On the Radar -- Secretary Style

From here.

What is it about the prim and proper secretary blouse that people love?  With its tie neck, it should say, "I'm demure and sweet."  But what does it really say?  "I'm just the innocent exterior to a fiery vixen!"  It's that whole librarian/secretary thing -- along with glasses, the secretary blouse is the secret weapon of women for instant va-va-voom.

It's definitely a classic, revamped for every decade of fashion.  It cycles through every few years, but never really goes anywhere.  Our favorites are the patterned blouses -- simple dots, stripes, feathers, and even gingko leaves. We try to keep a good supply on hand in our Etsy shop and the boutique at Brightside Gallery, and lately we have noticed that tie-neck blouses are cycling through again.

Time to round up some secretarial inspiration.  Don't forget to take notes!!

The ultimate in sexy/sweet, Doris Day

Taylor Swift rocking vintage style

Valentino blouse

Miu Miu blouse.

J.Crew blouse.

Our navy and white Gingko leaf blouse, available here.

And if you want the look without the actual blouse, try adding a cute vintage necktie to a basic shirt, like this one from our shop:

Available here.

Junk Love Monday: See You at the Office

We have a ridiculous number of collections. We freely admit this. But, we are capable of showing restraint (sometimes). There are many things that we love, but don't allow ourselves to purchase, because we don't have the space (or resources) to add that collection. Today's post is paying homage to a collection that we wish we could have.

Instant office collection, from toby11 on etsy.com

 In a weird coincidence, we are both the children of accountants. This means that we both spent many childhood hours killing time in an accounting office, which would bore most people to tears. But, when life gives you tedium, you either whine about it, or you can figure out a way to amuse yourself. Find an unoccupied desk and plunder. Staple stuff. Remove staples from stuff. Punch holes in whatever papers you can find. Find creative uses for white-out. Learn when NOT to use white-out. Connect paper clips to each other and leave your beautiful chain in the top drawer as a surprise for the desk's true owner. Enthusiastically use the paper cutter until some adult notices. Flip through the Rolodex. Try each of the pens and doodle on the blotter.  If the blotter has a calendar, it's especially fun to add holidays, deadlines, and non-existent To-Do list items for the person who works there. Put Post-It notes on everything. File (or un-file) papers. Learn lightning speed on an adding machine. Explore the infinite uses for rubber bands.

Vintage fountain pen, at Collector's Antique Mall

Vintage Date Stamp, at Collector's Antique Mall

And so, we love vintage office supplies. It is always a struggle to buy these items for resale, because the urge to keep them and love them is so strong. We have kept a few things, but only to use them for their intended purpose. We are never allowed to think of them or speak of them in any "junk love" sort of way. We've just found that a vintage hole punch or paper cutter works better than a new one, and it was cheaper.

Sexy hole punch; from GoodlookinVintage on etsy.com

Vintage Rolodex, from Collector's Antique Mall

Vintage staple from our shop