Violet Folklore

Docs Forever

From Sasha at Violet Folklore

God, I just LOVE Doc Marten boots! I was so happy to see them stomp back onto the scene this spring. I was itching to score some for our Etsy, and my dreams came true last week-- I was meeting my multi-talented musical friend Ricky Berger for a morning Rollerskating Adventure in Citrus Heights, and I managed to dash into a massive Salvation Army before our date. There they were, waiting for me in the "Boutique" section! I was more than happy to pay a little extra for these boots, since I know first hand how comfortable they are, and how long they last. I just love the green color, too-- I've been finding so many things in green lately!



Our model Cynthia rocked these Docs with leggings and a babydoll dress on our last photoshoot. I used to swear by the Docs with girly vintage dress look myself, back in The Day. Sure got me a lot of, ahem, suitors.





My first pair of Docs were 14 eyes in black, and I wore those babies for seven years straight. When they were finally beyond repair, I had to let them go, and it was like losing old friends-- after all, those boots had seen all the good, the bad, and the ugly, and they probably knew me better than I knew myself. I had a little ceremony for them, including taking a roll of pictures of me kissing them very reverently, before burying them in my parent's backyard. (I PROMISE to dig up those pics when I go home for Christmas!!!)

Thus the racing heart upon the Return of the Docs. Some people just don't GET them (as Amber has confessed to me-- it's okay, I still love you, sistah), but if you do, you know what I mean. Nothing can replace a good pair of Docs. And if you're a size 7, get on over to our shop right now, cause I made them a crazy low price as my personal sacrifice to the Doc Marten Gods. Boot it UP, ladies!

The Fabulous Cynthia!

From Sasha at Violet Folklore

We are so happy to introduce our newest Violet Folklore model: the lovely Cynthia!



I knew Cynthia would make a fabulous model, because she has an amazing style and an incredibly flexible look. In fact, I am always telling her that she reminds me one of my favorite experimental art photographers, Cindy Sherman, because she has the ability to transform herself so completely with her clothes, hairstyle, and makeup. In fact, I have been in the same room with Cynthia many times and not even recognized her until she came up to me and said hi! (I'm good with faces, so this was pretty shocking to me!) She also loves to dance, so she is naturally at home in her body, which is very important for the sometimes awkward job of being in front of the camera. (You might like to make beautiful faces at yourself in your mirror, but when you can't see what you are doing, it can be surprisingly challenging to strike a great pose!)

Luckily for us, Cynthia has great reserves of patience-- waiting for the camera to recharge (again), keeping the gaggle of toddlers on the "set" (read, playground) entertained and distracted, hanging out for a half hour while I dig out a certain belt from the bottom of a bag, etc. Lastly, like all Violet Folklore models, Cynthia is a player and not a hater, and she was fully into getting together with the girls for a super giggly day of trying on tons of clothes and drinking beer!!!

I just love the way Cynthia is wearing her hair these days, cropped close and bleached white-- I can't help but compare her to supermodel Agyness Deyn. I love how she can wear the 80s vintage with an energetic, physical presence, then transform into a sophisticated, demure Julie Andrews for a 1960s tea dress:




Amazingly, the very first item of clothing that Cynthia gravitated to on the to-be-photographed rack was one of the most flamboyant pieces that we have; an incredible blue teddy from the 80s. With no direction from us, she came up with a totally rocking, stage ready outfit:



Perhaps my personal favorite was this lace baby doll dress from the 80s, which Cynthia rocked with the pair of green Doc Martens I found last week (score!). These pictures seem to capture perfectly the spirit of this cool girl, who is a style chameleon and radiates fun in every picture:



Thank you Cynthia for giving your time and sweet energy to our project! You are a star!

The Vintage Closet: Amber's New Old Dress

I rarely visit vintage shops that aren't online, mostly because there is only one in my town, she keeps random hours (and not too many of them for that matter), and most of my time is spent working on my own vintage shop. But, of course, it is always worthwhile to go see what other bits of vintage gorgeousness exist out in the world, and to do so in person. That way I can feel the textures of the materials I am looking at and even use my nose to try and sniff out a bit of the garment's history.

It took me about one second to fall completely in love with this dress. It is so soft and cozy, and the satin lining feels heavenly when it's coming down over my head and onto my body. The smell offered me no information (which can be a good thing), but oh! the visual glory of the piece more than satisfied my sensual craving for beauty.

The owner of the shop informed me that it was, as it appears, a piece from the 1970s. I have an absolute weakness for 70s clothing that, paired with my devastating adoration of combinations of shades of orange and brown, lead me to declare this my favorite dress in the world. Throw in my love of little jumper dresses, and I'm sure I've found a life long lover in this piece.

Plus, how perfectly fall is it? So. So perfectly fall. Thanks for turning round and round earth, thus affording me the opportunity to rock this adorable autumnal attire:

Oh, you're wondering about the shoes, aren't you? As you should. Amazing black oxfords, made mid-century by designer Ferregamo, who supplied many a Holllywood starlet with her footwear back in the day. Sasha adores these, but they are too small for her. I love them as well, but would basically need to buy a new wardrobe to make more than one or two outfits in my closet go with them, so we will be putting them up on our Etsy store soon.

And the hoodie? Made with oodles of love by my husband for our two year old daughter, but fitting perfectly on my head as well. The long scarf pieces keep my neck warm when I go outside, and I swear I have gotten more comments on this than on anything I've ever worn in my life. In fact, so many people have inquired into this little hoodie, both for themselves and their children, that he will probably be opening up his own Etsy shop soon to make them available to the world! Funny how things work like that.

Here are two more pictures that show a different styling option for the dress, taken from me and Sasha's pathetic attempt to take a cute photo for this here blog site (as you can see...). And bonus! these include another closet favorite, this blue cashmere sweater, found at another vintage shop, the fabulous Moon Zooom in downtown Santa Cruz, CA:

The wee one, of course, always wants to be in the picture too :-)

Cape of Great Love

This week we added the most spectacular, well constructed, breathtakingly gorgeous, and absolutely one-of-a-kind piece to our shop. Behold:

We debated for a while about whether or not one of us should keep it (and if so, which one?) or if we should indeed make it available to the world. As you know, we chose the latter, though there's no saying one of us won't take it down off the site in a fit of passionate jealousy at the thought of its loving embrace coddling another in its draping warmth.

And warm it truly is. Not only because of the exquisite Irish lamb's wool that it's made from, but the vibe of the colors also serve to invigorate a cold body and sluggish state of mind. And of course the pockets are there for added comfort and warmth.

And did I mention that it's all lined in silky satin? Of course it is, a piece like this would be made of nothing less.

The labels on this one tell a fabulous story:

First, a gorgeous label with the cutest cartoon of Boru, High King of Ireland, reading :
"Made in the Republic of Ireland/ Boru/ By Jimmy Hourihan of Dublin".

Next, a label detailing the cape's origins: "Donegal Handwoven Tweed, Made from pure new wool from County Donegal". Donegal Wool is some of the finest in the world. But it doesn't normally come in such unusual colors as this!

A serial code includes the year 1967, which was, on the West Coast of California (and so many other groovy places in the world), The Summer of Love!

So how did this incredible Irish creation find its way to the U.S.?

The last label tells that story: "I. Magnin". This was THE luxury department store in San Francisco, still enjoying a heydey in the late 60s with an extravagent flagship store in Union Square known affectionately as "The White Palace". Some of you West Coasters may share our amazing memories of I. Magnin glamor-- even if your mom and aunties were cash-strapped fashionistas, it was a tradition to go inside just to walk around among all the gorgeous clothes! In 1967, bright hippie colors had influenced high-end retail clothing design, so a cape like this would have been in high demand for the discriminating fashion fan.

I think this history explains a little about the amazing, classic lines of this piece, mixed with "flower children" colors. It walks a perfect line between freewheeling psychedelic reverie and the completely practical craftsmanship of a piece designed for winter warmth, made using the finest materials available.

As we finished up this love poem to the Incredible Cape, it was discovered by Ashley, the Vintage Fashion blogger at About.com, who featured it in a post about "Cape Fever".

If we needed any confirmation, now we have it: there really is some special magic in this cape! We hate to let it go, but we're excited to give it a new home... we wouldn't open a store if we didn't like connecting beautiful pieces with real Vintage lovers! Of course, if it should accidentally get misplaced... ahem.

Our First Customer!

Ashley from Ontario bought this ridiculously amazing 80's Swatch brand Egyptian comic book dress/skirt:







We wrapped it in a sweet thrifted autumn-theme handkerchief and put it in Ziploc for safe travels:





The box, stickers, postcard, and ribbon were also thrifted. LOVE these stickers! And even though I had previously self-identified as someone who HATES wrapping gifts- this was kinda fun!











We don't know if we'll have the time or energy to make every package we send out so fancy schmancy and laden with love- but we'll sure try!

Thanks again Ashley!