My Summer Adventure - Japanese Gardens

Anderson Japanese Gardens

My outfit under the Yukata.

I went to my first Japanese Summer Festival at the beautiful Anderson Japanese Gardens. It was filled with fun activities, delicious food, and music.

My beautiful rented Yukata

The day was warm and muggy, but that didn't stop me from renting a Yukata for pictures. There were two ladies dressed in their own yukatas that helped me tie the obi properly and another, thankfully, was there to fan and cool everyone down while they were being dressed.

Traditional music

 

Besides being slowly roasted in my rented yukata and the warm weather, it was a fun day at the gardens.


Outfit -
Dress - The Bees Knees General Store
Handbag and Hat - TresYours Vintage Corner
Shoes - Thrifted

Catching Up

Relaxing between photos

Since I haven't blogged in such a long time, I figure the best way to get everyone caught up to what I've been up to, was to write a series of posts I will call 'My Summer Adventures.'

It will not only include what I did for the summer, but also what I did in between the last time I blogged.

I hope that these posts will not only get us reacquainted with each other again, but it will also help me get back into the habit of blogging again.

Hello!

Hello everyone! Although this took longer than expected, here are the new additions to Vivaciouslady Vintage! They are:

• a Twitter account
• an Instagram account
• an updated blog look

Posting on my blog should also be more frequent now that these additions are complete. Be sure to check out all of my pages, and another post will be here soon. Bye for now!

Coming soon to a blog near you...

    Hey vintage guys and gals! I'm happy to announce there will be new additions to Vivaciouslady Vintage! I am currently creating an Etsy shop, and (learning) how to use Twitter! There will also be a new blog look!

    This will all be released on January 30th, 2016 5:00 CST. Meanwhile, be sure to stick around for updates on Facebook!

Graduation Day

I wore my TresYours Vintage dress.

 My son's graduation was an exciting day for all of us and especially for him...he was finally done with high school! I wore my black chiffon dress, paired it with my red handbag and black gloves from TresYours Vintage Corner.

As we waited outside before entering the building where the ceremony was to take place I saw these two old buildings across the street. If you look closely there is a vintage ad painted on the side of the building.

Neat vintage sign.

The ad is for 'Battle Axe Plug Tobacco'. I'm not sure if this is correct, but I read that there was a company that opened mid 1800's  for the construction of a railroad. Apparently, the railroad company could not pay their employees money, so they paid them with tobacco. Out of all the brands that were being handed out, Battle Axe was their favorite.

I hope the city will protect this sign

There is another old painted sign over the Battle AXE. All I can see is Dry Goods and an A or G, but I'm not sure. I am thinking about making another trip to get a closer look and take more photos. Until then, if anyone has any information on Battle Axe, I would love to hear it.

Pop n' Post

As soon as I finished writing my first post after a long, long absence, I realized I had yet to sort anything I wanted to share with all of you. My photos of antique shows, flea markets, WWII days and so many other of my vintage visits were all in complete disarray.

Should I post by order of their dates?

Should I post by how many photos I have to share?

Should I post from the simplest to the most difficult?

I finally decided to go with 'Pop and Post' meaning whatever happens to just pop into my head or photo that just happens to pop out at me is what I am going to write about. EASY! And so my posts will not be in any order. You may see some posts from Winter to Summer to Winter and then Fall and so on. I'm sure some might find this a little odd to jump back and forth, but I think it will make it so much fun and far more interesting!

Back to Blogging.

I'm back....I know it's been a very long time since I have written anything. I kept saying "Tomorrow, I'll start writing again" over and over again until too many tomorrows had gone by. I just kept putting so much pressure on myself to get things just right that I was making myself miserable. The fact that I am not computer savvy, didn't help either.

Yet every time I went to a vintage event or saw something I kept taking picture for the blog. I finally realized that I missed posting things that I was enjoying in my vintage life and I wanted to share with all of you...So I decided to come back and start blogging again. 

I have so many stories and photos to share with all of you. I can't wait to get started....

The Great War

On April 12th and 13th, I was very excited to make my first visit to Midway Village Museum's 'The Great War' re-enactment. I had unfortunately missed the previous years event and I was looking forward to attending this years with my family.

I always enjoy spending the day at Midway Village and bring my children as often as possible to such events. Their day is spent participating in games that are designed to revolve around the re-enactment, so as they play, they learn and at times I don't think they even realize that they're enjoying their history lessons.

I decided to make a dress that would be fitting for the event. I did some research and I came across a photograph of a dress from 'Downton Abbey'. Amazingly almost every item she wore, I just happen to have in my home. I had the hat, pearls, shoes and almost the same fabric. The Downton dress was beige with light brown stripes and my fabric was beige with forest green stripes.

My feeling lucky about having the necessary items was short lived as I realized that I could not find a pattern for the dress. After I spent some time, actually a very long time of searching for a pattern I decided to just go for it and cut. Honestly, I wasn't too worried about cutting, it was matching up the stripes and hoping that they didn't come out in all directions thus creating a dizzying effect on passersby!

I'm a big believer in 'Better that it be too big, than too little' and so I cut a the dress a little larger than I needed, so that it would give me some wiggle room for any issues that might pop up...they did.

I went through so many fitting issues with the back neckline and shoulders, that I ended sewing into the wee hours of the night. I finally decided to just wear the dress as is, no sleeve cuffs, no lace on the shoulders, but even without them I was happy with dress.

 

I was so tired from staying up late trying to fix my fit issues that I completely forgot to wear my  hat and fan to the event. I was planning on making a matching handbag...oh well.

Although, it was a raining throughout the day and there were many muddy pits to be avoided on the museum grounds, it still took nothing away from the event. I was just as interesting as it could be. I actually think it gave it a bit of an effect on the re-enactment.

As always the museums volunteers were helpful, informative and did what they could to answer every question my kids were asking. The event was fun and we learned so many things about 'The Great War' that my kids actually asked to return to the event again the following year.

I took so many photos that it took me several days to go through them. I couldn't decide in what tone, color, sepia, aged or b&w, so  I decided to make a collage, until I could decide how to tackle my favorite photos.

More from TresYours Vintage Corner

The following pictures are of some of my dresses from TresYours Vintage Corner. Some are from the 1940's, 50's and 60's. It would be very difficult for me to pick my favorite for each one has a special memory attached to it. The green was my wedding gown, the cream floral I wore to my wedding reception, the black dress with bows and rhinestones I wore for my very first photo for the blog and so on. You see,  way too difficult!!

The green in the middle was my wedding dress.

The two red dresses are not the same.

That cute little shop

If you have read my Blog, viewed my Facebook page or taken a peek at my Pinterest, you have probably noticed that I have mention a certain shop many, many times... TresYours  Vintage Corner. It has been my favorite place to shop ever since I have set eyes on it. It has been there for me and my blog when I have needed a dress here or hat there for a special event, photos or just for fun.
How did I come to find TresYours? Simple, my daughter had mentioned it to me sometime ago when she happened to come across it at while exploring the new neighborhood she had recently moved into. She knew I was looking for a place to buy vintage clothing and thought I would be interested.
At the time, I was in my last week of over 10 years of employment as the lead merchandiser in a large department store in the mall.  The only thing after all those years, I would miss would be setting up visual displays on the tables, walls and mannequins with the merchandise to display the latest trends. These were tasks that I really enjoyed and excuse me for saying, but over the years I had become quite good at it, but it was time to move on.
As my last week was getting nearer I wanted to start rebuilding my vintage wardrobe and finally be rid of my all black modern work clothes. Working in that department store 24/7 meant that I could never put my hair up in a nice victory roll for fear of that dreaded call and then having to wash it out. I was not allowed to wear any of what little I did own that was vintage. True, I would sneak in a brooch her or a scarf there, but a wearing a full on vintage outfit was frowned upon. Yet, I knew that once I had quit I would mostly definitely be dressed from head to toe in vintage and hopefully TresYours Vintage Corner would  have a hand in it.
When I finally left my job I made a visit to Roscoe Antique Mall & I couldn't believe my eyes. This place was huge, filled to the brim with lovely antiques and it was nice to see them, but I wanted to find the clothes. Finally, tucked away in the back corner was everything I could possibly need for my vintage wardrobe. It was just like the shops I would read about in my favorite vintage blogs, but it was here for me to shop and play dress up to my heart's delight. This was definitely the type of mall I vintage merchandising gal could really get into!

After many visits to Roscoe Antique Mall and TresYours I have become friends with Peggy the owner of TresYours, as well as the owners of the mall and the rest of the associates. They have always been kind and have never made me feel uncomfortable for the way I dress. They accepted me just as I am. They are one of the reasons why I believe in supporting small businesses.

It occurred to me one day, that as many times as I have been there that I didn't know that much about it, so I decided to have a quick Q & A with owner of TresYours, Peggy.

When did you first open?

 I opened at the Roscoe Antique Mall in 2004, but I have been selling Vintage clothing since 1998.

Why did you choose the Roscoe Antique Mall?

I was at East State Antique Mall and they were going out of business. My friend Allie told me about Roscoe Antique Mall, so I went up there to talk with them. I was so impressed over how clean the mall was, but more impressed with the fact that the owners were so nice. They had just lost their Vintage Clothing dealer and were happy to welcome me into the mall.

Where does the name 'TresYours Vintage Corner' come from?

I wanted a unique name, something people would remember. Since my email name was mtntresure, I thought TresYours was sort of chic and Vintage Corner came from the fact that my booth is located in the back corner of the mall.

What was your best vintage find?

I have two best Vintage finds one was a darling red 1950’s Suzy Perette pencil dress and the other was a 1940’s Ceil Chapman evening gown. Both were just amazing pieces, but of course both were to small for me or they would have been mine forever.

Why do you sell vintage?

When I first started selling someone told me that I needed to pick a category and stick with it. Since I have always been a fashion Diva and have always loved certain eras of fashion, I decided Vintage clothing was my calling.

What era do you think sells better?

1940’s has always sold very well, but it’s becoming more and more difficult to find. I do sell a lot of 1950’s, but the 40’s do sell better.

What era is your favorite?

To pick what Era is my favorite is hard, because I love it all! I love the glamour of the 1940’s. Evening wear was so elegant. Suits were tailored and well made and lasted for years. I love how the dresses silhouetted the body. The 1950’s brought on the femininity and romance with the nipped in waistlines and full circle skirting on the beautiful gowns. Being a child of the 60’s I love the mini dresses and skirts. Not to forget the hip hugging bell bottom pants and bright colored abstract prints.

Do you wear what you sell?

Yes, I wear vintage on special occasions, weddings mostly. For everyday I’m a basic jeans and t-shirt person, but I love dressing up for those special occasions. 

And finally,  besides the mall. Where else can someone buy your vintage items?

I sell at the Cat’s Pajama’s Vintage Clothing and Textile show 2x's a year and sell on Ebay. Ebay is mostly dedicated to Vintage Wedding gowns and Vintage designer clothing.

Thank You to Peggy owner of TresYours Vintage Corner for taking the time to answer my questions for this post. Thank you for supporting my vintage habit, taking the time to search for items on my wish list and for putting up with my indecisiveness of my constantly walking away from something, only to have me message you as soon as I get home in a panic and that I have to have it!

Thank you to everyone at the Roscoe Antique Mall for all your support and for allowing me to take pictures for my blog.

And now for a peek into TresYours Vintage Corner.....

Compacts

Jewelry

Housewares

Knick-knacks

more jewelry

More photos from Cats Pajamas

My Cat's Pajamas finds - 2014

The Cats Pajamas has so many dress options to choose from. Dressy, casual, floral, plaids, lacy, rayon, cotton or even sequins and they are all beautiful in their own way, but ...I love, love house dresses! They are easy to put on when your running errands, running around with kids or having a nice picnic with your husband. You can dress up with peep-toe oxfords, be comfy with simple white canvas tennis shoes or even punk them up a bit as I have with black combat boots. Either way you choose to wear them, they are a must in vintage gals closet.

My new Gloria Swanson dress is  the only one of my dresses that I would wear with heels and maybe add a  purple crinoline.  I can't wait to wear them and post photos.

Gloria Swanson Forever Young

Plaid Turquoise dress

Purple and blue floral house dress

Light blue gingham with pleats

Black Kelly handbag

Cat's Pajamas 2014

Hemmens Cultural center

Finally! After waiting for months it was here, the first Cats Pajamas Productions vintage show of the year and I was excited as can be. Two floors of vintage clothing, shoes, jewelery and more. Everywhere you look it is covered with racks and tables chock full of vintage items ready to shopped. I was so ready for this, well, not entirely ready, but I was going to be. I just had go through a couple of things.

I start planning what I want to wear a couple days before the show. I go through my closet and start checking off my list of requirements for a suitable outfit for the show. 

• Is it comfortable for the entire day? 
• How long will it take me to get ready before my husband starts looking at his watch?
• Easy on and off for trying on clothes?
• Can I bend over without something popping out?
• Shoes - comfy flats or show them off heels?
• Which purse will hold my hairpins, lipstick, money, my willpower not fall in love with everything?
• Hats?
• Hairstyle?
• Era?

It actually wasn't too difficult on deciding my outfit. Each year I've been to the show has been a learning experience on what went right or wrong. Yet, just in case I still go through my mental list. I decided on a Toile de jouy material dress with a sweetheart neckline and my comfy Aris Allen shoes. I decided no hat or updo, so that I could easily try on hats without constantly removing mine or ending up with a rats nest hairdo.

My husband dropped me off and took the kiddies with him. I felt just like my kids at a Lego store, wanting to jump up and down from excitement as I walked inside. The vintage music sets a nice tone and seeing fellow shoppers in vintage clothing is fun. I immediately head downstairs to visit Peggy and her husband Allen from TresYours Vintage corner. We talked and she then proceeds to show me a dress... a 'Gloria Swanson Forever Young dress'. Fit like a glove, it's mine and so was an open bottom girdle. TresYours came through as usual. I purchased 3 other dresses from Carole's closet and a black handbag.
I had a swell time! I am now counting down the days until the next show...in September!

I pretty sure the Cat's Pajamas had every vintage item covered.....

Dresses

Menswear

Ties

Umbrellas

Shoes

Jewelry

Bow ties and belt buckles

Hats

and more hats

they even had a hat stretcher!!

I highly recommend making a visit to the Cats Pajamas Productions shows. As you can clearly see in the photos they have everything a vintage gal or guy would love and could possibly need.

In my post last year I did write a review on the Cats Pj's and wrote how I preferred the Saturday morning show over the Friday night show. I still do, personally it just works out better for my family and I like my filling my mornings with some awesome vintage shopping! I just wish it was every morning and so I wait...