This Is an Answer to the question: Why Is Vintage So Smaaaaallll??

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's a few at etsy....and I have a half-rack of size 14 and up...and in a week or so...more shall appear........

Merry Christmas Mom

Just cause my mom is dead doesn't change anything...
I loved my mom with my whole heart and I still do.




She loved Tony Bennett...and the first video is what my childhood looked like...
Judy Garland was another favorite in the house...and, well, growing up in the BayArea...San Francisco is the Center of the Universe.

I was a strange child I guess because I never went through "I can't stand my mom" phase.
Maybe because I got so little of her that I craved her constantly.
I think most children do crave their moms and dads, and they think they never get enough attention.
But with me, since I had to live apart from her for so many years as little little girl... I treasured the time I had. She gave me permission to be imperfect and odd. She demanded good behavior from me...well, she demanded truthfulness and honesty, and iced with tact if at all possible.



She was smart as a whip, and I get my whipsmartass attitude from her.
I treasure my weird sick odd childhood. I got to see so much and that made me both surprised by bullshit when it happens and also so jaded that I have a way of dealing with the bullshit...
I love the crazy half-ass way she did the whole Xmas thing...she'd make a big deal of it all, but then she'd set aside one day in late December to get really stinking drunk. I always had the best presents...she knew exactly the thing I really really wanted.

I tossed this one in the mix, because she'd have loved kd lang.



My oldest daughter has the pictures of Xmas 1970. Plastic drapes from Woolworths, cat-scratched dirty gray furniture, the dog scratching his many fleas, wobbly plant stand of her orchids...



And finally this Tony Bennett song...that Shields and Yarnell did also....because, Smile...it beats the Eternal Dirt Nap...
Merry god damn Xmas Mom...I know I was your favorite after Leland died...

Free Fun on Broadway - Pants half-off

	All funkoma vintage PANTS are half-off the marked price...because that's funny...
	David and Heidi consented to play here again! Folksingers In Hell Tacomen said they'd show and bring FIRE !! from about 3ish to 7ish... Cheez Whiz, Crackers, Hot Water, and toilet paper. This is the kind of Old School Tacoma fun we used to have until some dumbass closed down the MECCA! (totally PG rated entertainment) And it's FREE !

Date:	Saturday, December 19, 2009
Time:	3:05pm - 6:55pm
Location:	712 Broadway

So I was thinking...

and feeling grateful that so many people were wondering why I was "closing"...I can't continue to work 60 hours a week.....But I am still here!
Most Sats and Suns only since it's just me 99.99% of the time.


And I was thinking of what it is I shall have for sale in the future..
I love certain modern labels and moods......
To name a few...
Ralph Lauren because I love the classics.....
But a label isn't really important unless you find one that "speaks" to you.......

I really like ....
Classiques Entier, INC, Bebe, Jessica McClintock, Young Edwardian, J Peterman, Ralph...some Tommy, some Abercrombie, some AE, and some whatevah labels that are just good style.




Moods -- more steampunk....more lingerie...and much more of things I've designed and made....






Trench coats, cashmere anything, angora anything, leggings!! a great sweater, a white shirt, worn-out denim, and plaid!
Especially tartan.
I love linen. I love wool. I love cotton. I love silk. I love leather.
And I love the "fakes" if they are good fakes.








Boots, tennies, great MaryJanes and fun sandals for the 4 months of sandal weather...
A flattering dress ...A warm and interesting coat and cute little jackets.



I love suits, they aren't my style,I love a woman who wears one without looking like a matron at the prison....
but I love a man in a suit jacket and a pair of jeans...



I love menswear for women, and great tailoring for men. There's nothing like a guy unafraid to wear a snappy hat or an interesting scarf....


And I love the wacky stuff too......

Because John and Jane become very Dull if they are always perfect...


I feel like Life is so serious most of the time...
we got some big big issues...

Fashion is not what I care about......but I love to have fun with Style!
I want my clothes to do their job and to look and feel good...for me, for you.




I may only have a few months left on my lease here but I want to continue to provide these things....
Sparkly things.....party clothes........
And I'll always have great things for guys who want to step up and out of a t shirt and jeans from time to time...

funkoma vintage is a tiny little shop with my point of view...
Style, fun and Tacoma....
We are who we are and pretty damn happy about that......

To Bring Some Joy To Your Life...

trust me, you can use it.......

we all could use a heaping helping of this...



"Best Narrative Short" winner of the Cleveland Int'l Film Festival and many others.

well it was a swell time...

but the doors will close here in Tacoma...right after Boxing Day.

It's tough anytime to have a small business in Tacoma if you don't sell booze.
Or coffee. Or cupcakes. Or crack.

I sell, or try to sell something different than what Tacoma is used to seeing...vintage with a twist......
so I'm done for here!
I'll be online at etsy, which has done well for me...and at shows....and that is a big hint....
I know that it's a good idea to sell used stuff and vintage stuff since 5 more stores (at least) have opened in Tacoma since I opened my vintage store in 2007...

Thanks a lot Tacoma!

Set that Holiday Table!

and eat....vintage style....Wacky Christmas Candy dish....
Bayberry Pyrex vintage serving dish....
Green vintage candy dish...Just a few things here in the shop....






vintage Huge Holiday Candles and Berry Tablecloth...vintage Green Grapes Tablecloth (an unconventional choice, but green!)...
Come to Brunch vintage invitations....neato graphics...

Jesus Loves You !!wherein I have a little fun at the expense of vintage Nativity set people and animals....

We 3 Kings of Orient are...
trying to smoke a rubber cigar.....





What the hell is this place? This is Jerusalem? The trees appear to be made of a substance that only grows in Florida. This is turning out to be a very very Jew-mas Holiday.




Look!
Is he the new King of the Jews! He must be the new ruler....because we are horribly under-scale!



Stop fidgeting! I just combed your wool!





Happy Holidaze ! Funkoma Vintage now has NEW hours and days...
Saturday and Sunday....10 - 6ish.
closed monday through friday.
I'll be teasing you with what "new" things will be available...check the blog/facebook/twitter from time to time...
but you can always shop on etsy....

The Vintage Forest of Holiday Trees

...or what to do with scraps of fabric....
I admit it...I like fabric!
and when a piece of fabric is cute, or feels good, or is otherwise just damn fine, I want it!


I also have, as you can imagine...lots of sewing notions...
So, I'm thinking of something new to make from small (or large pieces of fabric)...
something for the home...
And it just pops into my head.......
Trees!
I like trees. Birds sit in them. They make apples and stuff.
What's not to like?


So, I made a pattern for a simple tree to sew together...
But what about the trunk? How do I make it stand up?
I don't know where the idea to glue a wooden spool to the bottom came from...
but it sure does work out fine.
It's the shape of a tree trunk, made of tree trunk stuff, and it has enough weight to make the tree stand....tho a gust of wind will knock it down....just like in real life.

I can't toss out barkcloth....even tiny scraps...
I collect fabrics with words printed on them...
I love words and recombining them to make random sayings or small thoughts...
Words can be so powerful...



The first set I made is of some of my all-time favorite barkcloth...
and I have a lot of buttons...
it makes no difference if the fabric is perfect, but it must be washed and pulled on to figure out where the weak spots are and to get rid of the sun rot...



The second set is so sunfaded Florida...which I would love to be in right now if I could Jeannie-Blink myself there..

Who says the holiday decor must be red and green?





The latest set is some green wool I reclaimed from a half-made dress...
Gorgeous color...and since I've been reading a lot lately about equality, and the good ol' constitution of the the United States, I remembered a bit of fabric I have that has a few paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence....





I cut random bits, but I was especially drawn to Equal....All...These...Men Are...Truths...Articles...Tution....and other bits and pieces...






All are available on etsy now....
and I'll continue to make them...as the seasons change...and as a chunk of fabric says....
Make Me!
I think that I shall never see...
a chunk of fabric that could not be made in to a tree.......