Pleasures and Disappointments

I do love ebay, I have gotten hold of many a treasure there, and some of my most fabulously glamorous pieces, such as the fox stole was aquired through ebay, but lately I have had some disappointments too.

I decided to treat myself to some new dresses, and not just any dresses, but knitted dresses from the Per Una range of Marks and Spencer's. I got one which was perfect, one which was nice, but just didn't suit me (I'll give that one to my cousin) and one which was a total disappointment. I am usually good at estimating what a garment looks like in real life from pictures, and also how they are constructed, but in this case I just don't know what happened.

The dress in question is the one in the below picture:

The dress looks very different in person, and I suspect it must have been pulled down on the dummy quite a bit to make it appear longer. I am not very tall, 1.63 meters, but this ends mid thigh on me. It does appear to be longer, doesn't it?

It's also supposed to be a UK size 12. I think in US sizes that would be a size 10. But the dress looks more like a UK 8 to me. I can still wear it, but it is skin tight, and - ahem - rather revealing...

Not sure what to do with it yet, perhaps wear it when watching Marilyn Monroe films, to get in the proper diva mood, or maybe give it to charity.

Decadent Pleasures

New Fox Boa
Originally uploaded by Vintage Granny

I have been ebaying quite a bit lately, and one of my latest acquisitions is a wonderful 1940's (?) fox boa. It's a whole fox, with tail, head, feet and body, and it's in a gorgeous deep brown/burgundy colour. It was love at first sight, and today I decided to dress up in a 1930's style outfit, and wear the fox in public.

I was a little apprehensive at first, seeing as this is very definitively a dead animal, and although it's vintage, I was a little worried that some of the local animals rights people might pour ketchup on me, but it went rather well. I did attract a few stares, but no ketchup bottles in sight, and I must admit to feeling very glamorous :o)

From Granny's Kitchen

I went by the local charity shop today, not really looking for anything particular, but a treasure hunt after work can be nice, and I decided to drop in on my way home. Nothing much to catch the eye or imagination in the clothes department, but I stopped by the kitchen/home department, and felt like I had stepped into granny's old kitchen.

They had one of those old manual mix masters. I don't know if this is a Nordic or Norwegian thing, but I cannot remember ever seeing one when I lived in Ireland. I didn't buy it, seeing as I don't really have a use for it, except for sentimental reasons, but I found a picture of it online, and I'm posting it as I thought you might want to see what it looks like.

The one I saw was larger, and could be attached to a table for ease of use.

There were other interesting things as well, and I got an old cake mould which could be converted from the ordinary circular cake shape to a more Victorian pudding shape. I also got an item which I found intriguing, if confusing. It's a tube with several different end plates. The lady at the store said her granny had one like it when she was growing up, and it's apparently used to make cookies with interesting shapes. I will post pictures when the equipment is cleaned and polished :o)

Custom Fur Collar

I had an old friend from University visiting in early autumn last year. We had a great time visiting the Auto-mobile Museum and going to cafés, and I also managed to whip together this collar for her during the weekend, using her old fake fur jacket for material :o)

After making this collar I got fascinated with the vintage fur collars, and started keeping an eye out for them when visiting second hand stores, and I was actually very lucky. I found two very pretty ones I decided to keep for myself, and one I gave to my aunt for Christmas.

I will try to take some nice pictures of my collars later on, but this post is dedicated to Elin and her custom fur collar :o)

Black Wrap Around Apron

I thought I'd share this fairly new apron with my dear readers :o)

Once I had finished the pretty blue apron I realized it was best suited for baking and the kind of cooking that doesn't leave stains, and truth be told, getting in and out of the thing was rather complicated. With this in mind I got some of the black cotton I always keep in my stash for corsetry (even though I haven't made a corset in ages I still keep a good stash of sturdy black cotton - force of habit, I guess), and started draping the pattern. It was quite easy to make, easy to put on, and not least very comfortable. As you can see the sides extends to the back, crosses the back and attaches to the opposite shoulder. You just pull it over your head, no closures or buttons :o)

Wedding Dress

I an earlier post I told you that I had been commissioned to make a wedding dress for my sister in law, who was planning a 1930's/1940's wedding. As the wedding and the grand unveiling of the dress took place well before Christmas, I am now posting a few pictures of the bride and groom :o) I just think they both look exceedingly well in these pictures, and the pictures also showcase the dress to it's best advantage.

Merry Christmas

I watched the old Norwegian film "Tante Pose" a couple of days ago. It's such a sweet film, showing a very cosy if somewhat dysfunctional Christmas celebration from the late 1800's. It's one of my favourite films, and I reckon I must have watched it some 20 to 30 times (I have it on DVD, and it's usually shown on TV during Christmas).

Tante Pose would translate to "Auntie Bag", a nickname earned by the old maiden aunt of the family's for her unfortunate habit of speaking her mind. I must admit I have always had a fond spot for Tante Pose, difficult as she might be.

Tante Pose decides to spend Christmas with her brother and his family, and arrives about an hour after her delayed letter informing of her arrival. The entire house is on edge, trying to prepare her bedchamber, manage the last bit of Christmas baking (a big thing in the olden days in Norway), and also quarrelling about who tells old Granddad (Granddad and Tante Pose cannot stand each other) about her arrival.

I will not divulge too much of how the story goes, in case someone out there hasn't seen the film, and would like to, but suffice it to say that Granddad does a great job of teasing Tante Pose, she has her sweet revenge, and also manages to create more than one scandal before the Christmas stay is over.


Merry Christmas, everyone :o)