Blogger vacation

In the four years I've run this blog, I've never officially taken a break. Well, time for a virtual vacation. I've become less enchanted with Vixen Vintage lately, partially due to lifestyle change, namely quitting my job.
 I have less reason to dress in the various vintage items I own, and days are spent very casual and home oriented. At first I couldn't quite get used to the fact that those suits and heels won't get as much mileage anymore, but after some time I've adapted to a new chapter. I don't want to abandon Vixen Vintage, but I am taking it in a new direction. It won't be so focused on outfits only, but more of a photojournal. I love taking pictures and would like to improve, and there's so much to photograph! So for those of you who may not come back, thank you so very much for visiting, even if your stay was short. For those who wish to follow along whatever life brings next, I'll see you here in a couple of weeks!  For vintage blogs, consider some of my favorite vintage guys and gals:
Johanna's Blog 
Mary Van Notes 
Fashion Forestry 
Andi B. Goode 
Bright Young Twins 
Lost in the 50s 
Like Johnny and June

Winner of the Giveaway is....

And the winner is...Rachlovespenguins! Email me at {solanahraquel(at)gmail.com} with your address and I'll send the goodies your way :)

Congratulations, and thank you everyone who entered!

Giveaway!

{Giveaway}
Retro Makeup Book
Bullet Bra Pads
Two hairnets
Two rainhoods Four hatpins
Pink cotton headscarf
I've gathered some items for a vintage giveaway for you! Lauren Rennells graciously donated her latest book, Retro Makeup, and My Baby Jo has given a favorite item of mine, their Bullet Bra Pads, which help with keeping up pin-up curves.
The other goodies are little bits and bobs that are nice to have, hope you like the collection! 
To enter, just leave a comment here, a winner will be chosen at random on Friday, so act fast! 
(Open to international readers)
Good luck :)

Zooooooooo

Saturday Sam and I went to the Oregon Zoo and saw some animals, ate an Elephant ear*, and had fun in a photobooth. The darn thing shows your reflection on a screen before it takes the picture, and I can honestly say it's the most unflattering thing ever (think when Liz Lemon walks in front of the HD camera). Luckily the photos themselves turned out nice.
And we morphed into Polar Bears halfway through. 
Oh and I wore a fringe vest. Because I've always loved fringed vests, and you really only live once. 
Vest-Yard Sale
Blouse-Estate sale
Boots-Urban Eccentric Vintage
J. Crew      *I think Elephant ear is a regional thing, it's just flat dough fried and slathered in butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Super healthy. 

Red lipstick and fabulous hats galore

Today my mother and I went to Portland for a little shopping. We got some good things at Buffalo Exchange, and I finally broke down and got a new Chanel red lipstick (In Gabrielle if anyone is interested). I was scraping the remaining bits of my last tube, in a discontinued color of course, but I think I like this one better!
 We parked across from Pinkham Millinery, and I've always been curious about this local milliner so we explored. 
Ok. If you are a hat lover. This is a dangerous idea. 
We walked in to find some of the most beautiful hats I've ever seen, in person or print. 
The magical creator, Dayna, greeted us and showed us her favorite designs. She was so friendly and helpful, and indulged my gasps and squeals over feathers and felt. She even let me try one on, it's basically my dream hat, so y'know, if you don't have a Christmas present for me yet Sam...*hinthint*
Let's just not talk about how this was the one and only day I went Downtown and didn't wear a hat.  Lesson: Always dress for town. 
But it is that time of year when summer stretches on and on, and I am less motivated to wear yet another sundress. I want suits. And boots. And glorious tweed. 
In good time. 
Skirt-Magpie
Shoes-Fab Gabs
Cardigan-Handmade by me
Everything else-Thrifted

Can't miss luggage, part two!

You might remember my post a while back about a couple of fabulously gaudy pieces of luggage I snatched up at an estate sale. Since then I've been acquiring other pieces of the collection, with only one or two more to complete my travel set! Two are actually the result of readers sharing their luggage with me. The smaller suitcase is from a local gal, and the garment bag was a gift from Rogue Retro! I didn't even imagine there would be a garment bag in this textile, and haven't seen one online at all. Many thanks to them for making my collection that much more unique!

I just need the shoulder bag, and am on the lookout for a hatbox. I'm not even sure if a hatbox exists for this collection, but I sure hope so. I've also been looking for any type of advertisement featuring these, so if you have any info I would be so grateful!

Shop my shoe closet

If you're around a 6.5 to 8 you're in luck! All these beauties are being listed on Etsy this weekend.

Shop my closet

{Studio courtesy of Twila Jean}
I'm going to be putting some items from my closet up for sale on Etsy this weekend, so keep an eye out! 

Campfires and Candlelight

{Photos by Grace and I}
This weekend was another reenactment event, this time right in town. At Fort Vancouver they had encampments set up ranging from the mid 1800s to the 1940s. It was the "campfires and candlelight" tours, and while we mostly attended in the early evening, it is an event meant to be experienced at night. 
It's very interactive, they have activities, like a laundress tent set up, and games for the kids. And they make all the meals using items from the fort garden...it smelled really good...

I wore jeans and my favorite Jitterbuggin blouse, and got called "Rosie" more than once a dozen times. I don't mind that so much, just about everyone's mother or Grandmother worked in the shipyards in this area, so it's cool :)

Most outdoor events like this are coming to a close as fall approaches, but luckily it doesn't stop there!

Here is where you can find a schedule of upcoming events for Fort Vancouver. I'm sure your local parks and historic areas have similar setups you can check out. Lots have Facebook pages you can follow too which are great for keeping up with local goings on. 
 

Civil War Tintypes

{Tintypes by D.E. Geraths}
I've always wondered what my great great great grandchildren will make of my photos. I'm sure it will be incredibly confusing way off in the future, placing me in this time period. 
A kinder person would date the back of photos for future generations. 
I however, want to screw with their minds just a little more.
At the Civil War reenactment last weekend we visited D.E. Geraths, an authentic period photographer who takes tintypes and ambrotypes exactly as they were done during the Civil War. No photoshop, no new cameras, it's the real deal. 
Most of us in attendance got at least one tintype done, and Shawn even ditched the shirt to see if his tattoos would show up (you might remember last year my brother got a tintype and we saw that his arms looked inkless. I still don't understand why...)
Sam and I posed for ours right after he was on the battlefield, it actually kind of creeps me out how "real" it looks.
The next day the photographer was taking a wedding photo at the reenactment, how cool would that be?! 

Civil War at Fort Stevens

I didn't expect to be this into the Civil War weekend, but as the day went on it just got more and more fun. As mentioned before, no one was originally going in period dress. So that turned into three of us ladies in dresses and bonnets. 
Then Sam decided on a whim he wanted to take part of it. So he donned the wools and boots, and was right down there in the "battlefield". Color me stunned! 
A group took him in last minute and showed him the ropes, everyone is so nice there! 
There were so many pretty dresses, cool uniforms, and my goodness the children! I can't think of many cuter things that darling girls running around in pinafores and boys in little wool caps. 
We also got a carload of tintypes, can't wait to show you those too!