The Walls to My Heart

Romper? Vintage (so similar on Etsy!) Bracelet? Mid-century heart lock (similar on Etsy

 Heels? Guess, thrifted (similar here) Clutch? Vintage Glasses? Warby Parker (Duckworth here) 

Well, before the magazine clutches get distributed to their new homes, I had to take this one out for a spin too. It is a little more subtle than the one in the last post, but the smoulder that the male model is giving the camera as he smokes his cigarette is something else... 

And as you know, I love myself an abandoned building and a good wall. I've been eyeing this wall for weeks and we finally had a chance to stop for some quick pictures. It wasn't quite as abandoned as we thought because there was someone there with a broken down car. He was an elderly gentleman without a cellphone so we gave him a quick lift to his daughter's house nearby. It only took over 5 years, but for the first time ever, taking outfit pictures ended up actually being a useful activity...;)

Gold on Gold on Gold

Jacket? Might have to keep it from my shop;) Leather pants? Vince Cuffs? Unikati (c/o here) 

Earrings? Bebe (yay! finally found really similar ones on Etsy!) Shoes? Aldo 

Clutch? Vintage (Similar here on Etsy) Glasses? duckworth by WP (here) 

In case you are judging my ability to edit myself, I will have you know that I was originally also wearing a gold necklace but I decided perhaps that was 'too much'...

And that clutch? My new favourite thing. I went on a vintage appointment last week and I got three of these and they just made my day. This magazine style of clutch originated in Italy in the 70's when women used to carry them to fool potential purse snatchers. The clutch really looks authentic, down the the fake layer of pages near the clasp. My sister-in-law wondered why I brought a magazine to a family dinner... 

For the quizzes, duh...

Two of the clutches I have are fashion magazines and one is a French tabloid. I will be selling one or two of them eventually, I just need to translate the juicy tabloid headlines first. I knew taking French until Grade 12 would come in handy one day...

Summer. It Will Happen.

Whoop. New Etsy collection up. We're going to call it 'Summer. It Will Happen.'. Maybe you live in California and you are sweating as you are reading this, but up here in Ontario, it's been a sloooowwwww start to the warmer seasons. We did have a very few nice days interspersed throughout generally crappy days. One of those nice days I was landscaping and even though I am so militant about sunscreen, I managed a nice racerback tank burn on my back. Which is why I had to do the back view of the amazing strapless dress (sold) above on a dress form because my terrible burn lines were distracting from the open back and giant fabulous sash. Tanlines... the trickiest part of balancing landscaping and vintage-ing. Who knew?

But about the collection... I wanted it to be a summery, kinda boho collection. I included lots of jewellery again because jewellery is easier than clothing to take a chance on online, and the last collection sold like gang busters... which made my day. I love vintage clothing but somehow I keep getting into good lots of jewellery and that's igniting a new passion and a whole lot of new learning. 

There are lots of fun pieces but also a few collectible silver 'keep forever and pass down to your children, family, friends or cats' pieces. The detail on this Peruvian necklace is ridiculous and this chunky Turquoise bracelet will never go out of style. It's hard to pick favourites in this collection because I genuinely like it all. It's so cheesy to say but as a business woman I want it all to sell obviously but as Jentine, the vintage enthusiast, I could happily add every piece to my own closet. This fringe-y shawl (sold) is pretty special though and this unusual enamel blossom necklace intrigues me... 

Style Advice

Jacket? Vintage (from The Edit, put it up on Etsy here) Jeans? 7 for all Mankind 

Silk top? Joe Fresh (similar in white here) Shoes? Aldo (Canada here or US here) 

Bag? Steve Madden, thrifted Phone cover? Rifle Paper Co. (here) Pics? Julie

My mom was helping me out at the shop the other day and someone asked her what she should wear with a certain vintage top. My mom told her that she should maybe wear it with a nice pair of jeans. Which, if you know my mom, is hilarious because I am not even sure my mom has ever worn jeans...? But she's heard me say that you can wear jeans with really anything and I'm glad she picked up that particular tidbit of my deepest wisdom. Jeans come in so many washes and shapes and are so common that they really are the ultimate neutral now.

This 1960's brocade coat was likely from a formal event, maybe even a wedding and while it could totally still work for those fancy days, it also is just fine with jeans for less fancy days. 

And unlike the other time that Julie took pics and we thought it would be funny to take street style pics with fake phone talking (so phony...?), this time the phone talking is real. It was Matt and he was wondering if he should pick up or make something for dinner. 

The answer was no. I had dinner ready in the slow cooker. I'm telling you this because nothing makes me feel more grown up than meal planning.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Dress? Vintage (similar on Etsy here and here) Clutch? Vintage Jewels? Vintage and Winners and gifts

I don't really think this dress is my usual style. But I tried it on while I was sorting vintage (always how that starts) and it fit just right so I took it as a subconscious message to expand my ruffled horizon. 

It's so floaty, so floral and so frilly. Not that I don't love floaty, floral and frilly but I usually love that kind of stuff contrasted with some super high heels or some black leather (like so). Posing in freshly green spring fields in the setting sun probably doesn't help, but as it is, this dress is a few inches of cleavage and a shirtless hunk away from a romance novel cover. 

And that is surely a beautiful thing...

Balance. Or Not.

I started landscaping again recently, in addition to running the shop, and I thought I would be able to handle it all effortlessly because hashtag girl-power and a pinch of bullheadedness but... that's not going quite as well as I planned. I am hardly posting on the blog, I still can't seem to get my next Etsy collection up (that I am so excited about and it's been 80% shot and half listed for weeks now...) and dinner is either really late or take-out. 

I know there will be more balance soon. I'll be caught up from the spring rush for landscaping and I won't always have two weekend events back to back for the shop (the worst timing, of course...ha) but right now I am so tired that I've cried over stupid things like 13 times in one week. Pretty sure I started crying when a branch got in the way when I was cleaning up a garden. Yelling at inanimate things in anger is always a good gage of exhaustion... 

All that to say, I'm tired and cranky (I faked real good for that picture above...) and I've been a crappy blogger but I'm still getting dressed! And I'll be back in fighting form soon; I'll even get that Etsy collection up! I have to remember to have fun and not take what I do so seriously. 

There are weeds to pull and there is vintage to pick. I just need to chill out and stop yelling at branches...