Monday, May 28, 2012

Road trippin'.

We launched our long weekend in Chapel Hill with a meandering drive through South Carolina, avoiding major highways and stopping in thrift stores and junk stops along the way (shout-out to Camden, SC, and one of the most vintage-packed Goodwill stores I've ever seen). We even stopped for ice cream at the World's Largest Strawberry, which was the jam. I don't know if you're able to observe the unbridled excitement that Maya and I were feeling, but trust me, it was there. 

Once we got to Chapel Hill, we were stuffed to the gills: delicious dinners at Vimala's and Acme, drinks at Lantern,  lunch at NanaTaco,  and homemade brunch at Amanda and Reid's house. 

We took a morning walk around UNC Chapel Hill, went thrifting around Durham, hugged puppies, and admired the amazing handiwork of Cathy and David and their incredible home renovations. I love watching their progress and it makes me so eager to have a home of my own to play with one day.

As it often does, the weekend flew by at lightning speed, and I'm feeling that familiar homesickness of having left some of the greatest friends a gal can have. Already looking forward to the next visit!



Sunday, May 20, 2012

Inherited.

A lot of things have inspired my love of vintage clothing. I love the shape and cut of old clothes. I love their fabrics and palettes and metal zippers. There is a romance in old clothing--I spend way too much time imagining the first owners of my vintage finds, wondering what purpose each dress was purchased for.

The other reason is envy. I hear all the time about how people are trying to get rid of the piles of clothes left behind by the stylish women of their family.

Both sides of my family became, after World War II, people without place. Boundaries were redrawn, and postwar Germany was in shambles. Prussia no longer existed--where my family is from was absorbed by the Soviet Union--and neither did the German settlements in Poland. My fractured families all decided to try to start new in America. A war-ravaged economy and emigration do not make for a glamorously packed suitcase, so everything besides the necessities was left behind.

My mother's mother, Antonia,  married in Germany, shortly after the end of the war. People didn't have very much, and my grandfather gave his soon-to-be bride a white dress from someone he knew in another village. After some adjustments, it fit my grandmother like a glove. On her wedding day, she hung small garlands of herbs on its sash. Afterwards, it was passed on to friend who needed a wedding dress. No one knows where it ended up.


My father's parents first met in a refugee camp in Schwartau but were separated as the families moved on. They reunited several years later in America, having kept in touch for that entire time. When they married, Lucia wore a brand-new American dress, but it was then passed from cousin to cousin to friend, each one making alterations to it--letting it out, hemming it up, adding and removing details. What happened to it in the end, no one can quite remember.


I wasn't lucky enough to inherit wardrobes bursting with silks, sequins, and lace (though I did inherit that good old German stubbornness from both sides). But I love rescuing beautiful and unique pieces of clothing that have lasted decades, and with care, could be passed down again and again.

With that in mind, I'm relaunching my vintage shop under a new name: Inherited. My goal is to keep it stocked with unique pieces for everyday wear and special occasions--hopefully pieces that you'll reach for in your daily dress, and pieces that you'll pack away for your own daughters, nieces or granddaughters.

Since this post is wedding dress-themed, here's an example of one of the pieces I'm offering in my new-and-improved shop:


This amazing 1940s wedding dress comes with a little something extra--the portrait album from the first bride who wore this dress:


I'm also starting a new Facebook page for this endeavor, so pleaseplease like me there!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Supermoon.


Last night's supermoon was quite the visual spectacular. At nearly midnight, the brightest moon of 2012 lit up the sky like dusk. A thunderstorm was rolling in and sporadic lightning flashes popped, adding some extra drama to the sky. Overall, a gorgeous show. Encore, please.

Check out other (better) photos of the supermoon here.