The Winnipeg Vintage Landscape is Changing!

The other day I updated and streamlined my "My Home" Tab up there by my header (check it out! it's so much easier to navigate now!) and I started to click the other tabs up there too (I occasionally like to surf through my own blog to make sure it looks good and there are no funky links etc...). As I was doing so I noticed how out of date my "Winnipeg Vintage Reviewed" tab is!

So I got to thinking about the retail vintage clothing scene here. With the rise in popularity of vintage clothing these days more and more shops are popping up and the old tried and true shops are having to make some changes to keep up!
Not only is Ragpickers undergoing a management overhaul. (They're switching from a single owner business to being a co-op), but it's also leaving it's current long-time location on McDermot! (read more about it here.) Ragpickers new locations is still currently TBA.

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Furthermore, my old favourite vintage shop Vintage Glory has also gone under a transformation. A move and a new name: Rhymes with Orange.

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I haven't reviewed Ruby Slipper, there's also Hungover Empire, there's Lune Vintage (which I have discovered is open to the Winnipeg public by appointment only), The Closet Chick, and there are more!

I'll bet you know what I'm going to say next!
So the plan is to remedy this out of date information. My hope is to review a new shop once a month starting in February.

And this is where the audience participation comes in!
If you know of a shop in Winnipeg (or the surrounding area!) that sells vintage and used clothing let me know! I'd love to visit and do a review!

Lisa.xo

Style Inspiration: Gwen Stefani

You all know how much I love Dita Von Teese, but I never talk about my other style inspiration: Gwen Stefani.

Now Dita might be the ultimate in vintage inspiration, but Gwen's style might be a little more like my own: a mix of modern and vintage.

I love her fearlessness. This woman could wear a torn paper bag covered in glitter and look like a million bucks.

Sorry, this post is picture heavy. I couldn't narrow it down.

Classic

My continued obsession with pink hair. I really want pink hair.  

 This look is obviously not for everyone, but these were the days where I fell in love with this woman's style.

 Love this hair. A different approach to braids. 

 Pink! Love the necklace. 

 She might be the only woman on the planet who can make track pants look cool. I would look like a dumpy loser in these. 

 This look feels a little Debbie Harry to me . Truth be told, I really love tough looks as much as I love feminine ones.

 <3. 

 Love this hair. The sweater is pretty neat too. 

 If I have kids I want to look this cool. 

 Underneath it all video. Love Love Love the styling on this one. Gwen looks stunning in every shot.

Do you love Gwen? Lukewarm? Hate? Weigh in. I'd love to hear what you think of her style.

Lisa.xo

Beautiful New Dress (and some hats!)

I made a little trip to Ruby Slipper (a local vintage shop) this weekend to consign some things I had hanging around and left with a few other things...oops! lol!

What can I say? They were on sale!

The cutouts on this dress are so beautiful and it had this train in the back...oh! it's just too good. Plus it was only $20. See what I mean? Sale!
Besides...this is so much better than the stuff I left to consign.

I also came home with three new hats. Two 40's tilt hats and a vintage beret.

Lisa.xo

My Mad Men Begonia Dress is Fixed!

At long last! The wait was worth it! My friend Jen fixed my Mad Men Begonia Dress. If you don't remember, go back and read this post for a reminder on why I had to have this dress altered.
I couldn't be happier with it. It fits perfectly now.

Black Rose Earrings: Aldo Accessories

Black Blazer: Forever 21

Vintage Blue Brooch: Thrifted? Can't remember...

Mad Men Begonia Dress: Banana Republic

40's Suede Pumps: Vintage Glory

50's Patent Pure: Ragpickers

Lisa.xo

Work, Work, Work

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Above is a photo of the theatre I'm currently working at. 

Here's a quick breakdown of how my days have been this week:

7:00am - Wake up and get ready for work

8:00am - Leave the house for work. Drive partway and park my car in a mall parking lot (to save parking money)

8:35am - Catch bus the rest of the way downtown. 

9:00am - Arrive at work. Set up rehearsal hall with other Assistant Stage Manager (ASM).

10:00am - Rehearsal Starts. Work hard all day.

6:00pm - Rehearsal Ends. Then clean up rehearsal hall. Send notes to appropriate departments. Send next day's schedule to actors.

6:30pm-ish - Catch bus to car at mall.

6:50pm-ish- Let my car warm up (it's freaking cold here right now!) and drive home.

7:15pm-ish - Arrive home and start cooking dinner. Eat dinner. Clean up dinner.

8:15-ish - Get lunch and clothes ready for the next day.

8:45pm-ish - Lay on the couch with The Boy and try not to fall asleep.

10:00pm-ish - Peel myself off the couch, shower, get ready for bed and go to bed

AND REPEAT. (do this from Monday to Saturday. Try to enjoy Sundays off)

Long days huh? So now you understand. Or at least I hope you do. 

I love my job, but it is a bit tiring when we're in rehearsal.

Lisa.xo

Wishlist: High Waisted Jeans

I would really appreciate some input on this one ladies. I have wanted a pair of high waisted jeans for a long while and am too afraid to commit to something.

I would like a pair of repros. I know there are a lot out there, but I have smaller waist (28") and a much bigger booty (39"). To top that off I am high waisted (most high waisted pants hit me about an inch or two below my bellybutton) and I'm on the shorter side (I'm 5'3") with an inseam of about 30".

There is no place in Winnipeg (that I know of. if there is do tell!) that sells high waisted, vintage style jeans (and I'm talking 40's/50's style, not 70's).

So I keep thinking my only hope is the internet. Here is where my fear comes in. I'm afraid to buy a pair of jeans online, only to have them show up and not fit, then go through the hassle of trying to return something through the mail.

This is where I direly need your input readers. If you have bought a pair of high waisted jeans online and had success please share your experience with me! Or alternately, if you've had a bad experience I'd like to hear that too.
And if you live in Winnipeg and know of some fabulous place that I am not aware of, speak out!

Just to give you all an idea of what I like, here are a few I've had my eye on:

I really like these Pedal Pushers from Freddies of Pinewood.

Selvedge Jeans, also from Freddies of Pinewood.

Found these ones the other day over at Daddy O's:

Love these 50's Style Skinny High Waisted Jeans from Bernie Dexter (and they come in black!):

Please, please help me. I'm too afraid to help myself. Jeans are so particular aren't they?

Lisa.xo

Bedroom Reveal!

Here's the moment you've all been waiting for! (At least I hope so! lol!) I finally got around to taking some photos of our newly painted bedroom yesterday. Yay!

Here it is: Ta Da!

Ok. Here's the part where I confess. That navy blob hanging over our window is not the drapery panels which I told you we would be hanging this past Monday. It's a sheet we've pinned to the window. The panels we have are lined, but we feel that we also need something else to block the light at night. And of course, The Boy and I cannot agree on what to put up yet. So we haven't hung up the drapes I have for this room. 

So the window is the last thing to be finished in here. 

My goal is to have something picked and in place by mid February. We'll see how that goes...

Anyway, it's really amazing what a coat of paint can do for a room. Nothing has really changed in here except the paint, the new art above the bed (and soon the window treatment). Somehow this blue has made our cedar wall seem a lot cooler and I don't even mind the furniture as much with this wonderful colour around it either.

The chair in the shot above was bought at an antique store I lived beside in Osborne Village when I was in University. I bought it in that cream colour. It was my desk chair for a long time.

I bought these lovely vanity items at Good will for $5 (for both!) and have been saving them for my end table.

And finally, a shot into the hallway. I love the way the blue and green look together. With the winter months being so long here in Manitoba, The Boy and I consciously picked a palette of blues, greens and browns for our house to remind us of summer. It does the trick I think!
 And you also may notice the art which formerly hung above our bed has migrated to the hall where the proportion is much better. And it echoes the blue back in which I like.

And as always, here's what the room looked like (unmade bed and all!) at the end of 2011.

And what it looked like when we moved in. Please take note of the horrid pink overhead light (all of our bedroom lights are positioned in the corner of the room), and the random glass shelf hanging above the end table (there were random small shelves hanging everywhere in this house when we moved in! Weird).

And for those of you wondering what my drapes look like. Here they are:

photo borrowed from Amazon.com

They're Umbra Concerto Panels in Pewter (which I have discovered are discontinued, but you can still buy them on Amazon.com).

So as usual, I will take some more photos once we've got this window thing figured out and do some more show and tell.

Lisa.xo

New Old 50's Cardigan

Shopping for vintage is defiantly my vice in life. I got paid yesterday and in order to "reward" myself for my new job I bought myself a new dress and cardigan from Ragpickers yesterday.
I probably could have bought myself a new pair of boots with the money I spent on the clothes. Oh well...

I stand by my choices...
There will be time for new boots later...

Anyway, enough of that. Here's my pretty new cardigan:

Vintage Drop Earrings: Thrifted

50's Beaded Cardigan: Ragpickers

Polka Dot Tee: Thrifted

Black Skinny Jeans: Forever 21

Brogues: Aldo

For those of you waiting for pictures of our bedroom. You'll have to wait a few more days. It's dark when I get home from work and there has been no time or light for pictures. I'm hoping to take them tomorrow and post early next week.

Other than that, work has been great this week. Rehearsals start on Monday. It's always an exciting day. I can't wait!

Have a good weekend!

Lisa.xo