Holes and Stains, But I Don't Care

I bought this 1940's dress a while back and it had a big stain on the skirt, it faded a bit with washing, but is too pronounced to sell in the shop, so it's now in my closet.  There is also a tiny hole in the bodice, but I don't care.  It's funny because people always ask me how I don't just keep all the vintage that I have in my shop, but I kind of have a rule that if it's in great condition, I have to try to sell it first.  If you ever see me wearing vintage, it will probably have a hole or stain, but don't hate because that just means that all the perfect vintage is in the shop for you to snatch up! I wore this outfit a few days before Easter and I liked it so much, I wore it again that day, with different shoes (hence, the last photo with my little Ruby and my hubby, Jeff).

The purse I am carrying, I made a few years ago from a vintage leather skirt and an old belt, I still have a box of leather skirts in the garage that I intended to make more of them out of, but I haven't gotten around to it.

 

 dress ~ vintage

belt ~ vintage

tights ~ free people

hat ~ target

bag ~ made from a vintage skirt and belt

shoes ~ vintage

shoes in last photo ~ pink studio

Shopping for Bridesmaid Shoes

UPDATE: I have now added the dress photo, sorry I forgot it the first time. :)

My brother is getting married to one of my best friends at the end of the month and I couldn't be more excited! The bride, Camille, will be wearing a vintage dress from Salvage Life that we have redesigned together with the help of a seamstress.  The bridesmaids will all be wearing mismatched vintage floral dresses from Salvage Life, inspired by this photo.

 We all have our dresses and are currently looking for shoes and belts.  Here is a photo of my dress and some shoes I am looking at online.  I would love any feedback you might have on which you think would look best.  We are going for some kind of natural toned shoe and it will be on grass, so I am thinking a wedge or stacked heel. 

The first three pairs are from Anthropologie and the rest are from Lori's Shoes.  Lori's is great, I have never shopped there before, but I actually already bought the last pair shown and am waiting for them to arrive.  They may not be the right style for the dress, but I am sure I will get a lot of use anyway.  Please let me know your thoughts!

A Current Affair Outfits

 There is this vintage show here in LA called A Current Affair that I have heard some amazing things about and haven't yet had a chance to attend.  I made that right this weekend and visited it on Saturday night.  They had about 25 vintage vendors of the high quality variety and I was impressed by how well curated the selection was.  I was also able to connect with some online vintage friends too as an added bonus!  My sister, Amy, and I got dressed up in our vintage best and went out to dinner beforehand.  It was a great girl's night out!  Here's a few pics to share of our outfits. Amy borrowed a dress and necklace from my shop, the necklace can be found here and the dress will be available online soon!

On Beth:

top ~ vintage

skirt ~ vintage via buffalo exchange

belt ~ buffalo exchange

tights ~ target

shoes ~ aldo via thrift store

clutch ~ vintage

necklace ~ salvage life

 

On Amy:

dress ~ salvage life

necklace ~ salvage life

tights ~ free people

boots ~ vintage

New Arrivals: Full Skirted Dresses & Vests

The following items are new to the Shop!  Full skirted dresses are  our biggest sellers, so we are constantly stocking more of those.  And I am a personal fan of vests of all kinds, they can really change the look of an out fit and are an easy addition to any wardrobe.

St John Knit & Artichoke Party Dress

I should have shared these a while back, but better late than never.  Here's a few of the outfits I wore to Christmas festivities.  I thrifted the green "artichoke" dress (as my husband called it, fine with me, I love artichokes!) a few months ago and couldn't wait to wear it!  The second outfit is a vintage St. John dress that I bought at the Assistance League Thrift Christmas Sale.  It wasn't cheap, but it was so timeless and it had pockets, I couldn't pass it up!

 

Green Dress: vintage

Black Shoes:

Necklace: gift from Mrs. Parsons in high school

Red Dress: vintage St. John 

Tights: Gap

Shoes: Vintage (thrifted)

Scottie Dog Barrette: Vintage (via LB antique market)

Never Go Wrong with Neutrals

When you want to look chic, but not dramatic, turn to a neutral shade of cream or nude with interesting details.  These just added to the shop...

Biggest SALE of the year! Save 30%!!!

 Here is the Coupon Code for our Holiday Sale, as promised!  So if you've been eying something in the shop or you still need a gift for a loved one, now is the time.  This is our biggest sale of the year and you probably won't see 30% off again for a very long time.  Below is a collage of some of my favorite items in the shop right now.  Happy Shopping!

Musical Muse: sheet music from 1898 meets a dress 1940's

Last weekend I was at a local thrift store with Ruby and I saw a box of old sheet music for 95 cents each.  They had the most beautiful designs and lettering and turned out to be half off so I bought a few even though I'm not sure what I will do with them yet.  This one from 1898 especially caught my eye because it reminded me of a dress that been hanging on the "fix-it" rack for a couple days (actually days turn into weeks pretty quickly around here). I though it would be fun to share these "friends" and hopefully this 1940's dress will be in the shop soon!

This post is inspired by Oh Joy's "this & that" series.

Ok, here it goes...Outfit Post!

I've been debating for a long time about whether or not to do outfit posts of myself.  I want to share what I wear, since I sell clothes and I think you, my customer, might be interested in what I wear.  On the other hand I feel silly taking photos of myself and posting them online for all to see.  So, maybe I should weigh the pros and cons:

Pros: 

1. Blogs are about sharing personal stuff, what's more personal (yet appropriate) than what you wear?

2. It will give me motivation to get up and get dressed rather than working in my pj's all day.

3. People will hopefully think I am stylish and want to buy more things from my shop, haha.

Cons:

1. The awkward feeling of standing in front of the camera and then looking at silly photos of myself.

2. I will have to get dressed instead of working in my pj's all day.

3. Risk looking like a fool in front of friends and strangers.

The pros and cons seem about equal, so I'm just going to go for it and see what you think.  If you like it, I will do more.

Jacket: Sweet Elements via Marshall's

Dress: Vintage

Leggings: Target

Purse: Rebecca Taylor

Necklace: Salvage Life

Boots: Vintage

Happy Customer = Happy Me!

There is nothing more nerve racking than selling vintage to another vintage seller.  I'm thinking...I hope it fits, I hope they like it, I hope they think I dated it correctly, etc.  Ok, now that I think about it selling to a celebrity made me slightly more nervous. :) Anyway, when Lauren from Dear Golden Vintage bought this dress I was thrilled, but like I said a little nervous as to how it would work out for her.  She just posted these photos on her blog and I have to say that I think it worked out VERY well.  The dress 1930's vintage, made of rayon crepe fabric, ascot neckline, bias body, it's just beautiful!  Oh, and did you see the back?!!!

New Arrivals...

Here are a few of my favorite items that I will be adding to the shop in the next few days.  I am just in love with the grecian printed one shoulder dress!

Sally Jane Vintage

Recently I have been making friends with some of the other wonderful online vintage sellers.  Someone was asking me the other day how I can be friends with the competition?  I explained to them that vintage is one of a kind, so we really aren't competing and we can appreciate the items that another seller has in their shop.  We connect on the plain fact that we think vintage is great and we all are trying to make a living selling what we love! This week Salvage Life has a little collaboration with Sally Jane Vintage, a great vintage blog that we sponsor.  We sent some of our favorite pieces from the shop to Jennifer of SJV and she sent us some lovely photos of her wearing them.  To see more beautiful photos, click over to Sally Jane Vintage.   If you are interested in purchasing any of the items shown you can find them here: yellow printed dress, blue printed dress, edwardian blouse, clay circle skirt.

 

photos by Tom B.

Another satisfied customer...

Another wonderful customer just sent these photos of herself wearing a dress from Salvage Life. Nicole Dinardo of Un Amore, custom designs and paints kitchen aid mixers, skateboards, guitars and probably anything else you could imagine. She needed a dress for a retro photo shoot and she found this beautiful yellow chiffon dress from our shop! Thanks for sharing your photos Nicole!