New skirt

I've actually finished something! To be truthful it's something I started before I ventured into the wardrobe project, but as it is a 40's skirt, it fits anywy. It's an A-line wool skirt that I very nearly finished in February, but then I had just the hemming left. It's funny how often the hemming slows me down... But now, in time for colder weather, I finally took the last stitches on it. And as I've spent the last few days feeling a bit under the weather due to a cold, I really felt the need to put on some lipstick and feel a bit pretty.

Back in business

I must confess that all the hard work I put into my masquerade costume came to naught. Well, not really, but I realized last Wednesday that I wouldn’t be able to finish it to wear on the masquerade after all. So I can’t show you any pictures of it yet I plan to wear it on a masquerade in Mars, so it will be finished. Instead I wore an old costume and wasn’t unhappy about it:



More pictures can be seen here.

Anyway, now I have finally time to spend on the 1940’s again! I’ll do my best to finish hemming my brown skirt very soon and then I think I’m going to make my fake fur- winter is after all approaching.

Waiting at the station coat

This week I finally got my coat from Puttin on the Ritz. I say finally as I have been waiting so eagerly for it, but the truth is that it was sent to me 2 days before the stated waiting time ran out, which is 6 weeks in the slow seasons. The coat is beautiful and comfortable and I couldn’t be happier with it. I always have trouble finding coats that fits, so I’m glad this worked out so well. I’ll definitely be ordering from them again in the future, probably a wool skirt for the winter.

An alternative to classic perfume

Before I realized there were such a thing as vintage perfume- or rather that it was possible to actually get your mitts on them, I hadn’t used ordinary perfume for years, but solely purchased my scents from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, or BPAL. For some reason modern perfumes gives me headaches and I very, very often find that they have a slightly nasty smell underneath the other notes, something that most of all reminds me of water from a vase where flowers has stood too long- rancid and flowery at the same time. And though I have fallen hard for vintage perfumes, I still wear my BPAL scents when I work, so I have done a little research to see if there are any of those that evokes the same scent ideas that my vintage perfume does.

I read blogs

I read Aimee and Harriett’s Bright Young Twins, The Lives of two best friends stuck in a time warp. They have an absolutely amazing sense of style and know how to take pictures of it too (I’m envious) There are many, many, posts I’d like to point you to, but I choose Tea Time!, because they review a book I really want, 'The Vintage Tea Party Book by Angel Adore.

Meanwhile there will a bit of a lull on this blog for two more weeks. After October 22, when the big masked ball has arrived and I have finished my costume, I will get back to a more interesting posting schedule. At the moment I spend every free moment stitching silk velvet and getting more and more convinced that I’m quite insane to choose such fiddly fabric for a very big 18th century gown…

Where I shop

I love to shop- don’t we all? What I hate, though, is to actually do the physical shopping. Especially clothes. Despite loving to have clothes, I hate shopping for them with a passion and I do practically all my shopping, except for food, online. So here are a few of the places I spend my money.

Clothing and shoes
Brandos A Swedish shoe store. They don’t really sell retro shoes, but it’s there I found my reproductions rubber boots from Viking. Last time I looked they had those in two versions. I have also seen some rather 40’s looking sandals.

Casablanca 1942

Do I need to describe the plot of Casablanca in detail? Let’s just quote IMDB; ”Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.”. And I guess you already know it features Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, not to mention such dependable actors as Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, and Peter Lorre. And you can probably quote it, even if you haven’t seen it. Though “Play it again Sam”, was never said, even if it’s probably the most quoted of all. And of course, most people know the tune too.
Dooley Wilson (Sam), sings As Times Goes By


It’s not a big costume movie, but perhaps that makes it even more interesting for those who want to incorporate the 40’s in their ordinary wardrobe. Looking as lovely as Ingrid Bergman isn’t easy, though.