January 25.....mom's birthday and some guy who wrote..

O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That’s sweetly play'd in tune.
....................................................
and this little ditty, Auld Lang Syne....
Robbie Burns....

PLAID!

Here's what the writer of ,Tartan: Romancing the Plaid  ,Jeffrey Banks said..."....means the instantly recognizable Burberry pattern on the company's coats and scarves may look like a tartan plaid, but is in fact officially just "a check" because Burberry is actually English. In addition, a tartan pattern has to be made up of perfect squares. Technically, a tartan plaid can be turned 180 degrees and is exactly the same.

"You can take it and literally turn it upside down and it will look exactly the same, right side up or upside down," De La Chappelle said. A Plaid, on the other hand, can have stripes that clearly run in a specific direction. In other words: all tartan is plaid, but not all plaid is tartan.

But whether authentic tartan or simply plaid, the stripes and squares seem to have a lasting and universal appeal"



Some Vintage Plaid for the men.... 

Sweet plaid for the vintage ladies....

Children's vintage little 60s plaid jumper....

Rainbows, Apples and Cashmere, yup, must be autumn...

right around the corner..........I love this time of year...the hot is hottest...a run thru the sprinklers or a jump in the pool is the best! Soon enough, the weather will cool and then get cold, and the gray rainy days will come...and maybe some snow.

The apples are ripening, the tomatoes have produced and been sliced in thick slabs and plopped with mayonnaise or sprinkled with salt and savored.

I designed some fabric apples last fall, and gave them real branch and twig stems and wired leaves....I'll get going  with that again next week..and the fabric pumpkins too. Those are fun to make...and I'm working on a tomato pattern too. Lucky me, that heirloom tomatoes come in lots of colors and patterns, so an orange stripe tomato will look normal now that folks are getting pretty used to them at the farmer's market.

This week I listed some fall dresses in harvest tones, lots of boots (so many already sold!) and I dug out the tweeds. Basic jackets and pleated skirts aren't boring when paired with vintage millinery flowers and sparkly rhinestone vintage pins from Granny.
(hey, that's me!)

 I really had fun styling these pieces ....worn with leather sandals now, and fun Converse tennies, and later as the days get cooler, with patterned textured tights and leggings and boots.

Always, a pair of Bass Weejuns penny loafers.

Double Rainbow vintage plaid blouse.

Blue tweed vintage fitted jacket.

Camel heather not-so-basic vintage blazer.

Why be boring? Add fun jewelry and roll up your sleeves and get busy!

Lovely turquoise 60s wool jumper.

Art Gallery 50s modern art vintage dress.

Wheat lambswool vintage cardigan.

Charcoal gray wool blazer...a basic to start...Add wildflowers.

Oooh...Vintage Pringle Cashmere...50s, and so soft and amazing quality.

And that ain't all! More more more.....tweeds, boots and jackets! Hey autumn, I got you covered!



fabric baby boo pumpkin !

Long and Plaid !

Plaid is cool...plaid is for everyone...and plaid is back!
In the fashion world the popularity of plaid rises and falls....
and it's all about plaid right now.

Plaid was a big deal in the 70s. It can have a boho, earthy quality in natural tones. A big deal in that time was the maxi...ankle length dresses, skirts and coats for that romantic hippie look.
This coat has wood toggle buttons and a big collar, and hood. It's back in style again...and listed on ebay.

In the punk anti-fashion fashion movement of the late 70s and beyond...
designers like Vivienne Westwood & Malcolm McLaren who opened their Let It Rock boutique in London’s Chelsea in 1971, used Royal Stewart tartans, the royal personal tartan of Queen Elizabeth II, as a political symbol of protest against government oppression by subverting, tearing, cutting, pinning and writing provocative statements on the esteemed tartan.

Here's a dress that combines tartan and vinyl, in a punk way...
click to go to etsy

The history of tartan goes back to the French word, tiretain, meaning woven cloth. Tartan usually refers to special plaid patterns. The word plaid is derived from the Scottish Gaelic plaide, meaning "blanket". Originally plaid was first used to describe the rectangular, blanket-like garment, sometimes made up of tartan, that preceeded the modern kilt. And as we all know, kilts are mostly made of plaid patterned fabric! Wanna find a tartan pattern name? click here