Tales From A Vintage Wardrobe

Let's Bring Back: Filene's Basement

It was the road trip I looked forward to the most every year~~my grandmother would pile we three girls into the back of her 1970s Cadillac (which felt more like a ship) and off we would go, onto the Mass Pike, into Boston to spend the day shopping at Filene's Basement.  She was so short she had to look through the steering wheel and the dashboard to see the road.  She could park that boat as if it were a Mini Cooper.  And she got us safely there and back every time.  The trunk could barely close by days end . . .

 

"Voices From The Basement" premiering on WBGH Boston, December 9, 2010 at 8:30pm EST.

***Post update:  Share your memories of shopping at Filene's Basement Downtown Crossing and enter to win a $100.00 G/C from Filene's Basement!   Find the comment form here.  

***This post was featured @  Filene's Basement in Boston .

A SUMMER AT TIFFANY

"Be it a jewel or toy, not the prize gives the joy, but the striving to win the prize." 
~ Owen Meredith (Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton)

While true in many instances of life, this may be one exception to Sir Bulwer-Lytton's poetic quote.  A few weeks ago I learned of a Give~Away via Lily Lemontree.  The host was Sarah of My Little Boudoir, and she was generous enough to host a give~away to win a signed copy of this fabulous book:  

Summer at Tiffany
by Marjorie Hart. 

Having a rare spare minute or two, I entered the give~away and spent a few hours day dreaming (while ironing, that is)  about how great it would be if I actually won...just the cover photograph had sent me reeling into old~world New York...

Half awake, waiting for the coffee to finish perking just after 6:00 o'clock this morning, I opened my "mail" and found this:

Hi Michelle,

Good evening. I wanted to let you know that you were selected (using
random.org) as the winner of the signed copy of "Summer at Tiffany" on
www.MyLittleBoudoir.com!
If you'd like to send me your mailing address, I will get it sent off to you
this week.
Here is the link for the post as a reminder:
http://mylittleboudoir.com/2010/05/01/give-away-signed-copy-of-summer-at-tif
fany-by-marjorie-hart/
Congratulations and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Thanks for your
support...

Best regards,

Sarah
MyLittleBoudoir.com

 

Oh joy of joys!!  The prize giveth the joy! 
Thank you, My Little Boudoir, you made my day!

 

THE WINNER IS . . .

We are pleased to announce
the winner
for our Vintage Springtime Give~Away:

Julie Vician!

Congratulations, Julie!  I will bring it along to The Top Shelf Flea Market today so you can pick it up & hopefully find some Vintage Wonderful to take home with you!  See you there!

SHOW THE LOVE: VOTE FOR THE RED VELVET SHOE!

Yes, it's also THAT time of year~~you may recall the plea I put out last year for you to vote for The Red Velvet Shoe as your favorite vintage clothing website.  My pleas & your support paid off and we tied for third place!  What a thrill, and all thanks to YOU!

HOW TO VOTE: 
(Please read everything below before you click on the link to Lulu's Contest)

• After you click on the link to get over to Lulu's blog, take a moment to read her contest/voting instructions at the top of the post. 
• You must LEAVE A COMMENT AND NAME "THE RED VELVET SHOE" in your comment at Lulu's Blog to have your vote counted~~just clicking on "The Red Velvet Shoe" from her list of nominees does NOT count as a vote.   
• Scroll down to the comment form on her blog and fill out the form to comment.   You can use an alias if you prefer to remain a "mystery" and don't worry~~your email address is NOT included in your comment, but you must enter a valid email address.  You can leave the "URL" line blank, unless you'd like to include a link back to your website/blog then enter your web address in that line.  (All comments are held for approval so it may not show up right away.)
• You may want to check her blog the day after you vote to make sure your comment went through.  I'm mentioning this because last year many readers emailed to tell me they voted, but had not done so properly so their vote didn't get published or counted.

Follow this link to cast your vote for THE RED VELVET SHOE: 
 http://blog.lulusvintage.com/2010/04/vote-for-your-favorite-vintage-site.html

Thank you from the bottom of my vintage~lovin' heart!

Photo Credit: Lillian Bassman, "Barbara Mullen:
Blowing Kiss," c. 1950s, photograph

SUCCESS!

 

We did it!  The Red Velvet Shoe tied for third place in the annual  "Lulu's Vintage People's Choice Top Ten Vintage Clothing Sites" contest!!!!!!!!!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

to everyone who took the time to vote for me and for the wonderful comments & support along the way!  And thank you to Lulu for hosting the contest and doing all the work involved to award us this great honor!

I'm off for some champagne!!

xoxoxo !!

THE WAITING IS THE HARDEST PART

 

(Photo credit: Siri Stafford via  Getty Images)

 

One day left to find out if The Red Velvet Shoe will be listed among The People's Choice Award Top Ten Vintage Clothing Sites, and yes, the waiting is the hardest part!  Thank you to all of you who have voted for me, and if you haven't had a chance to do so, just click on the "CONTEST" tab at the top of the page and follow the link!

Merci'!

MICHELLE

 

Photo Credit: Lillian Bassman, "Barbara Mullen:
Blowing Kiss," c. 1950s, photograph

 

 

 

"TOP TEN VINTAGE CLOTHING WEBSITES" CONTEST

Ok, dear readers, it's time to show the love!  My friend LuLu over at Lulu's Vintage Blog is hosting her annual "Lulu's Vintage Top Ten" & "Lulu's Vintage People's Choice Top Ten" and she has very graciously added "THE RED VELVET SHOE" to her list of suggestions.

 

(Thanks, Lulu!)

So now, it's your turn!  If you do, indeed, think that "The Red Velvet Shoe" is deserving of this honour, please  CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR ME!  But read the rest of this post first to know what to do to vote:

After you click on the link above, take a moment to read the contest/voting instructions at the top of the post.  You must leave a comment over at Lulu's Blog to have your vote counted~~just scroll down to the comment form on her blog and vote away.  You can use an alias if you prefer to remain a "mystery" and don't worry~~your email address is not included in your comment, but you must enter a valid email address.  You can leave the "URL" line blank, unless you'd like to include a link back to your website/blog then you enter your address there.  You must name "The Red Velvet Shoe" in your comment.  All comments are held for approval so it may not show up right away. 

If you voted, take a peek at the list of comments (there are about 10 pages already!!)  at Lulu's to make sure your comment made it~~just clicking on "The Red Velvet Shoe" on her list of nominated websites will not show up as a vote. ~~I'm mentioning this because many readers have emailed to tell me they voted but they are not showing up~~we can't have that!!

The winners will be announced on Tuesday, June 30th, so stay tuned to find out if we made the grade! 

Thank you so much!  I am forever grateful!! 

 

HEMINGWAY & THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS

What does Hemingway have to do with a little black dress?   I know that's what you're thinking!   While that could be a loaded question I will simply tell you there are two matters I am very excited about having to do with my Post title~~so here we go. . .

 (One of my favorite photos of this handsome gent)

The first is to tell you about a great event to be held in KEY WEST:  THE ANNUAL HEMINGWAY DAYS CELEBRATION JULY 15~20,2008!

 The event includes look~alike contests, readings and presentations, a three~day marlin~fishing tournament & a short story competition!   Sloppy Joe's Bar is where the Look~Alike Contest takes place~~and also is a great place to find one self a refreshing libation!  Check out the website for some great photos and more information~~what a great final destination for that road trip you've been wanting to take!!  Or if you have some frequent flyer miles to use up~~here you go!! 

http://www.hemingwaydays.net

 

As far as that Little Black Dress thing goes, I had the thrill of coming into the possession of an absolutely GORGEOUS Little Black Dress~~not just any LBD, though.  This is a HARVEY BERIN by KAREN STARK original.  The house of Berin opened in 1921 and his designer was Karen Stark.  Stark looked to the latest Parisian styles as inspiration for her work.  And my Vintage Dress is a perfect example of French Chic!! You can find out more about Mr. Berin and Ms. Stark at www.vintagefashionguild.org. .

This Vintage Collectible will be available soon in my boutique~~if you are already interested in more details feel free to contact me. 

Michelle

AND THE WINNER IS . . .

I'd like to start this post by saying that I was a bit apprehensive to host this give~away. . .it was sort of like throwing a party for people you don't know. . .Will they like it?  Will they enjoy themselves?  Will they be glad they came?  Will they ever come back?

But then, it began, and if you have hosted a give~away, you know what I mean. . .you think your FAVORITES PAGE is full but then you hear from these amazing people with these amazing blogs, boutiques, studios, ideas forums and you realize how very small your world of favorites was!!  "Meeting" so many new talented, interesting & just plain fun people has been your gift to me!

So now I am pleased to pass on a great gift to you. . .

(My daughter thought it would be fun to number animal crackers~~so here you all are!)

Oh the anticipation!!

THE HAPPY VINTAGE~GIVE~AWAY WINNER IS:

 COMMENTER 10~~ALSO KNOW AS "BECKY"!! 

(That would be the 10th comment from the bottom of the list!)

CONGRATULATIONS BECKY!!!!!  Just email me your mailing address and we'll get this out to you ASAP!

I really want to thank every one of you who took the time to enter my drawing and I especially want to say how really thrilling it was to hear from you and especially if you shared your affection for Vintage Treasures!   I have a lot of links to check out and some great new favorites to add to TALES FROM A VINTAGE WARDROBE.  If you have time check out some of the commenter's blogs and websites~~you are in for some real treats!

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING~~NOW I HAVE TO GET TO WORK!!!!!

MICHELLE

 

SORRY, THIS SHOW IS OVER

JUST A QUICK POST TO THANK YOU ALL FOR ENTERING MY VINTAGE GIVE AWAY. . .I HAVE "MET" SOME AMAZING NEW BLOG FRIENDS, FOUND SOME AMAZING NEW STORES AND SITES AND HAVE HAD A BLAST HEARING FROM ALL OF YOU!!

I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST IN MY DRAWING AND BE SURE TO CHECK BACK IN TOMORROW AFTERNOON TO SEE WHO OUR HAPPY~VINTAGE~TREASURE~WINNER WILL BE!!

XX

MICHELLE