Lately I Love: 1930's Embroidered Ladies

Something I've been completely enamored with as of late, are these adorable embroidered and often hand-tinted or appliqued ladies.

Recently, I was at an antique shop and saw some lovely embroidered and embellished pillows with faces or silhouettes of beautiful ladies on them. I have always enjoyed sketching female faces and portraits. Add that to my love of embroidery and you have extreme inspiration! I have started one of my own, which is pictured first.

I wanted to my girl to be very elegant with an element of flora or nature. Her soft green headband has a small bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley and violets. I also made her be a redhead, of course.

Whether they are depicted as Southern Belles in a garden, a flapper with her modern bobbed hair and expressive face, or a mademoiselle of the late 18th century, I absolutely adore them. Here are some photos for inspiration.

These photos are from Pinterest, see this board for more

amazing embroidery featuring these delicate dames.

I hope embroidering becomes a favorite pastime again.
Things always come and go, old trends resurface, so I think this would too.

Ivy

How I do my hair!

Hello everyone!

Since it has been a while since I've done a post about my personal vintage style, I thought I should do another post on my hair and how I set it. Especially because it is a bit different from the last hair post I did; my hair is longer than it was and I am using 1¼" pink rollers, rather than 1" black ones.
I didn't use any products other than Pantene shampoo & conditioner and Tresemme hairspray.

 Front view
I rolled them all backward.

 Left side

Right side

Back view

 Carefully unravel...

Right view with the rollers out

Left view with the rollers out

Back view with the rollers out

 Brush!
If you have an idea of how you want your hair to look, keep in mind it may have ideas of it's own. If it's being temperamental, just let it do what it wants and work with it.

When I like the way a wave or curl is moving, I hold it with a clip and spray.

Then I remove the clip when the hairspray is dry or when I'm finished styling.

Spray!

And done!

Happy rolling!

Ivy

OOTD: Flowers, Glass and Bronchitis.

Hello! I thought I'd do a quick little outfit post. Nothing special, but at least it's something! When warmer weather rolls around, I want to be out more and take pictures. I also want to take outfit pictures without a coat on! This particular day last week we went to an exhibit featuring ornate floral arrangements that were created locally. It was beautiful, but didn't help my longing for gardening and soil on my hands! Since the last weekend in February, I've had bronchitis, so I wasn't able to fully smell the wonderful aromas from the arrangements. Unfortunately my Mom and Brother managed to get it, too. After this exhibit, we went to an exhibit featuring Tiffany stained glass windows and other Tiffany creations. The process of making stained glass windows is fascinating and I would love to try it someday.

Blouse, Skirt and Coat: Forever21

Cardigan: Old Navy

Shoes: Thrifted (March purchases!)



Stay warm and hopeful!

Ivy

Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen Exhibit

Hello!

This past week, I went to an exhibit featured at The Trout Museum of Art in Appleton, Wisconsin with my mom and brother. This exhibit featured several articles of clothing and accessories from Katharine Hepburn's film and theatre career and personal estate, spanning from the 1930's to the 1970's. Including a few pairs of slacks; a major part of Katharine's signature look.

I had a wonderful time at this exhibit and loved all of the items collected and preserved. Seeing the wear on some of the pieces and repairs made on them, quite possibly done by Katharine herself, was quite special. Being able to get close to the garments without being restricted by glass was so nice, especially when you're interested in historical and vintage clothing and sewing like me.

Since I was at a museum, I chose not to take pictures for the sake of respect and preservation. However, I did scan the pages of my exhibit brochure and took some pictures of my Katharine Hepburn inspired ensemble. Here are scans from my brochure.

Here are some pictures I found online of my favorite dresses in the exhibit. You can find pictures of most of the costumes that are featured on Pinterest.

 

A very pretty dress Katharine wore in Stage Door, 1937

 

 A gorgeous black dress worn in Adam's Rib, 1949

A stunning wedding gown worn in The Lake, 1933

A beautiful dressing gown worn in State of the Union, 1948

When I saw this magazine on display in the exhibit, I was happy to see that her makeup on the cover kind of resembled my makeup for the day!

via Pinterest

Here is what I wore to the exhibit:

Hat: Thrifted (flower accessory from Forever21)

Cardigan: Target

Blouse: Forever21

Slacks: Homemade by me

Shoes and bag: Target

Photos taken by my brother.

If you ever get a chance to see this exhibit, I highly recommend it!

Ivy

How I Do My Hair!

Good Day, my dears!

On one of my previous posts, I was asked how I do my hair. Now, I know most vintage enthusiast gals do their hair in pincurls because it's the most authentic method for almost every era. Pincurls are a wonderful, timeless way to set your hair in a vintage style. However, I find they don't work as well for me, so I use foam rollers. For this set, I am using 1" foam rollers. [I also have 1¼" and 1/2" foam rollers. I usually use 1¼" but since I didn't sleep in this set, I went a size smaller.]

Thank you to Miss Maple, she helped my uploading photos issue!

Without further ado, here is my set!

I have dyed, straight, fine hair with some breakage at my roots.

I wash my hair daily [typically at night] because my hair gets oily.

My hair in this set is dry for the most part.

I divide my hair in 3 sections vertically.

I start at the front with the center row first, then work on the sides, rolling back.

I may have spritzed my hair after rolling all of them.

[4/5 water, 1/5 Tresemme Curl Hydration?]

I waited about 4-5 hrs to take them out.

I try and find waves, the top being the easiest to harness.

 

And that's about it!

My setting pattern is very basic.

Sometimes I roll the front forward, but I don't notice much difference.

Happy rolling!

 

Ivy

My First Beaded Purse + Adorable Sewing Patterns!

Hello dears!

Last Saturday, the 1st, I went to a holiday open house at some antique shops. When I was there I picked up some nice items, which I will show you all! The first is a really pretty beaded handbag. It has only a few beads missing on the strap. This being my first beaded purse, I don't know the much about them. But I think the price is good for being at an antique shop. There were other beaded bags there that were also really cute and would have bought, but they were a little pricey. Here is the bag I purchased.

Isn't the design so pretty?

 

 I'm going to see how long this 'Nobility' brand zipper has been around,

it could help date the purse.

 

The other items I bought are all really cute sewing patterns!

 

Definitely late 30's, the puffed sleeves are outrageous!

Super adorable schoolboy fashions that my future son would be wearing at all times.

1940's Pajama Pattern?! Rad!

 

This last snowsuit one reminds my Mom and I so much of my maternal grandpa.

 

 

Happy December!

Ivy