Hair flowers, anchor earrings, anchor cardigan, white top, handbag, black bangle bracelet, and octopus scarf all from Sourpuss Clothing (see post below for links to each product)
White plastic bangle: (I think) Forever 21
Teal plastic bangle: Ardene
Vintage black velvet pencil skirt: Lady Kitschener's Vintage Emporium
Grey tights: (New stock from) Value Village
Black faux suede 1940s-esque pumps: Walmart
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red
Nail colour: Sally Hansen Haunted
Photography by Tony Cangiano
♥ ♥ ♥
The past several weeks, and in particular this last month, have been amongst the busiest, most exciting, and highly activity packed of my adult life. Each day, whether for an hour or, no joke, in some cases, all twenty-four - or anywhere in between those two numbers - I have been pouring myself into my top secret vintage plans, which, I'm thrilled to say, I will be revealing here tomorrow morning.
Long hours and exciting days do not stop once I've unveiled all (not by any stretch of the imagination), but I will at least be able to exhale a bit and learn to weave the activities of this new part of my life, with my usual going on, be they online or off.
In the midst of an action packed weekend, Tony and I took a brief sojourn of sorts up to Kelowna on this past Saturday and visited a gorgeous, expansive local woodland park (part of which, a ways off from where we were on Saturday, includes the area where we shot 2012's Canada Day vintage outfit post) to simply unwind and fill our lungs with a bevy of fresh air, between bursts of chilly rain showers, before heading home for a quick supper and some very much needed sleep.
Due to how busy I've been lately, I've had to scale back on the number of outfit posts I've been doing, as well as the amount of new sponsors I've been partnering with in a product review blog post capacity. A few though, that were just too marvelous not to share with all of you asap have made the cut though, and one that I'm especially thrilled to share with you about here today is Sourpuss Clothing.
Founded in 2001, Sourpuss Clothing has grown into one of the world's best known and most adored sources for rockabilly, pin-up style, and vintage inspired fashions. Their offerings, for both men and women (as well as kids and houseware items), are diverse, vibrant, well made, and seriously fun. I was thrilled when Sourpuss Clothing got in touch and wanted to know if we could collaborate. My personal style typically falls more in line with traditional vintage, but sometimes - interestingly, more frequently as I get older - I feel pulled towards the rockabilly side of things, so I was more than happy to receive and test drive some of Sourpuss Clothing's awesome items.
Sourpuss Clothing's products (which include garments, handbags, jewelry, accessories and houseware items) can be found in bricks and mortar retailers and online shops the world over, including - but certainly not limited to - in the USA, where the brand hails from. For those who don't live nearby to a shop that carries their offerings and/or prefer to shop online from the comfort of your own home, Sourpuss has a rocking website that is chock-a-block full of their seriously cool products that speak instantly to fans of rockabilly, pin-up, old punk kitschy, tiki, retro monsters, and vintage styles.
In addition to carrying a wide selection of their own house line of products, Sourpuss Clothing's website features items from many other brands with similar aesthetics, such as Hell Bunny, Lux De Ville, Kreepsville 666, Iron Fist, and King Kerosin, Lucky 13, Fred Perry, and Lonsdale, amongst others, so one is spoiled for choice (I dare you to visit their site and not feel compelled to create mile long wishlist, a feature that I'm happy to say is built in, should you feel the urge to do just that) and can easily see how Sourpuss has grown into the wonderful alternative clothing powerhouse that they are today.
When discussing partnering together, I suggested the idea of me putting together a colour coordinated outfit to the lovely folks at Sourpuss Clothing and they were on board with that idea, very kindly letting me handpick a selection of pieces that I felt would all work together splendidly in the same look. The photos you see here today feature all of the beautiful pieces that I received from Sourpuss Clothing.
My items were shipped quickly, arrived in a flash from the other side of the world, and were loving packaged, with each piece being individually wrapped in secure plastic, and the whole kit and caboodle being swaddled in tissue paper printed with Sourpuss Clothing's eye-catching skull and crossbones logo. As such, they reached me here on the Pacific coast of Canada in as pristine condition as had I purchased them in person. Each fit true to size and is very well made. I was struck, in particular, but the quality and sense of durability of both the Anchored Cardigan and Pinstripe Backseat Baby Purse.
I'd been jonesing for a more rockabilly style purse for a few years now and this black, teal and silver stunner delivered there big time! Ditto for the cardigan, which toes the line between rockabilly and more traditional vintage perfectly. I could just as easily picture styling it as I've done here today as with everything from a classic 1950s shirtwaist dress or circle skirt to a pair of curving hug capri pants or even my beloved Freddies of Pinewood jeans. It is a soft (72% viscose, 28% nylon), comfortable, quality made nautical themed cardigan that I absolutely, completely adore.
Tucked under by Anchored Cardigan is a Sourpuss Vixen Vintage White Top, which is such a fabulous layering or stand alone piece. It features ruching across the bust (and a little on the torso), delicate ruffled trim, a sweetheart neckline, capped sleeve, and stretchy (95% rayon, 5% spandex) fabric. Comfortable and alluring alike as the day is long, I know that this endlessly versatile white top will see a ton of play in my wardrobe, especially during the sizzlingly hot late spring and summer months we're entering into now.
On my wrist, the black bangle also comes from Sourpuss and is their wonderfully fun Black Tiki Bracelet. I fell for this vintage inspired piece of jewelry the moment I saw it because it reminded me of many a classic carved Bakelite bangle at a massive fraction of the price of what those usually fetch. In fact, this simultaneously cute and chic bangle is currently on sale for just $4.00 (US). Much like the Vixen Vintage Top, I’m certain that this is another piece I'll turn to often because of just how very many outfits it will work splendidly with.
Typically when I come across metal earrings, online or off, I know that - no matter how fabulous looking they may be - for sake for my nickel allergy, I have to avoid them something fierce. You can imagine my genuine delight then when I saw that some of Sourpuss Clothing's earring offerings were listed as being nickel-free. To coordinate with the Anchored Cardigan, I opted for a pair of dainty little gun metal coloured anchor earrings, which I'm pleased as punch to say are indeed nickel-free (I would have gotten an allergic reaction within an hour or two at the most had they contained nickel, which I did not in this case).
I love the versatility of these sweet little anchor earrings. One can dress them up or down, use them as the sole nautical (or old school tattoo inspired) element of their look or as the finishing touch on an ensemble, such as mine here, that is heavily influenced by the vintage sea. They're also light as a feather, which is perfect for those who aren't wild about heavy earrings.
Tied to the handle of my Pinstripe Backset Baby Purse one finds Sourpuss Clothing's Octopus Rosie Square Scarf, a whimsical, nautical inspired piece featuring a sea of black and white octopuses on a beautiful aqua background that is all kinds of adorable!
This 21 inch x 21 inch square scarf is made from 100% polyester and is both soft and study. I've worn it in my hair a few times since it arrived, but for the day of our shoot, opted to jauntily tie it around the handle of my handbag instead, as I had two gorgeous hair flowers, also both from Sourpuss in my hair. The Aqua Rose Hair Clip and Teal Rose Hair Clip both go marvelously with the Anchored Cardigan and teal hued purse, and are the perfect finishing touches on this vintage meets rockabilly nautical inspired outfit.
To round off the ensemble, I turned to my trusty 1950s black velvet pencil skirt, a pair of grey tights (it was fairly chilly that day), two more plastic bangle bracelets (one white, one teal), and my often worn faux suede 40s style black heels with their classic bows on the vamps. Each piece that I very kindly received from Sourpuss Clothing was a joy to style and as I was doing so, I was already thinking of other items in my closet that they would would smashing with, so it's a safe bet to say you'll be seeing each of these pieces again in future outfit posts.
I really want to thank Sourpuss Clothing for their generosity and desire to team up with me for this fabulous multi-item product review and outfit post. I had a wonderful, hassle-free time corresponding with them and feel that their customer service is on par with the best I've yet to encounter online. I genuinely love and objectively have nothing but positive things to say about all of the Sourpuss Clothing I received. Their pieces are reasonably priced, comfortable, good quality, and such a smile-inducing blast to wear.
Should you be hankering for some stellar Sourpuss Clothing offerings of your own, head on over to their website, where you can currently save 10% off all orders of any size when you use coupon code CHRONIC at checkout between May 5th and August 5, 2014. (Note, this coupon code is not valid on gift certificates and cannot be combined with other offers.)
It's hard to believe that by this time tomorrow, by ultra secret plans will be revealed at long last. I'm so looking forward to it and can't wait to let all of you know what I've been so very busy with lately. Join me in watching the ticker on the right hand sidebar here as it counts down these final hours and minutes until that happens, and in my excitement about my big news, which is beyond worth all of the time and energy I've been pouring into it.
As I foresee another 24+ hour day on the horizon today, I'll wrap up here for now, but not before sincerely thanking all of you for your support, encouragement and understanding (including about the fact that I haven't been online as much as usual lately) as I've been plugging away so diligently at my secret plans these days. It means more to me than I can put into words and has truly helped make these past few weeks a lot more enjoyable and easier to get through for me.
Until tomorrow, my darlings! :)
