and with a water-soluble pen, marked a line to sew:

 

 

I'm not sure what the fabric is (it feels like cotton but must be some sort of blend), but since it doesn't really fray, with pinking shears I snipped along the edges where I sewed the new seams:

 

 

I love the tag!  Pat Perkins was a dress manufacturer during the 1950's and 1960's.

 

 

Daughterlypoo snapped these pictures of me arriving at the train station in NYC to visit her:

 

 

 I'm definitely treasuring this dress!

Men's Shirt Refashion Tutorial {Dress Sewn for $6}

I made this dress in a couple of hours for just $6.

 

Talk about a lucky score!  I found a stash of enormous men's dress shirts at the Salvation Army for $2 a piece.  I grabbed four of them in this pretty, robin's egg blue color, and another four in a soft, buttery yellow.

I normally repurpose men's shirts into aprons like these (click here for details in a prior blog post):

 

 

...But decided to give dress-making a go this time.

I started by taking one shirt and narrowed the sleeves and bodice:

I picked the pocket off of a second shirt...

...Then cut it in half, just below the arms:

I baste stitched along the cut line then pulled the threads to gather it:

Then stitched closed the button placket:

I pinned the gathered shirt to the first shirt and sewed them together.

 

I topped stitched the waist, where the bodice meets the skirt:

 

 

The dress was complete.  Until I tried it on and realized it was way too short (at 5' 10" this is a very common problem for me!).  So, I took a third shirt and cut several inches off the bottom...

...And pinned it underneath the hem of the dress.  Following the hemline of the dress, I top stitched the pieces together and stitched down the button placket of the third shirt.

Dog walking on a sunny spring day was the perfect excuse for donning my new dress.  Notice Twyla's collar corsage?  Click here for the blog post on how I made it.

 

Oh, and why wear just one pearl necklace when you can pile on 7?!

 

I love it when I can elicit a big eye roll from Captain Project!

Glamorous Vintage Laundry

What?!  Don't you wear heels and pearls to do laundry?

Surrounded by all of these gorgeous vintage tablecloths, I couldn't dirty up the pictures with just any old garb!

I'm working on upcycling most of these into Retro Revival aprons.

Did you notice my vintage laundry cart?

My grandmother Lela's clothespin bag is hanging from the cart.

Hope you have a glamorous day, even if you've got to do the laundry!

Modern Styling With Vintage Hats

Inspired by Carrie Bradshaw, my daughter Natalie and I have been on a mission to find ourselves vintage fur hats.

When we get together (she's in Philadelphia and we're in Florida), we scour vintage shops and flea markets in search of discarded hats needing new homes.  Natalie's brown fur hat find:

I love this picture of her ~ so chic!

When we visisted her and our son-in-law, Daniel, recently, we stumbled into "vintage hat nirvana" in an old dress shop.  No, I didn't buy the hat I was modeling ~ a bit too Phyllis Diller for my taste ~ but I did get the one in my hands:

These are the ones we bought:

So fun!  The hunt, and of course, getting to spend the weekend with two of our favorite people.

Natalie also has a Carrie-inspired skirt:

I love this!  Think I'm going to have to dedicate an entire future blog post to this skirt!

Brooching the Subject {Vintage Brooches}

Dressing the other day for my weekly date night with Captain Project, I reached for my denim jacket to ward off the movie theater chill and immediately knew I needed to add a little sparkle.

My vintage dress form is so full of brooches...

...That they've spilled over onto a vintage dressing tray I found at the flea:

Brooches seem to have come in and out of vogue on a steady rotation since the dawn of fashion.  Recently they've been showing up again on red carpets, adorning gowns and up-dos.  Me?  I've been wearing them on my jackets, blouses and dresses for over 20 years, no matter the current trends.

Really, is there a better way to adorn denim?

Today's post is your last opportunity to enter to win this vintage apron so leave a comment because...

...I'll randomly draw a winner from all of your comments tonight ~ good luck!