It’s Friday – time to relax, go out with friends – maybe for dinner?  How about catching a movie?
You’re going to need a purse.
How about this cute little vintage velvet clutch purse?

Perfect for dressing up with a cute little skirt & kitten heels or dressing down with a t-shirt

I love discovering up & coming designers, or finding out about independant shops   Shop Language is a store in Chicago as well as a website that specializes in high fashion from a fantastic group of established & new designers.

This is a set of “Bamboo” earrings by designer Kenneth Jay Lane.

I would definitely wear this vintage buckle bracelet by Elizabeth Cole!

I love the vintage styling of this patent leather & ivory “Bean” clutch by Jalda.

I tried to find a photo online of my “Indigo by Clarks” boots yesterday, but couldn’t find last year’s collection.  I did however find some very wearable shoes from this year!

There’s the “Benna” in pink.

The very aptly-named “Cute Bar” in black.

These “Flower Power” ballets flats also come in pink leather.  I think these in ivory would be lovely for a casual afternoon wedding!

I was recently given a beautiful old necktie box:

Seeing as I don’t actually wear neckties, I’m going to use it store my porcelain flowers.  It’s lovely to have a special place to store significant jewelery.
So where do you store your special treasures?

When my mother was married, my grandmother (her mother in-law to be) loaned her a porcelain flower brooch to wear in her hair.  Now that I’m engaged, I wanted to wear the same pin that my mother did, and my grandmother before her.There  was one small problem.
My Nana couldn’t find the pin.  She looked all over her house.  My aunt looked all over her house.  My parents even looked all over Nana’s house.
And no pin.
“Oh well” I thought, I’m sure I can find more.  So I started building up my own collection of porcelain flowers to wear.

And then, Nana found …read more

I’m thrilled to be getting married this summer, and of course, wanted to do something a little different for my bridesmaids.  Instead of going with the traditional “everyone in the same dress”, I asked my bridesmaids to choose their own dress patterns.  Everyone will have the same fabric for the dresses and I found some gorgeous sheer printed organza to make shawls out of.
I wanted to share my floral brooches with my friends, and decided on this look:

Because I want to remain friends with my bridesmaids after my wedding, I felt it was better to give everyone as much choice …read more

I’ve got a soft spot for vintage porcelain floral pins.  They were quite common in England between the two world wars & up until the 1960s or so.  You can still find some fantastic little pieces on eBay, in vintage shops, or even in your grandmother’s jewelry box!

These are five pins from my own collection, mostly treasures I found on eBay.  I’ve paid anywhere from $1 to… um, too much for the one in the top centre
I’ve got a plan for these… but you’ll have to wait for tomorrow!

I think that this is a great little gift idea for that best friend or teen in your life. And when the lip gloss is used up, you don’t have to toss the container. You have a great little bracelet as a reminder of the occasion!
Details…
Silvertone chain link bracelet with double heart logo plaque and lipgloss underneath.
Did you know…
“Bracelet popularity dates back to the Roman times and continues today.
And this particular design might be traced back to Victorian times.
“The jewelry of the Victorian era expressed sentiment, and bracelets were no exception. Bracelets would contain lockets or charms with …read more

I have this love for the history of fashion and last night seeing that I couldn’t sleep anyway, I decided to get up at the unearthly hour of 4 a.m and see what I could dig up. Here’s what I found out about high heels.
1. The earliest heels can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. I don’t really want to think about it, but the heels were used by Egyptian butchers to raise them above the carnage. How do we know this?? Murals have been found on temple walls. So we know who to thank now …read more

Apparently, before 3400 B.C., Egyptians were wandering around in shoes made of papyrus. They were soon replaced with sandals made of leather or reeds woven together.
Checking out the fashion department of museums is a fascinating way to spend an afternoon. It’s amazing to actually look at pieces that another human being wore… what seems like about a zillion years ago! You can’t help but wonder what the woman carrying the bag or wearing the particular pair of shoes on view must have been like.
Source: The Ladies’ Room Reader Revisited. Alicia Alvrez