Holly Harp

Today at the monthly Sacramento antique fair I crossed paths with this lovely Holly's Harp gown. The seller parted with it for $50, and it's a really nice piece I already enjoy wearing. It's no surprise that the bias cut cuddles the figure as Holly Harp is known for romantic goddess construction. I included a scan from People magazine February, 1977, featuring Holly Harp and celebrity friends wearing her designs.

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

We are the vintage clothing preservation society

It's a cause near and dear to my heart, the preservation of fine vintage clothing! We are proud members of the vintage clothing preservation society, with over 20 years of manically haunting thrift, flea and church sale alike. Hoarding is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but that's ok with us. Esteemed vintage clothing seller Denise Brain put it well in a blog post she did several years ago about saving the maxi dresses. Also making a convincing argument to preserve and stay long is fantastic blogger and shop owner extraordinaire Nicole of Crimson and Clover (and dig vintage, and flaming hag folkwear!! ) fame who wears maxis with aplomb! If the vintage clothing has survived decades intact it should stay intact. I will professionally alter to fit and if the hem has been carelessly taken up crooked ( as is usually the case, grrrr) it has to go up higher to correct. The most heartbreaking of all is to see a once beautiful maxi dress chopped off into a tunic length shirt. Anything shorter than 32" from shoulder to hem is a shirt, and this opinion is coming from a short waisted 5' 2" lady!
I thrifted this gem of a dress a few years ago on my birthday! Goodwill was good to me with this $5 treasure. It fits perfectly (length and width!) and it's a novelty print with naked ladies splayed throughout. It was made by San Francisco Dress Works, est. 1971 A.D. I'm wearing it with thrifted pull up faux patent boots I got at thrift town for $4. Also included over the gown is a favorite custom made velvet trench coat I found on ebay and won for $40 several years ago. I'd cry to see either maxi garment get chopped as they are in such good shape. I thrifted these sunglasses so long ago I can't remember where! They are 70s cool ray by polaroid. My necklace is a 70s cameo I fished out of a huge pile of tangled up jewelry at the local antique fair, $3 (down from $5, a discount for my effort!).