How to add a little retro to your daily look

• Red lipstick.  This is probably the most effective and easiest way to add some retro glamour to your look.  Red looks good on everyone, but the shade of red you wear does make a difference.  Olive toned skin would look better with a orange-toned red.  Porcelain-skinned beauties usually look better with a blue-ish red.  Some women may look better with a brick red, others with the purest red, think Crayola, they can find.  But strong red lips were the look through the 40s and 50s and a bold lip has been popular for a lot longer (think silent screen vixens).  If you are channeling the earlier Clara Bow-era look, you might want to pair your lipstick with smoky eyes, otherwise keep the eyes simple, a little mascara and brown eyeliner for daytime or some liquid black liner for nighttime and you have instant 40s-50s Hollywood va-va-voom!  I consider myself lucky; after I went redhead I discovered that most red lipsticks look good on me, with the exception of a very blue-ish red, so I actually own several in different shades.  (If the 60s are more your thing, rock the mod look: black lining the eyes, maybe even fake eyelashes, and pale, pale pink lipstick!)

• Vintage jewelry.  This is an element of retro-wear that is close to my heart since I collect vintage all the time.  If you don't have any pieces from relatives (always the coolest source for vintage anything!) hit your local thrift store or antique store and check out the jewelry case.  Pearls never go out of fashion.  You can wear a long strand if you are channeling you inner flapper, a choker if you are feeling a little like Breakfast at Tiffany's, or a shorter strand to showcase your bosom.  Cluster earrings are great for a 1950s look.  Enamel button earrings were popular for a several generations.  Screw back earrings date to the turn of the century to the early 50s so you can easily spot an older piece.

• Polka dots.  This is more specific for the 1940s, but nothing says WWII quite like polka dots.  Or khaki come to think of it!

• Western wear.  The western look was popular from the 1930s-50s so if you have a western button down or some cute western wear, pair it with a pair of capris, jeans or a bell shaped skirt, slap on that red lipstick and voila!  Instant retro!

• Color palette.  1940s: think browns, khakis, greys, tans, black.  1950s: light pink, black, red, gold.  1960s: bright colors, pinks, yellows, oranges, greens, corals, bold blockish colors.

• Silhouette.  The 1920s into the 30s was all about the long, flowing silhouette.  In fact this is coming back into fashion right now.  Think long slip dresses, slender draping fabrics and shapes, the Flappers and Art Deco chic.  The 40s and 50s were all about the hourglass shape.  Think Joan from Mad Men, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield or Sophia Loren.  And if you are blessed with a ballerina figure, why not wear a boat-neck top, tights and flats a la Audrey Hepburn?

Even if you don't go all the way retro every day of the week, even a few of these elements scattered amongst your wardrobe can help you channel your inner bombshell any time!

Friends of the Library Booksale, This Weekend!

I was going to post about this last time I came home with multiple bags crammed full of books for ridiculously cheap and I didn't get around to it.  But it would be a crime to keep this fabulous secret all to myself so I'm letting all of you in the Tucson area know about it!  The Friends of the Library routinely hold book sales at their building at 2230 N. Country Club Rd.  Next one is this weekend September 16-19!  Ridiculously cheap books!  Some are library copies, many are donations, most in good to excellent condition!  Also some cds, books on tape, albums and more!

I bought all this in one trip for less than $30!  Then I went back the next day and crammed another bag full of paperbacks for the $5/bag book sale!!!  (They typically hold those on the final day of the sale.  You can still pick up some great books on the final day but the "choice" selections are usually snapped up by then.)

A few tips if you want to join in the book-feeding frenzy: come early!  I was in line when it opened last time and there were at least thirty other bright people who were doing the same!  These sales get really, really packed with people who don't mind scooching their way in front of you so if you don't like crowded places or suffer from claustrophobia or lack of patience, this may not be your cup of tea.  Bring your own bags because once you start grabbing books, its hard to stop; the bags give you an idea as to how much you want to bring home at once and prevent "bag failure" from those flimsy plastic ones ripping on you halfway through!  The Friends have their reusable bags on sale for a buck and they're totally worth it!  Have a game plan: if you are looking for fiction, romance, history, music, whatever, head there first!  Trust me, you will be glad you did once you see the flood of shoppers competing for the same books.  Remember, all's fair in love and literature!  Plan on going multiple days, the first if you can swing it (they have members only days that are sweet if you spring for a membership) so you can scope the best books, and be sure to come back for the $5/bag days.

Here's the link to the Pima County Public Library and information as to the sale.  Remember, proceeds go to benefit your public library so get out there, grab some books and show your support!  (Just remember it's nothing personal if I "scooch" into you at the sale!  All's fair...)

Knitting is a dangerous hobby

Honestly I think knitting is the primary reason why I haven't been blogging as much as I did when I first started.  Well, that and the fact that I don't have internet access at my apartment and have to lug my (admittedly small and very light) netbook with me into work and use the library's wifi.  I'm a lazy slob, I'll admit it.  But the knitting is to blame too.  I've been knitting on the bus to work, at home, while waiting for a ball game to start.  It's getting bad.  I actually have to negotiate when I will put my knitting down and do something important, like jump in the shower and wash my hair so I don't look like one of Downtown's resident homeless when I go to work the next day.

*sigh*

 It probably doesn't help that I've given myself the task of knitting gifts for everyone on my Christmas list this year.  I believe in homemade gifts above all others.  When I was growing up, my family was dirt poor.  So much so that my Mom got in the habit of "bracing" us for the potential of not having a Christmas.  Every year.  But somehow she always scraped together enough to buy some yarn and make us all slippers.  Which, since we only had electric space heaters for most of the time I was growing up, went a loooong way to keeping our feet warm through the winter!  They were beautiful, practical, warm and - even better - they were handmade by my partially blind mother with carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and she always would give them to us with this self deprecating statement like "I wish I could have given you guys something better" or "I know its not much but" or something like that.  Many times she will talk about how much she regrets the past, not being able to give my sister and I better things, like she had disappointed us or somehow been a bad parent.

It makes me want to shake her and kiss her at the same time.  My Mother is incredibly talented.  She is a master of crochet and has taught herself to knit.  In fact she was the one who taught me when I went back to Ohio last month to visit with her.  She cooks from scratch, makes the world's best flour tortillas, made my birthday cake every single year and baked sugar cookies and cranberry-apple turnovers for every Christmas morning.  She sewed the dress I wore to homecoming and the one I wore to graduation and the one I wore as Maid of Honor at my best friend's wedding.  She taught me how to cook; how to read a recipe and how to ignore one.  She taught me how to suck it up and carry the heavy loads and do without or to make do with what you have.

She is an incredible woman.

Ok, back to the knitting. :)  So far I've knit a pair of bright orange legwarmers (hurry up and get chilly, weather!  I wanna wear 'em soooo bad!), a shawl and two scarves.  I finished the last one just this morning, promising myself I would wait to start the next one until after I've checked my email and updated my blog.  I have the skein sitting in my huge purse.  It's big enough to hold all my purse things and my knitting at the same time and my mama gave it to me!

crazy life update

Yes, things have been crazy lately.  I'm just grateful all the craziness comes in terms of "lots of stuff that have to be done NOW" as opposed to anything tragic or sad.  Nope.  I moved into a new apartment this weekend.  It was in the same complex but in a quieter section away from the noisy-messy-rude college kids (man, don't get me started!).  Since it was in the same complex, and I lack what could be called traditional furniture, I had the brilliant idea to schlep everything from the one building to the other primarily by myself.  By hand.  Do you know how many books I own??? I have to think I was on something when I came up with this little scheme.

Amazingly enough, though, it worked!  I moved my entire apartment, cleaned up the old one and got my new one into cozy livability in one weekend.  In the meantime I ache in places I didn't know I could and I feel like I hiked up Mt. Wasson, oh, maybe two or three times in one day.  I wish I had kept track of my mileage and how much weight I lugged.  It would have been neat to see how many calories I burned.  Did I mention that I'm upstairs, again, so there were two flights of stairs to traverse on every trip?  Crazy!

Will pitched in on a bunch of the heavier stuff which was desperately appreciated, especially when it came time to move my antique Chinese desk.  It's beautiful, with deep relief carvings on all sides and the back of the matching chair.  It's not particularly heavy once you've got the drawers out, but its awkward and it causes me anxiety to imagine the reliefs getting chipped or damaged in any way.  I will have to post a pic and share its loveliness!  Time to bust out the camera and get my lazy blogging butt back to work!

My Grandmother

I spent a wonderful time in Ohio visiting with my family.  I had to share these pictures of my grandmother which she graciously let me make copies of.  Presenting: Carol Arter.

Carol and Tom Arter, 1951

Tom and Carol Arter, 1951 (?)

Carol Arter, c. 1950

Carol and Tom Arter, on their honeymoon, 1950

My grandmother is gorgeous!  I have many, many more pictures of her, but these are some of my favorites.  I would love to have her sense of poise and polish, not to mention her clothes!  And my grandfather is quite the looker too, no?

In Ohio...

...on vacation, hanging with my family!  So probably no posts for a little while until I get back.

Outfit Snap!

I seriously love my new digital camera!  The pictures I can take are soooo much better than the one on my cell phone which is what most of my images have been taken on!

My shirt is an awesome thrift store find, this time the St. Mary's Auxiliary Thrift Store (St. Mary's and Silverbell).  I usually scour the men's section for small sized western shirts and I snagged this one for $4.  Red is one of my favorite colors and I love the handkerchief print and pearl snaps!  Western shirts were popular from the early 1930s thru to the late 1950s so I have a few in my closet just to get a bit of that pin up feel along with making my inner cowgirl happy!  The red rose in my hair is a barrette of my own creation.  The earrings were found discounted after Halloween at a Walmart years ago and they feel so Southwest, Dia de los Muertos that I bust them out all year 'round.  Makeup: eyebrow pencil is Wet 'n Wild, Mascara is by Rimmel, lipstick is Rimmel "Red Alert".