Vera Vault -- Praise for Paisley

I have been sorting through the Vera collection, and trying to get all of them photographed, but it's been a sloooooww process.  At least I have an official count now -- it was 377, but then my birthday happened.  Hallelujah!  My co-Blackbird had a stash of sixteen scarves that she had been saving for the big day.  Add that (and the 4 others I have found in the past few weeks), and the count for right now is 397.

You read that right.  I just need 3 more to hit the 400 mark.

Wait, why am I sitting here typing this when I could be out there finding 3 more Veras???

OK, well while I try to calm myself, enjoy this installment of the Vera Vault.  I decided to highlight a selection of paisley designs.  I'm constantly amazed at how many different designs she produced, and even though they're all different, they all somehow still have her personal design aesthetic all over them.

 

 

Junk Love: Aloha!

We LOVE vintage Hawaiian prints, and since we've lately picked up a couple of great pieces for the shop, I thought I would do a quick perusal of other people's Hawaiian dresses on Etsy and put together a sweet little blog post to highlight my favorites. But, I didn't factor in two things: 1. How much I love every single one that I see; and 2. How many there are on Etsy right now. My search for "vintage Hawaiian dress" produced 184 pages of tropical paradise. I only made it to page 20 before I had to make myself stop saving pictures. So, maybe we'll just call this little post Hawaii: Part 1....

1950s Shaheen wiggle dress, Here

Shaheen dragon caftan, Here

1950s Shaheen, Here

1960s Malia maxi dress, Here

Surfside barkcloth, Here

1970s Pake Muu, Here

1950s Kamehameha, Here

1960s Lauhala, Here

1950s Shaheen, Here

1970s Malama/Liberty House maxi dress, Here

1960s barkcloth Harriet's maxi dress, Here

1950s halter dress w/ bolero, Here

1950s wiggle dress, Here

1960s maxi dress, Here

1960s Paradise Hawaii, Here

1960s Kimono-style mini dress, Here

1940s Surfriders, Here

1960s Lauhala, In our shop

1960s halter keyhole, In our shop

1960s Malia, In our shop

1960s maxi dress, In our shop

We have news!  The Blackbird Girls are writing a book! But we desperately need YOUR help! We've been saving our pennies for a while now so we could do a trip like this, and then write a book about American Vintage junk and travel destinations. We were afraid it would be years and years before we had the opportunity to do this trip the way it needs to be done, but surprise! -- the opportunity (a month when we both can get away for an extended period of time) has presented itself this summer. 

We decided to try a Kickstarter project to make our dream a reality. We need to raise some funds to help us self-publish the book. This is where we need all you lovely people -- check out our Kickstarter page using the link below (we made a funny video, so it's worth checking out). If you can help us, thank you from the bottom of our hearts! You can pledge as low as $10 and up from there, and there are some awesome rewards for you if you do. And please SHARE this blog post with everybody you know -- we only have 30 days to reach our goal, and it's an all-or-nothing deal. The more people hear about it, the more chance we have of reaching our dream! We LOVE you guys!

Junk Love: Lilli Ann

Think of the last time you saw Disney's animated Alice in Wonderland. Imagine Alice finding that charming little cottage in Wonderland, and the White Rabbit rushing in, screaming, "Mary Ann! Mary Ann!" Now replace that with "Lilli Ann!", and you will understand how my brain works sometimes.

But on to other matters, like the fact that the Blackbird girls love Lilli Ann clothing, especially from the 1960s and before.... We're all about a tiny waist, dramatic collar and unusual sleeve--all things that epitomize Lilli Ann. Oh, and did I mention coats? (But we'll save those for the end....)

The company began in 1933, and they used a lot of unusual fabrics after WWII that became characteristic of the line. We have a fabulous variegated tweed suit in our shop (shown below) that was made of a silk/wool blend. Unfortunately, due to the fact that silk tends to become very fragile over time, and the nature of the weave itself, the wool strands often exert too much pressure on the silk threads, thereby causing the fabric to shred at stress points. Ours has this problem at the shoulders, which broke our hearts. But it's still gorgeous!

In our shop

Here's a near-perfect suit in a variegated silk blend:

On Etsy

A side view of another near-perfect example of the same design:

www.lulusvintage.com

And here's the original ad for it from Vogue (1955):

Love that accordion sleeve? Here's another version, with mink trim:

On Etsy

 The company's designers definitely loved fur collars, which you'll see on suits and coats. This green suit is another to-die-for example of Lilli Ann perfection:

On Etsy

And some great fur-trimmed coats:

On Etsy

On Etsy

I absolutely fell in love with this 1940s beaded suit. Even though there's some damage, it's fabulous:

On Etsy

This 1950s dress came as a bit of a surprise, as it was vastly different from most of the other Lilli Ann pieces that I've seen (but I have always focused mainly on suits and coats, so I suppose it makes sense). This one is pale gray with a pink, green, and metallic gold print.

On Etsy

But the thing I love the most is the wasp-waisted princess coat. This brown one is a fine example:

On Etsy

But THIS ONE IS MY DREAM FANTASY. I want to hold this coat, and love it and squeeze it (but not hard enough to damage the fabric!)...!

On Etsy

Could a coat possibly be any more fabulous than this? Why yes, actually. If you add Persian lamb to the sleeves:

www.1stdibs.com

And...I just went into cardiac arrest. I think we're done here.

On the Radar -- Needing Some Needlepoint Now!

Thanks to designers and celebrities (Taylor Swift is a fan), needlepoint is the hobby of the moment.  We've been seeing it everywhere!  In shops, online, in fashion...and we love it.  Both of us Blackbirds have fond memories of doing plastic canvas needlepoint when we were younger, and I've been collecting vintage needlepoint books for years, in hopes of one day having the time to actually make some throw pillows or seat covers.  It's hard to find, but we do buy good Mid Century needlepoint when we find it.

Even Bergdorf's 2014 Holiday Windows gave a nod to needlepoint with this red beauty:

We saw this recently on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (one of our guilty pleasures -- along with all of the other RH franchises!):

Pillow by Richard Rothstein.

Jonathan Adler's been on the needlepoint bandwagon for years.  His Jackie O pillow is one of my faves:

Or you can make your own pillow with this kit:

From Modern Needleworks on Etsy, here.

 Needlepoint's not just for pillows.  This vintage brooch is so sweet!

Vintage Petit Point Brooch, from The Birdcage Vintage on Etsy, here.

And you can also hang it on your wall:

Vintage framed needlepoint from edgertor on Etsy, here.

And from our shop, you can cover your tennis gear:

Vintage tennis racquet cover, from our shop, here.

Or wear a jacket that looks like needlepoint (it's really made from a fabric called grospoint, which has a needlepoint look):

1960s Lilli Russell jacket, from our shop, here.