Twelve posts for twelve months

This past Sunday Chronically Vintage celebrated its first birthday, a merry occasion that couldn’t help but start my week off on a very upbeat note. Many of you left the sweetest of comments in regards to this anniversary, and I sincerely want to thank you all for your beautiful words – it was joy to commemorate such a fun day with each of you!

On Monday, in the midst of running errands and doing nine loads of laundry (which, with any luck, will finished getting folded and put away today – while in the meantime our cat, Stella, has fun playing Queen of the Hill atop a mound of freshly washed and dried linens and clothing!), I began to think about the many wonderful (if I may humbly say so) posts that have filled the past year of this blog’s life and continued to reflect upon about them throughout the week.

Some were short and sweet, other long and informative; no matter what, each of them included at least one image. To date (excluding this one) 261 posts have appeared within the pages of this site. Amongst them it’s hard to whittle down a list of just a few favourites, but I thought it would be blast to look back at twelve posts that stand out in my mind.

As some of you may have guessed, the title of today’s post is a spin on the name of a classic vintage movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but instead of seeking ladies to marry, our posts each pair up with one month in a calendar year (each post having been added to the site in that respective month).

To make this look back at the last year even more fun, I found a fantastically pretty (not to mention alluring!) vintage calendar from 1950 amongst the endlessly lovely offerings that Suzee Que has in her wonderful Flickr stream, and have coupled up each month’s post with a gorgeous pin-up girl.


♥ Looking back at the past year in vintage style ♥


~ January ~



This post launched Chronically Vintage’s popular weekly recipe segment with a homey, old school favourite: Wonderful Wednesday Recipes: Welsh Rarebit.


~ February ~



February was a month of contemplation and realization for me, and many of you helped me through it with you caring, wise advise. This post was my way of acknowledging the wonderful support I was blessed to receive from my readers: You have all helped me to see the forest for the trees, thank you!.


~ March ~



Chronically Vintage went as Irish as a shamrock in March with a round of well known historical figures who hailed from the Emerald Isles: Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with vintage photos of famous Irish people.


~ April ~



Thoughts of springtime renewal, growth and the rhythm of life gave way to a post about the beauty of gardening with an old fashioned twist: Cultivating a garden of vintage style.


~ May ~



There was no pussyfooting around the subject here; I’d prowled the web and hunted down a handful of cat items with more than a pawful’s worth of immense cuteness: Hello Vintage Kitty.


~ June ~


Spirits were light and in the mood to laugh come June, so I took at stab at a popular post that was floating around the blogsphere at the time in which one describes certain articles of clothing they love and others they loath: Five items I would always/never wear.


~ July ~



When my birthday rolled around last year I dove headfirst into the depths of Flickr and emerged with oodles of festively themed images to help celebrate the beginning of the first year of the second quarter of a century of my life: 25 wonderful vintage birthday photos.


~ August ~



With temperatures soaring faster than a rocket ship into space here last summer (and our apartment lacking AC), it was all I could do not to fill the bathtub with ice cream and jump right in. I resisted the urge however, and instead rounded up a slew of refreshingly cool vintage ads: I scream, you scream, we all scream for vintage ice cream!.


~ September ~



With the weather finally starting to chill out a little, my mind turned to memories of the annual shopping trip for school clothes. While I haven’t sat in a classroom for a while now, I still get the urge to spiff up my wardrobe with new threads when September rolls around and this post was jam packed with the perfect sort of dresses to buy and wear when Mother Nature is teetering between seasons: Twenty "summer into autumn" appropriate vintage dresses.


~ October ~



Goblins and ghosts and witches, oh my! Things around here were in a decidedly spooky mood as Halloween loomed near, so naturally I wanted to embrace the spirit of the season and put my own vintage twist on it: Come on everybody, let’s go trick-or-treating!.


~ November ~



By the time November blew into town my head was already dreaming of plum pudding, fragrant pine trees and the joy of giving holiday gifts, which called to mind the childhood pleasure that came from pouring over holiday season catalogues each year, dreaming and hoping in the way that only a child can: The Sears Wish Book catalogue: a time honoured tradition .


~ December ~



As the year drew to a close I wanted to put together a post that was positively bursting at the seams with many of the sublime vintage fashions I had encountered since beginning Chronically Vintage. This delightful post allowed me to just that: Seven stunning vintage holiday season outfits.

♥ ♥ ♥


I realize that this calendar is a little wonky. It starts with January (’10) and finishes with December (’09), but I wanted to include a post from every month of the year, and given the Chronically Vintage was born in April (’09), this was best way I could think of to do it.

Looking back through past posts I found myself rereading many of my entries and the comments they generated. It’s been a profound joy to write about such a diverse array of vintage topics and to learn so much more about the past in doing so.

Thank you again so very much, everyone, for being a part of Chronically Vintage’s world. I know that the next twelve months – and beyond – are going to be fabulous, too!

Happy Birthday, My Love!

The act of celebrating the positive moments in life is not to be underestimated. Whether the festivities are lavish or subdued, a fortunate spent or a priceless memory created, I believe that it is always important to embrace the wonder of a special day.

August 6th is one such occasion that I embrace with glee, upon which twenty-nine years ago my husband entered this world. While he is not always overly keen on a fuse being made in his honour, I do try my best each year to make today extra important for him. To do anything less for the light of my life seems unimaginable.

Recently a very kind (and creative) blog friend of mine, trishiekoh of Under Lock and Key tagged me with a lovely blog award in which the recipient is to list some of their absolute favourite things in this world. In honour of my husband’s birthday, I thought I would put a spin on this award and instead list various things that I know bring him joy (done up with a mix of vintage and modern images).


♥ ♥ ♥

{The wondrous marvels of mathematics}


{1. Easy as pi, 2. #120 My homework in vintage theme, 3. crunch some numbers, 4. I liked mathematics :-))).}


{Animals big and small}


{1. Not available, 2. Not available, 3. colin, 4. Black Cat N Gold Fish.}


{Chocolate! Sweet, rich, gorgeous, taste bud pleasing chocolate}


{1. Malted Chocolate Mousse Cakes, 2. milk chocolate and passion fruit macarons, 3. nutella cheesecake squares, 4. Vintage Hershey's Chocolate box, 5. Not available, 6. chocolate and meyer lemon mousse petit gateau, 7. coconut grove candy bar, 8. nutella ice cream, 9. Donut Factory, 10. chocolate cake, 11. Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes I, 12. Warm Chocolate Cake, 13. german chocolate birthday cake.}


{The invigorating, jubilant energy of the colour orange}


{1. Not avaiable, 2. Orange Wall With Light, 3. vespa, 4. CN00033587.}


{Both the literary and aesthetic pleasures of a wonderful book}


{1. Old Books, 2. vintage children's books., 3. Vintage baby book bottom, 4. Vintage Tom Swift Books Detail.}

{To visit an individual image, please click on the corresponding link below each collage.}


Thank you very much, Trish, for bestowing this award on my blog. I openly pass it along to all of my readers, and invite you to write a post detailing some of your all-time favourite things.

To my dear and amazing husband, I adore you with a boundless passion. You are my happiness in times of despair, my rock when I am fragile as the wind. I could not comprehend a universe without you, and am thankful every day that you were born. Happiest birthday, darling, I love you so very much!

Five items I would always/never wear

Wednesday’s post about one of my year-round favourite items of clothing (lightweight knits) prompted me to think more about those pieces which are perennial favourites and those that would never be seen within a five mile radius of my closet.

Across the pages of many fantastic blogs, I’ve recently been noticing a fun “tagged meme” sort of post popping up, in which the writer describes five items of clothing or other fashion related items she (or he) is eternally fond of wearing and five which they would never be seen dead – let alone alive – in. I haven’t been tagged, but I think it’s still A-ok for me to compose my own such list.

Before I begin, I must say that there are very few items of clothing I truly loath, that I would have to be plied with copious amounts of liquor or be handed a cheque with numerous zeros to put on. Like most people who enjoy (re: insanely love) fashion, I have distinct favourites and have developed a style of my own, but that doesn’t mean I dislike a certain pieces of clothing just because I don’t own one of said item. Everything that I love will be hated by someone and vice versa. So if you’re wild about some of the items that I’m not on speaking terms with, please know that chances are I dislike the item primarily because it just doesn’t work on my body type, not because I feel it needs to be put in a lead box and dropped in the middle of the ocean.


{Always}
These items are my clothing are my bread and butter, my BBFs for life; they’ve got my back (often literally), and I’ve got a perpetual soft spot in my heart for them. Without these pieces my wardrobe as I know it would cease to exist.


Full skirts: To say I love full skirts (which hit just below the knee or longer) is a true understatement. I would don a crinoline and get my Gone With The Wind style on, gleefully, any day if given the chance. While I have a penchant for pencil skirts too, there’s something about the undeniably feminine element of a skirt that bells out at the bottom that appeals to me on every possible fashion level.


{Drop-dead gorgeous floral print? Check. Hailing from the 1950s? Check. Full skirt? Check. Ladies and gents, we have a winner!}


Classic, tastefully tall boots : I have somewhat wide, uneven sized, thick feet and as such have had to watch the majority of sexy, strappy heels and shoes poke fun at me my whole life. Thank goodness for boots, whose construction often affords those with wide feet more room, while still looking stylish. I love black, brown or other dark hued boots, especially those in the mid-calf to just-below-the-knee range (think classic English riding boot height), a good pair of which can almost always sooth my nerves after I’ve tried on 947 pairs of heels/sandals/wedges/sling-backs/flats that wouldn’t stay – or couldn’t get – on my feet.


{What can I say, I’m a sucker for an elegant, classic tall boot that works its stylish magic all through bitterly cold autumn, winter and early spring months. Must be the Canadian fashionista in me.}


Crisp, well tailored button front shirts: I have at times described my style as mid-twentieth century meets Stevie Knicks meets Victorian belle meets Martha Stewart, though really the later is added to mix simply because I love the look – and wearing – of classic, well cut button front blouses. They work incredibly well with a pencil skirt to highlight my hourglass curves, and have the amazing ability to transcend and rise above whatever wacky fashion trends might be going on at the moment. And hey, we all know that’s a good thing!


{If you’re ever going to buy something in multiples, I implore to make it gorgeous button front shirts like this one. They are to fashion what Mozart is to classical music.}


Polka dots: Awww, mommy dearest, I know it was you and your adoration of Little Dot cartoons that instilled a passion for these charming spots in me from the get-go. So long as they steer clear of the large, mod era circles, I love polka dots like they were a member of my own family.


{One look at this charming dress and I decided to create a new take on an old expression: cute as a polka dot!.}


Dark denim: Imagine the best dessert you’ve eaten in your life, think about how its flavours sent your taste buds on a joy ride, how you wanted it to last forever and how every other dessert you’ve consumed since has secretly been compared to that one. Now imagine a stale convenience store fruit pie that’s probably been sitting on the shelf for three years. To me that is what it’s like to compare dark denim with light denim. From the moment I bought my first pair of indigo hued jeans (September 2000, I remember the day well), I’ve never been able to wear anything below a medium hued denim, the darker the inky blue, the better (ideally in a slight boot-cut or classically tailored trouser leg). Denim cheesecake if ever there was!


{Sliming, sophisticated, versatile, dark, well cut, “bling-free” denim should be a staple in everyone’s wardrobe. I mean it, everyone’s!}


{Never}
Sorry, nuh-ha, never-ever going to happen in a million years. Well, ok, probably never. What am I saying? Never. Period.

Drop crotch pants: Seriously, never. I would quite literally prefer to walk out the door in my knickers than wear these trouser monstrosities. I am appalled that they’re having an of-the-moment love fest in the world of fashion. IMO, anyone who wears these pants is doing so for the attention they’ll generate, not because they actually look presentable in them.


{Not even the pretty grey fabric and bow can save these “pants” from being a fashion train wreck. Tisk, tisk, tisk such a waste of a perfectly good piece of material.}


Anything with ridiculous amounts of unnecessary drapes/folds of fabric: I love Shar Peis, I really do, they’ve always been one of my favourite breeds of dogs, the thing is I don’t want the fabric I’m wearing to have as many folds as one of these precious pup’s faces. I’m always up for a little pleating, rouching or draping where it adds something to the item itself, but when the folds become the whole piece, I’d rather just wear a square sack (unless it’s the square sack dress at the bottom of this list, in which case, ok, hand off the built-in wrinkles).


{Even the adorable haircut and quirky headband on the model failed to rescue this outfit from looking like a crumpled Kleenex.}


Jumpers/jumpsuits: There were certain wardrobe elements of the 80s that I secretly wished would remain buried in the past. Yet like fashion zombies many such items of clothing have freakishly reappeared this year (think acid wash jeans, massively exaggerated shoulders, neons, slap bracelets, over-sized, off the shoulder sweaters; bike shorts – or as I like to call these pieces, six more items I’d never wear!). Rising from the wardrobe dead in full force are jumpers (aka, jumpsuits or rompers). I think part of the reason I’m not wild about the adult onsie look, is because you (often) need rather long legs to pull this style off with any degree of success. Lacking lengthy gams, I end up looking like more like a 24 year old auditioning for an Osh-Kosh commercial, than a worldly woman of fashionable style.


{The words “silk” and “Victoria’s Secret” is usually a winning combination, yet not even a lux fabric and great label could pull off a jumper that I’d ever even consider wearing around the house, while home alone, with the curtains drawn and all the lights turned off.}


Gladiator sandals/heels: Like a plague of locus, footwear inspired by blood-thirsty Roman fighters seems to have ascended in great numbers upon the pages of almost every fashion mag in town. While I do think that on some women the plethora of buckles, straps and other bondage gear-like parts these shoes posses looks nice, on someone like myself who is immensely allergic to nickel (and thus has to avoid any form of metal most of the time on shoes), the thought of twelve buckles or rows of studs is enough to wake me up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night.


{If your shoes require you to schedule a block of time from your day to put them on, it may be time for footwear that didn't come from an era of unfathomable human (and animal) bloodsport.}


Kindergarten Teacher dresses: I’m not sure if there’s an exact name for the type of dress I’m talking about here, but just about anyone who went to school (or had kids of an elementary school age) in the 90s (and in some parts of the world, to this day) will know what I mean just by looking at the picture below (note, teachers are not by any means the only women I’ve seen wearing these dresses, for a while they were quite common amongst librarians, too).

This style of consists of a long, shapeless, drab, often pale denim (or part denim, part other fabric), often v-neck (or vest style top) dress that, depending on the top half of the frock, can be worn as its own pillow case like garment or put atop a blouse/t-shirt. Often the wearing of such dresses makes one look like they’re decked out in 80s or 90s maternity wear, even if they’ve got a terrific figure. On What Not To Wear, they’ve sometimes referred to frocks that are cut like this as the “I’ve given up dress”. I couldn’t agree more, they are the antithesis of all I hold sacred and dear when it comes to sporting a dress.


{Why? Just plain why? I feel like saying, “Call now and for just $26 a month you can sponsor this poor, helpless to dress lead a fulfilling life as a potato sack, slip cover, or small tarp. Your caring donation could change the life of this dress by turning it into something people might actually want”.}


That’s my list, I could add many others to both categories, but you’ve heard enough about my always/nevers. I’m admittedly quite shy when it comes to tagging fellow bloggers to continue memes onward, so instead I’ll openly invite one and all to create your own list of fives! Be sure to let me know if you do, I’d love to read yours!



*PS*

Here is the first always/never post and four others that I’ve since encountered.

* The post that started it all on Dear Golden.

* Thrift candy

* Mon Petit Fantome

* Clever Nettle

* Vintage Found