Answering two different festively fun Halloween tags

Much like myself, my good friend Franny (from The Curious Professor Z) is one of those people who absolutely, positively eats, breaths, sleeps and lives for Halloween!

She recently tapped me to answer the Halloween tag, which she was nominated for by Ramona from Just Keep Brains, and given my unending love of October 31st, there was no way I was going to pass up this fun blog tag!

So without further ado, let me jump (skeleton) head into the thirteen delightfully spooky questions in this great seasonal questionnaire! 

Thirteen Spooktastic Halloween Tag Questions!

1. Favorite Halloween song? There are a lot of faves in this camp for me, but top billing to goes to Thriller from Michael Jackson. I have an annual tradition wherein I try to listen to it at least once a day throughout the full month of October and then multiple times on the big night itself.





2. Witches or Vampires? Love, and have gone as both for Halloween over the years, but at the end of the day, I've got to give my vote to witches.




3. Favorite thing about Halloween? Everything!!! :) Not even kidding there - but for some of the top reasons why this day makes me off-the-charts gleeful, see this fun post from last year.




4. Halloween party or scary movie marathon? Halloween party all the way!!! We usually host one for our nearest and dearest each All Hallows' Eve and will be doing the same again this year. I can hardly wait!!!




5. Skeletons or Zombies? Both are fun, but as a perpetual goth girl at heart, I'll take skeletons, please.




6. Favorite Halloween candy? Caramel apples all the way (they're a staple at our Halloween parties) - I even have a Pinterest board devoted just to them! If we're talking more like candy bars and the like, then I've always really adored Crunchy Bars (which are a cinch to make a home, too, if you have a good recipe for sponge toffee), Reese Peanut Butter Cups, Aeros, and Milky Ways, amongst oodles of others.




7. Favorite Halloween movie? Hands down 1993's Hocus Pocus. I've easily seen it fifty or more times over the years and can't let a single autumn go past with out at least a couple additional viewings.




8. Favorite Halloween costume? That I've worn? Hmm, that's a toughie. Last year's Sinderella (pictured above) is definitely way up there!!!




9. Favorite Halloween store? We don't have Halloween shops around these parts that are open year round and Penticton is too small, the companies that run such deem, to have a pop up Halloween store. Luckily though, the nearby city of Kelowna, an hour away, gets at least three each year, of which Spirit Halloween is my favourite. Beyond that, I always really enjoy the seasonal offerings at Home Sense and Winners, Michaels, Hallmark, Value Village, and Canadian Tire.




10. Jack-o-lanterns, yes or no? Epic yes!!! Classic, painted, intricately carved, faux, light-up, you name it, I adore a good jack-o-lantern!




11. Bats or Black Cats? Uber love both, but darling little chat noirs are going to win here (especially since I've wanted a black cat my whole life!).




12. Is Halloween your favorite holiday? Absolutely, one million percent, no two ways about it, always and forever, yes!!!!!





13. Pumpkin spice latte or hot chocolate? The best of both worlds: Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate!

I’m tagging the following five people to play along and answer these questions, too, if they'd like:

Ally from Shy Biker

Bianca from The Closet Historian

CiCi from CiCi Marie

Jessica from Zella Maybe

Sylvie from Little Corporate Goth Girl

{Please click on any image used throughout this post to be taken to its respective source.}

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This month I also thought it would be fun to do the YouTube Halloween challenge, and just put a video with my answers to the question (which I found online here) in it up there yesterday.

Check it out and definitely feel free to play along with this or the other tag above as well, if you'd like. The extra fun thing about these enjoyable online tags is that they're open to anyone and everyone!

With little more than half a month to go until October 31st rolls around again, you can bet you bottom dollar that this is not going to be the last festive post you’ll see from me this year in the slightest.

In fact, most of my entries between now and when I write about what I wore on the big night itself (that will appear sometime in the first week of November) will be heavily Halloween related.

This magical, thrilling holiday comes but once a year and you can rest assured that both Franny and I are making the very most of it while it's here!!! :)


*PS* Truly happy Canadian Thanksgiving wishes and blessings to all of my fellow canucks who are celebrating it today!

Embracing the return of fall's gorgeous colour palette at Vaseux Lake

Outfit details

C. 1930s/40s burgundy felt hat with netting: Garb-Oh Vintage
Creamy white plastic rose stud earrings: Claire's
C. 1940s black plastic hat pin: From another hat that I've had for years
Mid-century vintage amber hued plastic beaded necklace: Thrifted (Salvation Army)
White Stag brand vintage appropriate green floral blouse: Thrifted (Value Village)
Amber yellow plastic bangle bracelet: Unknown, had for years (probably thrifted)
1940s/1950s dark green corduroy skirt: eBay
C. 1980s - 90s brown woven belt: Thrifted (Value Village, if memory serves me right)
Oxblood/burgundy hued faux leather cross body bag: eBay
Nude seamed nude stockings: eBay
Brown 1940s style faux leather pumps: Walmart
Lip colour: MAC Party Line


Photography by Tony Cangiano

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My passion for autumn's resplendent hues is scarcely the kind of secret that one keeps under lock and key. I wait with baited breath for my favourite season to return each year and then jump headfirst in spotting itss palette with gusto!

Summer cooled its heels early this year and we had the nippiest - relatively speaking - Labour Day weekend that I can remember in many years. Whereas most first weeks of September still see countless tourists and residents alike flocking to catch some rays and frolic in the waves at the local beaches, this time around, nary a soul was in the water - it was just too chilly to comfortably swim any longer.

Thankfully though, the weather did perk back up a bit as September progressed and bestowed upon us some deeply gorgeous Goldilocks days, as I like to call them. Those gloriously sunny, soft light filled, subtly warm and all too fleeting days as autumn not-so-subtly waltzes into town and usurps summer.

It was on just such a day that Tony and I captured this gently lit series of photos recently at Vaseux Lake, a modest sized body of water some 25 - 30 minutes south of our town. Though not as prized as a swimming hole as some of the other larger lakes around this part (such as Okanagan and Shaka), it is a breeding ground for local anglers - my husband very much included - who flock to its shores for some terrific local fishing.

We were neither there to swim nor cast our lines, but rather simply paused to enjoy the immense serenity and sweeping beauty of the pristine natural landscape and the near still-as-glass surface of the lake that afternoon.


I woke up in a mood to pair three of my all-time favourite colours, which just happen to be from fall's palette, together and did just that in this burgundy, pine green, and amber yellow hued 1940s inspired ensemble.

Though I wear this fabulous 1940s/50s dark green corduroy skirt often, I hadn't sported it here on my blog for close to 3.5 years, so I felt it was high time to give it a spin on camera again.


It as the starting point for my causal ensemble, which saw the edition of a breathtaking c. 1930s/40s burgundy felt hat hat I purchased earlier this year from the awesome Etsy shop that is Garb-Oh Vintage, along with a timelessly lovely floral print cotton shirt that I thrifted several months ago, a classic brown woven belt (also thrifted), a vintage appropriate oxblood/burgundy hued faux leather cross body bag, mid-century plastic jewelry in amber yellow, my go-to creamy white plastic rose stud earrings, and a pair of 1940s looking brown faux leather pumps that I've had for years, but which are still - knock wood - holding up fabulously well.


Now that Tony is home (not that I couldn't do such on my own, of course, but it is certainly easier with him there), I thought it would be fun to film a new YouTube video outside again, and did just that later in the day (up a hill near where my folks live here in town, not at Vaseux Lake), in this (relatively) quick breakdown of what went into styling my 1940s inspired early fall look.





Though I wasn't aiming for the much adored vintage lady explorer look her per se, I can't help but love that this ensemble has a faint hint of that vibe. I've been wearing this general silhouette - long vintage skirt, button front blouse, modest to wide brimmed vintage hat, and complimentary accessories - big time this summer and fall and really feel like it sums up my tastes in vintage casual fashion massively well at the moment.

As we head further into autumn, I'm sure that I'll keep sporting this silhouette and imagine that it will see me through winter, with tights and further layers added, too. It's comfortable, warm, classic and endlessly versatile - not mention pretty. What's not to adore?

With fall being my favourite time of the year and its palette my most beloved of all the seasons, you can bet this there will be many more autumnal hued ensembles coming down the pipeline in the very near future. I can hardly wait to share many of them with you and am equally excited to see all of the stellar fall looks that you'll be sharing on your blogs and social media.

Autumn may be fleeting, but its hues are eternal and well worth celebrating with our fashion choices while they're in their seasonal element!

My July 2015 vintage thrift haul!!!

As I've said many times here before, and is the case for a lot of folks around the world these days, the vintage thrift scene around these parts has been pretty darn slim for the last several years. It's not uncommon for me to many months or longer, if we take super basic costume jewelry and home decor pieces out of the picture, between when I find vintage items - let alone ones for myself. As such, I haven't had a post like this up here in an age and half!

Last month however, the thrifting gods smiled on me and I found several fabulous vintage - and one vintage appropriate - item for myself, all of which I highlight in this new YouTube video (below) that I made really recently.






I've been trying to thrift a lot lately, when possible, and while the end of July yielded fewer pieces than the start, if things continue to go in my favour on the thrifting front in August and/or September, hopefully I can bring you another video with lots more cool finds down the road in a few more weeks.

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It's truly awesome to be filming again! I've shared two more videos between my "I'm back" one and this thrifting haul, which are 25 random fun facts about myself and a Vintage related, cookbook, and crafting book haul, respectively, so please be sure to check out both of those videos,  too, if you haven't done so already.

Thanks so much for watching this new video, dolls and gents, and again for all of support and encourage regarding my return to YouTube this summer.

Have an awesome Tuesday everyone!!!

What is vintage fusion?

No, it's not a type of top secret Cold War era nuclear technology, nor is it is a blend of cuisines from different eras. Instead, vintage fusion is a term that I coined a while back and have been using in the context of my own life for some time now to very accurately describe my wardrobe, and, I believe, the wardrobes of many vintage fashion wearers the world over.

Like a good deal of you, my closet is a joyful mix of vintage, vintage appropriate, vintage reproduction, 1980s does 1940s and 1950s, and related styles (such as the occasional rockabilly piece). Earlier this month I shared a new YouTube video that broadly outlines what each of these types of clothing is (save for "1980s does" fashions - that's going to be a topic I cover in one or more videos in the future), which if you haven't seen yet, you can watch either below or on YouTube itself.

 


 
In that video, I briefly mentioned the term “vintage fusion” and today I wanted to share more about it here as well. In a way, it's rather self-explanatory, but as with most things in life, there's more to it than meets the eye.

I'm a firm believer in a statement that my wise and wonderful friend Sara from the blog Lilies and Remains said in a guest post she wrote for Chronically Vintage a little earlier this year: "It doesn't need to be an authentic age to be an authentic style."

Now, of course, I madly, passionately, immeasurably love vintage clothing and accessories and have no shortage of such things in my wardrobe, but tucked amongst the 1940s crepe frocks, 1950s platter hats, and 1930s novelty brooches, you will find a fairly decent number of pieces that look the vintage part, but in truth are far newer, hailing from the 1970s right on up to being produced in 2014.

I've said it before (such as in the post Dress like a cupcake should feel), but I'll say it again, I am far too eclectic a soul to simply stick with one type of vintage or vintage style clothing and in addition to mixing old and new, old and repro, old and 1980s, and so and so forth, I'm also keen on, sometimes, combining pieces from different decades together to help create a look that intentionally channels the styles and spirit of a given decade or time frame (such as the make do and mend, typically minimalist types of styles seen during the years of WW2).




{A selection of four of the many, many looks I've sported over the years that blend more than one type of vintage and/or vintage-like clothing together to create a unique vintage fusion ensemble.}



In fact, while I have mad love and respect for those who are dyed-in-the-wool vintage purists right down to their ankle garters, it's personally inconceivable to me in the scope of my own wardrobe that I wouldn't blend a variety of different types of fashions from various sources and eras (in which they were created, that is) to put together the types of vintage styles that make my heart skip many a beat.

Vintage fusion takes place anytime you mix two or more types of vintage or vintage style garments and/or accessories together. It is a fabulous, exciting act and one that really has limitless possibilities and ways in which it can be worked and reworked until the cows come home.

There isn't a recipe or magic formula for success when it comes to vintage fusion, because any outfit that you love and feel good in while wearing a resounding success unto itself. However, I would say, that - assuming such is what you're aiming for - the key element it is to bring together an assortment of pieces that all work in beautiful harmony together to create an overall picture of having an authentic vintage look and feel to it.

This can be done, I promise you, with entirely new pieces, a blend of old and new, 1980s does 1940s or 50s and vintage, repro and vintage appropriate - you name it! Shuffle the proverbial deck of sartorial cards and have at 'er! Let the vintage fusion sparks fly and know now, my fabulously lovely and endlessly stylish dears, that there is now officially a term to describe the way in which so many of already dress, if not day in and day out, than at least some the time.

To borrow and slightly adapt an oft used catch phrase from one of America's most beloved domestic goddesses, Martha Stewart, vintage fusion: it's a very good thing!!!

Vintage 365: Those Dancing Flappers!

✯ Day 2 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Last night in an email to my mom, I said to her that I felt like I'd been doing a (very!) happy dance in my head all day. I can't stress enough how elated I am that 2010 is behind us and that the prospect of 12 brand spanking new months is here. Those chipper feelings got me thinking about yesteryear dancing (my favourite kind for sure), and I bopped over to Youtube to go searching for the cheeriest video of vintage dancing I could find.

I think this immensely cool compilation of Flapper era clips fits that bill to an absolute tee! These frocking, gleeful, and wonderfully fashionably dressed gals really do represent the level of excitement I'm experiencing in my soul about the New Year, and hope that they'll help boost your own festive start of January feelings, too! :)