Monday, April 1, 2013

Sophistique Noir Theme~ Vintage


 As soon as I saw that the theme for April was vintage I started bouncing around in joy because I have the perfect thing for this. There's an adorable vintage/thrift store nearby that we visit on occasion. It's kind of a hit or miss event. (But then isn't most thrifting?) The past two times we stopped by I completely struck out, but on the other hand I've gotten my favorite blazer and a great long skirt in one trip before. This time, I definitely struck gold. And I've got one heck of a story to go along with it.


These shoes were sitting on a shelf in the corner of the store and I nearly didn't try them on. I thought they looked a little small, and I was wearing my Docs, so I wasn't really up to unlacing my boots to try one pair of shoes. Of course, after some internal debate my shallow want of pretty material things won out. It turned out that they fit perfectly, and were only $20. Suffice to say I was pretty happy.

And then I noticed that the heel was completely separated from the right shoe.

Of course, at this point I figured it might be too much effort to get them fixed if I could buy them somewhere else. The tag simply said Flagg Bros and then next to that "The shoes Elvis wore" which I assumed was something of a joke the employees had made. (It's something they would do. I love all of the people that work there. They're beyond friendly and really helpful.) I didn't really expect them to be that old considering the price. Well, I googled the shoes and saw that they hadn't been made since the 60s/70s. At that point I knew I had to buy them, broken or not, because $20 would be a great deal no matter what. I received a small discount because they were broken, and happily went home.

Then I googled the shoes again. First of all, the ads cracked me up. Seriously, they're great. Second of all, after some pretty extensive searching I could only find a few pairs of shoes up for sale that were the same brand, and discovered that they run anywhere from $150 to $500. So in essence, I got a pair of expensive vintage shoes for dirt cheap and it's made me ridiculously happy. You don't have that sort of luck every day.

These shoes are going to be fixed by someone who knows what they're doing, and aren't going to be worn too often. I've got to preserve them XD The other little contribution I've got to this month's theme is comprised of a few items we found in my Grandma's attic. My great-grandfather used to collect pocket watches and occasionally he would give one to my Mom. She kept them together in a box, which we found while we were in Sweden. Along with the watches, there was a pair of cufflinks made with my great-grandmother's portrait on them.

Most of them are from the 30s-70s.
There's one from the 1800s, but I'm not sure where it is.
This one is my absolute favorite.



And that's all I have for the vintage theme. I have to say, this is already one of my favorite monthly themes. I love seeing all of the lovely items everyone is displaying ^^ I'll leave you with my outfit for today. A new skirt (It's got pockets! I'll make sure to get a picture where you can actually see it next time) and scarf, and first time being confident enough to wear lipstick out. Red normally looks awful on me because my lips are too big, but purple seemed to work better. What do you think?


I'm wearing one of the watches ^^




6 comments:

  1. xxxx little darkling xxxxApril 1, 2013 at 4:45 AM

    Oh my gosh! Shoooeeeees! Amazing!
    So lucky to have found them!
    The watches are amazing! I have a clock/watch obsession, I think it's too much obsessive Alice in Wonderland reading and watching...
    Did you enjoy the new Dr Who series?

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    1. I love clocks as well, especially pocket watches :D

      I am, though I have to say I enjoy the show much less with Matt Smith than say, David Tennant or Tom Baker. It's not just him though, I'm not sure I like the way they're writing the series. (With longer plots and less self-contained arcs, and so much time spent on Earth...) But hey, I'll always love Doctor Who :D

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  2. The shoes are so adorable! What a bargain!
    The pocket watch collection is beautiful, I'm happy to see pocket watches saved and not picked apart in some steampunk project.
    Your lips are beautiful and I think they would look great in a dark red lipstick as well :)

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    1. It's such a shame when good pocket watches are dismantled D: They're so beautiful ^^
      And thank you! I agree, I think dark red would work. It's just the brighter reds that don't seems to agree with me XD

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  3. The pocket watch collection is amazing, and what a funny story about the shoes! How adorable that your grandfather had cufflinks made with your grandma's portrait on them. And I think the purple lipstick looks great on you! :o)

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  4. Thank you! And it really is a uniquely sweet thing to do :)

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