Stumped by Vintage

Silk dress? 1960's vintage (from The Vintage Marketplace) Shoes? Guess, thrifted  

Bracelets? Random mall shop and craft stand 

Purse? Art Deco Beggar's Purse (I was strong, put it on Etsy here... one of its cousins up too) Jacket? Costa Blanca 

Matt is generally a handy guy. I am generally not so handy. I know I joked about road rage a few posts again but what I really have is technology rage. Something goes wrong with my computer and I flap my hands, say questionable phrases and throw the laptop at Matt.

'Fix ittttt!'

Yeah, not my finest moment.

I'm a bit better with landscaping equipment. When something goes wrong, I flap my hands, say questionable phrases that include the words 'John Deere' and then breathe. I go through everything that has ever gone wrong before to see if I can actually diagnose the problem myself. Not that I know much mechanical stuff but if the exact thing has happened in the past, I can remember that and go from there. Still, sometimes I have to call Matt or ghostbusters.

That said, this amazing little pouch from the 1930's completely stumped Matt. I asked him to check that the volume of my phone in the purse was off and he had no clue how to open it and get the phone through the top. He handled his confusion with grace though, no hand flaps or cuss words. It's pretty simple really, the lid pops open and the gate expands to allow for fashionable phone and lipgloss storage.

Vintage; keeping Matt humble and Jentine fabulous* since a long time ago...

*Clearly I am not so humble, I referred to myself in the third person. 

Kimono, Kimono, Kimono

Kimono? Vintage (one on etsy here and modern version here and a sale one here) Dress? Thrifted 

Belt and clutch? Thrifted Necklaces? From all over, similar tassel one on etsy here

'Kimono, kimono, kimono...' 

That is probably all I remember from My Big Fat Greek Wedding (though I have faint memories of some questionable hair styles?...) but that line pops in my head every time I see a kimono. And as kimonos are having a fashion moment, that little quote is on high rotation through my brain.

I actually found this kimono in the Halloween section of a Salvation Army for a couple of bucks last year. There's a thrift tip for you; the Halloween section can be golden for vintage. It takes some searching because you have to get through 22 naughty polyester cop costumes (synthetics, so naughty...) and 67 Disney princesses before you get to the kimono but I would say it's worth the hunt. 

I guess now that I have a shop, giving out thrift tips is less about blog content and more like sharing some industry secrets. If you feel the need to share this insider tip, please don't use my name, just list me as 'a source'. Isn't that how all truths are discovered? A 'source' on the Internet? 

Slouch

Shoes? Converse (here) Pants? Vince Tunic? Vince, consigned at Refinerie (they now have stuff online!) 

Jacket? Zara (similar but better with a hood)  Purse? Roots Collar? Friend's grandmother 

Necklace? Vintage Whiting and Davis (I got it for the shop  and I should sell it but it's so cute!)

If I had known how comfortable these Converse were, I would have jumped on this trend (or really, a classic for many people...) a long time ago. Instead it took me going to Target to look for a shelf so I can stuff more stuff in the shop and finding myself 7 minutes later in the check-out with a shelf... and a pair of shoes. 

Also comfortable? My stretchy leather pants... hence, two outfit posts in a row with the same pants. Then again, the morning of the day these pictures were taken, I was up at 5:45 a.m., wiggling myself into this amazing 1950's lace dress and some high heels for a prom special we taped at Refinerie (it's so pretty inside!). The dress is beautifully cut and fits exactly but like I said on Instagram, I had to get my mom to drive me around that morning because my arm movement did not allow for my regular sharp left turns or road rage. After a long (but fun) morning in my fancy get-up I was more than happy to trade them all in for my Converse and leather pants. 

Amazing 1950's wiggle dresses make you confused between feeling freaking fabulous and feeling like you want to go home and hug your nearest pair of trackpants. 

The Birthday Boy

Silk top? Vintage Leather Pants? Vince Purse? Vintage (I was going to put it on Etsy so it could be bought off this post but someone snatched it up in the shop immediately... you know who you are...;)) 

Ring? Vintage Shoes? Guess, thrifted Coat? Vintage

I wore this to take Matt out for a birthday dinner last week. I wore sparkly things and Matt had steak and all was well. 

I am aware that I sometimes make a light hearted characterization of Matt on the blog. He's my good-natured, pun-loving (yeahhhh... I went there) photographer who will offer to let you take home one of our cats while simultaneously carrying around one of those cats. There is obviously much more to him than that but he has his life and is not interested in being some major or minor player of any kind in the blog world. That said, Matt is the best part of my day to day life. His steadiness grounds me, his positive attitude buoys me, his jokes (oft repeated) still make me laugh and his lack of recycling keeps me fiery. 

It really is a pleasure to grow older with Matt. And to take him out for steak.