Dresses Rock

Yay! Today, Mr. S. and I will be sharing delicious food with some friends, and right now, we're just full of smiles and nice things to say. Like "Gosh, you sure aren't annoying" and "You're one of the least worst people I know."

Today's photos are courtesy of Mr. S., and boy was this a fun photo shoot! We found out all sorts of interesting things, like how to accidentally kill 3/4 of the spinach in your garden (sorry, spinach), and how to keep cool in the heat by wearing pretty cotton dresses. It's easy, just put one on, and - BAM! - you're not nearly as sweaty as you were before (unless you were naked before). Dresses rock in the summer. Let's give dresses a big round of applause! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!! Today's outfit consists of a modern dress, which I wore in a previous post, vintage faux-pearl clip-on earrings, a vintage cinch belt, my antique locket, and a vintage rayon scarf. Just daaaaaaaaaaaaaahling!

Quick update: I have started a blogroll list. It will get bigger! Check out all the cool sites I have listed so far on this page! See ya! Don't kill spinach. :(

The Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a beautiful day today! I am having a great weekend, and I hope you are, too. Yesterday, I spent the day at the wedding of my good friends, Janessa and Chris, and today it's just gorgeous out, and I'm all smiley and nice and stuff.

It is a beautiful day, and that means I get to play my favorite game: HIDE FROM THE SUN! A friend described me as "ghostly" yesterday, and that's ok, because I know that I do look sort of like a ghost and also, I can walk through walls, and also, I like to run around with a white sheet on my head saying "oooooooooooooooo." Also, I aspire to live in a dusty old mansion some day.

That said, today's fashion photos include me, an adorable vintage blue and white striped cotton dress with my favorite slip underneath, and an umbrella from my massive umbrella/parasol collection. The sun won't find me as long as I'm under this umbrella! A note about this dress: I am always talking about wearing clothing throughout all the seasons, and this dress was featured in a winter post with a sweater and tights (click HERE), and also earlier this month, with different accessories (click HERE).

Enjoy the holiday weekend, and I'll see you soon!

Parties, Horror Movies, and Vintage, OH MY!

Hi everyone!

I have some great things lined up for you. On Friday, June 18th, I am hosting an Etsy Craft Party in the shop! This isn't just any craft party...no, sir. The party takes place during the SouthSide Film Festival, and the festival theme is horror, so I am looking for someone to lead a horror-themed craft for the evening. Season 3 of True Blood will be in full swing by then, too, so...vampire sock puppets, maybe? Hee-hee. Anyway, suggestions and volunteers are welcome! In addition to crafts, we will have live music by The Midway - banjos, washboards, amazingness. But wait! There's more! Emily Caretti, my friend and fellow vintage lover, will showcase some of her gorgeous vintage clothing for sale in the shop! For a look at some of her finds, visit her Etsy shop, Tea Street Vintage! I might have a few more tricks up my sleeve, so I'll keep ya posted.

And now for today's outfit - it was inspired by love. As in, I love this dress. Underneath the dress is, of course, a vintage slip. What would I do without my vintage slips? Cry, probably. When I cry, my entire face blows up and turns red and I look like a crazy tomato head. It's terrifying, so don't ever make me cry.

Have a great weekend! Maybe I'll see ya here at UnderWired!

Lava, Fire, Brimstone

This post is brought to you by the letter "H", the words "Hell" and "Hot", and the number 666. When I woke up this morning, it was 666 degrees in my house. I got ready for my walk in, and was pleased to find that it was a bit cooler outside - approximately 650 degrees. I wore my sheer black dress again today, with a vintage cotton white slip underneath, partly because I knew it would be comfortable in the heat. The other reason I wore this outfit is because I knew I'd be carrying a parasol again, and I wanted to look like an Edward Gorey illustration. I know that I succeeded in my task because - and this really happened - someone yelled to me from their car when I was on the bridge and said:

"I thought you were a ghost when I first saw you walking back there! Seriously! Ask my buddy sitting next to me!"

This made my day and I'm not even kidding! Mission accomplished, and congratulations to me!

Craft night was wonderful last night and I'm already looking forward to next Wednesday. I also have a nice surprise lined up for my Etsy Craft Party here on June 18...once I get everything organized, you'll here all about it!

Have a great day and don't melt!

Molten Vintage

Welcome to my imagination.

Inside, you will find pumpkins, ghosts, fall weather, cats, cupcakes, an army of make-believe creatures, knitting supplies, Halloween decorations, paint, sparkles, chocolate, a glass of wine, presents, elves that give out free hugs, and most of all, weather that stays at a moderately cool temperature between 55 and 65 degrees.

Don't get me wrong, I like spring and summer. But I love to complain about the temperature in the winter, so why ignore the hot weather? That would be mean. So here's my complaint - it is sooooooooooo hot out! I melted on my walk in to the store today, and then, as a molten melty blob, I globbed and rolled down the hill and then re-formed into a person-type thing inside the shop. And here's a picture of what I'm wearing! I like this vintage purple sundress and I layered my puffy sleeved black top underneath. Perhaps layers are not a good idea in hot weather, but sometimes a bad idea is the best idea of all. Right? Right.

I have wonderful news today! UnderWired was featured in another Etsy treasury! Click HERE to view the listing, and then check out Favorite Scents' candle shop. Thank you, Favorite Scents!

Have a great day, everyone!

Things I Learned While Walking in the Sun

Today, I learned some things about walking outside that I thought I should share with you.

1. Walking without a parasol or umbrella in the hot sun made me feel like I was going to explode into a million bubbling bits of lava and flames. Make a note of that, and consider protecting yourself from the sun's life-giving/skin exploding rays with an umbrella this summer.

2. Sweat is designed to evaporate in order to keep us cool and prevent us from overheating. Sweat also feels really gross when it comes out of your armpits and hangs out in your shirt next to your skin. Make a note of this as well and consider giggling next time it happens to you. There's really nothing else you can do.

3. It is important to stay hydrated in the summer months so that you don't suffer from heat-related afflictions and so that you can produce more sweat for your shirt.

4. Sunglasses help to keep the sun out of your eyes and also make you look like you think summer rocks and is the best time of year.

5. Sunscreen really does protect the skin from dangerous exposure to UV rays. Note the photo I present to you today. It was taken without a flash. I'm really this pale.

Today's outfit: Vintage green cotton skirt and plain black t-shirt. Vintage scarf in hair. Flower in hair. Vintage clip-on earrings. Comfort + cuteness + hot weather = "hey, it's ok, everything is fine, because I'm wearing vintage! High five!"

I hope to see many of you tomorrow at craft night (6:30). I'll have a couple surprises to show you, AND there will be lots of great new items in the store!

Fuzzy Hair + Mix and Match = Mischief

Good day to you!

Today, I am wearing my early 80s cotton button-front skirt with a plain cotton black tank top. I tucked the top into my skirt, pulled the skirt way up to my ribs, and then added my retro cinch belt and: Look at that! Everything looks fancy!

I am also wearing my vintage rose necklace and a scarf. I piled my hair on top of my head today so that my curls could get some air, and I like how I kind of look like a fuzzy weird pet thing when I do that.

I am feeling mischievous today. As you can see in the photo, I appear to be saying "maybe I ate them, maybe I didn't." "Them," meaning "people."

Delicious.

HEY! This just in: I will be hosting an Etsy Craft Party on Friday, June 18 at 6:00 p.m.! Email underwiredvintag@gmail.com for details!

Today's Post Barely Mentions Vampires

I am still mentioning vampires just by saying I'm not talking about them today, so, sorry.

Today's outfit is another dress that I've worn several times for these posts, but I am wearing it with different accessories. This 1960s dress has a matching belt, but I substituted my black cinch belt. I also added a black scarf around my neck. If I wear too much pale fabric next to my pale skin, I could disappear, and I don't want that (except for when I'm being sneaky), so I always add a bright or dark accessory. My hair is up in a mass of twists and rolls, and I tied in a white filmy 60s scarf. I added my favorite white flower. Last, but not least, my favorite part of almost every outfit: the vintage slip. This one is a 1950s white cotton full slip. I love how it peeks out from the hem of my dress!

Today, I found out that a dress from UnderWired's Etsy shop was featured in a treasury by Generationsclothing! Click HERE to see the listing, and then peruse the generationsclothing shop!

Have a lovely Sunday, vintage shoppers! I will see you soon and if you're nice, I'll make you a cup of raspberry tea. Aw, what am I saying, you're always nice and I wuv you so much yes I do!

Looooooooooooooooooove,

Lisa

Nosferatu + Strawberry Shortcake = Knives

What will I talk about today? Or Should I say "WOT" will I talk about? If you are a Doctor Who fan, you know that the proper way to pronounce the word "what" is "wot," as in "watt." Example: Last night, I had to stop my car for several minutes in the street because babies were in the street. Playing. And their parents were ignoring them. And I thought "Wot. The heck is going on here?" And the parents were all "oh heeeeeeeeey look at my babies. They're playing in the street it's like, so cool, and my beer is like so delicious" and I was all "WOT." And I made this face:


According to the series Mad Men, in the 1960s, we were missing the basic parts of the brain that alert us to common parenting dangers and we were not quick to shout things like “stop running around with that dry-cleaning bag on your head!”


Now we know better, thanks to the wonders of those helpful illustrations clearly printed on the bags . But now, we are missing even more child rearing brain technology. The technology that tells us to keep our children out of the street because streets are for cars and cars are made of thousands of pounds of steel and kids are made of tens of pounds of fluff. WOT.

Anyway, here's my outfit today. I've worn all these pieces before, and this hairstyle before, but never before has this exact combination happened and illustrated what the child of Nosferatu and Strawberry Shortcake would look like. Apparently, the child of Nosferatu and Strawberry Shortcake would look awesome and would like knives. Vintage black slip to create a sweetheart neckline and lengthen the dress + black cutie dress with cinch belt + vintage lace collar = badass dessert themed vampire lady.

Just Throw a Bunch of Stuff Together

I decided to wear a bunch of stuff today. A bunch of stuff that kind of doesn't make sense together, but I don't care. I love this dress, it's retro inspired with a built-in crinoline (Look how cute! Look!). I wasn't feeling brave enough to walk to the store in a strapless dress, so I wore this sweet-as-pie 50s baby blue shirt underneath. There is no blue in the dress's fabric, so I added a navy blue (50s) cinch belt. Now it sort of looks like it goes together.

Now my hair. First I only had flowers in my hair, but then I added this sheer pink scarf because pink is great and reminds me of strawberry smoothies. Hair smoothies. Now I am all full of myself and think I look like an adorable mismatched crazy person. Awwwwwwww. I feel like hopping around and screaming I LIKE BUNNIES! You know, for comedy.

Party in the Underworld and You're Invited

I am wearing my special blue 1950s dress again today, with my favorite scarf. I walked in carrying my Man's Ruin Parasol, so I looked like a lady at a 4th of July picnic in the 1950s, in Hell. I like that.

Jaime K.'s vegan cooking demo was last night at UnderWired, and boy was she fantastic! Pictured below is Jaime and some of her audience (audience ingredients: 100% awesome ladies) while they receive more samples to enjoy. I am considering cloning Jaime or making a Stepford-style robot of her to keep near me at all times because I must eat more of her cooking! I already warned her that if I hid her in my hair, no one would know. I think I need to stop typing now. I have some planning to do, not about stealing Jaime. Borrowing.

I Smell Like Coconuts

'Tis the season for sun and sunburn, even on a chilly day like this, so I have begun PROJECT SUNSCREEN 2010. The goal is to overload on sunscreen to the point that I am actually paler at the end of the summer. I don't doubt that this is possible, since I'm pretty sure my skin is made of glow sticks. If I achieve my goal, I will be invisible, and will be able to sneak around undetected, and do all kinds of the weird kinds of things I do, but no one will be able to see me. My sunscreen smells like coconuts, so I keep thinking about smoothies.

I wore my pretty vintage black satin slip as a dress today, with my new best friend Lil' Crown Vest. I also wore my grandmother's red rose necklace, and a rose ring. I made this ring, and there are plenty more cool rings in the shop right now. I made them from broken or mismatched vintage parts, and they're only $5 each!

The second picture included in this post is intended to show my hairstyle, and to show how much I love rolling my eyes and gesturing, as if to say "I don't knooooooooooooow. Ummmmmmm. Hahaha I'm stupid." I've had too much coffee today. Twice the caffeine, triple the crazy.

Tonight is UnderWired's Vegan Picnic with Jaime K. of Save the Kales and Heart of Steel City! I can't wait, this is going to be great. If you didn't get a chance to sign up, stay tuned for information on future events. There will be KABLILLIONS!

Rainy Day Casual

Heeeeeeeeeeeey Buddies,

I am in sleepy dreamy mode today. Rainy, cool weather makes me want to cuddle up with a book or a movie or a cup of hot chocolate and turn my brain off. You can see that in the picture. See how I'm looking indecisive, like "um, I wanna get up, but maybe I'll stay seated, but maybe I should get up, but I don't remember what I was going to do anyway. I'll just stay right here."

I'll be drawin' some pictures and washin' some vintage clothing and cookin' some food today. To stay comfortable on this quiet afternoon, I wore a cotton pastel plaid top (it was my Gramma's!), a 1960s scarf around my neck, and a modern thrifted sweater and jeans. For added comfort, I will probably have several cats attached to me, and I might where my spider web slippers. Also, I might lay down to work. With my eyes closed.

Have a great day!

Looooooooooooove,

SleepyLisa

Dress Like You're 6 Years Old, AND Sci-fi

Today's outfit reminds me of my clothing from childhood. I'm not sure why, because I never owned anything like what I'm wearing as a six-year-old, but it's just a feeling, so I went with it. I really liked rainbows as a child, so the shirt works. And the skirt is from the early 80s, just like six-year-old me is from the early 80s.

I am obsessed with science fiction and time travel and robots lately, so I decided to read some of my vintage sci-fi books. As you can see, I am SHOCKED by what I'm reading. Maybe even HORRIFIED. Did you know that reading makes your brain grow? It's true. Sometimes when I read, my brain grows so much that I have to create bigger and better hairstyles, just to contain all of my brain in the general vicinity of my head. Read something today, and see what happens. Did you know that UnderWired has a good collection of vintage books? Everything from cookbooks to sci-fi to mystery to classics. Sometimes, there are so many books in the store that I have to create bigger and better hairstyles just to store the books in. Really? Really.

See you here soon!

Love,

RoboLisa

Two Photos for the Price of One

Picture one, taken with my friends, the Tattooed Acrobat Twins (art by Drew Winner of Electric Tiger Tattoo), shows my outfit. Picture two, also taken with the Tattooed Twins, shows my outfit and a slightly better view of my hair. Two nearly identical pictures for the price of one. Just another amazing benefit I offer from UnderWired.

I like my hair today because it has a big blob at the top and it makes me think of the 60s and of space aliens. Two things that are neat.

Outfit: royal blue 80s frilly cotton top, 50s black cardigan, 80s camo-drab green skirt, thrift shop shoes

Hair: Nature, hairspray, top of hair pulled back and rolled under to create previously mentioned blob, bobbi pins

Come see me today and we'll talk about outer space and time travel.

100 Ways to Wear the Same Thing, Part II, Plus, the Art of Unflattering Photos

Dear Saturday,

Thank you for being so beautiful and lovely and at the best spot in the week. I am glad we are getting to know each other, and maybe some day, we can exchange rings or something.

Love,

Lisa

Dear Everyone,

Today I am wearing an ADORABLE 1960s jumper. I wore it to my cousin's wedding (which was awesome) last weekend, and I like it so much that I brought it out for Weekend Debut II. Last weekend, as pictured in the smuggish looking photo (top), I wore my hair in a 40s-esque style to accentuate the playful feel of this outfit. This time, I am wearing a simple braid in my hair, without a scarf. Same outfit + different hair = less glam, more casual. This jumper is actually pants, which I am trying to show you in Unflattering Photo Number 1. In this picture, I am saying "IT'S PANTS! AND SOYLENT GREEN IS MADE OF PEOPLE! I FEEL LIKE BITING SOMETHING!"

In Unflattering Photo Number 2, I am leaning on the jewelry case thinking "boy is it tiring being so stupid all the time."

Looooooooooooooooooove,

Lisa

p.s. I never told you to CLICK HERE to see this cool interview that Jaime K. did with me for her FABULOUS blog, Heart of Steel City!

100 Hundred Ways to Wear the Same Thing

Hi there, people!

Today's picture is kind of blurry, and the pose looks like I am saying "What's that ya say there, sonny?" I like it because it's dumb.

I am wearing, yet again, my 40s inspired dress. I chose to wear it today because it's light-weight and comfortable to wear when it's muggy and warm out. Instead of wearing a black slip underneath, I wore a pink vintage slip to make it a little less drab on this somewhat gray day. I also wore my hair down, so that I look less like a film noir lady and more like a person with big curly hair.

Come in here and see me, some M&Ms, some nice dresses, and the freshly vacuumed carpet. It looks nice. See ya!

Feathers, Pants, Frills, Whatever

Howdy Doody Beautiful People and Beautiful Day/Nature!

Today's outfit is called "Sideshow Performer on Lunch Break Wearing Pants." Why not wear plain pants while wearing feathers in your hair and floofy sleeves and piles of red lipstick? Why NOT? I wanted to put on my favorite light pink, sheer 1950s top under this cool black frilly thing, but I also wanted to have fancy hair AND the comfort of pants, so I did. I also thought it would be part of a healthy lifestyle to eat some wax grapes, so I did that too.

Have a lovely day and come visit me. I have brownies!

I Forgot My Camera and Other Dumb Mistakes

Luckily, my newfangled technological wonder of a phone takes pictures, or I wouldn't have been able to document today's outfit (gasp!).

Today's theme is "Hey, I feel like wearing my underwear on the outside, ok?" I created the skirt I'm wearing by layering three very pretty slips. I started with a full-length, peachy-toned 1940s slip. Then I put on a white 1950s half slip, then another 1950s half-slip (pink). I think it's suuuuuuuuper pretty! Also, I wore my trusty ol' black cardigan. I tried to get a picture of today's hairstyle, but did a poor job. I included the pictures anyway, because they illustrate how my phone camera makes me look just a teensy weensy bit paler than normal. I really need to find out how to have blood in my veins.

Oh yes, the title of today's post is I Forgot My Camera and Other Dumb Mistakes...the other dumb mistake of the day was forgetting my second cup of coffee this morning, so now I am drooling all over my computer and forgetting what I'm talking about. Luckily, I am across the street from a great cafe, and I am going to take advantage of that fact.

Have a wonderful day, and stop in the see the new rings and things I brought in today!

Mother's Day Contest, Part II

Say hello to Aunt Moogs! A lovely UnderWired customer, Nan Rush, sent in this image of her aunt, and captured one of the three prizes. Thank you to the UnderWired Mother's Day Contest participants, and thank you to all the wonderful women out there for being you!

Now, look at this beautiful photo:

Mother's Day Contest Winners, Part 1

Hello!

Two of the contest winners are revealed! The third winner has been notified, and will be in a post later this week...

Meet Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Buzzuto! Our team of Mother's Day Science Professionals chose these two lovely ladies - aren't they gorgeous? Mrs. O'Connor wears classic cat-eye glasses and carries herself with beauty, grace, and style and Mrs. B. looks fantastic in her glamorous early 80s fashion. Thank you to Holly and Carinne for submitting these wonderful pictures!

Happy Hot Mamas Day!

Happy Mother's Day! Look at my mom! Isn't she beautiful?!

Here are the things I know about this photo:

1. This is a picture of my mom, taken in the mid-1970s.
2. My dad took this picture.
3. The photograph was taken before my parents were married.
4. The picture was apparently taken in the woods.
5. My mom's sunglasses rule.

Here are the things I have made up about this picture:
This photo was taken on a date in the woods and the date went like this-

DAD: Hello beautiful lady. Would you like to go on a date with me?
MOM: Yes.
DAD: I know this great place called "The Woods" and it has all these cool trees and rocks and moss and stuff. We can walk around.
MOM: That sounds nice.
DAD: Yeah. In the future, dates in the woods will be really popular because of something called the "Twilight Series." It's a bunch of books about an angsty teenage vampire who likes to walk around in the woods with his human girlfriend because it's shady and if he's in the sun he gets all sparkly and shiny and stuff.
MOM: That sounds really dumb.
DAD: Yeah, it is. But for us, here in the 70s, we don't know about that, so this is still really romantic. Let's hold hands.

AND THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

Happy Mother's Day to every woman who has ever loved and cared for someone. I know that's all of you, ladies!

Scarves are Awesome

Happy Thursday! This blog will probably not be updated Friday and Saturday, but will return on Sunday, Mother's Day, with a picture of MY MOM, and on Monday, the Mother's Day contest winners will be announced along with posted pictures!

Today's outfit is brought to you by the letter S and the color blue. I am wearing a modern skirt and top, but my accessories are all vintage and pull the outfit together well. Black 1950s clip-on earrings, black scarf in my hair to help created a retro, asymmetrical style, and my new favorite scarf, woven under my shoulder straps and tied in front. Hooray! I like clothes!

I hope you started working on your zombie fighting skills, like we discussed yesterday. I worry that people won't be able to fight the zombies.

See ya soon!