Welcome Spring

Okay, so it's not officially Spring yet but it's going to be very soon. I am so tired of Winter and the frigid cold, I want to be outside without the air hurting my face.

Today wasn't that warm but I wanted to wear something springy and I wanted to wear one of my newest thrifted treasures, a pair of 1970s wool Bobbie Brooks super flares.

The pants came from the Salvation Army. I had to go back to the store to buy them since I didn't buy them the first time I was there. If you find something you love instantly at a thrift store buy it then!

I also got to wear my non-vintage psychedelic booties for the first time after buying them last month, I didn't want the ice and the snow to ruin them. 

 These remind me of The Beatles and Lady Miss Kier!

It's not visible in the photos but I was wearing this vintage floral necklace, it was a gift from a friend. 

I'm so happy Spring is soon, it means that being outside will be enjoyable and it means more outfit posts!

A Creative Thaw.

I haven't written in a while, the combination of the dullness and coldness of Winter left me feeling uncreative and unproductive in all aspects of my life. So, I took time away from blogging or doing anything creative.  Getting out of an uncreative slump is a bit rough especially with dreary weather. But , not doing anything isn't fun either.

I've been picking up some fantastic vintage and thrifted pieces in the past couple of months and I can't wait to feature them here soon.

This Thursday I shot with Chris Crois Photography (Instagram: Crois6) and I finally got to show off one of my coolest finds, a Lilli Ann Cape.

The cape is so mod and it was an awesome thrift find but it is too cold to sport it now.  Luckily, we were in a studio and I got to feel like a superhero in front of the city scape. I can't wait to post more about this cape, it is visually stunning!

The hat is one of four vintage hats I received recently. This one had a dramatic birdcage veil and it looked so neat against the cloud background.

Lastly, I just set up an instagram account to share vintage outfit photos (and cat photos). Temporarily, my username is: megansteigerwalt
I plan on changing it soon.

This outfit is made up of half vintage pieces and the other half are new pieces. The pants and sweater aren't vintage but the vest and fur coat are. It was freezing the day I wore this outfit but my outfits have been so bland lately due to the cold and I wanted to wear something flash.


I can't wait to share more of my vintage pieces with all of you soon.

Night Time Glamour

Lisa Douglas from "Green Acres" is mostly to blame for my love of glamorous sleep wear. I first saw the show when I was little and I fell in love with Eva Gabor's wardrobe. Those of you that have been reading this blog or awhile know that I love to get dressed up. You should never forget the power your outfit can have on your attitude.

Having fun with your outfits doesn't have to end at night. I have a small collection of vintage nightgowns, not nearly as lovely as Mrs. Douglas but I have some 60s baby doll nighties and peignoirs.

 Isn't this a fun print? The fabric looks so floaty and comfortable. One of my dreams is to have a night gown/pajama collection to rival Lisa Douglas.

This robe exudes glamour. 

This photo came from a 70s issue of Life magazine and the pajamas remind me of something a genie would wear. These would be lovely for the summertime.  

The feathers at the bottom make the night gown. Wouldn't it be lovely to lounge in this in the evening? It exudes the glamour of old Hollywood. 

Photo by JLS Photography

This is one of my favorite nightgowns and peignoirs. It always makes me feel so glamorous, I just wish I had a pair of marabou slippers to match. 

So, how many of you enjoy slipping in to something glamourous in the evening?

Mullica Hill, New Jersey: An Antique Paradise

Yesterday I took a little day trip to Mullica Hill, New Jersey. For those of you that live in New Jersey or close to it you should take a day trip to Mullica Hill (just not on a Monday or Tuesday since most places are closed).

Jeremy and our friend Diane started off the day with lunch at the Blue Plate (http://www.blueplatenj.com/)

I was really happy we chose the Blue Plate to eat since there were lots of vegetarian options which is unfortunately rare for restaurants in southern New Jersey. I had the portobello ruben sandwich which was a nice treat since my mother is a ruben fiend and I was never able to have one but thanks to the Blue Plate I was finally able to taste a delectable ruben sandwich, which features coleslaw, russian dressing and pumpernickel bread, not the healthiest of choices but it was so good!

After lunch we went to the Old Mill Antique Mall(www.old-mill-antique-mall.com). As soon as I walked in I was overwhelmed with the hugeness of the shop, they have three floors of everything you could possibly imagine. I made a loud gasp out of excitement when I entered that amused Jeremy and Diane. If you are a depression glass collector than the Old Mill Antique Mall is the place for you, I've never seen so much depression glass in one place, especially the green glass which is my favorite.

There were also a lot of records to look through and there were so many good ones but I only bought this gem. 

Sorry about the awful backwards photobooth photo but I was in a hurry to listen to the album.

Mullica Hill, NJ is a lovely little town with a great main street full of antique shops so if you are an antique lover you must visit. Here are some more antique shops in the town. 

1)Kings Row Antiques Campus (https://www.facebook.com/KingsCourtAntiques/)  Only one of the shops was open yesterday but there was a lot of beautiful furniture and depression glass for sale. 

2)Retro Station (retrostationnj.com/) Tons of records, mid-century items and pop culture collectibles abound. 

3) Turners Treasures at the Warehouse (turnerstreasuresofmullicahill.com/) This shop is connected to a pizza place and it has two lovely floors filled with antiques and collectables including a huge selection of glassware. A worker on the ground floor and I had a lovely discussion about Bobby Darin for a good half hour. She saw him in concert and I'm very jealous. It's nice to meet people that share Bobby Darin love. 

It was warm yesterday and I was so excited to finally wear my late 60s romper that I bought from Glassboro Thrift Village (glassborothriftvillage.com) 

I purchased the white vinyl handbag from Twice Loved Treasures in Vineland, NJ (www.sjworks.org/view/group/1091)

I thought it was adorable and unfortunately it fits very little but I love how it looks. 

The owl necklace was passed down to me by my mother-in-law. It was Jeremy's grandmother's necklace.  I'm sad that I never got to meet his grandmother, he's told me that she was a fun and loving lady. The necklace is very special to me, I am honored to wear it. 

I love to wear my Dr. Scholls wooden exercise sandals in the summer. My Mom used to have a pair every summer when she was growing up and they are very sturdy shoes. My pair have lasted me for 10 years. 

Make sure you plan a visit to Mullica Hill, New Jersey if you are in the area. For those of you that don't live in the area, what are your favorite towns to shop for antiques? 

Playing with decades.

Jeremy and I are still celebrating Christmas! We enjoy the week between Christmas and New Year's day celebrating and the celebration culminates on New Year's day when we have our annual polenta and cod dinner at Mommom's house.


This afternoon we visited my in-laws since we didn't see them on Christmas. I decided to wear my new dress that Jeremy got me for Christmas.

My Mommom got me this great felt cloche hat for Christmas. I have a couple clips that can go with it so I'm going to experiment. I figured I would wear it with my red dress to be Christmasy. 

When I got there I got to meet Dudley! Jeremy's parents got this adorable Jack Russell/Pug mix. He is so full of energy that I couldn't snap a good photo of him. He is so precious. 

We spent a couple hours visiting at his parent's house and then we went to the Hallmark store to buy our 2013 ornament. We are a little late this year but we ended up getting a good deal so it all worked out. 

Our 2013 ornament to celebrate our union. 

We're still having a blast enjoying our holiday! Now, here are some photos of my great 1950s red dress. I am about to order crinoline for it and I can't wait to have a full skirt when I wear it next. 

                                                       

 My Mommom gave me this coat, it belonged to her mother and it is one of the warmest coats I've ever worn. There is a beautiful button that holds the fur collar together and I took a close up photo of it.

I wasn't looking at the camera but I posted this since I had a furry friend with me. We have a lot of outside cats at home. 

I can not wait until I get my crinoline. This dress fits like a dream and I'm so happy Jeremy got it for me for Christmas. It's so versatile, I'll be able to dress it up if I want or wear it to run errands. 

How is everyone enjoying their holiday week between Christmas and the new year?

Lets talk lining.

Today we're going to learn something about garment history. It's going to be fun, I promise, it's a subject that I find fascinating.

I purchased this yellow crepe and sequin dress this summer at "What Goes On" on the Wildwood boardwalk. I'd say the dress is from the late 60's. There is no label, just a small tag that says the size.

I decided it would be the perfect dress to wear for the birthday party my parents threw for me. On a side note, I made a lot of food for the party including delicious crab dip and an earl grey cake with orange zest frosting. 

 Anyway, I decided that this was going to be my party dress and then my plan hit a snag. The dress was a bit see through and my undergarments tend to be brightly colored with a loud print. So,  I had to bother my Mom for a mini slip. I understand a lot of people aren't used to wearing slips and I'm one of them. I know what they're for but I don't ever really need to wear them. I bet you're wondering where the history lesson fits in to all of this so here it is. If you have a lot of vintage dresses you might notice that they are not lined like modern dresses. Sometime in the 70's dresses were starting to be made without lining, prior to that the correct undergarments were needed to wear the dress. Often it was a bra, underwear, girdle(which fell to the wayside with a lot of women in the 60's) and a slip. 

So, your vintage wardrobe doesn't just require a cute 60's party dress it often times requires you to buy special undergarments. You can go to almost any store and buy a slip, it doesn't have to be vintage. 

I hope you all enjoyed this little Thursday history lesson. Now, more photos of the dress. 

We have such well behaved deer in our back yard! 

In this shot you can see the sequins around the neckline and the earrings I was wearing. I love how detailed the neckline is and how dramatic the sleeves are, there is no need for a necklace or bracelets. I just wore earrings and engagement ring.

These are Betsy Johnson earrings that Jeremy got me for Easter earlier this year. I absolutely love Betsey Johnson and I have a few pieces of her jewelry, including one of her massively heavy but gorgeous charm necklaces, I just look at it as an exercise for my neck. 

I hope you have all learned something today or at least enjoyed looking at my yellow party dress. My recipes aren't secret so if anyone wants my crab dip recipe or my earl grey cake recipe I'll be happy to give them to you. 

The first day.

         The first day of school and the entire back to school season is one of my favorite times of the year. Even as a child I enjoyed shopping for school supplies and the first day of school was (and still is) a holiday to me, while most children looked at it as a prison sentence. This year I combed the school supply sections of many shops and stocked up on Lisa Frank folders, notebooks, and a fantastic pencil case featuring the cute Lisa Frank puppies.
        Today was my first day of school for the fall semester. I am almost finished with my degree, it took me awhile to figure out what to major in and I'm not ashamed by it. Not everyone knows what they want and who they are when they are 18 and I think our culture puts too much emphasis on moving forward and jumping through the next hoop then on self exploration. Some people need a lot of time to meditate on who they really are and what they want out of life. That being said, there is no age limit on change. Some people set a track for their life and they think that's it, they may be unhappy and want to change something major in their life but they think they are too old. There is no age limit on change. Just because you are a certain age doesn't mean you are done learning and changing, never remain stagnant because you might as well be dead. Sorry for my small tirade.
           Anyway, even as a 22 (soon to be 23 eep) year old college student I still get giddy at the thought of buying school supplies and spend hours packing my bookbag and picking out my brand new first day of school outfit. I love learning and while I like to learn through independent study there is something special about being taught by a fantastic teacher. This morning I donned a white and orange dress that I purchased at "Twice Loved Treasures" (Vineland, N.J) yesterday afternoon. They had a lot of vintage pieces in stock and I bought a lot of blouses but I only found one prized dress. I believe it is from the late 60's or early 70's. I wore a pair of brown heels,which aren't pictured, that my Mommom gave me. They are from the 60's and they complemented the dress nicely. The dress is from Sears and I am so sad that I found it at the end of the summer, I don't have a lot of time to wear it before it gets chilly.
          The only thing that irks me about the first day of school is the reading of the syllabus. I don't understand why adults have to be told about classroom etiquette and why said subject needs to take up 50 minutes of my time, but the world is a strange place.

New school clothes from Sears, completely polyester. I am living the mid-century suburban dream. 

A new school year, to me, is equivalent to the New Year. It's a fresh start. My academic career has not been stellar every semester since entering college but this semester is a fresh start. Just like the resolutions for the new year a new school year is a chance to make a fresh start.

My bookbag. I plan to adorn it with more badges and decorations. I am one of those obnoxious bookbag owners.

How many of you get excited about the first day of school? What about those who don't attend school anymore, does the beginning of September still feel like a special time for you? Does anyone else share my zeal to learn outside of formal teaching? If you don't have an opinion about any of that, what do you think about the dress?

Swimsuit showcase!

We have reached the sticky days of Summer and I can't wait for the season to be over. I am not a summer person. I'm not the outdoor type, I can't play a sport to save my life and I don't eat meat so I'm a lot of fun at BBQs. I also used to dread wearing a swimsuit since most of the modern styles are way too skimpy and only look good on 1 percent of the population, I am not part of that percentage. This paragraph wins the award for most bitter blog opener by the way.

I now somewhat enjoy swimsuit season since I've started a vintage swimsuit collection. This summer I added two authentic vintage suits to my collection.

The first swimsuit belonged to my Mommom.
She told me it was one of her favorites and I can understand why. It's so comfortable and it has molded cups! If you've been reading my blog you know how fanatical I am with molded cups. They just add a whole different feel to the garment. When my Mom took the picture of Jeremy an I on the beach the wind was blowing and that's why he's squinting, that and the sun. He says I need to start getting better shots of him, I think he looks cute. We're just not beach, or sun people. The second one is just me hamming it up for the camera.

The next suit is an etsy purchase. I saw this adorable bikini and just had to have it. It's from Sears and it has held up well. However, it's not meant to be worn while playing on the slip and slide, I popped a seam that way. Anyway there aren't any molded cups but the top is stitched so the cups come out to a point. The photo was taken in the breezeway of the motel we were staying at.

I also have a thing for these sun glasses.

I don't feel confident when I wear modern style swimsuits so I don't. There is just something about the cut of vintage swimsuits that makes me feel amazing, I get a confidence boost just from putting one on. I don't care if I get weird looks, and I actually don't recall getting any while I was on vacation, because I feel that untouchable.

Keep on the lookout for more posts, I have a lot of interesting things to share.

The dream dress.

Well, I haven't been neglecting this blog, I just haven't been home much to update it. I've been spending a lot of time with my Mommom, helping her recover from her fall and keeping her company since my Poppop died. Time with Grandparents is alway something to treasure and I am having fun with her. We've been having some "Golden Girls" and "I Love Lucy" marathons. Not all 20 year olds get to give back to their Grandparents and I'm lucky that I can after all my Mommom has done for me.

However, in my last post I promised to talk about the little blue mini dress I purchased at the beginning of the month. I will set the scene: It's Sunday afternoon at the Goodwill and I am sifting through the dress rack convinced I will not find a thing. Then, suddenly, I see *it* the dress. You know how people have that idea that when they buy that one item it will change their life, well mine was this dress.

The beautiful laurel is all gone now :(.

I knew when I saw it I had to have it, even if it wasn't my size I figured I could take it to the tailors, but thankfully it fit. My life has not changed since I bought my dream mini dress except for a few stares at the bank but you know, nothing happens overnight. 

Super Seventies Sunday.

Earlier this week I bought a romper that I described as looking like something Mr. Furly would wear if he was a woman. I bought it because it was different, I can't say I've ever seen anyone wear anything like it. The past couple of days have been sweltering, so I decided to go public with my "walking couch pattern",as my sister would call it, today.

Jeremy and I went out for a nice lunch at Tomo Sushi in Glassboro. I highly recommend it as their lunch special prices are very reasonable. A waitress complimented my outfit which caught me off guard  because I was expecting to be laughed at. After lunch Jeremy went to the liquor store and I went to the Goodwill to go dress hunting. I found a fantastic blue and white 60's mini dress that I will blog about later. While I was in mid-hunt I received another outfit compliment.

I was surprised that I got two compliments today. Although I was confident with my outfit and I loved it I was still expecting negativity and laughs. My "Furly" romper is a lot of look and that's why I bought it and I'm glad it was received so well.

So, dear readers what are your thoughts? Do you like the look? Do you buy things that you like that you don't think will go over so well?

One more shot. Me and a furry friend. 

Stares and looks.

Let me ask you a question dear readers, when you dress in a vintage style or even when you just dress to the nines for no special reason, do you get a lot of strange looks?

This morning I had a couple of things to pick up at the grocery store and then Jeremy and I went out to lunch. It was hot today so I decided it would be the perfect day to wear my mod influenced dress.

I'm oh so skilled in modeling.

I received so many strange looks in the Shop-rite, I'm guessing it was what I was wearing. I thought the dress was really cute. 

another photo just for kicks. 

What are some things that happen when you step out in your best just for fun? I want to hear your stories.