Tacoma, You are not as cool as you think you are....

So, before the Mix was the Mix, before Jonathan bought Ida's and rivaled the Slutstone for gays/drink......in dt Tacoma, we were there, drinking and tipping heavy. Because they do Not serve food, we (and many others) went next door to psp...Spreading the Wealth and Being Local......so Jonathan always made it clear to his staff that it was cool to leave the pizza box as a courtesy to ...the fucking people who pay the bills........the patrons who spend and drink....
So tonight, the first time I ever even ever, left a pizza box, bartenderess Yelled at me walking out the door.......HEY TAKE YOUR PIZZA BOX!!!!!
So I did. and tossed in the street. then a tiny fella picked it up and brought it to me...so I tossed it in the trashcan.
Point? When is it OK to piss off a patron? When is OK to (try) to embarrass a HEAVY TIPPER, bitch?
Never again at the MIX.
You are not the only bar in the downtown area.
This is not the only bar that has recently pissed me off. A new bar up on the eastside kicked out my friend Chris because he's black, and so , of fucking course, he's a drug dealer........so ....screw you. We'll drink at Fergies where we are treated like gold.
You know, Mark and I never had any trouble at any bar in Tacoma, ever until you all began thinking you are Cool.......
Word up. Not.
You are in Tacoma. As am I.
Clearly you fucked up and ended up here.
If you had it really going on....
You'd be elsewhere.
Love, Tressie

UPDATE...and an answer to crenshaw's comment in the comment section...
Word Up, Samantha came in the shop and apologized for her rudeness. I think that is wonderful, and apology accepted !
****I love this dirty little town...I loved it just fine. What's with this sudden attitude?
I don't get this at Harbor Lights...never ever and I could tell you stories...El Groucho, who might have reason to be uppity, has always treated Mark and I swell! Even when Glen had to send his burger back for more cooking, even when the giggling was too loud (celebrate!) the staff was Divine! If they felt disdain, they never ever showed us...
I'm not a hipster, not a yuppie...just that weird Creative Class resident that can't be put in a box...
These observations crenshaw, I'm sure, will fall on deaf ears....there is no need to be arrogant or mean...tho I'll admit, I am p.o.'d ...and Tacoma, truth hurts. If you were a flesh and blood child, and you are acting like one right now, I'd put you on phone restriction and give you a few extra chores. And make you write Tressie an apology.

Just to name names, the Crown bar flipped attitude...Maxwells was right on the edge, and I can't do Silverslut anymore, ugh. Sea Grill was r.u.d.e. 2 years ago Stanley's had some poorly trained staff, and I called out the manager on the rotten service...He bent over backwards to make it right, and I've been a repeat customer since that time............
I have more...I try to support new biz as well as the old favorite haunts...the ones the kids call "dives"...as they Lifestyle Tour my actual life in their spare time. I was just telling a girl tonight that both of my oldest kids worked at The Starvester, oh, about nearly 19 years ago...

This is a big issue with me for a few reasons, one is that I am working class and so is wait staff...I heartily respect them and reward good service, since minimum wage sucks...my mom had a restaurant/bar and I spent much of my childhood peeling potatoes, washing beer glasses and chores chores chores....and let's not forget Steilacoom Forge Deli....mine.

Let's hope when some new blood gets on the city council, they show some Common Sense towards the Common Man...and stop acting like Nellie on Little House on the Prairie....and maybe we'll see some Trickle Down old-fashion kindness and respect in our town again...

(yes I was gonna drive back up and pick up my box from the street,after I loaded Jasper,Glen and Mark in my car, to drive home..I was sober and only being a bit dramatic!)(gee. I think I actually have made another post)**************

I view Tacoma...without rosey glasses, beer goggles....

or that profound sense of childlike wonder........I've been here for almost 27 years....until about 10 years ago....nothing changed....nothing much....which was fine because that allowed me to buy a few homes and live in them.......but now......
Things have really changed.........ha ha....I'll never own another home unless it has 4 wheels and a portapottie........
hee hee...........
But, I started this blog about a year and a half ago........because I was driving my friends batty.....with my opinions.
I discuss a lot of things......sometimes I wax about the cruel way that the working class is discarded.......and now that hundreds have been layed off from Russell, now the Docker Clan, can feel some of the pain that us working class types feel all the time.
My son drives truck, my dil works at Fred Meyer, my sil is a limo driver in one of the richest places in California (with his degree in poli-sci), my dd and her dh are students again......
so........
I'm seeing my rant about the stupidity of how this town has recently been governed, or rather ....
NOT governed. Rich people have condos, homeless people have mealtimes at 4:30 if they walk to the shelter.
Drivers have to swerve to miss potholes the size of Rhode Island.........I've never ever seen roads this bad around here. It is a disgrace.
So.
I'm seeing articles like this one in .....The Volcano's Spew by Joe Malick.....that decry the very same thing I've been chatting about here...cyberly.
Way to Go !!
Keep this up and we'll actually elect folks who give a shit about this town....like they used to....before the City Council and their Fearful Leader came here to modernize Tacoma by buttering the toast of the RICH with the sweat of the working class....and monetizing every blessed thing......

so I've been planning to post my Gardening Column

that I wrote for Tacoma Weekly back in the day....like 15 yrs ago day......yeesh. Back when it was all on newsprint. and used to sell organic heirloom veg and flower starts, plants and produce, and other crafty/farm-made things..... at the farm and at Gig Harbor Farmer's Mkt....
I will scan the originals and then, type out the whole thing.... pretty darn funny.... I used to own an organic farm, 10 acres worth.......
now, I own nothing.
Shortly after May 1st, I should be ready ...if I have internetz by then.....
But my first job was gardening ...I was 4 years old and I pulled weeds for a penny a weed....underneath the hydrangeas and ferns of a shirt-tale relative's front garden beds in San Jose (Cali not central/south America!)
...and I will be scanning and posting pictures of the farm and the funky funky house I used to have........ It's all part of my plan....to grow green and crack wise.......

What's a micro-tiny Business to Do?

I want internetz at my shop on Broadway. Click/Rainier Connect will do it for 1500 dollars "for construction". wth. This is not the Wired City. I've been with click for nearly 10 years. One of the first click customers. wth.
Clearwire is affordable, but reception downtown? dunno how reliable. Blackjack smartphone....mmm....doable, but how reliable? dunno

Qwest will run a dsl line for affordable $$. Might do that.

iPhone ...must jailbreak to tether to laptop.......mmm...ok. But what if I am the unlucky one who bricks it??? they way things are going....;-(

To go to fancy coffee/internetz, I will need to buy a new battery for Vaio....OK.
Will do that till iPhone has legit tethering, probably.

Maybe Derek has a cheepo plan for me ...I'm probably just too cheap for that !!
Lots of ins ...lotsa outs, Jackie. Lotta strands to keep in ol' Duder's head.

Bottom line:
Tiny businessessss in Tacoma are essentially told to fo if they want click.
That $$-demand drives tiny business to some other place besides click.
I have been a very loyal customer and sang the praises of click for almost 10 years. Not anymore.
Do you hear that Jake Fey?

Marty Campbell?

Oh sure, bend over for Russell. Bend over for LeMay. Rip up my street so condo buyers will have a pretty sidewalk/dog poop mini-park. Point is MOOT, since I'm out of business anyway.
In Tacoma anyway. Thanks Broadway LID. I enjoyed being a Placeholder for You ....now et tu Gentrification???
This town hates tiny business.
I'm closing the shop and going back to internet only. When I can find some.

The Earth loves a Vintage Wedding.......

Of course you should choose a vintage wedding dress...

because it's better to use what is already here, better to use what comes from a local source, better to think about the disposal problem...I know...but you are a GrownUp now!

vintage and handmade wedding ideas here at etsy

you know me...I like marriage so much...I did it twice.
I think everyone should have the right to marry...
the old joke: Everyone should have the opportunity to be miserable like the rest of us !!
(ha ha)
But seriously, marriage takes work and a pretty wedding takes some pretty stuff.........
My 2 weddings were all diy...1st one made my dress (duh) of natural crinkle gauze (duh) from India and I embroidered pretty flowers all over it, and made a matching shirt for the groom (duh)

The second wedding was an elopement affair because I was under too much pressure to invite/feed/entertain/mollify about a 100 people and I was not up to it. (everybody will tell you what to do...few will actually help)

Traveling to San Francisco to be married at City Hall in 1997, my second wedding dress was a lacy antique silk slip that was mostly falling apart..
I made that into the mini skirt, then for the blouse I used a 70s faux Victorian blouse that I remodeled ....
I wore some new/edwardian style shoes....and paired it up with my favorite leather jacket. I was hot! Mark wore a thrift store linen suit, with a bright blue shirt and a vintage pink/blue tie and 2 tone Saddle shoes.
Vintage sunglasses of course.
The pics are packed away.....after my big move I'll copy them and post them for you all to laugh at.

So....a Vintage Wedding Dress?
I always buy pretty white dresses for my shop and I adore vintage lingerie for the bride. A bride and groom should indulge themselves (sensibly) for their wedding and honeymoon, because soon enough, it won't be about just you 2. There is real life.

Right now I have these on etsy:
a loverly Emma Domb from the early 60s...it is tailored in the front and girly on the back! I love love love the deep back and the bows.








Going more Bohemian?

70s crinkle gauze with sheer lace. This is ethereal and fairy.







Like the tailored look? Classic ivory wool boucle set by Tina Hagen.

Decorating and living with found stuff.......

Decay is inevitable......and quite charming.....
so, it's funny when someone who has had her life handed to her on a silver platter....talks about "process"...and "growth"
Puh--leeeez. Shut. Up. What has this got to do with Tacoma.......99% of Tacoma looks like Grey Gardens without the trust fund and rich relatives....we're on the High Wire without a net.........
Clicky here for a swell slideshow....
I thought we'd like to visit Grey Gardens again....



I first read about this strange movie/documentary in the SF Chronicle just after it was released in 1975. I immediately identified with little edie for many reasons....the wardrobe manipulations were certainly familiar to me......but I had even back then the sneaky feeling that I was caught in a trap......a trap that I am just now pulling my head and the rest of me out of.....finally, just in time for Depression 2.0
so yes, life is weird. And well the theme is biblical...Ruth...and certainly Shakespeare..and Dickensian. the theme of a Life Lost ...a dream denied...so Tacoma. So often.

Vintage clothes larger than Paris Hilton....

I am asked all the time...Why is vintage so small?
well, Victoria, people were generally tinier back in the old
days....they did more stuff that burned more calories and let's
not forget the food shortages because
of the war years and a Depression. Smaller people = smaller clothes.
Today, we have vitamins in our food, and in water that comes in plastic bottles.
We have food that has 12,000 calories per teaspoon, and that makes a bigger human.
Now,my people were hardy short and wide peasant stock from Eastern Europe, when they
weren't dipping into the Mediterranean gene pool...also tending to be shorter rather than taller....
The larger ladies want fancy dresses....I have some of those coming up soon.
I mostly have the Daily Dress...the marketing, the car-pool, the casual lunch with the girls...all cute, but not a party dress.
I am sorry about this...but larger sizes tend to be the Day Dress ....clothes were expensive compared to today's bargain shopping at "CheapNess Is A Virtue Corporate Chain Store"......du jour.
Here is a lovely selection in my etsy shop, for your perusal, all starting at 40" bust and up.
60s blue plaid day dress....


70s shift with white soutache....


60s paisley shirtdress....


60s sailor girl shift...


60s daisy dress....


40s XL suit jacket...



50s Sweater dress with beads and pockets ! Wow !

Housing in Tacoma

it still ain't cheap enough. I've been busy but I was following the comment thread over at EX133 (my nickname)for this: Metro City Homes Up for .........and I LOL'd at this --Is “Tjorax O’Tool” T’OT’s Swedish cousin?

23 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Apr 6, 07:59 AM

and generally I wanted to say I agree with thorax (Tjorax) and Crenshaw...I've been saying for years...

Building those condos is stupid. They don't appeal, as Crenshaw said @52...Tacoma is boring for folks that will spend 350,000 for a condo. Tacoma is boring, period.
so, my major housing rant in the last 6 years or so has been that there is not enough housing for the poor, the lower income workers, and the lower-than-middle-income families.

What should have been built downtown is a mix of high end with lower end prices with family-type services encouraged like:
Grocery stores, daycare, small department stores, doctor/dentist offices/doc-in-a-box, affordable movie house, movie rentals..........you get my drift.
Those things families (and others) use all day/everyday.
Families do not spend their nights out drinking and dining at El Groucho. I do, but this isn't about me(yet).

Imagine if every single empty condo (How smart is it to name your condo MTCondos....say it out loud)........
if every single empty condo was filled with a family....
Rent or buy. The economic dribble would be huge....

All those pizzas. All those diapers. All those impulse purchases.
I see this around Staydumb Thriftway n'hood where there is more of a mix.
Singles can live downtown. I'm downtown almost everyday, weekends too. It's pretty quiet. Not enough to do. Not enough entertainment. 80% of people who come thru my store are just looking....looking for something to do. Very few buy. But they could if they wanted to!

I know what the City Council was trying to do........Get rich people downtown to spend money. Give them free taxes.......
Pay them to come here. Gee, sounds so desperate.
If condos were built at a price of 100 grand to 200 grand with formica countertops.....downtown would be busy busy busy right now, instead of the ghost town it has been for the last 30 years.
I blame the City Council for toxic governing or lack thereof.
Good Urban Design is more than sidewalks vs cars.....
It's more than condo vs house....

I shop mostly at Albertsons at 38/Pacific. Businesses on every corner and around the block.
IT is BUSY there!
Why?
Affordable housing surrounds that corner.
Great public transportation too.
And a liquor store.

It's a Mary Maxim world...

I hate sweaters.....I love sweaters.........
I hate them because 99.99999% of them are ugly. Like face-thru-a-windshield ugly.
I love them because they can be sexy and have rhinestones.

I look at racks and boxes of sweaters and I think:"I can't believe someone has a job designing this crap."

Therefore, I buy really ugly and really weird sweaters and cut them up or shrink them to make other things from them. It's transformative. It's like Sweater Karma where you go Up the levels of enlightenment....I am a goddess....I control Sweater Lives.

So, I love Mary Maxim graphical sweaters...they always tell a story...and they are hand knit. I can't knit, so I admire those who do. I can't walk a tightrope, so I admire those who do.........You get my drift.

Mary Maxim produced charts for knitters to follow while knitting...these became very popular in the 50s and 60s.They are not Cowichan sweaters which are made by members of First Nation tribes... the Cowichan band of Coast Salish.
There are also Brown Buffalo Canadian sweaters...but back to Mary Maxim...
Welcome to Mary Maxim…
...the largest mail order merchandiser of exclusive needlework and craft kits in North America now offering secure internet ordering on the world wide web. Mary Maxim began with hand knit designs in the early 1950s. Influenced by the beautiful wildlife in North America, Mary Maxim designed bulky outdoor zippered jackets to knit using the first easy-to-follow graph-style charts created.

Here's some on etsy right now !
a kids fawn sweater (so Bambi!!)

clickable links, and click the pics for a better view......

McYarnpants has a keychain...

Fishing with a creel!
etsy seller yellowdogvintage



Hound Dog...from etsy seller FastEddiesRetroRags.....



Mallards that button (they usually have a big zipper)
from etsy seller vintagerevolver



and this Killing the Pheasant...I love the knitted gun and shells!
from etsy seller VargasVintage.......you have to click her link because the pic is quite large......but it is so worth it........

I Want A Dress

My Mother's Day dress is this:


a moment to chat about Mother's Day, May 10, 2009
hint hint hint hint........

In 1907, Mother's Day was first celebrated in a small, private way by Anna Marie Jarvis in Grafton, West Virginia, to commemorate the anniversary of her mother's death two years earlier on May 9, 1905. Jarvis's mother, named Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis, had been active in Mother's Day campaigns for peace and worker's safety and health since end of American Civil War.
Back to the Dress.........
It's a knockoff of a Balenciaga design circa early 60s. At first I was gonna do it in the turquoise in long sheer sleeves. Turq is a good color for me, and I do not need one more black dress....right now.
But the more I think about it, the more I will likely eliminate the sleeves .....I'm choosing a washable fabric even tho the dress must have facings and interfacings, but at least the crinoline that comes with, is detachable. Of course you knew that a big bubble skirt like that would need a custom crinni.......


I don't know the exact year and collection because I haven't done That much research...but I did find this one at Doyle's Auctions......
Lot 1094
Balenciaga Chine Bubble Cocktail Dress
French, circa 1960
Of silk taffeta, black ground with warp print red roses, camisole bodice with wide shoulder straps gathered at front, trimmed with two horizontal self bands at empire and waistline concluding in bow at center front, gathered skirt with revealed harem hem net over tulle underskirt, tulle lining with silk gauze hem.


Born in 1885 in Guetaria, Spain,Cristobal Balenciaga opened his first boutique in 1913 in Spain and moved to Paris in 1937. He retired in 1968 and died soon after. He dressed the European royals, High society women and our first lady, Jackie Kennedy. Balenciaga invented the modern styles we now take for granted including the chemise dress, that we now call the shift, the baby doll with it's sheer lace flounced tent over a slim underdress, the balloon skirt, the cocoon coat revived from the teens and 20s, and the revived Empire line in the 1950s.

Hi Blog, Hi Faithful Readers...I can hear you breathing...

I haven't posted anything anywhere lately...I have been super busy with work aka.....The Shop, and listing stuff on feebay and etsy, and selling so that keeps me busy. And..........we're moving !
We have been cleaning out a basement apartment and I just gave my landlord notice, so it is really gonna happen! Moving is a pain! But the good news is...I get to do that Spring clean I was telling you about...oh wait I didn't ...... So, Basement apartment. It's a little over 300 square feet. tiny eh?
Well, with the shop I don't need much living space.
I love living in a weird space, and my apt overlooking the Tacoma Dome was swell, except for the rats living in the garden and the filthy people who drop their garbage all over, and the last flippin' straw was.
BRITNEY BITCH !!
There were 10,000 idling cars after BRITNEY BITCH and her concert (that lasted all of 45 minutes!!!) (I know...girls were returning to their cars at 10:46 pm !!)
So my apt overlooking the Tacoma Dome filled up with car exhaust and it was stinky as hell for 2 days. Not to mention my screaming f'n headache.
So I am ready to go. Every time there is a concert here, my apt. fills up with exhaust from all those people who drive to the Dome, because there is no public transportation.
No city bus. No Sounder. No Greyhound. nothing. nada. Must Drive SUV !!

My digs keep getting smaller and smaller. That's fine. In about 2 years Mark and I will blow this Pop Stand and do something else. Fuck, we might even move to Seattle!!
So I will update you on the cleaning the decorating and the special problems and solvings we must do to move in. Let's tag it: Something From Nothing.
There is a bathroom but no kitchen sink....yet. No counters. No storage. No stove. No w/d. No refrigerator. The ceilings are 15 feet tall though. It's an Art Project. An experiment in guerilla squatting in a space that did not cost 350,000 dollars. But we will have granite counters. It will be fun!
Here is a pic of my former home on N. 21st.


Happy Easter. Thanks for killing Jesus, and rolling away the stone. Yes, let's Live Again and be happy for Second Chances.

It's Here...etsy or ebay...new stuff...

What's new for SPRING?

First up...a few L & XL dresses and a Hemp Blue Fish coat
Vintage Irish crochet bolero and a Tina Hagen Mod wool pinafore and jacket in ivory
Perfect for a Bride !..vintage 50s, vintage 60s and vintage 70s dress styles...
some silky panties...and always ....some fun stuff....now that Spring is here with picnics, farmer's markets and bicycle riding.....
tote bags, fun dresses and vintage capris...halter tops...swimsuits...one piece and boy shorts....styles for all your daily and special event, and rockabilly fun !

click my etsy link on the right for etsy stuff ---->

Wanna Shop funkoma right now on ebay? clicky

Sun dresses, and party and cocktail dresses....

I'm walking in Sunshine! etsy

Wedding? Bridal shrug bolero and mod mini dress..these are at etsy

Rockabilly & Classic!!

50s vintage dresses in a size L - XL !

60s vintage fun shirtwaist

50s 60s Red - Turquoise Capris and shorts, with a back zipper and a 30" waist

**************************

maybe a few vintage 50s & 60s skirts? Yes! etsy

THIS Amazing Blue Fish coat is on ebay right now for a mere 145. bucks.

Yes, a Blue Fish hemp arty coat with big buttons...

80s leather skirt on etsy

furry jacket on etsy

Stephen Sprouse on ebay*****

Stephen Sprouse's initial Day-Glo bright, sixties-inspired, graffiti-printed fashion collections for men and women wowed fashion editors, store buyers, and fashionistas alike, but he always had mixed business success. His initial collections (1983 - 1985) were huge critical hits, sold at only the best stores (his 1983 collections were sold exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman and Henri Bendel in New York City on a small scale). In 2002, he created a vast collection of men's and women's apparel, home accessories, sports gear, etc. for the Target discount chain (dubbed "AmericaLand") - mostly rendered in a graffiti patriotic motif.
from wikipedia

And now, a word from our sponsor....

Metallic Vintage Prom & Party Dresses both on etsy

****To find these at funkoma vintage**google is your friend****