Sunday Best and All the Rest

   There is a special kind of day that makes me feel like I've stepped back in time. Sometimes, a lazy golden summer day seems to transport me to a sunshiny afternoon in the 1950's. Summer in general has a nostalgic feeling about it, reminding me of summers past and childhood memories. At the same time, I blaze trails through new sunshiny afternoons, creating memories to look back on in the years to come.

   What a fresh and sunny day yesterday was here on the coast! Blue skies beckoned us to take a Saturday adventure. As we munched on a simple "car picnic", we traveled the half hour drive to a charming Victorian town. Cute shops and consignment stores awaited us. We had only to find a good parking spot and amble down the sidewalk... We began our outing with a trip to a store chock-full of all things antique and vintage. Above you can see about half of the hat collection (sorry for the bad photo quality), a 1930's dress and a 1910's dress! Here is my view down the street. One of the stores had a lovely painted ceiling reminiscent of those in fine palaces of the Old World. They also had a room with some cute stuffed animals! I used to have quite a menagerie of animal toys myself, especially Beanie Babies.  At a consignment store, I found yet another pair of wonderfully cute brown boots! The...

   How can a girl spend a November afternoon in a fun and rewarding way? Go thrift shopping! Today, my mom, grandma and I paid several of our home town's thrift stores a visit. Not only was it a lovely way to spend a girls' day out, but it also produced some cute purchases.   Technically, not all of our shopping was at thrift shops. We also visited consignment stores. The difference has confused me for a while, so here are definitions from thefreedictionary.com and Bing dictionary to help you and I out: * Thrift Shop - A shop that sells used articles, especially clothing, as to benefit a charitable organization. * Consignment Store - special retail outlet: a retail outlet that stocks and sells goods on a sale-or-return basis, or as an agent selling on behalf of others and receiving a percentage So, at a consignment store, the person who gave the items to be sold gets a profit. Typically, consignment stores stick with items tha...

  Where I come from, costumes are a big deal. Since being in my teens, I've gone to way more events in costume than I ever did when I was little! My repertoire includes costume birthday parties, a ball, and a few medieval festivals. It's a good thing that I like fashion so much. ;)   In my area, we are blessed to have several consignment stores that have vintage clothing and costumes. I have never had to order a costume off of the internet. Not everyone has the advantage of great local stores, but with a little ingenuity, you can pull together a marvelous outfit for your next dress up event!           This was my costume for a nineteen twenties party. I searched high and low for a drop-waist dress (that wasn't an eighties prom dress), but couldn't find what I was looking for. Enter this lacy black frock. It is more reminiscent of the thirties, but the handkerchief hemline was definitely popular in the tw...