The bride/party girl/housewife/gardener wore black...

this week...there's a lot of black.
I like black. a lot. It's always right....here's a few looks from around the internetz, and then the new stuff in my shop...Including a jacket modeled on the suit that Marilyn wore when she married Joe DiMaggio in San Francisco in 1954. I got married in San Francisco, but I wore an antique lace 2 pc set I made myself...mmmm..must scan those photos.

....if I had to wear only one era, it would be, with no hesitation the 20s. Jazz Age, Roaring 20s....ha cha cha ! some of my favorites are the Gish Sisters, and Louise Brooks, and of course....Chaplin.

The Gish Sisters, Lillian and Dorothy, with a friend, Richard Barthelmess.

Theda Bara with a skeleton.

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 a leather top hat.....I used to make these in the early 70s....

Cute 1969 pattern

from my new shop update...

this jacket is like the one Marilyn wore on her 1954 wedding day to Joe. Her's was a brown suit with a mink collar....but it was made up in black wool, mostly, with mink, fox or rabbit collars....so cute !

this pic is from the San Francisco Examiner newspaper

deer dear

deer are so cute...who doesn't love them? gardeners perhaps... they eat the lovely flowers..especially the roses. When I lived in the country, I tried so many methods...tying bars of Irish Spring soap to the roses and trees...fences...wire cages...Nothing worked until Mark peed around the perimeter of the yard.

  Inside at the Deer’s Head diner in 1938, the long counter with round stools, tile work, and stainless steel trim completes the look, a design that still dominates at most diners in New York today.

source


vintage kids deer sweater

deer mitts

deer antlers

deer shadowbox
from etsy seller, Other Such Nonsense

Supayana deer top
from etsy seller Supayana

Bambi

Handmade is the Ultimate Luxury

the latest from the hand of me.

Fox pine green cashmere mitts, trimmed with black buttons...
and basic pine green cashmere mitts, with black lace.

Barkcloth, lace, and a bit of cashmere in a little hat. Cute button.

Cashmere and cotton hat.

Scarves.

Trees.

glittery blue angora scarves....

a restyled vintage bracelet of silvery winter leaves....is improved with keys...

Save The Dates

The world is a lovely place....you may have noticed this. I've assembled a few garden pictures in a 2012 calendar...and you can buy one!
no pressure.
The cover is a picture of the guerrilla garden I made in downtown Tacoma in the fall of 2008 when I had my shop. I used bricks found in a parking lot, and I jumped the cyclone fence, cleaned up the garbage, stacked the bricks, hauled in soil, planted jonquils, daffodils, tulips, crocus....pansies, primroses and lots of flower seeds.
I watered it when needed with a bucket of water I carried across the street from the shop. In early 2009, the city of Tacoma ripped up my street and the rest is history. The garden was a miracle of small proportions....Beauty in the midst of abandonment....something sweet in the middle of a ruin. When I left the bldg. in May 2010, the garden was destroyed by vandals and stupidity.

 I didn't tear down to build up...I made something from nothing. There was nothing wrong with my old street, but rich people demanded a new street, so the city destroyed many small businesses, so one big corporate business would sign some papers.
Doesn't matter. I have the pictures. I did something besides commit commerce.

I included pictures of empty trees and a lone crow.

I included pictures of the first Spring harvest of radishes.

If you like it, you can order one from Zazzle, using the link up on the right side.
I'll also be listing them in my funkomavintage shop on etsy.
Free, with each calendar, is a small hole. You can hang it on a nail, or tie on a loop of string, and hang it like that if you prefer. It will work either way....

I have close-up pictures of pear blossoms, Iceland poppies, and my bowling lady from an old trophy, that I had installed on the hood of my 1979 Mercedes that we ran on biodiesel.

I included one picture of a huge sunflower and the deep summer sky, from  the row of sunflowers I grew along my front fence. And a picture I took of a wild strip of woodland hyacinth in a very ritzy neighborhood in the North End, posing with Mark's vintage bike.

I will probably make another calendar of just my sunflowers, and postcards and greeting cards of other pictures I have.....I have a lot of pictures. ;-)

There's homegrown tomatoes, and a tomato blossom.....  A lovely day in June...so rare.
14 pictures....each one, suitable for framing....and keeping track of the days of your life.
It goes by fast.

Harris Tweed mash ups

One of the many reasons I sell vintage, is because I know what good quality is....and isn't. Funkomavintage loves the good stuff. Long before the "heritage, classic, old-school" trend, Levis, Harris Tweed, Filson,  and LL Bean, are just a few of the labels we always try to have in stock. Not because we are Label Snobs, but because these companies made, back in the day, and mostly, now too, the Good Stuff.

It's so good, that even if the jacket is damaged, I buy it and turn the gorgeous fabric into something else....like this lacy tote bag....by thatyountvillegirl

One of my most fave finds is anything Harris Tweed. Since 1846, this wool fabric has been woven in the weavers homes in Scotland on the small islands using local wool and local dyes. Things have changed very little over the decades, except in our modern throw-away world, Harris Tweed is having a tough time.  But I say, why buy one crappy Gap jacket that will pill and fall apart in 8 months, when you can have a beautiful coat that will last for many many years.
As wikipedia says,
Harris Tweed (Clò Mór or Clò na Hearadh in Gaelic) is a cloth that has been handwoven by the islanders on the Isles of Harris, Lewis, Uist and Barra in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, using local wool.
Traditional Harris Tweed was characterized by subtle flecks of colour achieved through the use of vegetable dyes, including the lichen dyes called "crottle" (Parmelia saxatilis and Parmelia omphalodes which give deep red- or purple-brown and rusty orange respectively).^[1] These lichens are the origin of the distinctive scent of older Harris Tweed.^[2]


High quality fabrics, simple classic style is the best luxury. Yes, they cost more when new, but you won't have to keep replacing your clothes every year. That's value, That's luxury. And...it's the ultimate way to Live Green and be conscious of your Footprint on the earth. If you spend wisely, wear it well, and are comfortable and look good...I don't know what else you need ! Family, good friends, and tasty healthy food, quality spirits and hand-crafted beer....yeah, That's the Good Life !
Here's a few of my favorites in Harris Tweed now on Etsy.

Cute Purple Harris Tweed Coat
Look at the cute cute collar, and the cute cute Scotlander label with  a bagpiper ! "Quality endures like tradition"
Yep.

Hey look, here it is in Harris Tweed pink !
Another cute Harris Tweed 60s coat in Pink.

From a seller in Scotland, a fine example of a classic Harris Tweed blazer.
This snappy fella sure dispells the idea that classic heritage is dumb and dowdy ! Check plaid pants, a plaid waistcoat and a simple white shirt and a pocket hanky...and lots of awesome attitude.

Here's the latest Harris Tweed tote bag made from an 80s blazer. I used a jacket pocket with its flap as a ....pocket !  Accented with lace, and lined in a canvas print, it's sturdy, and really has tailored menswear for the ladies vibe.

 Mash-ups from Vans, Nike, Schott, North Face, J Crew, Marks & Spenser....and there's even more !
From Sneakernews is this fun mash-up between upstart Nike and grampy Harris Tweed in a sneaker from 2010.
".....with brown molded leather on the toe, a leather-wrapped midsole, and Harris Tweed on the upper as well as the tongue....available at  CaliRoots.

Take look at this ! I love motorcycle jackets too... American classics are they. Schott, the maker of the Marlon Brando-style motorcycle black leather jacket that drove the squares crazy, has used Harris Tweed to make this motorcycle jacket.

"... from Schott NYC. For Fall 2011, their classic Perfecto Jacket will come in a check pattern Harris Tweed.
Photography: Highsnobiety

 .....another mash-up, from used-to-be-good North Face, Houndstooth Harris Tweed, in a parka, a vest and a backpack.

 How about a whole blog about Tweed ? sign me up ! 


More Harris Tweed.... from Bathing Ape. 
... jacket, high top sneakers, slippers, a down vest and a cushion, which are all styled in a traditional checkered fabric."

and the New Dr. Who....oh yes, in Harris Tweed. geek mash-up with grampy !

there was not enough time to see everyone and go everywhere...but here are a few pictures....that mailbox in St. Helena is the house I lived in when a precocious 5 yr old.....
where I went to Kindergarten and where I lived in St. Helena.....
places in Yountville....the graveyard where I spent my days and nights....and where family is buried....
where I played...where I lived....
where I walked....
the Veterans Home....
family.