10 New Scarves to Add to Your Wardrobe

I've been having fun trying out new wrap styles with different shapes and sizes of scarves, but my go-to favorite is the giant square scarf.  It's super easy to turn into a vintage style wrap, and they're often made of light, breezy materials that are perfect for the warmer weather we're now experiencing in the Northern Hemisphere.

But let's move beyond the easy-to-find floral vintage ones and find some statement scarves, shall we?  Modern square scarves are in great condition, and you don't need to worry about them as much as you may vintage ones, especially the silk ones.  I also consider them special pieces that I, personally, would spend more money on than the vintage florals I typically thrift.  The vintage scarves we thrift now were once pricier, and I'd love to add unique, quality scarves to my collection that will last as long as those have!

Here are ten of my favorite modern square scarves that would be fantastic additions to a vintage look:

Plateau Florals Limited Edition Silk Scarf
J. Okuma - $200

Now, kids, this is what we call "wearable art," and it deserves the higher price tag.  The scarf is a print of beaded pieces made by the artist.  It's 100% silk satin and has the hand-rolled hems that we vintage lovers adore!

Silk Tea Time Scarf
Smithsonian Museum Store - $40

Hello!  It's a TEA scarf!  Need I say much more?!  This 100% silk scarf has tea pots, flowers, and tea bags surrounding a Roman numeral clock with a definite vintage vibe.  I don't know about you, but I definitely love tea enough to wear it as an accessory.

Diné Bizaad (Navajo Language) Colors Bandana
Beyond Buckskin - $15

This 20"x20" bandana features street art from Navajo artist David Sloan.  It has doodle-type drawings paired with corresponding Navajo words.  It's 100% cotton, comes in a lot of colors, and can add a fun edge to vintage looks.  (Can't you just see it tied Rosie style with overalls?!)

Dehn Spring in Central Park Scarf
The Met Store - $55

It doesn't get better than this!  This silk crepe de chine scarf is a print of a 1941 watercolor by artist Adolf Dehn. It features iconic New York architecture and ladies in fantastic hats going for a stroll in Central Park.

Feathered Limited Edition Silk Scarf
J. Okuma - $200

This is another gorgeous wearable art piece.  Featuring eagle and flicker feathers surrounding a beaded motif, this 100% silk satin scarf would be an amazing, culturally-sensitive accessory that would go perfectly with vintage Western looks.  There are ways to wear feathered head coverings and support the Native community, and this is it!

NWHM Scarf
National Women's History Museum - $100

I include this scarf not as much for its aesthetic appeal (though some people like orange) as much as for the opportunity to be a part of something awesome. With a $100 donation to the creation of the National Women's History Museum, you'd be a part of establishing the first women's museum in any nation's capital. It's time our story was told, right ladies?!

Shandra Smith Designer Scarf
Shandra Smith - $64

Smith offers several 36"x36" scarves in her shop, and her painterly style uses bold, bright colors in unique designs. This one was one of my favorites, and you have the option of choosing which fabric it is printed on.  Think of how many outfits this bright scarf could coordinate with!

La Marche du Zambèze Scarf
Hermes - $395

Okay, so with a price tag like that, this one is mostly for drooling over and staring at online.  However, I thought it was especially awesome because it's part of a line of scarves formed out of a collaboration between Hermes and a South African art collective called Ardmore. The artists reinvent traditional styles, and scarves like this are the result! Pretty cool, huh? 

Traveler's Eye Silk Scarf
Smithsonian Museum Store - $60

This awesome print is made of vintage postcards included in The Traveler's Eye: Scenes from Asia exhibit.  It has handwriting, stamps, postage marks, and hand-tinted scenes found on the old postcards in the collection.  It's 100% silk and comes with a museum provenance card!

Women Warrior Ledger Scarf
B. Yellowtail - $145

This scarf commemorates a Shoshone warbonnet dance, the only time when females don the traditional warbonnet in Plains cultures. The print is a collaboration with Native artist John Pepion and honors the young leaders of their indigenous nations. It's 100% chiffon and is made in the U.S.A.!

So which one is your favorite?  If money were no object, which would you pick?  Do you have any other favorite modern scarf sources?

I have not been compensated for including any of these scarves.  I just thought they were awesome and wanted you to see!

C-Street Car Show for the Kilties

Yesterday I stumbled upon the Car Show for the Kilties here in Springfield.  My friend and I were stopping at Springfield's one vintage store (Decades on Commercial Street), and the whole area was blocked off for a car show and the weekly city market!  Springfield doesn't have many vintage events at all... except for classic car shows!  We dominate those, and there are quite a lot of them throughout the year here.









This car show was a fundraiser for the Kilties, a girls' drum and bugle corps at my alma mater, Central High School.  The Kilties were started at Central in 1926, and I always thought they were pretty awesome.  I was glad to help out the group!

I grabbed Jacob and we came back later to take it all in.  My dad's side of the family is very into classic car restoration, so I've been going to car shows my whole life.  However, the extent of my knowledge is pretty much being able to determine the decade a car is from and admiring the shiny chrome. 

When I go to car shows, I always pick out my favorite car that I would buy if money and practicality were no object.  So let's have a virtual car show!  Which one would you pick?

So what's your favorite car?  Which one would you like to own?

Little Debbie Picnic Outfit

For Mother's Day, my mother and I happened to be together!  Since she lives overseas, this  is a rare occurrence.  Our family took the opportunity to go on a picnic together and break out the picnic set Jacob and I got as a wedding present and have never used.

I threw on some comfy, light summer clothing: late 1930s/early 40s shorts, a white cotton blouse, and a giant straw hat I recently found in a flea market.  I'm not sure how old it is, but a straw hat is a pretty timeless piece.

My mother said I looked like the Little Debbie snack cakes girl:

I kind of do, haha!

Outfit Details
shorts: OLL
blouse: made by me, Simplicity 4762
shoes: OLL
hat: flea market in Alton, IL

Guest Post: My 1950s Middle Eastern Circle Skirt

OMG, is that Emileigh wearing a circle skirt?!  With a crinoline?!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is me wearing a circle skirt with a puffy, albeit comparatively small, crinoline underneath.  You won't often see me in such 1950s styles, but I've debuted one of my new-to-me, favorite pieces of all time in a guest post on the Boyer Family Singers blog.  

Go now and check out all the deets!

80s to 20s Upcycling Project

One of my goals made during Fashion Revolution week was to give more ugly 80s and 90s thrift store items new life.  Since many of them are hideous, it requires creative upcycling in order for them to avoid the landfill.  "Upcycling" doesn't mean just "reused;" it means making an item more valuable than it was before.  I think this definitely applies to this project!

It all started with a search for shoulder pads.  When bought new, they are about $8 in my local sewing store, and that is ridiculous to me!  Why on earth would I pay $8 for new shoulder pads when there are millions of hideous 80s, shoulder-padded dresses in thrift stores for pennies?!  I went to the cheapest charity shop in town and found this "Golden Girls"-worthy beauty:

Not only does it have shoulder pads (which I promptly ripped out for use in 1940s projects coming up), but it also came with a bunch of buttons on it that I can save for later.  Never throw out notions!

I originally planned to make a dropped-waist 1940s style dress that utilized the pleated part of the skirt (huzzah for modern chemically-set pleats that don't need to be re-ironed!).  However, when I got the dress home I realized that while it is sort of a two piece dress.... the lining is attached at the neckline to the outer fabric, and the pleated fabric doesn't go up very far on the bottom layer.  So.... it wouldn't be long enough for a 40s skirt.  New plan!

I decided to go for a "cusper" type of dress that can be styled to look either 20s or 30s depending on how it's accessorized.   I brought in the sides to make a more fitted silhouette along the hips and a tiny bit at the waist.  I added a deadstock 1960s collar that is wide enough to balance out my hips as far as proportions go.  I also put on some buttons at the neckline to help simulate a v-neck line that is more flattering for my round face without having to rework the neckline of the dress.  Lastly, I removed the sleeves and used the sleeve heads as ties for a bow under the collar.  It took me about a day and a half to complete and I used items from my stash.

The dress has a step-in zipper at the back, but the collar opens at the front.  Therefore, wanting to avoid reworking the collar and zipper altogether, I tacked the collar down to the dress on one half, then the other half detaches to allow the neckline to open at the zipper in the back.  The collar is snapped back on with a couple snaps behind the bow on the bodice.  It worked out pretty well!

Obviously, it isn't a perfect reproduction of a 1920s dress.  The 20s didn't use mile-long nylon step-in zippers, polyester shiny materials, or serged seams.  However, for $4... I think I've captured the vibe pretty well, so I'm happy!

Today I styled it for the 20s, but I'll show you a more 30s aesthetic in a future post.  To get the 20s look, I rolled with the baggier silhouette and threw on a cloche and some dolly lips.  It's a super easy outfit and I'm proud to say it's the first 20s-style dress I've made that I actually like! I always have problems trying to balance out my hips and create a longer-looking silhouette, but I think this one works!

I wore it to a local museum's textile exhibit and drooled at all the historical clothes.  You have to get very close to see stitches... but I'm not actually touching them, so it's okay, haha!

Outfit details
cloche: made by me
dress: made by me, upcycled
shoes: Modcloth
ring: thrifted
lipstick: Kat Von D "Outlaw" lip stain