Etsy Picks: Vintage Valentines

A pick of Vintage Valentines from the 20s through the 60s...

1920s cat-erwauling!

A 1930s cool cat in his 'slicker' coat

...and his even 'slicker' belle [click here]!

 

1940s puppy love

A 1950s 'pin-up'

A 1960s space race to your heart

Etsy Picks: Blue Monday

It's Blue Monday here in the Northern Hemisphere and, to lift the spirits, I've put together a little pick of vintage Etsy treats to get through the dark and cold January days... A perfect time to...

Curl up in bed with a well-loved quilt

Serve a bowl of homemade soup

Stay snug in a cozy knit

Light your home with candles

Spend the long evenings reading

Wrap up warm in a blanket coat

Brew a pot of extra strong coffee

Autumn inspiration

There has been a definite chill in the air over the past few days and the leaves are starting to turn spectacular colours so I've been pulling out warmer clothes and putting together a little autumnal Pinterest board... I do love the style of 40s and 70s autumn fashions! Hope you enjoy the picks and find some vintage inspiration!

Martin White and Horrockses - a tale of vintage dating

1960s Op Art swimsuit by Nina Ricci

Hello - long time, no post! I can't believe it's been two whole months since I last wrote on the blog. Summer has been and gone in a flash and I'm only just getting round to posting details of the third and final installment of my 'summer' updates. Better late than never, I hope! And, actually, the pieces in this update are so lovely that it doesn't matter if it it's Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter in my book!

The last in the 'summer' series consists of three wonderful swimsuits, all belonging to the same original owner. The monochrome Op Art suit is by Nina Ricci circa the late 1960s and is in brilliant, near mint condition... but it's the two early pieces that I'm especially excited to share. 

Satin swimsuit by Martin White, circa late 1930s

Martin White swimsuit with cotton by Horrockses Fabrics, circa late 1930s

It has been so much fun researching these two. Both were made by the British swimwear manufacturer, Martin White. Fortunately, there is quite a bit of information regarding the company online, including two short Pathe films of bathing belles modelling the latest suits in 1946 (available here and here) and a wonderful advert with a design remarkably similar to the satin suit.

 Amazingly, when acquiring this collection, I was provided with a scanned photograph of the original owner wearing the blue and white piece on her honeymoon in 1943. It was fantastic to see the suit being worn on such a special holiday and a good reminder of its age - with its 'two-piece' cut, this particular suit looks so fresh and modern, it's actually hard to believe that it's over 70 years old!

 This lovely costume has also been essential in dating these swimsuits as two clues were provided in its interior label: a mysterious patent number; and the exciting words, 'Horrockses Fabrics' (which immediately brought to mind 'Horrockses Fashions' stunning mid-century dresses). I managed to find a link to the label's patent online, which was dated to 1936/7, and started to research the Horrockses connection.

I was soon wading through an online sea of 'Horrockses Fashions' dresses and playsuits but finding little information on 'Horrockses Fabrics'.

  
Getting more and more intrigued, I sought the advice of the fashion historian, Dr Christine Boydell, a Horrockses expert and the curator of the Fashion and Textile Museum's current exhibition on the history of beachwear. Dr Boydell explained that the 'Horrockses Fashions' label was not established until 1946, although cottons were produced by Horrockses prior to this date (the company dates back to the eighteenth century). Furthermore, swimwear production virtually stopped during World War II so it was highly likely that the swimsuit was bought as 'old stock' when acquired in 1943. Horrockses also restricted production to war essentials from 1939-1945. This, combined with the online patent, dates the blue and white swimsuit to around 1937-1939. I believe that the satin suit heralds from around the same period, perhaps even ever-ever-so-slightly earlier than the blue and white piece, judging by the style of the label. 

Dating vintage must be one of the most satisfying aspects of working on Elly Maggy Vintage (hearing from happy customers and finding the vintage itself are always the most pleasurable...). Both these swimsuits are so beautiful in person (I think the Horrockses suit is my favourite item ever listed in the shop) and they feel so much more complete with their history in place. Take a look in the shop for further photographs and information.

If you're interested in seeing more 30s and 40s swimsuits, I've posted images on a special pinterest board. And if you're able to get down to London next week, I would also recommend visiting Dr Christine Boydell's exhibition, Riviera Style: Resort and Swimwear since 1900, which has examples of Martin White suits and other wonderful swimming costumes on display. 

1940s Horrockses Fashions beachwear

American finds

The shop is open again after my Stateside trip and I'm starting to clean up and repair some of the vintage pieces I found over there, including this skirt and dress. It is a little hard to make out in this hastily-snapped picture but the skirt features an amazing print of pink roses and white bulls and the dress has a fantastically unusual collar / cape detail at the back of the bodice. The dress needed some TLC but, since this photo was taken, its zip has been replaced and a few repairs here and there have revived it to its former lovely state!

 I was really pleased to discover that the skirt was made by a designer from Seattle, Pamela Foster. I usually come across pieces made in New York or London and, having spent quite a bit of time in the Pacific Northwest now, it was nice to find a piece from this part of the world. I've been trying to discover more information about the designer but unfortunately I can't find much online. There is however an expired listing for a two-piece set she designed for the Seattle World Fair, which took place in 1962.

 According to this 1990s article, clothing was quite a large feature at the fair, with Vogue putting on four fashion shows a day by a perfumed pool and media concern over how attendees would dress:

"Pained, The Times' Dorothy Neighbors had begged local women who visited the fair not to disgrace the Pacific Northwest with their dowdy clothes and casual hairstyles. She advised them to shorten the hems of their dresses, not mistake high heels for high style, and -- above all! -- to leave their slacks in the closet."

Eesh! I hope that when this skirt is sold, the new owner will wear it however she likes, casual hairstyles and all!!! I'll be sure to post details here when the new pieces are listed in the shop. And in the meantime, look out for a special shop discount code in the coming days. 

Sunflower yellow

I don't usually like tampering with vintage clothing but I didn't want to lose this dress! When I was young, my family passed down old clothes to me (mainly 70s, 80s and 40s pieces) but this 50s dress was one of the first items of vintage clothing I chose for myself, on a teenage trip to Brighton. 

After years of wear, it was pretty much ruined (**I may or may not have spilt some food down the skirt!!**) and, as I didn't want to cut it in two or send it to the recycling bank, the only option was to try to dye it... and I'm really pleased I did because it's completely transformed! I'm now mentally plotting to dye quite a few pieces that I'd piled up for recycling... It's such a good way to save an old item of clothing. Some pieces might even make their way into the shop in the future. In the meantime, I have two updates planned over the next week so I'll be posting more soon!

Vintage New York

After sharing my West Coast wanderings, I've got some posts planned on vintage-exploring in different places. They'll mostly be quite close to home but I thought I'd continue with the American theme for my first one. I've travelled to New York a few times for work and personal trips and these particular photographs were taken a couple of years ago with some disposable cameras.

Here are some of my favourite vintage shops from my visits:

1. David Owens - The pale silk 50s dress I'm wearing in the first picture was purchased here.The man in the shop was very kind and really funny too. I had short hair at the time and he thought I looked a bit like Shirley Temple. 'But you know what happened to Shirley?', he asked, 'Shirley kissed!'. Ominous pause: 'And her career was never the same again!'. They have really nice pieces and a good selection for men too.

2. Beacon's Closet - I visited both Brooklyn branches of Beacon's Closet. The one in Williamsburg is a bit overwhelming but also where I found the best pickings (it just took determination!). 

3. Fabulous Fanny's - I've saved the best 'til last. Fabulous Fanny's is just brilliant. The people running the shop were really friendly and very knowledgeable about the history of clothing. The women's clothing was fantastic but the room filled with glasses was the most fascinating, more like a museum of optical instruments than a shop. After trying on nearly every pair (with some funny and not always successful results!), I chose some little round, foldable sunglasses in green. They're similar in style to 30s celluloid glasses but from a later period. Perhaps not the most understated glasses but they're pretty great!

Coney Island

Saturday finds

On Saturday I decided to try my luck at a local vintage fair. I'd never visited this particular event before so I wasn't sure what to expect but there were some very good stalls and it ended up being a lot of fun. I came home with this '60s handbag, bought from a really friendly seller who specialises in vintage bags. It's in such nice condition that I think it's hardly been used. I've been trying to make out a maker's mark on the interior of the bag but, after much squinting, I still can't figure it out! After the fair, I also took a little look around the nearby shops and found this pumpkin-coloured 1960s velvet cloche: a good companion to the hat in my previous post!

It'll be making its way into the shop soon... This month is going to be fairly busy so I think the next shop update should be in a few weeks' time, probably around Easter. As well as thrifting over the weekend, I also washed and prepared lots of new items so it should be a pretty large, good update when it comes! In the meantime, this coming weekend I will be running my first shop-wide sale as part of the Vintage Team sale on Etsy. I'll post more details on this later in the week.

West Coast Wanderin' II

Here's the second in a series of picture posts about my time on the West Coast of the US last year. I spent a few days in Washington State and a few days in San Francisco (separate post coming up!) but most of my time was spent in Oregon: the south east district of Portland, to be precise. I felt very at home in the city - rain, old record shops, friendly people, deadpan humour - it was almost like being back in the North West of England! The local neighbourhood where I was staying had lots of good nooks and crannies to explore...

As well as wonderful record shops that reminded me of home, Portland had incredibly good vintage stores. There's definitely nice vintage clothing to be had in England but you have to hunt quite hard sometimes. Older items have become more difficult to get hold of so often shops are left with all the scratchy synthetic leftovers that people don't want or they're disappointingly over-priced (for me, at least!). The shops in Portland all had lots of nice quality, reasonably-priced clothing and I was very tempted to go crazy! Fortunately my budget didn't allow that but I did end up choosing two dresses that I really liked, which I'll take some photos of for a future post.

Vintage A Go Go!

The swing coat I'm wearing in this final photo is the other item I brought home with me. It's beautifully made and really warm too. It has a union tag inside and I keep meaning to work out its exact date on the Vintage Fasion Guild site. The coat came from a lovely shop called Lulu's Vintage in the Downtown area. The owner was really friendly and had lots of nice items for both men and women.

 

Honey Talk

Last month, a parcel arrived containing a new dress from one of my favourite etsy shops, Honey Talk Vintage. It is a really lovely store, filled with unusual vintage treasures (it's currently running a  giveaway if anything takes your fancy). I'd been looking at this particular dress for a while before I bought it, thinking how pretty it was, and I was so pleased when I opened the package - it ended up being even nicer in person. It fits perfectly and has the nicest sleeves and buttons up the back of the bodice.

Lisa, who owns Honey Talk vintage, has a blog full of lovely photographs of the Pacific Northwest. I love looking at pictures of her beautiful surroundings - the landscape looks so otherworldly, especially sitting at my computer under drizzly skies. 

 

Her photography makes me really nostalgic for when I spent a few days on the San Juan Islands in Washington State at the start of last summer. It is such a magical world over there. I'll share some of my own pictures of this beautiful place in a future post!

Twelve Days of Christmas

I'm back with no shop update and a rising pile of clothes waiting to be photographed... I've been sidelined with various things, including a busy time with my job, but less excusable than that: I've been too wimpy to brave the frost for outdoor photographs! But there will be more up in the shop soon and there are some really nice pieces queueing in my draft listings. In the meantime, I put together a little non-festive festive Etsy treasury list with a drummer drumming, pipers piping, lords-a-leaping, ladies dancing, maids-a-milking, swans-a-swimming, a goose-a-laying, the all important go-o-ld rings (fiiive of them), some colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge minus the pear tree!

vintage photo Teen Boy w His... maclancy $4.75	Vintage Scotland Scotish Bag... annafilomena $2.50
Lot of Five Vintage Black & ... downstate $10.00	Twirl Your Partner.... 8x10... RetroGraphique $12.00
Buy the Farm Lead Milkmaid... annykate $19.50	Vintage Embroidered Monochro... MichaelColleen $10.00
antique Mother Goose wall la... dirtybirdiesvi... $20.00	Set Of Five Stacking Rings, ... Tulajewelry $90.00
Vintage wooden carved Folk T... nancyplage $9.00	three vintage roosters carewood $12.00
Vintage Wooden Dove Candle H... MidModMomStore $29.00	Mid Century Brass Partridges... MyKnickKnackSt... $28.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house