Junk Love: Caped Crusader

Our shop

We recently acquired a huge haul of vintage clothing, and among the group was a fabulous 1970s cape, which I immediately had to try on (sadly, it didn't fit right, and gave me T. rex arms). It instantly brought back memories of my childhood, when I was given my mother's hand-me-down capes from the 1960s to wear to church. I loved them, especially a wool plaid one with metal buttons. Not only did it make me feel elegant, like a 1950s movie star, but you can do all sorts of things with your hands under the cape, like tear the church program into tiny bits of confetti, and nobody can see your shenanigans.



When I wore that colorblocked cape in the driveway, it suddenly made me want to add a cape to my legendary coat collection. The universe listened, and a few weeks ago, I came across a 1940s wool nurse's cape, navy with red lining and a monogram on the left arm, for an outstanding price. Here is a similar one for sale on Etsy:

Buy it here

And even though I got my own cape, I haven't been able to stop thinking about them. There is nothing like putting on a pair of bracelet length gloves, a vintage cape, and sunglasses, to make a girl feel like Hollywood from head to toe. So, here are some of the greats that Etsy has to offer right now. Who knows, maybe some of these will come to live with me, like this super groovy 1970s number:

Here

Or, if it's got to be plaid....

Here

Here

Here

Here

Or fluffy!

Here

Or just plain cool....

Here

Here

But here is my favorite. Sequins and cashmere, anyone? And, maybe a date with Rock Hudson?

Here

On the Radar -- Plaid Madness

Country Living, fall 2012

OK, so Country Living strikes again.  We see this picture to the left in one of their fall issues.  We think happy thoughts because we LOVE plaid throws.  Then, over the next few weeks we learn how powerful these magazines can be -- mainly because we sell over half of our stock of blankets in our shop, which for us, is about six.  SIX PLAID BLANKETS in around two weeks.  I would call that a definite trend!

There are many trends that we are fully aware of and we buy for the shop accordingly. And then, there are ones like this.  Trends that just happen and we're already prepared because we buy it anyway. We love plaid anything -- we have our own mini collection of blankets, we're working on a tartan tin collection, and we have a plaid thermos, jug, and cooler collection.  We're both addicted to plaid flannel shirts and wool coats in the fall and winter.  And we sell a lot of Pendleton suits.  So we are, you could say, drinking the plaid Kool-Aid on a regular basis.

Pendleton Blanket, House  Beautiful, Fall 2012

We prefer wool blankets, but we don't pass up pretty acrylic throws.  They are just as stylish, and honestly, are much softer to snuggle up with if you really want to use your blanket.  I mean, cashmere would be ideal, but realistically, who has the money for that?  Certainly not us! 

Brimfield store in Chicago, photo from Velvet and Linen

It's probably no secret that we like multiples, so seeing plaid blankets stacked like this just makes us happy.

Our favorite plaid wool blanket from our collection.

We still have plenty of blankets available in the shop, so take a look!  Here's a sample:

From our shop!