Real clothes, Real stuff......

One of the greatest pleasures of life is to wear fine clothes that feel good, wear well, look great on you and have that touch of quality.
This is but one reason I love vintage.
Utilitarian. Filson. this one is vintage.


Clothes and most of everything else used to be made of "real ingredients" as I like to exclaim....
I had a yell-fest the other day when I had to buy some dungaree buttons from the fabric store to repair a pair of jeans that had lost the waist button. This is the kind that's metal and is whacked in, instead of a buttonhole and a sewn button......
I don't have any vintage ones on hand...made in Taiwan in the 70s and 80s, and before that, in the US. The ones I bought were Made In China they were shit!
I whacked the first one and it broke!
The second one bent!
First I despise crap made in 3rd world countries because it is usually done by children and exploited workers. This issue is well-know now, so I won't bother with links here (just Google!)
and second, I only want to buy and use Honest to Goodness Good Stuff.
This Filson cruiser jacket will last a half-lifetime of use. And work well. And made in Seattle.



So...I buy a lot of utilitarian, military, fair-trade and local-grown and made, and commercial stuff...and vintage of course!

Military is always made for serious adventures.
Functional. A-2 with a fur edged hood.


Vintage Banana Republic......a fashion line that is excellent quality.




I love linen and silk. Where do they come from? It's hard being me...
Here's some super quality vintage I've just listed.......
a gorgeous full skirt vintage SPRING dress in an XL...




a knock out fabulous vintage Escada suit....so Amazing in the detail, the quality, and the style is classic, military-influenced and so steampunk!
and...so classy for some Old Lady Chic!



A charming turn of the century (last one) style blouse in a sheer soft polyester from the 70s that is 100 times better made than dreck made today...

Here's a gorgeous vintage 60s cocktail dress......the quality and workmanship, and the silk chiffon....fabulous !

and...from remnants of other projects, I made these romantic spats....



when I return next week from my teeny weeny vacay.....I'm starting in on spring coats, spring dresses, denim fables, more men's wear.....tote bags.....
and a line of ultra romantic needs for the steampunk woman......

Yeeks, I can't wait !

the garden...Spring is coming!

bean me up Scotty

If it has leather and a buckle I'm
probably wearing it......
I have worn out a few pairs of LLBean boots...a few pair of lace-up calf high boots, and most recently ..a pair of LLBean mocs that I wore for the few years I gardened pro-style on the water for the Rich People.
I just passed them on to a thrift, so the next person could buy them for a couple of dollars and have the rubber replaced for about 25 bucks. Yes, these are items that are Fixed. Repaired. To wear again.


This is a weird concept in the throw-away culture that has boomed in the last 25 years. I'm glad I'm old enough to know what life used to be like...and I'm thrilled to see the very beginning of a turn-back to the ways of buying quality and not spending every penny on crap clothing.
Of course, giving you excellent quality things is what funkoma vintage is all about. I don't deal in the stupid fast fashion......Every item I deal in ...has to be something good!







I'm a classic-sturdy-quality-tomboy clothes nerd.
I love rubber, and stitching and leather, and canvas, and rawhide, and denim and wool, and tweed and corduroy.....I adore these:
But these are really my LLBean Boot heartthrobs........




So can you imagine my delight when I found these a few days ago?
a LLBean boot with a belted buckle across the vamp.



I love them better than the lace up kind or the mocs...and I lurve them.......

Maine Hunting Shoe
L.L.Bean Inc.
Freeport,ME.
I don't know exactly how old this style is...that resembles an Engineer or motorcycle boot....I'm gonna guess 80s or 90s tho.
And that's the deal with The Classics.

Because the style changes very little over time, it can be hard to date.
At the very bottom of this post is a little video to watch of the real LLBean factory right here in the USA.



LLBean is one of the many labels I always buy......because I'm trying to raise the level of usability and do it with style........
The Pacific Northwest, the West Coast has its own style......
Oh sure these are from Maine...a shoe factory in PNW? Quite a few along the West Coast tho.......Magdesians, Kimel, Fleuvog.......West Coast Shoe Company, Nike...er not.

But Danner in Portland will recraft their fine boots just like LLBean.......



These LLBean shoes are so darn cute.....they have everything I love in sweeeet footwear....quality name and materials....cute cute cute overload style....
rubber and leather......just what a gal needs for a rainy Pacific Northwest day..

and bonus...pick your favorite colorway....here's just 3 choices......


These Coffee and Chocolate are my faves.........