New to the ConstantlyAlice Shop

A few lovely new items for the colder weather and upcoming party season :)

Purchase

A pretty plum colored plum velvet party dress (with a built in crinoline so you can "swish" :)

Purchase

Black velvet and satin headband hat with veil..so you can be that mysterious gal at the holiday party..

purchase

Look like a russian princess in this super warm plum colored wool coat that has a quilted lining!

purchase

Pretty, sparkly black sequined vintage hat it perfect for any occasion..even for dressing up your winter coat!

Check out the ConstantlyAlice shop for these and many other holiday gift ideas..to give or receive ;)

Hugs and Smooches,
D

ConstantlyAlice Sale

ConstantlyAlice Sale by constantlyalice on Polyvore

SALE 1950's Blue Sequined Star Tilt Hat by ConstantlyAlice / SALE Lock and Key Cloud Pendant by ConstantlyAlice on Etsy / SALE Vintage 1950's/1960's Birdcage Veil with by ConstantlyAlice / SALE Vintage 1950's/1960's Chocolate Brown by ConstantlyAlice / SALE Vintage 1950s Hat Pillbox Petal Hat in by ConstantlyAlice

Clean out sale! Click on the photo or link to be taken to the ConstantlyAlice shop to purchase :) Hugs and Smooches, D

Wonderland

Link

Lovely blue and white thistle pattern Bobbie Brooks 1950's dress coming soon to ConstantlyAlice!  Leave a comment if you are interested and I will reserve for you :)

Hugs and Smooches,
D

Brimfield 2012!

Beautiful Vintage Dresses

Each year in September, I attend the Brimfield Antique Market and several things happen:

1. I forget to take as many pictures as I'd like to share here on my blog
2. I miss out on at least half of the offerings because the market is so huge and vow to extend my visit the following year
3. I find some remarkable treasures and remarkable people!

1940's Zeigfeld Follies Costume

 I wanted to share some of my favorite interactions from this year with you all.  First up, the amazing train pictured above was more than 10 ft. long and belonged to a Zeigfeld girl.  It was velvet, lined with red silk and covered with tiny mirrors in a pattern resembling a peacock's tail. It was INCREDIBLY heavy, and the girl who wore it said she had to do back exercises to be able to wear it (along with an enormous headdress).

Petticoats!

I also had a fun conversation with a fellow operating a vintage circus items booth.  He stopped me as I was walking by and explained that he was writing a book (a sci-fi/steampunk/circus theme that had a pretty neat story line) and as I walked by he "recognized" one of his characters.  He asked to take my picture for reference, and I gave him my email so he could send me the information on his book.  (How do you like that?!  I could be immortalized in a story :)

Brooches!

We visit the "pin lady" (who's name I have never remembered to ask) every year because of her wide selection of amazing and creative brooches.  I own several of her pieces, including an Aphrodite brooch, several dragonflies, a pretty peach tree with a hummingbird and a cat :)

Bakelite Rings

Can anyone tell me what these are used for?  I just loved the way they looked, but I couldn't imagine their use.  (I thought perhaps belt buckle?)

Goodies!

I ended up coming home with a pretty decent haul that included some wool felt hat forms purchased from a really neat lady who used to design hats for MGM (can't wait to start working on some new hats for the shop!), Several 1950's/1960's dresses that I will be photographing next week, some really amazing costume and fashion design books from the 30's and 40's, a few 1940's sewing patterns, a 1920's Bowler Derby, several hats and blusher veils, a fur collar, hand beaded millinery flowers from the 1930's (which I plan to use on one of the finished hats!) and a few 1920's magazines.

All in all, a very successful weekend!  (And next year, I plan to go down early for the vintage textile show!  *swoon*)

Hugs and Smooches,
D

Vintage Garment Cleaning Tips

One of the biggest challenges I find about wearing and selling vintage garments is finding a means of cleaning them properly without destroying them or spending a fortune in dry cleaning bills.  Lucky for me, I recently stumbled across a 1959 version of Removing Stains from Fabrics, distributed by the US dept. of Agriculture...lucky for you, I'm going to share ;)

 Unfortunately, I couldn't post the copy here on the blog because the pictures were too large, so I've posted it to my Pinterest account at this link or here at my flickr account.  Enjoy!

Hugs and Smooches,
D

It's National Sewing Month!

September is national sewing month!  I LOVE to sew.  It's such a fun skill to have (especially if you love the look of vintage but can't always find the item you're looking for.)  It also reminds me of my Gram, who passed away a few years ago.  She was a whiz with a pattern and could easily take a top from one pattern, sleeves from another and create a bottom to match whatever look she was trying to achieve.  It makes me happy to be able to carry on this skill and pass it down to my daughters.

Here are some of the fabulous vintage patterns I picked up at Brimfield last week.  With shows like Mad Men being such a hit, and Pan Am starting this month, retro 50s/60's fashion is going to be a big hit this fall!  I plan to add a few of these to my fall sewing "to do" list, and a few of them will soon be up for sale in the shop.

Adorable little play suit!  I love these combination options with both skirts and shorts :)

Another combo outfit.  This is a jumper, a dress, or a jumper with a contrasting dress underneath.  Perfect and warm for the fall :)

Cute little wrap top with bottom option (LOVE the two tone shorts ensemble.)

Love that white blouse in the middle with the peter pan collar and bow.

Classic shirt dress.  I would like to make this in a pretty blue/green plaid flannel that I have in my stash.

The shape of this dress is great, and those giant pockets on the front are FANTASTIC.

The one with the buttons would be so cute in a a pumpkin colored wool plaid.

Another fantastic convertable dress!  The first picture shows the dress with a detatchable over skirt.  The perfect way to take a dress from day to evening!

Adorable.  Love that third option!

Last but not least.. A house coat!  Great for hanging out at home, with nice big pockets :)

Sometimes (often in fact) vintage patterns are very tiny.  That's where a link like How to Resize a Pattern from Sense and Sensibility patterns come in.  So don't shy away from trying a pattern just because it may be a little too small!  That can be fixed :)

If you find yourself in love with any of these patterns before I have a chance to list them, leave me a message in the comments and I will get back to you with a price.

Hugs and Smooches,
D