Grey is the new gray.

geez, everyone is talkin' 'bout gray hair and long hair. well, everyone in bloggy world.
I've had long hair since I was a child...thanks mommy.
She used to put my hair in rag curls. oy.

I had Mr. Charles cut my hair in a pixie cut...in the summer before 7th grade just in time to impress the boys at Redwood Jr. High. It didn't work.
In 1967, 8th grade, I did the Peggy Fleming look with the short in back long in a swoopy  chin length thing front. 
Stunning video of Peggy skating!


I have pics of all this of course but I haven't set up the new! scanner so you'll have to wait.
From the first month of 9th grade in 1968,  it was hippie hair and dangly bells! Huh Andrea!

Well, the long hair stayed ...everyonce in a while I chop it to shoulder length...but it stays from mid back to waist length. It drifts into Mormon mother range with long braids, and whack! out come the scissors. I cut my own hair, and I don't care if it looks it.
yeah I read the New York Times article about ladies with long hair that are....also long in the tooth. Hey, this is what I like.
Ya'll go ahead and cut to pixie, elf, boy, Mia or whatev'. It's your thing...do what you want to do.

I also used to dye my hair black.......because my whole world was black after my mom died in 2003. God I hated everything about 2003.

So here I  was as gloom pussy, and I had already started to let my hair grow natural.
(red wall...so 2004)
Wow, look at the gray!
It looked like silver....I was hooked.
It's all natural now.
Long and gray. and getting grayer and silvery-er...this is summer 2010.

Those goofy little blogger girls ...are just cracking me up with they gray dye.


the other day....
Again with the stripes......
My gray hair looks fabulous with gray...I never used to wear gray above the waist. I had to divorce my first husband because he kept buying me gray sweaters....because he liked gray sweaters.

Now I wear gray all the time..everywhere.
Here is a b/w striped dress, a gray sweater, and my favorite gray 40s jacket I bought from Holly at LuciteBox.
She wasn't gonna even sell it...because it has flaws. I think I begged her to list it,and she did.  I was the only bidder on ebay. Stupid people! Lucky me!
Now I get compliments all the time when I wear it.
Yeah, and on my gray hair. It's still rare for a granny-age lady to have long gray hair. But not for long....
Flaws and all....just the way I like it.

Catching up with The Stripes.

Stripes again.
Before the real cold and rain sets in for 6 months....I have a chance to wear things that are not warm, not cold....
Today was Wear Purple day so I did. 80s purple Laura Ashley dress and purple stripe tights and my fave little witch flats.
I wore purple ...not just for the gay kids, the gay soldiers..but for my brother Leland who didn't stick around to see that it got better.

And Like A Tree the day before. 50s wool sweater dress, b/w stripe tshirt under that (surprise!) and brown thi-hi's with...tall brown boots and a wide leather belt. I look like a jar of Chunky Peanut Butter. yum!

A few days ago....Black and White stripes and a black dress...cute flats...again...

I love the sunsets....it wears a lot of purple too......

So What's Up with That?

well I am almost always in black......gray.....dark green.....navy....purple.......The Jewel Tones......The Dark Jewel Tones....
I know I'll always feel dark.....still.
So what's at work here....it's been brewing for a year or so....
is a slight shift in color and texture.
I always loved velvet, velvet, velvet and lace. And Leather.

and, being of A Dame of a Certain Age, I know I want to wear things that are simpler in style and fabric, and color.
and sepia, gray, cream, oyster, ivory.......
and black...

Some women want to keep with the multicolors....
the big prints...
the ooky pastels.....
And that's fine for them.

A closer look. The owl pin was a xmas gift. I love the autumn colors, the sparkly, and the fact that it has worn paint....Patina.

And I'm tired of looking at my burlap jacket that I thrifted in the 80s from the Salvation Army store on 6th (back in the olde days), and never wearing it ....there's a liquor store there now...so that's a pretty good trade.
So, my burlap jacket from the 70s. It has the Campus Casuals label. That's what I wore the other day. and a linen skirt, Espirit label from the 80s. And these chocolate leather otk boots from Ginchybaby on etsy.
Underneath...a simple gray cardigan and gray stripe mitts. Oh yeah, argyle tights in the same brown tones.
a color scheme faded as an old field in late winter......instead of shocks of separate color, my scheme flows neatly into each other........and the texture has spark and interest.
just about, but not quite sophisticated. More fun.



The jacket came with the holes.......and I love that.
I love the contrast between the fact it is a fairly structured jacket with holes..made of burlap. I love the shell buttons. I love the color of the lining. Faded. and torn.
It's the color of junk.







What possessed the Campus Casuals line to make a jacket of burlap? Were they trying to reach the college gal that was hearing the call of social justice, of ending the Vietnam War?
Was she listening to Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell instead of Van Halen and Kiss? A college girl......or a college age girl....she must have had more on her mind that matching her shoes and handbag.

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.

It's Green ! Spend Some, Sing Some, what I wore...

let's flashback to Fall last year, when we were waiting to see if America was as stupid as box of Ronco Popeil Pocket Fishermans.... (i do own one, they are dumb)
Surprise ! President Obama ....ha ha ha ha ah ahahahahaha is Irish.



You have some Green? Get out and spend it! We all, everyone of us, depends on you getting out and buying stuff. Sorry ....that sound crass. But it's true. (There are other reasons we need you but today is Green!!) And go shopping, was the only smart thing that Geo. W. Bush ever said. Ex-President Bush ! I like the sound of that.

What I wore March 16, 2009. It's easy for me to dress in green.



It's a favorite color, and I have a green everything to wear if I choose. So...I wore my green and caramel striped Dries Van Noten wool sweater.......god I love this thing!!
Chartreuse, olive, caramel, chocolate......favorite colors and favorite foods!
Under that I wore a 60s vintage black cashmere cardigan and way underneath was a black tank top. I wore a pair of pale caramel boys slacks. Yes.




But the best chunk is my hat .......not only is it Green. Velvet. 70s floppy hat. It's Norma Kamali! I am not a label whore tho I just dropped the names of 2 biggies. But like I always say......buy Quality. Buy what you like. I spotted the sweater and had it in my hands only because of the colors...and later I found the Van Noten label. Bonus!
The Kamali hat...I've been looking for an authentic 70s floppy for about 2 years. So again, Bonus! 2 of my favorite designers....because they have a sense of authenticity and are true artists that became fashion designers.....



The Kamali hat came from etsy seller.......JPsuniqueboutique



*****************************
and I just stole this from Julie at Vintage Goddess.......

What I'm Wearing March 5 2009

getting dressed is important to one's outlook on life...I have cute jammies and cute slippers, but I can't go out like that....well, I can.....I choose not to (yet)
Today I'm wearing a pink and purple with orange fringe scarf I think I got from Annie...that I love love love...both Annie and the scarf, a pair of jeans, Levis nothing special, a pinky sweater dress over a stripe shirt, and a pair of wine leather boots...(that look like these for sale on etsy!)....
All thrifted....
the inspiration is SPRING...If I can dream it, I can dress it....
look for more pansy-inspired outfits daily.........
The 2nd bested thing (besides the scarf) is this flower pin I garage-saled last summer (Mark got a cute fat little teapot)...
it's like a Rudbeckia in lime and fuschia with black, and a long acid green stem, made of metal, and its best part is the cluster of black stamens......
This year I shall co-ordinate my collection of flower pins...and my collection of sparkly rhinestone stuff....