Little red

Outfit Details:

Gretel Gingham Swing Dress: Collectif Clothing

Red bolero: Pinup Girl Clothing (get it here)

White belt & petticoat: eBay

Red boots: DSW (old)

Lips ring: Forever 21

This outfit was another possibility for a Valentine's Day ensemble, but even with the addition of a petticoat, this dress makes so much more sense for summer, and I ended up going with the beautiful dress I borrowed from Dus for the holiday.  I love the detailing on this dress, though; the heart-shaped buttons and the lace along the hem and top are such nice touches.  The only annoying thing about this dress is that I don't think the shape is entirely flattering on me.  Although I really love Collectif's designs, I've found that their sizing can be incredibly strange and inconsistent.  I've made the mistake of ordering clothing directly from their site before, and since they're based in the UK, returns are kind of a hassle.  Since ModCloth carries Collectif, it's much better to be able to read reviews and ask questions about sizing through them.  I think retro repro brands sometimes run a little big, in general -- am I the only one who feels this way?  Luckily, whatever sizing issues this dress has are easily fixed with the bolero & belt combination.  I just wish I had better boots to wear with this -- preferably ones that don't make my legs look impossibly stubby (which is not usually a problem for someone who is 5'7")!

I'd scheduled these last few posts in advance, since I've been away for the weekend.  By the time this is published, I'll be on a bus heading back home.  I don't schedule posts this far in advance very much (I find it kind of weird to not be giving current updates on my life), but it is sort of freeing to not have to worry about putting it together the night before.  I often wonder what other bloggers do in terms of scheduling posts... I always feel like people will know if I'm being inauthentic in terms of a timeline, but then I think about the fact that I really don't know what other bloggers are actually doing on a day-to-day basis, so everyone could be scheduling posts a week ahead of time, while I'm the schmuck who's staying up late to finish hers the night before it's published.  Truth be told, I always work best under pressure anyway.  

Have a beautiful Monday!

xox Sammi

I sort of hate to ask it / But do you have a basket?

When I had to work for the Sondheim and Bernstein concert with the RPO last week, I knew I wanted to wear this Little Red Riding Hood print dress (even though they didn't play any music from Into the Woods, as it turned out)!  It's such a lovely, retro shape, and it's super comfortable!

Outfit Details:

Favorite Fairy Teal Dress: ModCloth

White belt: eBay

Doo Bee Doo Bee Shoe Heel: ModCloth

Purse: Marshalls

Have a wondrous Wednesday (and first day of May)!

xox Sammi

EDIT: Ladies!  If you love retro dresses like this, and you've seen me post about the beautiful dresses at Trollied Dolly, check out their website today!  They are offering a 25% off promo code (on EVERYTHING, including their beautiful new spring season pieces) TODAY ONLY with the code MAYDAY25.  Their dresses are gorgeous and well-made (I have 2 in my closet!), and their prints are fabulous.  Check out their offerings now!

A pin-up picnic

I think spring has finally sprung (fingers crossed)!  I'm taking pictures outside as much as possible, because I'm overjoyed that it's finally warm enough (and that I can wear dresses sans tights again)!

Outfit Details:

Gretel Gingham Swing Dress: Collectif Clothing (see their other gingham items here!)

Dream of the Crop Cardigan in Oatmeal: Modcloth (no longer available, but other colors here)

Picnic Retro Suitcase: Chicwish (2 sizes available!)

Kissing Kids Necklace: ASOS (out of stock)

Peep Toe Ballet Flat: ASOS

Bike Ring: Ever Ours

I love the heart-shaped buttons on this dress!

This dress begs for a crinoline underneath, don't you think?

It's hard to see, but this ring has a man and a woman riding on a bicycle together.  It's such a sweet little piece, and a perfect complement to the kissing kids necklace!

Have a beautiful Tuesday!

xox Sammi

Everything but the victory rolls (an outfit post)

After re-familiarizing myself with UK retro clothing line Collectif (which, by the way, is having a 50% off full-priced clothing sale, from now until March 3rd!), I was inspired to style a 1940s-esque outfit of my own this week for work:

The one thing I didn't have time/patience for was an era-appropriate hairstyle!  I have a great book called Style Me Vintage: Hair (available here) which has excellent pictures, references and step-by-step instructions of all kinds of hairstyles, from 1920s finger waves to 1970s feathered 'dos.  The problem is that I haven't had enough time to really familiarize myself with it and try out any of the styles!

Outfit details

Teal blouse: Forever 21

Black jumper: Bernie Dexter, via Ebay (similar look here from Bettie Page Clothing)

Sheer black tights: Urban Outfitters

The Best of Times Heel in Noir: ModCloth

Some of the best retro hair tutorials I've seen are from the beauty blog ruby red.  The result of the victory rolls tutorial looks super clean:

She recommends this other retro styling book, which I may just have to look into...

I also love the pictures she posted of this dreamy mid-century updo:

All via ruby red

Just more things to add to my ever-growing list of things I need to learn how to do.  Hopefully I'll start crossing more of those items off my list soon enough.  One thing I did cross off my list was figuring out how to take much better quality pictures with my camera while using the self-timer!  So hopefully this will be the last of the quasi-blurry pictures for a while (fingers crossed!).

Have a lovely Sunday!

xox Sammi