Halloween is for fashion lovers

{Has there ever been a more splendidly pumpkin orange hued vintage cloche hat for October than this fantastic 1960s does 1920s I. Magnin & Co. brand felt stunner? I think not! $48.00 from Sweet Bee Vintage.}




{In the mood for an especially glamorous, 1950s piece of jewelry this Halloween season? Look no further than this beautiful, glamorous vintage dark rust orange, pale jonquil yellow, and jet black rhinestone, silver tone metal drop statement necklace that is as classic and appealing as autumn itself. $32.00 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.}




{For most of the year, I'm all about a ruby red or rose petal pink lip, but with October's return, I can't help but let my inner goth girl run free by sporting black lipstick at least once or twice. If you're in the mood for a cauldron coloured pucker as well, this great tube of vegan lip balm is just the fun and festive ticket. $9.95 for a 2.7 ounces from Etherealle.}




{Love, love, absolutely, completely love this beyond cool 1960s/70s does both 1910s and 1930s Halloween perfect orange and black polka dot maxi dress. Wear it in advance of All Hallows Eve or for the big day itself, as well as long after the last jack-o-lantern candle goes out. Fits up to a 34" bust/28" bust. $72.00 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.}




{There is something about fall that always, without fail, has me running - joyfully - for my vintage wraps and shawls, especially the black ones. As such, I fell fast and hard for this gorgeous 1920s style embroidered sheer, fringe adorned shawl-like jacket the moment I saw it. Wear it with your favourite daily vintage looks, Halloween costume element, or even for the Day of the Dead. It's timeless, ravishingly pretty, and so-so lovely! Available in modern ladies sizes small, medium and large. $56.00 from Blue Velvet Vintage.}




{Candy corn, caramel apples, even those addictively delicious little mini candy bars don't have anything on the sweetness of adding new Bakelite to your wardrobe. Honour fall and Halloween this year by slipping this beautiful pair of classic circa 1930s orange Bakelite bangles onto your wrist and give your daily stack an extra festive touch. $45.00 for the pair from Chronically Vintage on Etsy (I have numerous other fall perfect Bakelite items in the shop at the moment, too; check them out here).}




{Halloween and candles go hand-in-hand like Frankenstein and bolts, witches and broomsticks, and bats flying across a full moon, so it's always wise to stock up on at least a few more as the big night draws closer. I'm especially fond of these good sized, gorgeously pumpkin pie scented, vintage Halloween black cat illustration adored jarred candles myself, which will serve double duty as terrific seasonal decor pieces, too. $16.00 for an eight ounce soy blend candle. $16.00 from Burke & Hare Co.}




{Ideal for the alluringly exciting month of October, as well as for the whole year round, too, this wonderful circa 1950s/early 60s gold metallic handbag shimmers like the harvest moon and is as glam as glam can be. It's fabulous for events like Viva Las Vegas, too, where vintage glitz is always the name of the game. $32.00 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.}




{The fun, unexpected circle details on the vamps of these perpetually classic black suede 1960s pumps makes me think of an updated version of the pilgrim buckles that have come to be iconic elements of a witch's garb. They'd be fabulous for a range of Halloween costumes, while also working well for every other day of the year (black pumps like these are the LBDs of the footwear world). Shoes measure 9.5 inches long and 2.75 inches wide. $62.00 from Dalena Vintage.}

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It seriously is.

Those who go wild for, eat, breath and sleep, fashion are, by their very nature, fans of dressing up, pulling out all the stops, trying new things, taking sartorial risks, amassing magnificent wardrobes, and, unquestionably most important of all, brining a profound sense of happiness into our lives via our style choices.

As such, when a reason to dress up like Halloween comes along, we rarely limit ourselves "just" to our costume for the big night on October 31st ourselves. No we - myself very much included - love to start sporting the colours of the season early on. If not in September (*shots hand up in the air*), then October itself. Out come the inky, bat wing blacks, the warm, earthy oranges, the crisp Bartlett pair and sunflower petal yellows, the dusty, muted olives and sages, the straight from a vineyard in France burgundies, the slate greys, midnight navy blues, aged wood browns, and gentle, sweet vanilla ice cream worthy creams and ivories. These colours speak not only of Halloween, but of autumn itself, and we're keen to pay their unmatched beauty homage via the outfits we don.

This fall, I've been busy as bumblebee stocking the shelves of my Etsy shop with dozens of new vintage clothing, accessory, handbag, jewelry, and ephemera listings, many of which, intentionally, fit sublimely into in autumn's colour palette and a good many of which can be used as part of outfits that celebrate Halloween - and of course, which can be worn on the big day itself.

Today's Vintage Fashionista Friday post takes some of those pieces, such as a stop-you-in-your-tracks cool 1960/1970s airy chiffon tired skirt dress that channels both a late Edwardian and 1930s vibe (if was my size, I don't know if I could have brought myself to list it, but alas, it's not, so it's endlessly Halloween perfect orange and black polka dot awesomeness gets to go live in some other vintage adoring lady's wardrobe) and partners them with other marvelous October 31st appropriate offerings from across Etsy and elsewhere on the web.

Halloween, my favourite holiday of the year, is only twenty-four hours long, but you'd never know it if you saw what I wore everyday in the weeks leading up to it. I reach for the colours at work in today's post, as well as those of fall itself, for weeks in advance and well into November, too, and encourage you to do the same. Let's dress up, have a blast, and celebrate this short, gorgeous, eerily fantastic time of the year - before we know it we'll be up to our eyeballs in snow and freezing temps again, which is almost a scarier thought than any Halloween costume or outfit could ever be! :D

The vintage nurse will see you now

...Or at least she would have had you knocked on her door on All Hallows Eve!

 

{I love this shot that Tony took of our pumpkins from Bear's fruit stand in Keremeos all lined up on the little railing on our front porch. So festively pretty!}


Costume details

Vintage nurse's hat: etsy seller Vintage Mementos
Vintage nurse's uniform: etsy seller Elizabeth Jean Vintage
RN pin: eBay
White stockings: The dollar store
White pumps: Payless
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red
Nail colour: Essie Red Nouveau
Photography by Antonio Cangiano     ♥ ♥ ♥

The seeds of inspiration for this Halloween costume were first planted last January when I, in the midst of one of my usual vintage hat searches on etsy, chanced upon this mint condition vintage nurse's cap. The price was reasonable, so I snapped it right then and there, and thus knew what I was going to be for Halloween 2012. A few months later I found the vintage nurse's uniform (also on etsy), and I picked up the lovely little RN pin on eBay this fall.

As a child playing hospital was one of my all-time favourite games (in part because I sometimes thought as a little girl that I might grow up to be a nurse or doctor) and I’ve always adored pictures of vintage nurses, so in many ways this costume is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to dress like one - if only for October 31st.

Though, much like it had for the past five days and has subsequently ever since, it rained on Halloween morning, but much to our delight, ceased for a few hours in the afternoon and evening, which meant that the adorable little trick-or-treaters (of which we got about 70 that night) could run around without getting drenched. Given the fact snow is a very real possibility on Halloween in Canada, I couldn't complain the weather, even if it was grey and nippy. A dry Halloween, no matter the temperature, always beats a rainy or snowy one!

That evening my mom and step-dad came over for a few hours and we handed out candy, made and then devoured a tray of GF Rice Krispy treats, and watched the Great Pumpkin again. Tony and my parents didn't dress up in costumes, but they did all have orange and/or black on (Tony looked especially sharp in an orange shirt, black tie, black trousers, and a smart new hat he picked up at Moore's a few days ago). We had a thoroughly wonderful time and, without a doubt, this was one of the nicest Halloweens I've ever experienced.

Though I'm a little sad to see my favourite holiday come and go again, we had such a marvelous time this year that I don't mind the fact I have to wait nearly twelve months again to carve pumpkins (because the awesome memories from this one will keep me smiling until then).

I like to take down my Halloween decorations right away (I find doing so lessens the potential likelihood of feeling blue about Halloween being over) and did so bright and early on Thursday morning. I haven't brought out the Christmas one yet, but it won't be long now and all, and goodness, am I excited to deck out this place for the winter holidays for the first time!

So while it's always a little tough to wave good-bye to Halloween again, I am eager for jolly old St. Nick to return and like the fact that I've got almost a whole year to think up my next Halloween costume! 

Picking Halloween pumpkins in the freezing rain

...While wearing a festive jack-o-lantern covered cardigan and trying not to get knocked off my feet by the nearly gale force winds!

 


































Outfit details

Prescription eyeglasses: (frames) Venus Eye Design V-12
Black and white polka dot hair flower: Arden
Grey pearl earrings: Claire's
Halloween cardigan sweater: eBay
Vintage black shirtwaist dress: eBay or etsy
Black patent skinny belt: eBay
Black crinoline/pettiskirt: Pettiskirt Style
Carved black resin bangle bracelet: Ten Thousand Villages
Orange and green bangles: Forever 21
Vintage black gloves: a gift from a dear online friend (and fellow vintage loving gal)
Vintage Saks Fifth Avenue black patent purse: etsy seller MK Retro
Black and white Swiss dot tights: eBay (I've had these for years, worn them dozens of times, and they're still holding up - knock wood!)
Black faux suede bow adorned heels: Wal-Mart
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red
Photography by Antonio Cangiano

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Murphy's Law, of course, a day finally comes along where I feel well enough to embark on an outing to the nearby community of Keremeos (which just happens to be where the wonderful petting zoo we visited last summer is located) to spend time at one of the Okanagan’s best known and most loved fruit stands while their fantastic annual fall display is underway, and the weather was nothing short of awful!

Sleet that looked dangerously close to snow started pelting our car a few minutes outside of town (I should mention, it was sunny when we left Penticton), then turned into rain and partnered up with some rather hefty winds (that kept wanting to blow the skirt of my dress and my pettiskirt up over my head!), but knowing that this might be the one shot we'd get to visit Bear's this year, we ploughed on.

My outfit, though a bit bulky (the black shirtwaist dress is very blousy on top, plus I had a cami under it for warmth, and a flouncy black crinoline underneath), was intentionally chosen for this day and shoot, as I wanted to share this darling jack-o-lantern covered cardigan with all of you. The cut of the cardigan, including the wide round neckline, isn't necessarily one of the best for me, and white as a top layer is anything but flattering on a curvy figure like mine, but I don't mind at all. This sweater is too cute and filled with the playfully spooky spirit Halloween not to wear come late October.

It's not a vintage piece, but the grinning Jacks all over it have, I think, classic faces that help lend it a bit of a yesteryear feel. As I made a point of mentioning to my parents when we saw them later in the day, this isn't my Halloween costume this year, it's my Halloween outfit (which is just as fun and seasonal as a costume, in my books).

Though our trip to Bear's Farm fruit stand was cut shorter than we'd planned due to the nasty weather, we were able to pick up a few pumpkins (including a grey one - which is something I'd always wanted, but never been able to find in Canada before, and indeed, the lady behind the checkout counter said this was the first year they'd ever carried grey pumpkins there) and some delicious dark purple (nearly black) bell peppers that we've been enjoying throughout this past week.



{Speaking of The Great Pumpkin, I recently spotted this incredibly lovely, delightfully vintage looking poster for it, and bookmarked it to share here for Halloween. Poster created by strongstuff (Tom Whalen) on deviantART.}



Naturally, being at a pumpkin display with pumpkin patches all around the area, my mind instantly flashed to It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which is my all-time favourite Halloween cartoon. Later that night my mom came over to our place and we watched it, as well as my favourite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus, both of which are huge seasonal musts for me every year (I pretty much know them both by heart at this point, but that just makes me love them even more).

So while the weather was anything but ideal, I'm thrilled that I got sport this Halloween cardigan on camera, hand select our pumpkins, and enjoy a terrific afternoon down in Keremeos with Tony before winter - which, some days at least, doesn't appear to be very far off any more - moseys back into town.

Wishing you all an awesome Halloween countdown - and much better weather than we ran into if you're out gathering pumpkins or setting up your yard in preparation for the 31st!

My goth meets vintage inspired Halloween costume

✯ Day 308 of Vintage 365 ✯

It's been a long time...a very long time (the better part of two years, if memory serves me right) since I last posted an image of myself here on Chronically Vintage. A point that is, I assure you, in now way intentional.

Instead it stems primarily from the fact that my health has been so poor that, quite honestly, I am rarely well enough to go out and when I do, it's almost always for medical appointments. Though you better believe I sport vintage fashions on those days (and on the ones around the house when I feel well enough to be dressed), exhaustion and stress usually wear heavily on my face, so I'm not too keen on having my picture snapped.

Another element is that, while I adore writing about vintage fashion, CV never set out to be a fashionista's blog in the sense of frequently showing outfits I wear. Nevertheless, again though, it's been too long since I last posted any snaps of myself, so today I'm rectifying that with some images that my sweet husband captured of me around dusk on Halloween night last Monday.

The light had already faded substantially, so we had to up the ISO quite a bit (so hence the grain), but in a way I like how that adds to the aged, delightfully eerie vibe of these All Hallows Eve shots.

Decked all in black, with a darker, more goth take on my favourite vintage make-up look, my outfit intentionally channelled Mortica Addams (we'd just watched the movie Addams Family Values the night before, so that was completely fresh in my mind and seemed like a fun jumping off point for my Halloween night ensemble).

 

A quite night (we only got three trick-or-treaters, but I'm not complaining, as that beat out the past two years when we didn't get any at all) spent at home, watching spooky TV shows and movies while nibbling sweet treats was how we spent our Halloween this year.

(Next year I'd love to get a store bought costume, perhaps of a Victorian or Georgian era style dress, but we'll just have to wait and see how things unfold.)

I'm constantly inspired by the beautiful, creative, timeless looks that so many of you create and share on your own blogs, and while I can't promise overly frequent wardrobe posts here, I will try to not let quite so long go by before I share photos of myself with all of you again (in fact, I've already got a post planned in the near future featuring my lovely new vintage winter coat).