Playing house

Outfit Details:

Plaid vintage dress: eBay (Luxie Vintage)

Boater hat: River Island (similar here)

Spectators: BAIT Footwear (similar here)

Wishbone necklace: Forever 21 (similar here)

Short petticoat: Forever 21 (similar here)

Wooden happy house purse: eBay

Belt: ASOS (similar here)

eBay has recently become the source of some great vintage additions to my wardrobe.  This dress might be my favorite eBay find!  I have a penchant for plaid dresses, and the color scheme is so lovely.  Most importantly, the fit is absolutely perfect!  It feels almost as if it were made just for me, because there's so gaping in the bust, but tucks in nicely at the waist -- and the length is ideal!  I toyed with wearing a full petticoat underneath, which looked nice, but I opted instead to use a short tulle skirt that's been in my closet for years!  I had initially bought it for the sole purpose of a college themed party (of which we had many), but I never ended up using it.  Coincidentally, it's the same dark kelly green color that appears in this plaid dress, and it gave *just* the right amount of small volume.  This is why I always have such a hard time getting rid of clothes -- you never know when you'll need a piece!

Although most of my eBay searches are for 1950's vintage dresses, every once and a while, I'll search for novelty purses.  I already have a pretty sizable collection of fun (and impractical) bags, but when I came across this house purse at a very reasonable price, I knew it had to be added to my stash!  It was clearly hand-carved, and it has all sorts of sweet little details: a door, a window box, a little daffodil in the chimney, and a silly, happy face!  I love when I can see friendly "faces" in houses (especially older homes) when you look at the position of their windows and doors, and this purse reminded me of that.  When I'm finally at the point in my life where I can buy a real house of my own, you can bet that it'll have to be one with a lot of charm -- and a happy face.  :)  

Although there were a couple of things that happened over the last month or so that had me feeling a little discouraged (I wasn't cast in a show for which I auditioned, and I interviewed for a position at work that was filled by someone else), I'm feeling so much more positive these days!  I've been doing well on Weight Watchers so far, and even more than that, I feel better about myself because of the healthy choices I'm making.  In addition to that, I found out that my mom and I are going to be singing with my dad's band during the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival!  The Jazz Fest is kind of a big deal here; Rochester is definitely a city that loves its festivals, and the Jazz Fest is certainly one of the best attended and most highly anticipated.  My dad plays drums in a 10-piece funk band, and my mom and I sang on their newest CD and at the Jazz Fest with them two years ago.  They're playing a free show on a huge stage during the last night of the fest, and since there were thousands of people in attendance the last time they played, they're anticipating a pretty huge crowd.  So that's pretty exciting!  Wanting to sing in a band is in my blood, I guess (thanks, Mom!), so it'll be great to do that again.

Have a lovely Saturday!

xox Sammi