Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas and New Year's Eve

I got so busy with the holidays and the holiday Etsy listing and shipping that I didn't have time to blog. I'm not complaining though.  Finding time to ship is a good problem to have, it means my store is making sales and that is always encouraging and welcome.

My goal right now is to be stocking up on some spring merchandise which is fun because it means SHOPPING. But as much as I love Spring, it's not as fun as sparkly New Year's Eve pieces I'm currently obsessing over.  Check out the finds below!

First however,  I'll share with you some pictures of my Anthropolotique style Christmas decor.  Advance apologies for the pictures, I took them all on my iphone out of laziness.  I'll try an remember to take some on my Nikon before I take all the decorations down.




I bought these jars a yard sale and I love them! I change the contents with the seasons and it's alot of fun. The clear and silver ornaments on the left for a from a thrift store. The pretty silver ones are from BIG LOTS! Got them for $3.50 a package. They look very vintage, but they're not. Anthropolotiquing doesn't always necessarily mean vintage and garage sales. 



This is my Christmas Dinner table. The tablecloths are all vintage finds, the tree is another Big Lots find (I know, who knew!). The flowers and pots are from the 99 cent store. The cinnamon sticks that I used on the napkins, Trader Joe's. 




Another view. I love how this table turned out.  



Another view. I love how this table turned out.  


AND now finally to some fabulous New Year's Eve attire....

The blouse below is in my shop right now. It's gorgeous and comfy too! Great with a pencil skirt or high waist black pants. 





This dress caught my eye and I wanted it badly! While I debated whether I could shrink my bust down by 3 inches it sold. Too bad, it was a great price too!     Vtg Dress





I love a good peplum! This one is perfect for a NYE party. 



So this one isn't gold or sparkly, but I just adore it. Spring dreaming I suppose.











Friday, November 23, 2012

Free People Vintage

Have you ever gone over to Free People's website? They have a vintage store that sells "one of a kind" vintage clothing and accessories.  They have awesome stuff that is styled well but it is SUPER EXPENSIVE. Super duper expensive in my opinion.

I wonder why with all the vintage that is online now-a-days why people purchase stuff from their site... Is it because they style it well? I don't think so, lots of shops online have great style.   I've gone through this over and over in my brain and I think it's because people feel it's been validated as "cool" because it's in their vintage shop. Or maybe they feel it's worth more because they paid more?  I get that and if I had that kind of money I might buy something from them as well.

This isn't an attempt to put down their store, it's a great store! I've just been pondering and trying to figure out why some vintage stores get away with charging huge prices and make lots of sales and others charge little and sell little.  I guess that's the big secret to selling vintage!

Anyhow whether or not you have the money to buy from them it's worth a browse over there to see what they have! I like how they break up there shop into "themes".   Right now a couple of my favorite themed sections are "Pretty in Pink" which is vintage special occasion pink tulle dresses.  They also have a "Tartan Traveler" section which features lots of fair-isle sweaters and tartan shirts (which also sell for close to $300).

Here's a couple of vintage items from Free People that I would buy if I had that kind of money and some similar finds on Etsy.


This dress is in FP's "Black Sheep" Section which has black and white and lots of lace. I love how they photographed it, but like to see the clothes on models to get an idea of fit.



Vintage white strapless lace dresses are hot right now and very hard to find. If you find one at a decent price, snatch it up fast because they sell quick. If you can't find one in your price one, perhaps you could pair a vintage bustier or corset with a white lace skirt? Lots more of those online. 

This bustier would be great with a high waisted skirt. I love the look of this particular one and you can't beat the price!



 There are lots of options on Etsy, search for lace skirt, petticoats, slips etc. I particularly like this one. 






This sweater on FP is Ski Apres Chic for sure.



 So this one doesn't have the cool skiers, but the colors are similar and it's still ski apres chic and it's almost 90% less....




From the "Tartan Traveler" section (which I love how they styled) is this plaid jacket




 This one on Etsy is very similar and it's Pendelton! 



I love this tapestry purse on FP. You can find lots of them on Etsy. Search for 'needle point vintage purse' or 'tapestry purse vintage'







These military anorak type jackets are very trendy. Love them! 










Thanks for visiting my blog! 












Saturday, November 17, 2012

Because I'm from Florida....

I love fashion and I love putting together outfits but when it comes to Fall layering I'm CLUELESS. There are days when I honestly feel like a little kid trying to get all the pieces to work together and getting look right and not looking bulky....so complicated with all those pieces!

I'm clueless because I grew up in Florida... South Florida.  In South Florida it's really hot and humid 90% of the year and you don't want to wear many clothes (have you been to South Beach?).  So when it finally drops from the 90's to the 80's in November not much changes in your wardrobe.

 In the Fall in Florida your "coat" is a jean jacket,  your "boots" are your closed toe flats or even (gasp) socks with your sandals. Granted I went to school in a lower income area and I'm sure the girls in the prep schools had fall boots... and I'm also sure I made fun of them for wearing them when it was 85 degrees out.  No scarves, gloves, beanies.... you get the point.

In the winter when the rest of the country was bundled up we'd have days at the beach.  On the rare occasion when we would have a "cold snap" and the weather would drop into the 40's people brought blankets to school. No joke.  So if you ever see a Floridian like me in Canada at Christmas time looking like a total winter fashion disaster have a good laugh.  We sure laugh at you all when you bring your pasty selves to the our beaches :-)

Now here I am in Southern California. It's not a cold weather climate, but it is definitely colder than tropical Florida.  Layering is essential here. The weather changes throughout the day by 20-30 degrees and I get so confused as to what to wear.   I often find myself staring at girls in cute fall outfits trying to dissect them and figure out how they made it work.  I'm getting better at it, but I must admit there has been quite a few times where I attempted a cute layered look and changed at the last second because I felt foolish.



Anyhow I'm trying to get better at Fall styling and have been doing some online research.  Here is items that I would love to buy for my SoCal layering.






What's better than the skinny jean? Skinny cords. I love them.





Here's a great winter coat for my fellow Floridians and it's vintage :-)




And of course fall boots! I found these at an estate sale. I adore them, but they don't fit! But the perfect fall boot, don't you think? They are military issued from the early 1900's. Sigh. Shrink feet, shrink...






I wore Birkenstocks like these year round and when it got cold I threw on some socks! Who needs boots? 








Sunday, November 4, 2012

Old Picture - Help me ID???

I picked up this old picture yesterday at a garage sale and I liked the looks of it.  The price was only $5 so obviously I bought it.

Didn't think much of it but when I looked closely at it I noticed that it was dated 1854. Upon closer inspection it seemed to be an original drawing. 

I'm am not an art expert at all.   I googled different variations of what the artist name seems to be Wendler? Mendler? 

Anyhow nothing has come up.  Not sure what to do now.  An art appraiser? But then I might feel like a fool when it's nothing:-)

Anyhow here is the pictures I took of the front of the picture, the artists name and the back of the piece.

Let me know if you have any thoughts! Or suggestions of what the name might be.


When you look at it in person you can see the metallic of the pencil markings and it is different than the color spots. That's why I think it's original.






Between my hubby and I, we've come up with many variations of what this name is. What do you think?
Even it's not a famous artist, if it's original and really from 1854 it should be worth something, right? I told you I'm not an art expert:-)





All I can decipher from this is "French man". Thoughts?



Thursday, November 1, 2012

Sweater Season!



Yay! It's finally cooled down enough in Southern California for me to be able to start thinking about sweaters again. I love sweaters. They're cozy and they can make great statement pieces.  I headed over to Anthropologie's website to see what they had. I'm going to be honest, I was a little un-inspired this time. There are seasons where I just drool over Anthropologie's sweaters and this season I was a little let down. There were a couple of cute ones, but hopefully next fall will be better. Fingers crossed.

Anyhow between looking at street style blogs, popular internet searches, and just plain ol' shopping I've noticed some sweater trends. Oversized is huge right now, pun intended. Fairisle is still going strong. Cable knit, especially big chunky cable knit is being worn by lots of fashionistas.  Anthropologie seems to be liking polka dots and dots in general. Dots are all over Pinterest too.

In my opinion though (and not because I have a vintage store on Etsy) I think this year that vintage is the way to go.  There are some really cool ones on Etsy, so make sure you see the photos at the bottom of this post. Don't miss the NKOTB one, amazing.


This one below from Anthropologie looks cozy and I love all the color. I've noticed "Spacedye" sweaters have been a popular search on Etsy  lately. This would be cute with high boots.




Yes, this one is in my shop but it's awesome.  I love the bright color and those striped sleeves are awesome.



This is one of several polka dot sweaters that Anthropologie had on their website. Very versatile. If it was in my closet I'd wear it with a pencil skirt.

 


This one Etsy is polka dot AND Fair Isle. Too cute! I'm personally too busty for that high neckline. It's only $18, so if you want it you'd better move fast! 



These throw on sweaters are great for Southern California where the temperature changes like crazy throughout the day. You always need a cardigan to throw on. The one below is probably my favorite on Anthropologie and I LOVe how they styled it. 


This vintage one on Etsy is very cool. I love the toggles.


More Sweaters sweaters that I just love!!!!

Imagine this leopard cardigan with a pencil skirt, tights and boots. I LOVE it!


This one is AMAZING! If I had an extra $98 right now it would be in my closet. So cool.

 


I love the cable knit on this one. Simple, versatile and cozy.


And to close out my tour of sweaters, this NKOTB one is too cool. Too cool for me, but some girl is going to rock it and I give her props.


What sweater trends are you into this year?


Sunday, October 28, 2012

The Wall Collage - Finally

We moved into this house a couple of months ago, sight unseen. Long story, but we had been on the road for a year. My best friend Juliana checked it out for us. The only photo we saw of it was a tiny picture of the kitchen in the corner. Anyhow, she loved it and I trust her so we signed a lease.  Now we're here and we love our place.

This house is an old house that has a big add on room in the back. The add on room is about 16 x 24 feet, carpeted, has recessed lighting, and loooooongg flat walls. Kind of feels like a basement .  When we first moved in there was also HEAVY gold and red drapery which as soon as the landlord left I took down and put in storage. Really helped lighten the room.

 For the next couple of weeks we did alot of sitting in the room, some lying on the floor and alot of pondering on how we were going to use the space.   Well I'll keep this short, but we've made it our dining room/living room. Most of it has been done for a while except this darn wall collage that I wanted to put up.  I thought wall collages were easy: buy some pictures and hang them. I was sooooo wrong. It's been months of buying pictures, changing my mind.. blah, blah, blah. I was making my husband nuts. He said he wouldn't patch the holes in the wall until I was done with the collage. He thought it would motivate me, but we've just had an ugly wall for months...

Anyhow the other night I was at Goodwill "Anthropolotiquing" and I found all of these gold frames. 9 of them. I thought they cost too much so I didn't buy them. Got home,regretted not buying them, thought about them all night. Woke up the next morning still thinking about them. Finally I decided to go back and see if they would take a lower price. They did! I didn't realize you could bargain at Goodwill, glad I tried! Got 6 of them for $60 (Hey, I'm on a budget!)

That night my husband painted the frames white for me.  I went and pulled out all of the pictures I had been collecting.  Still wasn't working. The next day I hit up some garage sales and found a couple odds and ends. My friend Juliana talked me into buying this small mirror that I almost put down and it ended up being the magic piece to fit it all together!


Mixed the mirrors in with vintage black and white etchings and some vintage prints. On a side note, if you ever need to make a dining room work in a carpeted room, USE and OUTDOOR rug. They are way cheaper and the chairs slide on it super easy! 



See the gold mirror my friend talked me into? It totally makes it all work, in my opinion. Anthropolotiquing is best done with a buddy! I still want to tweak them a bit, but my husband is refusing.




That bronze wall hanging was an estate sale find from the weekend. Needs to be cleaned up, but I love it! 


Here's how we've structured our Living Room/ Dining Room. Still want to add ceiling fans to break up the recessed lighting and a curtain on that random door on the right wall in the middle. AND new couches, but who doesn't want new couches?


Another piece I picked up at the estate sale. Cool vintage ceramic piece.

 

Gold pots, lace table cloths, pottery. Seems to be a gold and white weekend.


Cool mid century pottery piece with gold flecks. Adding it to Anthropolotique Vintage soon if you're interested!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Cheap and Cute - 99 Cent Store Etsy Packaging

Things have been slow this week in terms of sales at Anthropolotique.... So what to do with my free time? Work on my shop. I used to sell on Ebay and a big difference between Etsy and Ebay is what customers expect in terms of packaging. On Ebay it doesn't matter so much, customers are just happy you are not a scam and that they got what they ordered.  Well Etsy customers  really like it if you make your stuff cute. And I agree, half the fun of buying something on Etsy is getting something in the mail that is wrapped cute.  I'm sometimes amazed at the packaging that arrives, the packaging looks like it cost more than the actual item I purchased!  It's hard to make money on Etsy and I'm surprised that sellers are able to afford such cute packaging...

Last night I had 2 whole hours to myself and created a mission for myself instead of staying home and watching trashy reality TV.  Mission:  find cute Etsy packaging for cheap. So I headed to my favorite cheap place... the 99 Cent store.

First I grabbed several rolls of this brown kraft paper. I like to recycle boxes for shipping and I use this to wrap the boxes.  Quite often the 99 Cent store is sold out so I stock up when I can.




I was actually looking for some cute string to wrap with but I felt inspired when I found the yarn. Everyone does string, yarn is different... I think.


My Treasures. A dictionary? Retro looking contact paper? Just wait and see.


My prototypes 


No I did not get that tag punch at the 99 cent store. But I did get it for super cheap at Joann's with a 50% off coupon. I use those tags for everything.




Prototype 1 - Kraft paper, white string and a tag punch from contact paper. I can also peel the back off and use the tag as a sticker.  I'm going to go back to the store and see if they have contact paper in a Christmas print. Wouldn't that look cute?


Prototype 2 - Kraft paper, yarn and tag punch from the DICTIONARY. I love this idea because it's also like a fortune cookie, what word will they get? One of the tags I did this way happened to be the word "encourage" and another was "transcend". 


Prototypes 3 and 4 for clothing. Clothing looks much neater wrapped in tissue vs. the kraft paper, so I think I'll stick with the tissue paper. Also that's a "Thank You" stamp that I bought at the $1 section at Target.


I'm also thinking of purchasing the stamp above with "Anthropolotique" in the middle. 
Thoughts?