Flower Power! Part Two!

Last time we talked florals, they were entirely of the patterns-printed-on-clothing variety. Since then, I’ve realized that flowers are literally everywhere in my life and on everything, including my head and toes!

I scored the hatbox for a few bucks at a little thrift store in Frederick, Maryland.  Aside from the daisy pattern on the side, it's cool because it's local to DC...which I also consider myself local to even though I don't visit that often.  Inside the hat box I've been storing a few vintage fascinators and assorted supplies for making floral crowns!

I got the vintage millinery flowers off of eBay (and I highly recommend this dealer; great selection/prices and so kind!) and while the twine and tape were thrifted, they're easily and cheaply available from craft stores. 

Now, I haven't gotten around to (ahh, isn't that always the case...) actually making my floral crowns  but  mentioning it on my blog certainly motivates me to follow-up on this like it's going out of style...aka going to an outdoor music festival circa 2012.  Anyway, it started last year when I actually paid full-price for one I saw on the Free People website, got it in the mail and was not impressed, and decided it was an easy diy.  Because. Obviously.  But until I get my diy-time, I can get some floral headpiece action with these babies:

I have a bit of a bigger head and big hair doesn't help but these floral fascinators are truly one size fits all (I wish I could find the picture of my brother wearing the gold one...) and the detail put into the design and the flowers is incredible.  They add some serious interest and whimsy to your ensemble.  

I need to build up my fierceness to wear them on a more regular basis and/or go to San Francisco and/or find a church with a rich and proud tradition of women rocking awesome headwear to get inspired.  When I was interning at the vintage boutique in college, I loved that I got to spend a Saturday morning helping an octogenarian pick out a new church hat and later saw a young lady trying on some of the same hats for a theme party.  Vintage: it brings generations together!  I have a couple of fascinators (and a watercolor floral pillbox hat!) going up in the shop.  

And speaking of awesome head-attire and flower-related-adornments, I love this girl's style.  And I've always been a fan of this one...  So naturally, I was delighted when I noticed Zoe was rocking Frida earrings in a recent post:

Those glasses. That crown. Those earrings. That lipstick.  That ribbon.  Everything.    

 

These docs are more evidence of my nineties grunge-meets-granny floral appreciation.  I live in them during the colder months and they're holding up nicely.  They make me smile whenever I happen to look down and they seem to make other people smile, too: they're crowdpleasers that have collected compliments from random people at random places and times.  Example: peering underneath bathroom stalls...   

I got them off of eBay a few years ago and I've only occasionally seen them in thrift stores (usually marked up, but not over $20) yet never in my size!  Dr. Martens has had a bunch of floral patterned boots over the years, but these are my favorite.

Floral brooches are something else I've been collecting for awhile.  Consequently, they're a little harder to part with, but some of them will be in the shop.  The one in the first row, third from left is a favorite; it's usually affixed to my coat lapel or the front pocket flap of my denim jacket.

Remember in the mid-nineties when sixties hippie-style made a comeback? (How about those flared jeans from Mudd that came with their own fringed/crochet belt?!) And daisies, notably Gerbera daisies, were everywhere, too?  I had earrings for that.

They'll be in shop.  And they'll be sold in a bundle with a couple of other nineties gems from Claire's Accessories. 

In the daisy department (there is no actual daisy department), I also have a recipe box and a trivet going to the shop.  Perfect for the kitchen!

In the bedroom, I've got these flowers on my walls:

And these ones in other places:

The trays are great for corralling the random junk that collects on top of coffee tables and dressers.  That cookie jar kind of reminds me of a chamber pot and presently it's just on a bookshelf.  The hangers were thrifted and I intend to make more using other wooden hangers and fabric scraps and the iron side table is perfect for plants!  In the shop, I'll have a couple of pillows, a tray, and a really cool new old stock thermos just waiting to go on your next picnic.  The tag (still attached!) says it's 'perfect for home & patio, picnic & camping, sporting events or office' so you probably definitely need it (if you don't already own one!) since I definitely don't need two...

The comforter below was thrifted maybe five or six years ago and it has since become a personal summertime favorite and a picnic/beach essential for me.  The pattern is one part Marimekko and one part Vera Neumann and it is colorful, kaleidescope-like perfection:

I've grown quite attached to this comforter, not in the sense of carrying it around with me like Linus, but whenever I look at it I'm reminded of fun times outdoors with family and friends.  

On a morbid/bizarre (but probably not so bizarre) note, when I was a kid (and before I'd gone to an actual funeral) I thought of caskets as, literally, little beds (because c'mon, what else would a 'final resting place' look like?!) and imagined that, whenever I died, I'd be wearing pajamas and tucked into my casket with my Sesame Street bedsheets and comforter.

Beyond floral comforters, I have a stash of vintage bedsheets that I have assorted plans for.  But I'll get to that in another blog post.  (And maybe this blog post could have just been called a diy project to-do list...)  As far as linens go, I also have some great floral (of course, see theme) vintage (also, a given, see blog) tablecloths around.  I love the pom pom fringe on this one:     

In other tablecloth news, I scored the Soraya Maxi Dress from Anthropologie last week.  I don't recall being mesmerized by it online, but when I saw it in store I freakin' loved it!  I didn't see my size at first, which wasn't a biggie since I really had no intention of buying it, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found it in the sale section being sold 'as-is' (and at almost $100 less) because the zipper had gone off track.  Now, sometimes I've seen a bunch of the same product in the sale section of Anthro because they all have an identical issue and it's clearly some kind of design defect but this was random and it should be an easy fix, as I won't need to replace the whole zipper.  So it's just a matter of finding the time for it!  But back to tablecloths... I went to read the reviews for this dress and several people complained that it looked/felt like too much of an old tablecloth for their liking.  Ironically, that's exactly what it reminded me of and exactly why I love it (oh yeah, and it's flattering) so I'm not sure what that says about me...  

Once the zipper is fixed, I'll probably wear it with my platform espadrilles and with either a denim jacket or cropped sweater (shown) so I don't feel overexposed.  Other items on my mending to-do list include the purple and blue floral blazer on the left.  I love the old-lawn-chair-cushion-chic of the pattern and I've worn it on and off for a little over a decade but I've always wanted to change the buttons (easy) and the lining (not so easy). The lining is torn in a couple of places and since I usually scrunch the sleeves I was thinking it’d be fun to do it in an unexpected contrasting color like a bright red-orange. 

The yellow blazer on the right (made in Paris, ooh la la!) just needs to be drycleaned (easy). The fabric on it is great and so cheery and I love how it looks when worn casually with a white blouse and slouchy jeans, not unlike the way this yellow blazer is worn.

The fit on the blazer above is amazing and I love the strong shoulder/short sleeves but I haven’t worn it in a long while. It might be headed to shop! I also love the fabric on it, check out that detail of the raised petals!

Aside from (hopefully!) documenting the diy projects mentioned above, I think I've shared enough flower-related things for now...all that's left more to do is step away from the computer and smell some actual roses.  I'm a decent woman who exports flowers...the rest of the floral things will be in the shop this week!

Lastly, did anyone else finally get the opportunity to be an actual flower girl in an actual wedding only to commit career suicide by forgetting to do the one thing you're supposed to do?

It was the most important day of my life.  I received my cue to walk down the aisle.  All eyes were on me.  My hair, my dress, my shoes...perfection.  But I was forgetting something.  What was it?  What was my mom hissing at me through that strained smile?  I nodded and smiled harder.  I may have tip-toed.  I may have done the Miss America wave.  I definitely did not do anything with the silk petals in the ribbon-adorned basket I was holding.  When the bride appeared at the end of the aisle, I may have felt upstaged and it may or may not have shown on my face...