Happy Halloween! Musings on Skull Fashion

Happy Halloween!

It's finally here! My favorite holiday. I'm sure you've already done all your celebrating over the weekend, but here at my office we're having a little Halloween costume contest and munching on candy still. So in the spirit of Halloween I decided to do a little post about one of my favorite Halloween themes and fashion motifs: skulls! Yup, you can be scary and trendy at the same time! Bet you didn't realize that.

Here are some cool fashion pieces I found, mind you, some of them are a few years old, but still fun on a day like today!

I love these shots, so elegant and yet mad scientist at the same time.



via pichaus



via Daily Dose of Lies

 Of course this post would not be complete without these Alexander McQueen clutches, or without Alexander McQueen period, but I've seen about a million DIY's for this clutch so here it is.



via Corridor 40

I love the idea of these more than I love the shoes themselves, but there's gotta be a better version of these out there somewhere. If you find them, tell me. I will most likely own a similar pair before I die.

Now if you don't have a thousand dollars to spend on a clutch. Another great source of some really awesome and original pieces is Etsy! Some of my skull accessories:



via BevaStyles

 

via Winterberry Jewelry


 

via Mood Raven Designs



via MichelleChangJewelry

 







Well, now that I've sufficiently terrified all of you, I can call it a day. Hope you all have a great Halloween and eat enough candy to make your teeth fall out!



White with a Splash of Color

Now that we've finally finished paint every room in our apartment a different color with complimentary trim (and I mean color, not like cream and eggshell), I am obsessed with white rooms with splashes of color. Of course. Don't worry, this is more than normal for me. When we had white walls all I wanted to do was paint them. At least the next apartment we move into will be easy to deocrate, or, well, who knows what I'll want by then. My boyfriend would kill me if he knew that after all that work paint our tiny one bedroom (it took us about a month to finish it all, working on and off) all I want is pure white walls. Good thing he doesn't read this (hi babe!).

In the meantime, I've been oogling my favorite design site for white rooms. In reality, they would probably be too white for me, but I love the look of it.




via Desire to Inspire

  See? This is what I'm talking about. I love the way this looks, keeping everything pure and adding punches of color with interesting wall art and throw pillows, but would I be able to survive with a white couch? No way.

via 1KindDesign



Of course, the more rustic the better. I'm a sucker for old wooden doors. This room would definitely be a getaway.



via micasa

THIS is a dream. The white and gret really tone down a pink that could sometimes be over bearing. Where can I get my hands on this pink rug? And that grey couch? And those pillows? You know, just wrap it up, I'll take it all.



via Donkey and the Carrot



via Country Living



via Desire to Inspire



I absolutely love the design in this bedroom. Why paint your walls when you can just install thick purple carpet? Genius. 

Anyway, that's all for today. What's your opinion of white rooms?

What I Wore Wednesday + Some Fun with Picnik

So now that I've been trying to take more pictures, I've also been trying to have some fun with photo editing. I currently use Picnik, like most Etsy sellers, because it's really easy to use and it's free! Although, the more I work on this the closer I am to upgrading to the paid version, but you can do more than all the basics without it.

Anyway, back to the clothes: Today I did a very 70s dress with some fun tights and these amazing platform loafers. Sorta skipped the hair in this one, oops.

Dress: Local boutique

Shoes: Aldo

Tights: Don't remember (sorry!)

I was messing with color, blur, and vignette in this one and I think I over did it a little on the latter two, but I think it came out kind of fun. 

I'm still deep into the 70s trend and when I saw this dress I knew I had to have it, but one thing I'm completely obsessed with this fall are loafer platforms. These are far higher than anything else I own, but I had to have them anyway and yes, sometimes I trip in them, but it is totally worth it! 

That's all for today folks! Next time will probably have a much more wintery feel. It's starting to get chilly here in Chicago - not looking forward to it. 

So tell me, what's your fall inspiration?

Spook-tacular Halloween Ideas.

Or are they? Probably not, but I think they're funny.

So last night my boyfriend and our best friend spent a good portion of the evening looking up Halloween costume ideas because I snoozed this year and didn't give myself enough time to make the costume that I really wanted (a lion, yes a lion, not a lioness).

Instead of being the lion I wanted to be, I'm sort of forced to repeat a costume from a few years ago and be Dark Phoenix from the X-Men:

I, of course, will not be nearly this ripped, but that's a different story. It's a fun costume and most of the people that I will be celebrating with will have never seen it, but I know it's a repeat and it's bugging me. So I got to brainstorming. My boyfriend told me I should go as Daria, but I'm not a huge fan of the idea and I'd have to find a green jacket last minute. I would love to try and pull off Joan from Madmen, but I don't know if I can handle walking around with two cantaloupes under my dress all night. How would you strap those puppies in anyway? Also, my hair is not quite the right color.

So now, I'm stuck. Should I just repeat the costume? Oh, there's only one picture of it on Facebook too (yes I am that shallow).

I still really wish I had started my lion costume, but I guess there's always next year. And yes, I want a main, so it would probably be similar to this one:



I really don't understand the naughty lion thing.

On a different note, I told my skinny blond friend he should put some gauze on his ear, grow out his beard, put on a blazer and go as Van Gogh. No? I thought it was clever. He says no one would get it, but you would get it right? Right?

Alright, enough of my babble. What are you going to be for Halloween? 


***UPDATE***
I'm going to be a flapper. Yup, totally out of the blue. Pictures to come.



Dreaming of Sunny Saturdays

It's Saturday and it's cold here in Chicago, so I've posted up here in bed and am day dreaming. Not sure I could have come up with a better way to spend a Saturday morning.

As you'll notice, I daydream about interior design. So sue me. This morning I've been revisiting some of my favorite rustic interiors.

Here are glimpses of some of my favorite spaces that I've found on the interwebs (yes, this is a photo post hope you don't mind):



via Desire to Inspire





via Isabel Lopez-Quesada




via cinda b





via Shelterness





It may be a little obvious, but I love rustic French interiors. I literally will swoon (yes, I am that dorky). Yet, at the same time there is something so crisp and clean about modern Swedish design (that also makes me swoon).

Anyway, here's hoping your Saturday morning is just as swoon worthy.

What I Wore Wednesday

So as this was my first "photo shoot", I know it's not that great, but I hope you enjoy the pictures anyway! Remember, I'm no model, but I thought my boyfriend and I got some fun shots out of it. I tried to take advantage of the few last warm days and did it outside. There probably won't be very many more of these, and yes, I am on a roof.

I am currently obsessed with colored denim and these jeans are one of my favorite pairs. They just add that perfect pop of color to help you stand out, because who likes blending in right? Pink jeans may be a little too much for late Fall so I'm going to get them in a few more times and retire them until the Spring.

This is a necklace I made for my birthday last year and I've been wearing it all the time since. It ended up being such a great addition to my collection. Tutorial to come.

Uhhh, yes. These shoes screamed my name when I first saw them. This will not be the last time you see leopard print on this blog. 

Thanks for stopping by! This last one's more for Chicago folks. Yup, that's Andersonville! 

Sweet Vintage Finds

A little background: the reason I decided to start an Etsy store was because I have a little shopping problem. Ok, ok, a big shopping problem, but can you blame me? I am particularly fond of browsing garage sales, thrift stores, and all the amazing vintage shops we have here in Chicago and at some point I stopped saying no to all the things that were too big or too small and started telling myself that I'd find someone who would want them. It's just so hard to pass up an amazing, good quality vintage piece.

Well, that pile started growing and growing and I live in an itty bitty apartment. And viola! Stranger Than Vintage was born.

Now, I love everything I find, which is of course why I buy it, but I thought I'd share some of my favorite pieces today in an effort to push myself to keep up with the store and constantly update my inventory.

This is a dress I actually found about a year ago and I'm kind of surprised it hasn't sold yet. It's a 40s style dress from the 80s and it's a thick soft canvas material that makes it perfect for chilly weather. I thought about keeping it for myself, but it's just the slightest bit too small. Bummer. I know.

Uhh, I own WAAAAAAAY too many bags and have run out of storage room, but I am still considering keeping this one if no one picks it up soon. Too cute! It's in such good quality and has a such a good color, I think it used to be a bowling bag. Plenty of room. 

Um the tag on this skirt literally says West Germany, which I think is super cool. It's an amazing color for fall and the perfect wool for chilly winter nights and it's too SMALL for me! Nooooooo! So I'm offering it up to some very, very, very lucky lady. I can just imagine wearing it with tights and cute little black booties or a pretty sheer blouse. Seriously, if I could only get rid of a rib.

There are more, but I don't want to bore you with all my gushing over MY items. I get to see them all the time. 

What are some favorite things you've found shopping around?

Welcome to Stranger Than Vintage

Welcome to my brand new blog! Since this is my very first post, I thought it would be beneficial for it to be a introduction one, so here goes!

Yes, the inspiration for this blog came from my Esty shop of the same name, but don't worry, I don't intend on the blog being all etsy all the time. I spend to much time on the internet for that. But I do run a vintage Etsy store because I  love everything vintage. When I think of vintage, I think of simpler and happier times. Although, I am well aware this is not necessarily true, it still makes me happy.

Here's a little glimpse into my shop:

         

I live in Chicago and that is where I find most of my merchandise. I'm also pretty awful at keeping the store up to date, so I'm hoping this blog will motivate me. 

My love of all things vintage stems from my love of fashion and interior design. Stay tuned if you love seeing photos of the runway and cool interiors and furniture. Yes, I look at this stuff in my free time. Or well, all the time. It makes me happy and if it makes you happy too then you must be just as big of a daydreamer. I hope to center my blog around all of these things because we all need to take a few minutes a day to smile. Here's a preview:

All things French. Especially southern French. I studied abroad in the south of France and now my life is a series of schemes on getting back there.

Rustic and sunny interiors;

Fashion photography and fun outfit ideas;

And, of course, any fun or interesting DIYs:

Oh, and last but not least, puppies!

Photo: Stephanie Mortellaro

I could do this forever, but I don't want to bore you. Keep me on your reading list to see more! Also, I'm still making my way around blogger, so please excuse any weird formatting for a while. Thanks!

Tell me, what inspires you?