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.

Dating vintage.

This topic has been discussed to death in the vintage community but I feel the need to write yet another post about dating vintage. I've been trying to learn all I can about vintage clothing and since I mainly collect dresses those are going to be the examples in this post.

Some people think garments get the vintage seal of approval after 20 years and some people think 30. I'm going to stick with 30. The 1990s should not be considered vintage yet, I don't want to think I'm that old.

Being able to identify what decade a garment comes from is a good skill to have. I've gone into thrift stores, this usually only works in locally owned shops, where the seller is trying to pass off an 80s dress as authentic 40s and it's possible to negotiate a discount. Once I was in a store and the owner tried to sell me a cute polyester mini dress that screamed mid to late 60s, the owner was thoroughly convinced it was from the 50s. Sometimes mislabeling a garment seriously changes the price so it's essential for the vintage connoisseur to have a keen eye.

It's nice when you have a vintage piece that you know the history of. My Mommom gave me this 1950s gold dress 3 years ago and she told me that it was from the 50s and it was one of her favorites. Since I know when it's from I'll use that as an example.

Since there is no label one would assume that it was hand made but my Mommom did not make it. A label isn't the only clue you can use.

The zipper can tell you a lot. This dress has a metal zipper down the back. Metal zippers were phased out in the mid 60s. The sleeves are also an indicator, this dress has 3/4 sleeves which was a popular style in the 50s according to the Vintage Fashion Guild

From zippers we move to labels. Remember to look for the union label when looking for vintage. My favorite dress for the summer is this floral dress. When I went to look for the union label I noticed it was from Canada and I no nothing about Canadian union labels. So I checked The Vintage Fashion Guild again and the label I have was put in use in 1968

Remember to look everywhere for the union label. Modern clothes have all the tags in the same spot. Vintage garments may have tags in many different spots. This pink wool dress appeared to only have one label, but when I looked inside near the bottom of the dress I found the union label.

Fabric is another good clue for dating vintage. When you think 70s you think polyester, right? I have tons of vintage polyester, my closet is a fire hazard. This Bobbie Brooks dress dates from the late 60s to the very early 70s. It can't be from after 1971 since tags had to have garment care instructions from then on.

I hope this has been informative. I'm still learning how to be an expert when it comes to dating vintage clothing, I'm sorry there was only dresses in the post but that is the majority of my collection.  If anyone has anything to add or any corrections I'd love to hear them.

Like a Glove.

Lets talk gloves. Now, I know that now ladies don't wear gloves unless it's winter time but in my opinion gloves add glamour to your everyday outfits. Women used to be required to wear gloves whenever they went out in public and there were lists of rules for women to follow when wearing their gloves. Any vintage lover needs a good set of gloves for day and evening.

A small portion of my glove collection. 

I have been scouring the internet for glove etiquette and I hope I can give everyone a good beginners course in glove wearing. 

I visited Sweet Trash's blog this afternoon (http://sweet-trash.com/blog) and there was a very good guide for glove wearing. 

(via http://sweet-trash.com/)

For everyday outings like grocery shopping, meetings, visiting and going to lunch short white or mid arm length gloves are appropriate. 

I am a list person, information is better to me when presented in a list so here are some glove etiquette facts that I've learned. 

• The only acceptable jewelry to wear over gloves is a bracelet. Wear your rings under your gloves.
• Evening gloves go over the elbow and sometimes they can extend up to the mid upper arm. Satin evening gloves should ideally match the color of your gown. 

• When eating take your gloves off and never place them on the table, instead place them on your lap and place them on your napkin. Put them back on when you are finished. 

Does anyone else have any glove etiquette facts? If you are in your twenties like I am then your mother probably did not pass any glove etiquette down to you so it is up to you to mine your Grandmothers or the internet for information. 

Ah Friday, time to sit back and reflect.

It has come to my attention that there is now a 'flashback Friday' as well as a 'throwback Thursday' and I don't know about you but I love it! I think these two little social media trends are a great time to reflect on our lives what a great way to start an internal dialogue about ourselves! Alright, I guess the majority of people don't think of #tbt as a profound day of self exploration (I used a hash tag purely as an example, I never use them otherwise. I swear I;m not one of those people who says 'lol' and 'smh' in everyday conversation)

I realize that this is a vintage/thrifting blog and I've been neglecting those topics lately. For the last couple of days I've been thinking about how I came to be the vintage lover I am today.

I have always been interested in everything vintage. I spent a lot of time with my maternal grandparents and my fraternal great-Grandmother when I was little and I think that from the things that they taught me, and even being around them in their homes, taught me an appreciation for the past. My love for Nick at Nite and TV land did not help much either. Oh and my first favorite band was The Carpenters. When I was ten years old I was obsessed with ABBA and that solidified my love for 70's fashion So now you can get a sense of what I was working with as a small child.

Cut to 2010, in the beginning of the year I was floating through life. In fact, ever since I graduated high school in 2008 I'd been floating through life but in the beginning of 2010 I was tired of just being there. I had been looking at a lot of Bettie Page pictures and I decided I wanted to try my hand at pin-up modeling and so in July of 2010 I did my first pin-up/vintage styled shoot with Synthesis Photography.

Just getting my feet wet in modeling and giving off a vintage vibe. I was so inexperienced in pin up on this shoot so here's one from the vintage styled evening gown part of the shoot.

This shoot marked the end of my drifting period. I had something to throw my energy into and something that made me feel like myself! I wanted to learn all I could about vintage fashion and every facet of life that went along with the fashionable 20th century! 

So now I had a passion but I had not one vintage article to call my own. I also didn't have a lot of confidence to dress the way I wanted to every day. When I think of vintage I think of loud looks and I feel the need to dress up every single day. I don't understand the word 'casual' at all and when I wear my vintage duds this is amplified. In December of 2010, after months of cocooning, I gathered  the confidence to step out in a vintage inspired look. Since I am my own worst critic, I look at this outfit as a crude prototype of what was to come. 

I must say Jeremy looks all the better when he's in a suit. He doesn't look bad normally but the suit sends me over the top. 

I will skip right to 2012 since 2011 was such an awful year, it was another drifter year for me. Anyway, at the end of 2012 I started to surround myself with everything vintage. I got a fantastic black 50's dress from my Mommom that year which I wore of Christmas day. 

This is a priceless dress, and one of my favorites. 

Since Christmas day 2012 my vintage collection has grown immensely! I still have so many outfits to show to you, dear readers! I have found one of my raison d'être. I say one of since I have so many things that interest me and keep me going now. It's boring to only have one interest. 

It's awful to be floating through life but I do believe it's necessary for self discovery. As much as I wish I had everything figured out in those drifting years, I am glad I had them. I was in my own little cocoon where I could figure myself out, and I emerged as a beautiful vintage butterfly!  

So, dear readers, was there a time when you were adrift in life. What did you finally turn out to be. Perhaps you're still drifting and that's alright! To my vintage lovers, how did you stumble upon vintage? I want to know your stories, readers!