Cha cha heels

Today’s outfit brought to you by the letter B, as in Bella of Citizen Rosebud. You know she has a killer blog showcasing her fearlessly fantastic style, but did you know she sells on etsy now too? Well now you do! I bought this brocade top as I knew it would be a nice addition to my obscenely gluttonous wardrobe! The upcoming Divine documentary has reminded me to wear my cha cha heels more, precisely because nice girls don’t. Can you think of a better reason than that?

vintage 60s springolator cha cha heels also worn here
Black Springolator pumps $10 Sacramento antique fair a few years ago

Top Ten!

Becka of Smashingbird fame has bestowed upon me the top ten blog award! I am paying this award forward to 10 bloggers who are stylish and inspiring (and I wanna know what stuff they use to look so gorgeous!).
Desiree
Pull Your Socks Up!
Sarah
Misfits Vintage
Jennie
Frocktasia
Carrie
Carried Away with Vintage Gourmet
Bella
Citizen Rosebud
Helga
Helga Von Trollop
Kerry
Fashion Farms and Freedom
Anika
By Anika
Dusk
The Dusk Zone
Nikki
Little Bits of NikkNakk
I am asked to divulge my top ten beauty products, so here goes:
T3 tourmaline flat iron, great coarse mane wrestler.
Coco Mademoiselle perfume, I tried the rest, it's still the best.
Mac foundation brush (I used cheapo drugstore foundation but the brush is the best tool to apply it with).
Mac eyeliner brush with Mac fluidline eyeliner.
Maybelline stiletto mascara.
Hask pure shine hair grease.
Kms molding paste.
Neutrogena 90 spf sunscreen.
Olay definity face lotion.
Revlon nail hardener.
Outfit details:
70s cotton flower dress, $12 Kerry via Crimson and Clover
60s beaded crochet bag, $20 Smashingbird Vintage via Etsy
Modern new bcbg sandals, $25 Citizen Rosebud sale
80s Express belt, thrifted cheaply many years ago

Unexpected gifts and random acts of radness!

I won two blogger awards, a blog contest, and got surprise gifts in the mail! Hot damn, instead of sittin here writing this I should go buy a lottery ticket so I can quit my day job!! First off I was recognized for my thrifty outfit savvy by none other than Debbie Baker Burns of Thrifty Girl Vintage! She bestowed upon me the blogger luxury award. Check out her blog and see how she makes a dollar holler, Kentucky style! Next up the lovely Greek goddess Dimi of Little Witches/Tiny Wizards awarded me the irresistibly sweet blogger accolade! Being that Dimi is so very sweet herself I am very honored!! Then I was randomly selected to win a gift certificate to Smarty Cats etsy store by the adorable Nikki of Little Bits of NikkNak! Nikki is a local girl who makes bein a lil bit look so good! I had the pleasure of hangin with her at blogger meet ups and I am stoked to be her friend. Check out her online shop too, she is parting with killer clothes and accessories you may need to adopt!! Speaking of adopting, I was perusing Smashingbird's etsy shop and had to make a vintage turquoise beaded purse mine. Well, as a bonus for being her first etsy sale I got a surprise hat, shirt, and ring too! This recognition has been the icing on an already totally sweet cake! Thanks to my friends in blogland for making the magic happen!
70s Hawaiian maxi dress, $6 Goodwill thrifted a few years ago
60s atomic ring, Smashingbird bonus gift, FREE, WHEE!!
60s repurposed aurora borealis ring, Smarty Cats etsy gift, FREE, WHEE!!
Modern new bcbg sandals, $25 Citizen Rosebud sale
60s beaded raffia purse, thrifted cheaply a long time ago
50s bakelite ring, $20 ebay last year
60s cha cha aurora borealis bracelet, $16 crimson and clover last year
70s green glitter sunglasses, $20 ebay a few years ago

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
         

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