Abigail at Gray Day Studio on Etsy was gifted this shirt from my shop by a friend- it's so cute on her!
Abigail's shop launched two months ago, and she has such a neat selection of photography and handmade items. Here are some of my favorites:
You can visit Gray Day Studio here. (-:
My friend Temple recently purchased this black velvet dress from my shop, and this song-poem accompanied her order (sung to the tune of "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Gurfunkel):
hello darkness my old friend, i've come to shop for you again...with a velvet softly feeling and a dress that is a-peeling.... and the orange garments, that i did not pick over you, they sing boohoo, and you'll live in my closet! with garments deathrock in the back, they hang silent on the rack. i love them with their goth mystery from a time from my own history when a club was the only life i knew, and i was blue- but we can visit then, now, because of you.
(Temple, you are a poet, hope you know it!)
I'd like to do a little visual accompaniment to the goth riff here, with some of my favorite "dark" photos that I have found lately:
Fern Andra
Erte
Serge Lutens, Despointes (Unknown Lady in a Hat), 1972.
Theda Bara, actress, considered by some to be the prototype of the "goth" look
Alexander McQueen
Sarah Moon
...and of course we need some music. First, that Simon and Gurfunkel tune:
...and this fabulous PJ Harvey song, "Dear Darkness", from her very gothic album White Chalk (remember, sometimes all white can be as goth as all black!):
Oh my goth.
My dear friend Tammy just purchased this collection of ties from Astral Boutique- here she is in one of her new ties, looking extremely dapper, dashing, and dandy:
Yes, that is a wind-up ladybug.
Some of you might remember Tammy as the creator/writer/producer/director/star of the Astral Boutique "commercial".
Tammy is also one of my favorite musicians in the known universe- her band Excuses For Skipping is playing some big shows in San Francisco this Spring, so catch them if you are in town. This music video was made by Tammy and even features a little bit of yours truly, rolling up a flight of stairs and hiding behind trees:
I love you, Tammy!!!!
Some of you might remember my French customer Clémence, and her cutie-pie brother Lucien-- well, guess what? now Cleménce's mom Christine is in on the vintage action! I just got these photos, and how adorable (and how effortlessly stylish) are mother and daughter???
*Merci beaucoup á Clémence and Christine for these adorable photos!*
Thanks to my amazingly beautiful and sweet customer, Lindsey, for sending me these photos of herself in this dress:
This was a personal favorite in the shop, and I'm so glad it went to Lindsey- she wears these super colorful and artful vintage 1960s dresses so well. I think Lindsey could have a serious calling as a model if she was not so busy studying Music Production at college! The world better watch out for this talented lady... (-:
This photo is just in from my beautiful customer Lynda, who bought this dress and made it utterly her own!
Love the accessories... and love that rose floor.
Thanks so much for the photo, Lynda!
*If you like seeing my customers in their Astral Boutique finery, you can look under the category "I Heart My Customers" in my blog Archives to see all of my previous posts! And if you have a photo of yourself in something you bought from me, please send it in- I'd love to see it.*
I love when an Etsian that I admire buys something from me! Enter the gorgeous and talented Renae, proprietress of Mademoiselle Mermaid, who bought this red dress and is rocking it beautifully here:
Renae crafts up a cornucopia of colorful wearables in her shop, like these cuties:
And my personal most coveted item:
Yes that is a GOLD TURBAN. (who wants to buy me a present?)
You can peek Renae's shop here!
One of my sweet customers from France gifted this jacket to her brother for Christmas:
Il est si mignon, non?
*Merci beaucoup to Clemence for this adorable photo!*
Lovely Silvia in Lisbon, Portugal, can't quite close the front of the leather jacket which she bought from my shop.... yet!
Silvia runs her own beautiful online shop, Loja de Estar, and writes a cool blog. (Most of it is in Portuguese, obviously, but it is still pretty to look at even if you don't speak the language.) I have always dreamed of traveling to Portugal (I was romanced by the Wim Wenders film Lisbon Story), and it feels neat to be able to send a coat to this land which I have only fantasized about. I guess it is real, and it seems to be full of vintage lovers! Who knew?
Thanks so much to Silvia for these beautiful, fun photos.
It is such a great feeling when I know that a dress from my store has reached the right person. I know how hard it is to find that piece that works in color, fit, style, and has that certain "je ne sais quoi" of being just... right. I can't tell you how often I have marveled at how few "perfect" dresses I have in my own closet, even though I shop for a living! I realized that this is the reason women do keep shopping... because the pleasure from that rare "ideal dress" is so darn great.
So, patting myself on the back here, I think that I have managed to bring Sandra from The Witchery Vintage a Perfect Dress. It is so flattering to sell to another vintage seller (though most of us do shop online, we are by nature of our profession much pickier), and it's especially nice to sell to an Etsy friend. Sandra is on my Etsy Team, and we have been chatting since she first launched her shop. We bond over our Pagan leanings, and our mutual love of vintage fun and finery. It helps that she is the friendliest gal in the Etsy universe- man do I love the bubbly, effusive, positive Sandras of the world. Now they are a rare breed.
Sandra lives in Simcoe, Ontario (that's in Canada, ya'll!), where in addition to selling vintage and teaching school, she is the proud mother of two gorgeous, talented, whip-smart teenage girls (who you can see modeling in the shop- The Witchery is a family affair). She recently got this incredible Louise Brooks-style bob, which she blogged about here- I think her face was made for this look. Lucky lady! Here she is in the dress, with Louise:
Sandra is doing 1920s Nautical right. I am so glad that I could help!
