The Greatest Thing to Happen to Texas since….

We have been traveling the world, also know as Texas, searching for some incredibly unique finds in preparation for our show this weekend. We will be joining over 50 vintage dealers from all over the metroplex, dealers from online shops, and from other parts of the country in the Dallas Vintage Jewelry Show in Grapevine, March 16-17. Other vintage shops from DFW will be there as well, such as Zola’s, Vintage Martini, and Dolly Python.

The show itself is the first of its kind in Texas. One of the promoters is quoted as saying you can find everything “from Mad Men to Downton Abbey”. This sounds like a perfect excuse to duck out of work early on Friday and head over to Grapevine! Doors open at 3pm, but if you’re like me you can get in an hour earlier for $20 and beat the crowds. Not to mention, secure some of the best deals for yourself.

When our store does shows like this throughout the year, the first question is always what to take. We’ve hit the vintage lottery so much in the last few months that it’d be hard to not take everything! The 80’s Carolina Herrera dresses, the silk Malcolm Starr, our lot of vintage skin bags…who can choose? And our plethora of vintage cowboy boots, they get lonely without enough attention. But don’t fret! We won’t empty the store. You’ll still have plenty to play with in our store this weekend. We know that Easter is right around the corner, and scoring that one of kind, would hurl yourself over a pew if you had a twin at service that morning, Easter dress is top priority. No Easter is complete without a great vintage hat to match.

Pastels mean Spring, and while we hope that was the last cold front of the year, Spring is coming! Whether you come to the store in Fort Worth, or the show in Grapevine, we hope to see you this weekend, with some sunshine and good weather to keep us all in a better mood.

We have the pleasure of meeting some really cool people in the shop from time to time. On Friday we met a couple in town from Austin, escaping the SXSW craze. It was their first time to Fort Worth, so we got to chatting with them of course. He is an inventor, and vintage lover, and she is an adorable young lady who makes everything vintage look good. He is the creator of Vintage Vanities, a small, but soon to be large, company that hand makes pocket sized mirrors. He cuts the glass, crafts a copper material around the edges so they are smooth and never rough, and places a unique image in the other side. His images, he’s chosen carefully, hand picking each to his own taste. Some of the images include the graffiti artist Banksy, Duchamp’s Mona Lisa, Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and many other classic images of vintage beauties like Bridget Bardot. Not to mention this pretty awesome David Bowie! Love the hair dude. He also has a line of 19^th century images that would make you laugh, or blush, but are great to say the least. These we’ll have to let you discover yourself. His mirrors are carried in stores all over Austin, and are quickly catching on all over. When creativity and small business come together and meet success, that always makes us smile! Happy soggy Monday, vintage lovers!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vintage-Vanities/142526999094400

The Five Vintage MUST haves!

Every woman who loves shoes has her rabbit to chase. Christian Loubiton, Prada, Jimmy Choo. We all have that one pair in mind that we say ‘When I hit the lotto, I’m totally buying that (insert designer name here) that cost more than my rent!’ For vintage lovers, there are MANY rabbits we chase. Kalen is determined to own a vintage Chanel purse. I’m after a vintage Louis Vuitton purse, and at least one thing worn by someone famous in the 50’s or 60’s. So for this week I decided to introduce the top 5 things every vintage lover should own at some point in their vintage loving lives:

1. A Vintage Fur!

Oh yeah, I said it! A FUR! Call PETA on me or whatever but everyone should own a piece of fashion history. Let’s face it, the animal has been dead longer than my grandmother has been alive. It’s not doing anyone any justice by being ignored, or not worn for “ethical” reasons. What’s not ethic is letting that beauty go to waste! I bought a Mink Stole for my wedding. I love that thing. It’s so soft, of course, and it even smells all vintage-y and good. I wore it on out over my wedding dress on our way home and got many compliments. It’s old Mink. His family doesn’t miss him anymore. They are all long gone too. But maybe not made of coats, God willing.

2. An Alligator Bag!

The same goes for an alligator bag as the fur, except that lets be serious, we could use less animals that want to eat us in the world, right? Ever been chased by a mink or a rabbit, probably not. Ever been chased by an alligator? Not yet, but that’s because when I went to school in Florida they taught you how to out run one, just in case you ever did. I come prepared. Alligator bags are eclectic, they are always in style. They just LOOK amazing and a pleasing to the touch too. I could go on forever about an alligator bag, but just trust me, you need one in your life. I wandered around Minneapolis one Sunday in November and was lucky enough to run across a vintage Pierre Cardin Rattlesnake skin clutch. It was $12. I take that darn thing everywhere. When people are like ‘Oh my gosh I love your bag’, I say ‘Yea you do!’ We did have this amazing green lizard bag over Christmas that I just fell in love with too. Unfortunately it’s cheating on me with it’s new owner somewhere in the metroplex. I miss you Lizzy!

3. Vintage Jewelry!

I am not picky here, you just need to own some vintage jewelry. Jewelry is just not made the same way it used to be. Vintage jewelry doesn’t fall apart after washing your hands in the sink, and it doesn’t turn your skin green. It actually has a weight to it. Yeah! I know! It’s mostly costume jewelry, but the good kind. The kind you can pass down, or you get passed down. It lasts generations, and most likely wasn’t made in China. There is nothing cooler than having a piece that you can brag about, and that no one else will be wearing because they sell thousands of them at Forever 21. What’s worse than showing up wearing the same dress as another girl at a party? Having someone say ‘Oh I love your necklace, I have it too. Forever 21, right?’ Trust me NO one stays 21 forever, and they definitely should not.

4.     One Vintage “staple” Dress

If you are lucky enough to be a size where vintage will fit you, make sure you get yourself a “staple” dress. A staple dress is a dress you can wear on more than one occasion that always looks good on you and everyone will envy. I have never had more looks and/or compliments than when I go out to eat with my husband wearing a dress from the store. Sure, he wears a collared shirt and jeans, but I always like to look my best. I don’t want him taking me out in public and being ashamed to be seen with me. Certain colors always look good on certain people. Certain cuts are the same way. A vintage dress that fits, thats remarkable, and probably one in a million. I’m not blessed with the most perfect shape and rarely do I find a vintage dress that fits me perfectly, but every once in awhile I do. And I buy it. End of story.

5. And finally…(insert drum noise here)…Vintage Cowboy Boots!

I am sure I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it over and over and over until you completely agree. Vintage Cowboy boots are by far THE best thing to happen to the world since we found out that Snookie is pregnant and we get to make jokes for the next 9 months. The best part about vintage boots are the comfort. My mom hates cowboy boots. I’m not sure why, they pinch her feet or something, I can’t remember. She used to have a great pair of burgundy Wranglers. I thought they were awesome. She gave them away. Had she held on to them, by now they would’ve been considered vintage and have fit ME perfectly. Sometimes the story comes back to what’s best for me. I bought my first pair of cowboy boots almost 2 years ago. They are Tony Lama, 70’s, ostrich. They are amazing, and sooooooooo comfortable. Why? Because who ever owned them before me did all the leg work, literally. They are already worn in and fit my feet like a teddy bear hugging a baby seal all day long. I have since converted my best friend into wanting cowboy boots. She’s a hard sale. She’s picky, she doesn’t know how they are supposed to fit, and she’s against a skin of any sort. She’s a weird one, but I still love her. She got the bug recently because I got her friend a pair first, and she’s a little jealous. Buy your first pair of vintage cowboy boots and you’ll be addicted too. Or better yet, watch someone else buy a pair, and the bug will hit you.

Whoever or wherever you are in your vintage journey, just know the pleasure is in the hunt. So happy hunting you savvy vintage lovers. But remember, if you come between me and my dream Louis Vuitton Bag out there, just back away slowly.