Best Costume for the Day

there's a lot one can say about getting dressed....Warmth, not getting arrested for indecent exposure, comfort, and function. Lots of women dress (or undress) for attracting a mate, a date, or Mr. Right Now.

and well,  Matt Dillon. hubba hubba.
I have mostly dressed for function, and then, Imagination!

I start with a theme in mind, and choose colors and a style to fit whatever dream, movie, object, nightmare...I woke up feeling like ....

 the violet of the night sky....

the Moon........the sunflower..........
whatev'

Allow me to explain.
Once, I wanted to be the sky. Oh sure, dress in Light Blue, you say. done and done.
It's not that easy, Jeff.
With me, I made a pair of pants from rainbow stripe fabric, and then topped it with a white fluffy angora sweater. so yeah...... fluffy white cloud...and a rainbow. True. Story.

I mostly dress like a mash-up of Miss Havisham/Morticia/Laura Ashley/a boy. works for me.

 With this dress, clearly, some spider earrings, a pair of tall black boots and a little handknit 80s cardigan in black angora.

Other days....oh you know. Amelia Earhart.
Sailor.
Elf.

Beach bum.
English professor.

 Tank Girl's mom.

So, I'm only a bit ashamed/proud to be an out and out follower of Disneybound tumbler and on Pinterest.
They do exactly what I do, and have done as far back as I remember...that is, I dress my mood and I don't give a flip what's in or out of style. I stopped following anything in a fashion magazine one day when I found out that wearing Cover Girl make-up and Yardley's Twiggy Slicker  lipstick, did not turn me into Penelope Tree or Twiggy ..(what is up with the English naming people for objects? I like it !!)

 photo from Dedicated Follower...


Here's some of my current faves from Disney Bound !

Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Storm Trooper from Star Wars

Sam the Snowman from one of the Best Christmas cartoons ever made !

The Vintage Doll for a Vintage Christmas Dream

Can't we all just get along?




A 1946 combination live-action and stop-motion animation film by the Czech brothers Borivoj Zeman and Karel Zeman. Originally titled Vánoční sen, it was dubbed in English for international audiences.

via mentalfloss

Archive post from July 2008

There are actually about 12 vintage and retro clothing and accessories sellers on Vintage Row....in Tacoma.....
yeah it used to be Antique Row.....but times change !

Yup come on Down!!



And Hot Rod A Rama!!!! is August 1 & 2 ....
Yippiee...come on let's celebrate the death of middle class car culture...and the LIFE of Outta Control Lowbrow Hot Rod Kulture.......

Summer wardrobe got the blahs? I got lots of fresh new stuff I just put out and.....Wednesday...come and visit
Lots of stuff for guys too....vintage cowboy shirts, holey jeans...and a few cons left.......

Archive Post December 2007. Back to Happy times....

One of my favorite blogs..Lulus vintage..did a lovely post about buying vintage for Christmas.....great advice for any holiday or birthday.....
Now on to Biba ..one of my favorite clothes designers....here's a vid..



And by way of Senorita Hollywood comes word of an article on Biba in this month's BUST ....

and take a trip to 60s London.....

McQuay Norris, USA. weird car

photo from


This is a 1934 McQuay-Norris Streamliner. Only 6 were built, and were made to be  test cars and a promotional vehicle for the McQuay-Norris Company of St. Louis, USA, which manufactured car parts, that  a mechanic needed to rebuild a car engine or body.

The 6 tiny cars were made by Cincinnati, Ohio's Hill Auto Body Metal Company. Using a stock 1932-33 Ford V-8 chassis and engines, they are made of  steel sheet metal attached to wood framing. There's no rear windows or  windshield wipers...so they had to be driven fast !!  to roll the rainwater off the Plexiglass windshields.
To see behind, there are rear-view mirrors mounted on either side.
The McQuay-Norris cars had bigger-than-normal tires, and  McQuay-Norris engineer George E. Leutwiler related that, "These cars were easy to drive, but they had some peculiarities. For instance, you needed good shocks or the car would dance around a lot, because of the donut tires. In those days most of the roads were nothing but gravel."

There's only 2 left, and 1 belongs to Hemmings Motor News.
Read lots more here.

photos from


Why did I need to know this? I snagged this neat tshirt...The neon cobra is awesome enough....and a google search brought me all this info....
Neon. Cobra. Deadstock 80s vintage t shirt !! McQuay Norris

Vintage 80s T shirt, deadstock.

Decor, vintage style.

about the only thing I really miss about having a shop ....is...display !

It's all junk...old boxes, milk crates and old books...leaves, acorns, sticks, cookie cutters,vintage photos, bones...just  making displays with my junk and the things of the daily life..... My kids will back me up on this...I love the old wood crates! I never "moved on" and bought new furniture except for a new couch from time to time and mattresses....I love using what I find on walks, and finding free stuff and shopping the yard sales and junk shops.

"If it ain't junk, it ain't much" 
the display started like this... and then it grew...

The light up snowman  seems pretty rare in the holiday blow-mold light-up universe.
Here's a flickr stream of lovely wacky blow molds....I'm far from the the only one who loves them like crazy.....

Union Products of  Leominster, Massachusetts, was known as the "Plastics City", hired Don Featherstone to create fun blow mold decorations starting right after his graduation from Worcester Art  Museum’s art school, in the mid-50s. We know him best as the creator of The Pink Flamingo in 1957. Union Products closed in 2007, and the flamingo molds were bought by HMC International LLC and are now made in New York.
Polaron, Union, Bayshore and Empire were some of the best known American companies that made the weird and wonderful light up blow mold decorations.
Reaching its hey-dey in the 60s and 70s, the blow mold decorations were in every middle class home. Easter bunnies, Santa, snowmen, angels, and the rare Candlesticks...a pair of which I had at the shop. This faded Santa was a fancy part of my "Jews in Miami Beach" theme I used in my 2009 xmas display in the shop on Broadway, and now sits in my front yard ....
I never wanted you to mistake FunkomaVintage for an ordinary boring store....I like to say " I'm a dinner and a show!"

here's how he started life...

2 light up toy soldiers....from my shop display....

crazy Easter bunny...and also from a shop display....

and of course, my pride ! Dracula by Don Featherstone....

and 2 Don Featherstone pink flamingos ...flamingii....

 and an Empire Pumpkin and cat.....

Using my stacked crates, I keep the few cookbooks I use, a few gardening books, and my bird identification book, with binoculars handy. There's a stack of Polaroids, a Mercedes hood ornament I found in the yard when I was digging a patch for sunflowers last spring.....maybe the whole car is buried in back yard!

The old canning jar was a beach find...it's covered in sea dirt and tiny barnacles. The white ironstone bowl is full of beach glass and other sandy finds, with a square of old barkcloth.
There's a Santa I made about 15 years ago.....and I think 2012 will find me making dolls again. Rolled up is a length of rustic canvas punched with grommets and cords.......I'm pretty sure it was used to cover a furled sail on a boat's boom. Helms alee !

Button Up Your Overcoat

it's cold....so button up your overcoat...or your jacket...or zip it !
The song Button Up Your Overcoat,  was written in 1928, a singing  lady makes a plea for her fella to stay warm and healthy!
"Button up your overcoat,
When the wind is free,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me! "

It was recorded early in 1929 by singer Helen Kane. Kane's little girl voice was the inspiration for the voice of cartoon character Betty Boop, who used Kane's famous catchphrase Boop Boop a Doop !

I bet these girls have cold legs...don't forget to wear pants !

whether you like wool, plaid, twill, denim, a letter jacket, or a wool sport coat....I can hook you up!

2 classic 50s jackets, in a red/black twill, and a zipper front Black Bear shadow plaid....

'74 Letter jacket...

Sears 70s denim with a fake sheepskin lining....

 vintage Harris Tweed

50s fleck tweed wool jacket....

and for the ladies... A black wool cape with a long pointy elf hood & ...

...this beautiful 60s mohair and mouton ivory wool and fur coat from Roos-Atkins, a very high-end California department store.

Silky black real fox, a 40s jacket, a very glam noir classic...

a vintage 60s red wool coat, a sweet basic that can be dressed up with a big fluffy muffler, or a tie-on fur collar....

And now, a little Hard To believe...tap-dancing to Button Up Your Overcoat.



BUTTON UP YOUR OVERCOAT
(DeSylva / Brown / Henderson)
Helen Kane


Listen, big boy,
Now that you got me made,
Goodness, but I'm afraid,
Somethin's gonna happen to you!
Listen, big boy,
You gotta be hooked, and how,
I would die if I should lose you now!

Button up your overcoat,
When the wind is free,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!

Eat an apple every day,
Get to bed by three,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!

Be careful crossing streets, ooh-ooh,
Cut out sweets, ooh-ooh,
Lay off meat, ooh-ooh,
You'll get a pain and ruin your tum-tum!

Wear your flannel underwear,
When you climb a tree,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!

Button up your overcoat,
When the wind is free,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!

When you sass a traffic cop,
Use diplomacy;
Just take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!

Beware of frozen funds, ooh-ooh,
Stocks and bonds, ooh-ooh,
Dockside thugs, ooh-ooh,
You'll get a pain and ruin your bankroll!

Keep the spoon out of your cup,
When you're drinking tea,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!

Don't sit on hornet's tails, ooh-ooh!
Or on nails, ooh-ooh!
Or third rails, ooh-ooh!
You'll get a pain and ruin your tum-tum!

Keep away from bootleg hooch
When you're on a spree,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!


*****