finding a great vintage item (especially t-shirts for me) is like stumbling upon your own personal treasure. it’s unique and personal and immediately special.
these photographs were brought in by our marketing manager, who recently discovered them at her grandmother’s house. she’s trying to come up with a cool way to display them at home…they’re of her grandparents in their younger years, and not only are they awesome because they’re vintage, but they’re simply great photos too. check ‘em out… as you can see the sizes are different than your typical 3x5 or 5x7. if you have any great ideas, i’m sure she’d love suggestions :)
i found herbert pfostl's book "to die no more" about a year ago...somehow i can't help but visit his work every couple weeks...it inspires me beyond belief.
his blog is very intelligent, thoughtful and just plain perfect, too...
if you can't get into any of the fashion week festivities in ny (or even if you can), take the L train to williamsburg and check out brooklyn's answer to the big event - williamsburg fashion weekend.
wfw opens its sixth season on september 18th and 19th, at secret project robot. :)
at the onset of summer, a group of amazing designers/artists congregated to build 6 teepees at the surf lodge in montauk, ny - bob melet, mike diamond, robert mckinley, tracy feith and rogan gregory...all to benefit the local skate park there! how rad.
unfortunately, east hampton's fire marshall demanded they be taken down soon after...but, kudos to these busy guys for giving their time and muscle for kids and what they love.
this week's beach home page video was shot with a digital harizenumi...a rad little camera that makes your still images/video look like they were shot in 1967.
you can buy this camera from urban outfitters! (card reader and battery must be purchased at another venue, keep in mind!)
I've enjoyed browsing through Polanoid, where these pictures are from, for a good part of this morning! Polanoid is in the process of building the biggest Polaroid-picture-collection on the planet to celebrate the magic of instant photography. I don't know that it beats Flickr, but I like it! Check it out if you are a fan of photos!
Ah! I love finding treasures like this on YouTube! Here's some footage of The Jimi Hendrix Experience playing Hey Joe and Sunshine of Your Love on the old British television show It's Lulu. It's pretty clear for being old and on YouTube, and it's absolutely mesmerizing. Enjoy!
The designs on these (very) old calling cards are gorgeous! I love the thought of a time when people would come see you, and leave cards to say they came by if you weren't there, or to invite you to parties, or better yet, make romantic advances! Maybe sometime, somehow, calling cards will come back...
Anyhow, these beauties came from Dull Tool Dim Bulb - check it out for a few more.
These photographs of beautiful antique kimonos are from a Flickr set by Neville Trickett of Saint Verde Blog. I love them so much! They put me a little bit in mind of those pieces by Sunny Belliston that I posted the other day. Just wonderful!
The buying team took a trip to New York a couple of weeks ago to go to the tradeshows and do some shopping. We were in Fabulous Fanny's in the east village and spotted these amazing vintage folding sunglasses. We each bought a pair!
They come in very unique shapes and fold up to fit in a little pouch. Mine were a little big, so the shop owner used this machine that heats the frames and shaped them to fit my face better! The shop specializes in vintage and antique eyewear, and has other great vintage accessories too.
I am obsessed by the graphics on these antique German notgeld, or emergency money. Notgeld was printed by small municipalities and town banks in Germany from WWI through the 1920's and 30's. Though it was not legal currency, it was generally accepted, and actually proved useful due to the outrageous inflation in Germany at the time. These scans are all from Flickr user Iliazd, who has an awesome notgeld set with something like 900 different marks in it! If you love sweet graphics or history, or both, be sure to give it a browse.
Do you recognize the little boy and his red balloon? When I was a little girl I had this book, Le Ballon Rouge, and I loved it so much! It's the story of a little boy and his best friend, a red balloon. It has fabulous pictures, and the story is really cute and touching!
However, I did not realize it was also a movie! Not only is it a movie, (looks just like the book, must have been one shoot for both the book and movie) but you can see the movie on Google video! I doubt it will last, movies never stay up for free for long! So if you are interested, you should go check it out! You'll enjoy it!
The West Virginia University has created this awesome online library of vintage Valentines! There are three categories: cards, 3-D cards, and postcards. The postcards are some of my favorite. You can even send one of the vintage Valentines via email from the website.
I love the hot air balloon the best! Do you have a favorite??
I couldn't resist posting this video of the Thames River in London in 1935! The film is an early color video; it used Gasparcolor, which is a very rare and old way of adding color to film. You can read a very detailed and admiring article about Gasparcolor here.
I find old color pictures and videos like this very intriguing, because one seldom gets a glimpse of the reality of life back then... it's like a visual history lesson. If you are into stuff like this too, be sure to check out this old post about autochrome pictures.
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on January 30, 2009 11:12 AM
These sweet photos came from Three Belgian Autochromists, a really cool site featuring the work of, you guessed it, three early Belgian autochromists! Autochrome is a very old way to take color pictures, used before the advent of color film. The site features the work of C. Corbett, P. Sano, and A. Van Besten, and frankly, the shots are just gorgeous. Plus, I really love getting to see pictures from as far back as 1903 in color! Do you think there are some hobbyists out there still practicing autochrome? The colors are so dreamy... See all the pictures here.
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on December 27, 2008 4:43 PM
How great is this photo? Pairs of wellingtons being inspected in 1939!
The New York Times published an article this week called "The Fashion Report of 1920" about the current popularity of classic, utilitarian clothes, like the Hunter wellie.
Check out Hunter's Original and a short Festival version on FreePeople.com
Maybe the aesthetics of modern technology just isn't your thing. Do you ever wish your computer looked a little more at home with the rest of your vintage and antique decor? Maybe a Victorian style all-in-one PC would look better. Or a how about a pretty brass LCD frame?
You have to check out the Steampunk Workshop, chronicling one man's adventures of making the new look old, or the old look different. One of the first project he ever did was outfitting an old school bus, and there is also a tutorial for doing tin etchings on old Altoid boxes.
These photos from White Elephant Vintage are so simple and so beautiful. What a great way to display an item! Check out all of their vintage goodies for sale. Who knew boxing gloves could look so appealing?
A big thanks to The Vintage Society for supporting our design a bag contest! Check out the vintage society for pretty vintage designs, Society Girl of the Week, and instant outfits. They also have a nice collection of videos. This one is their instant outfit feature come to life...
Many of you are probably already familiar with the work of photographer Henry Clarke, but I have been enjoying these photographs so much lately I wanted to share them with you! Born in 1918, Mr. Clarke worked under contract for French, American, and British Vogue from 1950 through the late 70's, and is well known for his beautiful photographs of haute-couture. The pictures I've shown here are all from the 1950's, a decade which he captured like no one else! He passed away in 1996, and left his archives to the Musee de la Mode et du Costume in Paris.
Check out these awesome shadow puppet cards our wovens design assistant Jessica got from Optical Toys, which specializes in pre- and proto-cinematic toys, paper toys, and simply cool old-time toys. I checked out their site and saw a lot of interesting finds! These particular cards were reflected from the original cards made in 1890, and show you how to make different shadow animals!
Thanks to emma's design blog for finding this lovely shop in the UK, RE-found objects! Lots of beautiful, quirky home objects shown in artful photos. Above are a few of my favorites.
Friend of FP Elizabeth Garvey loves and collects old photographs, and houses them all in her blog, Sew Kewl. "One of the things I love more than anything are old photographs, especially from different cultures. Life seemed so simple back then, and their outfits were just the cutest!" says Elizabeth.
Check out Sew Kewl at Etsy where you can find little wonders such as this...
Kindra is Here shares her beautiful and whimsical vintage collections. I love the illustrations on old packaging. Those little charms would make an incredible necklace!
We have this amazing collection of vintage sunglasses acquired from Selima Optique, the famous luxury eyeglass boutiques from LA, NY and Paris. Each pair is original and in pristine condition. Check out shades by Dior, Lacoste, Dunhill, and Vuarnet. There are also these sweet color-changing Chameleon sunglasses in assorted colors. Check them all out here.
Wandering through Chinatown this weekend, I was on the hunt for some craft supplies. As I made my way down Walker Street, my eye was captured by this amazing window on the second floor of an industrial building. The sign read Barometer. I rang the bell and went on up to discover the sweetest little shop full of "attic" objects and handmade jewelry. I met Miss Anna Studebaker, who curates the collection of objects. The jewelry is made by her partner, Jenna Wainwright. The shop is a bit like an attic, a bit museum, and a bit girly studio apartment. Check out their website and pay them a visit next time you're in NYC.
I really love this digital mag style will save us, and they love "all things super-stylish, organic, ethical, eco-friendly, vintage, recycled and sustainable." In the current issue, they did an article on re-worked vintage and featured the "post-vintage" work of fashion and art collective Andrea Crews (pictured above). Check out the article here...
We just have to point out how amazing these watches are. Designed by Beth Frank in LA, she combines vintage embossed leather belts with antique watch faces to create a rough yet elegant piece of jewelry. In addition to the vintage elements, Beth adds a hand crafted buckle. The face of the watch is removable so you can switch it out with other bands, or combine a new face with the band. You have to keep track of the time, so why not on this beautiful watch instead of your silly cell phone?
