the jade pussycat blog

out with the old, in with the new

2012-01-04T21:10:00.006-05:00

As you may have noticed, I haven't updated this page in some time. Which isn't to say I've giving up on occasional blogging, or weekly etsy updates. I've just been doing all of that here and here, aka my new blog and shop. And I simply forgot to mention Mystery Girl Vintage here. (Sigh! What can I say in my defense except the hustle and bustle of the holiday season got the best of me.) Anywhoo, interested parties read a little more about the switch here. Warning: It's not a particularly scandalous or interesting story but there is a New York Dolls video at the end.

One aspect not mentioned in the post linked above is the fate of the JP shop and blog. (Which is what I logged in to post about; then realized I never even said anything about MGV over here... and I already told you that part of the story.)

Ultimately one of the goals with moving the vintage to it's own home is to make a home solely for my handmade items. Right now the Jade Pussycat boutique is still in the awkward in-between phase but I am slowly working my way towards removing all of the non-handmade stock and re-stocking our virtual shelves with lots of vintage inspired hand knit / crocheted goodness.

As far as the fate of this page goes, as much as I enjoy blogger, the multiple blog thing is starting to become a bit of a hassle. (Meaning the other day I wasn't totally paying attention to the dashboard and wound up posting a Pulp Fiction Project post to the Mystery Girl blog page. Again, sigh!) But I did / do want to have some sort of non-etsy related space to share shop talk and visual inspiration with the world wide web so, to that end, I decided to resuscitate the JP tumblr page.

For the foreseeable future this page will serve as the JP blog / home to my fiber related musings & inspirations; and, of course, the shop talk. I'm still getting my tumblr sea legs, so to speak, so - much like pretty much everything in my life at the moment - it is a work in progress but, if you'd like, you can follow me over there. And once we're there, you can "follow" me. (I'm still not 100% sure what that means but maybe we can figure it out togther.)

Either way, thanks for stopping by here! And as always, thanks for reading down this far.

xo,
leslie

etsy update: party time

2011-11-11T22:08:00.009-05:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy Party Time by Julia Lee - a selection from a section of husband's vinyl stash rarely visited via this blog, the bawdy party records.

vintage tonight's the night dress / vintage party time capelet / vintage last call dress

vintage ain't it a crime dress / vintage after hours dress / vintage tell me dress

Sadly I couldn't find any footage of Ms. Lee performing live but you can get the gist of her ouvre via this video:

etsy update: rock & roll style

2011-11-10T23:02:00.007-05:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy another in a long series of random 50+ year old records from the husband's vinyl stash, Big Saxophone in Rock & Roll Style by Teddy & The Tornadoes.

vintage moon shot dress / vintage moon song dress

vintage magic is the moonlight dress / vintage moon is blue belt

Regular readers - assuming there is such a thing - may notice there is a slightly different style to tonight's update; a reflection of a different display style I'm trying out in the shop this week.

Should anyone care to share their thoughts on said new style, as always, your feedback is welcome and appreciated. (Especially if it's positive ;)

etsy update: sleep warm

2011-11-07T22:42:00.006-05:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy Sleep Warm by Dean Martin.

1. vintage goodnight my love dress

2. vintage cuddle up a little closer sweater

3. vintage let's put out the lights belt

4. vintage good night sweetheart dress

Of course there was plenty of appropriate footage available on ye olde You Tube but, since I can't think of Dean Martin without thinking of Matt Helm (and since I couldn't find trailers from any of the four films), here's footage of Cyd Charisse (RIP) performing the title track from The Silencers.

etsy update: it's not unusual

2011-11-04T21:20:00.005-04:00

In case it's not obvious enough from the post title, the titles for tonight's wee boutique update are courtesy everyone's favorite heavily sideburned Welsh crooner, the perennially popular Tom Jones.

1. vintage it's not unusual dress

2. vintage spanish harlem shoes

3. vintage autumn leaves dress

4. vintage once upon a time dress

5. vintage if you need me dress

And, since it was available, here's footage of Mr. Jones performing a portion of the title track of this record, and the unofficial theme song of the appropriately titled "This Is Tom Jones" variety show (a program I'd never heard of until I stumbled across this video), on said show.

etsy update: the beat goes on

2011-10-17T22:51:00.007-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy Bill Black's The Beat Goes On by, appropiriately enough, Bill Black's Combo.

1. ~~vintage never my love dress~~

2. vintage beat goes on dress

3. vintage gotta travel on handbag

4. vintage river of darkness dress

I couldn't find footage of any songs from this particular record but I did come across a clip of the Combo performing one of their most well known songs, or part of it at least, "Smokie Part 2."

Which seems like a good enough substitute to me.

etsy update: one night stand

2011-10-14T22:13:00.015-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy an awesome Gene Krupa record - not that there's any other kind - One Night Stand. (Recorded January 31, 1940 at the Meadowbrook in Cedar Grove, NJ, natch.)

1. ~~revamped vintage shadowline slip dress - berry~~

2. vintage this changing world dress

3. revamped vintage vincent slip dress - berry

4. vintage bluebirds in the moonlight maxi dress

5. ~~revamped vintage kayser slip dress - berry~~

And, because it was available, equally awesome footage of Krupa and co. performing their hit "Drum Boogie," twice, in a scene from Ball Of Fire, a Gary Cooper / Barbara Stanwyck "romcom" I stumbled across on TCM a week or two ago.

On an unrelated topic, pretty much every outfit worn by a female in this scene is great but I particularly fancy the striped number worn by the brunette who sits at the table next to Cooper.

etsy update: what now my love

2011-10-10T22:32:00.008-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy What Now My Love by the Monterey Brass. (One of a long series of records in the husband's vinyl stash with the word "brass" in the band name or title.)

1. vintage dark eyes dress

2. vintage what now my love dress

3. vintage meet me tonight maxi dress

4. vintage love me forever dress

I wasn't able to find any footage of, nor any info on, the Monterey Brass so instead here's the first tenth of Dead Of Night, a movie I plan to watch on TCM after I'm done posting this post.

etsy update: that midnight touch

2011-10-07T22:29:00.009-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy a random "Enoch Light Presents" record from the husband's vinyl stash, That Midnight Touch by Bobby Hackett.

1. vintage that midnight touch dress

2. vintage all too soon maxi dress

3. vintage my foolish heart dress

4. vintage when you awake dress

5. ~~vintage stars in my eyes dress~~

I couldn't find footage of any songs from this particular record but here's a touch of the Bobby Hackett Sextet performing "Swing That Music."

a few of my favorite things: finishing projects, faux bois & she freaks

2011-10-07T13:48:00.011-04:00

{Non-faux bois photo by the Kommandant}

I know I've been a bit neglectful of this space lately - again - but, since I had so much involuntary down time in August, much of the past month or so was spent wrapping up projects; the work kind, aka the kind with looming deadlines and clients to please, and the fun kind, like knitting luxurious items for the shop and myself. Since my graphic design work is a topic for another blog, a blog I don't have and don't plan to start, here's a couple photos of a shawl I finished last week.

Pictures don't really do this thing justice; the yarn is a cashmere blend and it's soooooo soft and squishy. It's also quite large and therefore hard to photograph. This was my best attempt.

In case there are any knitters in the audience here's a link to the pattern. I highly recommend making one. In fact, I'm already thinking about making a second.

On an unrelated topic, last weekend I got my hair did; which means I also spent an hour or so flipping through assorted Fall issues of assorted fashion and food magazines. And I bring this up here because it was via one of these assorted publications, a fashion-y one, I learned faux bois is a big trend for Fall 2011.

Personally I love a little faux bois any time of year - or for that matter, any year - so I decided to make an etsy treasury in it's honor.

Should you care to investigate any of this loveliness further, and my fellow etsians & I certainly would appreciate it of you did, you can do so here.

October is traditionally a great month for catching odd films on cable television and tonight TCM Underground is featuring a particularly fun double feature of carny chaos and carnality: She Freak and Berserk.

I reviewed She Freak years ago on the B-Movie Buffet (interested parties can read said review here) and it has since become a house / personal favorite. In case you're wondering whether or not to set your DVR, here's a trailer to help you decide.

(PS: A trailer for Berserk can be seen in this post.)

etsy update: dynamic dimensions

2011-10-03T21:57:00.013-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy one of the many "Stereo Action" LPs in the husband's vinyl stash, Dynamic Dimensions by Henri Rene and His Orchestra.

1. vintage me and my shadow dress

2. ~~vintage dynamic dimensions dress~~

3. the ingrid infinity scarf - plummy

4. vintage tea for two dress

Since no footage of Mr. Rene, nor his orchestra, was available and the record I'm listening to as I type this has been the subject of a previous etsy update post, here's a trailer for Savage Sisters; a ridiculous, awesome and awesomely ridiculous / ridiculously awesome WIP film I was talked into watching last night.

Truthfully I didn't need that much convincing - he had me at directed by Eddie Romero and starring Cherri Caffaro, Vic Diaz, Eddie Garcia, Sid Haig and John Ashley - but the movie was pretty nuts, even for an ensemble cast women in prison film shot in the Phillipines in 1974. (And for those unfamiliar with the genre that is saying something!)

etsy update: love embers and flame

2011-09-30T22:01:00.005-04:00

Here's a peek at tonight's update; presented by one of the husband's many "Jackie Gleason presents" records, Love Embers And Flame.

1. vintage it's a blue world dress

2. vintage where are you pumps

3. vintage dark is the night dress

4. vintage love embers and flame dress

5. vintage always and always dress

6. vintage for all we know dress

Obviously there is no footage of Gleason performing any of this music available (from what I understand, he didn't even perform any of it when it was recorded) so, in recent tradition, here's footage of the Avengers performing "We Are The One" from their self titled compilation LP on CD Presents; aka the record I'm listening to as I post this post.

At the risk of stating the obvious, Penelope Houston is such a babe!

etsy update: chasing shadows

2011-09-26T22:20:00.008-04:00

Here's a peek at tonight's update; titles courtesy Jackie Davis' Chasing Shadows.

1. vintage chasing shadows dress

2. vintage irresistible you dress

3. vintage night wind dress

4. vintage where in the world dress

And since it was available, some somewhat dark footage of him, and his Hammond, performing in Denver circa 1994.

etsy update: knocked-out nocturne

2011-09-23T21:06:00.012-04:00

Here's a peek at tonight's update; titles courtesy Knocked-Out Nocturne by Ralph Sutton.

1. ~~vintage in the dark dress~~
2. vintage eye opener jacket
3. ~~handmade edwige infinity scarf - swamp thing~~
4. vintage knocked out nocturne dress
5. vintage i got rhythm dress
6. vintage ain't misbehavin skirt
7. ~~vintage embroidered wall hanging: still life with plant stand~~
8. vintage in a mist dress

There were a couple of YouTube videos of Mr. Sutton tickling the ivories at various jazz festivals but... um... they were a little boring. (Sorry!)

So in lieu of that, here's some completely not boring footage of The Damned circa 1982 playing "New Rose," AKA a song from the record I'm listening to as I type this post.

And because I had a hard time making up my mind, even more not boring footage of them performing the same song in 2002 on the Jonathan Ross Show.

Sigh. I loved that line-up with Patricia Morrison.

a few of my favorite things: weekend getaway edition

2011-09-21T20:57:00.013-04:00

This past weekend the husband treated me to one of my favorite things, a weekend getaway; something we don't get to do very often. During which we, not so surprisingly, engaged in activities we partake in fairly often: flea marketing, farmers marketing, trespassing and taking pictures of all of the above, plus whatever random things catch our eye, collectively and individually.

So, while I realize photos of random abandoned buildings, flora, fauna, fresh fruits & vegetables, and things that followed us home from the flea market posed with my beloved GG Allin Doll are not exactly new to this space, I thought I'd share a little peek at our trip, since it was definitely my favorite thing since the last entry in this series.

Other highlights not pictured here: breakfast at Sweet Sue's; our adorable, comfy motel room; and the movies we watched from the room's VHS library - Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers! & Horror Hospital.

(PS: If you're really interested, there are photos of these, among other, things here.)

etsy update: wild planet

2011-09-19T22:50:00.004-04:00

Here's a peek at tonight's update; titles courtesy the B-52s second LP, Wild Planet.

1. vintage wild planet dress

2. vintage runnin around top

3. vintage party out of bounds dress

4. vintage private idaho dress

Complete with crazy footage of them circa 1980 performing / lip synching to my favorite song from this record, and my favorite B-52s song ever, "Private Idaho."

etsy update: jackpot!

2011-09-15T19:45:00.007-04:00

Here's a peek at tonight's update; titles courtesy Jackpot! by The Mary Kaye Trio.

1. vintage wonder why dress

2. vintage day in day out dress

3. vintage believe in me dress

I have to admit, I wasn't too familliar with Ms. Kaye, or her trio, prior to hearing this record; I also have to admit I'm totally impressed by the fact there's a Fender Stratocaster named after her.

And since it was available, here's footage of the trio performing a trio of standards, including footage of the aforemntioned Strat in action.

etsy update: here comes my baby

2011-09-12T21:18:00.008-04:00

Here's a peek at what was added to the boutique tonight, titles courtesy Here Comes My Baby by The Tremeloes.

1. vintage run baby run dress

2. vintage my town dress

3. vintage embroidered wall hanging: still life with fall foliage

4. vintage here comes my baby dress

A record / band I have to admit I'm not particularly familiar with but one I chose from the husband's vinyl stash because the cover features a bit of groovy psychedelic artwork, a la the fourth dress seen above. (I didn't have the forethought to do so this prior to tonight's update - largely due to the fact I picked it out about an hour ago - but I will try to remember to scan and add the cover here.)

In the meantime we can familiarize ourselves with one tenth of this record via this grainy black and white footage I found of the band performing the title track.

breakin' the law

2011-09-12T19:59:00.006-04:00

Generally speaking I'm a law abiding citizen but I have to admit there is one illegal activity I've enjoyed since my teenage years - that I realize, as a grown woman, I probably shouldn't participate in but just can't seem to help myself - trespassing.

I suppose I should clarify the above statement by saying it's not so much the trespassing I enjoy, as it is exploring abandoned buildings. Also, for the record, I mean no harm to any property, it's contents or owner; I'm not there to deface, steal or even alter anything. I just wanna snoop around a bit and admire the decay. And maybe take some pictures.

The husband is a total enabler, as he loves taking photos. (Of everything except people ;) And of course I bring this all up as a round about way of saying: here are a few shots of a cool abandoned building we drove past in our travels this weekend.

etsy update: starlight serenade

2011-09-09T22:26:00.021-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight, titles courtesy Starlight Serenade by Morton Gould and his Orchestra.

1. vintage my blue heaven dress
2. vintage serenade in the night dress
3. vintage starlight serenade pumps
4. ~~vintage beyond the blue horizon dress~~
5. vintage moon glow dress

Interestingly, this is Mr. Gould's - and his Orchestra's - second etsy update related appearance. (This was the first.) Apparently I wasn't able to find any You Tube footage last time so I didn't bother looking for any today.

In lieu of that, here's some fantastic footage of X playing "Your Phone's Off The Hook (But You're Not)," featuring the lovely Exene Cevenka in what I assume to be one of her typically fabulous vintage frocks, live at SXSW a few years ago. (AKA a song from the record I'm listening to as I type this post.)

PS: I would love to peek into her closet!

a few of my favorite things: print & prints (& prints)

2011-09-08T19:14:00.015-04:00

{source}

One thing all of the various doctors I've had to see lately seem to agree on is a positive mental attitude is an important part of good health. (As well as an important part of a good Bad Brains song but I don't think any of my doctor's know that.) So, in the spirit of maintaining my PMA, I figured I would try to revive this little weekly / bi-weekly round-up of things I enjoy.

On an unrelated topic, do you ever find yourself having negative feelings about people who constantly remind you of the need to stay positive? Yeah, me too.

Traditionally Fall is my favorite magazine season and I have to admit I did spend some of my downtime getting familiar with the September issues of Vogue, Vogue Knitting, Elle, Bust & Neet. Truthfully though, I spent just as much - if not a little more - time staring at pages printed long before I was born; like this stack of Frederick's Of Hollywood catalogs from the '50s and '60s I found at a flea market over the Summer.

Really, every one deserves it's own post; when I have time to do a lot of scanning I will make that happen. PS: I believe this mustachioed gentleman is a depiction of Mr. Frederick himself. Classic!!

As anyone who knows me in the real world can tell you, as much as I love basic black, I also love a good print. And I've found some fantastic ones in my travels lately!

All of these pieces, and their prints, will make it into the shop soon; except the first one. (That particular Pucci-esque print belongs to an overly oversized Sears robe / housedress / schmata thing that is just far too unflattering to make it into the shop. The fabric will make a good bag lining though, or three, and maybe a pillow or two.)

At the risk of (again) repeating a theme I said I wasn't gonna discuss here, while I've spent more time in doctor's offices in the past month than I have in the past ten years, sadly, I've spent less time in thrift stores over the past month than I have at any point in the history of the Jade Pussycat boutique. I remedied that this past weekend by hitting up a number of my favorite haunts, where I found lots of great stuff to add to the shop, and even a little something to add to our growing collection of thrifted art.

(Based on the signature I think these are by C.C. Beall but I haven't been able to find any specific information on either piece.)

etsy update: an after hours mood

2011-09-06T23:33:00.004-04:00

Hey everybody! Hope this post holiday (at least here in the States) post finds you in an after hours mood... Whatever that means...

For tonight's purposes at least, it means here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy An After Hours Mood by A Guitar And You.

Truthfully I still haven't quite figured out whether A Guitar And You is the name of a band or this record has two titles or what; although I will say, if that is the name of a band, it's not the greatest idea for a band name I've ever heard. (On the other hand, when we were publishing c14 I certainly heard worse.)

1. vintage you go to my head dress

2. vintage an after hours mood dress

3. vintage embraceable you bag

4. vintage alone together dress

Anywhoo, I know this past weekend marked the "official" end of Summer (I still maintain the official end of Summer is the day before the first day of Fall but who am I to argue with the local news), and therefore it is no longer sundress season, but I couldn't resist adding this cute strawberry printed number I found over the weekend.

I promise to try and incorporate more pieces with sleeves over the next few updates.

etsy update: music for the quiet hour

2011-09-02T21:55:00.009-04:00

At the risk of repeating myself (why stop now, right?) I'm going to try to get back on a semi-regular updating schedule after the holiday but, in the meantime, I am trying to keep up with my semi-regularly scheduled etsy updating schedule.

In other words, here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy Music For The Quiet Hour featuring Jan August.

1. ~~vintage night and day dress~~

2. revamped vintage barbizon slip dress - cornflower blue

3. vintage quiet hour dress

4. revamped vintage sears slip dress - denim

5. vintage dancing in the dark dress

6. vintage tapestry hat

7. revamped vintage slip dress - cornflower blue

And on that note, I am off to enjoy a relatively quiet three day weekend with the Kommandant. Hope you have a festive weekend wherever you are & whatever you're doing!

shop talk

2011-08-30T19:47:00.007-04:00

Hey everybody! Sorry to have abandoned this space again but I've been dealing with some personal (read: medical) issues and, based on my commitment to keep this a negativity free zone, decided it was probably better to just leave this page alone until I felt better. (Particularly since I've spent much of the past few weeks moping around and / or feeling sorry for myself - neither of which are good inspirations for blog posts.)

Anywhoo, I'm not fully back to normal physically but I am feeling a little better mentally so I thought I'd try to get back into the swing of things via the obligatory "why I haven't been posting" post.

Since we've gotten that out of the way, how 'bout some shop talk?

As you may have noticed / guessed from the photos above, a new member has been added to the JP team since last we spoke. Her name is Patty and she's a rescue dress form; meaning I rescued her from an Army Navy store where she was clearly under appreciated. (Not to mention poorly dressed.)

She's not in perfect condition but, truthfully, I love her just the way she is. Plus everything looks good on her! See...

In other news, during the time I was not updating the blog I did continue to update the boutique (some of the recent additions can be seen in the collage above) and seeing as how this weekend marks the official end of Summer - as well as seeing the rack of Fall / Winter fabulousness I've accumulated over the warmer months starting to list to the left a bit the other day - this afternoon I marked down & moved a whole bunch of stuff into the sale section. So, of course, I made a collage of that too.

Hopefully I'll be able to return us to some sort of regular updating schedule after Labor Day weekend. (AKA next week.) Either way, thanks for stopping by!

etsy update: ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

2011-08-05T22:23:00.007-04:00

As you can see from the lack of activity 'round these parts I decided to take a brief blogging break for the past few weeks and, while I might not be ready to dive back into a normal posting schedule quite yet, I did want to pop in and say hey.

Hey!

Plus I have a little news I wanted to share. (And, for reasons that will become evident shortly, today seems like an appropriate day to do so.) So, without any further ado, I am pleased to announce the Jade Pussycat blog's longest running feature, the Pulp Fiction Project, has a new home - aka it's own home - here.

The main reason I bring it up in this otherwise unrelated post being tonight marks the first new entry on said new blog, which you can read of you click on the link above. And, needless to say, I certainly would appreciate it of you did.

(FYI: There's no real reason behind this decision except I thought it might be fun to make the PFP into it's own entity and guess what? It is. So I think I'll do it for a while.)

Anywhoo... to get to the other part of our normal two part Friday night blog update, I have been stocking the shop with vintage loveliness in my blogger absence but, at the risk of loading this post up with too much shameless self promotion, I will stick to the pieces that I've added over the past couple days.

1. vintage spirits of the night romper

2. ~~revamped vintage slip - spinach~~

3. vintage rain drops dress

4. vintage to the sea dress

Titles not courtesy the David Bowie song mentioned in the post title, or the album it originally appeared on, but from "Fabulous Ping Pong Bongo Percussion"; aka yet another random exotica record from the husband's vinyl stash. With a pretty cool cover.

(Hmmm, perhaps the start of another sub blog...)

record round-up: july

2011-07-11T12:11:00.012-04:00

As promised in whatever post I mentioned it last month, our new scanner has paved the way for the return of an old blog feature: Record Round-Up.

For those who may have joined us recently, RRU is similar to the Pulp Fiction Project (in the sense I get a great deal of graphic design inspiration from the covers of old books and records and like to share my affection for both via the world wide web) and pretty much what the title implies; each month I dip into the husband's vinyl stash and scan some selections for your / my / our viewing enjoyment.

Sometimes I try to stick to a theme, although this month's selections were chosen a bit at random; mainly because they share a similar color palette and looked cool together laid out on the floor.

The working theory I suppose being, if they look cool in a grid on the floor they will also look cool in a vertical row on this page. You be the judge.

(I am particulalry enamored with this cover since Picasso's Three Musicians is one of my favorite pieces of fine art.)

(PS: Larger versions of these covers, as well as previous subjects, can be found in the Record Round-Up flickr set, here.)

etsy update: midnight sun

2011-07-07T22:14:00.008-04:00

Hey everybody! Sorry I've been kind of MIA this week but I've become a bit distracted by various non-internet related projects; a theme which will likely continue for much of this month. Of course, I'm not going to let that derail our weekly shop updates... or at least I'm gonna try.

And on that note, here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy another in a long series of random selections from the husband's vinyl stash, Midnight Sun by Earl Grant.

1. ~~vintage warm sand (by the cool sea) cover-up~~

2. vintage island in the sun romper

3. vintage stranger on the shore sandals

4. vintage midnight sun maxi skirt

etsy update: red hot and cool

2011-06-27T22:33:00.012-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy Jazz: Red Hot And Cool by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

1. vintage love walked in dress

2. vintage red hot and cool dress

3. ~~revamped vintage slip dress - blueberry~~

And, since it was available, some cool "vintage" footage of the quartet performing his / their most famous composition, "Take Five."

a few of my favorite things: furry friends, fancy office equipment & fall knitting

2011-06-24T19:05:00.007-04:00

One night last week the husband was in the backyard grilling when this handsome fella wandered by and decided to hang out while he cooked. Since he's been stopping by on a regular basis to lounge on the hood of our car, roll around on our back steps and nuzzle our screen door.

He has the sweetest disposition and the most amazing yellow eyes! I kind of want to kidnap (catnap?) and adopt him into our family but he seems too well groomed to be a stray so we won't be doing that.

Generally speaking, a piece of computer equipment is not what I would consider JP blog material but I was finally able to test drive our new scanner a bit this week and decided to include it, considering it is destined to make a considerable impact on future JP blog material. Why? Unlike every other scanner I've ever owned, it can scan a 12" vinyl record cover in a single bound! See...

And you know what that means! In case you don't, it means expect the return of Record Round-Up next month.

While the currently barren handmade section of the shop may belie this fact, I've been a busy bee as far as crafting bits of warm wooly goodness to add when the cold weather rolls back around. (The husband is always quick to remind me it's always Winter somewhere but for some reason I am unable to grasp the concept of listing cold weather accessories during the months of June, July and August.) These pieces will have a proper debut in September.

the year of knitting sockularly: june

2011-06-22T19:49:00.005-04:00

With today's entry we have officially hit the mid-point in my / our Year Of Knitting Sockularly project and, while I may not have a pile of completed socks to show off, I'm still pleased with it's progress.

In retrospect, I suppose finishing my first pair less than three months in was a foreshadowing of the next pair taking significantly longer; or I could just blame the whole thing on our computer problems. But I've been doing that so much lately...

Anywhoo, as I've said previously, progress - or lack thereof - isn't gonna derail this train so, seeing as how yesterday was the first official day of Summer, I took the opportunity to set up an impromptu photo shoot with the socks next to Summery-est thing I could think of at the moment, the unstuffed wild bikini bottom I'd laid in the sun to dry earlier in the day.

Now that I'm comparing the two, I've actually made some decent progress since our last shoot. I think there might even be a completed heel in July's photo.

etsy update: (i'm) stranded

2011-06-17T21:58:00.004-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy a record seen in yesterday's post, (I'm) Stranded by The Saints.

1. vintage wild about you romper

2. vintage holly hobbie puzzle

3. vintage kissin cousins skirt

4. vintage story of love dress

5. ~~vintage one way street purse~~

6. vintage nights in venice dress

I was having a really hard time choosing between a video for the title track or this incredible live footage I stumbled across of the band performing "Demolition Girl" and (my favorite track from this album) "Nights In Venice" at Paddington Town Hall circa 1977; so, of course, I elected not to choose.

a few of my favorite things: new records, old magazines & fake birds

2011-06-16T21:27:00.017-04:00

(Scenes from Oakmont Farmer's Market by the Kommandant.)

With all of the assorted technical issues we've been experiencing as of late, and all of the other issues attached to dealing with technical issues, blogging has again fallen by the wayside a bit. Mainly because I don't really have much else to talk about at the moment and, really, who wants to read about being on hold with tech support. (Or, for that matter, write about it.)

We do seem to be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel as far as fixing our computer problems though (including a shiny new / old scanner pour moi) so, in the name of looking on the bright side, I decided to start up a new weekly / bi-weekly feature, featuring whatever I'm feeling at the moment. And on that note, here are a few of my favorite things circa this week.

This past Saturday I spent the day hanging out with my sister; getting our hair did, flipping through magazines, shopping and eating pizza. The husband was also free to do whatever he wanted with his day and, not so surprisingly, he elected to spend part of it in a record store.

Actually I think he went to two (AKA Music and the Record Exchange) and, while I wasn't so thrilled by the idea of more records crowding up my pilates area (seriously, I barely have enough room to stretch like a rope being pulled in opposition as it is!), when I saw what he came home with I admittedly felt a bit differently.

(L-R: Bad Brains - Black Dots; The Saints - I'm Stranded (re-issue); MC5 - Shakin Street (import); Slayer - World Painted Blood)

He also happened across a yard sale in our hood where - wait for it - he bought even more records! Sigh. (This time a stack of freaky deaky free jazz I didn't take photo of; records I also have to admit I'm really looking forward to checking out. FYI: I have, of course, already listened everything in the prior photo at least once.)

To soften the blow he brought home a little somethin' somethin' for me:

There are some really fantastic '40s fashions and advertising in these. Posts on each to come after said scanner arrives.

On an unrelated topic, I'm slowly making progress revamping my studio and will soon get to the fun part, aka painting and decorating. One thing I've been casually keeping an eye out for is a vintage birdcage. (This one is lovely!) Much like my hunt for the perfect vintage mannequin, the problem isn't so much finding one I like as it is paying for it.

This little guy isn't quite what I had in mind but much more affordable than the one linked above ($1.99 fully loaded with both faux flora and fauna, natch!) and too cute / ridiculous to resist.

In other news, farmer's market season has fully sprung 'round these parts.

(I plan on eating a portion of the contents of one of the pints seen in the photo above as soon as I'm done posting this post.)

I have to admit, trips to the supermarket do not excite me all that much - or, at all - but I do love a farmer's market!

etsy update: new day rising

2011-06-13T21:29:00.011-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy Husker Du's New Day Rising.

1. ~~vintage new day rising dress~~

2. vintage watcha drinkin' hostess set

3. vintage plans i make romper

4. ~~vintage celebrated summer dress~~

Accompanied by a less than perfect, but still kind of perfect in it's own way, clip featuring two songs I love from this record, "The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill" and "I Apologize."

Actually I love this record as a whole; plus I tend to nerd out over Bob Mould a bit in general.

Speaking of which, I just found out about this book over the weekend and added it to my Summer reading list. Although I kind of wish it had been co-authored by Steven Blush instead. (Which is not meant as an insult to Michael Azerrad; both are respected authors and journalists. But Blush is dishier and therefore more fun.)

etsy update: coffee break

2011-06-10T21:29:00.017-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy Coffee Break by Reg Owen and His Orchestra.

1. vintage love will find a way maxi dress

2. vintage when hearts are young romper

3. vintage every day dress

4. vintage coffee break dress (with matching jacket)

5. ~~vintage twenty four hours of sunshine romper~~

Not so surprisingly there were no videos of Reg, or his orchestra, on You Tube so, at the husband's suggestion, here is some "Black Coffee" courtesy Black Flag.

Not that I needed much convincing; any era Black Flag (or Andrew Weiss era Rollins Band) is certainly my cup of tea.

attack of the drive-in double feature

2011-06-09T11:56:00.012-04:00

"Beyond the Valley of the Dolls being shown at drive-in theater." (Source)

I don't know what the weather is like in your neck of the woods but here in the outskirts of Hostile City we're in the middle of our second heat wave of the season. (And the season hasn't even switched from Spring to Summer yet!) As I think I've mentioned before, the Kommandant and I live in a brick house, built sometime in the late '30s; aka a house without central air. Which means we've been spending a lot of time in our bedroom lately, aka the room with the window air conditioner.

Of course I won't be sharing too much about what goes on "behind the orange door" in this format. (Or any format any time soon. And if I did you would have to pay ;) But I will tell you tonight said room will be magically transformed into a drive-in specializing in '50s sci-fi flicks, at least euphemistically, courtesy the unofficial official favorite cable channel of the JP blog, TCM and their Drive-In Double Feature series.

Apparently this started last week, and will continue every Thursday in June. Always the last to know, I just found out about it this morning; thus the week long delay in mentioning it.

Anywhoo, tonight's offering is an amazing array of films featuring assorted arthropods gone wild: Them!, The Cosmic Monsters, Tarantula, The Black Scorpion, The Giant Claw & The Wasp Woman.

(Based on the trailer below I gather the owner of the giant claw in The Giant Claw is actually some sort of bird creature but you get the general idea.)

I've seen three of these films at least once, Them!, Tarantula & The Wasp Women (and written about two of them: here and here) so mostly I'm looking forward to checking out the ones I haven't, but in the name of fairness, and since they were all available, here are trailers for each. Enjoy!

etsy update: too much too soon

2011-06-06T21:33:00.022-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy the second New York Dolls record, Too Much Too Soon. (In turn, inspired by the film Too Much Too Soon.)

1. vintage stranded in the jungle maxi dress

2. ~~revamped vintage vanity fair slip dress - earl gray~~

3. ~~vintage don't start me talkin' dress~~

4. vintage too much too soon mini dress

And, courtesy the wayback machine that is You Tube, here is some fantastic footage of them performing "Who Are The Mystery Girls?" back in the day at The Matrix in San Francisco.

PS: I would love to know why Arthur Kane is standing / slumped over the amplifier behind David Johnasen, as opposed to playing bass, during this performance. Although I assume it has something to do with that bandage on his arm.

(I also wonder who that long haired dude who is playing the bass in this footage is. If I find out I will add it in here.)

(PPS: Mystery Girls was a very close second to Jade Pussycat when I chose my shop name.)

etsy update: at the beach

2011-06-03T21:21:00.012-04:00

Happy Friday everyone! I don't know about you but I've had a rough week full of computer problems, more computer problems, heatwaves (well, actually it was only one heatwave but we live in a brick house with no air conditioning) and, as of this afternoon, yet more computer problems. Sigh!

Which at least partially explains why I didn't realize Wednesday was the one year anniversary of the great blog re-launch of 2010. (Happy blog-iversary to me!)

Anywhoo, since it is the weekend and all, I've decided to take the next two days off from dealing with said problems and pretty much anything else work related. But before I can do that I have some blog posts to post. On that note, here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight; titles courtesy a Stevie Wonder record I never knew we had, Stevie At The Beach.

1. ~~vintage party at the beach house dress~~

2. vintage beach comber bag

3. ~~vintage happy street dress~~

4. ~~revamped vintage lorraine slip dress - dusty teal~~

5. vintage castles in the sand skirt

6. vintage ebb tide necklace

7. vintage at the beach dress

I suppose I could have looked for footage featuring a song from this record to go with this post but instead decided to go with this awesome footage of '70s era Stevie (& co.) performing "Superstition" on Beat Club. Enjoy!

etsy update: goin' latin

2011-05-31T20:49:00.006-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight, titles courtesy a random record from the jazz section of the husband's vinyl stash, Goin' Latin by Ramsey Lewis.

1. vintage blue bongo dress

2. vintage free again dress

3. vintage function at the junction huaraches

4. vintage down by the riverside dress

Or maybe it's a random record from the Latin section of his collection. Either way it's a good record.

the year of knitting sockularly: may

2011-05-31T15:33:00.007-04:00

If you've been following along with the Year In Knitting Sockularly you may notice my current work in progress hasn't grown much since our last entry. (And if you haven't, but feel like clicking on the link above, you can see for yourself.) Of course I certainly wasn't going to let that stop me from forging ahead with the project.

Besides, the goal is to document the knitting process over the course of a year, not complete a certain amount of pairs.

Anywhoo, at first I was thinking of Mother's Day or Memorial Day as a theme - since they are the major holidays of the month - but ultimately decided to go with something slightly more esoteric: an "April showers bring May flowers" theme, featuring my favorite home grown flower. Meaning, literally, my favorite of the flowers that grow around our house, our ramblin' roses.

(The only downside to this idea is I had to wait for them to bloom. Fortunately that happened last week.)

And while we're still on the subject...

etsy update: living it up

2011-05-27T20:26:00.008-04:00

As mentioned yesterday, tonight's boutique update has a bit of a red, white and blue theme, with a little black and gray mixed in. (The latter being the two most frequently seen colors in my wardrobe.)

I tried to find something thematically appropriate, title-wise, to go with this post but, since the husband shelves the vinyl alphabetically and therefore it can't be searched by keyword or color (a la the way I curated the etsy treasury) and I didn't know what artist I was looking for, I couldn't find anything red, white or blue.

So instead I decided to go with something sitting in the pile on the floor, ultimately choosing Living It Up! by Bert Kaempfert, and his orchestra, because it has a cute, kitschy, summer-y cover. (Which can see in this post. Note to self: That was a fun post. Maybe you should start doing record round ups again.)

1. vintage in the mood dress

2. ~~revamped vintage vanity fair slip dress - ash~~

3. vintage easy going dress

4. vintage two on a tune necklaces

5. vintage give and take dress

6. revamped vintage slip dress - smoke

Surprisingly, my You Tube search turned up tons of Kaempfert tunes to choose from but I thought this video featuring random views of New York City circa the '60s, accompanied by his version of "Wonderland By Night", seemed like a pretty perfect compliment. Enjoy!

patriotic punch

2011-05-25T19:57:00.007-04:00

This afternoon, while editing my most recently snapped batch of shop photos, I realized I had a bit of a red, white & blue vibe working for my end of week update. (Appropriate since this coming Monday is Memorial Day here in the States.) So I thought it might be fun to whip up an appropriately color coded treasury to go with my unintentional theme. And it was!

My initial search turned up way too many options though so I decided to narrow my focus a bit and again take inspiration from a piece in my shop. Namely this dress...

Bold, dramatic, kitschy and classic; who said you can't be patriotic and fabulous at the same time?

(PS: Should anyone care to investigate any of this vintage loveliness further, and I certainly would appreciate it of you did, you can do so here.)

sunday in the park redux

2011-05-24T20:09:00.009-04:00

To revisit a theme / title from this post, this past Sunday the husband and I again partook in one of my favorite weekend activities, going for a walk in the park. (The back story is we originally planned to have a picnic in the park that day but it turned out to be kind of gray and drizzly so we had to come up with a plan b.)

Once again we wound up at Valley Forge National Park where, once again, we took a bunch of pictures of stuff. Mainly a pair of buildings and a stream we'd never explored before.

And of course, once again, I got too wrapped up in yesterday's boutique business to get around to editing the photos until today.

Anywhoo, here are my favorite shots of the day.

(This mill is not actually located in the park. We drove past it on our way home when we were detoured by a detour.)

In other news, our roses have just started to bloom.

etsy update: fowl play

2011-05-20T20:47:00.010-04:00

Tonight's boutique update - title wise at least - is brought to us by Julius Wechter and the Baja Marimba Band's Fowl Play. (Not to be confused with the Chevy Chase movie Foul Play, aka the cause of my sister's nonsensical fear of albinos.)

According to the page linked above the group formed in the wake of Herb Alpert's Tujuana Brass (Wechter was a session musician on Alpert's debut record) and set themselves apart from similalry minded groups via their schtick, which involved sombreros, fake moustaches, drinking beer, cavorting with farm animals and gererally exhibiting behaviour that would annoy a Mexican-American avocacy group.

(Based on what I can see from this LP, the part about their album covers having a man in the background who appears to be urinating is totally true so we're gonna take Wikipedia's word for it.)

1. vintage summer samba dress

2. ~~vintage she's leaving home clutch~~

3. vintage along comes mary dress

4. ~~vintage look of love dress~~

5. vintage sounds of silence maxi dress

6. vintage fowl play skirt

7. vintage yellow days dress

And thanks to the wonders of YouTube, here is some footage of the band and their schtick performing "Taste Of Honey" on the Jimmy Durante / Don Knotts Comedy Hour.

behind the burly q

2011-05-19T21:53:00.014-04:00

(Miscellaneous burlesque dancers as seen in Behind The Burly Q, a film by Leslie Zemeckis. A First Run Features release.)

Although I haven't mentioned it much since this post, I am slowly working my way towards a BMB relaunch / revival. To that end the husband and I have recently slowly started working our way through the recent additions to the review pile. (In retrospect I suppose we should have started with one of the older, dustier DVDs that have been sitting in the bin patiently been waiting to be watched but, in our defense, there's a lot of good stuff in the upper layers.)

Last night we watched a fun documentary, Behind The Burly Q: The Story Of Burlesque In America.

Basically the film is exactly what the title and box cover would imply; see for yourself:

I definitely recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject, or anyone who just likes gazing upon black and white images of women in various stages of undress. (And who doesn't, right?) While we're on that subject...

million dollar mermaid

2011-05-18T19:37:00.008-04:00

As briefly touched upon last week, it's Esther Williams month on TCM. Meaning every Thursday night in May there's lots of splishin', splashin' and whatever the heck else goes on in one of her movies. I have to admit, I've never seen one.

I also have to admit the musical comedy is not one of my favorite genres but, since my previous effort to DVR Neptune's Daughter was a bust, I'm thinking about giving one of this week's offerings a shot.

Well, maybe not Dangerous When Wet. (Unless I turn the sound off.)

etsy update: warm & mellow

2011-05-16T21:58:00.013-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight, titles courtesy yet another random sampling from the husband's exotica collection, Al Caiola's Warm & Mellow.

1. vintage all of me dress

2. vintage down by the old mill stream wall hanging

3. vintage warm & mellow romper

4. vintage sugar island dress

Except the title of the crewel wall hanging, which is basically courtesy the fact it's old and features a mill & stream.

etsy update: quiet nights

2011-05-13T21:15:00.011-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight, titles courtesy another random sampling from the husband's exotica collection, Quiet Nights by Living Jazz. (An off-shoot of Living Strings.)

1. ~~vintage in the still of the night dress~~

2. vintage flying home dress

3. vintage a quiet thing dress

4. ~~vintage mister sandman dress~~

5. vintage quiet nights dress

I thought this might wind up being a literal quiet night around here; meaning I haven't been able to log into blogger since Tuesday so I wan't sure if I'd be able to post this post. But, assuming you're reading this, we can assume it's working now.

Anywhoo, since I couldn't find any footage of the Living Jazz, live or otherwise, here's a trailer for a film I attempted to DVR last night, Neptune's Daughter.

(Sadly that failed too! Sigh. Technology is totally against me. PS: It's Esther Williams month on TCM.)

etsy update: this year's model

2011-05-09T22:22:00.006-04:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight, titles courtesy Elvis Costello's second record, This Year's Model.

1. vintage this year's girl dress

2. vintage living in paradise skirt

3. vintage hand in hand clutch

4. vintage you belong to me dress

Accompanied by the video for a song whose title I didn't use, (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea; aka my favorite track from this LP.

(Or, according to the Wikipedia page, my favorite track from the original, UK version of the LP.)

etsy update: lovers' luau

2011-05-06T21:09:00.013-04:00

Tonight's titles were inspired by Lovers' Luau, a festive record by Les Paul and Mary Ford; also known as Les Paul and Mary Ford.

1. vintage lovers luau maxi dress

2. vintage song of the islands dress

3. vintage pacific breeze maxi dress

4. vintage drifting and dreaming dress

5. vintage on the beach bag

6. vintage blue hawaii dress

7. vintage to you sweetheart sundress

8. vintage golden sands maxi dress

There were a couple of these "Les Paul & Mary Ford At Home" clips available but I decided to go with this particular one because I love the fact she's singing while darning a sock.

chevron: the sassiest stripe

2011-05-04T20:58:00.008-04:00

As you can see by scrolling down the right side of this page, I've been featured in some lovely treasuries lately. And, as I like to do every so often, today I decided to return the favor by making another one. This time featuring an array of vintage and handmade loveliness in one of my favorite geometric patterns.

(Should you care to see any of this up close and personal - or as personal as you can get through a computer screen - you can do so here.)

Of course, I would never include one of my own pieces in a treasury but I have to admit I did take a little inspiration from my shop...

And my house / closet, but I also have to admit I don't have examples of any of that handy.

Anywhoo, I think the assemblage above proves, big & bold or subtle & soft, chevron is the sassiest stripe.

etsy update: so nice

2011-05-02T22:27:00.012-04:00

I don't know what it was like in your neck of the woods over the weekend but in the outskirts of Hostile City it was relatively warm, relatively sunny and, generally speaking, as close as it's felt to Spring since the calendar told me the seasons changed. Appropriately the husband and I decided to spend the weekend hitting up some local, and not so local, flea markets / antique marts and I returned home with a belly full of fried food and an armful of goodies for the shop. And a little something for myself; but more on that topic later in the week.

For now here's a peek at what I added tonight, titles courtesy perennial house favorite Sergio Mendez. Specifically the Sergio Mendez Trio record So Nice.

1. vintage so nice scooter dress

2. vintage aloha hawaii letter holder / wall hanging

3. ~~revamped vintage van raalte slip dress - spinach~~

4. ~~revamped vintage beeline slip dress - baby spinach~~

5. vintage somewhere in the hills dress

I couldn't find any Trio footage on You Tube, which bummed me out. Until I came across this footage of Mendes and Brasil 66 performing "Mas Que Nada" on an Eartha Kitt TV special entitled Something Special.

Which may or may not have been an Eartha Kitt variety show, I'm not really clear on that. Either way it is awesome!

safe in hell

2011-04-27T12:56:00.007-04:00

In an effort to free up some room on our DVR, the husband and I have been slowly working our way through the films we've recorded over the past couple months. Last night's feature was Safe In Hell, a pre-code drama directed by William Wellman starring (among others) Dorothy Mackaill as a prostitute who finds herself in a dilly of a pickle, causing her to relocate from her home in New Orleans to Tortuga. Where, of course, she finds herself in even more trouble.

From what I can tell it's not available on DVD but it is airing again on TCM in June. In the meantime, here's a brief clip of the opening sequence:

And a longer clip of our saucy heroine interacting with some of the gentleman (read: sleazy opportunists) on the island:

the year of knitting sockularly: april

2011-04-26T19:19:00.008-04:00

As established in our last two year of knitting sockularly posts, we can't resist a holiday theme and, as you may have already guessed, this month was bound to be no exception.

Although I did change it up on the knitting end this time. Instead of doing my standard stockinette I'm doing an adapted version of the dead simple lace sock pattern in this book (stitch count adapted by this sock calculator I stumbled upon via ravelry) and some mystery yarn from my stash I have no recollection of purchasing.

I was on the third floor getting everything ready for today's Green Mist update when the Kommandant took these pics on the porch; had I been present I think there would have been some shredded tissue paper grass in the basket but I do love the inclusion / positioning of the Peeps.

etsy update: dee-lirious

2011-04-25T21:22:00.009-04:00

Tonight's update inspiration (title-wise at least) comes to us via a random 45 the husband picked up in his recent travels, Dee-lirious by organist Lenny Dee.

1. vintage out of nowhere dress

2. vintage owl family tree needlepoint wall hanging

3. vintage aloha hawaii souvenir dish

4. ~~revamped vintage shadowline slip dress - lemon~~

Accompanied, since it was available, by some fuzzy vintage "bootleg" footage of Mr Dee performing at his own nightclub, the Kings Inn at Treasure Island, Florida. Enjoy!

etsy update: soul alive

2011-04-22T21:03:00.010-04:00

Happy Friday everyone! I don't know what you've got planned for the next couple days but I have this weekend off for a change (and some fun stuff on the agenda, which hopefully I will tell you more about next week) and therefore am anxious to get my work out of the way and move on to the off part. So let's get to it shall we?

Tonight's titles are brought to us courtesy Soul Alive by Philly's own Solomon Burke. (RIP) Possibly the closest thing to a gospel record in the Kommandant's vinyl stash; an interesting note as it happens to be Good Friday. Which is not the reason he played it last night nor the reason I chose it for today's update, it just kind of worked out that way.

1. vintage tonight's the night dress

2. ~~revamped vintage sears slip dress - dusty teal~~

3. vintage if you need me bag

4. vintage having a party dress

5. ~~vintage just a matter of time dress~~

6. vintage just out of reach skirt

7. revamped vintage camisole - dusty teal

8. vintage soul alive dress

There were quite a few offering on ye olde You Tube featuring The King Of Rock And Soul but I decided to go with this appearance on Top Of The Pops because I was impressed by his ability to be so entertaining while in a seated position.

etsy update: just for lovers

2011-04-15T20:54:00.012-04:00

Tonight's update is brought to us by Sammy Davis Jr.'s second studio album, Just For Lovers.

1. vintage get out of town dress

2. ~~vintage it's all right with me dress~~

3. vintage come rain or come shine dress

4. vintage these foolish things dress (with matching jacket)

Of course there were pages and pages of Sammy footage to choose from on ye olde You Tube but I decided to go with this scene from Robin And The Seven Hoods, because I do enjoy a good musical number every now and then.

On a completely unrelated topic my toenails are currently painted a metallic version of the color of the belt in the first dress.

the last of sheila

2011-04-13T19:56:00.008-04:00

As some of you may already know (since I think I've mentioned it here a few times) in addition to my fondness for vintage clothing, pulp fiction paperbacks, knitting, etc., I love old movies. Especially anything of the B variety. In fact, to share my love with the world, via the world wide web, I started a site dedicated to writing about cinema of the non-mainstream variety, the appropriately named B-Movie Buffet.

Actually, first I started a semi-regular column for a webzine I co-published for a year or two, CrimsonAndCherry.com (RIP), also appropriately named Bunny's B-Movie Buffet; then moved the column over to carbon 14 (also currently resting in peace; but you never know...); then chopped off the Bunny part and started the website in 2005. But I digress.

Last year, when all of the poop really started hitting the fan, it was inevitable one of the many projects the husband and I had our euphemistic thumbs stuck in would fall by the wayside and, sadly, the BMB took the hardest hit. (It's been just over a year since our last update.)

Interestingly, over the past couple months a bunch of interesting DVDs have popped up in our PO Box (plus the husband and I watched some great stuff over the winter I'd love an excuse to write about) so I'm feeling like the time might be right for me to drip some blood on the site's inert corpse and re-animate us back to our semi-regular schedule of semi-regular updating.

I'm still trying to work out the specifics in my head as far as a relaunch date / update schedule (I will, of course, keep you posted) but mainly I bring this up here because watching fabulous, and sometimes un-fabulous, films often comes with seeing some equally fabulous vintage clothing, sets, etc. and when I happen across any of these things in my reviewing duties, I will likely choose to post about them here (instead of here) since it seems more appropriate.

For example, last night the husband and I watched The Last Of Sheila, a '70s era mystery / thriller with a great ensemble cast.

BMB readers would probably be disappointed to learn during the course of the film only two people die - three if you count Sheila - and you don't get to see Raquel Welch topless; while JP readers don't care about blood or gore and are happy to get an eyeful of Welch in a super sexy super stylish floral bikini or see Dyan Cannon in all of her blond, big haired glory lounging about the cabin gameroom in a really awesomely awful cookie monster blue jumpsuit type ensemble that appeared to have some sort of painted detail on each leg.

Unfortunately I have no way of sharing the latter outfit. (I'm still trying to figure out the whole how to screencap on a MAC thing but in this case it's a moot point as I'm positive I can't screencap a movie I recorded on my DVR no matter what kind of computer I have.) But, thanks to the wonders of You Tube, here's blurry footage of the floral bikini.

Hubba hubba!

PS: I think James Coburn is kinda hot too.

PPS: If you wanna see Dyan Cannon's outfit you should just watch the movie. It's quite entertaining, albeit a bit long in the tooth.

to dye or not to dye...

2011-04-12T12:06:00.008-04:00

When shopping for slips to dye I usually find myself faced with a rack of whites, off whites, creams, beiges, and the occasional pale pink or mint green. (An observation, not a complaint since neutral toned pieces seem to work best with the process I use.) This past weekend however, when I typically found myself in the lingerie section of a local Goodwill, I was thrilled to find an atypical array of '60s era slips in a rainbow of punchy saturated pastel shades.

They're pretty fabulous on they're own. See...

(Today is gray and rainy and generally not an optimum photo shoot day so I know these pics don't completely do them justice but, trust me, they're fabulous.)

Still, I can't help wonder what a good dunk in ye olde dye pot would yield.

Could it result in something even more fabulous? Or turn these bright beauties into a dull muddy brownish mess - which is generally what happens when I try to over dye an already dyed slip. These are not already dyed slips though, these are colored slips; which seems like a whole different nylon animal, if you will.

So: to dye or not to dye. That is the question.

(PS: I had to rule out keeping any of them from the jump as they're all much too small for me. Which was a bit of a bummer but also kind of a relief because I've already established a "one in one out" policy in the slip area of my closet.)

If you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it.

etsy update: south of the border

2011-04-11T21:52:00.011-04:00

Tonight's post / listing tiles come to us via 50 Guitars Go South Of The Border, a record by (The 50 Guitars Of) Tommy Garrett; not the popular I-95 roadside oddity previously mentioned in this post from my "old" blog.

1. vintage be mine tonight dress

2. ~~vintage apple trivets~~

3. ~~vintage come closer to me dress~~

4. vintage south of the border maxi dress

Either way, not a bad inspiration.

n.e.e.t.!

2011-04-06T20:25:00.007-04:00

I know I'm a little late with this news (in my defense, although the issue came out in March, I just found out about it this afternoon) but the Spring issue of N.E.E.T. Magazine is out. And guess what? I'm in it!

Or rather a piece from the shop is (this one) and, needless to say, I am totally excited!!

For those unfamiliar, "N.E.E.T. came about in 2005 as an online publication dedicated to showcasing independent talent - design, art, and general fantastic originality. N.E.E.T. is the first of its kind, online, free and packed with everyone from a crafter creating from their kitchen table, to a fashion design graduate straight out of college, to a team of people doing it for the love of it."

FYI: Jade Pussycat fits into the last category except I'm a team of one.

Anywhoo, thanks so much to the folks at N.E.E.T., Blair from Atlantic-Pacific and anyone else who was responsible for making this happen.

sunday in the park

2011-04-05T12:48:00.012-04:00

This past Sunday the husband and I partook in one of my favorite weekend activities, going for a walk in the park. FYI, "the" park could mean any park and, as I think I've mentioned here before, we are fortunate to have plenty to choose from - big and small, city and suburban, national and... um... whatever the opposite of that would be - within a relatively short driving distance. And even more within a little longer than a relatively short driving distance.

Anywhoo, this particular day we wound up at Valley Forge National Park where, of course, the Kommandant got to partake in one of his favorite activities: taking pictures of stuff.

Of course, I got too wrapped up in yesterday's boutique business to get around to editing the photos until this morning - thus the extra day lag in relevance - but here are my favorite shots of the day.

(I actually took this one; random person fact: I love bird's nests.)

etsy update: wonderland by night

2011-04-04T21:47:00.009-04:00

Tonight's blog title / listing titles were inspired by one of our many (read: many!) Louis Prima records, Wonderland At Night. Chosen mainly because it was sitting on the floor and, when I saw the title "Polka Dots And Moonbeams," I knew it would be a perfect match for the crazy Peter Max-esque Vanity Fair half slip I found over the weekend.

1. vintage wonderland by night sundress

2. vintage polka dots and moonbeams half slip

3. vintage moonlight becomes you dress

4. ~~vintage twilight time sundress~~

My You Tube search didn't turn up footage of him playing any of the songs from this particular record so in lieu of that here's a medley Prima-tive tunes featuring longtime co-horts Keely Smith and Sam Butera & the Witnesses.

etsy update: blues in the night

2011-04-01T21:04:00.010-04:00

Tonight's update is brought to us by the appropriately named Blues In The Night by Morton Gould and his Orchestra. (Although I'm sure the album was named after the song of the same name, for our purposes it's appropriate because these pieces have blue in them and, as of the time I'm updating the shop, it's night.)

1. vintage big city blues dress

2. vintage sophisticated lady pumps

3. vintage mood indigo dress

4. vintage birth of the blues sundress

I was unable to find any video footage of Gould or his Orchestra but according to his Wikipedia page he's made a whole mess of records besides this one. Perhaps you can consult the record bin of your local thrift store?

flower power

2011-03-30T20:35:00.007-04:00

Today I felt like making a treasury. For no real reason, other than it's fun and I haven't done it in a while. Unfortunately this spontaneous urge didn't have a particular theme attached so I figured I'd once again look to my own shop for inspiration; eventually deciding on this festive & flower filled vintage Vanity Fair dressing gown:

Fortunately, even further inspiration was found in the listing title. (Meaning I just did a search for the phrase "flower power" in the vintage section and went from there.)

Anywhoo, should you care to investigate this selection of loveliness further - and I certainly would appreciate it if you did - you can do so here.

etsy update: and now for something completely different...

2011-03-29T21:26:00.011-04:00

One of my 2011 goals for the boutique was to expand the inventory. Which, at the time I thought of it, meant adding more fabulous vintage accessories to the array of fabulous vintage dresses that currently line our virtual racks.

This past weekend, having not found much of interest neither clothing nor accessory wise in my travels, I found myself drawn to the housewares / tchochke section of each place I visited. Where I stumbled across all sorts of interesting things! (Including a new piece of embroidered art for my growing collection; a subject for another post.)

Leading, as you may have guessed by now, to new additions to the shop; as well as new additions to Jade Pussycat's overall bag o' tricks: hand picked housewares and notions. (To borrow a phrase from another place I make announcements - namely, here - yay!)

Of course there are tons of things to choose from out there, stylistically, but for now I will likely focus on the stuff that would catch my eye if I were shopping for myself. (Meaning pieces for a mid-century modern-esque home and kitschy craftware.) I'm also debating branching this section off into a second shop but that too is a topic for another post.

Anywhoo, on to this weekend's finds...

1. ~~vintage moerman wall hanging~~

2. ~~vintage ceramic swan~~

3. vintage salem mini sewr

4. ~~vintage harlequin wall hangings~~

Since these pieces don't seem to make sense with non-descriptive titles I didn't pick a musical theme for this update but, in case you're wondering, at the moment I'm listening to The Nomads.

spring break

2011-03-24T20:01:00.009-04:00

Remember I was telling you about my big plans for relocating the JP inventory from the second to the third floor of our house / revamping the JP photoshoot space during the husband's week off? Well, those plans were abandoned in favor of spending the week doing a whole lot of nothing - other than hanging out at the beach, reading pulp novels, eating good food, etc. - in sunny South Florida.

Which I kind of feel guilty about. Especially now that it's been more than two weeks since I did a proper boutique update. (Not, of course, so guilty I wish I had stayed home instead; but theoretically guilty.) Hopefully I'm gonna get back on track shop-wise tomorrow night but for today I thought I'd share a brief look at things we saw, ate and did on our Spring Break.

(Photo by the Kommandant; taken a couple summers ago at Renninger's in Kutztown.)

This is kind of off topic but on our first night away the husband started watching an American Pickers-a-thon in our hotel room, and I could not stop watching it. I'm not sure how this show got past me (other than I've been too busy watching DVR-ed episodes of Watch What Happens Live, Top Chef All Stars and Ru Paul's Drag Race) but if you fancy dusty barns, rusty bicycles and listening to colorful folk from the Midwest tell stories check it out.

Lately both of us have been wanting to try our hand at food photography (foodtography?) so we made an agreement to try and take a photo of every meal we ate for the week. It didn't really work out as planned but we did wind up with a couple good shots. From top to bottom: Cold Hot Fish by Sumo, photo by me; Shrimp Ceviche and photo by the Kommandant; Potato Skin(s) and photo by the Kommandant.

(PS: Do food bloggers eat every meal twenty minutes after it's ready to be served or do they order / make things just to photograph them and eat something else?)

A 24 hour beach view is ideal any day, or night, but much to our surprise and delight this vacation had the added bonus of a Supermoon! Which I have to admit, was pretty damn super. Really, these pictures don't do it justice. (For which I blame our camera, not the photographer.)

We watched it rise from the beach - along with many other vacationers and locals, a lot of whom were in an appropriately festive mood (read: drunk at 7:30 PM) - then went up to our balcony where we watched it travel across the sky while listening to scratchy exotica records on out iPod and eating the shrimp ceviche seen above. A pretty perfect evening.

Although the local news warned of possible flooding and beach erosion prior to and post Supermoon, the only evidence we saw of any unusual activity were the sandbars that dotted the shoreline over the weekend. It's kind of hard to see in the photo above but they were like little islands big enough to simultaneously accommodate bathers, kids building sandcastles and spontaneous games of no-net volleyball.

We didn't erect any sand monuments or invent any sports during our visit to the sandbar, just took a few photos, but it was still pretty fun.

As mentioned earlier, I read a bunch of books on vacation and when we got home I decided they needed to be memorialized next to the official JP office mascot GG Allin Doll.

I'm not gonna lie, there's a part of me that wants to carry GG Allin Doll around with me at all times for photo shoot purposes but since I don't need the extra attention that would come with that, for now I'll keep it confined to home.

How about you? Do anything fun over Spring Break? If so I'd love to hear about it.

the year of knitting sockularly: march

2011-03-17T15:45:00.007-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

I have to admit this isn't a holiday I celebrate annually (or, really, ever); nor do I have anything particularly festive planned for this otherwise normal Thursday but I certainly wasn't going to let that stop me / us from staging an appropriately inspired shoot to go with this month's Year Of Knitting Sockularly post.

In retrospect though I suppose I do have something to celebrate today - the successful completion of my first pair of socks this calendar year. Yay! Unfortunately they don't quite fit me right, which is why they're modeled on a table instead of my feet.

(I got a little over zealous to get to the heel part and started it a bit too early, thus ending up with a sock abut a half a size too small for me. On the bright side, my mom's feet are literally a half size smaller than mine so not only am I down one pair in my year long sock knitting project, I am one up on this year's holiday gift knitting.)

Anywhoo, I haven't had a chance to cast on for the next pair - or even decide what to knit next - but I'm sure I'll come up with something in time for an Easter themed photo shoot.

etsy update: movin' 'n' groovin'

2011-03-07T21:49:00.009-05:00

Before I get to the part where I say what record I borrowed song titles from for this week's new listings, I wanted to mention things may be getting a little quiet around here soon, both on the etsy update and general blogging fronts, as I've got a big moving project planned for the middle of the month that's likely to be taking up most of my free time.

(Specifically I'm planning on moving the JP inventory from one floor of our house to another - which, like most moving projects, involves a lot more than literally moving items - and I'm expecting other projects to fall by the wayside a bit for a week or two while I get everything sorted out.)

To get back to our intended topic, tonight's titles are courtesy a record featuring the most apostrophe usage used here to date, The Three Suns' Movin' 'n' Groovin'.

1. vintage jungle drums maxi dress

2. the ingrid infinity scarf - moss

3. ~~vintage movin' 'n' groovin' dress~~

4. vintage beyond the sea scarf

5. ~~vintage some of these days dress~~

According to their Wikipedia page the Suns were "an american instrumental pop group popular in the 40s and 50s" and, according to the You Tube video linked below, an example of early exotica music.

(Which explains it's existance in the husband's record collection.)

etsy update: the sounds of adventure

2011-03-03T21:44:00.018-05:00

Tonight's titles come to us courtesy Les Baxter's The Sounds Of Adventure; a Capitol Record Club Exclusive. Truthfully I have no clue what that means but what I do know is, it's a good record. (In fact, as it's a double album, it is two good records.)

1. ~~vintage lost in meditation dress~~

2. vintage dawn on the city dress

3. vintage enchanted sea dress

4. ~~vintage a distant star dress~~

5. ~~vintage our kind of love dress~~

6. ~~vintage quiet village sundress~~

There wasn't much to choose from as far as live video but here's one clip of the orchestra I stumbled across. I think what it lacks in visual quality, it makes up for in joie de vivre.

etsy update: rattlesnake bite

2011-02-25T17:56:00.006-05:00

Tonight's shop update is euphemistically brought to you by the second full length album by Finnish glam rock band Smack; a band I swear I'd never heard of until last night, despite the fact two of their records - this and their debut Smack On You - have been in our combined record collection since we first combined them oh so many years ago.

(Clearly the husband's relationship with these records preceeds his relationship with me; and I think it's just been rekindled. It's a good thing I'm not the jealous type since, as is the case with many '80s Sunset Strip type bands, their singer Claude is totally prettier than me!)

1. vintage weird is the sea dress

2. revamped vintage lorraine slip dress - berry

3. vintage on the run dress

4. vintage somewhere out of the day dress

5. ~~revamped vintage slip dress - berry~~

6. vintage rattlesnake bite dress

I couldn't find any footage of them playing anything from this record so, in lieu of that, here's a clip of the band playing what I believe to be their most "famous" song, Run Rabbit Run.

the year of knitting sockularly: february

2011-02-21T15:29:00.006-05:00

If you happened to catch the inaugural edition of this year long photojournaling project, you may realize the pair of socks seen in the photos above and below are not the same pair seen in January's post. Which might lead you to believe there's going to be a photo of me - or at least my legs - sporting a completed version of said socks somewhere in this post. Unfortunately, it is / was not meant to be, as I had to frog them after I screwed up the heel on the left sock a couple weeks ago. Thus also thwarting my plans for a Valentine's Day photoshoot. Sigh.

Fortunately February has multiple holidays around which to theme a photoshoot. Even more fortunately, we just so happen to have thrifted a kitchsy hand carved eagle over the summer; who is not necessarily Presidential but, in spirit, as American as apple pie. (Hmmm, that gives me an idea...) As well as being the most patriotic thing in the house I could think of on short notice, aside from photos of my father-in-law from when he served in the army.

Anywhoo, I suppose I didn't have to start over with different yarn but I felt like a fresh start might be a good idea and, based on how quickly this pair seems to be knitting up, I think I made a good choice. Tune in next month to see if I manage to finish them. Or, if don't have time for that, at least successfully complete the heel.

Oh and, just in case you were wondering, the VD shoot would have looked something like this:

etsy update: music in sea minor

2011-02-18T21:05:00.009-05:00

Keeping with our recent spate of music themed boutique updates - which I am really enjoying and therefore plan to continue for a while - tonight's titles come to us courtesy an obscure* Captain Beefheart record the husband unearthed from his collection the other night, Music In Sea Minor.

(*Truthfully I don't know how obscure this record is, I only know it isn't listed on the discography on the page linked above.)

1. vintage music in sea minor dress

2. ~~vintage abba zabba dress~~

3. vintage zig zag wanderer dress

4. vintage i'm glad dress

5. vintage 25th century quaker dress

6. vintage kandy korn dress

7. vintage electricity dress

And in keeping with my recent spate of You Tube embedding, here's a little footage of Don Van Vliet (RIP) & Co. getting their musical freak on at the beach:

I'm still not sure if this is the same version of "Electricity" that's on the 10" but I'm pretty sure the footage was taken at the same time as the cover photo.

needle worked

2011-02-17T16:25:00.008-05:00

To follow up on yesterday's post, after a slightly rocky start, I'm happy to report my first foray into needlepointing was a success! At least partially. (Meaning I didn't finish the card. On the bright side, I have officially learned how to do the continental; the stitch not the dance.)

The supposed easy-to-follow directions did in fact turn out to be pretty easy to follow so, after reading them, I threaded the needle (in retrospect this was probably the hardest part, as the yarn is kinda thick and the eye of the provided needle is narrow) and dove in.

(PS: Sorry for the crappy photos, the studio isn't really set up for night shoots.)

After completing a few rows I could see something didn't quite look right. Mainly I was thinking you're not supposed to see this much of the canvas in between rows. So I hunted around on You Tube a bit and according to what I learned from watching this video, I was right. Not surprisingly, the nice British lady had a few contradictory suggestions to what I learned from the sheet included in the kit, like starting at the top right of each color patch (the kit says to start in the center) and doing the smallest color patches first, something the instructions don't really cover.

For my second try I decided to follow part of her advice and start at the top right of the section but didn't do a small section first, since I wanted to work the same patch in both the "right" and "wrong" photos. (Now that I see how this needlepoint thang works, I will definitely heed this advice in future stitching endeavors as it gets kind of hard to see what's what once you get into it.)

Anywhoo, under other circumstances, I would have to agree - this card probably could be completed in one evening. Unfortunately by the time I was done screwing it up the first time, taking a photo for posterity, ripping it out, starting over and taking the "after" pic I was tired and had eye strain so I decided to call it a night.

I don't have another free evening until Sunday but maybe I'll have a completed card to show off next week?

astrological greetings

2011-02-16T13:57:00.002-05:00

Speaking of things that followed me home from the thrift store over the weekend, which we were at the end of our previous post, I also stumbled across two kitschy zodiac themed needlepoint greeting card kits. (And, yes, I did search through the bin for the other ten zodiac signs, but no luck.)

PS: I'm a Virgo and admit to having all of these qualities / faults except the last one.

Based on how many needlepoint and embroidery related things keep finding their way into my life, and blog, I think the universe is trying to tell me something - namely, to stop talking (and writing) about learning how to do these things and actually start doing them.

According to the instruction sheet these "include everything you need to make a personalized zodiac greeting" and are "easily worked in one evening." The former definitely seems to be true so since I will have a few free hours this evening, which I was going to spend watching last and this week's episodes of Top Chef with the husband, I'm going to test the latter tonight. While watching the aforementioned episodes of Top Chef. With the husband.

Tune in tomorrow to see how it went.

etsy update: the swingin's mutual!

2011-02-15T20:00:00.016-05:00

In light of learning about the passing of pianist George Shearing yesterday tonight's titles come to us via one of my personal favorite records of his, The Swingin's Mutual!, his collaboration with Nancy Wilson. (On a semi-related topic, the husband recently thrifted a copy of his similarly minded record with Peggy Lee, Beauty And The Beat!, which is also awesome.)

1. vintage all night long hat

2. ~~vintage lullaby of birdland sweater~~

3. the ingrid infinity scarf - plummy

4. vintage look at me now poncho

Sadly, I couldn't find footage of Shearing and Wilson performing together; in lieu of that here's footage of the Quintet performing "Move."

On a somewhat less related topic, I thrifted a fabulous vintage wooden sewing box over the weekend.

I still can't decide whether to actually use it to store sewing supplies or just as a photo prop. Ultimately I will likely do both.

etsy update: in space

2011-02-11T21:13:00.011-05:00

Tonight's boutique update / titles come to us care of The Ventures In Space; one of my, and the husband's, favorite Ventures records and one we have in two formats. (Three if you count the copy of the CD that's on our iPod.)

1. vintage out of limits dress

2. vintage war of the satellites dress

3. vintage one step beyond dress

4. vintage moon child dress

The pickins were surprisingly slim as far as You Tube videos go. Since I couldn't find anything of them playing a tune from this LP, here's some ancient footage of the band playing Wipe Out.

give me an s...

2011-02-10T20:10:00.007-05:00

Is a picture still worth a thousand words? Well, just in case it's not, I added 30+ pieces to the boutique's sale section tonight.

Should you be interested in giving any of this vintage finery a new home - and, of course, the opportunity for many new adventures - you can see the entire array, as well as the pieces I couldn't fit into the grid above, here.

do be crewel

2011-02-09T19:27:00.009-05:00

As mentioned in our previous post, a few things followed me home over the weekend that won't be making their way into the shop. Like these plaid maxi skirts.

As anyone who knows me in the real world will tell you, I love me a maxi skirt! Particularly I love a plaid maxi skirt, or any bold floral or geometric print, mainly because all you need is a black top and footwear to make a complete outfit. (And as anyone who knows me in the real world will also tell you - I have plenty of black tops and footwear.)

Truthfully I also have plenty of plaid maxi skirts but couldn't resist adding these to the pile as I actually don't have one in this Catholic schoolgirl-esque blue and green palette and, although I do have another similarly colored red and black plaid maxi, this one is 100% (well worn in) wool and so ridiculously soft, warm and cozy.

My other favorite find from the weekend is a fantastic woodsy piece of framed crewel embroidery. (Seen above and below.)

Which, not only completely revived my interest in learning how to do this kind of embroidery, inspired me to make a crewel themed treasury.

Should you care to investigate this selection of loveliness further (and I certainly would appreciate it if you did) you can do so here.

r.i.p. tura satana

2011-02-07T10:46:00.009-05:00

In case it's not obvious enough from this, I am a fan of movies of the B variety. So, needless to say, I was completely and totally bummed out to learn Tura Satana (one of my favorite actresses of the genre as well as a personal style icon) passed away over the weekend.

I've always wanted to do a little post on her film fashion but, sadly, still have yet to figure out how to screen cap DVDs on my laptop. (Not to get completely off topic but does anyone know why my Mac can't do this; or, even better, a way to circumvent this BS so my Mac can do this?) Until I learn these secrets, let's gaze upon her beauty and glory via a trailer for Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, aka her most famous / infamous film...

A trailer for The Astro Zombies, aka her second most famous / infamous film...

And a random scene from The Doll Squad, just because it was available and she looks so hot in it.

Seriously? What a babe! RIP Tura.

etsy update: up on the sun

2011-01-28T20:35:00.018-05:00

The somewhat sunny scene seen above is an example of what my neighborhood looked like, via our bedroom window, yesterday morning. AKA blanketed in snow!

Lovely as it is, I must admit I am completely and totally effing over this weather. (Unfortunately with yet more snow on the way tomorrow, yet even more snow predicted for next week and nothing but freezing temperatures in between I don't have much choice but to get used to not seeing my lawn, or even the curb, for a while.)

So I decided to try and diffuse my displeasure with this Winter Wonderland by adding a few bright, bold and not particularly cold weather appropriate pieces to the boutique tonight. (It's Summer somewhere, right?)

1. vintage up on the sun dress

2. vintage swimming ground skirt

3. vintage buckethead dress

4. vintage maiden's milk dress

5. vintage two rivers dress

On a semi-related topic, today's post and dress titles come to us via the Meat Puppets. A band I am quite fond of, but not as fond as a few people I know; keeping in mind a few people I know have large, elaborate pieces of MP inspired artwork tattooed on their bodies.

Anywhoo, apparently they will be performing this record in it's entirety at this year's UK edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in May. Since I won't be going to that, and probably wouldn't have room in my suitcase for a video camera if I was, here's a clip of the band - in all of their hirsute, square jawed glory - performing the title track at Amoeba Records a couple years ago.

the year of knitting sockularly: january

2011-01-26T14:27:00.003-05:00

As mentioned in a previous, similarly titled, post last month I decided 2011 would be the year I knit socks. And, possibly, document the project (a la 2010's Twelve Months Of Rabbit Season project); depending on whether or not I could convince my partner in crime and year long photojournaling projects, aka the Kommandant, to lend his skills.

(The overall goal being to take pictures of my knits in progress somewhere other than the bamboo mat in my office or yellow table on my porch, both of which I'm tired of. PS: The main reason I felt like I needed the husband's help with this project is because I have a really hard time taking pictures of my feet.)

Unfortunately this past Sunday when I dragged the husband, the camera and the socks out to take pictures it was much too cold for me to remove my boots for more than a minute, let alone "model", so we'll have to save sock on foot for February.

Anywhoo, to kick off the project... uh, ahem... we have (in order of appearance) my knee-socks-to-be stone cold chillin' - literally - in Valley Forge National Park; relaxing on some sort of wooden plank structure (also in the Park); and basking in the sun while hanging from my neighbor's weird mini fence that serves no real purpose, as it only has one side and therefore fences in nothing.

Teehee! I'm not gonna lie - these photos amuse the hell out of me! I'm already looking forward to February's shoot.

etsy update: destroy-oh-boy!

2011-01-21T21:05:00.014-05:00

Today's post title (and two of the dress titles) come to us via the first full length LP by The New Bomb Turks, a quartet of handsome & well educated fellas from Columbus, Ohio; who may or may not still be an active band.

(I tried to figure this out but failed. I think it's one of those things where the band never actually broke up but they're not exactly touring or making new records any time soon.)

1. vintage let's dress up (the naked truth) dress

2. ~~revamped vintage vassarette slip dress - licorice~~

3. ~~revamped vintage back magic slip dress - pink lady~~

4. revamped vintage vanity fair slip dress - pink lady

5. ~~revamped vintage komar slip dress - oil slick~~

6. ~~revamped vintage wonder maid slip dress - pink lady~~

Anywhoo, I haven't listened to Destroy Oh Boy! in a while. (Our iPod shuffle's favorite NBT records are Information Highway Revisited & the Drunk On Cock EP.) I kind of forgot how good it is!

In case you forgot how good this band is / was let's enjoy a little wild drunken shirtless New Bomb Turkitude, in the form of them playing a Wire cover at some bar in Las Vegas, shall we?

PS: I chose this particular You Tube video mostly because at the very beginning Eric shouts out The Onyas, who I also love.

etsy update: too hot to hold

2011-01-18T22:23:00.015-05:00

For today's semi- pre-Valentine's day related update - related in the sense shades of pink, red and black are usually associated with the holiday - we turn to Ike & Tina Turner for inspiration / musical accompaniment.

Perhaps not the best couple to look to in terms of romance but, on the bright side, they sure did make some good music together!

1. vintage too hot to hold dress

2. ~~vintage ain't nobody's business slip~~

3. vintage shake a tail feather dress

Needless to say, there was tons of great Ike & Tina footage on ye olde You Tube to choose from but the Kommandant convinced me to go with this version of "River Deep Mountain High" from one of their appearances on Beat Club based on the height of Ike's 'fro, the length of Tina's dress (or lack thereof) and the Ikettes outfits in general. Enjoy!

etsy update: kick out the jams

2011-01-14T22:16:00.019-05:00

At the risk of starting this etsy update off on an unrelated topic (or stating the obvious) music is a huge part of my life. And since I perform most if not all JP tasks while listening to music, a huge part of the boutique's life as well.

(Although I don't get to choose what I listen to while shopping, most thrift stores I frequent seem to have the radio on during my visits. PS: I am SO glad Christmas is over!)

Our shared offices have shared CD players but when I do my etsy updates I usually hang out in the record room, aka the room which houses the husband's ever growing collection of scratchy dusty old vinyl. And while I cut, paste, upload, etc., he serves as DJ. Which certainly does make the overall experience that much more enjoyable.

With this in mind - coupled with the fact I am starting to run out of creative ways to use words like black, sparkle, disco and dress in a title without constantly repeating myself - I thought it would be fun to pay homage to a record each update. Either by naming all of the pieces or the post itself after a record I listened to while getting everything set up. (Including an appropriate You Tube video when available.)

So, in a Sesame Street-esque fashion, tonight's update is brought to you in part by the letters M and C and the number 5. (AKA the MC5) Which, of course, spells / adds up to revolution.

~~revamped vintage vanity fair gown - grape~~

~~revamped vintage slip - black plum~~

vintage borderline dress

~~revamped vintage sears slip dress - plumberry~~

~~vintage call me animal dress~~

~~revamped vintage vanity fair maxi slip dress - chianti~~

~~revamped vintage wonder maid slip dress - plumberry~~

Before we call it a night, let's kick out the jams together shall we?

Sigh. So good! I, for one, am already looking forward to the next update.

a rich tapestry...

2011-01-12T20:18:00.009-05:00

Today was yet another snow day here in the outskirts of Hostile City. (I think I saw on Yahoo 49 US states currently have white stuff on the ground so clearly it is / was a snow day in and around many cities.) Which I spent pretty much like the past few occasions when it's snowed on a week day - I took photos for the shop. Then edited them. When I was done with that, I decided to try something new.

Specifically, after many months of being treasuried on Etsy, I felt the urge to cross over into the realm of curator. And am happy to report I succeeded! It was surprisingly easy in fact. Really, the hardest part was deciding on a theme.

Obviously it is a faux pas to include an item from one's own shop in a treasury so instead I decided to make a treasury inspired by a piece currently listed in the boutique; this fabulous vintage tapestry hat...

I do love me some tapestry fabric and with all the pieces to choose from in the vintage section it sure was hard to narrow it down but I love this array.

Should you care to investigate this selection of loveliness further you can do so here. (And I certainly would appreciate it if you did.)

On a semi-related note, I learned something from this experience: making a treasury is fun! I'm thinking this might become a semi regular feature here in the future.

end of season

2011-01-11T21:52:00.013-05:00

This past Sunday the Kommandant and I took one of our semi-annual pilgrimages to Longwood Gardens to take in, and take photos of, whatever was left of their 2010 / 2011 holiday displays.

(From what we could determine, this was pretty much the day before they dismantled anything even remotely Christmas themed. Sadly, the fountain show was canceled due to high winds; on the other hand, truthfully it was so freaking cold on this day there was a part of me that was glad I didn't have to spend an extra fifteen minutes standing outside.)

I wouldn't want to bore the world wide web at large with a seemingly endless series of what we saw / what the husband took pictures of - that, of course, is what my flickr account is for - but I did want to share a few of my favorite shots of the day here.

(PS: There was a line to take a picture of this sign. Literally.)

(PPS: Coolest bathroom hallway ever! Possibly coolest hallway ever.)

(PPSS: The "golden showers" vine was located right around the corner from the bathrooms. Genius!)

etsy update: snow day redux

2011-01-07T21:39:00.024-05:00

Much like our last snow day update, this snowy Friday afternoon was pretty much like any other work day; except I had to share the camera with the husband.

(PS: It's expected to snow more tomorrow so you can expect to see more of these type of photos in my Flickr account by Monday.)

(PPS: It might be time to get the husband his own camera. And his own flickr account ;)

*****

Anywhoo, here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight. (Titles below link to the individual listings.)

~~revamped vintage tunic / tent dress - hunter~~

~~vintage intergalactic planetary dress~~

vintage blue daisy shift dress

Sorry I've been a little lax with my updating. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things next week.

twelve months of rabbit season: december

2010-12-29T19:38:00.007-05:00

With just a few days left in the month - and, of course, the year - the time has come to take one last "official" look at the oft blogged / photographed wascally wooden wabbits of the Main Line; as always, captured by the wascally lens of the Kommandant and, on this particular day, in all of their seasonal finery.

(These photos were actually taken last Thursday, aka a few days before the snowstorm that blanketed the East Coast over Christmas weekend. I'm sure they looked a little more festive surrounded by snow and icicles but, since we haven't been able to get over there to reshoot since the snow hit the ground, the pre-White Xmas version will have to do.)

Anywhoo, at the risk of stating the obvious, this twelfth entry in the series officially brings the Twelve Months Of Rabbit Season project to a close. (Sigh!) In case anyone would like to take a visual stroll through the year in wabbit photography that was I took the liberty of making a slideshow.

OK, technically, flickr made the slideshow. But I did cut and paste it here for your / my / our enjoyment so... enjoy!

(And, as always, thanks for playing along!)

etsy update: snow day

2010-12-27T22:00:00.011-05:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight. (Titles below link to the individual listings.)

1. ~~revamped vintage seamprufe slip dress - pewter~~

2. vintage blue ice dress

3. ~~revamped vintage slip dress - earl gray~~

4. vintage cerulean secretary dress

5. ~~revamped vintage van raalte slip dress - earl gray~~

AKA part one of the fruits of my snow day photo shoot labors.

(BTW, working from home means this particular snow day was like any other Monday; except for the extra glare / shadows and the fact no one picked up our trash.)

holiday cookies & holiday punches

2010-12-24T11:35:00.007-05:00

The Kommandant and I don't celebrate Christmas, or any other religiously affiliated holiday that occurs in the month of December, so although I often come across lovely vintage holiday decorations and other themed items in our travels, I tend to leave them where I found them.

(For some reason I find vintage ornaments particularly hard to resist. I'm sure it has to do with the shiny / sparkly / colorful aspect.)

However I could not resist these adorable holiday themed cookbooks the husband came across on a recent outing.

Published by Peter Pauper Press in 1953 & 1954 (Punches & Cookies respectively) each hard back book is housed in a little matching box and features recipes for wholesome cookies and cocktails compiled by Edna Beilenson and - my personal favorite part - kitschy, charming & a bit curious illustrations by Vee Guthrie.

PS: When I say wholesome, in terms of the Holiday Punches at least, I mean no booze. Personally I think a Rail Splitter, Horse's Neck or Prohibition Fizz would taste even better with vodka in it.

PPS: In case you were wondering GG Allin Doll loves holiday cookies!

And, needless to say, holiday punches.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate the holiday and Happy Friday to everyone else!

2011: the year of knitting sockularly

2010-12-22T20:44:00.005-05:00

I'm still on the fence as far as whether to give this whole WIP Wednesday thing another go in the new year or just give it up but I have made one knitting related decision that may or may not wind up featured here in the future. As you may have already guessed from the title, the other day I decided 2011 will be the year I knit socks.

Not exclusively. (That seems like too much repetition, even for me.) For now the plan is to keep a pair on the needles throughout the course of the year, complete them at whatever pace time allows and, possibly, document the project.

(The jury is still out on the documenting part. Honestly I don't enjoy taking, or looking at, pics of the socks laying on my bamboo mat or this yellow table all that much so I'm trying to convince the Kommandant to lend the project his skills in an effort to make the sock pics a little more artistic. We'll have to see how it goes.)

Anywhoo, as you also may have already guessed from the pics above I am getting an early start on this project, starting with a pair similar to the pair I just completed. Only this time they're for me. Which, of course, also means they'll be knee socks. Cause that's just how I roll.

etsy update: what are you wearing new year's eve?

2010-12-17T21:32:00.011-05:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique over the past couple nights. (Titles below link to the individual listings.)

1. ~~vintage green widow dress~~

2. ~~revamped vintage wondermaid slip dress - kale~~

3. vintage velvet rose dress

4. revamped vintage bali slip dress - kale

5. ~~vintage blue lagoon shift dress~~

6. ~~revamped vintage wondermaid slip dress - kale~~

7. vintage peach lace party dress

8. ~~vintage orange sherbet disco dress~~

Another eye pleasing plethora of pretty pieces, perfect for the prevalent party season. (Sorry to repeat myself / over alliterate again; the husband is still DVRing old episodes of Batman and I still can't stop watching them!)

On a semi-related topic, I was originally going to include what I will be wearing New Year's Eve in this post but I've got a bunch of other stuff to do tonight, including a completely unrelated PFP post, so that will have to wait until next week.

wip wednesday: four down none to go

2010-12-15T19:14:00.004-05:00

As much as I wanted to keep this whole WIP Wednesday thing going (again), I have to admit once again I find myself work in progress-less on a Wednesday.

A fact I blame on the fact I finished knitting my fourth and final handmade holiday gift late Tuesday night and won't have time to cast on, or decide on, my next project until later tonight. Sigh.

On the bright side I was able to get the husband to stand still long enough to model his snappy new socks.

Which are pretty darn snappy if I do say so myself. It's been a while since I knit a sock - or socks. Truthfully, I forgot how much I enjoy it. Maybe I'll add a fifth handmade holiday gift to my list and make a pair for myself.

so wrong it's right... or just plain wrong?

2010-12-15T13:39:00.007-05:00

Although most of my thrifting / flea marketing time is spent searching out pieces to add to the boutique - meaning visually attractive, wearable, timeless vintage clothing in great condition - occasionally I do still find myself distracted by the more odd, unusual and downright wacky things one tends to happen across.

Things that, even if they fit one or two of the criteria listed above, I would not list in my shop. (Mainly because I can't imagine anyone wearing them; and, even when I can, I usually think the imaginary person in my head should change clothes.)

Of course every once in a while I come across something I wouldn't necessarily list in the shop, nor can I necessarily see myself wearing outside the house, that still manages to follow me home. Things like this homemade nightgown featuring one of the most unusual, and literal, animal print fabrics I've seen to date.

Truthfully, despite it's overwhelming kitschiness and crooked seaming, it actually looks kind of cute on me so there is a good chance I will wear it around the house during the holidays. We'll have to wait and see if it inspires the Kommandant to hunt and / or gather or just roll his eyes.

On a semi-related topic, I realized this is the second post to feature a variation of this theme & title. Perhaps it will pop up again in 2011.

etsy update: party, girl

2010-12-10T21:32:00.011-05:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique over the past day or two. (Titles below link to the individual listings.)

1. ~~vintage go-go gold mini dress~~

2. vintage gold dust handbag

3. vintage zebra stripes dress

4. revamped vintage slip dress - charcoal

5. ~~vintage teal velvet dress~~

6. ~~vintage dusty teal disco dress~~

An eye pleasing plethora of pretty pieces, perfect for the prevalent party season. (Sorry about the alliteration; the husband's been DVRing old episodes of Batman and I can't stop watching them.)

wip wednesday: done and done... and almost done

2010-12-08T19:15:00.010-05:00

The following statement won't be news to anyone who has looked at the calendar or is otherwise generally conscious of the world around them but... today is Wednesday. And I'm happy to report, unlike last week, I did not completely forget about my on-a-whim decision to reinstate WIP Wednesday for the remainder of 2010 and / or forget to take pictures of my knitted works in progress. Yay!

(To paraphrase Meatloaf three out of four ain't bad, right?)

Truthfully since the last WIP Wed. post two of my works in progress are now finished objects - specifically, the cowls I crocheted for my sister and mom (seen above and below; gray for sister, maroon for mom) but, obviously, that didn't stop me from taking pictures of them.

Posed with one of the hand dyed slips currently in the running for my New Year's Eve outfit, natch.

(Which is actually a subject for a future post. One I will likely write next week.)

Moving on to an actual knitted work in progress, I did snap a couple quick photos of the husband's handmade holiday gift in progress:

Sadly, I don't have a foot mannequin and he wasn't around to model when I was shooting so this handsome pair of socks look a little sad laying on the office floor but, as these will be moving into finished object territory soon as well, hopefully proper photos will follow.

I have to admit I still have one handmade holiday gift I haven't even started knitting yet: a scarf I'm planning on knitting for my niece. (And my mother's annual non-denominational holiday gift exchange is only days away!) But I left her for last on purpose as tiny people need tiny gifts and, fortunately, tiny gifts knit up quickly.

Wish me luck!

etsy update: final fall

2010-12-06T21:45:00.006-05:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight. (Titles below link to the individual listings.)

1. vintage cabbage rose dress

2. vintage perfectly paisley dress

3. vintage painterly plaid dress

4. vintage mandarin orange dress

5. vintage loud as leaf dress

A batch of pretty dresses that (color-wise at least) are reminding me it's still Fall; even though it definitely already feels like Winter here in the outskirts of Hostile City.

(Seriously, I swear I saw my breath when I went to turn on the lights in my office this morning!)

etsy update: wine goes with everything

2010-12-02T22:03:00.011-05:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight. (Titles below link to the individual listings.)

1. ~~revamped vintage aristocraft slip dress - rioja~~

2. vintage bordeaux disco dress

3. ~~revamped vintage shadowline slip dress - sangria~~

4. ~~vintage palm frond print dress~~

5. revamped vintage vanity fair slip dress - madeira

On an unrelated topic, I realized when I signed in I completely forgot to WIP Wednesday yesterday. Sigh! Apparently the return was a little more temporary than I thought. I promise to (try and) do better next week.

twelve months of rabbit season: november

2010-11-30T19:29:00.007-05:00

Although the pics seen above and below were actually taken the second Sunday in November, I decided to wait until the last day of the month to write this month's entry. Mainly because, since these pics are so similar to last month's (the blame for which I place at the feet of whoever's job it is to dress the wascally wooden wabbits of the Main Line), I kept driving by hoping to find them magically transformed into little pilgrims or indians or something else equally seasonally appropriate.

The Kommandant who, in his capacity as the official photographer of the Twelve Months Of Rabbit Season has been sharing this year long project with me, was particularly disappointed in their lack of Turkey Day related finery.

After comparing 2009 Thanksgiving display with this year's I have to agree.

Hopefully we'll get to cap the year / project off by capturing them in some Christmas or Winter themed outfits. (Either way, unless these are some sort of vampire pumpkins blessed with eternal youth, they'll have to change the display soon.)

etsy update: red monday

2010-11-29T21:00:00.012-05:00

Here's a peek at what's been added to the boutique tonight. (Titles below link to the individual listings.)

1. ~~vintage deep red maxi dress~~

2. vintage brick red corduroy dress

3. vintage executive secretary dress

4. ~~vintage bavarian spice dress~~

AKA the batch of dresses that didn't make it into our Red Friday update.