While all of you in the South or on the West Coast are frolicking in strapless dresses and having picnics in the park, Chicagoans are still having to wear wool coats. Yes, it's Spring and it's still in the 30s here. Allegedly it's going to be in the 50s and 60s later this week but of course that also means rain!It's hard to stay motivated to create fun and practical outfits in this 'inbetween' season, today I felt extra lazy and wore my Christmas dress (bought to wear on Christmas 2010) and a bright yellow light wool coat. The coat was found last summer at the Salvation Army and was only 3 dollars! Thrift tip: Shop for clothes in the offseason, when it's 100 degrees out most people don't want to touch wool thus prices are cheap and coats are plentiful!
Since the coat is so bright I usually wear it with a neutral dress (brown, cream) but decided to be wild and pair it with red paisley print instead. I also remixed accessories from the '70s outfit, been wearing these boots and belt quite often lately.
Yes, those are my REAL (prescription) glasses. It's amusing to me that big, nerdy glasses are now considered fashionable-- I've worn glasses since the age of 10 and always feel nerdy (in a bad way) whenever I wear them. Usually I wear my contacts but every once in a while I'll wear my cateyes.About my glasses: They are deadstock plastic 1950s cateye frames. When I first wanted a vintage pair, shops like Labrabbit Optics didn't exist. I looked to etsy and was fortunate enough to find a local Chicago seller that allowed me to try on a variety of frames before purchasing. Then I went to a small optical show downtown (larger places like Pearle Vision don't work with vintage frames) and had my prescription put into them. Vintage frames are much more cost effective than new frames, the frames cost $40 and the lenses were $90, so a third of what I used to pay for new glasses.
I'm mad for brooches and these 2 German pins are definitely my quirkiest. They were found at Buffalo Exchange and seem like they're vintage, I'm guessing 60s or 70s? It's hard to tell with souvenirs as they don't change much over the years. The top is a cuckoo clock with a little badge of the town it's from "Schwarzwald" (Black Forest where cuckoo clocks are made!) and the Pretzel is from Munchen (Munich). I thought it was curious that a little white radish was dangling off the pretzel but upon doing some research found that it's common for sliced white radish to be served with soft pretzels in Germany.
Outfit Details:1960s Sunshine Yellow Wool Coat: Salvation Army, Chicago1960s Paisley Cotton Dress: Very Best Vintage, ChicagoCalvin Klein Boots: Buffalo Exchange, Chicago1970s Purse: Village Thrift, ChicagoLeather Belt: Brown Elephant Thrift, ChicagoGerman Pins: Buffalo Exchange, Chicago1950s glasses: Etsy1960s Telephone Charm Bracelet: Consignment Shop, Evanston
I found this 1960s telephone charm bracelet at a funny little overpriced consignment shop in Evanston. All of the items in the store were pretty contemporary and expensive so I was shocked to find this 1960s bracelet for a low price. I'd seen a similar bracelet at a flea market last summer but couldn't afford it at the time. It's from the 1960s and I was told that employees of the phone company (say Pacific Bell) would receive these as a gift. Does anyone know if this is true? I've seen service pins from phone companies so it definitely seems possible.
Don't you love the princess phone charm?