Tales From A Vintage Wardrobe

A Day at The Market

 

Coco sporting another one of my grandmother's fabulous vintage dresses. 

 

 

 

The Red Velvet Shoe's booth at The Top Shelf Flea III.

Christine of Carmen and Ginger.
 

Giuseppe of An Affordable Wardrobe, James of 10 Engines, Giuseppe once again and Zachary of Newton Street Vintage.
 

 

A collage of some fun & fashionable shoppers who visited our booth:  Starting at the top left and working clockwise:  Miss Sara, in her lovely cat eye glasses, scored two great 1950s dresses and an adorable pink cardigan, Laura searches through piles of vintage gloves, Remma & Laura leaving with bags full of goodies, including a hot pink & red caftan from Hawaii, one of the most adorable visitors of the day~~this tiny tot left with a lovely multi~colored pastel floral brooch pinned to her little sweater, my two nieces clowning around with some of our vintage hats, their Mom above them modeling a gorgeous hot pink silk dress from Peck & Peck, and a young lady with fire red hair checking out her look in a vintage straw hat.  

Thanks to everyone who came out to attend The Top Shelf Flea Market yesterday (it was most heartwarming to be reunited with some high school friends I haven't seen in over 25 years and to meet one friend's three beautiful daughters...), and especially those who visited my booth, shopped and spent some time chatting with me about our common love for vintage fashions & style.  This marked the third bi~annual Top Shelf Flea Market venue and I think it's safe to say it's on it's way to becoming another fine Boston tradition...

 
(Photo courtesy of Carmen & Ginger~thank you!)

 

The Top Shelf Flea Market III Sunday 22 May 2011

 

 

It's that time of year, again....RSVP here. and save the date!

 

Enchanting April

 

 

 

Now that's a hat!

Spring Color Story I ~ Vintage Orange Crush

 
 

I spent some time the last few days looking at some spring/summer colorful fashions and I guess it's safe to say Orange is IN!  Inspired and having always wanted to create some sort of Lookbook/Color Story around here, I went for it.

Here is a collage of 99% new vintage coming to The Shoe.  (I won't bore you with the details of trying to get Paint.Net to cooperate and my apologies for the blurries in it....I guess there is something to reading a program manual before you attempt to use it after all.)

Wondering what you're looking at?  That's a pair of vintage Panoramic coated lens binoculars, the centerpiece is a fabulous vintage J. Tiktiner shirtdress in a gorgeous batik print, to the right a lovely pair of vintage Thos. Cort Ltd Genuine Reptile pumps, a very Cleopatra~ish peignoir set by Gossard/Artemis in Gypsy Red with green & gold detail, the bag is a Koret faux reptile with adjustable strap, some great orange & cinnamon vintage gloves, a set of four vintage Vera placemats (I didn't know she made placemats either), and a fabulous vintage silkscreen Vera scarf in a Scandinavian Folk Art print.  Way over to the right, something for your man: a cotton/linen blend Kanaka tie made in Hawaii, and on the left we have an adorable vintage coral & gold beetle brooch and a vintage Kenzo Jungle olive green leather skirt made in France (which has the most amazing purple floral lining which I will possibly use in another Color Story inside out!)

Now getting it all out onto the floor is another story....see something you like?  Email me at theredvelvetshoe.com for details. 

 

Take On The Rain In Style

 

Yves St. Laurent 1970s Vintage Trench Coat....find it here.

VINTAGE CLOSET SPRING CLEANING

Sorry I've been a bit scarce around here.  Trying to get ready for The Top Shelf Flea & dealing with a flooded basement due to the enormous amount of rainfall we've been "enjoying" here.  As you may recall, my workshop/studio has it's home in said basement, so it's a bit difficult to work right now.  We know it will happen every Spring, and I have everything organized so it is far above sea level, with just the area carpet to roll up, which I wait to do until the last possible minute.  I need atmosphere to work in!

So, since I can't do very much on the that floor of the house, I've decided to start at the top and get some Spring Cleaning underway.

Starting with this disaster of a closet . . .

 
 
Like the black velvet Donna Karan granny boots?  $5.99 Thrift Store Score!

 

 I know.  I know!

 

 This is the one drawer that is organized . . . all my vintage costume jewelry. . . some of which will be available at The Top Shelf Flea.

  
(Photo courtesy of House & Garden Magazine) 

As the project progresses and I find myself completely losing interest, I will remind myself that:

"A clean house is the sign of a boring person. "
~Author Unknown

 I will then pour myself a glass of wine and call it a day . . .

 

VERNAL EQUINOX . . . AT LONG LAST

 

 

"And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."

~Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Sensitive Plant"

 

THE PERFECT SPRING DRESS

 

 

 

No matter which way you look at it . . . available here.

WINDOW SHOPPING

Since most of us enjoy a leisurely stroll down a smart city street looking at fabulously turned out mannequins (aka window shopping) but may rarely have a chance to actually indulge such a luxury, I thought I would bring a virtual window shopping stroll to you!  Some of these lovelies are available for purchase, others are just favorite images I've saved from surfing the net. . .enjoy!

  *you may learn more about this gorgeous frock  here .

 * find out more about this lovely dress here

  A bit of Carrie~Vintage. . .adorable. . .

  Did I ever tell you I had a huge crush on Mikhail Baryshnikov?  I watched White Nights about 757 times!

Oh, and her dress is darling!

 A fashion delight to behold. . .one of my favorite style inspirations; Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. . .

Doesn't she look a bit annoyed?  This is what I look like when I get a busy signal, one of my pet peeves. . .

Breakfast never looked so good! 

SPRING ROMANCE

"In

the

Spring

a young man's

fancy

lightly turns

to

thoughts

of

love"

Alfred Lord Tennyson