Photography: RRL

When I first saw these images from the new Ralph Laurn RRL campaign I was momentarily convinced they were genuine vintage photographs. Upon further inspection it became clear that they were impressively faithful reproductions. They remind me of the Australian mug shots that I posted about here. Once I started studying the photos closer, I couldn't help but think about how much fun it would have been to work on this project; from the set design to the lighting, and the styling to the post production.

Sea F/W 2011

I love discovering new (to me) collections at this point in the game. Sometimes I feel like I'm looking forward to the same designer's collections every year without adding anything new to the mix. This is the first year that I've seen the New York based line from Sea. Here are some of my favorite looks from their expansive collection. The navy and ochre color palette is one that is inspiring a lot of my choices right now and I'm always a fan of star prints. And I love how all the looks are paired with beat-up Converse. There was a time when I wore my beloved Chucks with everything!

Family Affairs F/W 2011

Here's another fall/winter collection that I love. It's called Meteorite Dream by Family Affairs. I always enjoy the titles of their pieces and the song lyrics they include with each one. The colors in this collection are right up my alley; black, navy, camel, cream. I've been on the hunt for long sleeve dresses and the Scotland dress is about as perfect as they come.

Sponsor Post: Milk & Bread Vintage

I've teamed up with Milk & Bread Vintage, one of my lovely September sponsors, to bring you a pretty exciting giveaway. They are generously offering a $100 credit to their shop to one of you! Their shop is stocked full of pretty pieces that are perfect for the upcoming season. Some of my favorites are this Jerry Gilden party dress, this perfectly broken-in Levis denim jacket, this cute woven shoulder bag, and this pretty fall-hued skirt. All you have to do to enter is check out their Etsy shop and leave a comment on this post (make sure you include your email address). I'll randomly pick a winner in a week so you've got seven days to enter. Good luck!

photos by Tom b.

- Could've Woodland Cape courtesy of Modcloth
- UO skirt
- vintage silk blouse
- UO boots
- vintage Coach purse
- sunglasses courtesy of BonLook



How was your weekend? Ours was quite nice. Here are the rest of the photos that I was too tired to post last night. We took them along a foot bridge on our way to eat dinner at Iron Hill Brewery. We don't typically go there to eat but Tom had a gift card so we thought we'd check it out. We split the biggest plate of nachos I've ever seen, then a pizza made with local mushroom and topped it all off with creme brulee. But the best part? The beers! They make their own craft beers on site and last night we had two of the best I've tasted (that didn't come straight from Belgium). After dinner we headed home to watch the season premiere of Boardwalk Empire. The episode itself wasn't that great but I know it's just setting things up for the rest of the season so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's a good as last year's.

Going Places

The kind folks at Modcloth offered to let me pick a piece from their Going Places lookbook. I had a hard time choosing but I finally picked the Could've Woodland Cape. I have lots more photos to share, but I'm too sleepy right now so I thought I'd give you a side by side peek and I'll share the rest tomorrow!

Etsy Collection: Earth & Sky

navy gingham jumper, fawn angora sweater dress, gunmetal plaid dress

gridlines plaid dress, icelandic wool cape, royal striped wool dress

vanilla floral dress, wrangler denim jacket, sheer dots dress

autumnal plaid blouse, oatmeal knit cardigan, lee western shirt

scottish flock sweater, nautical stripe sweater, navy rugby sweater

norwegian wool sweater, caramel knit vest, folk snowflake sweater

faded levis boyfriend jeans, paisley pleated skirt, worn levis boyfriend jeans

slate plaid midi skirt, taupe plaid midi skirt, maple plaid midi skirt

Delightful Feather Dress

photos: Orchid Grey, Selective Potential, Here's Lookin' at Me Kid, A Thought is the Blossom

I'm sequestering myself in the house this week to try to catch up on lots of work I've neglected over the summer months. That means no outfits posts and no internet browsing looking for interesting things to post about. Instead I'll point you in the direction of a lovely group of ladies known as the Delightful Dozen. I was so excited to see them passing around a dress that I sold in my Etsy shop. As a vintage seller, most of the time you never get to see the items you pass along in their new surroundings. It's a lot of fun to see this feather print dress being worn by so many stylish ladies.

Alexa Chung for Madewell Fall 2011

Some of the looks from the Alexa Chung for Madewell collection have made their way online. I have to say that I'm a little relieved that while I do like it, I'm not so overly in love with it that I feel like I NEED to have it. What a relief for my wallet! Ha, ha. I like the casual styling of the outfits but feel like I can make similar looks with things that I already have or can find vintage. I'm sure a lot of people will be all over that little white lace dress. It's super cute but I've come to accept the fact that I'm not a white lace dress kind of girl. The sweaters are nice, but only if the aren't acrylic or polyester. I guess we'll see. And the palm tree print isn't really my thing. That black and white dress, though... that's another story.

Photography: Sweet Jane

Photographed by Tim Barber and styled by Susan Winget for Muse

This week's photography post is decidedly fashion related, as was last week's. It's not intentional, as I started this series to take a look at all sorts of photography, not just fashion. But I usually don't find editorials that I find interesting (they're usually too over the top for me to take much inspiration from them) so when I ran across this 60s inspired one from Muse I knew I wanted to feature it. It's got some nice outfits for that awkward transition of seasons that we're in right now.

Etsy Collection: First of Fall

moss paisley suit ..... teal plaid suit ..... turning leaves plaid skirt
mille floral crop top ..... paisley mini dress ..... cocoa mini dress

I feel like it's been ages since I've added anything new to the Etsy shop. Two whole weeks! I didn't mean to let that much time slip by but I've been busy cleaning out the old summer stock and organizing all of the fall/winter pieces I've collected. I'd almost forgotten how excited I can get about things like wool and tweed and plaid. I've just finished adding all of these items to the shop and I can't wait to get started on next week's collection.

fawn wool trench coat ..... nouveau floral skirt ..... oxblood leather jacket
forest wool mini skirt ..... collegiate knit cardigan ..... nightfall paisley dress

emerald city smock dress ..... rooster knit cardigan ..... autumn ombre dress
cinnamon striped top ..... maple plaid jumper ..... jade sweater vest

dusty rose market bag ..... terrafirma market bag ..... geranium market bag

nutmeg leather boots ..... harness ankle boots ..... russet buckle ankle boots

photos by Tom b.

- 60s cotton dress
- vintage denim jacket
- Rachel Comey boots
- vintage wool beret

I've just added something to my wardrobe. Something I've been searching for, not quite sure which one was right for me. Can you spot it? It's a watch! Someone commented to me years ago that wearing a watch was becoming obsolete. If one needs to know the time they simply consult their cellphone. So true! However, my disdain for cellphones is a constant joke to my friends. I have an little flip phone with some prepaid minutes in my purse that I save for emergencies. I check it about twice a week to see if anyone has called it (they never do, I don't even know the phone number for it). If someone texts me, I usually return the favor about three days later. I just don't know how people function with them constantly in their hands!

OK, enough of sounding like an old fogey. The point is, I don't ever know what time it is... so I bought a watch. It took me forever to find an affordable option that I really liked. There are some seriously tacky watches out there folks. Since I couldn't lay down enough cash for my dream watch I settled for a Swiss Army Garrison. It's simple, classic and goes with everything.

Built by Wendy

I know everyone is busy posting photos from NYFW but I just can't get with the spring program right now. I'm still too excited about the fall lookbooks that are popping up on some of my favorite sites. I've been waiting for the Built by Wendy collection to come out because I usually like her fall pieces more than the spring one (although those are usually nice too). This year I'm finding that to be true again. All of these looks are pretty simple and wearable which I think is the thing I love about them. I also really like the blanket prints and have been looking for something similar for myself at the thrift store.

photos by Tom b.

- silk blouse by Alexa Chung for Madewell
- vintage dirndl borrowed from Iron Orchid Vintage
- Topshop boots

One of my sponsors, Iron Orchid Vintage, was kind enough to send me a box of clothes to play around with. In the box was this vintage dirndl which somehow seemed perfect for the slightly fall weather we've been having. I paired it with a silk blouse from last year's Alexa Chung collection and ended up feeling like I matched my surroundings with the blue sky and the golden corn fields that fill Lancaster county.

100 Years of Style in East London

The most adorable thing I've seen in ages!

Two for the Road

photographer:  Will Davidson, stylist:  Jillian Davison, featuring Kendra Spears & Ben Mendelsohn in Harper's Bazaar Australia Sept. 2011

This editorial from the September issue of Harper's Bazaar Australia caught my eye.  It's got the Bonnie & Clyde thing that I love so much going on.  I really love that some of the clothes used by the stylist are actual vintage pieces.  I don't have occasion to dress this fancy very often but it does make for some nice photos. See more from the editorial on dustjacket attic. 

Toast Lookbook

Looking at these photos from the Toast lookbook made me realize that I must be really ready for fall.  All of the outfits seem so warm and comforting.  I really like the maxi-dress and blazer combination and the wool cape reminds me of one I found over the summer and put away somewhere in the attic. 

Phillies Game

On Monday Tom and I celebrated Labor Day with America's favorite pastime... a baseball game!  Tom is a lifelong Phillies fan, and I've come to love them through association.  So I put on a red dress and we drove a scenic route to Philadelphia.  The forecast called for rain (the remnants of yet another hurricane) but we were lucky because it just sort of drizzled all night and never really down-poured.  It was dollar-dog night at the stadium and here's the best part about that... they serve vegan hot dogs!  We stuffed ourselves on hot dogs and cheese fries and watched the Phillies beat the Braves 9 to 0. 

Fall Collections

 

The layering in the Wren collection has me excited about the cooler weather we're having. 



I love the neutral color palette for the Dace fall/winter collection. 



I'm so glad to finally see some of the pieces from Hetterson's fall collection.  That striped sweater is such a great basic must-have! 



Sally Scott's fall/winter collection has lots of great knits and clean, simple silhouettes. 


Papercup ~ The Sands (Summer 2011) from Swonderful Boutique on Vimeo.

And finally, Papercup's summer dresses make me a little sad to see the end of the season. 

The Last of Summer

photos by Tom b.

- vintage romper
- vintage shoes
- vintage hat
- H&M sunglasses

Since today's Labor Day holiday is sort of the last hooray for summer, I thought I'd finally dig out the last of the photos from our summer vacation.  These were taken on a day that we spent in Joshua Tree National Forest back in May.  I can't believe it was that long ago!  We took a hike (it's really a pretty easy walk) out to Barker Dam.  There is a spot were during the rainy season water naturally collects.  When the area was first being settled, the ranchers in the area built a dam to have a place for their horses and cattle to drink.  On previous trips to the area the water has been much higher than it was on this trip.  You can see the waterlines on the rocks behind me in some of the photos.  Further down the trail there is a spot where petroglyphs can still be seen carved into the rocks although someone vandalized them by coloring them in at some point. 

Alexa Chung in 2011 Madewell Campaign

I'm so glad there's not a Madewell store anywhere near me. I can see that I would spend WAY too much money in there this fall. The store is already stocked with lots of things I love (their shoes are just perfect, every pair) and the Alexa Chung collection hasn't even come out yet!

Fall Wish List

Crew Kids sweater, Steven Alan skirt, Pendleton hat, UO boots, Madewell necklace


Steven Alan dress, Topshop coat, Madewell socks, Rachel Comey shoes


Monki dress, J. Crew cashmere sweater, Madewell necklace, shoes and tote


Crew Kids sweater, Acne shorts, Rachel Comey Penpal boots, A.P.C wool beanie, J.L.Hulme bag

Orla Kiely dress, Madewell socks, BonLook glasses, Topshop shoes and bag