Tales From A Vintage Wardrobe

Heirlooms: Schiaparelli Hats & Shirl Miller Leather Bags

Summer is in full swing around here....apologies for the lack of posts but it's been a nonstop whirlwind of go, go, go with no signs of the pace slowing down.  A visit to my sister's for a family reunion sent me home with this lovely vintage Schiaparelli straw hat with black patent leather trim that once belonged to my grandmother, as well as three hat boxes chock full of more treasures from her closet.  (How she managed to hide them from me for the past 10 years is beyond me...)  I remember my grandmother wearing it to horse shows and other outdoor events that required fashionable shelter from the sun.  At the time, I had no idea it was a Schiaparelli providing such glamorous shade!

 

 

 

 

From another side of my (rather complicated) family I was overjoyed to receive this lovely Shirl Miller vintage clutch in embossed leather. 

 

 

And of my own treasure hunting accord I came into possession of this rather fabulous vintage bar pump-decanter set that I am quite certain I will never be able to part with.

 

Hoping to be back soon...wishing you many lovely summer days and nights until then.

 

 

 

Bags & Bananas at The Market

 
I finally received my new camera, but the week of the bi-annual Top Shelf Flea Market III was not exactly the best time to get a new gadget to figure out, as I'm up to my ear lobes tagging items & treasures to bring to Boston on Sunday.  I read through about half of the online manual (I thought someone said this is a very simple camera to use?!) and snapped a few photos from my studio of what I've been working on.  The jewelry photos were snapped prior to reading anything and the quality is terrible, so my apologies ahead of time. 

 

 

 

I'll be debuting a very small portion of a trunk full of vintage Banana Bob jewelry.  The company went out of business in the late 1990s, but in it's day made some lovely art deco & victorian inspired pieces with vintage and antique facets and findings.  Swarvovski crystals were used in many of the pieces, and most were hand crafted and hand painted, with many limited editions. The assortment I'm bringing to Boston Sunday are on the more casual side, but I am hoping to create a Vintage Jewelry floor in The Red Velvet Shoe and offering this gorgeous jewelry, as it has become highly collected & coveted.  If you are looking for a specific Banana Bob piece, please email me and I will gladly check my inventory for you. 

 
(Here is a sample of some of the more glamorous Banana Bob line that I found online...I'm quite certain I have this set, or something very similar.) 

Here is a collage of some of the purses I just packed up to bring along....I love the Etienne Aigner in the top left, it has such an equine look to it, and I won't be sad if it doesn't sell because, as you know, a girl can never have too many purses...The top right is a lovely paisley Margaret Smith / Gardiner Maine purse and the label, I believe, dates it to one of her earliest pieces from the 1940s. 

You'll find that (and much, much more!) Sunday at The Top Shelf Flea Market in Somerville/Boston, MA ~~ doors open at high noon.  See you there!
 

 

The Duck & Bunny ~ A Snuggery...

 

 

 
 
 

 
(photo courtesy of the Duck & Bunny website)

• What: Girls Night Out
• When: Last Night
• Where: The Duck & Bunny ~ Providence, RI
• Menu Sample: Bacon Wrapped Dates ~ Artisanal Cheese Plate ~ The Ultimate New York System Crêpe ~ Homemade Gourmet Cupcakes ~ 
• Brewhaha:  Guinness on draught ~ Narragansett in the can ~ Maipe Malbec ~
• Atmosphere:  Absolutely charming!

 

 
 
My blue vintage hat and I had a fabulous time out on the town...and The Duck & Bunny is the perfect venue for catching up with the gals or a romantic dinner for two.  If you're wanting to enjoy the latter, you may want to request a quiet table away from large parties of females who managed to sneak out for a night sans husbands & offspring...

 

Be There at Five

 

Conversational Music
Be There at Five
conducted by
Glenn Osser

Excerpt from back cover:

"The cocktail hour is the vine-clad bridge in the day of the active modern.  It separates and it connects the two distinct parts of the well-ordered life.  It is the hour to gently close the work-day when the world makes its demands upon the person; it opens those hours when the person may make his demands upon the world.  It is the bridge into the evening, into relaxation, into the world of intimates, into privacy...The cocktail hour is a time that every zestful modern owes to himself.  It is a time for discovery of new moods, of desires, sometimes of new people, an hour to pool the feelings of separate souls.  This, then is music for five o'clock until..."

I could not have said it better myself...despite the hint of chauvinism...I see two glasses on that table.

Pink Champagne for Dancing...

Pink Champagne for Dancing
featuring
Lloyd Mumm and his Starlight Orchestra
 

Excerpt from the back cover:

"Come with me to the Starlight Roof.  Wasn't that the place - or a place like it - where you celebrated an engagement or an anniversary once?  Listen, and I'm sure you'll agree it could have been...midnight...a warm breeze blowing in from the lake...a flickering candle in the center of the table...and the sound of a cork as the waiter opens the champagne, pours it into the glasses and leaves it on the ice just as someone on the microphone says, "And now for your dancing pleasure, we proudly present Lloyd Mumm and his Starlight Roof Orchestra..."

My thoughts:

I don't think she can stand, much less do the champagne waltz.
I'd kill for those earrings.
I wonder if Lloyd Mumm is related to the champagne Mumms?
The excerpt, though hokey, is still romantic in a "that's how it used to be" kind of way.

It's Head of the Charles Regatta Weekend

Brewmaster  Aaron of Watch City Brewing  brought to my attention that this weekend, October 23 & 24, is the 46th Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge. 

(photo courtesy of Head of the Charles Regatta)

It's just a 45 minute walk between Davis Square and all the festivities at The Charles.

Another great reason to come into Boston for The Top Shelf Flea Market II on Sunday!  And why not finish the day off with some great microbrews over at Watch City Brewing?  Say hello to Aaron for me and tell him I sent you.

ULTIMATE TREASURE HUNT

 

"Divers have found 30 bottles of champagne thought to pre-date the French Revolution on the Baltic seabed."

Now that's a treasure hunt!

FOR TIN TIN: THE FRIDAY BELT

In an effort to inspire a fellow blogger with wonderful old~world sartorial taste and a penchant for old~world hotels offering old~world style libations I present:

Hudson's Bay Best Procurable Blended Scotch Whisky 

c 1971

 

"What's that blue sticker?"  I ask DH.
"Darling, please, you're making me feel old" he replies....

 

"I love the packaging!" say I.
"Mmm Hmmm, it has a map, of course you love it..." he whispers as he tries to not wince at the first swallow....

"I bet James Bond pretended to be an Internal Revenue Officer just to try this!"  I say, lost in the romantic notion of some handsome man trying to smuggle a bottle out of the country because he fell in love with it.
"I seriously doubt it, he was a vodka man, remember?" DH responds, looking almost as if he is in a bit of pain...

Compliments of a patient/friend of DH, this bottle sat on the bar for months (at my insistence) until DH convinced me he had researched it and found it not so wanting...after tasting it I understood completely.  My first reaction was "Eeeeooooow cheap tequila" followed by "Oh wait, that's almost warm & lovely" followed by "Ooooh, it's burning and I don't think I want another sip" followed by " Oooh, I actually taste moldy, oaky Scotch, I think..."

We opened it, we tried it, we would never go buy it.  But, being a lover of all things vintage, I enjoyed the ride.  Besides, the same day he opened it, I found this:

Not vintage, but so very Friday Belt: an oh so preppy pink & green cocktail ribbon belt by Douglas Paquette of Providence, RI.  Being dog~less (aside from the occasional dog~sitting for fam & friends) I passed on the matching collar & leash, but then again, that was before the whisky...

 

 

VINTAGE TAILGATING: NEWPORT POLO CLUB

 

The proper equipment is quite necessary for any event to be a success.  For example, when one wishes to plan a picnic or outing, one should give considerable thought to "equipment".  As I've stated before, the proper accoutrements lend to a more authentic, nostalgic, and civilized sort of day.

For years, when spring rolls around, I tell myself this summer we will plan to attend at least one Polo Match of the Newport International Polo Series held at the venerable Glen Farm in Portsmouth, RI.

 

The problem is, when the weekend forecast calls for plenty of sun and a S/SW wind under 5 knots, we usually end up enjoying an outing on our boat instead. 
The other problem is, really, just my own personal problem: 

I am a Tailgate Snob.

My vision for our afternoon at the Polo Grounds looks something like this:

(photos by Peggy Hunt courtesy of The Carriage Association of America )  

Yes, this is how it should be.

I just couldn't dream of traipsing in there with neon bright coolers, solo cups and paper plates.  So, having the patience of Job, I began, over the years, to collect the tasteful equipment required to host a proper
Newport Polo Club Vintage Tailgate Party.

My acquisitions thus far:

 

One vintage "Scotch Jug".
One lovely picnic basket with real plates & silverware inside. (A wedding gift)
One hunter green insulated zipper~top tote. (Much nicer than a cooler)

 

One vintage card table.

 

One stack of antique linens (very similar to this lovely collection).

One vast array of vintage stemware & glasses.

And my most prized travel/tailgate acquisition:

 
 

A fabulous vintage travel bar, found for me by a friend on a Treasure Hunting Mission.  How great is she?
There is no label or makers mark, just this crest on the front:

 

Any information regarding provenance is more than welcome.  
(I dreamt it was Asprey. . . and then woke up with a certain song by Aerosmith humming in my ears.)

 
(photo courtesy of Ballard Designs)

Still on the search for bamboo folding chairs similar to this lovely design.

Next on the Newport Polo Club Vintage Tailgate Party Agenda: 

The Guest List
The Menu
The Bar
The Wardrobe

The first match is Saturday, 19 June 2010
USA vs SCOTLAND

Plenty of time . . .

 

EBAY: A LABYRINTH OF LUXURIES . . .

 

 

I've been in need of an umbrella stand for, well, my entire adult life, now that I think of it . . .you would think every single home ever built in New England would come with an umbrella stand built into it's foyer (that's actually a great idea, maybe someone should market it? ) but having lived in many, that is, sadly, not the structural case.

  Some friends tell me they've scored a "Faux~Asian~Antique" copy at The Christmas Tree Shop, but I have yet to find one on my occasional visits there to stock up on candles, Carrs water crackers & cocktail napkins . . . (and sometimes that colorful and absolutely delicious Bassetts Licore  made in England . . .but even that is a rare find nowadays).

So, while recuperating from hosting a retirement party for my step~father which involved a keg of Guinness (courtesy of my brother~in~law, our resident beer & wine maker and sentry of THE little black book of numbers that could even have supplied us Absinthe when it was still illegal here), 30+ people, far too much greasy Irish food & blasting Celtic music (pictures forth coming), I decided to do a bit of eBay browsing for this critical object sorely missing from my home.  (A wonderful diversion when one does not want to face the aftermath.)

Compliments of Ebay's Labyrinth of Luxuries:

French period umbrella stand/painted wood & cane sides (find it here)
I love this...but with a starting bid of $149.99, that faux Asian one is gaining by a nose . . .

 

Anglo~Indian Teak Hallstand & Umbrella Rack (find it here )
Just the title makes it worth the $2,250.00 . . . but it would cost another thousand to find umbrellas worthy enough to be in the same room.  Come to think of it, I'd have to replace everything!
I'm in love . . .

 

French Iron & Bronze Umbrella Stand (find it here )
This would be perfect . . .I wonder if the umbrella is included for the $150.00?
This is a favorite . . .but it must weigh a ton, and that is an issue with shipping . . .

 

 

Oak Ball & Stick Umbrella Holder (find it here )
It's lovely, but with $425.00 the starting bid, the Xmas Tree Shop is beckoning . . .(I think I saw one of these at our local thrift store for $5.99 . . .)

 

c1890 Victorian Antique Wicker Umbrella Stand (find it here )
I love this, but could I paint it black?  For $495.00, I guess it should be the color I want . . .not to mention what painting it would do to the value.

Antique (???)  Umbrella Stand/black finish (find it here )
This could work, and it's only $29.99!
Somehow, I don't think this is an antique . . .especially since there are "More than 10 available".
Even so, I like it.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . .

Realizing I was truly in no condition to make a serious decision of any kind, I decided to put off my decision by making a far easier one:

It's not going to rain today anyway . . .