Embroidered Kimono and vintage dress advertisement

This is a vintage Kimono from an estate sale, made in Japan. Nice embroidered dragon. It doesn't have a sash so I am going to add some snaps in the front so it will stay closed while I elegantly cruise around my house.

This is a close up of an old beer advertisement, showing a gorgeous blue dress with petticoat. I am obsessed with this dress and want to try to sew my own version. I am also showing the entire ad, which is for beer. The ad is from an old Life magazine.

Vintage coat with leopard trim

This is my vintage wool coat from the now-defunct Kaufman's Department Store. Even though the original buttons were vintage and authentic they were ugly so I replaced them with a different set of old buttons. I also added the leopard trim because the coat was crying out for some additional panache.

The new buttons are copper colored with a big rhinestone in the middle.

Resting on my vintage laurels

I got this fabulous beaded fish purse at the auction. New with tags.
Below is a crocheted liquor bottle cover that I scored at an estate sale. Poodle shaped, YES! The tag on the dog's neck says "My name is Fluffy. My owners are Dot and Harry Auns." I would definately like to party with Dot and Harry Auns! They must have been the coolest people ever if this poodle is any indication. I am in awe of this item, seriously. Imagine knocking back a few martinis with Dot and Harry while some Sinatra plays on the hi-fi and this poodle, covering a vermouth bottle, stands at the ready. Wow!

This is my Ann Taintor calender for this month.

Finally, a new vintage find

The weather finally cleared up so I could make it to the estate auction without dealing with snow and ice and the fear of being stranded in a blizzard. I was in auction withdrawal, I hadn't been able to get there in over a month. Luckily I managed to win this pretty silk embroidered robe, hooray! Looks quite glamorous, doesn't it. When I wear it I will feel like Jean Harlow.  I must run it thru a home drycleaning regimen first, however. Since that trip to the auction I came down the flu and have been sick, so I missed out on another trip to the auction, plus I havent been able to check out a new church thrift shop that my friend told me about. I can't wait to get back into the swing of things, junk-wise.

The Winter of Our Discontent

Winter really puts the kibosh on the junk hobby. Or should I say junk lifestyle. So here are some past finds.
The book is called How to Improve Your House and Grounds. It also says on the cover: How to Make Your Home an Estate! 1953 Popular Science Publishing. I want to make my home into an estate, who wouldnt want to?? I ended up with this after buying a pile of stuff at the auction house. Now I need to get cracking to make my home an estate.
 The painting is from an auction. I thought it had a 1950s look to it. Reminded me of old barkcloth.

The ashtrays are from an old Texas hotel called the King Motel, 9101 So. Main, Houston, Tex., MO 2605. That's the phone number not the zip code. I would love to call that old fashioned phone exchange and stay at a motel that had ceramic ashtrays! I bet it was great in its day.

random vintage finds

Here are some of my vintage finds.  The portrait of the woman called to me at the estate auction  and would not let up until I outbid a few people and won. Now I need to find a place for her at the pad. The Cape Cod dish reminds me of the Cape, where I vacation every summer. They don't make souveniers like they used to.

I bought the hat for my husband at the estate auction. He had been admiring similar ones when we were at VLV two years ago but he didnt buy one there. So I was really excited to find this one, ununsed and in the box. I had to outbid a slew of people. I thought I was going to pass out from the stress of frenzied bidding. When I won I was exhausted, I couldnt believe that so many people wanted the hat and were bidding on it. Anyhow, wouldnt you know it ended up being too small for him when I got it home. It is going on ebay in the near future.

Music music music

I got some new Cds for Christmas and got the rockabilly box set for Christmas last year. The box set It is beyond excellent and comes with a nice booklet full of old photos and info. One of the best gifts ever, believe me. Right now I'm listening to Junior Wells and loving it. Iam reading Keith Richards' book LIFE right now and he is very enthusiastic about old Chicago blues, so I decided to check out Junior Wells. And I'm awful glad I did. I did not open the Josephine Baker or Viviane Green yet.