TALES FROM A VINTAGE WARDROBE

What's In For Swim

Swimsuit season has arrived and with it some very mixed emotions. . .right ladies?  (And I suppose for some gents, too!)  We love the idea of summer but that joy can at times be deflated a bit by the thought of, yes, you know. . .putting on a bathing suit!

For the past few years the bathing suit racks in most department stores could easily have been confused with Intimate Apparel/Lingerie.  Those itsy, bitsy, teeny, tiny pieces of fabric they called bathing suits were just about big enough to cover my daughter's Barbie doll with. . .so it was very good news (not to mention a sorely needed return to more tasteful fashion) when I ran across this article in our Sunday Paper:

MAKING A SPLASH  !!!!!

YES!  RETRO & VINTAGE BATHING SUITS ARE IN, LADIES! 

Which actually means we may not have to dread the beach or pool this summer after all!

And even if you do look fantabulous in the itsy, bitsy you may find it a bit more of a fashion challenge to find a great Vintage Suit (something like one of these in this great beach photo!) to wear with your platform sandals and straw hat.

Poolside/beach attire has become a fashion statement all it's own. . . so put a little thought into your summer staples and have fun finding the perfect Vintage/Retro bathing suit!

Here are two I just added to my boutique today~~so fun & very, very Retro!

And don't forget, it's the FINAL COUNTDOWN for my Vintage Bridal Give~Away!  If you haven't entered just scroll down to the previous post and leave a comment~~the deadline is 11:59 pm EST on Sunday June 1. . .we'll announce the winner sometime on Monday so stay tuned to see if you are the WINNER!!!!

MICHELLE

A Gift For Someone Special!

This month is my one year anniversary in blogland and for my on~line Boutique The Red Velvet Shoe and I would like to send you all a great big THANK YOU by inviting you to participate in my first ( of hopefully many!)

                    VINTAGE BLOG GIVE~A~WAYS!!!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and you will be entered in a drawing for this sweet little collection of Vintage Treasures:

It sort of adopted a Spring Bridal theme along the way~~but even if you are not among the "soon to be betrothed" you may know of a Spring Bride or perhaps have a beautiful daughter or neice who has an appreciation for Vintage Goodies who may someday walk down that long aisle. . .or if you are a sentimental romantic like me who still looks at Wedding Magazines you could treat yourself!   

All of this came from my "stock" at THE RED VELVET SHOE!  Just another example of goodies I have waiting to find their way to new Vintage homes & wardrobes!

Here is the box of treasures our happy winner can expect in the mail:

A)  A vintage powder blue jammy jacket with lace frills and ribbon ties. . .

B)  The sweetest vintage "For The Bride" album~~the drawings seem to be from the 1960's. . .

C)  A vintage 1967 McCall's pattern for bridal head pieces~~very mod & retro. . .

D)  One darling floral chintz vintage apron with two pockets and lots of cabbage patch roses. . .

E)  A lovely piece of decorative beaded trim. . .

F)  A beautiful pair of white Vintage gloves. . .

G)  A dainty silver necklace with matching earrings and crystal  embellishments. . .

H)  A pair of vintage glass travel toiletry holders. . .

I)  A book of poetry for the Bride. . .BRIDAL BOUQUET~~Penhaligon's Scented Treasury of Verse and Prose. . .

J)  A roll of beautiful Bridal Ribbon with images of the classic 1920's Flapper bride. . .

K)  A blush pink vintage silk purse. . .

L)  A pretty vintage paper theme sewing box for the new bride!

If you click on the photo above I think you can get a closer view~~and here are a few more close~up shots:

Thank you to whoever stops by~~be sure to leave a comment! 

The only reserve on this is that I can only ship to the continental US due to high shipping costs, but if you do happen by here please say hello, I would love to hear from you!

THE WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN ON SUNDAY, THE FIRST OF JUNE!!  BEST WISHES TO YOU ALL!

MICHELLE

Take Me Out to the Ballgame III

CLAM BOIL!!

( If you just logged on go back a few posts to Take Me Out To
The Ballgame I & II so you know what we are talking about!! )

This beautiful ad is from House & Garden many, many moons ago to advertise how wonderful it is to have a Clambake. . .(she looks a lot like THIS blogger vintage beauty!)

A Clam Bake is cooked in the ground with seaweed (and usually at the beach which it isn't quite warm enough for) so to make it a lot easier we chose to do a Clam Boil and this is what it looked like:

A good old fashioned Clam Boil~~so delicious!!!  And here we are enjoying it:  Handsome Hubby, Uncle Bunckle, Arden, long lost orphan friend Brad who excels at self extended invitations to park it at our kitchen table (we are thinking of adding him as a write off this year!) LOL! and my little pumpkin girl. (I, of course, am balancing on a chair taking the picture!)

I guess the dress code has altered once again. . .it's a bit on the messy side anyway so I wouldn't get too dressed up for it, even if I did live in the 50's.

Oh!  the joy of a weekend with family, friends & yummy food tastes better than ever!!! 

Michelle

Take Me Out to the Ballgame II

So anyway:

We went to see the Pawtucket Red Sox at Mc Coy Stadium on Sunday afternoon and here are some fun photos for you:

With our beloved Auntie Brandi ( aka "Arden")

And here I am with my little tomboy!!

Here's Uncle Bunckle with Daddy Warbucks~~LOL!

They invited all the kids to run the bases so we got in line. . . oh the things in life we line up for!!  Must say this was well worth the 15 minute wait:

She's off and running. . .

There's no stopping her now!!

Clearing third. . .there's s no end in sight!!!

We have a winner~~well, at least according to Mom & Dad!!

By the way, did I tell you before my husband decided to become a chiropractor he wanted to be a baseball player???  That is another post for another day, isn't it? 

And after all of that we celebrated with a good old fashioned. . .(see next post, I ran out of room!)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame I

We are big Red Sox fans around here, but truth be told, going into Boston for a game is becoming more and more of a burden than an adventure.  And now that I am the big 40~~I find that less is more. . . in many, many ways. . .

We started the weekend celebrating three of my five siblings Wedding Anniversaries at Mom's house~~since we all were married in April it has become a sort of tradtition to "go to Mom's for anniversary dinner".  . .she loves and dreads it at the same time, I'm sure.  Family matriarch that she is she would never admit it, but I know just from being my age that having 15 over for dinner is a blessing and a curse at the same time.  Besides the fact that she and my step father downsized to an absolutely adorable house that is great for them but when company rolls around Mom goes into panic attack~~or as Rue would refer to it, the turkey dance!

Anyway, here is one adorable photo I was able to snap at some point during the festivities:

That's my zany brother Andrew  playing with the kids~~They are actually wooping his butt as I used to many moons ago. . .and here is his gorgeous wife Stacy . . .

She will probably take me to court for posting these pictures but I'll plead jealousy since most of my Vintage Treasures would look fantabulous on her 6 foot Size 0 frame! She is your dream Vintage Model by every count~~if only she lived closer I would use her to model my stuff!

Later on, while I was doing dishes the three little pumpkins surfaced again:

Hmmm, why aren't you over here helping me clean up?

They are so sweet together, our three daughters.  They love each other to the simple little girl core ~~my brothers are my step brothers but you could never convince me of that~~they have been as dear to me as any flesh and blood~~possibly more so. . . for all the stress that comes with second time around make~shift families. . .I am just thankful we all find something to love about the other~~we have all been blessed more than we know. . .

And the next day we woke up to an amazing blue sky & that was beyond perfect for:

Yes, my favorite. . .an afternoon at the ball park!

This amazing image is from Westfield on Weekend  you must visit their site to see more beautiful Vintage Ballpark watercolors. . .I was looking for an image to add to my post and when I found this site I just had to share it. . .

 

It's May, It's May! Time for a Give~A~Way!

Good Morning Everyone!  It's a lovely spring day here in Massachusetts and although I awoke to find no cream in the fridge for my beloved morning coffee I refuse to let that dampen my spirits!  Why so chipper?  Well, for one thing, it's May.

I love the month of May.  I think it's Vanessa Redgrave's fault.  What?  You have never heard the song entitled:  "The Lusty Month of May" ??? 

If you have not, then you also have never seen "Camelot" have you?  Well,  May is the perfect month to do so!  If the play is not running anywhere near you, then I highly recommend renting the movie starring Sir Richard Harris and Ms. Vanessa Redgrave.  They are absolutely amazing together in this three hour epic drama~~so make sure you have the entire afternoon to do nothing but travel back in time to the days of Chivalry!

It was filmed in 1967 (which also happens to be the year I was born so maybe another reason I love it so much!)  over a period of three years.  It was quite the production in it's day~~the costume budget was over $2.5 million~~quite a chunk of change 40 years ago.  And it was worth every penny.  The medieval dresses and the knights in shining armor are a treat for any romantic!  The musical score is just beautiful (a favorite of JFK's when he lived in the White house).  There is a beautiful scene when Ms. Redgrave sings "the May song" as I call it and once you hear it I guarantee that every time the month of May rolls around you will find yourself humming this little tune!

I actually had the once in a lifetime experience of meeting Mr. Richard Harris!   As a gift to my friend Lisa for her high school graduation I took her to see "Camelot" on stage starring Richard Harris.  I will admit this was probably more of a gift to myself since I don't really think she had quite the Camelot obsession I had acquired by then.  Not only did we have amazing seats (I think we were in the 8th row!) but after the performance while we were waiting to get out of our blocked parking space he came out of the rear door of the Performing Arts Center and we actually met him and chatted for a bit!  Look:

He signed my program!

Twice!!

He was quite the gentleman~~I remember he had on a polka dot scarf and I just thought that was the coolest thing ever! (That is probably when I started wearing scarves, come to think of it!)  Can you make out the date on the program?  June 1987!   It was one of the last times he played King Arthur on stage and I am so thrilled I had the honor of seeing it!!

So on my rather short list of celebrities I have met, he is at the top of my list!!

Here is my album and cassette~~I just found the album at the thrift store last week~~but it is not the movie soundtrack so I am still on the treasure hunt for the one with Mr. Harris & Ms. Redgrave.

Oh, and another reason May is exciting is that one year ago this month I took the big cyber step and began my on~line boutique The Red Velvet Shoe using TypePad as my host.  So to celebrate I will be hosting my First Blog Give~A~Way Vintage Style!  here at Tales From a Vintage Wardrobe!

Check back soon for more details!!

Michelle

For Whom The Bell Tolls

It was a beautiful day Churchill Downs yesterday for the Kentucky Derby, but it ended on a very sad note with the fall and death of a beautiful filly named Eight Belles. 

This beautiful photograph (by Amy Sancetta)  the day before the race captures that intimacy known only by a horse and it's rider and the ground beneath that may bring glory or intense grief.  Big Brown received the glory.  Eight Belles and her family the intense grief.

Being forced to put a horse down is difficult enough.  To have to do so in front of the entire world, without a moment of quiet to kiss her goodbye, to tell her what an amazing creature she was, to thank her for running with her whole heart and soul for you, for giving up her life trying to do what she did best...that takes it beyond difficult to a place no owner/trainer/jockey/groomer ever wants to go.   My horse-loving heart goes out to all those people and the many more who were touched by her loss. 

Michelle

The Run for the Roses

Having grown up around horses and stables and racing each other up the airstrip (yes, my grandfather had a Piper Cub very similar to this one!~~we used to "fly" out to get Chinese food, literally!) I love to take a few hours on a certain Saturday afternoon at this time of year to watch the infamous KENTUCKY DERBY.

You know the one:

Where all the ladies vie for the best hat in the house, the best horse on the track, and the best man!

Even if you don't have a passion for horses, just watching the hats is an event in itself!! 

It seems like a lot of fun, an excuse to really dress to the nines in an otherwise dress code~less world. . .or maybe it's all those Mint Juleps????

I have always dreamed of going. . .and since I've always dreamed of seeing Springsteen who knows?  Maybe my dream~giver will come through again??!!

Check your local listings if your interested in an afternoon of peace & privilege~~it is, after all, the SPORT OF KINGS!

Michelle

(Photos from http://www.churchilldowns.com/ & http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2008/)

P.S.If you'd like to check out some great one~of~a~kind Derby hats click on this link visit Honey Bend's Blog! Fun!