Tag Archives: FabGabs

Merry March Expo

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This weekend brought one of my favorite things…the big Palmer-Wirf Antique Expo!  There was so much to see and so much to buy, for the first time, it almost felt, dare I say it? Overwhelming.  And I’ve never felt that way about Expo ever before!  I’ve been going to Expo since I could walk! No joke. My mother enjoys telling the story of how I was traditionally given $5.00 which was my money to spend on anything I wanted. One show I saw a beautiful porcelain headed baby doll, complete with darling white gown and bonnet. But she was $5.00, and I looked at the dealer, pointed to the doll, and said “Four?”  The dealer looked from me to my mother and said “Well, I see you’ve got her trained.”  Anyhow, the point is, this show shouldn’t be overwhelming to me, but this show had a ton of vintage clothing dealers.  And my heart fluttered at nearly every booth that hailed vintage garments and accessories.  Anyhow, so I came home with quite a lot…

It’s no secret I have a passion for anything that is Mexican themed, and I picked up this delightful blouse from Julie of FabGabs.

I also was able to score rabbit fur trimmed overshoes! I’ve been dying for a pair for ages, however most of the time they were not only more than I wanted to spend, they often were not in my size!

Picked up this darling dress by “sir rob” from That’s Swank!

I bought a boat load of gloves…Because ya know, you’re a total vintage slut if you don’t go out with gloves on!

Also took home some barkcloth…

I rarely buy dishes (except Starburst) but I couldn’t resist this hand-painted Mexican themed bowl by Ransburg.

Then I scored not one, but THREE amazing 40s tilt topper hats!  First off is this stellar brown one…

Followed by this top hat-esque cellophane straw hat.

The third is by far my favorite. I’ve dreamed of a 40s top hat tilt topper for eons…

Guh. Seriously, right? It’s going to need its own blog post down the road in order to do it any justice…

So, all in all, a pretty gosh darn good show!  I hope you all had a good weekend!

Black & White

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Thanks for sticking with me dear readers as I blogged on and on about my Comic Con costume experience. Now, back to the vintage and fashion you come here for!

Last night Patrick and I finally made it to see Les Miserables at the cinema, yep, only after the Oscars. Go us! I used to be so on top of seeing films before the big night, but lately, I’ve had bigger fish to fry.  I can say that I’ve never been a big fan of Les Miz, however I can’t deny that it is an excellent musical, and subsequent film.

In other news, this weekend brings Expo! The weekend vintage lovers wait for! Er, rather one of three weekends Pacific Northwest vintage lovers wait for to be quite specific.  I’m happy to say that I will be helping out Fab Gabs Vintage on Friday! I’m so excitied to see what they bring in! And believe me, it will be a lot! Enough to fill up the three, yes, three spaces they have arranged! Which equates to a ten foot by thirty foot space! And of course, I am quite eager to shop around as well.

Outfit
New York Creation Hat & Gloves: Don’t quite recall…
Lambs Wool Capelet, 1940s Cord Purse, Umbrella & Shoes: Thrifted
Belt: Bohemian Vintage (Now Yours)
Stockings: What Kate Did
Dress: Red Light, Portland

Fur & Feathers

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This afternoon I joined some of the most marvelous fellow vintage gals in the Pacific Northwest for the annual Fur & Feathers Luncheon as hosted by Julie of FabGabs Vintage.  (You can view last year’s event here!) So get ready to see some amazing fur and feathered concoctions on some even more amazing ladies in loads of pictures!

I know, you’re probably tired of seeing Algernon, especially if you’ve been participating in the rather heated fur debate on his debut entry. (Please visit the entry to read my views regarding fur). But it was the first time I was able to take both him and his brother Earnest on a little outing.

Everyone giggled and chatted as we took up a whole corner of the dark restaurant and several people even took our pictures. But who can blame them? We looked marvelous…just look for yourselves!

Solanah of Vixen Vintage looked stunning with the most darling hat and brown mesh (yeah, I know, crazy, right?) dress!

I wasn’t the only gal who brought along a little fox buddy. Fellow blogger Sara of Lilies & Remains brought along her fox, named Tod!

Also I finally got to meet Sarah of Stutterin’ Mama’s! Who had the most delightful hat!

And I nearly died when I saw the skirt that Jennifer of Jumblelaya was wearing!

It was a fantastic afternoon, and our fur actually got a very positive reception.  Multiple people commented on how lovely we all looked and praised us for our no-fear attitude. Although one gal did say she loved our “costumes” … *sigh*

Outfit
Algernon the Fox Stole: Antique Alley, Portland
Earnest the Fox Muff: Anniversary present from Patrick (but I know he bought it on Ebay)
Hat: Expo
Helen of California Suit: Brownsville Antique Show
Stockings: Oh, who the hell knows!
Shoes: Remix by way of Ebay
Nail Color: Skyfall, part of the OPI James Bond Collection

1938 Picnic

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Today I traveled with Angelica to Vancouver to join in a little 1938 themed picnic with some of our fellow vintage loving friends.  We sat in the shade of the trees surrounding the army barracks of Fort Vancouver and giggled over the jitterbuggin’ slang book Jessie and Julie of Fab Gabs brought, and drooled over the 1937 catalog that Rhiannon of Garb-Oh Vintage brought along as we noshed on our lunch and maybe drank a little hooch, courtesy of AlexSandra!

Rhiannon brought along her spiderweb purse that she just recently finished crocheting herself from a 1938 pattern! Isn’t it fantastic? She then added a perfect little Bakelite spider brooch.

Solanah of Vixen Vintage made her darling dress, with even a bow on her hat to match!  You can’t go wrong with red, white and blue!

I also had the pleasure of meeting new company, including the very talented Anna of Anna in Technicolor.  Her blog is full of her glorious sewing projects, including some superb 1800s garments!

Of course everyone was wondering what themed event would be next…maybe pumpkin picking in our farmer’s daughter best, or suits for an afternoon of shopping followed by drinks.  You’ll just have to wait and see!

Outfit
Dress: Gift from Alicia
Hair Flowers: Fabric Depot
Charm Bracelet: Alicia’s case at Antique Alley
Shoes: Chinese Laundry, TJ Maxx or Marshal’s…who knows…
Peacock Parasol: …er…maybe The Clothes Horse, Eugene…

Vintage Ventures

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Today I received a mix of news.  First, the bad news…I received a text message from my friend Lyndsie, located down in Eugene, that one of our favorite vintage shops, Puttin’ on the Ritz, suffered a horrible fire.  We have yet to hear if their entire inventory is lost, and what this means for the future of the business.  All I can say is that I am devastated, and my thoughts are with the owners and I wish them the best of luck in moving forward in whatever direction they choose.

UPDATE: Puttin’ on the Ritz has decided to consign all of their recovered inventory to Julie of Fab Gabs Vintage.

Meanwhile, Lyndsie has been one busy gal! She recently leased out the space of my former upholsterer in Coburg and is looking for dealers for her new shop Retro Rejuvenation.  My dad and myself have joined her in her venture, and will soon being opening up another branch of The Atomic Hideaway inside her new antique mall.

Photo Courtesy of Lyndsie Denton

Next week I will be heading down to Eugene to help out with sorting, pricing, and moving items into the new space.  Since this location will be manned by my dad, we look forward to bringing in “man-tiques” (auto memorabilia, and such) and possibly older, turn-of-the-century items.  I look forward to spending time with my dad and helping out a dear friend.  I want Lyndsie to be successful in this business.  She is a girl who loves the style and glamour of the 40s and 50s, and has a super keen eye for fantastic items (just check out that dress already in the window! And the fact she’s using Starburst in her design)!  Sometimes I simply can’t believe the things she scores!  The antique world needs to know that it is people like myself and Lyndsie who are the future of this business, and we want to keep antique and vintage items alive and pass them along to homes where they will be loved.

I hope to keep you up to date on our progress.

Three Dames Drinking

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Wednesday night I had the absolute pleasure to go out with Julie of FabGabs as Solanah of  Vixen Vintage for cocktails.  The occasion?  We all had fur stole capes.  But before we get to that…Patrick snapped a few pictures before leaving, as to get a view of my stunning dress for the evening…

Julie’s is made of raccoon fur! How amazing is that? And check out those bangles.

I horrifically didn’t take any pictures of Solanah with my camera, since I was so busy taking pictures of her with her camera! So you’re just going to have to pop over to her blog to see her adorableness.  We first stopped in at Teardrop for some cocktails, where we received many a compliment.

Followed later by tasty noshing at Hotel Deluxe. Where I was an absolute goose, and left my camera in the car, and being too lazy to go back and get it, left without a single snap shot of the gorgeous place.  But I believe I will be making many more returns. So just stay tuned.

Outfit
Cape: FabGabs
Dress: Garb-Oh Vintage
Eisenberg Earrings: Errr…I don’t remember…
Vintage Stockings: Guh…don’t remember either…
Shoes: Buffalo Exchange

The Perfect Fur – Better Late Than Never

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Friday afternoon found me and my friend Angelica, as well as her cousin and aunt, driving over to the home of Julie Bergmans, owner of Fab Gabs, for a wonderful as-is sale.  This gal had six, count ‘em, SIX, clothing racks in her living room full of vintage goodies and a bit of some amusing circus/Burning Man clothing items.  Oh, and did I mention there were cookies and rum punch as well?  My eyes and taste buds were quite happy.  As we perused the racks, Twila Jean stopped in, baby in tow, and we had a lovely time chit-chatting when I saw it…and it wasn’t on the rack, it was on Angelica’s cousin.  A fitted cape.  My heart stopped.  I had simply skipped over the coat section, thinking to myself “Don’t bother looking, you certainly don’t need anymore coats!” (and seriously, I really don’t. there isn’t room to move in our coat closet) and that is what I had missed!? But thank goodness, I was super relieved when Angelica’s cousin opted not to buy it and I scooped it up and put it on…oh, I was in love…and I took it home for a mere $5. Yes. Five. And isn’t it simply gorgeous?

Why was it only $5 and not in Julie’s lovely Etsy shop? It needed some repairs, but nothing I wasn’t prepared to fix.  I also picked up a delightful little blue skirt, a slip and a girdle.  All rather practical items, if I do say so myself.  While it’s a bit sad I found this treasure just as the weather is warming up, I know I’ll have a few days to enjoy it, since everyone knows that summer does ever start until July 5th here in Oregon.

Outfit
Hat: Thrifted
Cape: Fab Gabs
Dress: Red Light, Portland
Stockings: Metro, Portland
Shoes: Thrifted