1970's vintage flowers

outfit details:

leather oxfords: Goodwill

grey knee high socks: c/o Abby Taylor :)

burnt orange turtle neck: Goodwill in Edwardsville, IL

vintage houndstooth skirt: Goodwill

vintage 1950's LFZ purse: my Great Grandmother Frisina's

red belt- my mother's

red felt hat- Goodwill, Champaign, IL

orange blazer- Value Thrift, Springfield, IL

This purse was my Great Grandmother Frisina's. Her name was Lucille Frisina Zeigler (LFZ). I love monogramed purses.. especially when you actually know what the initials represent!

This is me after I stepped in dog poop. My shoes are still drying off as I am typing this post. Oh, well...

These bright orange flowers are a recent thrift find from Springfield, IL this past week. My Grandmother Kutch and I went to about three different thrift stores and were mainly disappointed. I did manage to snag these bright tulips that remind me of the 1960's/70's. I am trying to figure out if they are vintage or not... it's really hard to tell! What do you think? I got quite a lot of them! I think I know JUST what I am going to use them for! Are you preparing for the holidays tonight? We are. XOXO

love, polly

Maria Elyse wearing Paulie Antiques

I sent out a bow tie to the lovely Maria Elyse from First Impressions a few days ago and now she is wearing it like a little doll. Isn't she precious! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what she pairs with it in the future, too!♥.

Thanks, Maria! To see more photos, visit the *new* Paulie Antiques blog! XOXO

I'm baaaack....

LISTEN WHILE YOU LOOK! 

I LOVE JUPITER. You like? I want to go to one of their concerts so badly....

My wonderful wonderful wonderful friend, Maria Elyse, sent me this amazing 1920's style vintage dress and I absolutely LOVE it! It's my favorite color and everything! Make sure you go to Maria's blog and tell her how amazing she is :) I actually just sent off a bow to her sweet self today in the mail! I can't WAIT to see her in it! I know she will be adorable!♥ Thanks so much for the package, Maria! I can't wait to wear the blouse, too! And I loved the vintage theatre magazine. Wow.. I feel so loved.

outfit details: 

vintage 1920's style dess- c/o Maria Elyse

faux leather booties-Goodwill

bracelet- I beaded it!

polaroid camera- gift from my Grandmother Kutch

vintage 1950's hat- Carries Antiques in Champaign, IL

vintage orange tights- my mother's in the 1980's

vintage plaid jacket- Salvation Army in Springfield, IL

red belt- Goodwill in Springfield, IL

love, polly :)

One day I know...

We once were strangers on the phone.We knew it was going to happen. She moved a vintage piano into our new house and we had a moody cat. We occupied the same space despite not knowing each other well or really at all. We shared our fears, our hopes, our dreams; and most of all... we laughed. We inspired each other to work harder, to push farther than ever before. I can't say that we ever knew where our lives were going or what we were doing... but something about being around each other seemed to be enough. We started to pick up on each other's little habits and I don't recall one bicker. This woman became my best friend. She is one of the biggest hearts I've ever known. Such a creative soul should not go unnoticed. She is a beautiful and talented artist whom I admire and look up to. She is amazing and I know one day we will be together again. We were separated when we went our ways to different cities. She moved to Chicago and I moved to Urbana. Our eyes met each other's as we looked around our bare house. It was over. Our time together had expired.. after all we had been through. We only lived together for one semester. I hope to one day live with her again. I want our house back. I miss our piano lessons and hearing her sing at night while I drew. I miss the breeze coming into our house and hula hooping together in our front yard. I miss our pale blue wooden porch with the paint chipping and you cooking eggs. I miss our themed parties. I miss our deep conversations. I miss it all. I love you, Emily. See you soon...

love, polly

my re-creation of a 1920's cloche hat..

Hi, There! I finished my cloche hat for my final last night and presented it to my class today. I am creating a DIY to share with you soon! Stay tuned :)

love, polly

the battle of angels

This semester I assisted a costume designer named Julie McGill on a play by Tennessee Williams called Battle of Angels. It was the best play I've ever been involved with and I am truly proud to say that I was at every fitting and pulled almost every single piece of clothing and accessory for the show. My favorite part was finding the gloves, hats, and jewelry. That was a blast. The little details are what I live for. Here are some photos of the production, although they don't show every costume. 

We had this blue green dress, the "ecstasy dress," made especially for our leading lady. She twirled and flounced around in it perfectly.. we were silently tearing up in the audience. (At least I was..) It's a wonderful experience to see a dress made from scratch!

Battle of Angels is based in the 1930's. The set is a mercantile store that sells shoes. Have you read the play? Tennessee Williams is one of my absolute favorite playwrights! I've actually designed a scene from The Glass Menagerie in the past, too! Hope you are enjoying your weekend...

Oh! And.... I'm moving again!

love, polly

clock purse remix

Over time, I've come to really love and appreciate my vintage 1950's working clock purse more than any other purse in my collection HANDS DOWN. It always gets a remark from everyone it seems. No one has seen anything quite like it! My Grandmother Kutch (the one who used to own an antique store called, 'Plain Jane's Antiques' in Taylorville, IL) is the one who bought it for me for my 20th birthday. I didn't really know what to think or how to act the first time I saw it's majesty. I stared at it for a long time trying to figure out if I liked it and still wasn't sure. I started to wear it around and started getting a mass of comments and compliments on it. Most people just say, "WOAH! It's a CLOCK! NEAT!" And they're on their way. Others just freak out about it. It's very entertaining. I want someone else to also experience the magic of this purse! It's such a statement. Anyway, having used it for a while, I started to understand what I could and couldn't wear with it and what looked the best. Here are my outfits with the purse.......... which is your favorite?♥.

1. this outfit proved to be one of my favorites over the summer.. and adding the purse just topped it off perfectly! I love the long handle to swing it around and drape it over the shoulder.

2. Adding it to this outfit was an unexpected touch because it doesn't match anything I have on (besides the white face on the clock and the white of my shoes). It still managed to work...........

3. The purse looked so good next to the dried hydrangeas in this photo that I almost considered it as part of the landscape rather than part of my outfit..... I snapped some of my favorite photos ever with these beautiful flowers and this purse that day. Have a quick look!

4. This photo is only the second time I ever photographed myself with this purse, so I was still getting used to it. It seems to be the outfit most closely matched to the purse. The shiny t-straps with the purse and the coal-hue feathers really made me start understanding how to pair the purse with an outfit.

5. And, bada boom bada bing- the first outfit I ever worse the purse with! I love these photos because this is only the 3rd time I ever used a tripod and I don't get to shoot locations like this often. I love fashion wilderness adventures...! Don't you?

love, polly

collecting the past: a video interview with me about my collections....

Collecting the Past from Alexis Kikoen on Vimeo.

You might have known that I have collections. I have a lot, actually. Way more than this video would care to look at. Is it a problem? Watch and answer this for yourself. My amazing friend, Alexis, was kind enough to be interested in me for her subject. Haha, there's definitely an approachable humor to this video that I love. Enjoy! 

love, polly