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It’s time to say thank you to those many people that have made these 365 vintage days possible.

First of all my husband Jone, who took most of the pictures for this blog and has been with me hunting vintage around the world for so many years.

While Jone was travelling, pictures have ben also taken by our friends Erika, Timo and Maarit and we really enjoyed the possibility to take pictures in the snowny garden of our friends Tarja and Tom, while Eija of VintagEija has tailored made some great outfits and repaired many others. Thank you Dear Friends!

Then there’s Lassi of the Fintage Ry association, who started the whole thing when asking me if I could blog on the association’s web site and the Fintage Ry association of course.

And of course all of you who have followed this blog and encouraged me with your nice comments deserve a big thank!

We had tonight a nice dinner to celebrate the end of these 365 vintage days: on the picture Anne, Lassi, Fiona and myself at the restaurant Kolme Kruunu in Helsinki, which still has its original decoration from 1952, with reasonnably priced good food and nice staff.

I am wearing an evening dress by Suzy Perette of New York, in black velvet and faille, black suede and clear vinyl heels, a black bakelite purse with a transparent carved licite lid, and silver tone costume jewelry set by Sarah Coventry and a small black velvet hat. I got the dress last july from one of the Beyond Retro shops in Stockholm, the heels are from an antique book shop in the Greenwich neighbourhood of London, the purse and the costume jewelry from the US. The gloves are  from VintagEija’s in Turku and the hat from the US.

365 Vintage Days

365 vintage days is a bet and a challenge. I am going to try wearing a different outfit every day for 365 days and have you witnessing the challenge. The writer has been buying and wearing 50’s clothing and accessories – most of it casual - for more than twenty years and continues to do so.

What’s next now that I have reached the end of the 365 days? May be today’s pic will give you and me some inspiration…

Enjoy a rest and wait for summer!

You just need a nice comic book from the 1950s (the Finnish Ajan Sävel in this case), sunglasses, a nice swimming suit, sandals, a purse with some money to buy a soda and strawberries! And  bakelite costume jewelry as a final touch.

I got this Jantzen swimming suit from the vintage flea market of a R’n'R weekender in the UK a few years ago. I purchased the purse is from etsy this fall and the shoes from VintagEija’s a few years ago. The bakelite bangles are from the US and the earrings from etsy. The comic book is my friend’s.

Back tomorrow to say good bye and thank you…

365 Vintage Days

365 vintage days is a bet and a challenge. I am going to try wearing a different outfit every day for 365 days and have you witnessing the challenge. The writer has been buying and wearing 50’s clothing and accessories – most of it casual - for more than twenty years and continues to do so.

This dress is a rather recent purchase – found early this year from one of the Beyond Retro shops in Stockholm. It is made of navy blue taffeta with knitted white angora, furry polka dots added to it… this creates a very lively look for the fabric.

I also wear a faux fur jacket with a white fur (mink?) collar, white gloves, lucite purse, heels and a white enameled metal Coro costume jewelry set.

While the dress is a recent purchase, the other elements of this outfit are old acquisitions: the jacket is from the Helsinki Vintage event in February 2009, the purse from an antique fair in San Francisco in 2006 or 07. The gloves are from ebay, a couple of years ago, the costume jewelry from an antique mall in the US. The heels are from Casablanca Vintage shop in Paris and purchased in the late 90′s.

365 Vintage Days

365 vintage days is a bet and a challenge. I am going to try wearing a different outfit every day for 365 days and have you witnessing the challenge. The writer has been buying and wearing 50’s clothing and accessories – most of it casual - for more than twenty years and continues to do so.

To me this skirt has the atmosphere and feel of a nice small caribbean city, laid back, enjoying the sun and far from the stress of our modern world… Just close your eyes.

 I also have a black blouse, turquoise leather belt, orange shoes and purse; orange, turquoise and black bangles and gold tone, orange, black and white Selini earrings. I found this skirt in July from one of the Beyond Retro shops in Stockholm. The belt is from ebay and purchased a couple of months ago. The purse is from etsy this fall, the shoes from VintagEija’s a few years ago. The earrings are from an antique mall in California some years ago and the bangles from Sweden and the US. The blouse has been mine for so many years that I do not remember its origin, but I would say from Paris.

365 Vintage Days

365 vintage days is a bet and a challenge. I am going to try wearing a different outfit every day for 365 days and have you witnessing the challenge. The writer has been buying and wearing 50’s clothing and accessories – most of it casual - for more than twenty years and continues to do so.

And it’s March again!

One more swimming suit, made in California, bubble gum pink with black embroidery in front. I wear it with black ballerina shoes; a straw purse; pink seastar shaped plastic earrings and charm bracelet;  and pink and white sunglasses.

I have no idea of the origin of this swimming suit and I can’t even remember when I purchased it. The sunglasses are from the US, purchased some ten years ago. I bought the purse from Tamara and Cyril’s vintage stall at the High Rockabilly Weekender last September. The earrings are an old acquisition from Finland (probably Nasta vintage shop in Helsinki) and the charm bracelet from the US. The shoes are modern ones.

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365 Vintage Days

365 vintage days is a bet and a challenge. I am going to try wearing a different outfit every day for 365 days and have you witnessing the challenge. The writer has been buying and wearing 50’s clothing and accessories – most of it casual - for more than twenty years and continues to do so.

This seems to be the last felt skirt that I have to present, black with turquoise and gold ethnic dancers together with a gold lamé blouse, black leather belt, gold Fredericks of Hollywood springolators, gold tone bakelite purse, charm bracelet and gold and black earrings. This skirt can also be seen in one book called “Fabulous Fifties, Designs for modern living” by Sheila Steinberg and Kate Dooner and published by Schiffer. It’s a nice book, dating back to 1993 and may be difficult to find. But it’s worth a try.

I purchased this skirt last April, from the Meow Vintage shop on fourth street, Long Beach. This shop is really worth the visit if you are in the Los Angeles area (http://meowvintage.com/) and there’re many other great shops on the same street. The blouse is a find from 2000, at the Car Show of the Viva Las Vegas R’n'R weekender. The springolators are from Tamara and Cyril’s vintage stall at the Rockabilly Rave weekender a couple of years ago. I bought the purse from an antique mall in Florida in Spring 2010. The belt is from a vintage dealer at the Viva Las Vegas Weekender, a few years ago. The charm bracelet is from etsy or ebay and the earrings from somewhere in the US.

There are only a few days left before we reach the end of the 365 days… it has been a nice time and fun to open my closet and present most of my collection of 50′s casual vintage. I could not say what is my favorite outfit, I like them all and wear them according to the weather, the occasion and my mood.

What are YOUR favorite – top ten – outfits?

365 Vintage Days

365 vintage days is a bet and a challenge. I am going to try wearing a different outfit every day for 365 days and have you witnessing the challenge. The writer has been buying and wearing 50’s clothing and accessories – most of it casual - for more than twenty years and continues to do so.

One more swimming suit, red with fringes, labelled “Catalina. a California Creator” and “styled for the stars of Hollywood” (on the reverse side of the label). I also have warm tea in a green Tiki mug, black ankle strap leather sandals, black straw purse, red and black bakelite bangles and red bakelite loop earrings.

There’s a nice story about I got this swimming suit… Back in 1999 my husband spent a few weeks in the west of the US with a friend and went to Las Vegas. In a small antique mall on Charleston,  he saw this swimming suit and he did not buy it!

The guys left Las Vegas and drove in a few days to San Francisco to catch their flight back home. At the airport, my husband finally decided to call the shop where he had seen the swimming suit, asked the owner if she still had it and would send it to Finland and he gave his credit card number… He could not be sure that the swimming suit would ever be mailed to Finland… But we got it after a couple of weeks! I consider this to be my best swimming suit! 

The shoes are from Mamie vintage clothing shop in Paris (Rue de Rochechouart), purchased in the late 90′s. The purse and the red bakelite bangle are from Tamara and Cyril’s vintage stall at a R’n'R weekender in 2011. The black bangles are from somewhere in the US and the earrings from ebay. The Tiki mug is my friends’.

365 Vintage Days

365 vintage days is a bet and a challenge. I am going to try wearing a different outfit every day for 365 days and have you witnessing the challenge. The writer has been buying and wearing 50’s clothing and accessories – most of it casual - for more than twenty years and continues to do so.

I was very happy when I found this  cotton terry cloth beach cover-up last spring. This is the perfect jacket to take with me when going to the beach for a swim, and can be used as a towel also. With its multicolor stripes, it matches many of my swimming suits. For example this navy blue and white one, labelled ” Mayogaine” and made in France. I also have white plastic earrings and charm bracelet, white wicker bag, wedges and blue and gold sun glasses.

The jacket/cover-up is from Boss’s vintage shop in Denver. I do not recall where I bought the swimming suit. The wedges are repros from remix, the wicker bag is from a vintage flea market in Paris a couple of years ago. The charm bracelet is from the US and the earrings probably from Finland. The sun glasses are from Montreal, purchased in the early 2000′s.

365 Vintage Days

365 vintage days is a bet and a challenge. I am going to try wearing a different outfit every day for 365 days and have you witnessing the challenge. The writer has been buying and wearing 50’s clothing and accessories – most of it casual - for more than twenty years and continues to do so.

Tonight I have a red faille suit, early 50′s ,with funny dark brown mink pom poms. I also have copper brown heels and purse; gloves and charm bracelet; mink fur and rhinestone earrings and a really funnyt  dark brown hat, with a pom pom on an “antena”.

I purchased the suit, the heels and the hat from the US last spring, in different places: the suit from a vintage dealer at the Viva Las Vegas R’n'R weekender, the heels from an antique mall in Pasadena, California and the hat from the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall in Denver, Colorado. The gloves are from New York’s brooklyn flea market last October, the purse from a used clothing shop in Philadelphia in Spring 2005. The charm bracelet is from ebay and the earrings are from Toronto or Montreal in the early 2000s.

365 Vintage Days

365 vintage days is a bet and a challenge. I am going to try wearing a different outfit every day for 365 days and have you witnessing the challenge. The writer has been buying and wearing 50’s clothing and accessories – most of it casual - for more than twenty years and continues to do so.

Green, black and red: this is one of my favorite color combination. Today I picked up a circle skirt and bolero set in small black and white gingham, hence looking grey; a red blouse with asymetrical buttoning; a red belt with a metal lock and key detail; red and black heels, purse and umbrella;  red gloves, bakelite bangles and earrings .

The skirt and bolero set, labelled “Margot New York” is a find from the first vintage fair organised in the Finnish eastern province of Savo, in connection with a classic car event last July. It was a nice vintage fair, small but with a very good selection of vintage dealers. Hopefully it will not be the last of its kind in Savo. The  red cotton blouse is an older acquisition, from a vintage shop on Magnolia Avenue in Burbank, California. In addition to the asymetrical buttoning, it has a panel of plissé (which is a nightmare to iron). The purse, heels, belt and umbrella are all from ebay, purchased at different dates. The umbrella is actually red inside, black outside. The red bakelite bangles are from the brooklyn flea market and from Tamara and Cyril’s vintage stall at the Rockabilly Rave weekender last June. The earrings  and the gloves are from the US.

365 Vintage Days

365 vintage days is a bet and a challenge. I am going to try wearing a different outfit every day for 365 days and have you witnessing the challenge. The writer has been buying and wearing 50’s clothing and accessories – most of it casual - for more than twenty years and continues to do so.