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VLV16: The Wardrobe

February 27, 2013 by Wink

Long-time readers are wondering why I haven’t yet posted anything about my wardrobe plans for the upcoming Viva Las Vegas rockabilly weekender. Year in and year out, every near-Spring I’m found with a pile of sewing projects and just a few pounds to lose in order to fit into that year’s fantastic dress…

But not this year. This year, I’m refusing to encumber myself. There’s too much kerfuffle in my life, and I don’t want to add to it further. No diets. No sewing.* No shopping.

Which is easy for me to say. I mean come on. I’m a vintage clothing vendor. It’s not “shopping” if I’m picking from my own inventory. Especially if I replace each item that I pull from Tiddleywink inventory with a vintage item from my personal collection. Right? ::bats eyelashes::

And one morning, I feel myself beginning to panic at my utter disregard for pre-pre-preplanning, and I start going through my racks. I pull out perhaps 15 dresses. Fit and “wow” factor narrow the options down to the requisite 4 day ensembles, 4 evening ensembles. I have to say, I’m excited by the options. This will be my best-dressed Viva yet, and that’s saying something.

The Boyfriend, who continually threatens to pack nothing more than jeans and an assortment of racing-related T-shirts, is caught up in my excitement and has started to consider items from his own vintage wardrobe (my heart is aflutter with hope that he’ll actually pack and wear some of it). He looks ever so swell when he gets decked out.

My shoe selection is currently at 10 pairs; I will narrow that down to 8—at the most—before Packing Day dependent on handbag options and Boyfriend’s opinion (he does have good taste, when pressed). My handbag collection’s newest addition, the Rialto that I wrote about recently, will not even make the trip due to fragile packing concerns. My polka-dot Toro paneled handbag will stay home because it simply doesn’t match anything I’m planning to wear. Maybe Next Year™.

And so without further ado, a sneak peek at my VLV16 evening wear:

Rhapsody in Blue

Silk. Rayon. Sequins. Taffeta. Chiffon. Eat your hearts out, kiddies. I mean, um, see you there!

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*Full Disclosure: Today, I mended a pulled hem on a VLV wardrobe item. I will likely shorten the straps of one dress. The skirt I plan to wear to the car show I repaired a month ago, with no notion at that time of wearing it to Viva. The top I’ll wear with it was sewn by me, from a vintage pattern, but last year.

Category collections, fashion, sewing, springtime, vintage & retro Style, Viva Las Vegas | Tags: | No Comments
The Shoppette: Now Open

February 21, 2013 by Wink

Ta-da! Announcing the Grand Opening of Tiddleywink Vintage: The Shoppette! Actually, the “opening” was humble rather than grand. The Fella and I loaded everything in on Sunday, looked around the rest of the store, and then left to grab a bite to eat and run other errands. There was no fanfare, not even a lone kazoo.

I know you’re anxious to know just where this is that I’m talking about, so here you go: the “Shoppette” is booth 0029, located inside Rockin’ Horse Antiques & Collectibles in beautiful Golden, Colorado. Rockin’ Horse (and its sister, Fleur De Lis Flowers) can be found at 1106 Washington Ave., near the west footing of the famous Welcome arch. There’s also a back entrance on Miners Alley, if you prefer a parking lot to street parking.

Image Credit: Google Street View

If you’re heading to Denver for a visit, be sure to include Golden in your itinerary. Local points of interest include Coors Brewery (perhaps you’re heard of them), Golden City Brewery (“the second-largest brewery in Golden”), Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, Colorado Railroad Museum, Dinosaur Ridge, NREL, the landmark Golden Bowl (since 1952), and more. If you love classic cars, don’t miss the Golden Super Cruise, held the first Saturday of each month, May through October!

The new front page at tiddleywink.com

Category advertising, collections, fashion, kitchen, nostalgia, shopping, vintage & retro Style | Tags: | 2 Comments
Cookbook Envy

February 11, 2013 by Wink

A couple of decades ago, my mom wrote up—and illustrated—a cookbook of her own favorite recipes. This cookbook contains all of the special treats that only my mom made/makes, and whenever I ask for one of these particular recipes, I’m denied with the reply, “It’s in The Cookbook.” I know that she has left this cookbook to me in her will, because she has told me in no uncertain terms that I cannot have it before she dies. And not a moment before. Cheery.

She lost the cookbook a few years back. No idea where it disappeared to, but confident that it was around somewhere.

The Boyfriend and I have been working on excavating the basement, which used to be living space before it became overrun with Stuff. We’ve set aside a large pile for VVA (and conveniently arranged pick-up through pickupplease.org), most of which consists of FIVE BOXES of books that my mother has left here for 9 years. Of course, my mother has gone through all of these boxes in her hunt for The Cookbook, but I invite here over for another peek to make sure there isn’t anything else in there that she wants.

She picks out a few keepers, and lo and behold finds The Cookbook! It turns out that it has been in my own possession all this time! AND I MISSED OUT. She won’t let me see so much as the cover. She does, however, donate the following to me:

Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design at the Met, Nov. 1974

Inventive Clothes 1909–1939 at the Met, Nov. 1974. Were an age-similar show to be curated today, it would be The 50s/The 60s/The 70s.

And for that, I’m grateful. In the meantime, if I really want a dish of her frozen creamy raspberry swirl stuff, I’ll just have to beg my mother to make it for me.

Category collections, family, family is going to be the death of me, fashion, food, life-threatening clutter, nostalgia, vintage & retro Style | Tags: | No Comments
Tiddleywink Vintage: The Location

February 6, 2013 by Wink

not yet the Tiddleywink Vintage Shoppette

Ooooh, ooooh, newsy and exciting! The lease isn’t signed yet so I don’t want to divulge specific details, but it’s pretty safe to say that by the end of this month the wee space shown here will have been vacated and replaced with a Tiddleywink Vintage shoppette. The online stores will both remain open, this is merely an expansion to cater to local customers who want to see things in person, as well as give me a place to sell items which are too fragile or heavy to ship for a reasonable price. ::coughRACCOONCOATcough:: As a bonus to me, it will get a selection of inventory out of my house!

The space is a mere 8′ wide by 2′ deep, but it has better foot traffic than a larger space I looked at today. I won’t have room for more than a clothing rack (approx. 52″ wide) and something like a bookshelf next to it to fill with Pyrex and other non-hanging items. There are so many pegboard accessories on the market right now, I could definitely utilize the space in an assortment of ways. I’m open to suggestion! What do you think?

Category fashion, jewelry, life-threatening clutter, packaging, shopping, vintage & retro Style | Tags: | 2 Comments
SEW-ALONG CHALLENGE: RECONSTRUCTING DOT

January 15, 2013 by Wink

Setting free the seams.

I know, I know, I indicated in the last post that you’d have a new, vintage-style wrap blouse in your hands by the end of the next week.

And then I got the flu. On a positive note, I lost 4 lbs. simply because eating would have taken more energy than I had available. I drank a lot of (caffeine-free) tea and vegetable broth. I am more enamored than ever before with the heat-retention power of a glass-lined Thermos, which enabled me to shuffle into the kitchen once to make a quart or so of liquids (I was filling two Thermoses, or, as I prefer, Thermi), and then have access to hot beverages for the rest of the day without having to leave my nest on the sofa.

Since regaining my health, I’ve finished deconstructing our Dot Blouse! I took the blouse apart at the seams, undid all of the hand-sewn rolled hems, and taken out the darts. I’ve ironed everything flat. I’ve spent hours tracing the pieces, cleaning up the curves, checking measurements to make sure the new seams will once again line up. Laying pattern pieces out in various ways in order to use the smallest cut of fabric possible. And just when I was about to share a PDF of the new pattern with you…I question why a bust dart on the original was placed going into the sleeve instead of under the armsyce. So I’m going to redraft that piece. And run to the fabric shop for some muslin, which I really should have thought of earlier. And I will make sure this new, improved pattern actually works. Then, and only then, will I dare to share the Dot Blouse pattern with you. Stay tuned, kids!

Category fashion, sew-along, sewing, vintage & retro Style | Tags: | No Comments