Jumping on a Jumpsuit Challenge!

Sometimes the stupidest comments can get me riled up! For instance, my husband’s friend was talking about jumpsuits several months back, stating that they were hard to pull off so most people shouldn’t try. Well, if you want me to do something just say it’s next to impossible and I’ll be all over it like a fly on you know what! Plus, I quickly pointed out that I wear jumpsuits frequently and have for years, but he didn’t believe me.  So here is one of said jumpsuits, a vintage nightie which I have seen fit to wear out of the house.  The added bonus of being super comfy doesn’t hurt one bit either!   So don’t hold back, please tell me if you would do this particular don’t!!
60s leopard print jumpsuit nightie, $10 ebay several years ago
70s shrunken fit child’s Lee jean jacket, $5 thrifted several years ago
Diba pointed toe flats, $5 thrifted in Seattle when our friends got married 4 years ago
Vintage chain belt, $1 thrifted several years ago
70s sunglasses, $1 thrifted several years ago
70s Sarah Coventry necklace, $10 ebay last week
killer chain earrings, $8 porkchop rules via Crimson and Clover

Swinginest Secretary, Moi?

Stanimal and I were delighted to attend the book signing party for our friend and thrice published author Lynn Peril! Her latest book is titled: Swimming in the Steno Pool, and I was enthusiastically awaiting it’s availability as her writing is always so witty and fun! Plus, she was hosting said event at the Smuggler’s Cove, a tiki bar in San Francisco I had yet to visit but was eager to! And not that I needed even more motivation, but she also presented an opportunity to enter a retro secretary contest!! Well, as you can probably imagine, that was right up my alley so I wore a recently acquired vintage dress, some old favorite 60s heels and a vintage purse that Stanimal found for me when he was out thrifting many years ago! I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and my expertly mixed sloe gin fizzes, the bartender was a stunning mixologist if I ever saw one! Then after visiting with our killer bay area peeps the contest began and we strutted our stuff down the stairs for the approval of the crowd and Lynn’s friends acting as judges! Well, a few lucky ladies including yours truly got gift bags and won in separate categories such as, most swinginest (me!), most reliable and a few others (my memory is obviously not so reliable, did I mention the amazing cocktails??). But the grand prize went to Carrie Swing for her 70s secretary rendition!  A killer time was had by all! Whatta way to commemorate Lynn’s latest in a long line of stunning achievements!

Pucci Dress in Distress!!

When I first saw it, I was instantly enthralled! An ebay listing for a Pucci nightgown featuring only a few very small and very blurry photos. But it was not a Pucci for formfit rogers poly night gown, for it was made in Italy and 100% silk!! The auction started out at a mere $9.99, and I knew I wanted that dress! It had a huge hole in the bottom of the skirt, and holes at the bottom of the sleeves, what that dear dress had been through was anyone’s guess! It looked like it had been chewed up and spit out by some rabid creature! I messaged the seller a few hours before the listing ended asking for measurements and the exact location of the holes. His response instilled enough confidence in me to place a bid, and I battled one other bidder in the last 30 seconds, jumping my winning bid up to $75. When it arrived I was ecstatic, as the damage was below areas I could have hemmed into a mini with ¾ length sleeves. I practically ran to my tailor and shared my vision for the dress with her, and she made the magic happen. From there it was off to the cleaners, it had a few spots but no underarm stains (a minor miracle with vintage silk!) and voila! She’s not perfect, and I wouldn’t have altered her if not for the substantial damage, but I’m glad I was able to resuscitate the poor abused dress!!

60s era Emilio Pucci silk dress, altered. $75 ebay last year (another $20 for alterations and cleaning)
60s stiletto pumps, traded at Cheap Thrills Vintage several years ago also seen here
Hue tights, $8 macys last year
60s sunglasses, $20 ebay a few years ago
60s silver purse, $5 Sierra 2 flea market about 5 years ago
Giant spuntnik necklace someone made out of a 60s brooch glued to an 80s choker , $3 weird little thrift store in South Sacramento a few years ago
Rings, bracelets, ebay and flea market finds, $5-$20 each

Proud to be stylish and feminist!!

Dusk is an absolute force of nature, and one of the most positive, fearless and creative women I have had the pleasure to meet in blogland. I am floored she has chosen me to be a recipient of the Stylish Blogger Award!! I am very happy to accept this accolade and pass the torch forward to the following bloggers who all bring it with style in their own special way: Nikki of Little Bits of Nikk Nak, Kara of Porkchop Does Rule, Nicole of Flaming Hag Folkwear, Joanna of Mrs. Bossa Does the Do, Rebecca of Smashingbird, Shy Biker, Dhee-Ghee of Dear Girl, confessions of a wallflower, Annalise and Jennifer of Hummingbird Girls, Dolly the bird of The Knack and How to get it, and Dash of The French Sampler!!
And per the guidelines for award recipients, I would like to share some things about me I have not yet divulged on this blog! As a member of the Feminist Fashion Blogger group, we are blogging in concert today on the topic: finance, feminism and the fashion blogger. This relates well to the introduction of my background as a construction worker. For many years I was very proud of the fact that I worked as hard as any of my (almost all) male peers for equal pay. I am a journey-level electrician, heavy equipment operator, and a gradesetter. I spent eight years working for union companies building soul less subdivision McMansion tract housing neighborhoods that I loathe! I then was self employed for almost three years as a General Contractor, specializing in remodeling homes built prior to 1950. After the economy started to tank in 2007 I got an entry level office worker job for the State of California. I was sick of dealing with deadbeat clients too, I won’t lie. It was a pay cut and a morale bruiser but my paychecks don’t bounce! I would cringe when people asked me what I do for a living when before I was proud to exceed their expectations of what women are capable of. But I’m small boned and I have since been diagnosed with early onset osteoarthritis in my spine, a result of having worked like a dog building everything I could get paid well to for almost 15 years. So now I’m grateful I’m not beating my body up just to prove that I can do what men can do, only better! And I was also fortunate to have purchased my house by myself when I was just 24 years old, having saved up some of the good pay I used to shovel in!! My little bungalow was built in 1920 and is located in an urban area near downtown Sacramento with huge trees and a killer park. So I don’t want for much, and I don’t need to abuse myself to make a decent living anymore! In contrast, fashion blogging has been purely a pleasure. I am new at this, having only seriously started blogging a few months ago, and if I never make any money doing it that would be fine! But as I have been collecting vintage clothing for over 20 years I’d love to be able to sell some of that to other vintage lovers out there too! You can’t put a price on the value of the connections and camaraderie I experience by sharing what I love most: building, restoring and celebrating life through my vintage style filter!  
  
70s Midi Dress, Joseph Magnin, $4 Sacramento Antique fair last week
Contemporary fake fur capelet, $15 Citizen Rosebud a few weeks ago
70s plastic cameo choker, $8 Sacramento Antique fair fair last week
Fake pearl and ab rings, $1 each Sacramento Antique fair fair last week
Bakelite dome ring, $20 ebay a few years ago
70s pull on boots, $4 thrift town, last seen here
         

Color Me, Annimal!!

Stanimal has really outdone himself this time!! He has created a coloring page of me in our living room just for fun!! Please check out the color me annimal link on the sidebar to your right!! And don't worry about coloring within the lines, cuz you're just a jump and a click away from making me and mine any colors you please!! Enjoy!!!

Take that, player hater!

A few days ago I was merrily visiting other blogs and had several tabs open on my browser when the facebook tab showed activity. Could it be a message, a party invite, something cool? Not even, as I was greeted with a comparison to a senior citizen in obnoxious clothing:

My friend says: Check out Ann throwing down for a $75 Thrift Town shopping spree. Maybe you should enter the contest too!

Anonymous Player Hater Says: I'm sure she's really nice and the outfit does have some appeal, but she kinda looks like Mrs. Howell from Giligan's Island. I'd like to see something that looks more like fashion and less like a costume. IMHO, of course.

Annimal says: I take that as a major compliment!! Even if you didn't mean it as one!!! I live my life like one big costume party, and I dress up every day!!!

My friend says: Fashion IS costume.

Annimal says: Thanks!! I know I scorch some retinas but I'll keep dressing loud!! I think I just got inspired for my next next blog post!!!

Anonymous Player Hater Says: Go for it! It's like polka dots. I appreciate them on other people, but they're a bit much for me. No insults intended. I love bright colors. MY PERSONAL taste is to just use a splash here and there. Sorry if my smart-assedness ruffled any boa feathers. :-)

Boy I’m sure glad I got this anonymous person’s input! But no matter, as I have been selected to win the $75 Thrift Town Gift Certificate!! Here’s to not playing it safe, eh?!!!

My niece Ronda and I are wearing matching dresses that we both thrifted at different Thrift Town locations unbeknownst to each other!! When Ronda arrived at my house wearing her twin dress I quickly produced mine and we posed for photos to submit to the Thrift Town contest along with my original entry!! As this entry “took it over the top” according to Kari, the gift certificate is Ronda’s to keep!

It's a Spring Thing!

I never met a 70s novelty print I didn’t like, and this dress was no exception. It was in very sad shape when I adopted it from the thrift store last summer. The bodice was stretched out, it had shredded spaghetti straps and many small holes in the hemline. I felt sorry for this poor abused frock, so I took it in on the sides, removed said sad straps and brought up the hem enough to disguise the holes in it. She has flitted around repeatedly since then, recently making her first appearance of the season. Sunshine on my shoulders makes me very happy indeed!
70s owl print dress, $6 thrifted last year
Moroccan leather and brass belt, $15 ebay several years ago
BGBG girls studded leather sandals, $20 Citizen Rosebud sale
Bad ass triple chain earrings, $8 Porkchop Rules via Crimson and Clover

I'm double down with denim!!

Double denim, the "texas tuxedo". I gotta admit I've been committing this particular fashion faux pas for awhile now, blissfully unaware that it is in fact considered a "don't"! Not that doin' a "don't" has ever stopped me before! I wear a vast array of jean jackets constantly, and this 70s child's toughskins jacket has been in heavy rotation for years. I couldn't button it closed if my life depended on it but that's fine by me, better to show off my shirt and vintage pendant!! The jean skirt is built by Wendy for Wrangler, but I built this entire outfit for Wendy Brandes as she is currently rounding up images of double denim duds!
70s child's toughskins jacket , thrifted cheaply many years ago
Jean skirt, Built by Wendy for Wrangler, purchased half off at Crossroads TC $7.50 several years ago
Gray tights, hue $8 Macy's last year
Purple turtleneck top, Michael Stars, $4 thrifted last year
70s Snake print boots, $40 ebay several years ago
70s Sarah Coventry pendant, $15 ebay several years ago
70s sunglasses, thrifted long ago last seen here