vintage – PPMeow!

Toronto Vintage Society’s KITSCHMAS CABIN!

Earlier this month the Toronto Vintage Society gathered together to celebrate all things MERRY, KITSCHY and BRIGHT by turning the Cadillac Lounge into a winter cabin!

But what the heck do we mean by “Kitschy”? Good question!

“Kitsch”, according to Wikipedia, is; (/ˈkɪtʃ/; loanword from German) is a low-brow style of mass-produced art or design using popular or cultural icons. Kitsch generally includes unsubstantial or gaudy works or decoration, or works that are calculated to have popular appeal. Click here to read and see more about exactly what this means 🙂

The Event:

$5 at the Door got you entertainment galore!! 40s/50s themed decor and suggested dress code with Best (and kitschiest) Dressed prizes to be won! Along with vintage cocktails flowing all night and home made treats, handmade kitsch and vintage chachkas for sale!

1484630_1501533413463064_7980386887426767101_n — The Cadillac Lounge transformed into our Kitschmas Cabin

The Toronto Vintage Society never does anything half-assed …. always FULL ass! 😛

Not only were we able to transform the Cadillac Lounge into a wintery holiday cabin, there was all kinds of fun entertainment all night long to get everyone into the festive spirit no matter what your ‘thing’ was. There was even a Nail Artist: Strawberry LIPs n TIPs creating one-of-a-kind holiday art one nail at a time!!

Loving my amazing Rudolph nail art – outstanding!!!

This party was non-stop entertainment which included…vintage vinyl and holidays classic movies played all night long by our very own DJ Tarana Pete…

FullSizeRender-4 — DJ Tarana-Pete spinning vintage vinyl & holiday movie classics

PLUS Performances by ELVIS and his burlesquing alter ego – Blue Suede Sue. Then the adorable Miss Kitten Monroe.

10603597_10152560924619072_3980949005719585555_n — Me with the talented Tia Brazda and delightful Kitten Monroe

AND performances by the Tia Brazda Swing Band with her hit song Christmas in Mexico!! Take a listen and get yourself a copy… Tis’ the season for this catchy toe-tapper of a tune 🙂

Ooooh…and there was plenty of swing dancing too!!!

As you can see…..We PACKED the place! It was a spectacular night!!!

FullSizeRender-3 — I’m pretty sure I managed to sell raffle tickets to every single person in here!

And to top it all off…..we even had an amazing Winter Wonderland of a photo booth setup with SANTA!

Click here for the full TVS Photo Booth album — each picture just jumps off the screen with happiness and joy!

If you didn’t make it out to the event, you can relive the fun – prepare to smile your faces off 🙂

Dancing went on until the wee hours of the morning …. AND there was even karaoke in the backroom!!!

I’m not gonna lie, due to all the liquid courage (who knew apple cider and rum would be such a delicious combination) I may have gotten up on stage to belt a tune or two. There is evidence of this on someone’s phone…dun dun dunnnn 😮

What I Wore:

I picked up this Alika Circle Polka Retro Dress during Tatyana‘s BOGO event – yup…Buy One, Get One FREE!!! This dress comes in a variety of solid colours that are just as lovely. But I really, really, really loved this black, white and red polka-dot pattern. And was determined to xmas-ify for THIS holiday event!

With an amazing lattice style around neckline and sleeves you really don’t need any accessories to jazz this frock up! The waist features a bow at the center that leads to its full circle skirt. There’s a three-eye-hook closures above the back zipper…which requires a buddy’s help, at least in my case 🙂

The Alika Circle Polka Retro Dress WITH crinoline

The dress on its own is quite lovely with the full circle skirt. But it gets even for amazing with a puffy red crinoline underneath! Plus, it hides any additional lumps & bumps that may have resulted due to vintage cookie eating the weeks before….click here to see what I mean. 😉

And I’m happy to say that EVERYTHING I’m wearing in this post came from Tatyana Boutique on West Queen West, in Toronto. To read more about Tatyana’s new Toronto location click here.

Red Crinoline, Harlow Heel red shoes and Audrey red purse courtesy of *Tatyana Boutique – Toronto.*

As lovely as everything looked all together, my outfit was incomplete. It was missing the much needed “Kitschy” factor.

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED…..a fabulous Poinsettia fascinator!!! Hand-made by the crafty curator of TVS, Miss Jacquie – isn’t it amazing? Totally helped perfect my look for the evening’s event! 🙂

10836532_10154951382190397_472092834_n — Handmade Kitschy Poinsettia Fascinator …. I’m told that there are some available for sale at Damzel’s East location, FYI 😉

Earrings from *Your Big Sister’s Closet*; Hair flower made by Jacquie Jeffery

And ….TA-DAH! My vintage kitschmas look was complete!

10846889_10154855023210184_691336119_n-2 — Blurry end-of-the-night selfie

Extra Bonus to those reading this right now!!! Tatyana Boutique will happily give you 15% off until December 31st by mentioning this blogpost friends >>>>

Merry Kitschmas to you!!! Ho! Ho! Ho!

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Holiday Happenings: The Ugly Xmas Sweater Party

Now that we’re firmly in the middle of December, there’s bound to be a “cheesy”, “ugly” “holiday/xmas/Christmas sweater“ party in your future.

Me personally, I’ve got three separate invites and opportunity to wear one all happening THIS week!!! Knowing this, I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect one…and I think I found just that ========> Ta-Dah!!!

A Xmas Sweater of Scottie Dogs WEARING Xmas Sweaters!!! OMG! Right!??

Not only is this sweater a convenient cardi …. the details of this knit are pretty amazing:

Those little red specs are actually knit HEARTS. And the BUTTONS!!!! Just look at these buttons!!!!!

AND I found it on FACEBOOK being sold for $10!!!!! BOOM!

SCOTTIE DOG — LOOK AT THE BUTTONS!!!!! Little Scottie Dogs — seriously!?!? The cutest things ever!

How I Got The Look: I’ve had this Dorothy Perkins mini dress for a while now – I don’t often wear it on its own as it’s uber short and clingy. I typically wear it as a top to show off the amazing shoulder pleats of this dress. But this Christmas red dress paired with this “ugly” holiday sweater, over-the-knee boots (AdditionElle) and sheer black hosiery just seems to work, don’t you think?

Now, for the office party this week — I’m gonna swap the sheer hose for thick black leggings. Ideally, I’d like to wear it with my plaid leggings to add more length to this skirt…if I can find them :).

So, waddya think of this “Ugly” Christmas Sweater look? I DARE you to call it “ugly”…...I DOUBLE-DOG-DARE YA!!!! 😉 Classic line from my fav holiday movie A Christmas Story AND I’ve got double dogs on this sweater… I’m freakin’ hilarious!!!

Do you have any such holiday happenings to attend in your future?

If you’re looking for an excuse to wear one yourself, here’s a listing of fun ideas of how to incorporate this fun theme into your holiday plans!

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Pre-Opening Sneak Peek at Tatyana’s new Boutique in Toronto!!!

As much as I love vintage/retro styles ….. sifting through smelly racks of ‘truly vintage’ clothing in hopes that a gem-of-a-find will fit my petite-plus sized bod in a flattering way is difficult and often an uneventful task. This is why I’m a huge fan of the world of vintage reproduction. 🙂

Toronto has been buzzing for months around rumours of getting the golden-era inspired dress company behind the Bettie Page brand – Tatyana!

Vintage and retro style lovers – from swing dancers to rockabilly fans – have been dying to get their hands on the full range of clothing since they were dreamed up in 2006. With sizes in both circle dresses and wiggle dresses going right up to size 4x! The Tatyana company has chosen Toronto to be it’s 20^th location AND it’s first international store….and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

About the Company – Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, Tatyana Designs, Inc. is a growing retailer specializing in contemporary designs inspired by the 50’s. The merchandise offered through boutiques and active e-commerce and wholesale divisions is a diverse mix of high-quality and attractively priced apparel, jewelry, accessories and gifts. Tatyana collections target the 18-35 year-old, fashion conscious, female customer, but women of all ages are attracted to the unique retro look.

“Our newest Tatyana boutique is situated in the heart of Toronto,” notes Tatyana Designs co-CEO Jan Glaser. “We continue to be gratified by the enthusiastic acceptance of Tatyana’s designs by women from all walks of life. This is especially true as we have an enormous Canadian following with thousands wearing our dresses representing a disproportionate percentage of our customers. Now we have the opportunity to honor their patronage with our first Canadian outlet in an amazing location.”

The Toronto Vintage Society are huge supporters of any new company that wants to join our ranks in bringing the retro inspired lifestyle to this city…and there is room for everyone!!! To find out more we reached out to the company. The lovely Hayley from the NYC Boutique and new Toronto Store Manager Martha made time to let the Toronto Vintage Society have a sneak peek at what’s in store. Click here for the complete blogpost and interview.

The Tatyana Boutique Soft Opening Event this Saturday (Location: 322 Queen West, near Spadina Ave) with goody bags for the first 10 people through the door; bubbly drinks and tasty treats; PLUS an exclusive discount just for US! Mention “Toronto Vintage Loves Tatyana” and receive 20% off your purchase!!! You’re welcome friends!!! 🙂

Happy Shopping! If you do pick up something fabulous this weekend…be sure to post a picture of yourself on Petite Plus, Meow’s Facebook page so I can oooo-and-ahhhh your purchases with you! xoxo

The TVS Pin Up Picnic

The Toronto Vintage Society hosted a lovely Pin Up Picnic at Trinity Bellwoods Park a few weekends ago…. A simple social gathering to celebrate the amazing whether, show off our summer vintage gear and meet new people in our vintage community. Celebrating Sun, Fun and Vintage!

The Admin & Events Teams met up earlier in the afternoon for photo ops, to set up and to pow-wow about the various other exciting events TVS is planning for the upcoming months (stay tuned to the TVS FB Page and new blog site so you don’t miss a thing friends!)

Outfit planning was done with careful colour consideration, with special instructions and effort to keeping the ‘patterns’ to a minimum of 10-25% of the look. Our team photo was going for a more monochromatic look. I was to wear RED! I used the following image as my inspiration…..

Here’s what I wore:

Click here to see this dress in a ‘wintery’ look 🙂

I studied the following Hair Tutorial to get my hair into Pin Up perfection:

…But ended up cheating by creating a faux bang with half a foam hair donut instead 🙂

The TVS Admin & Events Team took some long awaited shots for the website – along with some fun candid ones too. Take a look at all the shenanigans that took place that afternoon amongst Vintage Pin Ups, Greasers, Teddy Boys, Retro Divas and Rockers:

10301053_576860285762585_1121986207842699136_n — TVS Admin & Events Team! Photo taken by Shermette

TVS Admin Team – photo taken by Shermette

A few snaps taken by Bianca Baumann Photography ‘behind the scenes’ as we got ourselves organized for the group pic:

Photo Credits: Shermy Freeman of Shermette and Bianca Baumann of Bianca Baumann Photography

How I got the Look:

Red Swing Dress from Collectif + white short-crinoline from Rosie The Rebel; White crop sweater from Old Navy (was wayyyy too hot to actually wear during the day tho); Vintage wicker purse earrings and bangles; Zebra stripped head tie & wedges from Payless

The Toronto Vintage Society did a great blogpost of their own….check it out for more Pin Up Picnic pics and fun, complete with other picnic-ers and favourite pin-up poses 🙂

Tribal Kimono

Toronto got its first glimpse of summer weather this weekend friends! Happy to say I got to enjoy a patio or two …hope you did too.

Saturday I put together a real casual run-about-town-doing-nothing daytime look by giving a simple tank maxi dress a trendy tribal feel.

H&M – a store I typically never venture into…but signs for a One-Day-Sale lured me in. Y’all know I’m weak when it comes to sales. 😉 Discovered a selection of basics for fab prices…. I was happy to find that these maxi dresses in straight sizes (size L) fit me! And was only $10!!! Bonus – the length was perfect for a petite gal like me. Typically with maxi dresses I’ll have to wear sky-high platform sandals to avoid hemming the dress…..buuuuuut this maxi stopped well above my ankles, which meant I could do flats easily! With all of these benefits…I HAD to pickup this mauve one AND its twin, in black.

I picked up this sheer kimono from Marshall’s a few weeks ago with a gift card I nearly forgot I had.

Not only is this tribal print on trend, but the light sheer fabric is perfect for a comfortable coverup/outerwear layer to help you ‘closet swap’ whist we enjoy this in-between weather from Spring to Summer. Most of the kimonos in straight sizes fit me nicely – the one I’m wearing here is a size L.

I’m really loving the tribal patterns that seem to be going strong into the Summer, and even happier to have incorporated this trendy piece into my wardrobe with a gift card that was totally forgotten about in my wallet. Did you know that you can sell gift cards for cash at the price you choose? Raise Marketplace accepts gift cards and merchandise credit from any brand or restaurant, and you get paid when the gift card sells. Good to know, huh… 😉

Alternative to pairing this tribal kimono with this maxi, I think it would look lovely with a crop top and loose-fitting drawstring pants – for a more summertime easy-breazy look.

Waddya think? Would you rock a kimono or tribal prints this Spring/Summer season?

How I got the Look:

Sheer tribal kimono from Marshalls; Mauve maxi tank dress from H&M; black flat peep-toe with cutouts from Payless; Jade & gold drop earrings from Stella & Dot; Cat-eye sunnies from Public Butter Vintage

#TVS: Mad Men Season Premier Party

Let me start by saying thank you Netflix for introducing me to the oh-so handsome Donald Draper, and his world of Mad Men. And a thank you to RogersOnDemand, for letting me get all caught-up with all of the 6th season’s episodes so that I’d be ready to attend alongside fellow TVS-ers and Mad Men fanatics at the Cadillac Lounge for a fab night of 1960s fun!

When it comes to vintage style, are you a Joan? A Peggy? A Betty? Or a Meghan?

My Outfit:

I decided to go with my PEGGY DRESS complete with white gloves and all — couldn’t find a pill hat this she’s wearing below sadly.

My entire outfit was picked up a few weeks at the Toronto Vintage Clothing Show (minus the white gloves, they were bought recently from 69Vintage and the shoes are oldies from beige closed-toed T-straped heels from Le Chateau)

Found this easy-peasy hair tutorial … that doesn’t look too “done”.

Unfortunately, I was recovering from my first migraine ever, and was struggling to make it out to this event at all — frankly getting dolled up with hair did, just wasn’t happening. So my apologies if I’m not my usual smiley self in photos friends 🙂

The Event:

I missed last year’s Mad Men shindig thrown by the Toronto Vintage Society (at the same locale)…and now that I’m apart of the admin team, I had been looking forward to this for a month! It was all-hands-on-deck with only 1-hour to set up our section complete with Mad Men inspired vintage cocktail menus, fancy up the prizes from Exile Vintage and Ethel’s, setting up a vintage backdrop photo booth complete with authentic vintage props, getting our signage up and our vintage commercials up and running. We really did transform the space – it all looked fantastic.

The party started at 8pm where we had a sassy 60s music dance party with DJ NICO (With It! and CIUT) plus GAMES like: “Name the Slogan” and “Pitch us your Best Ad” that kept us busy before the Cadi transformed their stage by dropping down a large screen for us all to watch the Season Premiere of Mad Men (7th and final season….*sniff sniff*) 😦

It was a fantastically fun night (as soon as I downed some extra strength Tylenol – thank you Monika!) Sunday night on West Queen West with Mad Men vintage loving folks was a HUGE success!

If you were there – be sure to check out Toronto Vintage Society’s Facebook page to tag yourself in the photos we took.

In the meantime….have you Mad Men’d Yourself yet? You should! It’s a hoot!

Swing Fever!

Thursday is the NEW Friday after all….sooooo when this invite popped up on #TVS calendar and then again on Facebook, it was clear that I needed to be in attendance.

Swing Fever! is an authentic 1940’s themed dance party that will transport you back in time to a defining decade in history. This epic evening of entertainment featured a stellar live band, dance performances, classic cocktails, delicious war-time grub and more. It is a non-profit event, where all of the proceeds raised from Swing Fever! went directly to the Royal Canadian Legion and the Humber Business School.

The Great Hall apparently is where many of the scenes from the earlier season’s of Bomb Girls was filmed. It really is a beautiful venue!

Now, I’m still a total novice/beginner and don’t really know HOW to swing dance (only been to TWO officially lessons so far). Lucky for me there were complimentary lessons from the Toronto Swing Dance Society. Plus, a ton of strong Leads on the floor who patiently taught you steps and made you look good on the dance floor (special thanks to David and Joy for twirling and dipping me!) 🙂

The Pickup Swing Ensemble, featuring Toronto’s most talented musicians, performed classic tunes of Glenn Miller, Count Basie and more!

There was a specific Dress Code for the evening: Vintage! 1940’s glam, tea dresses, stockings, victory curls, allied uniforms and utility clothing.

I had my heart set on wearing my recently purchased hi-waisted polka-dot pin-up skirt (that I was yet to remove tags from) and since I finally got a pedicure to show-off my pink toes, my navy & white peep toed heels. This was sort of pushing the specific time period a bit, so I was determined to study YouTube and get my hair into proper Victory Rolls if it killed me!

These were taken AFTER I got home from the event… I was dead tired and sore from all the dancing. Notice, my faux bangs stayed intact! What a fab night!

For 1940s Hair & Makeup …. I checked out this YouTube vid to help me create a more authentic look for the night.

Then I realized, I should probably look for some makeup tutorials for BROWN SKINNED faces 🙂

Buuuuut since this was a Thursday night… it meant that I was rushing after work to get to LHRevolution Swing Lesson, then walked home to shower and change for this party. I ended up having limited time to really apply the teachings in these vids. (I sadly, also forgot to put a flower in my hair for the evening and pearls around my neck too…sigh) 😦

I did however, use Pin-Up Look #4 from this Beginner’s Quick & Easy Vintage vid instead!

The hair results below – Faux Vintage Bangs:

Overall, it was a fantastic night of dancing and fun! My feet, legs and hips are all so sore this morning, but I’m still smiling – totally worth it! 🙂

Here’s a few shots with some TVS-ers and fun-new people I met last night:

How I Got The Look:

High-waisted polka-dot pin-up skirt from Your Big Sister’s Closet

Navy & white peep-toed heels, from Naturalizer

Giant pearl earrings, vintage (gifted to me); Extra long pearl necklace from Toronto Vintage Clothing Show (forget which booth)

Yellow cotton tee from Reitmans

#OOTD: Pink, Pearls & Perkins!

Between my recent vintage shopping and new pieces I’ve picked up here and there over the past few months, there are a ton of NEW (+ new-to me) accessories that I haven’t integrated into an outfit from my closet as yet. So, I was determined to adorn myself with newness in my office outfit(s) this week.

I’ve been waiting patiently for Spring to officially get here already to wear these pieces I picked up from Your Big Sister’s Closet

On Monday I finally unveiled them to the office, along with my new Dorothy Perkins pencil skirt with my mint-toed nude pumps and lacy shoulder pink 3/4 top. I have this top in mint seen here, but I recently re-discovered that I had it also in pink (hidden in the deepest corners of a drawer). Hooray for buying things you in multiples once they’ve stolen your heart completely! 🙂

I also wore these behind-the-ear cuffs I picked up from the Steampunk Fair a few weeks ago. Thought it might be too edgy of the office, but I wrote them anyways anticipating less than positive reactions from colleagues. Between the necklace and the skirt, this unique piece of jewellery got oh-so-many compliments! Thrilled that the ones I picked up – the clock-arms – there weren’t too many for sale that looked quite like them. 🙂

Putting all the above pieces together….and TA-DA! A more exciting Office ready Monday. Waddya think? Belt? No Belt? You Likee?

How I got The Look:

Mint-toed nude pumps from HBC, Eaton Ctr

Checkered pencil skirt from Dorothy Perkins, HBC (Yonge/Bloor)

Pink lace shoulder top from Forever21+, Eaton Ctr.

#TVS: Toronto Vintage Clothing Show

The Toronto Vintage Society got a booth at last Sunday’s Toronto Vintage Clothing Show – a ONE day only event at the Metro Convention Center – North Building. The show is a fantastic opportunity to discover hand-picked vintage and retro clothing, accessories and jewellery from top independent vintage fashion vendors. Vendors from Owen Sound, Montreal, East Garafraxa, Collingwood, Freelton, Kakabeka Falls, Ottawa, Hamilton, Straffordville and many others – all under one roof!

The #TVS booth was our way to reach vintage lovers in the GTA. We were selling our “Make do and Mend” sewing kits (THE cutest things ever!), buttons and other fun like an iPad showcasing a photo side-show of all the fun-filled events TVS attended the previous year. All TVS booth visitors were informed and encouraged to sign-up for our new website/blog, pay their TVS Meetup fees, to oooh-and-ahhhh at each other’s purchases from other vendor booths…and of course singing the praises of all things Vintage!

These cutie-pie kits were handmade by the fabulous TVS members who braved the sudden non-stop snow of yet another blizzard, the day after Toronto got a teaser +10 degree weather day. With scissors, glue sticks, mason jars and other crafty necessities were toted and assembled, over gossiping, storytelling and beer.

The TVS booth also had a raffle giving away this fab prize: an amazing train case of vintage goodies in TVS approved colour scheme …even a lil’ something for those dapper dudes: suspenders+cufflinks+tie combo!

Since I live closest to MTCC and have an elevator, I was tasked with carting all our supplies for our booth home and would be there bright and early, with Liz + her hubs + her car to set up. Then we – TVS admin team – would simply rotate on manning our booth whist the others could peruse all the goodies up for sale at the show and Facebook our finds through the Toronto Vintage Society page!

A few snaps of the TVS booth all set up and read to go:

Truth be told, I don’t actually own too many genuine vintage outfits (or pieces of my own for that matter). However, since hanging with the chicks of TVS I have been exposed to the world of “vintage inspired reproduction” dresses. So my Outfit of the Day to represent and man the TVS booth was this dress from Doll Factory by Damzels, a rock ‘n’ roll retail shop on Roncesvalles. (It may look familiar to you as I’ve previously posted about this dress.) This easy-peasy-curvy-body-flattering dress has pockets which makes it that much easier to cart around an iPhone, money and other necessities like that without needing a purse. Knowing the day was going to be busy with setting-up and running around, I went with flats instead heels for footwear. Plus, I wanted to be able to quickly try on any fabulous-finds from booth to booth … heels do not help in making one nimble.

I’m not as dedicated to vintage hair as some of my TVS sistas are, those who patiently created pin-curls and wrapped their hair overnight to create the glamorous hairstyles of the beloved eras. My baby fine hair just never wants to cooperate. But I did manage to get a lil’ vintage-flare in my do for the clothing show. Check out how HIGH I got the bump in my hair! And it lasted all day….Hooray!

Since there was a solid possy of four of us to man the TVS booth (me, Lisa, Larissa and Liz….ooooh L to the power of 3), there was lots of opportunities to check out some of the other vendor booths and do a little shopping myself.

One of my immediate purchases was from Treasure Chicks Vintage from Pickering – these amazing ‘new vintage’ shoes. This shop got 500 pairs of never-before-worn Celebrity shoes for sale friends, complete with their vintage shoeboxes – FYI. I fell in love with these two-toned leather taupe nail-hammered heels the moment I set eyes on them (they fit small, I’m usually an 8.5 buuuut had to buy these in a size 10 for a comfortable fit) and this spectacular red scarf….which I immediately had them tie into my hair to add some MEOW to my #ootd!

Now, this may come as a surprise to some of you reading….but I’m a bit of a diva! I like NEW – so the idea of buying and wearing clothes someone else has worn half a CENTURY ago really needs to be special before I’m willing to spend my cold hard cash on it. This being my first real vintage shopping experience, and being the nerd that I am, I did a bit of research before hand. I found WikiHow’s tips helpful in this Top 10 list for How To Shop For Vintage.

Shopping for vintage plus size clothing is a challenge and a half – no doubt! With all the many vendor booths to peruse, it was an overwhelming task – also, I learnt that I’m easily distracted by shiny/sparkly things – talk about sensory overload all day! Some things I personally kept in mind when looking for clothing/items to buy were:

Odors and Stains … these are very iffy because they’ll probably have been on there for ages. Scarves seemed to have this issue the most from what I saw. I had to ask myself: Would it matter if you scrubbed at it but it didn’t come off? Is it so glaring as to render the piece unwearable?
Try on EVERYTHING! I was surprised at the number of pieces I passed over because it “looked” too small, but upon trying on fit quite well. If it doesn’t feel right or look good when you tried it on, then it probably isn’t the piece for you is the basic rule of thumb when shopping vintage clothing. Sadly, the change room situation at MTCC wasn’t all that private – so I ended up trying on dresses OVERTOP of my dress. Figured if it fit and looked good on me like that, it was def gonna look great when I wore it properly! Silly? Maybe. But that was my try-on technique for the day…and it worked out well. (Ps: the pics of all the below were taken during a post-vintage-clothing-show Irene-fashion-shows as soon as I got home with all my haul).

Check out this long pink & brown floral 1940s day dress I scooped up from www.retrouver.biz Notice the silver rhinestone ornament on the collar! I really loved all the buttons down the front too, plus the thin shiny belt can totally be worn with other things in my closet. It’s a bit long…so it will need a hem…so I managed to talk the price down to $25!

Upon round two of vendor shopping, I found Barbra – an independent vintage dealer who doesn’t have a storefront proper, but has created a name for herself among many of the TVS members. (Her Facebook page is Booth 311 Roadshow Antiques Pickering.) She put me into this lovely light green number. Brand new! The fabric still felt stiff and unworn. The only real giveaway to this dress being pre-loved was the belt holes – one was used more than all the others. Although this dress is pretty simple, I really loved the pleated neckline with the large buttons down the front – and the length was perfect!

The rest of my shopping consisted of accessories. I picked up a delightful wicker purse (also from www.retrouver.biz) and this fantastic black petit point 1960s purse and a giant cream brimmed hat (both from The Vintage Domain).

Check out how I combined a few of my pieces together with each dress.

Here are a few shots of the rest of my purchases from Primetime Antiques & Collectables:

When I finally returned to the TVS booth – I found a swing dance party had broken out! Oooooo! I can’t wait ’til it’s MY skirt that be a-twril with mad Lindy Hop skillz! Yup! With a Z!

The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting up visitors who stopped by our booth and meeting some of the newer TVS members:

Vintage clothing shopping is exciting and enjoyable so long as you come with a good attitude and patience. Finding items that nobody else has is the biggest appeal for me, plus you’re being eco-friendly with the added thrill of bargaining for a deal.

Here’s a summary shot of just the accessories that came home with me from the Toronto Vintage Clothing Show. Can’t wait to do it all again this Fall! Weeeeeeeeeeee!

#TVS: Electro Swing TO with Good Co.

We were at it again folks – Toronto Vintage Society was invited to judge the Best Dressed at Electro Swing TO’s March event this past Friday! And that meant I got to get all dressed up in 1920s inspired look to mingle with fabulously dressed people and dance the night away to big band electro swing vibes with my friend Liz, a fellow TVS member and blogger at The Vintage Inn.

Here’s all the pieces of my 1920s inspired look for Friday night’s Electro Swing party:

I finally got a chance to see the remake of The Great Gatsby flick …. and totally fell in love with that glam and glitter of all the dresses and headpieces.

In fact, I’ve been playing around to see how I could incorporate more headscarves into my wardrobe. And then on one of “window shopping only” walks home from the office … I saw the most gorgeous headchain in the window of this little shop specializing in ladies accessories in the P.A.T.H. of Commerce Court downtown. Needless to say it came home with me … and this Electro Swing party was the perfect reason to wear it…FINALLY!

Richard aka MedicineMan, Revival Bar’s event organizer, met us at the door, we pow-wowed quickly about how the event would roll out, how the contest and prizing would work. And then the fun began with Charleston lessons by Lindy Hop Revolution. Believe it or not, I kicked up my heels pretty good for a first timer – I was lucky to have a strong lead partner.

Check out Liz doing her thang. Oooooo….. I can’t wait to start taking lessons!

And so we mingled and schmoozed around the room with the fabulous attendees to chat up what Toronto Vintage Society was all about and how they could join/get involved AND of course, tapping those who were on our short-list of BEST DRESSED for the night! I even bumped into a few familiar faces I met at the last Electro Swing shindig 🙂

Here are a few colloages of all the fun that was had …

Dashing Doll went to Loryn and Dapper Dude went to Teddy … both were winners of a $50 gift certificate from Doll Factors by Damzels!

Good Co. was the fantastic Electro Swing Band that came all the way from Seattle to party with us at Revival, keeping the crowd dancing with their own renditions of Macklemore’s hit and The Four Season’s “Beggin'” tune were my personal faves of the night! Their performance ended with each member of the band climbing up onto the bar and toasting with shots – divinely outrageous!

I was fortunate enough to bump into them in Revival’s green room as I was leaving and they were kind enough to take a few ‘Ellen-inspired’ selfies with me. Weeeee!

Be sure to visit the Electo Swing TO’s FB page in the next few days, where professional shots of last night’s event can be found, taken by D.Tom … his camera & skills totally trumps my iPhone. 🙂

How I got The Look:

Layered dress from DressBarn + Black sueade Mary-Janes from Payless

Accessories: Black diamond cocktail ring from Jaipur, India; Necklace gift; Earrings from Swarovski; Headchain from…I forget the name of the shop (will find out and update soonest)