springtime in the south

Everyone has that one outfit that feels fresh and interesting every time they slip into it.  For me, that outfit is a beautiful gray 1950s dress printed with small white petals and an outrageously large floral hat from the early 1950s.  The hat I picked up in an antique store in Hiawassee, Georgia, eight years ago - I had seen it the previous year, but it was out of my price range.  But as luck (and the Vintage Gods) would have it, when I went back a year later, there it was!  In the same store, in the same place, with a much lower price on the tag.  The dress was picked up from Dalena Vintage and is now a staple in my wardrobe.  Worn separately, both pieces are beautiful.  But worn together, they look as though they were never meant to be worn apart.

 

 

 It was very windy today at the Springtime Tallahassee celebrations, and I stupidly left home without a hatpin, so my arms got lots of unnecessary exercise.  After shopping the vendors, listening to music, and eating our weight in kettle corn, my beautiful mama and I took a tour of the Old Capitol Museum, where we found an exhibit about historic Florida State Parks.  It couldn't have been a more perfect day (although I could have done without the thick layer of soggy oak pollen that carpeted every surface...but that's life in the south). 

 Happy Spring!

xoxo,

Eliza

the basics of style

I often find myself in situations where people ask me why I spend so much of my life surrounded by the past.  Why do I dress in vintage clothing?  Why do I set my hair nearly every night?  Why do I spend countless hours researching novelty prints, various silhouettes, and hat styles?  Why do I only buy vintage clothing?

 

Now I know it sounds simple, but I feel my most comfortable in vintage styles, I love my hair when it spent the night in pin curls, and vintage clothing is simply better quality than most of the clothing produced today.  There's just something special about taking the time to curate a wardrobe and knowing that behind every piece is a long history and a long list of women who have loved it as much as you do now.

It's all about attention to detail.  It's about the silhouette.  It's about the colors, and the textures, and the accessories.  And it's also about the journey - you can't walk into any old store and find a new addition to your wardrobe.  It takes time, and patience, and trial and error to find your style.

 

And it also takes a new attitude.  In a world where casual is king, it takes gumption to be the most dressed up person in the room.  Expect stares.  Expect comments.  And expect the all-to-common "wow, you're dressed up" remark.  But more than that, you have to be confident in your own ability to wear the clothes, instead of letting the clothes wear you.  You have to be comfortable in your own skin.

 

I always think of my grandparents - both exceptionally well-dressed - who always gave me pieces of advice, whether or not they knew they were doing it.  When she was grocery shopping, entertaining grandchildren, or cooking for Thanksgiving, even when she was in the hospital, my grandmother always wore lipstick.  The same shade, the same brand, for my entire childhood.  She kept a small box in the bathroom with lipstick, powder, and a small bottle of perfume.  She kept her nail polish in the fridge because she swore it lengthened its life.  Her hair was always done, even when she could no longer do it herself.  She didn't do it to impress anyone, she didn't do it to please society - she did it for herself. 

My grandfather was always meticulously dressed.  He was a man who owned approximately 14,000 blue button down shirts because they were his favorite.  A man whose closet was better stocked and more organized than a Prada warehouse.  And a man who could rock a bathrobe and slippers just as much as he could rock a tweed suit.  He taught me that one doesn't always need to be daring in one's appearance.  Sometimes the basics are simply the best.

Now, I don't keep my nail polish in the fridge, and I have a really hard time sticking to the basics, and therefor my grandparents are probably both wagging a finger at me right now, but these lessons can be adapted to fit your own lifestyle.  Welcome to my three rules of style.  These are by no means strict, and are open to interpretation, but when I'm having trouble coming up with a new outfit or find myself feeling gross no matter what I'm wearing, here are the rules I fall back on:

1.  Don't overestimate simplicity.  A fitted black skirt, a white blouse, and black ballet flats. Black and white stripes.  Black cigarette pants.  You don't always need to be loud to be stylish.

2.  Find your length.  Also known as, Mini Skirts Aren't for Everyone.  As someone who owns five miniskirts, I clearly have both a problem abiding by rules, and getting rid of clothing, but I also know that I look best in mid-length skirts that hit three inches below the knee.  This knowledge comes from years of wearing super short skirts in ballet class that barely grazed the derriere (over tights and a leotard, and point shoes), and another number of years wearing maxi skirts in the summertime so I wouldn't have to shave my legs. One was too short, one was too long, and one was just right.

3. Dress by the silhouette.  When you begin to think what you want to wear, instead of thinking about colors, patterns, and particular styles, think about your ideal silhouette.  What shape do you want to wear?  If someone took a high contrast photograph of you, so that everything was split into light and dark, what would your silhouette look like?  Once you know what shape you want to achieve, then you can work from there.

 

And the most important rule?  Life is too short to wear boring clothes, and too long to hate what you wear.  So build up from the basics, and never be afraid to be the most dressed up person in the room.

xoxo,
Eliza

~ mid century modern ~

Growing up, I had a plan for everything.  My college life, my career, my wedding, my children, and every birthday party up until I was 35.  Knowing this, it will be no surprise that I also had a collection of house plans, loosely drawn with a ballpoint pen on notebook paper, with double lines indicating doors and windows, and x's indicting a mix of exotic trees and shrubbery.  Although I used pink more liberally than I would now and never seemed to have enough space for a washer and dryer, my house plans really haven't changed that much.

MID.  CENTURY.  MODERN.

Sleek lines, cool hues, eye-catching details, contrasting textures.  If it's teak, I'm sold.


Join me for a tour of my dream house!

 

Living room.

 

    

     

     

 

Bedroom.

 

 

 

 

Kitchen.

 

     

 

 

 12 year old me would be pleased as punch if my dream home also came with my dream husband, Zac, and my dream children, Lucy and Frankie.

Now?  Forget the kids and the husband...I'll just take the house.

xoxo,

Eliza

~ fire and ice ~

As anyone who knows me well (or has seen the inside of my bathroom cabinet) will tell you, I have a bit of an obsession with  lipstick.  This would also be apparent if you took a peek inside of my purse, inside of my car, or inside of my bedroom.  I don't pretend to have a grasp on this obsession, and I frequently tell myself "it's not a problem unless you dream about Revlon," but let's call a spade a spade: I know my lipstick.


Coralberry, cherries in the snow, siren, etc., etc., so on and so forth.  Reds, pinks, oranges, orangey-reds, reddish-oranges, orangey-pinks, pinkish-oranges.  Each is totally different, and yes, totally necessary.  But my most-used and most-loved is Revlon's Fire and Ice.
 



The name really says it all - a name created by Bea Castle and Kay Daly.  A passionate, bright red shade with just a hint of orange.  Creamy and comfortable, and perfect for a night out or a quick trip to the grocery store. 

I lucked out a few years ago and managed to buy this shade in the sleek tube (a limited edition), seen above.  I've been hooked every since. 

The history of Fire and Ice is just as deep as the shade.  Two years before the introduction of Fire and Ice, Revlon introduced Where's the Fire to the public.  This shade was popular in its own right, but never reached the heights that Fire and Ice did.  Following its release in 1952 with the two page spread featuring Dorian Leigh seen above, Revlon saw 9,000 window displays dedicated to their newest shade, nationwide Fire and Ice beauty contests, and countless mentions in radio shows, television shows, and in the press.  American women were finally being given a shade of lipstick that wasn't submissive, tame, or easily ignorable.  The Fire and Ice woman was bold, elegant, glamorous, and not the least bit afraid of color.  As one ad stated "What is the American girl made of? Sugar and spice and everything nice? Not since the days of the Gibson Girl! There's a new American beauty . . . she's tease and temptress, siren and gamin, dynamic and demure. Men find her slightly, delightfully baffling. Sometimes a little maddening. Yet they admit she's easily the most exciting woman in the world! She's the 1952 American beauty, with a foolproof formula for melting a male! She's the 'Fire and Ice' girl. (Are You?)"

In a time when all eyes were on European beauty and fashion, Revlon wanted a shade that showed the world that American women had the same amount of sex-appeal and passion as the French and the Italian.  If a woman had any doubt about choosing such a daring shade, Revlon's quiz could help them decide.

Have you ever danced with your shoes off?
Did you ever wish on a new moon?
Do you blush when you find yourself flirting?
When a recipe calls for one dash of bitters, do you think it's better with two?

Do you secretly hope the next man you meet will be a psychiatrist?
Do you sometimes feel that other women resent you?
Have you ever wanted to wear an ankle bracelet?
Do sables excite you, even on other women?
Do you love to look up at a man?
Do you face crowded parties with panic -- then wind up having a wonderful time?
Does gypsy music make you sad?Do you think any man really understands you?Would you streak your hair with platinum without consulting your husband?
If tourist flights were running, would you take a trip to Mars?
Do you close your eyes when you're kissed?

So, how do you fare?

xoxo,
Eliza

~ the stray ~

Ever since I was little and read books like Alice in Wonderland, Linnea in Monet's Garden, and Anne of Green Gables, I've had dreams of running through the tall green grass in a vast meadow on a warm day.

Thanks to beautiful weather and a perfectly-placed flat, I lived out that dream.

And it was just as heavenly as I always imagined it would be.

{Photos by my sweet friend Sarah, who put up with my micromanaging beautifully}

It was a warm evening with a nice breeze (which gave a gaggle of university boys a nice look at my undies), so I whipped out my new (to me) 1980s-does-1950s dress which I picked up in Manchester, and paired it with my favorite bakelite bangles and hoops.

I'd be happy to do nothing but frolick in the Stray for the rest of my days.

xoxo,

Eliza

~ flower power ~

Do you ever buy a new (old) dress and suddenly feel that, for that moment, everything is right with the world?  Or is that just me?  Yesterday my friend Alex and I walked in to Other Side Vintage in Railroad Square and this dress caught my eye within the first ten minutes.  It was too hot to try on the 50s plaid skirt or the 70s knitted dress I had also picked out, so I stuck to the 60s dresses and 50s button ups.

Maybe it was the soul-draining heat or the power-punch of protein from having just eaten a veggie burger the size of my head, but yesterday was undoubtedly one of those everything-is-right-with-the-world experiences.

A 1960s blue/green/white explosion of flowers that can be worn with sleeves rolled up or down, with a (matching) belt or without, can be worn at any time of year, and is currently my favorite thing in my closet.

The tag reads Shannon Rodgers for Jerry Silverman, a brand that dates back to 1959.  

How strange to think that a design that is nearly 60 years old is still as relevant and stylish as the day it was produced.  I don't know how Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman would feel knowing that their design is being worn and loved all those years later, but I like to think it would make them proud.

So thank you for your design, gentlemen.  And don't worry - I'll take good care of it.

xoxo,

Eliza

~ mrs. robinson ~

For someone who loves cats of all kinds as much as I do, you would think I would own more leopard print than I currently do.  But for now I only have two large leopard print scarves, that when skillfully placed, can give the appearance of a leopard print top, leopard print turban, and leopard print lingerie (see below).

Now, this is definitely a good start, but in order to reach my dream wardrobe, I'll need to take a leaf out of the book of these rad ladies and go into full-leopard mode....

And of course, saving the best for last...

After all, what's life without a little leopard?

xoxo,

Eliza