...THE Wedding Dress - a dress with soul.

 

Recently, my Mother and I have been discussing the fate of Her My OUR 1950's wedding dress (NOT Plural!)...

~FLASHBACK~

• Christmas Eve 2000 - I got engaged!
• October 27, 2001 - The Wedding.

During that time there was a whirlwind of planning, decisions, and World Wide turmoil (911!).  One of the first things a girl is 'supposed' to do is find her 'perfect dress'?!  I had never been the young girl that had Dreamed & Planned of HER DAY, I had just been concerned with finding MR RIGHT.  Okay, that was done, now onto The.Planning.  At 33yrs old, & 6'-0" tall, the thought of searching for a dress, with an entourage of onlookers, in Bright lights, with Large 3-way mirrors just turned my stomach!!

Then, The.Perfect.Answer!  I remembered that box in the attic - The dress that my Mom had worn down the aisle on 3-14-53.  I had tried it on when I was in my teens, when Mom was cleaning out 'junk'.  She was going to toss it, but I had told her to hang on to it - you never know.  It had fit perfect at that time - just a little long!  Well, as luck would have it, the dress had survived, and I found a GREAT seamstress - a Serious WIN-WIN (Mom was beyond Thrilled that I would want to wear her old dress!). 

10-27-01

 I remember walking down the aisle with my Dad, and joking 'Bet you never thought you'd be walking this dress down the aisle TWICE - in different directions!' (almost 50yrs later!!)

and now it is 2021!

~ Dad passed away a couple of years ago, but Mom & Dad had a wonderful 66yr. marriage...

~ J & I are going strong, and will be celebrating our 20yr anniversary this Fall...

~ Mom is now 87yrs old, and continually curious as to what will happen to her 'stuff' when she's gone, and trying to get things settled (?)!.

~We have both decided to set The Dress free, and let it bring Good Luck to someone else (we don't foresee future generations having any desire for this MidCentury dress - they will have their Mother's to wear!!).  The dress is headed to Ebay & ETSY - For Sale

I pulled the BOX from storage, and I enlisted the help of Sesame Shimmer (mannequin) for a photo shoot (I am certainly not fitting back into that dress again in the foreseeable future!!)  I think she did quite well.

During this cleanout, much 'reminiscing' has taken place with my Mother (priceless!).  She asked what had ever become of her 'GOING AWAY SUIT'?

For those not familiar with the term / tradition:

 "The tradition of the going away outfits where before the bride and groom leave they change out of their dress and tux and leave in more comfortable clothes, especially if they are heading straight for the airport that night or the next morning following the Wedding."

"Whereas most wedding dresses are commonly only worn once by (especially by modern brides), in all likelihood, your going away dress or suit is something that will then be folded into rotation in your usual everyday wardrobe. As such, feel free to spend a little more on it then you might if you were only going to sport it one time."

I let Mom know that it still hung in My closet.  NO,  I didn't wear it for it's original purpose, but in the late 80's -90's it was 'folded into rotation' of MY work wardrobe.  Mom's GoingAwaySuit was the Original 'Capsule Wardrobe', consisting of 4 interchangeable pieces - Houndstooth Jacket, 1 solid red skirt, 1 houndstooth skirt and a reversible vest (you guessed it - houndstooth/solid red)!  This was my Power Suit!  I wore it during my co-op position @ Kodak, and I even wore it to my 'Real-Just Graduated College' job interview at Beardsley's (which I got!).  In this suit I felt invincible.

•   I can no longer fit into it.
• I no longer have an Office job that requires this attire
• Since the Wedding Dress is going, WE decided the time was right for The suit to go as well.

~AND~

In the old Wedding Dress Box, I had found a little bag tucked off in the corner - a Classy, light pink PEIGNOR SET.

peignoir

[ˌpānˈwär]

NOUN

1. a woman's light dressing gown or negligee.

   synonyms:

   housecoat · bathrobe · dressing gown · robe · negligee · kimono · robe de chambre

Since it too had a correlation to 3-14-53 & deserves a New Life, we are giving it the same treatment, and will have it it's own listing, for sale on-line!

HOPEFULLY, these vintage pieces will continue on for many more years.

enJOY!

& 

be well

...LOBSTERS? Yes, Please!

Never fear, my passion for SWEATER CLIPS - GUARDS is still going strong in 2019!

The most recent 'Love' was found and gifted to me by J!

To date this is The.Only. signed 'SPAIN' piece in my ever growing collection.

and 

my first DAMASCENE piece

and

they are LOBSTERS!!

For anybody just stopping by, and new to my Sweater Clip / Guard passion - if you have an interest in our 'BACKSTORY', you can find it here!!

For anybody who has been on this crazy ride with me for a while, here are the latest pictures of our displays - my how they have grown since the photos of 2008!

(collection is at around 700 now!?)

'RHINESTONES & BLING'

'SIGNED' and 'Gold-toned'

'BEACHY" ...shells, souvenir, etc..

'PLAIN JANES'

'SPESHULS'

BUT WAIT

There's more!

(just not photographed.)

How is ALL of this possible in just 25 years?!!

Be Well

&

enJOY!

...HAEGER tour!

This post is NOT for the faint of heart

...faint of HAEGER Pottery heart that is!

I hope I don't put Anyone on OVERLOAD - but you have been WARNED!!

Over the years I've squealed with joy over random HAEGER finds/gifts, but I have never given you the FULL.HOUSE.tour.

Are you ready?

Here goes...

PLEASE forgive the dust & clutter (but I DO collect a 'few' things other than HAEGER - ha,ha!!)

Entering through our KITCHEN, you will find just a few select Red/Black pieces scattered about (They don't all normally live in the Middle of our countertop - they were gathered here for photo purposes only!)

Through the doorway to the DINING ROOM: Our dining room is done in MCM hand-me-down furnishings, and our china cabinet houses some of my fav's.!

and a built-in corner of the Dining Room 

Throughout, the HAEGER is put to use holding odds-ends.  This area is home to a LOT of Seaglass and Shells!!

 We played around for a l-o-n-g time on the 'best' way to group/display our vast array of Haeger...

Some things we group 'like-shapes' together, but for the most part we are grouping pieces according to glaze / color... but it is ever changing!

A couple of shelves in our 'COMPUTER ROOM'...

This shelf is a bit of  HAEGER, VERA (plates & airplanes) and BENNINGTON - 

Our FRONT HALL is probably 'changed up' most frequently - right now it is home to aqua's in a 'seaside' theme...

VERA linens and HAEGER accent each other quite well!!

Not much of a vignette, but Love the Lady Bug and the Lady!!

 In the TV ROOM:

is our Mauve Agate Collection

...and our Gold Tweed!

Can you find 'TWEED' (Our Elf)??

This room is fondly called THE HAEGER ROOM.  Can you guess why?

Extra Oak house-trim pieces have been used to create Ceiling height shelves around the room!

 Onto the GUEST ROOM: 

Rather 'tucked away', this is home to our plain 'Garden House Variety' of whites...

You have probably noticed throughout, our pension for using multi-plate racks to display HAEGER's Numerous atomic dishes and ashtrays!

 Even the ATTIC STUDIO has it's share of shelves, home to more of our 'less-favored, but can't part with' pieces!

Yes, it is a sickness, this HAEGER LOVE.

When I first started collecting & learning about HAEGER, I picked up ANY piece I found on 'the cheap'.  I've grown away from the simple Garden House designs and don't buy them anymore (well, not as much!)  ~BUT~ still have a diverse love of the variety of glazes and figures... and HAEGER made a LOT!

...take WARNING.

Isn't that how the old saying about 'Pink sky in Morning' goes??

 Well, it seems we have been having a LOT of BEAUTIFUL PINK SUNRISES lately... or so they appear on the surface!

 

I think that there should be a similar WARNING about blogs.
  Blogs created by people with LOTS of talent.

Blogs created by people who are terribly organized.

Blogs created by people with wonderful photography skills.

SHOULD NOT BE READ BY THE HIGHLY IMPRESSIONABLE!!

 

As an avid thrifter, I have been known to start 'picking-up' things at sales because 'they are The HOT ITEM' in blog land... 



Everyone KNOWS you can't leave a CHEAP Shiny Brite behind...



 

TRAIN CASE?!? a 'MUST' that I now can't live without, and before BlogLand I didn't even know they existed!!

~ N O W ~
I have really crossed over to the
DARK SIDE....

Recently I was approached, and asked to be a vendor in a SMALL, Local Fall handmade Farm Market....

and I agreed.

 

 

I have never done this before.

I blame YOU Blogland!

 (Yes, 'You' KNOW who you are!!)

 

 

I am definitely dipping my toes into unknown territory...

The theme to my booth is Upcycling in the FingerLakes of NY.

VERY small show with low foot traffic - good for a newbie!!

(ie: won't need a LOT of product)

 

Hot-glue gun is clearing out some of the hoards of Shiny Brites as they are made into wreaths!

 

Trays of recently washed Sea Glass, waiting to be sorted and wire wrapped into pendants...

Hands are never still while road-trippin' or watching
TV, making PLARN Pumpkins (in a FUN new BLACK!!)


 

...and of course THE. PEDESTALS

~ LOTS of them, all ready to GO!!!

The BIG PROBLEM?

 is that I pass by this view from my Attic/Studio window...

I LOVE AUTUMN and I don't want to miss it!!

So, I'm still taking time out for Daytrippin' with Pals to take in the sunshine and sites...



A little MacKenzie-Childs for inspiration

(still experimenting with the new camera)



...and still 'stuffing it' , while the 'stuffing' is good...

 

VERA 2013 #21 .25¢

 



Sweater Clip 2013 #13 - seashells & rhinestones $3

 



Treasures! Treasures! Glass flower frog, Sarah Cov. belt, Girl Scout pins, Josef figures, Aluminum powder music box, glass heart pendant, enamel flower pin, glove clip, purse hook, travel clock, copper butterfly = $4.55 !!

Here is the FINAL (for today) testimony to the power of BLOGS...


I had NEVER held an ANNALEE doll in my hands before (or seen one in person), but while scrounging through a box of ornies at Rummage sale recently, I heard the lady next to me say to her Partner in crime "OH. MY. GOSH!  LOOK. AT. THIS. UGLY! SANTA!"  Just by the tone in her voice, I KNEW it had to be.  I turned my head SO FAST to get a glimpse of what she was referring, then held my breath that neither would take it.
  They didn't. 
 I grabbed it.
I checked the tags.
IT WAS!
((It will be going to an E-store soon))


HOPE EVERYONE IS ENJOYING THEIR COUNTDOWN TO ALL-HALLOWED EVE!!

(I will be back with a report after 10/19!)






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Consider yourselves
WARNED!
((this could happen to you if you read Blogs!!))