Chicory

Outfit Details:

Vintage dress: Hep Threads Vintage

Flats: Urban Outfitters (similar here)

Boater hat: River Island (similar here)

Daisy ring & brooch: Mom's

Petticoat: eBay

Instagram can be a wonderful tool for vintage lovers and sellers alike.  Most vintage sellers are on Etsy or other platforms (though some use Instagram exclusively), but it's a fantastic tool for sharing new additions, sharing sales and revving up interest.  I started following Brenna on Instagram after seeing a lovely drawing she did of Amelia and June, having no idea that she also sold vintage pieces.  I saw a post involving this dress and promptly fell in love.  I crossed my fingers, hoping that it might be my size (so many beautiful vintage dresses are XS, which would never ever work on me)... and luckily, the measurements she gave were *just* plausible for me.  Brenna was incredibly sweet and reserved the dress for me, and I pounced, praying that it would fit once it arrived.  I don't normally take gambles on vintage, especially on more expensive pieces, but something told me that this dress would be worth it.  And it was.  It's certainly one of the prettiest vintage dresses I own, and I love it even more in person than I did when I first saw it on Instagram.  And best of all, it fits perfectly.  The skirt is full enough for a crinoline (always a plus!), and I love the subtle floral pattern and ric-rac trim.  This is truly the epitome of a lucky find, and I'm so thankful to Brenna for this beautiful edition to my closet!

I can scarcely believe how green everything has gotten since I took these photos!  It was just beginning to feel like spring when I took these (and it wasn't that long ago!), but now my entire backyard is completely lush and it's already overgrown!  This dress is really perfect for summer, and I can't wait to wear it again.  I'm so relieved that it's finally spring, even though it doesn't last as long as I'd like before it gives way to summer.  But I'm just grateful that we won't be seeing snow again for a while!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

xox Sammi

PS: Don't forget to enter my giveaway!  One lucky follower will win a personalized name necklace from Onecklace!  Get all the details & enter to win here!  :)

My Favorite Outfit: Alexandra from Into the Woods

Note from Sammi: This is the last post (for now!) in the "My Favorite Outfit" guest series!  Today's guest post is from the beautiful Alexandra from Into the Woods.  I have long-admired Alex's blog; her photography is always impeccable, and has an equally-impeccable fashion sense.  I have a feeling that Alex's favorite pick will be gorgeous and vintage!  Let's see if I'm right...

Hello Everyone! Alex here from Into the Woods. I am super excited to be guest posting for you all today on Sammi's beautiful blog! Sammi is such a doll, and I've really loved getting to know her more through the blogosphere. With that said, I am honored to be able to share my favorite outfit with you here on The Soubrette Brunette!

It was super-de-duper tricky for me to pick out one outfit- I'm generally pretty indecisive but when it comes to clothes- erm- let's just say I'll stand in front of my closet for an hour each morning trying to decide on an ensemble- haha! This is my absolute favorite swimsuit- it's from the 1950s, so it has that great retro fit. It's modest enough that I can feel semi (as comfortable as I will ever feel in a swimsuit) covered at the beach or pool.

I knew I wanted to accessorize with vintage style accessories, so I used a 50s nylon scarf to cover my hair (best to cover up my beach frizz ;)), polka dot cat-eye glasses, and some pops of red.

Hope you enjoyed! Do take a minute to drop by my inter-web corner and say hello! Have a lovely day!

<3Alex

PS: Don't forget to enter my customized necklace giveaway from Onecklace!  Get all the details and enter here!  :)

GIVEAWAY: a personalized necklace from Onecklace! [CLOSED]

Hi, everyone!  Some of you may remember this post, in which I gave a glowing review of my personalized name necklace, courtesy of Onecklace.  I wear my "Sammi" necklace all the time; the quality is top-notch, and the style is perfect for my retro-inspired ensembles.  Plus, I can never find my name on pre-made name necklaces, which makes me love my customized piece even more!  Onecklace has a great website of their own, but they've also just opened up their own Etsy store!  I'm obviously a huge fan of Etsy, and I think it's a great platform to promote their high-quality jewelry.  The kind people at Onecklace actually contacted me about picking another item for review, but I opted instead to work with them in another way: a giveaway for my lovely readers!  Hooray!

One lucky follower will receive a customized necklace in the same style I have, which is the 24k gold-plated name necklace in their "Italic" style (seen here).  It's truly the perfect typeface for any vintage-loving gal.  You can customize your chain length, too (I chose the 18" one, myself), and obviously, you can have it say whatever you'd like!  Just enter the Rafflecopter below to be entered to win!

The details: Giveaway starts at 12:00 AM (EST) on Monday, May 26th and will end at 12:01 AM EST on Saturday, May 31st.  You must be a follower of The Soubrette Brunette (no immediate unfollowing after the giveaway ends, please!), and you must leave a blog post comment with your favorite item from the Onecklace Etsy shop.  The winner will be announced no later than Monday, June 2nd.  Please remember to leave an e-mail address in your comment so I can contact you if you win!!  Best of luck! :) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wedding Bell Blues

Outfit Details:

Dress: c/o eShakti (other colors here)

Hat: moving sale (c/o my voice teacher)

Gold flats: Marshall's (old)

Petticoat: eBay

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of eShakti.  Not only does eShakti provide incredibly high-quality garments at affordable prices, but they offer a vast range of customized options for making their pieces one-of-a-kind and uniquely suited to each customer.  I'm always impressed with all the different styles they carry (they have virtually everything from boho to retro to preppy), and the fact that they can make any of their styles in sizes 0-36W is truly an incredible business model.  It's obvious that they care for each customer, and want to make each woman's experience a positive one.  In my experience, their customer service is top-notch, their shipping is fast, and the workmanship is always fantastic.  I own two other dresses by eShakti (seen in posts here and here), and I was over the moon when they reached out to me to see if I'd like to work with them and offered to send me a piece to review.  I was even more thrilled (if that's possible!) when I received this dress and put it on for the first time -- man, oh man, it is a thing of beauty!

I want to go on record as saying that I would have bought this dress myself in a heartbeat.  It's in the same style as the denim dress I have from eShakti (neither color seems to be currently available on their site), but this fabric feels much more luxurious.  Anything with scalloped detailing is always up my alley, and I love the fact that the skirt is full enough to look great with a petticoat.  Plus, I think the silhouette is incredibly flattering and works really well for my shape.  There's also some stretch to this dress, which gave slightly more "give" than I really need, but I'd much rather have some breathing room.  AND this dress has pockets!  What more could you possibly ask for in a dress?  I'm eager to try styling this dress in other ways; the fabric is heavy enough that it can span the seasons, and I think it'd be adorable with a cardigan, too.

The color in these photos actually looks a little more off-white than the dress does in person (the true color has a slightly pale yellow hue -- it's almost a buttermilk color, I'd say), so these shots ended up looking more wedding-esque than I had planned.  I used to think about my wedding all the time; my ex and I had talked about marriage in terms of "when," not "if," and our future together seemed definite.  I had an idea of my dream wedding dress in my head (something blush pink) and my Pinterest wedding inspiration board was always expanding.  I started thinking a lot about weddings while taking (and editing) these photos, and it's still surreal to me to not think about my own wedding as something on the horizon.  I kind of get upset watching wedding shows now.  Logically, I can believe that it'll still happen someday, but like many things in my life thus far, it won't be how I initially imagined or expected.  And I guess that's okay.  It's not like I want to get married right now, anyway... but adjusting to a different way of thinking about one's future is never easy.  I'm just eager for the day to come when thoughts of wedding bells aren't wrapped up in the painful memories of my breakup.  It'll happen, obviously.  But I'm impatient.  Anyway, if nothing else, I now have a gorgeous dress I could conceivably wear for my own wedding festivities (rehearsal dinner, etc.) -- for whenever they should happen... and for lots of other occasions, too!

The kind folks over at eShakti are offering my readers a 10% discount through June 9th!  Just enter the code brunettes in the promotional code box during check-out.  It can also be used in conjunction with other promotional offers and gift coupons (which eShakti is pretty generous about giving -- for instance, if you're a new customer, you can sign up and get a $25 gift coupon!).  If you're interested, you can follow eShakti's social media outlets via Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, too.

Have a beautiful Saturday!

xox Sammi

Disclosure: I was not financially compensated for this post, but did receive a product for review purposes. All opinions are completely my own, based on my experience. Any company or product endorsed on this blog is one I fully believe in and support, and would continue to do so, regardless of whether items are gifted or paid for by me.

Friday Favorites #49

Happy Friday, everyone!  Friday Favorites are back this week (in full force!).  Here are some of my favorite finds from the last fortnight (how's that for an alliteration?):

a // b // c

I've said before that I can be rather picky when it comes to florals, but oh my goodness.  These dresses are sooo beautiful.  I'm especially swooning over the first two!

Those floral dresses make me want to have a garden party, and this butterfly veil would be perfect for such an occasion!  Butterflies freak me out sometimes, but I think this is ethereal and pretty.

These new arrivals from BAIT would be lovely for a garden party, too:

1 // 2 

This summer salad (made with beets, carrots, fennel and blood orange -- four of my favorite things!) would be perfect for a summer garden party, don't you think?

I'm always thinking pink, and these peony-colored pieces caught my eye:

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

I was also excited to find that this dress comes in pink!  I'd featured it before in an apple green hue, but it's even more darling in blush!

These Jeffrey Campbell shoes are insane in the best way possible.  I have a feeling Helena was responsible for their arrival at ModCloth... hehe.

Love this sweet macaron-themed merch!

one // two

And these minty fresh dresses are so divine!

a // b // c

This Emily and Fin dress reminds me of delicious summer popsicles:

And speaking of popsicles... this necklace is SO adorable:

While we're on the subject, this recipe for brown butter popsicles sounds amazing:

(via A Beautiful Mess)

These Members Only jackets look as sweet as any summer treat.  I have one in lavender that I really like, and these two colors are great:

These two dresses are darling, and I love their back detailing:

(via Forever 21)

(via Ruche)

And of course, I'm a sucker for gingham, and this dress in particular:

I always love the combination of gingham with a boater hat, and if you're in the market for one, this one from Forever 21 looks like it'd be a perfect fit:

I don't own any Swedish Hasbeens, but goodness, I'd love to add these to my collection:

I hate that I don't have an iPhone 5 -- I want this battery pack!!

My heart belongs to my cat and my clothes, at this point, so cat hangers are a wonderful invention:

Looove this shot:

(via) 

These collar clips!  Ahh!!

These laundry line tights are hilarious and awesome:

I am such a literary nerd & I might need this t-shirt (and so might Sara and Amy and any other fellow bookworm ladies -- you know who you are):

Finally, this cardboard world is astounding!

(via)

Have a fantastic Friday!

xox Sammi