Valentine's Inspiration

I have put together some looks to inspire your Valentine's Day attire.  I was inspired by colors other than the traditional Valentine's Day red and hope you like what I've put together for you.  But, of course, I had to include a red outfit too!

I Believe In Pink 

Je T'aime

Sugar Plum 

Ooh Laa laa 

For the Love of Red 

I hope these help to inspire you!  I had such fun putting them together.  You can find any of these items by clicking on their links and it will take you to my Polyvore page.  And, while you're there, if you haven't done so already, why not follow me.

Jackie Kennedy's Jewelry

Jackie has been both touted and taunted in the media for her excessive clothing and meticulous attention to both jewelry and fashion. She was always, always a trendsetter, from the hats to the hand bags and most importantly the jewelry.

A lot of Jackie’s jewelry pieces were gifts given to her from JFK, Onassis, or gifts of state.  But some of the jewelry Jackie commissioned and designed herself.  She had an amazing style and her jewelry lives on in the replicas created by Camrose and Kross. From watches to rings to bracelets galore!  Their Jacqueline Kennedy Jewelry Collection is exact jewelry in every detail including the weight of the piece - reproduced in faux materials.  Let’s take a look at some of their pieces.

Jacqueline Kennedy had many sets of pearls, but this was the one she wore and enjoyed the most. It is believed that she inherited it from her mother. Jackie was a fan of designer Coco Chanel, who had designed this style of pearls where the three lengths are not uniformly set. The inner string has a larger space than between the two lower strings, so she could pull the lower string up and over the upper string for a more sophisticated look. Chanel also believed the clasp is an integral part of a necklace’s design and should be worn where it could be seen. On this versatile necklace, the three strands will strike off in different turns for a unique look.

A Mother's Day Gift from JFK for the Birth of John F. Kennedy Jr. (November 27, 1960). Along with her Wedding Bracelet, this pin is one of Jackie most prized possessions. The Berry Pin is kept at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, behind bullet-proof glass. Though he was organizing his new Presidential Administration at the time of his son's birth, JFK found the time to go to New York to have this gift made to order for Jackie. The pin was presented to a pleasantly surprised Jackie on January 10, 1961, ten days before he took office. Jackie would sometimes wear the pin, which she now called "My Berry Pin", with the berries up and sometimes with the berries down (as you see above). She was so proud of the pin, and its special charm, that she wore the pin on her first trip abroad as First Lady, to Canada in May 1961. This pin, though on permanent exhibition at the JFK Library, is still owned by Caroline.

This ring was a stunning gift from JFK to Jackie to commemorate their 10th wedding anniversary in 1963.  John had the ring made to order by Van Cleef and Arpels in NYC. It has ten stones, one for each year of marriage, and emerald for the Emerald Isle, Ireland. The stones were set in a continuous circle as an "eternity ring". Jackie wore it next to her wedding band. The original ring was modified in 1972-73 when Jackie had two stones removed and made into two solitaire rings for Caroline and John Jr. John Jr. gave his ring to Carolyn Bessette on the night of his wedding. Caroline now owns all three rings.

In August of 1963, Jack and Jackie lost their child Patrick. By all accounts, the experience drew the couple much closer, spending much more private time with each other and with their children. As they healed from this great loss, John became optimistic about the future, particularly about his life spent with Jacqueline.  In October, John decided to order an extra special gift for Jackie for the upcoming Christmas holidays. He visited Van Cleef and Arpels in New York and had them make a large kunzite ring with twenty diamonds. He knew Jackie loved pink, and he felt that the stone's dynamic color captured his new optimistic spirit. The twenty diamonds symbolized the first ten Christmases they had celebrated together, and the next ten he was looking forward to sharing with her.  The ring was delivered to the White House in early November. John wrote Jackie a letter and gave it and the ring to his secretary for safe keeping. He would never get the chance to deliver it, as he was assassinated in Dallas only weeks later. After his death, Mrs. Lincoln delivered what Jackie knew would be the last gift from her beloved husband. Although Jackie was in mourning for a year and wore almost no jewelry, she kept this ring with her at all times.

This is just a very small sampling of the Jacqueline Kennedy Jewelry Collection by Camrose and Kross.  They have earrings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches, watches, handbags and scarves and even Jackie's iconic sunglasses.  You can purchase these pieces, which come with a certificate of authenticity, through their website or you can find them at such places as QVC or The Kennedy Center.  I, personally, do not own any of the collection but do have many pieces on my wish list.  It's all just so beautiful, it's hard to choose just one!

If you've missed any of my posts in the Jackie Kennedy series, click on the button in the side bar to catch up.

Antique Store Finds

On a recent short getaway with the Mister we had the opportunity to do a little antique shopping and I found a couple little goodies that I wanted to share with you.

I've been wanting a head vase for some time now, but just never found the right one for my budget.  Well I found a whole plethora of these beauties at one shop very reasonably priced, I'm talking like $15.  Even though I wanted to scoop them all up, I chose two of my favorites.  They have no markings on them except for a "Hand Wash Only" stamped on the bottom so I'm not positive that they are true vintage, but I don't care, I love them anyway.

I didn't notice that she was missing an eyebrow until I got her home and unwrapped her to show my daughter-in-law and she asked where her eyebrow was.  Oh well, maybe she had a tweezing mishap.

I have a very small collection of pink depression glass that was my grandmothers and when I ran across these salt and pepper shakers I knew that I wanted to add them to my collection.  In the photos they look almost amber colored but they are pink.

While I was perusing the s/p shakers I ran across these cuties.  I am pretty sure that they are a modern set but who cares!  They are just so cute!  Plus they're magnetic, how fun is that?

Well, those were my recent finds.  What have you found lately? 

My New Hats

I wanted to share my new cloche hats with you that I talked about here.  I've been wanting to find a good winter hat and I thought these two were darling.   What do you think?  I love the feather details on both of them.

I found them at TJ Maxx for about $15 each, which makes them even better since I am trying to ease myself into hat wearing and discover which style works best for my face before I invest in some vintage ones.  Here I am wearing the hats.  What do you think, does this style suit me?

You can't really tell from the photos but the one with the brown feathers has a little turned up side opposite the feathers which makes it sit differently on my head.  The feathered side is lower.  The other hat isn't like that, it is level all the way around.  I can't decide which one I like better.

Good Luck Rain

They say it's good luck to rain on your wedding day.  A few weeks ago my dear friend got married, in an outdoor ceremony, on the coldest, rainy day of this season so far.  When it was time for the ceremony to begin though, the rain had dwindled to a fine misty drizzle.  Everything was beautiful and I wanted to share some of the details with you guys.  Here are a few pictures of the reception area decorations.

I also wanted to share my outfit choice for the day.  If you remember from this post, I had planned on making a dress to wear to the wedding but circumstances prevented that from happening so I had to do a last minute adjustment in plans.  I chose this dress with an asymmetrical waist and hemline cut on a bias with a 1930-40s feel.  

Pay no attention to the fuzzy Christmas socks =)

It was very chilly that day so I added a beaded velvet shawl and opted for minimal accessories with a Fall inspired brooch and a feathered headband.  Oh, did I mention that I participated in the ceremony by reading a poem?

Outfit Details

Dress:  Evan Picone from Goodys

Shoes:  Aerosoles from TJ Maxx

Back Seam Stockings:  Secrets In Lace

Shawl:  I can't remember

Brooch:  Yard Sale

Feather Headband:  Walmart

After the wedding and reception were over we stopped by my daughters house to visit for a few minutes and enjoy a warm cup of coffee.  By the time we left, the rain had completely stopped and on our drive home we were driving into an amazing sunset.  It was a perfect ending to a beautiful day.

The Lady in Red

Yesterday I read this post by Chronically Vintage in which Jessica spoke about being featured on fellow blogger Kathleen Lisson's blog, That's a Pretty Hat.  Both of these lovely ladies regularly wear hats and it made me consider why I do not.  I mean, I like hats and think that ladies look lovely wearing them.  So why then have I not purchased any of my own?  

This last statement is not an entirely true statement because I do, in fact, own a couple hats.  I have a straw wide brimmed sun hat that occasionally I will wear at the beach and I also have a straw cowboy style hat that I occasionally wear to some southern function.

With both of these hats, they are worn on occasions when I would not feel out of place with the general population.  Could I really be that self conscious of wearing something on my head that would make me stand out?  Me?  The "weird" lady (in this small town) who already goes around wearing vintage clothes and styling her hair in decades old styles?

Thinking about this made me remember that I regularly sported a beauty of a red felt hat while in high school.   It had a cute little black feather on the side.  Here are a couple photos of me in said hat from way back in 1978.  (Now, don't be trying to do the math with my age, it takes more fingers and toes than I've got!)

Notice the blue shimmery eye shadow.

Some amazing red lipstick!  Wonder what shade that was!

I liked this hat, and I remember how special I felt while wearing it.  So, I think it is time for me to rectify this hat situation of mine, don't you?  I already wear scarves, flowers and snoods in my hair, so why not a hat?  Why not, indeed!

Online Shopping

For some time now I have been obsessed with all things vintage, but living in a small rural southern town doesn't allow one many options in the way of shopping, antiquing or thrifting.  Thank goodness for Ebay and Etsy!  Because of the limited shopping options in my area, I like to utilize online shopping.  The one complaint I have though is that you don't have the opportunity to touch and feel the item, nor try it on for fit and comfort.  A few times I have purchased an item online and absolutely loved it, until I received it.  Not that the item was misrepresented by the seller, but it just wasn't what I had expected, it didn't fit just right or flatter my figure.  This isn't always the case as I have purchased items online that I love and wear often.  But a lot of time I will see a cute little dress that catches my eye, or the perfect accessory or handbag, and I will hesitate to buy them for fear of being dissatisfied with my purchase.  I'm sure I have missed out on a lot of great things this way.


Here are a few things that I currently have my eye on.  Do you guys have a wish list too?