Vintage jewellery wall of fame

This is one of several jewellery piles on my dresser, not much of a system for a burgeoning vintage bling lover, I know.In fact I have amassed some very nice and quite substantial pieces - all necklaces - of late, and it just won't do to have them all heaped in a pile.So on a recent apartment clean and mini-re-org I decided to hang some of the larger pieces on the wall.Hence my vintage bling wall of fame.It actually makes practical sense to have...

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Marilyn Munroe look a la thrift & vintage

This is my Marilyn Munroe look, tee hee.Yesterday was a windy windy day in the afternoon, so when I left work I found that the thrifted dress I bought last summer (for about $6.99, cotton, French label) was blowing all over the place.Here I am holding it down. My pal Chris took the pic.I'm wearing the dress with a second-hand belt bought at a consignment shop.Notice the vintage 1980s sunglasses? Take a read back a couple weeks and you'll see them...

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Makeshift table, Grunge Queen style

While in the throes of a full-on apartment clean this weekend, I 'made' a makeshift table, which is stacked with magazines in the corner here.The table is occupying a formerly empty space and is helping to solve the problem of what to do with a cumbersome wrought iron base that used to be part of a larger table (that I thrifted years ago, of course) - but it's been on its own sitting on the balcony since I threw out the ugly 1960s laminate top that...

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Retro parents

Who's this hunk?My Dad!One of my fave 'vintage' shots of him when he was working on a radio tower in his 20s, working his way through university.Thought I'd post it as I had such a good response from the 'vintage twins' shots.This is somewhere on the Canadian prairies, where both my folks were born.Wonder who snapped the pic of him?Can't leave Mom out of the picture.Talk about a retro mama!Love this shot also. My Mom grew up in a teeny Saskatchewan...

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One-of-a-kind necklace with second-hand baubles

I bought some second-hand jewellery, most of it vintage, from a lady in Toronto the other day, and I did something semi-creative with some of the baubles I found.I really liked this gold-tone leaf pendant.I think it could either be an actual leaf that's been coated, or perhaps the leaf was cast. Anyway it's wholly realistic.I've always loved the look of botanical jewellery, but buying new pieces in the shops is pricey, due, I'm sure, to the painstaking...

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1980s bling from Value Village with butterfly stamp

Don't you just love these?They are individual vintage pendants, I'm guessing from the 1980s, that I found at Value Village for $2.99 each.The coloured part is a textured plastic but each bauble is quite heavy as the backs are metal.A fellow vintage jewellery buff suggested I take them to a jeweller and string them together sort of like this, which is an attractive idea, I admit.But I do rather like the idea of wearing them separately. That way I...

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Thrift shop art & bling

As you may know, I get most of my art from the thrift shops.It's not all velvet Elvis paintings and Anne Geddes baby print rejects.I loved this piece dug up recently at Goodwill in Toronto - the framing job alone is worth a good penny, I'd say.It looks like it's a water colour, and it's a depiction of St. Paul's cathedral in Montreal, Quebec.I just love the French city scape.Here's a longer shot of it so you can get the full effect.I did something...

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Thrift shop bling for under $6

And we're back to regular scheduled programming.I have some cool thrift shop baubles to show you this week.This silver-tone flower pendant was only $3.99. It reminds me of a shape made me think of that retro 1970s game, Spirograph - remember that one?Here's a link to a retro 1973 Spirograph commercial in case; groovy man: Spirograph commercial.I'm not that much into bracelets, but this retro 1950s one called to me.And it was only $5.99.I liked the...

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They say it's your Birthday ... it's my Birthday too yah

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Retro twins

In honour of a BIG Birthday I'm dedicating this week's posts to my twin sis and I by showing you some true "vintage" pics of us taken in days of yore...This one includes our older sister, for the heck of it.Don't we look groovy?As you can see I'm already practising for my blog poses by striking a particularly inelegant pose here as I lean against the door frame. Eep.How about this one, in our hand-knit ponchos and matching pants?Hello, weren't we...

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When we were 14 ...

NOTE: I have edited this post since the original posting.This is me, also when we were 14, taken by my twin sis after I had just piled on heaps of makeup.I think I was trying to look like someone in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.I do look rather sick. But oh, hello collagen!Check out the retro dividing shelf wall behind ...

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My sis in thrifted sandals she went back for

This is my twin sis, striking a striking pose.She and I sharing a B-day this week, so I've decided to dedicate some posts to her, and me.I'd like to think I was responsible for sis becoming an avid shopper at my fave local thrift shop in east Toronto, Stretch Thrift.One day she and I were there and I showed her the sandals she is wearing so beautifully in this shot.They're from Spain, suede, and they were only $6.99.She tried them on and her heel...

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What would you do? The most amazing vintage glasses in the world

I have to have these retro early 1980s faceted sunglasses.They are currently on hold at my spec shop, which I am going to do a post on soon.According to the glasses Gods they just don't make the faceted type of specs any more, so these, at $300, are def a collector's item.You know my penchant for big 1970s/80s sunglasses.Let's go in for a closer look.They do look good on me.Do I need them? Do I think my life will change in some dramatic way if I...

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Skeleton chairs & ribbon dispensers

This chair was in my local thrift shop, Stretch Thrift, before I left for West Palm, and when I returned to do a little dig after my vacay it was still there.Whoever goes for this would need to have some guts, as this chair is obviously all guts.So wish I were handy enough to reupholster and fix up this baby. It's got good bones and a good shape. A wingback chair would be so cozy wozy in the winter months ....I decided to leave it there for the next...

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Toronto designers using vintage

As you can see by the Palm Tree-like plant behind me, my glorious trip to West Palm Beach is still lingering in my consciousness, though my fake tan is fading like a Florida sunset.In keeping with the beachy theme today I donned a top made by Toronto designer/Queen St. West retailer Preloved, which has recently opened a pop-up shop on the Danforth around Greektown.Preloved fashions tops, dresses and other funky ladies' garb from reclaimed vintage...

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Launch party of 1212 decor in Toronto

Does this look like a bed fit for a queen, perhaps a Grunge Queen?Hey, that looks like a crown on the bed to me.I could have slumbered and dreamed all night long after the official launch party last night of 1212, a swank new design shop at 1212 Yonge St. in Toronto.Many of the colours, as you see here, match the beachy hues I was talking about yesterday.Check out this occasional chair by Avant Garde - it's covered with this nubbly terry cloth material.Loving...

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