Rip Off the Sleeves and Make it One Of a Kind

This is the first of four posts this week featuring my brother, Stephen's wedding at the end of April...finally!  I had the pleasure of helping with a lot of the wedding details.  In this post, you can see the dress my new sister-in-law, Camille, wore.  She looked so beautiful, and Stephen looked so in-love.  It was a vintage dress from the 1970's, a Gunne Sax style dress, that we completely redesigned with the help of a seamstress.  It was the third dress she tried on from my shop and like a scene out of a movie, we ripped the sleeves off right there and we knew it was the one! We then had a seamstress reconstruct the bodice to be one shouldered, isn't it dreamy? 

 

Photos by Dansky Photography

New Vintage Coming This Week

This week I will be adding some bold dresses, bohemian bags and a couple vintage belts to the shop.  Here's a little peak.  I just got this industrial metal shelf for the shop, tomorrow I'll show some other new store fixtures that I purchased.  It is coming together slowly, but surely!

Shopping in My Own Store: Vintage Knit Dress

When I was at selling at Unique LA, I sold so much on Saturday that I needed to bring more clothes for Sunday, so I ran by the studio that morning and grabbed some of the clothing I had just gotten in.  There was this gorgeous cream knit dress in the pile and later that day when there was a lull, I decided to try it on over my clothes.  My friend Kassi and I agreed that I just had to keep it, at least for now.  I wasn't sure if I would get a chance to wear it before the fall, but to my surprise it has been very cold the last few days, so yesterday I threw it on with some, tights, boots and a bold leather trench. 

 dress ~ vintage

trench ~ vintage

tights ~ anthropologie

boots ~ aldo

necklace ~ salvage life

New Vintage This Week

As you know, I have been very busy with family events lately, the Unique LA show this last weekend and setting up my new studio.  To top off the hecticness (i love making up words), Ruby decide she wanted to potty train this week.  If you are a mother, you understand that if a child shows interest in the toilet, you cannot pass up the opportunity.  Luckily, it has been going well and I was still able to add some really pretty items to the SHOP this week!

Ruby's Vintage Shopping Adventure or Lack There Of

I purchased this vintage dress from a women at a vintage clothing show that said it was hers when she was a little girl. I love the color combo, the pin stripes and the little embroidered doggies.  I put Ruby in it the other day and followed her around taking pictures.  It's pretty much impossible to get her to pose, so I wrote a little story to go along with the random photos I took, pretty silly, but kind of fun.  Hope you have a great Wednesday!

 Once upon a time there was a little girl named Ruby who loved to wear vintage.  She found some money that had fallen out of her mom's purse, so she thought she would go out on a vintage shopping trip.

 She was very excited for her adventure!

 

Ruby threw on her favorite knit gray shrug, borrowed her mom's sunglasses, grabbed her baby doll and set out to her favorite vintage shop.

 When she was about half way down the driveway, Ruby remembered that she couldn't drive and she missed her mommy, so she headed for home.

 Luckily, Ruby had her thumb to comfort her when mommy saw that she had tried to go shopping with her money.

dress ~ vintage

shrug ~ thrifted

shoes ~ the gap via ebay

socks ~ target

barrette ~ vintage

Whirlwind Wedding Weekend

Thank you all for your heartfelt comments and emails.  I was glad that I could take a little time off to be with my family at this important time.  After a whirlwind of a weekend, I am settling back into normal life, though there is a lot of clean up still to do.  I didn't get many of my own pictures from the wedding because I was so busy being the Matron of Honor, decorations designer, wife to a groomsmen, sister to the groom, mother to the flower girl and so on.  It was crazy.  Honestly, five and a half hours felt like one.  I think the wedding turned out beautifully though, despite a few small glitches, like when my shoe broke right after the ceremony.  Once I collect more photos from the photographers and friends I will share them here in many more posts.  Here is a video clip of the beginning of the ceremony to give you a little taste of the happy day!  It's a bit long, so you can fast forward to 2:50 to see the bridesmaids, flower girl and bride's dress, all vintage by Salvage Life.

Ruby's Vintage Patchwork Dress

We've had some warm weather lately, so I jumped at the chance to put this sweet little vintage patchwork dress on Ruby.  Recently, she has been pretty adamant that she wear her pajamas all day, so getting her into this dress was no small feat.   I came up with the brilliant idea to "trade" (sounds much better than "bribe") her for something she would really appreciate.  So, after a bit of negotiation, she traded putting on the dress for one organic tortilla chip and letting me take pictures of her in the dress for two additional chips.  I think we both got a pretty good deal.

 

Outfit Post: A One Hundred Year Old Dress

Our lookbook shoot went really well yesterday and I can't wait to see the finished photos.  I am pretty tired though and now I have piles of shoes, purses and clothes all over my living room!

I changed my profile picture a few days ago because I loved how this photo of me turned out.  It's still odd to me to post all these pictures of myself, but you know what, my job isn't exactly run of the mill, so as long as you like the outfit posts, I'll keep doing them.

I bought this edwardian dress at the flea market a few months ago while it was still dark in the morning (yes, I go that early) and when I got home, I realized that it had some small holes in it and discoloration.  I also remembered that I don't really sell clothes that are this old.  Sometimes I just get so enamored with things that I lose all rational.  So I decided to experiment and see if this dress was something I could wear in a modern way.  The bodice was too big and I wasn't going to alter it, so I took a vintage brooch that was given to me by my mother-in law, folded it over and pinned it.  What do you think?  If you saw me wearing this on the street, would you tell your friends that you saw a weird lady wearing a hundred year old dress?

 

dress ~ vintage via flea market

brooch ~ gift from my mom-in-law

boots ~vintage via thrift store

sweater ~thrifted

belt ~ vintage via thrift store

WIWW ~ When it Pays to Pass

It's time for another WIWW, linking up with the pleated poppy and friends. This dress has a fun story...last month I went to Nordstrom because after a year of not buying anything new, I really needed a shirt or two.  While I was there, I saw this cute white lace dress and it was full price and not what I came for, so I didn't try it on.  I figured I could find something comparable in vintage (or actually in my closet, I have a lot of white/cream dresses).  A few days later I went to Buffalo Exchange to sell some of my clothes and while browsing the racks, I spotted the same dress!  Crazy enough it still had the tags on it and was a quarter of the price.  Plus, I sold some of my clothes, so it was basically free! Sometimes it pays to pass on things.

lace dress ~ buffalo exchange

leggings ~ thrifted

socks ~ target

jacket ~ betsey johnson

hat ~ vintage

shoes ~ thrifted (aldo)

briefcase ~ borrowed from my shop

jewelry ~ salvage life

I'm doing the sock thing again this week, I promise I don't do that everyday, but its been a fun way to wear summer shoes when it's cold.  I especially like how it looks layered over tights.  Last week people commented that they liked it, but wouldn't try it themselves.  I say go for it!  Try it with a really feminine dress and a pair of tights that are close in color, then it won't seem as obvious. Wear it around the house on a day when you have time before you go out, to warm up to the idea.  Let me know how it works out!

What I Wore Wednesday ~ Salmon and Grey

 I'm linking up with the pleated poppy and friends for what I wore wednesday.  Today's outfit includes an unexpected color combination that I kind of really like.  The gray is warmed up by the cream and salmon, perfect for the in-between winter and spring months.   Have a great day!

 dress ~ vintage

belt ~ vintage

socks ~ can't remember

shoes ~ nine west via buffalo exchange

necklace ~ salvage life

New Arrivals: Bags, Blouses and Dresses

Things have been a bit hectic around here, but there are some lovely things I have just added to the shop.  I am planning to sneak away for a few days soon, can't wait!  I am currently really loving these BIG bags that you can fill up with loads of things, do you prefer a big or small bag?

It's Warm Here and My Favorite Tights

I feel so bad posting this outfit while so many people are having bad weather, but it's warm here and that's only one of the reasons I will never leave Southern California. (the others being family, mostly).  I've had this dress from Anthropologie for a few years now, but it is still one of my favorites, I remember when I saw it in the store window!  I added a leather belt, tights, and gold shoes.  By the way, if you haven't noticed these tights are a staple in my wardrobe, when I found them at Loehman's, I immediately hoarded all the pairs in my size and I have designated one for boots and the other for open toed shoes.  I have a third pair on reserve in case something happens to one of the others and the fourth pair I gave to my sister, but I really had to think about it. :)

Note: For those coming over from lovely Lindsey's blog, I am really trying to get more then one outfit a week, but it's tax time and the terrible two's around here, so please understand.  :)
 Oh, and I was so busy talking, I forgot to mention that these photos were taken when there was no where to stand except in front of my little shop background, so enjoy the view of my studio/house. Pretty sure I spotted a cheerio, while this shot was being taken.

dress: anthropologie

belt: vintage

tights: free people

shoes: vintage

Vintage Mama Feature ~ Beth & Ruby's Photo Shoot

Ruby and I were invited to do a "vintage mama" post on the blogs of two very lovely ladies, Rubyellen of My Cakies and Rachel from Smile and Wave.  We did an interview about where we find the best vintage and a little photo shoot to go along with it.  I sent my favorite photos to the girls for their post, but I thought I'd share some of the others and the out takes here.

It's actually perfect timing because my "baby" Ruby turns two today.  I absolutely can't believe how big she is getting.  She has the most beautiful personality and she brings me more joy in one smile than I ever experienced before I had her.  Thank you for making my life full Ruby, I look forward to all that you will become!

 

~ on Beth ~

40's dress: rob's vintique

tights: free people

40's shoes: elsewhere vintage

necklace: salvage life

~ on Ruby ~

40's silk dress: american vintage

tights: Beth's from when she was a toddler

patent mary janes: gap via ebay

barrette: vintage via ebay

hat (seen in first photo): thrifted

New Arrivals: a little bit of everything

These are all new in the Shop today! Tomorrow I will have a sneak peak of items coming next week.  Hope you are having a wonderful Thursday!

SNEAK PEAK: Items coming to the SHOP this week!