25 reasons to love summer

Summer has a certain allure, a heady magic, a gleaming grandeur and tantalizing beauty to it which can neither be ignored nor forgotten. Though some like it more than others, few amongst us can wholeheartedly say that they despise the third season the year entirely, for amid the points that may wear down our nerves, there is bound to be at least a few simple pleasures, sunshine illuminated joys and beloved memories that we wouldn't trade for the all world.

Perhaps because it's when my birthday falls, when I was proposed to by my husband, because I cherished the two month break from school as a child (like most of us did!), or due to the fact that a part of me truly adores feeling the permeating heat of June, July, and August sink down to the core of my soul. Whatever the reason, I have a deeply rooted passion for summer and often (both during and at other times of the year) find myself reflecting on some of my favourite elements of this marvelous season.

Twenty-five is but a drop in the bucket when it comes to the countless number of things, experiences, moments, and pleasures of this hot, lengthy, wonderful season, but it provides ample space for a diverse roundup of reasons why I cannot help but wear my heart on my sundress sleeve when it comes to this glorious time of the year.

1. The scent of air-dried laundry flapping gently in the breeze.

2. Brightly hued pedicures poking out of vintage peep-toe shoes and sandals.

3. The serenely melodic chirp of crickets wafting across the evening air.

4. How every day seems to hold the possibility of turning into an unforgettable adventure.

5. Picking cherries fresh off the tree and devouring them by the sweet, gorgeous burgundy juice stained handful.

6. Wearing all of your favourite vintage warm weather fashions.

7. The endlessly sublime wonder that is a gorgeously warm summer breeze.

8. Pulling up and settling in for an awesome night spent at a drive-in movie theater.

9. Building towering sandcastles (and making sand angels).

10. Outdoor marshmallow roasts, and by natural extension, the unending  fabulousness that is s'mores!

11. Falling asleep in a hammock.

12. Messy, refreshing, completely fun water balloon fights!

13. Wrapping yourself up in a thick, fluffy terrycloth towel after a great swim.

14. How more people than usual seem to be a good mood - and how easy it becomes to make new friends under the amicable light of the summer sun.

15. Open air concerts enjoyed while laying on cozy blankets.

16. Making entire meals out of ice cream, gelato, sorbet, Italian ice, or any other frozen, sublimely sweet treat that your heart desires.

17. Having a blast with your favourite pool and beach toys.

18. Nights so warm you can still wear bare sleeves at 12am.

19. Wild summer thunder and lightning storms that waltz feverously across the horizon.

20. Hitting as many yard sales and outdoor flea markets as possible!

21. Quenching the incomparable thirst that summer brings with an icy, delicious classic summer drink.

22. Curling up under a shady tree with a book you've been yearning to read for ages.

23. Any kind of getaway with the word "trip" in it (road trip, camping trip, etc).

24. Playing the terrific Italian classic that is bocce ball.

25. Knowing that, even here in (most parts of) Canada, it's very unlikely to snow anytime soon!

{Beautiful 1930s and 40s actress Ellen Drew sitting on a diving board with a very cute summertime classics, and #17 on our list today, an inflatable pool toy in the shape of a horse. Image via carbonated on Flickr.}

♥ ♥ ♥

It was so hard not to keep going for another twenty-five or fifty more, but we'll cap the list here for now...after all, there's always next summer during which to celebrate even more reasons why this season shimmers, shines, and endears itself to our hearts.

I hope that many of these entries are amongst your personal favourites as well, and would love to hear about some of the other things that top your list when it comes to why you adore the roasty-toasty days of the good ol' summertime.

The list of clothing measurements I never leave home without

✯ Day 336 of Vintage 365 ✯

As sewers of their own clothing everywhere will attest, in order to guarantee a proper fitting garment, it's crucial that one knows their body's measurements. Regardless of if you craft your own garments or not though, every last one of us can benefit from keeping a handy dandy list of our measurements at the ready.

I've been carrying just such a list for several years now and have found it immensely helpful on many occasions while out shopping for clothing, buying items online, or talking to a seamstress about having a piece altered.

When we (ladies) think of our measurements the big three that generally spring to mind are our bust, waist and hips. While these are certainly extremely useful to know, they're not the only numbers that are worth being aware of (and checking periodically - say twice a year - as most everyone's weight and body shape fluctuates a bit over time, especially if you've recently lost/gained weight, given birth, or - for teenage readers - gone through a growth spurt).

Below is a list of measurements that I keep neatly typed up on a little piece of paper in my handbag. It only took a few minutes to take these measurements and since the original document is stored online, I can edit it in mere moments and print out an updated copy any time I want.

 

Clothing Measurement Checklist

-Hat size (measured around the middle of your forehead)

-Neck circumference (useful for both garments and jewelry alike)

-Arm length (good to know in case you need to have the sleeve length of a garment altered)

-Wrist circumference (measure both wrists in case you have one that's a tad larger than its mate)

-Glove size (taken at the widest part of your palm; measure both hands as - just like feet - some people have one hand that's slightly larger than the other)

-Ring sizes (especially important for those who may be planning on getting married in the near future)

-Shoulders (width from one shoulder to the other)

-Bust (measured across the fullest part of the bust while wearing a well fitting bra)

-Waist (taken at the narrowest spot on my natural waist where I wear my pants/skirts)

-Hips (as with the bust, taken at the fullest part)

-Inseam (especially important for those like me who are petite, or for those lucky tall gals on the other end of the spectrum)

-Stockings/nylons size (both vintage and modern)

-Calves (important for those who live wearing tall boots)

-Shoe size and width (in both American and European sizes)

-Current height (without shoes on)

(Note that if you often wear figure enhancing undergarments such as girdles or Spanx, you may wish to keep two sets of measurements on hand for those parts of the body which would be affected by having these types of items on: one taken with your supportive undergarments on and another without.)

{Whether for the purpose of sewing or for when you're purchasing ready made items of clothing, it's always wonderfully useful to have a list of your own measurements on hand. Vintage photograph of a woman making a dress sourced from Slow Sewing.}

This list (which assumes all measurements were taken without clothing, save for undergarments, on) is geared more towards to information that I might need when clothes shopping, as opposed to sewing a garment from scratch, in which case you may want to add in further measurements, too, such as your outseam, upper arm/bicep circumference, and your back height and width.

If you frequently shop internationally (be it online or in person) or otherwise tend to encounter two measurement systems, take a moment and include both inches/feet and centimeters/meters for your measurements.

In addition, it doesn't hurt to keep a concise list of what sizes you generally wear (taking into account how widely most modern garment sizes vary from brand to brand) for certain items of clothing (I keep both my vintage 1940s/50s sizes and modern ones listed with the information above).

While I certainly have some of my measurements memorized by heart, it can be easy to forget those (like glove, hat, and calf) that you may not refer to very frequently, so keeping a list like this to hand at all times is a must if you want to help ensure you get the best possible fit that you can from the clothing (be it vintage or modern) that you buy.

One last note...and perhaps this is just the Girl Guide in me being overly prepared, but I try to always carry a flexible tape measure in my purse, too, so that if I run into a garment that I'm interested in but not able to try on (for example at an outdoor yard sale), I can quickly measure it to help determine (especially if the original sizing tag is gone or completely faded) if it’s  likely to work for my body or not.

10 Great Free Vintage Clip Art Sites

✯ Day 310 of Vintage 365 ✯

It’s not uncommon for a person’s interests and hobbies to overlap, and in my case one spot where that happens quite often is when it comes to the subjects of vintage images and paper crafting (specifically scrapbooking and card making).
I’m constantly on the prowl for wonderful old school images to use here on Chronically Vintage, as well as for general inspiration, and to save for possible use on future crafting projects.
As result, over time, I've gathered a growing list of online resources that offer an abundance of vintage images - from photographs to illustrations, that hail from many decades and a wide range of (original) sources.
Such images are often immensely beautiful, serving us as well today as when they were first created.
Within Christmas mere weeks away, I know that many of us are in holiday card making overdrive at the moment, so I thought that today would be a great time to share ten of my favourite vintage image sites with you, in case you'd like use some charming old school images on your craft projects (and/or blogs) this Christmas season.

10 Great Free Vintage Clip Art Sites

-Antique Art: To quote this handy site itself, at Antique Clipart you can "browse one of the largest free Public Domain archives of Victorian, and Edwardian era clipart on the Internet! Containing 1044 clipart images of People, Flowers, Animals and more." (Note that the small and medium sizes are free, the largest ones are available for purchase.)

-Averyl's Attic: A lovely selection of illustrated Christmas (and other holiday related) Victorian clipart (that would look marvelous of holiday cards). Please note, this wonderful site was retired in 2015 and now links to a charming blog run by the same person who founded it.

-Carol Anne's Boutique: There is a terrific selection of beautiful vintage images and ephemera to be found here, including scrapbooking favourites like ledger paper, sheet music, and antique postcards.

-Free Vintage Clip Art: Lovely roundup of varied vintage images, from Victorian brides to ornate architectural scrollwork (as well as less common, completely useful images such as coats-of-arms).

-Grandma's Graphics: Features a large array of images, most of which are sourced from vintage books (from the Victorian times onward). A marvelous place to turn for whimsical, classic images that are perfect for everything from greeting cards to children's themed mini albums.

-Imagenes Vintage: A site in both Spanish and English that houses a charming assortment of vintage images, including classic works of art - as well as a selection of great digital scrapbooking elements.

-The Graphics Fairy: One of the best known and most loved online sources of diverse, wonderful antique and vintage images. (A must bookmark site, and terrific resource, for all fans of the past!)

-The Vintage Moth: Crafters rejoice, this site bills itself as offering "free antique and vintage images for mixed media artists" and they certainly deliver on their word.

-Vintage Catnip: Offers a varied assortment of interesting vintage images from sources such as photographs and illustrations, postcards and even woodcuttings.

-Vintage Holiday Crafts: This delightful site features an array of excellent vintage images, the majority of which are (as the site's name implies) holiday themed.

{This elegant illustration of a vintage alarm clock, which comes by way of The Graphics Fairy, is especially fitting for the fact that daylight saving time ends today.}


The majority of sites that offer free vintage images for download do so under the condition that you use the photos, art , and illustrations they offer for personal, not commercial, purposes, but this point varies, so always check with the policies of the site you're interested.

This list, while teaming with ten of my favourite vintage image sites, is no means exhaustive. I'd love to hear about other similar websites that you enjoy turning to for when you're on the prowl for wonderful images from the past.

Because sometimes we all need to hear, "Hey, it's Ok!"

✯ Day 235 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

There is something profoundly important about feeling as though your actions - be they commonplace or one-off occurrences - are acceptable, both socially and within the the realm of your loved ones.

I grew up in a home that I would consider to be quite strict. There were rules upon rules atop even more rules and limitations for nearly every action. The military, I often felt, could have taken a lesson on rules and order from the "laws" laid down in my house.

{Vintage image - albeit a rather charming one - of a little

girl scolding her doll via King Kong Photo on Flickr.}

 

Rules and guidelines are undoubtedly important, but there's no doubt that the ridiculous, controlling rigidity I grew up with was excessive.

As a child I clearly remember wishing, on many occasions, to not feel so conscious, so afraid, so untrusting of my own actions (and we're talking ultra mundane things here - not "I just dyed my hair bright pink, wonder what my folks will say" kind of level). To this day I battle with a strong fear of confrontation as a result of my upbringing.

As such, when I read or here things in which people grant others the right to accept and be fine with the choices they make in their life (even if such posts or spoken accounts are intended to be humorous) it nearly moves me to tears and usually makes me smile, feeling more at peace with the world.

While I can't claim to be a frequent reader of Glamour Magazine (in its modern iteration, that is - sign me up for any and all vintage copies!), they run a frequently occurring post called "Hey, it's Ok!" in which the author points out a list of actions some people take and tell them that such activities/behaviours/choices/etc are ok. To get a sense of what I mean, check out this November 2008 edition of "Hey, it's Ok!".

I think most of us apply way to many rules to our lives. We deny or hide certain things that make us happy or that we partake in, for fear that we'll be judged or called out on our actions. No doubt this has been true of human beings since just about the dawn of time, but sadly even after all these years, we've only gotten a bit better at cutting ourselves some much needed slack.

To that extent, I thought it would be uplifting - and fun - to occasionally put together a "Hey, it's OK!" post that ties into our vintage loving lifestyle, but also life in general.

My hope is that it will elicit a positive reaction from you, whether that's merely a quick smile or a more profound sense that someone has granted you permission to doing (or be, or say) something something you weren't confident about.

And so without further ado, I present the first edition of Chronically Vintage's Hey, it's Ok! list.

...to own 23 dresses and 11 skirts, but only one pair of pants (that you almost never wear!).

...to have not watched a single new movie in two years, but know TCM's programming schedule by heart.

...to not give the slightest care in the world when someone casts an an odd look your way for wearing vintage, from head-to-toe, in public.

...to enjoy writing good old-fashioned letters more than emails.

...to have a lengthy, soul cleansing, no-holds-bar cry from time-to-time (it really does make you feel better!).

...to wear a 1930s dress, with 1970s shoes, fifties style hair and a new purse you bought last week.

...to have fourteen different tubs of red lipstick in your make-up bag, but reach for the exact same one everyday (hello, Russian Red!).

...to secretly enjoy it - and keeping smiling to yourself about it all day - when you get a cat-call.

...to take someone up on their offer the next time they volunteer to do something for you.

...to love yourself unabashedly precisely as you are right this very moment.

 

I don't know if I'll ever be able to truly cut myself the slack I deserve, but I'm working on it. No (at the risk of sounding cliché) sweating the small stuff (too much). I’m trying to embrace those things - and people - who make my heart glad, and let go of those who don't. I've opened up my creative side more so in the last year than ever before in my life, and have gotten better at not letting other people's opinions of me impact me so deeply.

It is my sincere hope that if you find yourself battling with similar feeling, actions and thoughts, you'll join me in trying to accept that you - and the things you do, way you chose to live your life, and actions you take - are Ok! Because, I'm here to tell you, chances are, they really and truly are.