Hello, hello I'm back again!!

Did you miss me? I've been MIA but have a good excuse as of late! I, along with my friend Danielle rescued a two week old kitten! We were at the Stockton flea market last week and there he was, laying in a cardboard box in desperate need of mother's milk. We sped off on a mission of mercy, buying kitten formula and stopping at the spca for guidance. A foster effort quickly became an adoption as my husband and I welcome the wee tabby boy into our home where Garloo will have two big brothers and a big sister too! He's a pound of fun and got in on the action for my latest outfit post!! The Mod Male himself requested a photo of my scalloped jacket as he posted a similar outfit on his blog recently. So here it is, and if you wanna git down with some killer mod men style, you know where to click!
60s Penelope of Carmel suede jacket, thrifted many years ago $3
60s wet look mini dress, ebay many years ago $25
60s-70s thigh high suede boots, ebay many years ago $40
60s Pucci velvet purse, ebay two years ago, $200
60s Italian sunglasses, ebay last year, $40
Bakelite ring, a few weeks ago at the Sacramento Antique Fair, $45

Outfit inspiration: The Abominable Snow Monster

Our region's semblance of a cold winter is upon us, so I have been wearing this fuzzy jacket to keep toasty warm. In doing this, I was fondly reminded of the Abominable Snow Monster from the classic 1964 stop motion animation Christmas special, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. I always had a soft spot for the Abominable Snow Monster, he's just lonely and hungry out there in the bitter cold ass North Pole! In the true spirit of the holiday season, I like to overlook the Abominable Snow Monster's ferocious flaws and focus on what a cute beast he really is!

May your holidays be filled with loveliness warmth and cheer, thanks so much for visiting Annimal House this year!

Love,
Annimal and Stanimal


70s furry beast coat, $15 thrifted 5 years ago
Vintage 70s mini dress, $30 ebay a few weeks ago, also worn here
Cheapo vinyl gray shoes with carbon fiber look, $16 ebay last month
Vintage Furry purse, $15 ebay last month
60s sunglasses, $5 Sacramento antique fair a few years ago

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.

Crimson and Clover, over and over!

Gonna sound like a broken record but guess what? I love Crimson and Clover! Still do, and have since they opened shop or rather, reopened what was also once another vintage clothing boutique. They are located close to my werk so I like to hit em up on the regular. It's pretty embarrassing to admit but last year I went there two days in a row one time! BUT, I found the raddest upholstery fabric that Nicole just put out on that second trip! My sad ass target ottoman was wrecked and needed a rebuild. I'm pleased with the results and it was eight bux very well spent!

70s hat, twenty bux on ebay
70s dress and 60s bracelet, 20 bux and 16 bux respectively, Crimson and Clover
70s spacey ring, gift with purchase from Smashingbird!!
70s cork ans leather sandals, 10 bux Sacramento Antique Fair last month, seen purchasing here

Another trip to the Anntique Fair!

All the usual vintage clothing and accessory hoarding you have come to expect, now on film! Today I shopped at our monthly antique fair and took direction from Stanimal to produce this hard hitting mini documentary! Scores caught in action include a 60s psychedelic dress for $5, a Miss Magnin for I Magnin dress for $10, a descoware mini oven, super mini oven, super big au gratin and small au gratin all in good condition for $20, 2 60s plastic blob lamps for $40 and $45 each, and an orange funky snack set from the 70s for $40. Also I nabbed a green plastic purse made of links for $10 and another velvet printed clutch for $10, both 60s or 70s era. There is gonna be more where this foolishness came from cuz we had fun and are just getting started!

Head over heels

I completely fell head over heels in love when I saw this crazy printed dress. I’m a sucker for a novelty print especially of the psychedelic variety. My obsessive, er, diligent ebay searching has brought many odd and lovely things into my life and this funky little number is certainly no exception! The print is amazing and the cut is equally inventive, coupling a corset front with a long and short sleeve hybrid I had never before seen. It also boasts the best in synthetic fabric types, a silky feel that is totally machine washable. I expect to get a lot of wear and many stares outta this one!
60s maxi dress, $65 ebay last month
60s beige cut out suede go go boots, $50 ebay several years ago
60s-70s green furry hat, $25 ebay last month
60s Italian sunglasses, $10 Sacramento antique fair last year

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

Crème de Menthe

Another mention of our local monthly antique and collector’s fair as I'm wearing a dress I bought there last month for $5. Mint colored 60s lace dress in minty condition? Yes, please! Also wearing leather late 60s/early 70s lace up go go boots. This outfit was tested out on the dance floor at a recent Fleshtones/Troublemakers show, and it held up to the boogie rather nicely. I need to be able to move with the groove so not all outfits make the cut!
Mint colored 60s cotton lace dress, $5 antique and collector’s fair last month
Late 60s/early 70s lace up go go boots, $50 ebay about 10 years ago
Vintage enamel pendant signed Inga, $15 ebay a few months ago
Goldielocks the cat, adopted us last year, priceless

Lady in waiting

When I read about the Celia Birtwell line for Express in 2008 I was skeptical but intrigued. As I work within walking distance to the mall which had (has?) an Express store I popped in for a look. I liked the fit of the dress and the print, and the quality was not as bad as I thought it would be but I wasn’t kickin down $128 either. I jotted down a note for things I look for on ebay and forgot about it. Then about a year later I looked for it online and found it brand new for $30 including shipping. I threw down the low bid and no one else jumped in. I’ve worn it a few times since, it’s nice and cool for the sweaty dance night I had planned. If I find something new I like I will lie in wait for it to pop up on ebay for cheap as this dress did. I’d love to get an original someday but wouldn’t have worn it with as much drunken abandon as I wore this repro Saturday night!
Celia Birtwell silk chiffon dress (2008 reproduction) $30 ebay a few years ago
70s Sarah Coventry pendant, $15 ebay several years ago
Mia platform sandals, ebay $65 including shipping last year
70s sunglasses, made in Italy, $8 Sacramento Antique Fair last week
eight ball zucchini squash and lil oranges, growing in my garden

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

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
         

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!

Thrifty Scores for the Win?!

Upon hearing that I could enter a contest sponsored by Thrift Town AND show off a thrifted outfit AND have a chance to win a $75 gift card, I was freakin’ stoked! Sacramento is fortunate enough to have three TT locations, all of which I visit frequently. And I have once been to the San Francisco location, and although it was many years ago I still have the dress I bought. The official rules state that the outfit doesn’t have to be 100% thrifted, but I was able to use four parts thrift town scores to one part ebay and one part Sacramento antique fair. I hope this formula impresses Juniper James, a local blogger whom I had the pleasure to meet recently and who also does the TT blog. Fingers crossed!! This was a fun outfit to build whether or not I win!! But I can’t stop dreaming of the rad stuff I can buy with $75 at thrift town, cuz that money will definitely go a long way there!!

60s brown boots, 4.99 Thrift Town, several years ago
home sewn dress, 3.99 Thrift Town, a few months ago
contemporary pink blouse, 3.99 Thrift Town a few weeks ago
brown tights, new in package, .69 Thrift Town, a few months ago
60s pink furry hat, $10 Sacramento Antique Fair last year
orange furry boa, $25 ebay a few years ago

Hey Kitty

Photo print kitten t shirt, $7 ebay a few years ago
Altered 70s Maverick jeans, $2 thrift store in Texas about 5 years ago
Black Springolator pumps $10 Sacramento antique fair a few years ago
Wide white leather belt, $25 Florence, Italy 6 years ago
Angora cardigan, thrifted about 8 years ago can't remember where or how much
silver cha cha bracelet, $10 ebay a couple years ago
pink wrap bracelet, $1 garage sale a couple years ago