coffee and donut dame: 10/10

10/31/10

happy halloween!!!

OHMYGODILOVEHALLOWEEN. i'm going to be margot tenenbaum this year. here are some to-die-for vintage costumes:

look at the fabric! this one looks early 30s to me.

next year, i will have a replica of this costume.....

candy!

more candy!

10/28/10

as i have gushed before, i'm a big fan of the circus and all that comes with it, including harlequin print, which really flourished in the 1950's. not content with the usual black and white, midcentury fabrics are full of color and crisp hard graphics.

like a deconstructed watermelon

marquises are a welcome variation

this just screams atomic: the colors, the dots, and of course, the little starbursts!

giraffes! of all the things...

10/25/10

sooo.....

i've never been one for sports (except for field hockey.) however, i do like the idea of wearing them:

lady golfers! the very idea!

sports medley

a 30s fox hunt printed linen

couples golfing (maybe a miniature golf course date?)

super atomic triangular horses

10/14/10

poodles part two

now that i have exhausted my stash of poodle fabrics, i bring you appliques! seriously, 1950's appliques are amazing. rhinestones, bits of felt, and beads make them a far cry from today's typical embroidered iron-ons.

buy it on etsy!

this one too!

this one's a towel

this would be my favorite sweater

and this would be my favorite dress

10/12/10

are you hep....

to the jive of this jazzy border print?

one of the favorites in my collection is this 1930's musical cotton

this is a seersucker! i imagine it would have been great as a playsuit, with a matching overskirt and red buttons.

barnyard dance? hoe down? hootenanny?

yet another lovely and politically incorrect indian themed fabric. so much punch with its clean design and only 4 colors.

10/6/10

ahhh the glory!

the glory of swatch books! the only thing more maddening than wishfully thinking there are bolts of fabric to actually order from these swatches is the fact i can't afford an actual book. ebay has some pricey tomes (my birthday is coming up!) i also really like it when ebay sellers group their fabrics together such as this first picture. it's not a swatch book but it does have that feeling of a collection and the visual vibration of patterns mixing and melding. it's great for color combinations when i'm stumped.