polka dotted summertime.

-----♥-----

shirt: target

skirt: vintage

shoes: vintage

belt: mom

sunglasses: target

can I just say how much I love polka dots? happiness instantly. <3 love love love! photos courtesy of my brother -he's great. happy tuesday!

grandpa's camera.

a while back I discovered my Grandpa Art's camera sitting in the garage.

I remembered my mother telling me that we had it, but I had never gotten my hands on it...until now. 

there is something so very special about holding something like that.

something that your great grandfather used for decades, to take pictures of his kids.

and their kids.

oh, the feeling one gets when they sit and think of the history.

I got my hands on some film and have been taking some pictures. 

There is something really nerve wracking about not knowing what you take is going to end up looking like.

But it's pretty fun, too.

I can't wait to see the pictures from Easter. Eep! 

What's one of your favorite family heirlooms?

Vintage Anne Fogarty Dress

So remember that time I promised to post about this dress twice and never did? yeah. See, I took photos, and then hated them but I still never got time to retake them, so I just decided to use the ones I have, finally. Since I have nothing better to do....{read: I should be doing school but instead I decided to be lazy and edit photos.}

So, here it is! My lovely and most favorite vintage find yet! And for only $15! I had to have it. There was no resistance. 

I love the color - it's so fantastic. And it sparkles - what's not to love! On top of that, it's Anne Fogarty, for crying out loud!!!! Do you know how amazing that is? No? No?! Oh dear me. 

You must know.

{source}

"Anne Fogarty was born in 1919 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia.  Early in life Anne had determined that she wanted to be an actress, so she studied drama at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Insitiute of Technology.  At the end of her course, in 1938, she moved to New York City.  While looking for acting jobs, she took a position as a model at Harvey Berin, a well-known Seventh Avenue maker of high quality dresses.

When Fogarty was finally offered an acting job, she went to Berin to quit her position.  To her surprise, he pointed out that she had a flair for fashion and an excellent eye for detail.  He offered to let her keep her modeling job, while having the in-house designers train her.  She took him up on the offer, and she also attended design school at night.

Before long Anne left Harvey Berin and went to a company called Sheila Lynn, where she modeled and designed.  She met artist Tom Fogarty, who became her husband in the early 1940s.  During the next several years Anne Fogarty worked in various positions in the fashion industry, learning the business as she looked for a design job.

She was finally offered the long-awaited job.  In 1948 she went to Youth Guild, a firm that made teenage dresses.  It was at Youth Guild that Fogarty first designed what would become her signature look - full-skirted dresses worn with petticoats beneath.  In 1950 Fogarty took her distinctive styles to Margot Dresses, a producer of junior clothes.

For the first time since the Edwardian era, adult women were putting on petticoats - a necessity to achieve the desired tiny waisted, full-skirted silhouette.  The first petticoats she designed were of netting, but she worked with Gracette lingerie to develop a new type which was made of nylon "horsehair."  Fogarty was often her own best advertisement, as she had a tiny waist and her own designs suited her perfectly.

This look remained very popular through the mid 1950s, but fashion in general was beginning to feature a more narrow line.  By 1956 Fogarty was designing not only her old favorite - the Paperdoll silhouette - but also a fitted sheath with a high, narrow waist. But no matter what the shape, Fogarty's dresses were rarely trimmed, and were, more often than not, made of a solid color fabric. Velveteen was a favorite.

In 1957 Anne Fogarty became an in-house designer for Saks Fifth Avenue.  She designed not only dresses for Saks, but also all the items that added up to the Anne Fogarty Look: shoes, scarves, lingerie, hats and jewelry.

She also wrote a book, Wife Dressing, in 1959. The book has caused some modern writers to criticize Fogarty, as the book's title implies that she believed a woman needed to dress to please her husband.  And while there certainly is a measure of that typical but dying 1950s philosophy, the book is really more about how to always be appropriately dressed.

In 1962 Fogarty opened her own firm, Anne Fogarty, Inc. She continued to make her fitted dresses, and added A-line dresses, often with an Empire waist.  By the late 1960s she was making lovely peasant styles in both mini and maxi lengths.

In the mid 1960s, Anne Fogarty started several different design collections under the Fogarty label: A.F. Boutique, Collector's Items by Anne Fogarty and Clothes Circuit. When Fogarty retired in 1974 and closed her business, some of the labels survived under the label of Leonard Sunshine, her long-time business partner.  After her retirement, Fogarty continued to do free-lance design work.  Her last collection was for Shariella Fashion in 1980, the year of her death."

Awesome, no? I think so. I mean, really. she was one of the top designers of her day - and now her dresses can run for up to hundreds of dollars.

Like this lovely piece - $225 on Etsy. Oh dear me.  ·  Or this one? $189 on ebay.

 

I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have snagged this gorgeous dress! :) It's just so beautiful! I can't wait to wear it.

What's your favorite vintage or thrift store find?

xo,

Ruthanne

new pyrex; snowflake casserole dish

I spaced on posting this! Last saturday in Virginia City, I bought this beautiful piece of pyrex. It's practically flawless; and I am so in love! The blue is so very pretty too! :) Eep!

This week I have so much to show you! I bought some killer new clothes this weekend - and one of those things was a really surprising and amazing find! I can't wait to post about it :) I also bought some amazing fabric for a capelet I plan on making...and I need inspiration! So if you have any ideas, have seen a cute pattern for one...let me know! :)

Happy Monday!! :)

pattern-less dress, made by moi.

So, for the wedding I had nothing to wear..I looked into my closet on thursday, when all the kids were sick, and was so frustrated. So I rummaged in my  fabric supply, found some fabric, and voila, a dress was born. 

I knew what I wanted it to look like - vintage style, full skirt, a very wide boat neck front with a small V in the back, seven buttons down the back. Why seven, I don't know, but I wanted seven and I got it! muahahaha!

I helped set up for the wedding, so I had to get dressed there, therefore not warranting for pictures, and naturally I was kind of exhausted when I got home that evening, so the pictures are less than perfect, since I had to use self time in a corner of my basement which is a play area cause it had the best lighting setup....so ignore the teddy bears and such ;) heheh!

I wore a pair of pale lilac vintage shoes from the late 1940's to the early 1950's that were given to me by my grandma's neighbor, a string of pearls and a pair of pearl earrings. It was such a fun and classy outfit, I can't wait to wear it again! Again - excuse my lack of quality photos. It was late and I was a mess, but I had to get some pictures to show y'all :)

xoxox, ruthanne

vintage bullock's beaded clutch

I am asking for your help!

I have this vintage, beaded clutch from Bullock's (Bullock's Wilshire) in my possession at this current time; and I want to know about it! The woman who "gave" it to me, gave it to me to find out what it's worth, how much it would go for, and if it's something of any importance. The clutch is in it's original plastic packaging; it still has the tissue paper inside of it, and there are only a few beads missing. I don't know if the beads are glass or not, but I know it was made in Belgium, according to the label.

Here are some pictures of it - does anyone, and I mean, anyone, know anything about the company or pieces like this? I have not yet gotten to a point of real knowledge in this particular area of vintage fashion....so. If you know of anyone to ask, if you are a someone to ask, or if you know of a person I could call or email to ask about this piece, would you let me know? You can email me at ruthannewithane[at]gmail[dot]com, or leave a comment below. It's really not important how much it's worth, I mostly just want to know if it is worth anything, why, etc.

Also...the same gal who gave me the clutch to research also gave me personally three pairs of vintage heels. One is from the 20's, the other two are 40's/50's; a post on them will come soon! They are glorious! have a fantastic day!

vintage buttons

 

Last weekend my mom got up early and went to this big garage sale she had heard was going to be happening. I had all those junior high girls over here so I didn't get to go, but she brought me back a lovely surprise! See for yourself!

 

aren't they sooooo cool?! I am in love. I sorted them all out and am already dreaming about the dresses and blouses and all that that I'm gonna put them on...sigh <3 love it.

vintage inspired thank you notes

So my birthday was like what, three weeks ago? almost a month ago?! oh. yeah. I'm a procrastinator. Majorly. But, I don't like sending 'just average' thank you notes. no. I want the person receiving my note to know that I put thought and care into the card that I sent them, thanking them for whatever it is they gave me, or did for me.

I recently came up with this genius adorable thank you note card. It is so cute, sweet, simple, and one sided so you don't have to have all that awkward empty space left over! Ah, I love it. The text says "some things never go out of style, just like saying thank you, so let me be cordial, and extend my gratitude." super cute, I think! Here are two of my favorites:

Maybe sometime soon I'll do a DIY for these, they are so simple and cute! I used Klutz's Paper Fashions stencils for it...I went through an obsessive "paper fashion" phase. Seriously. It was obsessive. I have the notebooks of sketches and designs and outfits and allllll that to prove it. you don't want to see it.

Also, how long does it normally take you to get your thank you notes out? Are you really uptight about it? Or do you just kinda go "When they get them, they get them..."? I always take at least 2 weeks, but that's cause I'm just naturally a procrastinator. ;) ask my daddy...bahahaha.

have a great day, loves! ♥

xo, Ruthanne

vintage dress pattern in review: first edition

 not gonna lie. kinda love this shot. thanks mommy! ♥ isn't the filter the best? 

so. I know I am terrible and have hardly posted this week. tsk tsk, I know, I know. Being a high school student isn't all it's cracked up to be...but then again, being a college student is probably even worse, so...I'll take what I can get. also. I've decided to start a "vintage dress pattern in review" series on this blog. My opinions and thoughts as an amateur seamstress! that was the "First edition!" I will hopefully have another one to review soon! *wink* for now though, this redheaded chick has some actual work to get done...not nifty.

xo, ruthanne