Halloween - Before the madness...

 The annual Halloween party given by my family in California kicks off at 8:30 this evening so everyone is puttering about the house cleaning, assembling, visiting and watching really bad horror movies.  I have busted out my camera and taken some preliminary shots of the festivities.  I can't wait for tonight; my costume is retro-rific!

The Halloween Cake, during the final stages of assembly

Detail of the cake.

Detail of the cake.

Terry, proud creator!

The cake is awesome!  Terry always does an incredible job creating a new Halloween-themed cake every year and this one is so detailed.  I had to share some shots of her mad creativity!

In the retro vein, I had to take a couple shots of my friend Richard's incredible Art Deco era bar!  I just about fell over in envy when I saw it.

Shot of the entire bar. The side wings and table top swing out all at once.

A portable bar on the top along with other antique and Halloween goodies.

Closeup of the swing out wings and table.

Stay posted for more incredible pics!

Fashion Quest: the Perfect Plaid Skirt

I am on a quest for a plaid skirt.  Not the skanky, adult-fantasy-catholic-schoolgirl look.  For one thing my thighs do not take too kindly to exposure and for another you need the physique of a string bean with the silly desire to be reduced to a breathing blow up doll to pull that one off.  Nope, I want a full on retro plaid circle skirt that illustrates my retro aesthetic.  Something like this:

Created by Frigid Couture

Or this!

Created by Bristolin Bloom

I particularly like the cowboy boots with this one!  My biggest hurtle to overcome in my Quest is the strange, perverted, stubborn insistence I have that I will somehow manage to stumble across my perfect tartan skirt in a thrift store.  For cheap at that.  So I've been aimlessly wandering through some of my favorite thrift stores in the last few weeks hoping beyond hope that I will find "the one".  In the meantime I have picked up some pretty glassware and a bunch of Highlander romance novels (yum, yum!) but no skirt.  I came pretty darn close last night with a heavily pleated version in grey, turquoise and royal blue which was unfortunately a good two sizes too small for me.  On second thought it was probably fortunate that it didn't fit me because both the color and cut aren't exactly flattering on me.  *Sigh!*

I could of course shell out fifty or sixty dollars and buy one of the delicious skirts I've found online.  Or this beautiful plaid dress I can't stop staring at:

Created byJoJos Retro and Vintage

If I hadn't recently decided to cut back on the spending I would be buying this beautiful dress instead of blogging about it.

*Sigh*

But I have hope.  Push comes to shove I will just have to keep my fingers crossed and keep scouring the thrift stores, which is a reward unto itself come to think of it.

Retro earrings - root beer cabochon clip on earrings

I was just posting this pair to my store on etsy (TrojanArte if anyone is interested!) and it occurred to me that they have a couple distinctly retro features that would benefit from being pointed out.  The obviously retro feature are the clip on backings.  Women until the 1960s typically didn't pierce their ears since it was looked down upon socially, much like the stigma that lingers around women with tattoos and piercings.  As a consequence, "good girls" who were raised before that time chose earrings that stayed on due to clasps or screw backs.

Less obvious is the root beer colored cabochon (the half dome crystal in the center) that is the central feature of the earrings.  Browns, ambers, creams and the like were a very popular color during the 1940s.  This type of root beer color dates the earrings from the 1940s to the early 50s and is very collectible.  I once met a woman with an entire necklace made of large, carved, root beer colored beads; absolutely stunning!  After the end of WWII tastes changed and colors became brighter, more candy colored and people began to customize the colors of their cars, kitchen appliances and more.

The two crystals flanking it are also significant.  They have a finish known as aurora borealis, a special type of rhinestone finish that was first created in the 1950s.  Their presence on the earrings pin points the earrings to the early 50s.  I personally am a sucker for aurora borealis rhinestones and own several pieces featuring these crystals.