Vintage or Vintage Inspired Archives - Be Kind, Thrift and Rewind

These framed pictures and household pieces are a few of the thrifted art items I have in my apartment. I am sure many folks have found wonderful art through scrounging around thrift shops or garage sales. I enjoy finding pieces that stir up some sort of memory I treasure. For me one of these pieces conjures up memories of going to the farmers market in Germany as a child. I always enjoyed going there, and waiting for my mother to buy vegetables and whatever else she needed for our household. At that time we lived in the center of town, not far from the opera house, the ice-skating rink and the cemetery where we took long walks. I also used to run off by myself sometimes (it was safe in Germany then for me to be alone) and go quietly spy on the sculpture artist who had a small cabin workshop at the cemetery. Don’t ask why I always hid from him. Perhaps I should have gone and talked to him, told him I liked watching him work. I was only about eight at the time. Anyway that whole area is a space I like to remember and this picture reminds me of it.

The smaller picture reminds me of the area up near the Met museum where there are street vendors selling art and books. This picture’s surroundings aren’t as full and hectic as NY but all the same that is what it reminds me of. I also think it looks very European, which I always like. There is something about the coloring in the picture that I find comforting. It isn’t raining, but the balance hangs between a possibly rainy day and the possibility of the sun coming out brighter. It evokes emotion, I like that. My mother was just talking to me about how grey Germany could be at times when we lived there. Perhaps that is what I am remembering when I see it.

I thrifted the small black hand-painted tray, as well as the small hand-painted plate that I have hanging on the wall. The plate has writing on it that says it is Royal Adams Titian Ware made in England. It also says The Wynbrook, established in 1857. Its cheerful colors have lightened up my room for years and I really enjoy seeing them. Both of these pieces have a lovely, European look and they are delicate little antiques that I treasure.

The Gauguin type painting I found in the street and immediately picked up and carted home years ago. It must have been some college student’s class project and they didn’t want it anymore. I think it is great and I really enjoy it hanging in my living room.

The sculpture I made from fallen wood and little tree cones and moss. These pieces of nature’s fallen parts all came from where my cats that I had years ago are buried. I wanted to take something from nature to remember them by. They are buried deep in the forest up in the mountains in Colorado. I will miss them forever, so this is my memory piece to have near me.

My daughter Emily has been creating a lot of photos of “Trashed Art.” She is making use of the natural environment and opening her vision to the possibilities. These three photos are from her latest collection of photos called “Trashed.”

http://www.hellogoodbyelofi.com/mnamombj0e8ktlpypwrhciii7qww5h

It all comes down to “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” The trash in the street is only trash as long as you intend to see it only that way. There is something wonderful to the concept of waba-sabi. In the book Waba-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, the waba-sabi state of mind is described as “acceptance of the inevitable. Waba-sabi is an aesthetic appreciation of the evanescence of life. The luxuriant tree of summer is now only branches under a winter sky. All that remains of a splendid mansion is a crumbled foundation overgrown with weeds and moss. Waba-sabi images force us to contemplate our own mortality, and they evoke an existential loneliness and tender sadness. They also stir a mingled bittersweet comfort, since we know all existence shares the same fate.” (1) Emily has embraced waba-sabi in her photographs. That is a great thing since not everything is as it seems originally. Looking deeper is often a gift.

Emily Owens’s Trashed Art

Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by Leonard Koren pg. 54

Vintage 1970’s Blue Dress With a 1940’s Look

October 30, 2015

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I found this blue dress at Dusty Rose Vintage Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY. I had to dig through a barrel to find it since the shop often sells to wholesalers. Eventually I would like to have an Etsy shop, hopefully in the not-so-far-off future. I could use a sideline income and that is right up my alley of fun things I’d like to be involved in. So this was my first visit out there, basically to see the warehouse, and this is what I found that I decided to keep for me. It looked my size and sure enough when I tried it on it fit perfectly; however it had these weird puffs on the shoulder, Gibson Girl style, and I didn’t think it worked with the short sleeves and my little frame. If I wear a Gibson Girl style I like it long sleeved. So I gathered up the excess puff and stuck it below the seams and created a small slanted seam on the sleeve. I doubt anyone is going to get that close to see the seam, you do what you must to make things work!! Now I am happy with the dress.
I didn’t realize until I was getting this post together that I’d done two outfit posts in a row in blue dresses. I am really into blue again. Last year I did a post, “Am I Blue?”. I am still embracing wearing blue again. There is something strangely comforting about wearing it after all those years of not wanting to wear blue. I wanted to rebel against its conformity, its uniform look, and now oddly enough I find it appealing. I like its simplicity, and it is not black, which I get tired of in New York City. Sometimes black is so elegant but I just feel like it is not right for me on a regular basis. Even with the blue I like red, yellow, white, and orange to brighten it up.
I really like the first picture since not only am I wearing blue but my hair is getting longer and flowing and it was blowing in the wind. For years I alternated between growing my hair and enjoying that liberating feeling of chopping it off and not embracing my longer hair. Now I just wish it would grow faster. I have resorted to everything but the kitchen sink to get it to grow faster. Mashed bananas, olive oil, vitamin E oil, coconut milk, honey, literally I am going all out to get it to grow!! When I was young I wasn’t allowed to cut my hair for years and years. My father was controlling about that so when I grew up I kept up this alternating pattern of growing and chopping it off. For years it was super short. The last few years I am just thrilled to have soft pretty hair, so I doubt I am cutting it short for a long time. My mother keeps hers rather short and she is going to keep it that way forever she says. No, my mother isn’t with my father anymore so she wears her hair how she likes it!! This picture represents two things I wasn’t so comfortable with for a long time – the color navy and letting my hair down for any real length of time. Well things certainly change through the years.
Another reason I liked this dress is that I have noticed so few women working in accounting wearing floral dresses. It is to the point that I am not totally sure if florals are acceptable at work anymore, particularly in accounting. This dress I feel is feminine and floral; yet the navy gives it a very conservative look. So I think it is a good one to blur the lines with. These are things I have to consider when I buy a vintage dress and would like to wear it to work. Obviously if I end up with a large finance company it won’t work unless it is summer, but in most offices I think it could work. Are there any other ladies feeling frustrated by lack of florals in office attire? I am sure I am not the only one, so if you have any comments on this please let me know.
I went outside and took more close-up pictures. These things happen when I am taking photos on my own, so that is why there are two different hair styles, on two different days. The jacket is more a 1950’s style but it works with the dress and I found that little vintage pin at a shop in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn.
Well I hope you are enjoying fall and perhaps have something fun planned for Halloween. Our weather here has gotten warm again but the leaves keep changing. I have been able to go out on longer walks and am getting some physical therapy for my foot now. Hopefully I can get out and take some more shots at some nice parks or something for the blog soon!!

Vintage Halloween Images from Flickr

October 23, 2015

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Halloween again! I found these few vintage photos I wanted to share on here. I am not sure what I am doing on Halloween this year. I was hoping to go to the Village and go to a coffee shop with a side street view of the costumes. In the past that has been the best way to actually view the costumes since I am vertically challenged about seeing the parade. Last year I spent a couple of hours perched on a metal police barrier trying to catch a view by being raised up. I still didn’t get as good a view as I had in the past on the side streets. So I think I will return to my old route. Plus with recovering from foot surgery I have to be very careful in crowds for a while, not to get stepped on! I am now at the point where I can walk around for a while and don’t need the cane finally. If you don’t live in New York City you might not know how crowded and nuts the NY Halloween parade can be. Often it is the case that even some subway stations get shut down due to the crowds.
I cannot think of Halloween without thinking of my daughter Emily as she was growing up and all the Halloween costumes, or even just costumes in general for shows or school functions. So I have posted one of her as a toddler in her adorable pumpkin dress our neighbor made her, and another two of her as a fish for a show. The fish costume was made by a friend’s mother. I still have the little pumpkin dress, in the event that I have a grandbaby someday who can wear it!
If I get to see some great costumes from the NYC Halloween parade I will of course post pictures of them later on. I am thinking I will be a scarecrow again since it is a relatively simple costume to put together. I always think scarecrows need hay though and it isn’t easy to find hay. I may have to be a city scarecrow and go without hay sticking out of my sleeves or socks.
I hope you enjoy these vintage Halloween images. The last picture is not a vintage picture; however it was the best picture I took of a costume a few years ago on Macdougal Street, just a block away from the parade. That lady had a seriously good Pinocchio outfit!
Well I hope you are enjoying the beginning of fall. I for one am thrilled that summer is biting the dust. The humidity in New York is rough on me. I do like all the outdoor activities that are easier to do in the summer in New York though. I miss the kayaking already! I do enjoy the change of seasons and the leaves in the street, the bundling up in sweaters, hot cider, all of those little things that follow suit once the air gets crisp and has a bite to it.

June Lang

Betty Grabel 1935-1940

Brenda McNeilly’s Art Deco collection

Emily when she was a toddler

Vintage Paisley Dress from David Owens Vintage Clothing

October 1, 2015

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I found this lovely 1950’s Kenrole paisley print dress at David Owens Vintage at 161 Rivington Street, in Manhattan. I bought it when they were at 154 Orchard Street but I just saw an article online that they moved. I really liked that I could wear it year round, and that it had stripes in the design as well as paisley. Plus it is conservative enough that I should be able to wear it to an office when I find more work again. It was already on sale, yet there was another twenty percent taken off due to a national holiday. So I ended up with a really good deal and I just had to rearrange the positions of some of the vintage buttons, due to some of the rhinestones having fallen out.

The vintage bracelet with various colors of glass and crystals I bought at a garage sale years ago. The small champagne-colored glass and crystal earrings are from 1981 when I started making beaded hanging earrings and selling them. The little black belt I found after scrounging around at Green Village in Queens.

My friend Bill Bernthal took these photos of me for the blog before I had foot surgery. I haven’t been able to get out much the last month, as I am still recovering from foot surgery. Bill has taken a lot of candid shots in the past, those are what he typically chooses to photograph. Anyway, he wanted to take some shots of me for the blog. We went to Prospect Park and took a nice walk. There are some lovely wooded areas in the park, plus some seating areas near the water that offer lovely views of the lake and the birds at the lake. Those areas are very shaded though, so not the best for blog post photos. Bill took these out in the more open areas of the park. A few of the shots were taken in my community garden a couple of blocks away from where I live. There are a lot of auto body shops in my area, so they are in the background.

Several readers expressed that they wanted me to do another post on paisleys. I am working on one that has more facts and tidbits about the paisley pattern. I will post that one after I can get out and walk about again and get over to the David Owens Vintage shop to take some pictures of his vintage paisley collection. As of next week I should be able to walk outside again and go buy a pair of oxfords to wear for a while until I can wear my other shoes again.

I am so looking forward to getting out and enjoying fall. The past month of healing and staying home hasn’t been easy. My foot has been in pain for years though so the surgery was much needed and a great relief to get it behind me!!

I hope you are enjoying the changing of the seasons. Fall is one of my favorite times of year, as I really enjoy seeing all the beautiful colors as the leaves change, and then seeing those colorful leaves cascade down the streets. There is something sort of magical and calming about it all, as the nip comes back into the air and then winter prepares to blow in. I am not really the biggest fan of summer so that is where that sentiment comes from!