Virtual Vintage View - 1930s Peach & Brown Gown & Cape

I know that it's hard sometimes to get an idea of how clothing really is in person just by looking at photos online. So I thought I'd try to do little virtual view videos of a few pieces, to maybe give a better idea of how fabulous some pieces really are.
I'm starting with this 1930s gown and cape because I just love it, and if I had a life with somewhere special to go, I'd be wearing this. It's just a great style and fit, and really cool fabric too. It's one of the last dresses from the estate of NYC milliner Jessie Laurent Harper .
Now, hopefully my shakey camera skills won't make you seasick, and all the stuff in the background won't distract you! There is no sound other than maybe a few sniffs and hmmms from me. Once I get better at moving around, filming and talking at the same time I'll try some narration.

Please enjoy the film . . .




More details -

#FAB17- Dusty Peach floral Crepe Gown & cape - $255.00

Era - 1930s
Measurements - Dress is 54 inches long, fits 34 inch bust, 27 waist and 37 inch hips. The cape is 16 inches wide across the top of the shoulders and 42 inches long down the back.
Label - none
Fabric - a honeycomb-like crepe rayon weave

The fabric is a soft woven rayon crepe in a dusty peach floral with black-brown background. The cape is just like a little rounded coccoon with a seam across the top for the shoulders. The inner edge of the cape is lined with a wide strip of solid peach and a strip of solid black crepe, otherwise the rest of the cape is unlined. There is a strap on each side to hold the cape into your arms. The cape is angled down the sides to become longer in the back.
The floorlength gown is sexy and clingy. The front has a v-neck that has a strip of peach fabric on one side and a black strip on the other side. The fabric strips are twisted together on the front of the bust and stitched into place. Then they hang loose in two long pieces down the front of the gown. Clingy over the hips and a slit on the front-side of the lower skirt. The back is also a low v-back and there are snap and hook openings on the back of the gown. The gown is unlined. From the estate of NY Milliner Jessie Laurent Harper.

Condition - This set is in very good to excellent condition and it is totally wearable. There are three light 1/4+ inch spots on the bust of the dress. The cape has the faintest, faintest, faintest hint of discolor (I don't even want to call it discolor. The color just doesn't seems as sharp, not really discolored) on the shoulders, and there are 2 light brown 1/2 age spots on the front of shoulder, which I point to in the video.

For more details, please Check out the Dusty Peach Floral Crepe Gown & Cape Here

Project Runway - Menswear Challenge

Last week in the preview, Heidi said the challenge was going to be something they've been wanting to do for 4 seasons. 'What could it be, what could it be?' I wondered all week. The answer was 'menswear'. Ehhh, was my response. Somehow not as interesting as designing clothing for women. There is only so much that you can do with menswear and it's an entirely different field design-wise and skill-wise. Also, I prefer guys in jeans and t-shirts, unless of course it's Cary Grant.

Now, if they were designing something for Tim, it may have been interesting, hilarious actually. The man is impeccable and I can only imagine how intimidating it would be to design for him (unless you have an out of control ego, then it would be very easy for you) But Tim knows to stay away from that foolishness and instead they designed an outfit for Today Show correspondant Tiki Barber. I don't know who he is, but he's a handsome man who claims to have a large behind.
The designs were ehh, meh. Chris, Steve and Rami each did nice semi-casual outfits, but none stood out as being very different, at least not to the judges. I think any one of them should have won, especially Steve. Kit did a set with a sports jacket that was made of fleece, which made it kind of odd. Kevin (who wants you to know that he is straight) did kind of an amped-up version of the suit that Chloe did for Nick in Season Two. Thankfully he didn't win. It was Jack who won, probably by default really, because he was the only one who took chances (although a striped shirt and striped pants isn't really that much of a leap) and didn't produce crap.

Sweet P has a meltdown through most of the challenge trying to get finished. Her shirt turned out too tight across the arms and the collar was all floppy.She tried to cover it with a scarf, but that Nina doesn't miss a thing! Ricky didn't cry this week, but he was on the verge of a breakdown because he ended up using safety pins to keep the suit together for the runway judging. Carmen was the one who Michael 'I Think it's Vulgar' Kors proclaimed had pants with an 'insane crotch' She didn't have time to finish her shirt so she just wrapped the fabric around the model's neck, like a scarf. Bye-bye Carmen.


Kind of a disappointing episode, I had to struggle to stay awake, and really I could have used the extra hour sleep and just caught a repeat of the show later on. That morning I woke up at 3AM and couldn't get back to sleep. So I watched 'The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane' remember that with Jody Foster? She was such an usual little girl, she seemed like an adult (a kind of weird adult) squeezed into a child's body. In the movie she was trying to hide the fact that her father had died so that she could keep living down the lane. Then of course she had to start killing people who got too nosey. A young thin Martin Sheen with a floppy hairstyle plays the neighborhood pedofile who keeps hanging around her. She poisons him too in the end, and then who knows what happens. The movie just ends with her stairing into nowhere and him dead on the couch. Not the kind of movie that you want to watch when you're trying to fall asleep.


Jay McCarroll blogs for Elle
Nick Verreo's Blog

Project Runway, the Water Tower & Altered Art project

Project Runway Episode Two - Now I'm not a big SJP fan (I think she's a cute girl, I like some of her clothing, but I was one of the 5 people in the world who wasn't a fan of SITC) but even as a non-fan I still know what a huge coup it was to get SJP on PR. I didn't blub like a baby like Chris March did (now you know what can make a large gay man cry) but even I was like - 'wow, SJP' when she walked into the designer's workspace.
The challenge was for the designers to make an outfit that would be included in SJP's Fall Collection for her clothing line Bitten, which is supposed to be an affordable line of clothing (I wonder if she actually wears her own clothing) They had to use a budget of $15. Each presented a drawing to SJP, the best were chosen and the designers were broken down into teams of two. No big clashes in the teams on this episode, each seemed to work together well, if you overlook the spitting. It seems that Elisa likes to 'embibe engery' (her own words) into the clothing that she makes by 'spit marking' the fabric instead of using chalk or a pin. Her partner Sweet P was totally grossed out, and who wouldn't be? Sweet P is convinced that Elisa is from another planet, and during the judging Elisa did admit to being from another planet but that she's coming to our planet with gifts. hmmm? I see the producers keeping Elisa on the show for many, many episodes. Which I don't mind, because I do like her.

The resulting outfits were kind of - meh. I didn't think anything stood out as being very different, but they were designing an outfit to blend in with SJP's line of clothing rather than expressing their own styles. Victorya (with a y) won with a little tent babydoll and a vesty thing that everyone fawned over. I liked the teams of Kit/Chris and Rami/Jillian's outfits, but then, I'm a fan of leggings. The photos that I stole from Project Runway's website are dark, making it very hard to see the details.



During the judging, SJP was very nice and tactful when talking to the designers, where as the regular judges just tore apart some of the designs. They actually like the polymorphic dress and cape that Elisa made and seemed to be very amused by her (another sign that she's here to stay)

In this episode we got to see Chris cry over SJP and be literally speechless when he met her to discuss his designs, tough gal Carmen did a little crying on the runway and of course Ricky cried again. Also, how annoying are those Bluefly.com commercials? Bluefly is the new sponsor of PR, replacing Macy's. There's a naked girl who has nothing to wear in every commercial.

Next week on Project Runway . . . The return of the 'insane crotch'



Onto other stuff. Here's an update (I know you've been waiting for it) on the painting of the water tower in our little town. The project started with the scaffolding going up, and now it has been covered in tarps and the guys are in there blasting off the old paint. This is right across from my office window at my part time job, and it really has been fascinating to watch. The big hubbub now is what name, if any, will be painted on the tower. The township wants their name on it (big mistake since the town is trying to de-annex from the township) the town wants no name on it, to somehow keep us secret and hidden from the world and the people who pass through the town.
Also, another part-time-job-passtime this week has been watching the trucks of sand drive by. They are replenishing our beach by trucking in 550 trucks of sand and dumping it out on the beach. Well, it's cheaper then putting in artificial sandbars, retaining walls and dredging. But how long will it last?


Onto crafty stuff. Here are photos of this month's altered art project. The project was a Movie Theme Box with cards in it. You had to choose a movie to portray on the cards which show through the front of the box. I chose an all time fave of mine - 'Bringing Up Baby'







Happy Thanksgiving! I'm cooking the turkey, my dad made pumpkin pie yesterday (I think I'll go get a piece right now!) (I hope there's something good on tv today)

Getting ready for the 10th Anniversary Extravaganza!

I'm getting ready for the December 10th Anniversary Celebration here at Dandelion Vintage! In case you haven't heard, December will mark my 10th year of selling vintage clothing online. I'm planning some website specials, gift bag giveaways and drawings for prizes during the month. So Far I have a few vendors lined up who will be participating in the festivities by providing items for giveaways. Thank them for their generosity by checking out their websites -

• Four Seasons Fragrance - Our perfumes are a masterful blend of concentrated scents created by our perfume source. Our Roll-On Perfume Oils and Solid Perfume Sticks™ are concentrated and very easy to use...and both travel well, too. (providing item for gift bags and a giveaway item)
  
• Country Meadow Ltd. - a manufacturer and distributor of skin care and spa products. Most of our products are based on natural ingredients such as shea butter, avocado butter, coconut oil, rice bran oil, plant extracts and various emollients and conditioners. (providing item for gift bags and a giveaway item)
  
• Lady LaBelle - Victorian Greeting Cards and Invitations (providing a gift certificate for giveaway)


• The Wistful Republic - a mouthful of whimsy. And on etsy - Wistful Supplies (providing promotional item for gift bags)


• Country Heart Gifts - Bath and Body, soap, lip balm & more! (providing item for gift bags and a gift certificate)


• Yancey Candles - If a candle is your fancy, then just buy Yancey (providing item for gift bags and a gift certificate)

If you are a vendor, and you would like to participate in the December promotions, please contact me at carol@dandelionvintage.com for details. It's a great opportunity to promote your business.

Welcome back Project Runway 4

Finally, the wait is over! It's time to bitch my way through fresh episodes of Project Runway again!
Heidi and Tim have been raving about this season's designers being the 'best' ever. I wonder if they meant the best 'designers' or the best 'drama queens' because it looks like this season's crowd are a bunch of divas. I love the drama, the egos, the hissy fits, the wacky behavior etc. - but I don't like it when it gets in the way of the real competition.
I was disappointed that they didn't do the 'Road to the Runway' episode this year. I like seeing how they choose the designers to be in the show. Instead they jumped right into the competition and for the first episode they took the designers to the Fashion Week park and made them run across a field to tents that were set up and stocked with beautiful fabrics from Mood. I loved it when the tattooed gal named Sweet P took off her wedge heels as soon as Heidi said they were going to have to run! They had to grab the fabrics they wanted, and then go back to the studio and make a dress that represented them as a designer.
The winner, to the left here, was Rami, who designed an amazingly draped silk dress, and I liked the flower even though Michael 'I think it vulgar' Korrs didn't. Bravo's Project Runway website kind-of improved their website photos - instead of the small runway photos that they've had in the past, they are now larger, usually badly posed photos of the garments. Two other favs of mine last night was Steven's suit and Christian's Plaid Jacket and shortened Hobble-style skirt. Simone got the boot because her dress was poorly made and unfinished. I really liked the color of her hair and her dark eyebrows (weird I know, but I'm currently thinking of changing my haircolor/style)
I didn't really like Marion's dress with that jagged style hemline, it reminded me of what Jeffrey did last year again and again (still not a Jeff fan) The 80s style orange bubble-skirt with pockets wasn't a fave either.
Now onto Elisa. The shot of Tim watching her put grass stains (yes, I said grass stains) on white fabric during the fabric grab in Bryant Park was priceless! She's a very artsy, free spirit kind of gal. Think of Angela and Santino combined (creativewise) and I think you can get an idea of Elisa's creative process. She made a turquoise fitted gown that looked fairly good from the front (except for the scrunched turquoise boots that she paired with it) but in the back she had a 5ft+ train of shreaded chunks of fabric that her model tripped over on the runway.

I was very happy with the episode and I can't wait until next week!

Must read Project Runway related blogs -
Blogging Project Runway
Manola's Shoe Blog
Project Rungay

Ribbon Art Ladies

Ribbon Ladies or Ribbon Dolls was a once popular crafting project and I've seen examples from the 1920s to the 1940s. I'm a big fan of Ribbon Dolls and always wanted to try one myself. The face and any showing skin was typically paper and their clothing was made from old fabric and ribbon scraps, and in some cases silk flower petals. They were mounted on a fabric background and framed. I don't actually own any example myself - No, I can't believe it either! It's because I'm not the only fan of ribbon dolls and I usually get outbid on any fabulous ones that I see on ebay. Here are a few examples of Ribbon Dolls that I spotted on ebay today - click the images to see the auctions.



Here are two really, really fabulous examples. The girl in the ruffle skirt is an elaborate example with layers of ribbon making up her skirt. The smoking lingerie gal actually doesn't use very much fabric at all, but she is really great! She looks like she has some mohair hair too. I love her!




You know that I'm a fan of half dolls, and I found this exotic parrot holding beauty on ebay today too. She's really amazing and of course, out of my price range.