Vintage sky blue nylon scarf: Gift from a dear vintage loving friend ♥
Faux pearl stud earrings: Claire's
Frugal Frocks in Armstrong, B.C. (who I profiled in this post last year)
Navy blue thin knit shrug: Sears
Hell Bunny Constance vintage style dress: JBR Clothing
Dark blue faux leather belt: Unknown, had for years (possibly Joe Fresh)
Vintage white lace gloves: eBay
Lux de Ville Bon Voyage Black & White Sparkle Kiss Lock Purse: JBR Clothing
Black seamed nude stockings: eBay
Dark blue faux patent leather pumps: Payless
Lip colour: Clinique Raspberry Glace
Photography by Tony Cangiano
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This past weekend was an uber busy one (during which I slipped in a few moments to take the photos seen here today on a lovely spring blossom adorned pathway in downtown Penticton), as I scuttled about the nearby city of Kelowna sourcing some seriously awesome items for my Etsy shop. These include – but are not limited to - a black Victorian mourning caplet embellished with sequins and seed beads, multiple pairs of vintage leather gloves, several Victorian to 1950s brooches (and pairs of earrings), a WW2 sweetheart ring, and two early twentieth century necklaces, all of which I'll be photographing this month and adding to the shop over the summer.
This was one of my most success weekend of sourcing for the shop here locally to date and I'm hoping that the same kind of luck will continue when we're in Vancouver soon. How soon? We'll we'll be hosting anchor (okay, turning over the engine - but "hoisting the anchor" sounds so much more exotic and exciting, don't you think?) bright and early this Friday and will be gone for a week. Just as when we were in Calgary last year, my mom will be house sitting and tending to our cat, Stella, while Annie - our now 1.5 year old (crazy, I know!) dog will be residing at a local boarding kennel that she just loves (she's uber social and adores that she gets to have a holiday, too, and hang out with several fellow canine companions for a few days).
While Tony is immensely hard at work at tech event there for most of that time, so long as my health cooperates, I'll be dividing my days between hunting for vintage treasures, visiting local sites, and hopefully getting some much needed R&R in a city I love passionately, but haven't been to in nearly seven and a half years now. While I'm away, I've lined up some seriously exciting guest posts from some of my favourite vintage and fashion bloggers in the whole wide world for you to enjoy in lieu of my own posts for a few days. (There will be another new post from me here on the morning of the June 6th, the day we leave for Vancouver, and then I plan to start blogging again myself on the 14th or 15th, once we're home from our travels.)
Believe it or not, this will be the first time in Chronically Vintage's more than five years of life that I've ever had guest bloggers before. I'm super excited about it and really want to thank all those who have supplied me with posts to keep the blog buzzing in my week-long absence.
Though I certainly lucked out on the vintage finding front last weekend, none of those items are headed for my own closet, they're all land in the shop in the coming weeks. My wardrobe was bolstered recently however by the wonderful addition of my first two pieces from the online US powerhouse of vintage reproduction and rockabilly fashion that is JBR Clothing.
I've been chatting with some of the lovely folks there about a collaboration for a while now and it was decided that a product review, plus an exclusive coupon code for my readers, would be an ideal way to go. I was kindly permitted to select from a number of JBR's offerings, and happily settled upon the gorgeous - and unexpectedly, subtly, and rather fabulously goth (look closely at the toil pattern, there are skulls and owls interspersed between the other design elements) Constance Dress from Hell Bunny and the uber cool Lux de Ville Bon Voyage Black & White Sparkle Kiss Lock Purse.
Neither of these products are currently in stock at JBR, but don't let that put you off them of their awesome offerings for the tiniest of moments. With a roster of brands in their inventory such as Stop Staring!, Hell Bunny, H&R London, B.A.I.T Footwear, Bettie Page, Folter, Lucky 13, Sourpuss Clothing, Unique Vintage, Voodoo Vixen, and Besame Cosmetics amongst scores of others, there is no short of swoon-worthily amazing vintage inspired, vintage repro, pinup girl, rockabilly, and psychobilly offerings to pique the interest of vintage and alt fans the world over.
This is my second Hell Bunny dress (and first from JBR) and I was/am thoroughly impressed with it. Made of a soft, but certainly not flimsy cotton, it is comfortable, breathable, and beautiful. The fit is true, the length ideal (for me at least), the colours vivid, and the cut of the garment is strikingly mid-century (it has cute little cap sleeves which you can't really see in my photos because of my blue shrug). I've worn this dress twice already and am sure I will sport it often, as it has that highly desirable quality of being able to be dressed up or dressed down to your heart's content.
The other item that I received from JBR Clothing is a gorgeous black and silver sparkle imbued kiss lick Bon Voyage handbag. This purse is extremely well made, durable, roomy, and eye-catchingly attractive. I couldn't stop gazing down at it on the weekend as the sparkles twinkled in the sunlight. Though a fairly heavy, by my personal standards, purse even when empty, the fact that the handles are long enough to allow you to wear it either over your shoulder, on your forearm, or carried by hand helps give you the ability to find the most comfortable option possible and I did find that after a while of wearing it, I didn't notice the weight as much (which is saying a lot, as some of my health problems leave me with very little upper body strength and an inability to carry heavy things for long).
I love both of these great vintage inspired pieces from JBR Clothing and want to sincerely thank the company for sending them my way, as well as for offering my readers the following fantastic coupon code.
If you'd like to add some of JBR Clothing’s reasonably priced items to your own closet - they ship worldwide (with free shipping on any size domestic order and free shipping on international orders over $100) - you can save yourself some dough by using the coupon code CV15.
Each person who takes advantage of it can use this coupon code once on an order of any size they'd like. It is valid between now and July 13, 2014.
As these last couple of days before Vancouver approach, I'm up to my eyeballs in packing and prep (traveling always takes a good dose of both, but even more so when you're chronically ill), which is keeping me on my toes. I'm also bursting with excitement and making sure that I don't push myself so hard that I become too unwell to travel. That's always a risk in such settings for me, but one that I'm determined not to have happen. My bags are half packed, my house thoroughly cleaned (I never like to leave for a trip without doing a top-to-bottom house cleaning first so that when I return I can just recouped, work through the inevitable flare-ups that traveling causes me, and not worry about dusting, sweeping, folding laundry or anything of that domestic nature for a while), and I've even got my road trip outfit picked out and freshly pressed.
It's so exciting to be headed out on the open highway again and I very much look forward to sharing all about our grand adventures in Vancouver with you here once we're home again - with a bit of luck, accompanied by oodles of cool new vintage finds for my Etsy shop and perhaps one or two special items for myself as well! :)
