Junk Love: Italian Holiday

This post is for three reasons: we really love brightly colored mid-century junk, we really love Italy, and Roman Holiday was on this weekend. Do we need more justification than that? No!

So here is a dream collection of items pulled from Etsy to brighten up an already dull week and soothe the urgent need to clear out my savings and hop on a plane for Mediterranean gorgeousness. Enjoy--mid-century Italian junk love!

Baldelli Elephant Bank; Here

Ceramic canisters; Here

Stilnovo-style wall lights; Here

Fratelli Fanciullacci pottery pitcher; Here

Valenti enamelware set; Here

Two-piece Modernist horse sculpture; Here

Bitossi blue cat; Here

San Marino-style ceramic & leather dish; Here

Yellow Ceramic Planter; Here

The Skinny -- Star Costume Jewelry

Thermo plastic clip earrings, sold.

I was hoping that my first Skinny post in forever would be sort of like my post on Van Dell vintage jewelry (see it here). We have thousands of views on that post, and comments that it has really helped people who were trying to learn more about the company.  

Well, unfortunately, it's not going to work out how I wanted it to.  Grrr!

I have wanted to post on Star costume jewelry for some time now.  We are always looking for good, signed vintage costume jewelry for our shops because it always sells.  Vintage costume jewelry is just so much fun -- to find and collect.  Designers did and can take so many risks with the designs of costume jewelry that they just can't do with fine jewelry.  Star is a name that we don't find often, not like Coro or Sarah Coventry, but we've unearthed a piece or three in our travels.  I knew that information was hard to find about this company, but I didn't realize exactly how hard until I started looking for anything about them.  

Brooch and earrings, available from JewelryQuestDesign on Etsy, here.

So this post will be image heavy, because the written info I have gathered is about, hmmm...a paragraph long?  Hey, they say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Green bead necklace from Vintage Heart Strings on Etsy, here.

OK, let's talk about what I found.  First theory: the Star Jewelry Company was in business from the 1940s through the 1960s.  I found two sources that confirm that (www.collectiblejewels.com and www.amazingadornments.com).  One source says they were based in Houston, Texas.  The jewelry is good (not great) quality, and the company seemed to specialize in thermoplastic and rhinestone jewelry.  From the images I've seen, they did a lot of natural designs, with flowers, leaves, and vines. 

From Collectible Jewels, here.

Now, theory two doesn't seem very likely, but I'm posting it for your information. On www.jacksonjewels.com, they say that Star and Staret jewelry were both made by the Star Novelty Company in Chicago.  I could paraphrase, but it's easier to just quote them.  Here's what they say:

  "The company began making costume jewelry marked: "STAR" in 1925-1940. The company changed its name to Staret in the 1940s. Staret jewelry pieces are known for their exuberant design and exceptional use of enameling and high quality rhinestones. The style and sometimes excessively showy shapes of costume jewelry stamped Staret, recalls to mind, the more famous jewels of Eisenberg & Sons but does not have the Eisenberg quality. Novelty jewelry was also designed and made by the company. Overall, the quality of Staret designs is good quality with good quality stones with some pieces being exceptional with better quality of workmanship and design. Mark: "STAR", "STARET". The company ceased operations in 1947."

I say this doesn't seem likely, because the pieces I have seen marked Star are not pieces from 1925-1940.  No way.  They are 1950s and 60s, definitely, in design and construction.  Also, Staret pieces look NOTHING like Star pieces.  No similarity at all.  The people over at www.amazingadornments.com don't buy this theory either.

Here's a bracelet we have in our Etsy shop, here, and its mark: 

And here's a rhinestone necklace on Etsy from Ginger's Little Gems, here.  It has a string tag attached.

 

 

So that's all I got!  Told you it wasn't much -- but hope it can help you a little.  Here's a few more photos for reference.

Found on Ebay.

A different piece from WhyWeLoveThePast on Etsy, here.

Clip earrings from our shop, here.

Junk Love: Rayon Will Get You Married!

From us to you, here's a vintage "short film" (a.k.a. really long commercial) featuring 1940s play sets, dresses, gowns, shoes....What more could you want? (film clip courtesy of archive.org)

Junk Love: Eastern Europe Goes to the Movies

I've always loved vintage posters--travel, advertising, music, whatever. But lately, I've been really intrigued by Czech and Polish film posters. It started with a Hitchcock, probably the coolest poster I've ever seen:

Czech film poster for The Birds

And then the madness began....If I had an extra hallway or two, these things would be on every square inch of wall. I love the graphic quality, and the fact that when I look at the posters, I have no idea what the movie is actually about, but I kind of understand how I'm supposed to feel about the movie. That Birds poster makes me uneasy. And so do these, but for different reasons:

Czech poster The Parallex View, 1977

Vintage Czech poster for 8 1/2

Czech poster, 1959

I LOVE THESE!

Czech poster by Karel Tiessel, 1965

Czech Cleo From 5 to 7;  by Jaroslav Fiser

The colors of this one are amazing:

1970 Czech poster for Les Gauloises Bleues

I really love the slightly altered take on this iconic character:

Czech Breakfast at Tiffany's

This one makes me want to sit in the dark and listen to sexy music:

1920s Czech poster for Erotikon

And then we have an interesting comparison of artwork for the same film, the Czech version on the left and the Polish version on the right. I think I'd rather see this one in Czechoslovakia (but I would hang both of them in my house!)....

On the Radar -- If I Designed a Restaurant...

So, it's been ages since I posted an On the Radar -- but I'm sure you're aware of that.  With us opening the shop in Liberty, and trying to keep the Etsy shop flowing along smoothly, I've just let the blog fall by the wayside.  And that's just wrong!  So I'm writing today (in an attempt to appease you, dear readers), and I thought I would share something I was working on in the spring with my class.

I teach Interior Design part time, and my class was working on a project to design a bakery/bistro/small restaurant.  I wanted to do the project along with them, but....the shop happened, yadda yadda yadda, see the previous paragraph.  But I did start to pick out furniture and finishings for my concept, and I thought you might find it interesting. 

My concept was for a bakery/coffee shop, to be called Plenty, that would have a Midcentury/Scandinavian feel with lots of color.  Not only would the bakery be super environmentally friendly through every facet of the business, but it would also focus on charity, by donating leftover baked goods at the end of every day to a local homeless shelter.  I was going for fun, brightness, lightness, and a feeling of joyfulness.  It may sound a little silly -- but I was focusing on the idea of a bakery where the customers might feel as if they are indulging themselves a little (um, cookies?), but really they are being socially concious -- especially if the bakery were to extend the charity even further with community customer reward programs and monthly highlighted local charity donation spots throughout the space. 

So now on to the fun part!  Beyond the Midcentury inspiration, I was thinking of Mucha, poppies, wheat, and Art Nouveau.  I know, weird combos.  But I think it totally works.  My picks...

The logo:

Artwork by The Black Apple (I added the name), get a print here.

Art:

From Mighty Vintage on Etsy, but it's been sold.

The Trappistine, by Alphonse Mucha

Wheatfields by  Jacqueline Penney

Wheat Weaving, image from here.

Flooring:

Lighting:

Found here.

Wheat Chandelier from Ballard Designs, no longer available.

I cannot find where I got this from!  Sorry!

Furniture:

Seling Imperial Mid Century sofa.  Sorry, not available!

Tangier Wing Chair, from Modshop, here.

Vintage Ekstrom chairs.

Sprout Cafe Table from Blu Dot, here.

Vintage Danish Modern chairs, here.

The Nerd Chair by Muuto, here.

Various accessories, prints, inspiration, etc:

Glasses from Usful Glassworks, here.

Scandinavian bread, here.

Sorry, can't find this!

This one sold.  It was from Une Vie de Boheme on Etsy, here.

Joel Dewberry fabric, here.

Soooo....tell me what you think!!