Category: Vintage

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Fall Colors & Falling Leaves

Browns & Leaves: This Marc by Marc Jacobs cotton scarf (a recent thrift store find) will be my go-to wrap for fall. Pictured with it, a necklace that pairs a vintage cameo with a leaf charm. It might seem like there’s an endless summer in Los Angeles, but we have leaves that fall from trees. (Note the cat cooperating for a photo op with fallen leaves.)

Green and Gold: My high school colors were green and yellow, like the pictured zucchini from the Santa Monica farmers’ market. I’m reminded of cross-country races at Sunken Meadow Park during the peak of fall foliage season on Long Island. While autumn is less dramatic in Los Angeles, the difference can be felt during morning hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains.

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Not-So-Fast Fashion: My Three Shopping Rules

I like thinking of a closet like a wine cellar: you carefully choose everything to suit your taste, you think of your selections as investments, you educate yourself on the makers, and you expect what you have to last a very long time.

When I cleaned and reorganized my closet recently, I surveyed the items and found most of my collection is made up of vintage (either discovered from vintage or thrift shops or purchased new 20 or more years ago) or second-hand items (found at thrift stores, yard sales, or on Etsy and eBay). Up-to-the-minute fashions? Not really. I have plenty of timeless styles and some on-trend pieces, but very little of it is brand-new — and that’s how I want it. A few years ago, I made a commitment to buy second-hand whenever possible, as part of an effort to make more environmentally friendly lifestyle choices. Since then, I have become even more discerning about what I buy. Sure, liking it and fitting into it are big factors. It used to be enough to feel good in it — now I want to feel good about it too. That’s why I follow these three personal rules for shopping:

Consider the source.
Reject fast fashion brands and support companies with ethical and sustainable business practices. Who makes the clothing? How? Where? (If that shirt is only $3, you have to know the workers who made it weren’t paid fair wages.) Look at labels and look into company practices. Find out about how your favorite brands operate and choose to support those companies that care about people and the planet, with production standards that are fair trade, sweatshop-free, and environmentally friendly.

Start with seconds.
When you buy second-hand items already in circulation — from vintage shops, thrift shops, consignment shops, yard sales, or sites like eBay and Etsy — you’re saving clothes from crowded landfills and also doing your part to minimize demand for production of newer items. Even better: Many worthy nonprofits are supported by thrift store sales. (Some of my favorites: Housing Works, Council Thrift Shops.)

Stay close to home.
When you shop locally, you support your local economy. Cutting down on travel and shipping means you’re also reducing your carbon footprint. Then there’s the feel-good factor: Buying from local shops and designers helps your neighbors and makes you feel like a valued part of the community.

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This & That: Spring Flowers, Birds, Butterflies

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This & That (& Green): New finds and old favorites I’m loving right now. A combination of vintage or second-hand items; beauty products and other goods made responsibly with better-for-you, non-toxic ingredients; and DIY creations. 

Spring’s arrival in Southern California is never as dramatic as in other regions, but we still welcome its arrival with the sights and sounds—birds chirping, springtime flowers blooming, and the extra light. It’s only natural to favor lighter, brighter colors and embrace floral patterns this time of year.

Pictured above:

Camellia flower in bloom.

New spring wardrobe staples—all from thrift shops—include a bright and multi-patterned Antik Batik scarf I scooped up during a lunch shopping spree with friends last week. The vintage bucket bag is from the Original Earthbags by Fred Salerno line (and it was only 10 bucks!). Because I suddenly have no interest in wearing any of my black or dark denim jackets, this fitted Esprit jacket in faded blue is going into heavy rotation.

Jewelry for spring: Bangle bracelets with floral patterns, both vintage and second-hand. The earrings and necklace are DIY creations: I made the earrings with peach glass beads from a rosary and the bird charm on the necklace is actually an old button.

Bring on the  butterflies! We have milkweed plants in the yard to attract monarch butterflies and it’s always a thrill to watch the caterpillars grow—and to see butterflies in the yard. I also picked up this seed packet to attract even more.

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Irish Eyes are Smiling: Clovers and a Claddagh Ring

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Photos of clover: around the pink flamingo in the yard, in the Santa Monica Mountains, and in the house.

The Irish Claddagh ring is a recent thrift store find. I love the design to represent love, loyalty, and friendship. Tradition holds that it should be given as a gift, but I didn’t want to pass up the bargain—only $6 and sterling silver—so I brought it home and told Mr. MVP he could give it to me (and he happily obliged). It is shown here on a vintage handkerchief embroidered with shamrocks, given to me by my mom.

The rosary beads—another thrift store find—are wood with shamrocks all around the beads. I’m a collector of rosaries and often find them rusty and broken; repairs are easily made with a pair of small pliers, and I like to use some of the beads to make upcycled earrings, bracelets, and necklaces.

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New Treasure: Key Neckace

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This gift from Mr. MVP comes from an antique dealer who said it was from Mexico. It’s marked 329, so it’s more likely a mailbox or front door key than one used to open a hidden trunk filled with books and letters. I have a thing for old keys and this one feels like it can unlock treasures.

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Inside the Art of Cuisine

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Here’s another vintage cookbook for my collection: The Art of Cuisine by Henri de Toulouse-Laurec and Maurice Joyant. The 1966 collection has recipes with some imprecise directions (“take a large handful of onions…”), along with illustrations from Laurec. From the intro: “He imagined a dish as an artistic creation, like writing a poem or dancing a ballet.” Love.

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A Holiday Gift Guide for Giving Better Stuff

I heard someone joke about going to the local thrift store the day after Christmas to donate the just-unwrapped and unwanted bounty of gifts. Yes, we definitely have a collective problem with too much stuff (and too much waste), which is why it’s great to give experience gifts or contributions to good causes in the recipient’s name. But sometimes the best gift really does come in a package you can hand to your loved one for opening. For gift-giving that’s more meaningful, ’tis the season to:

Give twice.

When you buy items from thrift stores or auction sites that benefit nonprofits, your dollars support their work. A few favorites even have online shops, including Housing Works. When you shop online while logged in to Amazon Smile, you can choose a nonprofit to receive a small portion of sales. Also, sites like Bidding for Good offer products and experiences that benefit a variety of organizations.  

Another way to give back is by buying from gift shops for museums and parks, in person or online. (A few favorite museum shops: MoMA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, LACMA, The Getty.)

Stay local.

Support the independent businesses in your neighborhood by shopping local—especially at book stores and sources that sell the works of local artisans. Even better if you can shop on foot or bike, leaving the car behind.

Be a maker.

Homemade gifts, including food and personal care items, are twice as nice. Extra touches: attach a recipe for the recipient and consider a vintage glass jar, container, or tin that can be reused.

Celebrate good taste.

Put another way: give tasty edibles. Choose locally grown produce, sweet treats, and other items for out-of-the-ordinary dining experiences at home. First stop: food vendors at your local farmers’ market. A farmers’ market basket or bag with fresh and local produce and a cookbook is a perfect gift. My grandmother always said, “Food is love.”

Make it an experience gift.

Give movie, concert or theater tickets, restaurant gift certificates, or museum memberships and you’re giving the recipient an experience to enjoy. The same goes for magazine subscriptions, books, music CDs, and DVDs of movies or TV shows. Also consider giving games or a puzzle from a photo-printing service that allows you to create one with personal photos.

Go green.

One size fits all: House plants, herb gardens, and seeds or outdoor plants for loved ones with yards.

Buy better products.

It’s true about one person’s trash being another’s treasure—and when you buy from antique markets, consignment and thrift shops, eBay, Etsy, Craigslist, and other sources of second-hand items, you do your part to reduce waste to landfills. Think of it like the island of misfit toys from “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”—there are worthy, good-as-new items out there looking for a home.

Another factor to consider: the maker of the products. Give from companies with responsible business practices—organic, Fair Trade, sweatshop-free, environmentally-friendly, sustainable, etc. (Look up B Corps for more.)

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Green Teacup

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On a quest to find vintage china to use when we’re feeling fancy, we found two almost complete sets at a thrift store with complementary gold and silver accents. That meant an abundance of tea cups we won’t need. This one is filled with small rocks on bottom (so roots won’t rot), soil, and cuttings from succulents growing in the yard.

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Flapper Look: Sparkly, Red, Smokey

For a family friend’s 85th birthday party, she threw a ’20s-themed party and asked guests to dress in period attire. She picked good timing, with another movie version of “The Great Gatsby” coming out soon and ’20s looks showing up on red carpets and in fashion spreads. I love ’20s style any day.

You can see Lila and I had the same thing in mind when putting together our looks.

My flapper look came together easily with accessories and makeup choices. Subtlety? That’s no fun. In addition to a ring on every finger (two on a few!), I wore multiple strands of pearl, crystal, and glass beads, a pearl brooch, and a rhinestone headband. Most accessories were vintage finds.

I pulled my hair back in a clip to approximate the bob look and decided on matte red lips and smokey grey eyes. I shudder to think about the chemicals found in makeup available in the ’20s — there was certainly lead in the lipstick — but my 21st century makeup bag contains only non-toxic choices. Lips: Jane Iredale’s Lip Definer in Crimson topped with RMS Lip2Cheek in Rapture. Eyes: Jane Iredale Eye Liner in Black Grey and Alima Pure Pearl Luster Eye Shadow in Grace. Face: Un-Cover-Up by RMS, topped with Alima Pure’s Shimmer Powder in Sorbet, plus some Living Luminizer by RMS in the corners of eyes and on brow bone. Voila.

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Zen Place on a Chain

My favorite vintage items are the ones that I’ve had before they were vintage. I’ve had this beach scene charm since I was a kid. Closing my eyes and picturing the beach is the trick I use to calm myself. This is like wearing my zen place around my neck.

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Groundhog Day: New Day for the Vest

It’s Groundhog Day and the movie of the same name has been airing on cable TV. Andie Macdowell’s character wears a pink baggy sweater over a blue button-down shirt for most of the movie (not appealing), but I like the white shirt and vest she wears in the dinner scene with Bill Murray’s character. In the ’80s and ’90s, this look would be paired with high-waisted and pleated (gasp) jeans or trousers, but I would like it with skinny jeans and booties.

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Fashion Flashback: High School Rings

During a recent family visit, I found the high school ring of my cousin’s husband and suggested that my cousin wear it on a chain as a necklace. That’s when I wished I had my own high school ring. I wore rings in high school and had already developed a fondness for jewelry, but I had no interest back then in a high school ring. Then Mr. MVP told me he didn’t get one, either. So this sent me to Ebay and Etsy to search for castaway high school rings. I found this one on Etsy and chose it for its color (iridescent blue, so dreamy) and high school name (Pleasant Grove High, which sounds like the name of a school in a book that would be made into a dark indie movie with a really great soundtrack). The Etsy seller wrote that she purchased the ring with a lot of others from an estate sale; it was dirt-cheap and now I have it hanging on a black cotton string made from a recycled T-shirt, with two other childhood rings.