Animal Head Art - Laura Meyers

Laura Meyers is an artist living in Brooklyn, and has some really lovely pieces with animal heads on lanky human bodies.

Sneak Peak: Accessories

That's right, dahhhhling. We've got some accessories hitting the shop this week. Shoes. Hats. And one really great vintage pagoda style parasol. Sign up for our Twitter feed to be notified as soon as we post them!

Knowing What You Gots

Vintage shopping is a variable thing. Sometimes you are on the hunt for something specific, and other times you just let yourself be led. A few years back Bex and I spent some time poking around at flea markets and basement museum shops in Moscow. We fell in love with the cold war space art, but couldn't afford any of the big pieces. I stumbled on several strips (about 8 inches long, each image is about 2 inches by 1.5 inches wide) of cosmonaut propaganda. They've been hanging above my monitor at work for two years now. And then!(my favorite of the lot, the nobel dog-mo-nauts)

Yesterday I was purusing the blog world (apologies, since I can't figure out where I saw this), but I stumbled on maraid's match box label set on flickr. What did my wondering eyes see? In addition to some truly beautiful soviet era art, I saw my little images! Mystery solved, I have inadvertently bought unused match book labels. Even better maraid has lots of great notes and info on each label--- their flickr site is a treasure trove.
If you want to get in on this action, and don't want to fly to Mother Russia, you can do what maraid did-- hit this ebay search. And happy surfing-- I could spend hours on that flickr site!

Locksmithing: salvage your locked vintage suitcase

My friend Collin found this little green suitcase on the street yesterday and gave it to me. It was in perfect condition - a lovely green tweed - and the only problem was the pesky three-number combination was locked.


Rendered useless? Not so! Who would have known, but the boy named Derek had some lock-picking experience, and was able to figure out the combination without using force or trying all 64,000 possible combination to find out. He just pushed on the lock as if he were going to open it, and then wiggled each number until it felt loose. Voila! He figured out the combination.

As it turns out, there are lots of video tips online to figure out how to how to open a combination lock, so if you find the perfect vintage luggage, don't let a little secret combination stand in your way!

The best news? The inside of my suitcase was pristine, after having been locked away for who knows how many years!

High Falutin

One thing that is very lovable about *most* vintage clothing is its affordability (yes, we do think the stuff in our shop is a steal). Can I get a "woot" from all the recessionista's out there? This is true except for some designer vintage wear.

I stumbled across this sale of vintage Pucci at YOOX which starts today (you can buy it all from your iphone!). I love this stuff but it's a tad out of my range-- $875 for a bikini?!! Which vintage Pucci would you buy? My fantasy picks are below (but I can't get the pictures of the website, so click away).

Swimmingly
The long and SHORT of it
Out and About

Maker Faire 2009 highlights: Bazaar Bizarre

I went to the Maker Faire in San Mateo over the weekend, and walked around the whole time with mouth agape, coveting bikes and screenprinting machines and staring at the amazing things people have figured out how to make.

They always have an impressive Bazaar Bizarre craft fair section as well, and these were a few of my favorites locals that were out selling their wares:

DoubleParlour:

Aside from the obvious Animal Head connection, I think these guys make really pretty paintings and sculptures out of polymer clay, and then paint them with the most lovely and woeful expressions.



Xylocopa:

They make this delicate wooden jewelry with awesome, moveable gears.

Aye-Aye Captain

I've always had a thing for uniforms-- they just look so crisp, and nicely retro. Cribbing the uniform style is one way to look professional and yet hip (the holy grail of vintage dressing for me these days). Sailthouforth put me onto this site-- a comprehensive collection of stewardess uniforms. So much eye candy.

Basic things to think about if you want to copy this look-- phrases like epaulette, pussy bow, pencil skirt, fitted jacket, and scarves, scarves, scarves would be a good start. Let us know what you find (and yes, we will be posting things that fit these terms in the shop). Be prepared to waste a lot of time looking at all those uniforms, and consider buying some of our adorable vintage luggage to tote with you