My Favorite Things: Blogs

I was recently updating my blog here with a new look (you likey?) and I started going through my blogroll which I have always kept somewhat tight. I don't link to other blogs or websites idly. I have to really genuinely like it. Vintspiration is hardly a household name and I don't expect it'll ever be, but I'm happy with my little slice of the internet here.

I thought I'd list my five favorite vintage blogs here and share them with you!



1. Videre Vintage - I may be slightly partial to this blog since it's written by my baby sister! She's a 20 year old art student who adopted my love of vintage back when she was in middle school and tagging along on my thrifting adventures. She was my original (and still occasional!) model and she's since opened her own Etsy shop. Her blog is fairly new, but be sure to check out her post on dreaming of that thrift fix and her side of the story on how she started her love of vintage.

2. Dear Golden - I have a borderline unhealthy obsession with Dear Golden. Her Etsy shop is amazing. Her instagram is amazing. Her brick and mortar shop is amazing. Her home is amazing. It's just ridiculous how amazing she is. Swoon.

3. Denisebrain - I adore Maggie of Denisebrain. She's beautiful, smart and someone I've admired for years. I'm lucky enough to 'know' her a little though our longtime online social circles and I consider her blog one of the most fun out there. It's educational, but not in an overly scholarly way that makes you wanna snooze. It's cheerful, pretty and interesting - exactly like the woman who writes it!

4. The Vintage Traveler - I've known Lizzie for years. First online and then I had the opportunity to meet her in real life about 15 years ago. Jeez, where does the time go? Anyway, her blog is brilliant. It's like being taught something new every day and I always come away thinking "Wow. That was really interesting." Seriously, every post is like that!

5. Yard Sale Bloodbath - A blog I can't even remember how I came across but it's a guilty pleasure, for sure. I dig their storytelling and feel like I'm shopping alongside them. Plus those junk in the trunk shots are my favorite part.

I really enjoy all the blogs on my blogroll, so feel free to click a link or two on my sidebar. And I'm always looking for new reads, feel free to post your favorites in the comments!

xoxo
Justine
Vintspiration

Blog Feature: I'm a Norbyah

I want to thank the lovely Norbyah for featuring Vintspiration in her ongoing series Etsy Confessions! It was fun being interviewed and reading the other sellers included in the series. She has a great sense of style and her blog showcases it. Pop in and say hi!

2013 Bonnie & Clyde

I recently hear about the cable miniseries event for Bonnie & Clyde coming in December and I am so excited! Not only do I totally dig the story of the infamous duo but the costumes are looking to be pretty epic.

[caption id="attachment_3570" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Bonnie & Clyde[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3571" align="aligncenter" width="440"] That dress, those shoes, the beret![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3572" align="aligncenter" width="440"] I am smitten with that cream blouse. [/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3573" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Just the sleeve of Holly Hunters dress has got me melting. [/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3574" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Ahhhhhhh knit divinity![/caption]

I suggest becoming a fan of the miniseries on Facebook just for all the eye candy they post. And of course watching it! December 8th showing simultaneously on Lifetime, History and A&E channels.

Vintspiration Now With Even More Inspiration

I mentioned recently that I was in a state of change. I'm happy to say I'm about 75% settled!

My new location in Upstate New York is beautiful. It's right off the Hudson River and every morning when I start my commute to my new job I get to see this view. It makes me smile every single day.

[caption id="attachment_2637" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Ahhhhhh home sweet home. :)[/caption]

I was so lucky to find a position so quickly, and even luckier to find the apartment I did. While I love the charm of an older home, this newer construction space is a beautiful blank slate. It's a perfect backdrop to my eclectic vintage collections and it's like three times the size of my apartment in Brooklyn! Brooklyn will always be my hometown and there's no place in the world more near and dear to my heart than my beloved Greenpoint, but things change, people move on and I'm ecstatic to be where I am.

On the Vintspiration front, I've already been shopping several times and found a few new favorite spots. Plus there is so much more for me to explore. In my new place, I have an entire room dedicated to the Vintspiration headquarters. The boxes are full, the bags are stuffed and I need to spend this weekend unpacking and organizing stock, but once that's all tidied up it'll be time to list the latest scores. ;)

Welcome to the new Vintspiration, now with even more inspiration!

Changes

A couple of weeks ago I lost my full time day job. I was born and raised in New York City and over the last few years I've been yearning for a change. It's always been a plan to make a move closer to friends in upstate New York, but with my recent job loss I've decided to put the plan in motion! I'm scared, but hopeful. Worried, but excited. It's a huge change for me and one of those moments where you have the ability to make a decision that will affect the rest of your life. It's overwhelming.

I haven't been posting on the blog lately since I've been scrambling to apply for unemployment insurance, spruce up my resume, and apply for jobs. I'm lucky in that I have excellent experience in my field and coming from NYC to relocate to Albany, I feel like I offer a little something extra for potential employers. I hope I'm right. I know a lot of people are out of work in this country and my fingers are cramped from hoping I am able to snag a good job in a short amount of time. Let's just say there's been a lot of praying going on lately.

On the Vintspiration front, I am looking forward to relocating in having a whole new world of spots to learn and pick. I'm spending this time getting much of the stock I have listed so I can put some much needed coin in the coffers. And the plan is that by winter I will be in a new city, new job, new home and ready to offer some great new merchandise in my Etsy shop.

For now, I plan to post as often as I can to the blog, and looking forward to new beginnings!

Designer Collaborations

The blogosphere is all a-buzz with the announcement that Alexander McQueen will design a line for Target beginning in March. But to even further that excitement, the McQueen line is just the beginning. From WWD:

As Isaac Mizrahi’s final collection for Target cycles through stores, the retailer is unveiling plans for a new fashion initiative.

Target in March will launch Designer Collaborations, which is aimed to be an ongoing program that will bring a series of established designers to the masses at low prices. Designer Collaborations is a separate program from Target’s Go International, which focuses on young or emerging designers and, in the past, has featured names such as Proenza Schouler, Luella Bartley, Behnaz Sarafpour, Rogan and Richard Chai. Industry sources have estimated that Go International does more than $100 million in annual sales.

The launch collaboration will be with Alexander McQueen, who will create a version of his McQ collection, called McQ Alexander McQueen for Target.

Target's Go International lines have been big hits and now with this new Designer Collaborations effort, I'm really excited to see what other designers come on board in the future.

Read more on Alexander McQueen.

*Vintage Tidbit*
Alexander McQueen was head designer for Givenchy from 1996 to 2001.

Another Reason To Buy Vintage

This article was posted by a fellow VFG member friend of mine, Circa Vintage Clothing, and I found it very interesting to read about the substandard quality of current designers wear.

Although they don't mention vintage, it's known that vintage garments have a much higher quality of materials and workmanship. Plus, the styles to choose from are endless!

Fashion - Entertainment - theage.com.au

There are plenty of reasons why being a slave to designer labels is a bad idea.

Some cite ethical and moral issues, and a recent series of tests on labels for sale in Shanghai found that wearing designer clothes may even be bad for your health.

Garments from 40 labels including Armani, Burberry and Polo Ralph Lauren were declared substandard after quality control tests by China's Bureau of Commerce and Industry.

Of the 59 items tested, 25 had high levels of the chemical formaldehyde, acid (pH) and poor dyes which can lead to skin rashes, eye irritations, respiratory problems, allergies and cancer.

But these aren't the only reasons to say no to designer clothes.

The trend leaders are ubiquitous and easy to spot - Armani, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Prada are household names for the fashion conscious.

But while these fashion houses may lead in the trend-setting stakes, they lag behind in quality.

Basically, their products are comparatively shoddy. Their high prices reflect not quality, but the need to pay for massive advertising campaigns in magazines and on billboards, as well as catwalk shows where those weird and wonderful creations with absolutely no connection to reality are wheeled out.

All this is necessary to create an image - whether it is Ralph Lauren's bucolic, stylised snapshot of English country life or Prada's androgynous models parading a row of identical skin-tight black suits with thin lapels and skinny black ties.

For many, the pursuit of the label has supplanted the pursuit of quality.

But makers who have always indulged in producing an agelessly stylish silhouette remain a mystery to most.

How about Corneliani, Canali, Isaia, Luciana Barbera, Borrelli, Raffaele Caruso or Pal Zileri, for example?

They may not have a high profile but these names are worth knowing if you want your wardrobe to look permanently relevant and transcend the whims of fashion.

You won't find any of them in department stores and if you go to a high-end city store you will pay full retail in the order of $3,000 or more. Search the internet and you'll find new examples on offer for a third of this.

Big name designer labels can't really afford to be well made.

That would be contrary to the manufacturer's raison d'etre - to make money by regularly changing trends and declaring this or that to be in or out.

The fashion writer Dana Thomas' book, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster, exposes the myth of couture houses.

Their original ideals, prized by family-owned businesses who prided themselves on handwork, were long ago lost. These businesses are now cogs in huge multinational corporations whose focus is international brand awareness and profit.

Garments are churned out by underpaid workers in Chinese sweatshops and returned to Europe, where some small part can be added so the respected Made in Italy label can be attached.

Sometimes not even this is necessary.

Italian companies have now caught on to the idea of importing thousands of lowly-paid Chinese into the country to produce clothes and leather goods in conditions marginally better than those in their home country. The maker can then legally add Made in Italy to the product.

So instead of following the flock and striving to aspire to a contrived image, try Googling some of the true artisans.

AAP