Amazing Costuming and Needlework!

I just discovered the Hermitage's online catalog, which is amazing and filled with inspiring costuming... 

I've been emailing my mom, who is a textile artist, images all afternoon. 

The embroidery on these dresses is amazing! Click on the images to open them up larger in another window. They're all so detailed you almost have to look at them larger! 

 Ceremonial Court Dress of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, 1850's

Ceremonial Court Dress (according to legend, belong to Empress Maria Fydorovna, 1820's

Chamberlain's Ceremonial Uniform and Key, late 19th - early 20th century

Empress Alexandra Fydorovna's Masquerade Dress (17th century Ceremonial Dress of a Russian Tzarina) 1903

Evening Dress of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, Early 20th century

Priest's Vestments: Stole and Chasuble, First half of the 19th century

Shawl, second half of the 19th century

All images from the Hermitage Museum

estate sale decor

I recently just pulled a bunch of photos off my phone's camera, and thought I would share with you. 

I attend a lot of estate sales. A LOT. 

My dad is retired and works from home, and really enjoys looking at houses, so he likes to go to estate sales and poke around and sometimes buy some old tools. He's my built in estate sale buddy when I'm in KC.

I typically buy vintage home wares for my etsy (shop update soon, I promise!) or accessories for myself.

Bue sometimes I find absolutely weird/amazing decor. Here are just a few snaps of some things that people actually lived with, in their homes, and had no idea I was snooping during their estate sales.

Super 70's wallpaper. I should take more photos of this. Practically every house around here has some thing super vintage and borderline tacky papering their walls. This one was of note because A) I sort of liked the crazy moire pattern and stripes and B) it was iridescent! It shimmered!

 At another sale. I found this cute little built in basement entertaining cabana. They sunk the fridge into the wood paneling! This house even had faux window boxes on the inside in the rest of the basement. I thought the awning was cute, despite the fact that the rest of the basement was unfinished, and was poorly suited to entertaining.

This is from the same sale as the photos below. This dog was about 3 feet tall, incredibly creepy, and was marked for bids starting at $200! Apparently the lady who lived in this house kept it by the fireplace in lieu of real pets in the house...

Last but not least, this enormous mirrored tub Vegas style bath. This is from the same house with the stuffed dog. The tub was entirely Italian marble, the faucet was shaped like a bird and plated in actual gold. Believe me, I asked the people running the sale all about the bathroom after I took these photos. The previous homeowners completed this look with mini statutes of Michelangelo's David and floor to ceiling mirrors. Next to the tub was a bump out with an enclosed shower and a hardwood sauna. Yes, you read that correctly, they also had a sauna built in.

From the second photo, you can see the matching marble vanity. This was totally over the top for a bathroom in my humble opinion, but I guess people want what people want. 

Living in the lap of luxury in Prairie Village, Kansas. I wonder what the realtor would describe this bathroom as?

My chevron dresser is on Design Sponge Today!

I have a furniture Before and After on Design*Sponge today!

I repainted a little side dresser I've had for a few years. It was pretty beat up, and a little water damaged, but nothing a little sanding and some high gloss paint wouldn't fix!

before:

I sanded off the cherry stain on the dresser, base coated everything with plain white Benjamin Moore high gloss exterior paint.

Then I taped out the chevron stripe with plain 2" painters tape. I'm not going to lie, this was tedious, but totally worth it.

in progress:

after:

The minty green is Martha Stewart Living Hi-Gloss in Sea Glass. It's a really pretty blue-y mint, which you can find here. It looks much more green in that image though, that it appears in person. The color is closer to a light Tiffany blue.

Needlepoint, and GO KU!

Admittedly I go to A LOT of estate sales and thrift stores while I am home in Missouri. Hey, nothing beats the vintage here. This weekend I went to a couple with my parents and found a few super cute and kitch needlepoints to turn into super fabulous couch pillows. The ladies who stitched these were very talented and dedicated to finishing something that seems pretty tedious, but ultimately gratifying. 

Here they are, forgive my goofy face...

P.S. 

I'm sure this is not news unless you live in the midwest, but Rock Chalk JayHawk, long live the Big 12! 

The Big 12 conference is threatened with being broken up by schools (cough cough Mizzou) threatening to leave for the Pac 10. This is all over local media here, as it concerns a lot of local colleges possibly not playing each other in normal conference play. For more info, read this KC Star article... drama.

You can do it Big 12 conference! And a hearty GO KU! I love KU because it is a family team, and art school doesn't have things like collegiate sports or mascots to cheer for...

ha. Now I'm sort of considering taking on a KU Jayhawk needlepoint project now...

Updates!

Two big updates:

#1)

I hit the gold mine of estate sales today!

It was in my neighborhood too. Just look at what all I got, and judge for yourself. I think it was pretty darn great.

What I got:

4 tablecloths

1 kitchen feed sack towel

1 vintage pillow case

1 buck deer needlepoint with a mint green background (this is becoming a pillow, be assured.)

3 necklaces, 2 are Coro, the unmarked one is what I'm wearing in the top photo...

2 brooches/pins, one Coro, one Trifari

#2)

I put my vintage etsy up live!

khale vintage, which you can find here, has necklaces, pins and tablecloths from today, but I'll be adding more in a jiff. I have tons of vintage I need to send to other people's homes, so this etsy will be a wonderful outlet.

This is another look at the feed sack towel I got. I LOVE this print!

I've spent the majority of my day on my porch. My dad is not a believer in leaving the AC on when it's not completely necessary to do so. I guess in his stubborn-ness, he's kinda green, but it makes my parent's old arts and crafts house extremely hot during the summer. So, in case you were wondering, thats Why I was taking photobooth pictures on my front porch!

Midwest is best... for vintage!

I went to my favorite antique mall today. It was really exciting, because the last time I was here around Christmastime I didn't find anything! Vintage is so much easier to find here than the east coast. Being back in KC is like a treasure trove of vintage goodies...

Needless to say, today more than made up for my empty handed last visit!

Silk Panama scarf... this thing is HUGE! Like 40 inches square!

Nassau chiffon scarf, the graphics are so wonderful on this one...

Printed Rome scarf, gift for my bestie Morgan, she won't know, because she never reads my blog!

Shield/crests scarf, also silk, also huge...

It's really saturated in color, I really like how nautical it looks...

Navy airplane tie clip for Colin

Daisy sweater clips with pearl centers

Early fifties rayon dress in almost mint condition! It fits like a glove!

Pink and blue lamb planter. This little guy is really adorable, I can't wait to plant something in this!

Peonies!

Peonies are my absolute favorite flower. Late May is always a wonderful in KC, everyone's yards are blooming with huge, tissuey glory.

 My parents have a huge peony bush behind their house, and all the flowers are in full bloom right now. I cut a bunch of these big, pink, fluffy blossoms and put them in a vintage yellow pitcher. The colors are just so pretty! Especially in the late afternoon sun on my parents front porch.

Scottie Dog broach

I got this super cute vintage scottie dog pin at an antique mall in PA, on my way back to school last week. I think it's super cute. Another addition to my awesome statement brooch collection!

The chess piece brooch is from Missouri, from the trip where I also scored a HUGE red, white and blue flower pin.
Rockin the pins while I answer the phones at work.