Tales From A Vintage Wardrobe Blog

Six Year Anniversary = Cosmetic Surgery

Six years ago this month The Red Velvet Shoe opened the doors to it's virtual vintage boutique.  If you read this blog, you know my dream is to, someday,  unlock the doors to a brick & mortar store-front in addition to our online boutique.  You also know that all along I've been sneaking things into the house & past husband that I could someday use in said shop.  Sadly, I had to let some beautiful things that didn't fall into the "sneak-past-husband" category go, but even so, my collection of "Someday Shop Stuff" grew into a collection that was becoming difficult to hide.   When I overheard him muttering "clean that basement out...DUMPSTER..." I knew my days were numbered and I had to do something STAT.

After a great day setting up shop at Urban Vintage Bazaar on 21 April , I decided since much of my inventory was already packed up and out of my workspace, it was the perfect time to give The Red Velvet Shoe a major facelift.  My workspace & shop are in my basement, and although it's a finished basement, it wasn't exactly my dream office & workspace, to say the least.  Not knowing remotely when I would be in a position to use all my treasures in an actual store front, I decided to use them in the space I have and make it my dream office, workspace & boutique...that was a month ago yesterday, and while not 100% complete, I decided it was high time to show you what I've been doing for the past month:

Welcome to The Red Velvet Shoe ~ Boutique

The dressing room...

The sitting area...

The "Gothic Amethyst" fireplace doubling as a bar...(click Here to see the before photo)

My worktable & reference library.

My desk & sewing table.

The crystals to the 1930s Lightolier Chandelier prior to cleaning...

and after....my favorite piece in the entire shop!

Next on the agenda: "Grand Opening "Soirée in The Shoe" ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Girl Has To Dream...

 
 

WEEKEND WISH

 (Photo courtesy of tajhotels.com)

To be this blond, in this car, with this driver, staying here.
A girl can dream, can't she?

TOMMY LOVE

"Tommy Hilfiger’s alpha moment came in the early ’60s,
 when he started peddling bell-bottoms to
middle-class kids who were looking to
embrace the hippie spirit of the age.
Obsessed with the burgeoning American music scene,
in 1969 the 18-year-old opened his first store
—the People’s Place—
in his hometown of Elmira, New York,
before a slump in the economy forced him
to shutter its doors in 1976.
Humble beginnings for someone who now
runs a company worth more than $3 billion,
but through it all Hilfiger sure has put his
money where his mouth is when it comes to
his love of all things made in the USA."   

(Elle Magazine October 6, 2009)

 

Being so obsessed with vintage fashion,
I was surprised I did not know this little bit
of very important information about Tommy Hilfiger. 
Did you? 
I've always loved his "look"  and this is probably why!

"This month, Hilfiger unveils his paean
 to fashion and pop culture with his new
Fifth Avenue flagship, a renovation of a
neoclassic building by iconic architects
McKim, Mead, and White."  (Elle)

 

 “Everyone has a lane,” Hilfiger says.
“Mine may be more appropriate now than it ever was.” 
 (Elle)

 

(photo courtesy of rpulse.com )

Another wonderful story about not giving up on a dream!!

Congratulations, Mr. Hilfiger, for staying true to yours!

 

 
  

HOW TO SPEND A RAINY DAY . . .

How do you like to spend a rainy day?

 

I think I'll sleep in a bit. . .

 

soak in a bubble bath. . .

  

get dressed up. . .

 

meet a friend for coffee and a decadent pastry. . .

 

treat myself to a manicure. . .

 

do a little shopping. . .

 

catch a matinee'. . .

 

take a long nap. . .

 

get dressed again. . .

 

for a romantic dinner for two. . .

 

*visit The Paris Hotel Boutique Journal to enter a wonderful French Inspired Give Away!

 

 

DREAM A LITTLE (BIG) DREAM FOR ME

I have a big list of Maybe Someday's. . .but at the top of my list is:  Own a Vintage Clothing Boutique.  A Vintage Fashion Atelier, of sorts.Yes, I have this Virtual Boutique and it allows me to indulge in my passion for working with Vintage Clothing.  However, if I were able, I would love to have an actual Boutique.  In a beautiful old building with lots of character and hard wood floors with lots of antique chandeliers and mirrors. . .something like this:

 I love the tall windows~~how fun it would be to do window displays!!  I would invest in some beautiful antique dress forms. . .this storefront is home of The Wedding Club in the UK.

I also like this one:

I lost a bit of photo quality when I edited it but you can see the great architecture, and again tall windows!   I found this from a site called The Ped Shed, I guess it was in a town they did a feature on.

This one is sweet, too.  My husband and I actually walked past this when he was in Washington D.C. on a business trip.  We stayed in Alexandria, VA and the entire town was cobblestone streets and old historic buildings~~I had a blast shopping while he was at the seminar!

It was the prettiest shade of pink and my favorite shade of blue. . .wow, I wonder if this was the inspiration for my website colors????

And the inside would look something like this:

 www.exquisitecostume.com

boutique owned by Suzanne Prieur

And this is my absolute dream workspace/shop/boutique. . .of course it's in Paris!!!

www.chaalis.com

And this would be the perfect cash register, wouldn't it?

www.dreamkeepernj.com

And maybe someday it would become the most fashionable place to shop (of course with Valet Parking!)  the place to see and be seen, a place to meet a girlfriend for an afternoon of shopping and then coffee and  pastry in the tea room, a place where the sales clerks are immaculately turned out from head to toe and address you as Mrs. So and So, where they carefully wrap each beautiful item you choose in crisp, clean tissue paper, where the doorman holds the door for you and says "Have a Wonderful Day". 

A girl has to dream. . .