I have been swamped in vintage clothing! I have been gearing up for the holiday season and actually had to take a week off from job number one to get caught up with Dottie Mae Vintage in time for the holidays. Within the next week an absurd amount of new clothing and accessories will be available for purchase. Stay tuned! In between all of my shopping and service industry work I have been wiggling in time for some play and discovered some new favorites for make up and hair styling, as well as essentials for vintage clothing style. Time to share!

Hair discoveries and must haves

Hot sticks

Remember these from 1989? My mother was a popular hair stylist, make up artist and photographer during the 80's and 90's and these were a go to for her. I remember her making some really really big hair with the assistance of these rubbery sticks. I recently gave them another go around as I heard that they are a good alternative to pin curls, something I hate doing and am even worse at doing. Turns out the advice was spot on. These are a bit difficult to work with your first few times but with practice serve to be far faster and easier than a pin curl set. After releasing your curls simply brush out your curls thoroughly as you would a pin curl set. So far my hot stick sets have lasted up to two days! The only issue is how hard they are to find. You can find them on Ebay and Amazon.

Second but just as important the proper brush for brushing out your pin curls, A Denman brush is going to be your best friend for this type of set.

Now that you have brushed out your very tight hot stick curls you have a wild frizzy afro. How to tame and smooth. Brush, brush, brush your curls repeatedly against your hand with a Denman brush. Some shaping with your fingers is helpful to. Need more direction? Check out Lisa Fremont's you tube tutorial featuring both hot sticks and this brush. She is a bit of a hair genius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvEBGG6Sgvk

Onward to make up! My newest must have cosmetic find is 

ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS
Brow Wiz

This spendy but worth every cent brow liner is the answer to my eyebrow prayers. Why? Well let me give you a with and without pic.

Without, natural brow

With, enhance brow

The change is subtle there for natural looking but as you can see my eyebrows are not naturally arched and with this pencil I can create a natural soft looking arch. 

And lets not forget the fabrics!

Proper Foundation garments are absolutely necessary under certain vintage clothing. Every vintage wearing gal should own a good well made long line bra and either a pair of spanx or a open bottomed or shorts style girdle. Regardless of how slim or voluptuous you are these items are going to give you a vintage shape like none other. A decent unworn or gently worn vintage long long bra may be incredibly difficult to find depending on your size and how much money you can afford to spend. The best vintage and new long line bra in my opinion hands down is Goddess. These bras are heavy duty and will last forever if you take good care of them. It is essentially a strapless or strap bra (if you use the straps) and waist cincher in one. This will either give you an hour glass shape or enhance your already hour glass shape. Most contemporary shape wear has a smoothing effect but does not have any or much effect on your overall shape. The Goddess long line bra's design is essentially the same as it's debut in the 50's. 

In addition, the cups have a classic shape and will fill out the more pointed bust of your vintage frocks. I have a few of these in different band sizes depending on how much I want to cinch my waist. Just keep in mind that you do not want to go down more than one band size of your rib cage measurement and if you do you will need to go up one whole cup size.

It is somewhat noticeable in the pic how this may create a bit more extreme of a hip curve than you may want. This is where your girdle or spanx come in to play. I prefer spanx as vintage girdles tend to make my bum look even more like a pancake than it already is. My favorite is Spanx higher power

You can purchase these from Nordstrom or a variety of online businesses. I wear these in a specific order in order to achieve the smoothest look. I first put on the long line bra and then the spanx and pull them up over the long line bra up to my bra band.

Without long line bra and Spanx

Not bad but 

This is a cropped close up of just the areas of my body that are in the garments. I actually am 8 lbs heavier in this photo yet look slimmer and more hour glass shaped. 

These garments are a three out of five on a scale of comfort and the best I have yet to find without resorting to a corset.

That's my rant!

Product Review of Nicole Katherine Big Sky Blues Dungarees 1950s western jeans

I am always on the look out for good vintage reproduction denim because lets face it. Even if you could cough up enough money for an actual pair of vintage dungarees you would be to terrified to wear them in fear of damaging them. Fortunately for the current surge in popularity of vintage style we have amazing brands like Freddie's of Pinewood and Nicole Katherine. I stumbled upon these amazing pants in one of my ebay hunts. I had never heard of the brand but the jeans in the photo looked amazing. They were being sold on ebay by Nicole Katherine because they were irregular and could not be sold as is. I pounced on the opportunity to get another pair of reproduction dungarees at half the price. Nicole Katherine was really pleasant to deal with and I was able to get the jeans in about a week. I got them in a size large and they fit fantastic. I had to shorten the legs quite a bit but it was an easy fix on my sewing machine. If your a short gal like me, under 5'4" and you are considering purchasing a pair keep in mind they will need altering unless you want to roll your cuffs 4 times. They have a very long waist. Very similar to Freddies of Pinewood as they come up just a bit over my natural waist. Remember though, I am short 5"2"
The red stitching is super cute and the front pockets have snaps. The back pockets are super cute and really big and also feature lots or red stitching. These jeans zip up the side and do not have a snap or button closure. The zipper stayed up all day and the denim gave way to a little stretch over the course of the day but did not loosen up more than a half inch. The denim is super thick and stiff with the nicest color. I really love these jeans and will definitely purchase another style from her in the future. I could not find what was irregular about the jeans at all. If I had purchased them from her etsy store as is I never would have known. That leads me to believe that she consistently puts out a really well made product and takes pride in her work.

This is her website www.etsy.com/shop/NicoleKatherine?ref=seller_info I can't recommend these enough!

The next pair that I want to try are these

They are an idigo stretch denim and more 50's style.

How to get symmetrical winged eyeliner on both eyes.

 

I imagine this is a trick that has been around a while. I just learned about it however and love it! I don't know how many times I have had to redo my eyes due to uneven winged eyeliner. The trick is simple. Take a piece of  scotch tape press it on the top of your hand once to remove some of the adhesive. Then place it on the outer part of you eye from the bottom tip of your eyelid and angle up to the end tip of your eyebrow. Shadow and line your eyes then remove. Repeat other side and your eyes will be far more symmetrical. 

Freddies of Pinewood review

Recently I purchased two pairs of the New Jeanies from UK based Freddies of Pinewood. I purchased one size in a 30 and a size in a 32. The reason for this was I intended one pair to be for work, the bigger looser more comfy pair since I work on my feet all day and do a lot of bending and stooping. The smaller pair, the 30's were for more fun activities where I want to dress casual but still look super cute.

So I should mention that I have purchased high waisted jeans from Bernie Dexter and Pin Up Girl Clothing and the quality of the two former brands does not even come close to the exceptional materials used and quality of craftsmanship that Freddie's puts into their denim. The denim of my new Jeanies is thin but incredibly strong and durable. The denim is incredibly resilient and the dark indigo blue did not rub off on my skin or light colored clothing. My Deadly Dames high waisted denim pants still turn me blue after numerous washing's and wearing them with any light colored clothing is out of the question as it will stain it. Freddies are great as well if you have a large waist to hip ratio. My waist is 11" smaller than my hips and Freddies makes numerous different styles that will accommodate a variety of body types. I will confess that my size 30 Freddies were a little snug in the hips but after wearing them for a couple of full days they stretched just enough to make sitting a bit more comfortable. The pockets are huge as well which I love since I can actually put my whole hand in my pocket. The only real complaint I have with these jeans is the snap. It often comes undone at the side when I bend over, I feel that a button would be a far better choice. If you are short like I am you may also want to carefully check your measurements before ordering as these jeans are much more high waisted than any of my other high waisted pants. They actually hit me about two inches below my bra. That's pretty high. This however does not bother me as I often wear long line bras and I like that the pants overlap the bra creating a smoother line. 

I actually just bought another pair of Freddie's today. The 1950's indigo button jeans. That brings me to three pairs of Freddie's in a month. I am to put it simply so impressed with the quality of these pants and I highly recommend them. Yes, they are expensive but they are only a little bit more expensive than other reproduction brands and the quality and fit is hands down superior.

Check them out at

http://www.freddiesofpinewood.co.uk/

Remember that 1940's suit skirt set I mentioned in my last post. Well I got to wear it out tonight. Erik and I made yesterday into a day date since he goes into the recording studio tomorrow and will not be around much until they get the album recorded. We had a few vespers and a few shots of bourbon. We rode the Ferris wheel and had some more bourbon and then went antiquing. We bought a vintage Playboy from the 60's and a box of Kleenex from the 50's You want to know why on earth I need I box of vintage Kleenex? Because only the vintage boxes fit in my super fabulous metallic gold Kleenex cover.

Anyways, it's Tuesday night and I have had a bit to drink. It was my bestie Glynis's birthday and I am a wee bit tired and typsy. Here are a few photos of our evening and my new dress. I threw in a few from yesterday too with my husband and I on the Ferris wheel. Please forgive my hair. I just got off work and don't typically style or dress up for work.

This is my bestie Glynis, We celebrated her birthday tonight she is a very talented writer director and producer. Her current project is Causality, a web series that involves time travel.

My husband talked me into these shoes. I typically wear a lower more classic heel but lately I am trying to incorporate more contemporary pieces into my wardrobe. I think that being an absolute vintage purist is too limiting to all of the wonderful things that all fashion has to offer.

Day date with my sweetie. I tried out some dry shampoo this day. Let's just say that I am underwhelmed.

I love living in the Pacific Northwest. It may rain a lot but it is so lush, green and beautiful even in the city. This is the view from the Ferris wheel looking out towards west Seattle and the outer islands. This is also home to some of the biggest squid in the world. 

And on the other side is downtown Seattle

View from on top

Breaking up with my favorite vintage reproduction line.

I don't usually verbalize things like this or make them public but I feel like everyday through either twitter or facebook I am made aware of how someone is being a bitch or even worse a c-word to either person A or person B of a rather large vintage reproduction line here in the United States. Granted I don't have to follow them on twitter or face book. And as of recently I have stopped following them on social media sites that I use frequently. They do however employ some of my favorite models whom I adore and also follow on numerous social media sites. Half the time this complaining of so and so anonymous person being scandalous is through posts or comments on posts of one of the models or employees facebook page or twitter. I will not name names but if you follow any of the people in this company you are probably well aware of the non stop drama and finger pointing that they like to refer to as calling people out on bad behavior. Ok, that's great, bad behavior should be called out. I completely agree with that but it's happening on a very public platform and the thousands and that is literaly thousands of fans of these so called role models are then ganging up on people that they do not even know in the defense of people that they do not know.

 Liking someones fan page on facebook or following them on any other social media site does not mean they are your friends or that you know the first thing about them. You know what they want you to know. I find it unattractive that the owner and production manager/model (I think that is their title) of this company deem it necessary to constantly publicly vent about her negative interactions with business partners, models, customers and employees. It is just so incredibly unprofessional. It makes me cringe every time I see a new thread or comment. This has been my favorite reproduction line for the last six years. My closet is full of this line. It seems that this public very outspoken-es regarding the owner's personal opinions is steadily increasing. I have seen posts and responses to fans of the line that are incredibly insensitive weather it be intentional or not. For instance, they receive many requests regarding modeling. Of course only a handful get that opportunity but to publicly post how annoying it can be to receive those requests is insensitive. It's the equivalent of a fan gushing over a celebrity they praised online via twitter or facebook to be met by the celebrity telling them that they are ridiculous and telling them to back off. I believe that with wide spread recognition a good deal of responsibility comes as well. Your image is EVERYTHING. I do not shop businesses that perpetuate drama or bad behavior. On the surface this company has a great image, just don't scratch the surface unless you also thrive on drama and desire to live through all of their drama vicariously. All that being said, I am breaking up with this company. I have never had any personal interaction with the owner weather that be positive or negative. I do still follow some of their models. I would rather support other like companies that exhibit a professional image and don't make me cringe every time they show up in my facebook feed. I much prefer to feeds that pertain to new lines of clothing or photos of fans enjoying their purchases.  I get mad at people too. Not every business interaction I have is a good one. But I do everything in my power to work it out and don't talk about it on my public social media profiles. That is precisely why a private profile is a thing of necessity. Sometimes dealing with customers and business partners can be really trying but I would never publicly vent about those things. That is what my husband and friends are for. I know this is quite the rant and quite off the trail of things I typically post about, I promise to return to pretty fun things now. <3

I spend countless hours every week looking for new finds for the shop but this week I decided to spend a little time looking for new finds for my own closet. I found some really amazing things and fell in love with two new vintage stores here in Seattle in the heart of Ballard a northern Seattle neighborhood.

I found the cutest 1940's jacket and suit here at Trove. I have yet to get a picture of me in it yet. Isn't this the cutest shop. The owner is a sweet heart as well

http://trovevintageboutique.tumblr.com/

I also ventured into Lucky Vintage today which is just around the corner from Trove. Lucky vintage has a large selection of men's wear as well whereas Trove is more focused on Women's wear. I found so many lovely things here today as well but sadly nothing in my size.

To be honest most of my personal vintage items are from Ebay. I love winning! I get a fair amount from fellow Etsy shops as well. I can typically find more things in my vintage size 16-18 online but was reminded today of how awesome it is to try things on and fall in love in a dressing room. 

Here are a few of my new online dress finds. I outta stop buying myself clothes, I don't have enough occasions to wear everything and when I do go out I tend to grab my same rotating favorites again and again. 

This wool and rabbit collared suit is in mint condition. It is so gorgeous, I need to make an effort to wear it soon before spring officially arrives.

This dress is lovely as well. It fits me like a glove and is made of the prettiest rayon chiffon. I love Chiffon, I just can't get enough of it. I can't stand the nylon stuff though. It never hangs right and feels so slippery.

After a long day of vintage shopping with my husband we decided that it was time for a treat. We needed a drink too. What to do? Go to Hot Cakes in Ballard for boozey shakes and hot molten chocolate cake. These shakes were so freakin good. Bulleit bourbon, salted caramel, homemade whip cream and a slight sprinkling of sea salt. Heaven.

It's been a while since my last post. I have been a busy bee but my husband and I finally got some time to go out on the town with two of my favorite family members, my mum and brother. I took them to The Pink door in Pike Place Market's Post Alley. It is an Italian restaurant that includes trapeze and cabaret. I love the soft warm lighting.  Here are a few photos from our evening.

                                                                 
                                                                 During dinner

This is my little brother, he lives in Santa Cruz so we don't get to see each other as much as we would like. This is after dinner and few Vespers.

This is my wacky mother. She lives in Ecuador so to get my mom and brother in town at the same time is rather rare. After dinner we ventured down to the Dillar room which is a few blocks south.  I would love to do a photo shoot here some day.

By this time we were all starting to feel the warmth of the libations hence my brother wearing my fur ear muffs.

My husband giving me a smooch for the camera

In the rest of my spare time I have actually been working on job number two, DottieMaeVintage. I have this crazy goal to make the etsy shop my one and only job in a year. Every penny I make goes right back into the shop to build inventory and drive more traffic. It has been a lot more work than I ever imagined but I like it so much and really hope that I can ultimately achieve my goal.

These are some recent finds and new additions to the shop

I am seriously considering an even stronger emphasis on vintage lingerie especially bras. I always new how much I loved vintage lingerie but am completely blown away at the demand for essentially used underwear.

That all for now, Ciao!

So many lovely layers of Tulle! It's a good thing most of my store is not in my size, I wouldn't have a store!

Anyways, this arrived a few days ago and I just got it listed and up in the shop. There are seven layers! Seven! Droooooool. I wish the pictures did it more justice. One of these days I outta get a nicer camera.

Lingerie Porn

Lately I have been drooling over vintage lingerie and therefor purchasing a lot of vintage lingerie for the shop. I may not be able to wear much of what has survived the 50's and 60's but that does not make it any less fun for me to collect. I have been contemplating designing my own circle stitch bullet bra, I wonder if there is a pattern for something like that floating out in the universe somewhere waiting for me to find it and then waiting  again for me to learn how to sew a bit better. How hard could it be? Teh, probably pretty hard. If only I did not need to sleep, I would get so much done and be able to devout so much more time to my aspirations and hobbies.

So, so, so incredibly gorgeous

I love the 60's

I love not only their lingerie but also their hair!

What's your bra size?

A good outfit starts with a good foundation. I have more bras than I can ever wear and not far behind in the shaper and girdle department. I am also very into proper fit and I feel that most ladies are wearing the wrong bra size. Bra sizing has stayed pretty much the same since the 1950's. Women continue to listen to the rubbish that Victoria's secret and other such companies dish out to them. Being such a bra fanatic be it vintage or contemporary brassieres I am always on the hunt for a better fitting bra. Being busty has it's pro's and con's and one of the downfalls is finding pretty things in your size. The biggest downfall is finding vintage bra's in that department you will have to adhere to traditional bra sizing unfortunately unless you are looking into getting yourself a vintage Pennyrich.

Now, let's talk a bit about sizing. Most American bra manufacturers tell you to add 4 inches to your band size right. Take a moment and stop and think about that for a minute. Your band is supposed to support 80% of your bust with the straps doing the other 20% of the work.  How well do you think a band 4 inches bigger than your rib cage is going to support? Not very well. How do you get a bra that offers good support? Well you should start with the right band size. If your rib cage is 32-33 inches around than you should be wearing a 32 inch band, perhaps even a size smaller depending on your preference in fit. You should always start on the last hook and work your way in to the smallest hook as your bra stretches out. O.k. so you know what band size you should be wearing now what cup size should you be wearing. Roughly every inch should equal a cup size, roughly. I have a 33" rib cage and the measurement around the fullest part of my bust is 40-41 inches. It fluctuates throughout the month surprise surprise. This is a 7 inch difference. I typically wear a 32 FF to a 32G. Much of that depends on the bra manufacturer or to be blunt my cycle.  Now before you go thinking that those sizes are freaking enormous just consider the math. If I went into Victoria's secret they would put me in a 36DD. A 36DD is roughly the same cup volume as a 32-FF/ 32G. The cups will fit my breasts but my band will be riding up my back and not properly supporting my breasts. When you are wearing bras like this you will find that you are constantly tightening your straps. You can't go by measurements alone however. There are a lot of variables to consider and breast shape can play a part too. If you are in the U.S. Nordstrom is a great place to go get fitted and they carry fantastic bras mainly from the U.K. where ladies are leaps ahead of the world regardomg correct bra fitting. Ask to try on a Freya or Fantasie both brands that are quality that Nordstrom carries. These run about $60.00 U.S. dollars. Befor you gasp listen to my advice. Go get fitted, figure out what size you wear in what brand and then go order through brastop online in their sale department. You will save about 50% This is a good calculator to start with  http://www.butterflycollection.ca/bra-size-calculator/ Trust me, learning my true size changed my life. On occasion I even find vintage bras in my size which always feels a bit like winning the lottery to me.

Another great blog on all things boob related is http://fullerfigurefullerbust.com/ Georgina knows her stuff and offers lots of great information on the subject.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DottieMaeVintage

Just got this lovely girdle in the shop this week! I love it, so wish it fit me!

This one below makes me want to belt out like a Virgin. Oh that Madonna days!

Wow, this red is so vibrant!

I adore circle stitch bras

Deadstock! It doesn't get any better in the vintage world.

One of the most Bettie Page like bras I have yet to come by.

Lots of new bras still to come! Isn't it a shame that it is so hard to find vintage bras in larger sizes? Ah well it gives me something to keep searching for.

Lots of new things in the shop this week! Come take a look at http://www.etsy.com/shop/DottieMaeVintage

I came across all of these beautiful family photos courtesy of my lovely mother. I thought I would share.

This is my great uncle Kenny

This is my Nana Patty

Another of my Nana in a fab coat

My Nana is second in from the right. Not sure who these others are. Oh well!

My Nana in another great outfit.

My Nana holding my aunt Cindy with my mother below making the funny face.

My Nana and mother on the ship that brought them from Liverpool, England to their new home the United States.

Another pretty picture of my Nana.

My Nana age 16

My Nana with my mother Suzanne left, Aunt Janie in lap and Aunt Cindy right.

My Nana and grandfather Fred. She was carrying my mother in this photo.

A handsome military photo of my grandfather

This photo was taken in Australia, My grandfather and a very attractive woman

My grandfather is the one with the high waisted floral trousers!

British cousins

My grandfather

My grandfather on the right

My grandmother and her brother

My great grandparents with my grandfather Fred on top of the car

My grandmother Patricia and her father

My grandfather Fred looking rather stylish