Presenting:

Wow, I've really been an awful blogger lately. But I have a pretty good excuse, I think - I've been working like crazy trying to get my mom's website up and running for her vintage bridal boutique! And at long last, it's finally up, though it is far from finished! You can visit it here.

I still have to add a lot more dresses, and information and photos for all of them. We're hoping, though, that it will be basically finished in time for the bridal show at DeVos, which is in less than two weeks. Yikes! I can forget about getting much sleep from now until then...sometime this week I'm doing a wedding photoshoot with Matt from Coat of Many Colors, one of my favorite places to be and definitely my favorite vintage store in Grand Rapids!

No outfit posts or anything. But just so that this isn't a completely boring post, here are a few pictures from last week's photoshoot. Unfortunately not pictured is a dress that came in the mail the day after the photoshoot. It's from the 1920's, and is hands down the most beautiful dress I've ever seen in my life - it's covered in beads and the fabric is like gossamer. So beautiful. I have decided that if I get married someday, that's going to be my wedding dress. Someday! Anyway, enjoy!

1920's "Daisy" wedding dress & headpiece - modeled by me

1910's "Rose" wedding dress - modeled by Esther

1930's "Ella" wedding dress - modeled by Esther

And now, some behind-the-scenes pictures! Much less glamorous, I assure you...


Ha! Seldom have I ever looked so attractive. But this gives you an idea of what we're working with.



Showing some scandalous ankle, which quickly dissolved into...


...this.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Coming soon!

1920's "Daisy" wedding dress - modeled by Laura

1960's wedding dress - modeled by Esther

Today we had a photoshoot for my mom's vintage wedding dress business, Somewhere in Time Bridal! We're going to be showing at the bridal show in Grand Rapids in three weeks, so I'm going to be working like crazy to get the website up and running.

This is just a short little post - I wanted to offer a teaser of things to come. We got some lovely photos. It was so much fun, but I'm exhausted now! I'm watching the Olympics; I wish I could say it was to relax, but I'm convinced the ice dance competition will be the death of me. I don't care about sports - really - but I love figure skating (though I'm a lot less into it than I used to be) and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are so near and dear to my heart. I used to run a website about them, and they've always been nothing but wonderful and gracious to me. It would mean the world to me if they could win the gold. So send some positive thoughts their way!

Have a great weekend!

Be well,
Laura

Sick day, and Wednesday inspiration

Great Gatsby dress: ModCloth | pants: Target | sunglasses: Charlotte Russe | boots: Shi

I'm trying so hard to be a good little blogger and update more regularly! These outfit photos are from Monday. I loved this outfit, but then I started feeling really sick, so the outfit had to go to waste. However, I was determined to have something to post, so I braved the elements for a few minutes to get these pictures.

Please note: this will be one of the very few times you will ever see me wear pants. I don't like wearing pants. Not in the fun, nudist sort of way, but in the "I-prefer-dresses" sort of way.

You will, however, see me wear these sunglasses and these boots a lot. As you'll discover, I have a long-standing obsession with teal.

I'm definitely ready for warmer weather. This winter hasn't been too bad (especially for Michigan!), but lately I find myself longing for the little hints of springtime and summer. So, to add a little warmth to your Wednesday, here's some warm weather inspiration: vintage bathing suits!

(Image-heavy post ahead, because I am far too indecisive to pick favorites)


Clara Bow - how incredible is her outfit?! All of the above pictures are from this flickr page.





Above images from this fabulous flickr photostream.

Well, I don't know about you, but these photos effectively cured my winter blahs! So bright and cheerful. Esther and I hope to make swimsuits similar to these to sell in the store. I couldn't be more excited.

And yes, the store will be set up soon. I'm just waiting for my dress form to come in the mail, and then I'll be able to take pictures of the merchandise!

I hope you all have a lovely Wednesday!

Be well,
Laura

One of these things is not like the other

This is just a quick little post to show off the treasures I discovered at the antique mall last Saturday!

1940's dress - modeled by Esther

Doesn't Esther look lovely? I fell in love with this dress the first time I saw it at the antique mall a month ago. I couldn't get it out of my head, so I decided to go back and buy it! It's going to be part of my mom's vintage wedding dress business, which is slowly but surely coming together. We just got a spot at the bridal show at DeVos next month, so I'm going to be crazy busy getting everything together for that.

The clutch is going to be going up in our store as soon as we get it set up!

cardigan: H&M | dress: ModCloth | boots: vintage, 1960's

Believe it or not, I wasn't cold at all! Granted, I didn't keep this outfit on for long - just for pictures - but really, I didn't even shiver.

I thought the array of things I bought was kind of hilarious. Vintage beaded dress, 1960's go-go boots - but then, the little beaded purse kind of pulls it all together, in a weird way.

Look for the boots in our store as soon as we get it set up! My goal is to have it up and running within the next month or so.

Be well,

Laura & Esther

Strings that tie to you.

This pair of shoes has a story. This pair of shoes is a woman.


A wedding dress hung on the back of a door - once beautiful, now ripped and stained with age. I assumed that this had been the dress she wore on the day of her wedding, so many years ago. But my mother corrected me. This pair of shoes is a woman who lived her whole life alone. No husband, no children. Alone. This pair of shoes is a woman who collected compulsively - JFK memorabilia, a far number of hats and shoes - but mostly, jewelry. She had rooms of earrings and bracelets and big, gaudy brooches that she never wore herself, but bought because she loved to go shopping and make friends with the store clerks.

When she died, there were few left that remembered her.



But she has a story. I can only guess at the finer details; I don't even know her name. I could only gaze around in awe at the enormous array of things that were left in her house, neatly organized and priced. I bought this pair of shoes from her estate sale. They fueled my imagination - did she buy these new? Are they from when she was a young woman in the 1940's? Did she buy them used, compulsively, after striking up a conversation with an employee at the local Goodwill?

I'll never know the answer to those questions - she remains, to me, personified in a pair of shoes. But I can imagine my own answers.

And that is why I love vintage. Every piece has a story; every piece connects me, in a tangible way, to the past. Even if it's just through a pair of shoes.