Vintage Hat Friday! Mad Madam vs. Walkin' On Sunshine vs. A Hat of Dubious Nature!

(The picture to your left represents Me vs. The Cladding Industry...)
Oh yes, it's *that* day again- don't worry, Vintage Hat Friday will soon be winding down. : )
On the house kit front, I owe you a long blog post but the short update is that I will be calling my fantastic contractor to discuss the latest estimates from the cladding company...

More on that later...
Even if we do this, he is saying the rest of the metal wouldn't arrive until NEXT Friday (I distinctly remember telling him to order it) and then those north clerestory flat panels arriving the FOLLOWING Friday. So in the end, the cladding mishaps will have delayed our progress for... a month? Really?

For new followers, the cladding is not part of the house kit (which went up quickly and easily). It was just something extra I was trying to do that you could choose to purchase affordably if you chose to clad your house with the metal look. For more on the cladding saga, see here, here, and here.

Anyhoo, on to Vintage Hat Friday.

Copeland: The Mad Madam!
Ah, another gown purchased already worn years ago and reused for parties often. However the last party took it to another dimension- it was a punk rock Breakfast At Tiffany's party at my friends house that are in a hard core band, GWAR, and everyone cleaned up and looked sparkling suave. I had even taken the extra step to ensure dress code by buying a *bunch* of vintage ties for the guys... and had no need to: those grungy men cleaned up, and stole the show! Sophisticated smoking jackets, sharp suits... wow.

This dress looked quite different by the end of the evening- I had been tasked with passing out a lovely silver tray full of brightly colored JELLO SHOTS... by the end of the evening this white gown had transformed into a tie-die of hues as the jello melted...

This vintage gown is not only encrusted with rhinestones, but it even has *pockets!*

Earrings? My grandmother.
Gloves? I admit it, I was a debu-tramp. They still come in handy...
The Hat? You've seen this before... My 4 year old begged me to wear it today, so there ya go!
And the 1960's bar set? Found for $7 (and I cringed to pay that then) at a fabulous yard sale years ago... SO worth it, such a stylin', suave set!

Happy Friday, Please Vote For Me!

Amy: “Walkin’ on Sunshine”

The short days of winter are slowly getting longer, and soon warm spring air with infiltrate the frigid cold. Gray and sunny, this outfit is all about the unpredictable transition from winter to spring. I’ll admit it, I’m an earth tones kinda gal, but my friend Edith from the Dance Space bought me this lovely citrus number at an auction she attended recently and I knew it had to make an appearance on Vintage Hat Friday! So I grabbed everything even remotely sunny out of my closet and made do. It might not all match, but I like to think it “goes”.

The coat is a vintage London Fog trench, and I bought it at “Nonesuch” a vintage store in the fan that has unfortunately been closed for about a year. The dress (from Diversity Thrift) looks to me like it was from the 60’s or 70’s and has some neat details. The stripe down the center is not sewed on overtop, it’s actually a split in the front of the dress and yolk that reveals the color of the lining underneath. The gray and orange pattern has stumped me for years trying to find shoes to wear with it, so today I gave in and just wore my baddest, brightest, tallest pair of red patent heels from the Salvation Army thrift store.

The gray tights are meant to pull in the gray from the dress pattern. I have to say, that Marimekko behind me might just save me this week, I think the art is what’s actually pulling it all together.

Happy Vintage Hat Friday! Oh, and ignore what Megan said about me threatening bodily harm. She begged to play! *wink*

Copeland's Note:
We have a new contender for Vintage Hat Friday, Miss Megan.
(Enter your own workplace! We'd love to see ya! Vintage Hat Friday ends in February!)

Megan takes Vintage Hat Friday to a whole nuther level. I want her hair. And the boots. And she frickin' made the outfit. Made it. Fine, there's no "Vintage Hat" but we're showcasing reuse,craftiness, and style and the girls wins points for all!

Megan: " I'm pretty sure Amy threatened physical violence if I didn't enter this week. I still don't think It's terribly vintage or hat-ty, but I like living...

The dress is something I made this week out of recovered vintage lace and velvet.
I nearly cried cutting into the lace.

Quite likely either an Ebay acquisition years ago or it was with the lot of dresses I got at an auction of a family friends farm. At least early 60's I think. The velvet was aquired from the Fashion Dept. at VCU, where upon occasion there will be piles of free stuff(ie fabrics and sundry sewing things). I got to class early that day and thusly I got the good pick. There was 6 yards of this fawn colored gold backed velvet, and maybe 3 of a darker brown. Both have just enough sparkle to suggest mid 70's.

Underneath is one of my mother's square dancing petticoats. It's red. Bright red. Fire engine red. Yeah. I'm one of THOSE girls, apparently. You know, who wear scandalous color underthings and the like...

The headband was made of the same materials, thusly matching in a fantastic manner. Also, helps blend into the woods...in a glittery cammo manner. It goes on my head, so I suppose that makes it a hat.

A hat of dubious nature. "