And the winner is…

Smashingbird!! Her name really says it all, Rebecca is as sweet as she is switched on! You must check out her blog and her etsy shop too!! Rebecca was one of my earliest followers and supporters and I was ecstatic that she liked my stuff as I had lurked around her blog for quite a while too! Even though she promises to hop across the pond someday to party with me in California AND steal a beloved Pucci dress I'll still love her to bits!! What a fitting recipient to win my celebratory vintage necklace giveaway! Thanks to everyone who follows, comments, likes Annimal House on facebook, twitter or just lurks! You all rock the house, I'm so stoked you came to my party!

A closer look…

at, what else?, one of my favorite vintage dresses! Mrs. Bossa did a killer blog post recently highlighting me and fellow fashion bloggers discussing our thoughts on dressing for our body shape. In response to her query, “Should we dress to flatter our shapes?” I wore this, an empire waist maxi dress. I am quoted as saying that if I like something I’ll wear it anyway. I am a pear shape, and when I don’t emphasize my waist I look heavier. But I don’t care, I wear shifts and tent shape dresses all the time. They are comfortable and easy to move in. And I like to be able to overindulge on food and drinks and not squish my swollen food baby in the process! I did want to show a close up of the print of the dress. I love these botanical novelty prints, and they are especially suited to a garden setting such as mine! So what do you think? Should you only wear figure flattering clothes or whatever the hell you want? It’s obvious what side I’m on!
70s botanical print maxi dress, $35 ebay a few years ago
60s glass cabochon necklace, $3 thrifted about 10 years ago
70s american optical sunglasses, $10 Sacramento antique fair a few years ago

Lazing on a Sunday afternoon...

Ok, more like collapsing! Stanimal and I spent the better part of this weekend working on our 5 year old canvas gazebo. We bought it for $200 and it was 50% off for an end of season sale. That gazebo has been through a lot, most notably flying over the fence a few years ago when we had 80 mph winds. It was bent and looked like it was trashed, but we straightened out the frame and reinforced a few spots with metal straps. The roof was all stained and gross so I proposed we paint it a dark earthy color. Stanimal was concerned it would be too dark on the deck so I decided to build a skylight for the center canopy topper. With heavy duty vinyl from the upholstery shop I used the existing topper as a pattern and made a replacement. We are very pleased with the paint and skylight, that old gazebo is ready to rock for at least a few more seasons!
Rejuvenated gazebo, $200 Save Mart grocery store over 5 years ago
60s caftan, $15 ebay a few months ago
60s jeweled sandals, $3 thrift store a few years ago

Op art project

Here find my latest in a long line of vintage clothing “projects”, clothes that need a little tlc before wearing! I bought this op art gem on etsy a few weeks ago for a mere $8. It was formerly a dress with a stain on the front, so the seller opted to cut and hem it into a tunic length shirt. I redid the hem to make it as long as possible and now I find it quite wearable indeed! The fabric pattern really sold me, though. Stanimal told me it hurt his eyes if he looked at it too long, which is considered a huge compliment to op art lovers such as ourselves! I busted out some 60s sunglasses Stanimal had bought me several years back, and accessorized with silver boots and stockings to let the print do the talkin’!
And to celebrate reaching 100 followers, the vintage purple necklace in the first picture is my giveaway prize! To enter: be a follower, like annimal house on facebook, and leave a comment! The more you comment, the more chances you have to win my necklace twin! On May 31 I will draw a random winner and ship that necklace your way! Thanks again, this has been a real groovy trip!!
60s op art tunic, $8 etsy a few weeks ago
60s silver vinyl go go boots, $100 ebay several years ago
60s yellow sunglasses, gift from Stanimal several years ago
60s necklace, $50 ebay seval years ago, last seen here

My checkered past

I'd better check myself, I've been known to wreck my budget with one of a kind "must have" items! I have a special spot in my heart for these black and white checkered sunglasses. Even though I had previously scored a kinda similar red and black pair for $20 including shipping on ebay, I still ponied up $65 dollars for this pair at the "boutique" counter at eco thrift several years ago. I couldn't let them go, as they were:
1. made in France, super high quality
2. deadstock and in perfect condition, no wear or scratches to be found
3. a perfect fit and flattering
4. I'd never seen another pair like 'em
But then a few months later, back in 2009 when I had started and quit blogging almost immediately and I was just a blog stalker and didn't make my presence known, I ran across Wendy Brandes's post wearing a very similar pair. I thought, wow, maybe I should bring my blog back from the dead so I could share this kind of rad stuff with like minded peeps. It took me quite a while after that but here I am, wearing said shades and so happy to show and tell!
60s sunglasses, $65 thrifted several years ago
60s psychedelic checkered dress, $5 thrifted several years ago and altered
60s white go go boots, $75 ebay (deadstock!)last year
60s orange and white choker, $15 etsy
80s checkered earrings, $1 thrifted last year

Something new…

…to me anyway! I forget sometimes that because others don’t share my out with the new philosophy, when I am stoked to have something “new” I really mean old. Ok, I’ll admit I do buy some items new and underwear immediately comes to mind! But for clothing and furniture in particular, I’d rather knock some dust off than throw away a bunch of toxic plastic packaging and have a poorly made, cookie cutter item. Ikea and H and M, I’m looking at you! Anyways, I am debuting a few “new” items that arrived this week that I won on ebay. This dress is especially appealing to me as the seller described it as being made by her mother many years ago. It’s a designer original! I love to imagine the lady picking out her fabric, deciding on the cut, and making the hem so very short!! It pairs nicely with my dangly necklace, and landing both items for $20 from the comfort of my home computer was rather nice indeed. But how do you think my new old items go with my old old items?
60s homemade psychedelic dress $15 ebay last week
60s white n gold dangly necklace $5 ebay last week
Sheer plum tights, 50 cents thrift store bin last week
Banana Republic plum boots, $40 ebay several years ago
70s furry brown hat, $25 ebay several years ago
60s sunglasses, made in Italy, gift from Stanimal many years ago