Monthly Archives April 2010




Dear Friends,

This is one I will remember.

Holiday Red circa 1950

VINTAGE DETAILS
*Fabric: gorgeously rich red corduroy
*Cut: high waist and full skirt
*Hem: just below the knee
*Wow Factor: scalloped, off-the-shoulder neckline with embroidery and sequins

This one stayed in the store too…but I wish it had made it into the van.

Thanks for reading friends.

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

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Dear Friends,

This past weekend we played shows at venues on the North Carolina coast and I took the opportunity to check out the area’s premier vintage haven: Flashbax, located on Front Street in Wilmington, NC.
Here I’m wearing a lovely, lemon drop yellow 1950’s gem.

VINTAGE DETAILS
*Fabric: horizontally ribbed
*Cut: high waist, full skirt, and darts
*Hem: just below the knee
*Wow Factor: details around the top including buttons, lace, piping, and round collar

Sadly, I did not take this one home with me. Maybe next time!

Thanks for reading friends.

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

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Dear Friends,
Last weekend I played model for my friend Dycee. She sells vintage clothes on her Etsy.com page: “Lovely Rags by Dycee”. All the cloths she sells are vintage, though most of them are not of my vintage (she only has a few 40’s and 50’s pieces). All of them are in beautiful condition.
You can check out the photographs and the clothes at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Dycee
As payment for hours of hard modeling work, Dycee let me choose a dress to take home from her collection and hang in my closet! I chose Marilyn Monroe. Thanks Dycee!
Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

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Dear.Friends,

After a stop at the Bedford Cheese Shoppe to purchase some sundries for my papa’s birthday, we walked down a few blocks to the wonderful, Beacon’s Closet where I could have spent hours and hours, if we hadn’t already made dinner plans with friends in Manhattan.
Vintage shopping in a time crunch requires focus and expertise, especially when you’re hunting for gems of a particular vintage (in my case, of the 1940’s and 50’s). I made a B-line for the dress racks in the back of the store and then narrowed my focus, simply looking at the material of the dresses; more specifically, I searched for dresses made of cotton and linen—the fabrics of the earlier half of the twentieth century.
I found six that looked promising and headed for the dressing room where I found that several of them fit, but only one was a keeper and here’s the shocking part…it was new dress made in 1940’s style. (No, not as good as an original 1940’s, but hey, if the dress fits…)

Vintage Detail:

*cris-cross back with button fastens
*high waist with a strait skirt
*classic 40’s pockets

I took it home with me and secretly planned on wearing the very next day (which is the best part of buying a new old, or a new old-looking, dress.)
Here’s a video I took while wearing the dress the day of my sister’s baby shower/party:

Thanks for reading and watching!
Sincerely,
Nora Jane

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Dear Friends,

My sister, Abby, is having a baby girl! Last weekend PJ and I traveled to New Jersey for her baby shower and, since we were making the big trip anyway, decided to go a few days early to catch up with friends in New York City and visit the Brooklyn vintage stores I used to frequent when I was a New Yorker.
We went into New York on Thursday afternoon and made a brief stop at the David Gage Bass Shop in Soho/Chinatown where PJ and I were awed by some truly magnificent instruments and some very kind service.

Then we headed to Williamsburg, Brooklyn—Vise-Versa on Bedford was our first stop. Unlike many vintage stores in Manhattan, Vise-Versa keeps it’s prices fairly low (dresses stay around the 15-25 dollar range and shirts and skirts are almost always $15 or less.) While I was hunting through the dress racks, one of my old students, Mario, came over and said hello. I’d not forgotten that his parents own the store, but he looked so grown-up that I didn’t recognize him.

I didn’t find any dresses that were perfect for me this time, but in the past, I’ve purchased some real winners that have become go-to performance wear. I did find a non-vintage item with a vintage aesthetic—a blue and white gingham button down made by H&M—that was marked at $7, but Mario insisted that I just take it. Thanks Mario! PJ found a rockin’ black western shirt with white fringe. Oh yeah.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

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