Silver Cat Tea Party: August 2014

Monday, August 18, 2014

Outfit Of The Day: Walk Of Wine-O's Crossing!

Once a year, during the summer, Hayward puts on it's Walk of Wine.

It's a fun event that only cost $25 dollars and you get to spend all day walking around downtown Hayward, stopping in at the different shops for different pours of wine, getting sloshed, and walking around drunk in public, wine in hand without worry of the cops busting you!

This year the consulate for Portugal was there followed by an entourage of cops. I couldn't help but get that feeling when I saw the cops to think... "quick, hide the wine!" But then I had to pause and laugh at myself since for this event it's totally okay to have alcohol out in pubic.

In any case Tim and I spend the day out with friends enjoying good company, good wine, and good cheese and crackers.

Out With The Ladies Enjoying Haward's Walk Of Wine

On the way walking over to downtown Hayward, we walked past one of Hayward's numerous murals, this one of a cat... I had to stop and take a picture

Cat Mural In Hayward, CA

Another Cat Mural In Hayward, CA

In Front Of The Cat Mural

I was due for a hair cut, so I made an appointment for that morning, previous to the Walk of Wine, at Vintage Alley, a local store that sells retro reproduction clothing and has a super cute salon in the back. Leliani, my hairstylist, did a great job on my haircut and style! Hello Betties! Hello Victory Rolls! It's so great having this salon and store so close! <3

Hello Betties! Hello Victory Rolls!

At Vintage Alley With Hair Stylist Extraordinaire Leilani!

Thanks Leilani for a great job on my hair! <3

And just for fun here are pictures of me with my best friend, my sweetest girl, Murkurie.

My BFF and I

With My BFF Murkurie

Outfit of the Day:

For this day I had a vintage 1940's dress all picked out to go along with the victory rolls I had done but when I was getting dressed for the day I just wasn't feeling the 40's dress I had picked out so I decided to throw on a Stop Staring Ursula Polka Dot Swing dress instead which Tim bought me a couple years ago from Vintage Alley. I paired this with my black kitty earrings, also from Vintage Alley, and my trusty black flats from the Gap outlet since I knew there was going to be whole lot of walking going on. I also threw on a vintage red 1950's bolero I got from Etsy but ended up not needing it since it was so warm outside. Even though the dress style is not period with the hairstyle it felt really great to get so dolled up!

Stop Staring Ursula Polka Dot Dress- Front View

Stop Staring Ursula Polka Dot Dress- Side View

Stop Staring Ursula Polka Dot Dress with 1950's Bolero- Front View

Stop Staring Ursula Polka Dot Dress with 1950's Bolero- Side View

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Awesome Ebay Finds!

I'm always scouting for a great bargain whether that be through an awesome sale or someone selling an awesome dress on ebay for a great price!

Recently, I got super lucky on ebay and found two great dresses at a great price.

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress:

My first find was a Bernie Dexter Rocketship dress (also sold on Modcloth as the Space Mod-ity dress). I have long admired Bernie Dexter's dresses but had yet to buy any. When I saw this dress on ebay in my size going for only $40 I decided now was the time! Since I've never tried on any of Bernie Dexter's dresses I didn't know how the sizing would work out for me. I'm a pretty solid size large, unless it's a brand that runs small like Steady, so I decided more than likely this dress should fit. But then also, I wasn't sure how the sleeves would be. Usually sleeves on a cotton dress can be a bit of a pain since the cotton has little to no stretch. I was a little apprehensive.

When this dress came in the mail I saw that it was perfect! Perfect in every way! The design on it was so cute, the quality was great, no damages, no spots or stains, and the sizing was perfect! Even the sleeves fit perfect! It turns out Bernie Dexter knows what she's doing with designing dresses! I have to say, I am really impressed with the fit of the sleeves. The sleeves fit with lots of room for movement without looking like there's lots of room! No football player arms here! And no restricted movement/sausage casing arms either! Just perfect comfort and style!

This dress is a light blue fit and flair dress with sleeves and a full flared skirt. There are cute little rockets printed though out the dress: rockets with diagonal dark orange and salmon colored stripes, rockets with light yellow and dark yellow diagonal stripes, rockets with light blue and lighter blue diagonal stripes, turquoise rockets with light blue diamonds/harlequin patterns, and light blue rockets with yellow diamonds/harlequin print. So many rockets! And they are all lined up with each other making a striped pattern of rockets on the dress. The sleeves are cuffed in white with decorative button accents on each sleeve and the neckline has a slightly triangular collar in white which also is accented with a button. The triangular collar gives it a bit of a atomic 1950's sci-fi vibe, especially reverberated against the rockets print of the dress! The buttons on the sleeves and collar are white plastic buttons with a geometric texture though out its body and a hint of sparkle with a rhinestone center. The look is finished off with a thick white patent leather looking belt. This dress has a back zip and two small hidden pockets! It is made with 100% cotton for easy care and wear!

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Front View

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Side View

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Back View

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Close Up Collar Detail

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Close Up Side Detail

Patent Leather Like Gabriella Rocha White Kitten Heels To Go Perfectly With the Patent Leather Type White Belt

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress in Warm Toned Cabana Stripes:

The Havana Nights dress in warm toned cabana stripes by Pinup Couture is probably one of my most surprising dress finds on ebay. I say surprising because it's one of those dresses I've seen online without too much thought about it and then saw it selling on ebay and thought it was cute enough to bid $48 on especially when it was new with tags still. But when I got it in the mail, it completely blew me away! This dress is a fit and flared v-neckline dress made out of a cotton/spandex blend... and that's where I was led astray. Thinking it was a mostly cotton dress I pictured it would be your regular run of the mill cotton dress, more or less light weight, with a decently flared skirt. This dress is anything but your regular run of the mill light weight cotton! This dress is super dense! The bodice is made of super thick cotton and is lined with a silky black material. The skirt is equally as thick and the weightiness of the material helps completely to keep the shape of the skirt.

The colors of this dress are orange, pink, purple, brown and yellow. The stripes are arranged in a chevron pattern at the bust, back, and in the skirt. The dress comes with a matching grommet belt that finishes off the look. This dress also comes with pockets! As impressed as I am with this dress, one thing I found odd was that there are no belt loops on the dress. It happens, but I wish it didn't.

I got this dress in my usual size large which fits a little tight in the waist but other than that, the fit is just fine for my 39"-31"-38, 5'3" frame.

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress- Front View

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress- Side View

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress- Back View

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress- Close Up

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Outfit of the Day- A Saturday Around Town In A Yellow Sundress

Hello Kittens!

Last Saturday was a pretty low key day with a low key shindig to end the night. Tim and I spent the day doing a few errands around town. We were having some friends over for margaritas and we had to pick up some stuff at the grocery store for that night's shindig, along with go to the cats' grocery store to pick up their favorite dinners. Along the way was a stop at the bookstore, DSW for a return, the Lego store (for Tim) and Forever 21 (for me). But as I like to do when I'm not working and whenever I leave the house on the weekends, I dressed up in a pretty dress and dressed it up even more with a bright hair flower! And so, without farther ado...

Outfit of the Day:

For today's outing of errands and that night's shindig with friends I wore a Stop Staring Yellow Dot Swing dress which I got from DaddyO's years ago. This dress, I'm pretty sure, was my very first vintage reproduction swing dress I've ever bought! I paired this with a yellow daisy hair flower which has a sparkly center which I got from Cats Like Us. I also paired this with a light weight floral and lace cardigan I got from Forever 21 and my trusty black flats.

Stop Staring Yellow Dot Swing Dress- Front View

Stop Staring Yellow Dot Swing Dress- Side View

Stop Staring Yellow Dot Swing Dress With Floral Cardigan- Front View

Stop Staring Yellow Dot Swing Dress With Floral Cardigan- Side View

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Matching Your Dress To Your Teaware, Part 4

I mentioned in my last Matching Your Dress To Your Teaware post that Johnson Brother's Blue Willow was my first ever tea set.

I found that it would be fitting to do a perfect pairing with this tea set next!

Blue Willow is the quintessential pattern of English teaware. According to Wikipedia this pattern was originally designed by Thomas Minton around 1790 and first became popular in England in the 18th century. This pattern has been used for over 200 years! Many companies have their own versions of this pattern though all will have similar and distinctive Asian motifs such as an elaborate geometric border, and use of birds in flight, houses, bridges, trees, and even boats amongst a Chinese landscape.

I remember reading somewhere (perhaps Tea Time Magazine, I think) that the use of this pattern dates back to when teas were heavily imported from China and it was in style to use this "Chinese" pattern though it was never a pattern ever actually used in China and in fact was a pattern designed by an Englishmen specifically for the English market at the time.

Johnson Brother's Blue Willow Tea Set

Johnson Brother's Blue Willow Teapot

Though I don't have a dress per se to pair with this intricate tea set, I can imagine a perfect paring for this tea set with a solid navy or dark blue dress and a statement necklace such as the beautiful Blue and White China Fabric Button Necklace from Wychbury Designs UK.

White China Fabric Button Necklace, Wychbury Designs UK, photo https://www.etsy.com/shop/WychburyDesignsUK


Johnson Brothers' Blue Willow Tea Set

photo https://www.etsy.com/shop/WychburyDesignsUK

White China Fabric Button Necklace, Wychbury Designs UK, photo https://www.etsy.com/shop/WychburyDesignsUK

This five button fabric necklace invokes a bygone time with its fabric button design and use of brass colored hardware seen throughout the necklace. The fabric buttons themselves mirror motifs typically used in the Blue Willow pattern: Asian houses, trees, bridges, and birds in flight, as well as is reminiscent of the Blue Willow pattern in its use of Asian floral designs. The colors of this necklace are various shades of blue and white which coordinate with the archetypical blue and white in the Blue Willow pattern.

With so much going on in the Blue Willow pattern, I think it's best to have one bold and beautiful statement piece to coordinate as a perfect pairing with this teaware and I think this necklace goes with it just so perfectly!

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Second Dress Of The Year Made By Me!

Several months ago, you may remember me talking about my second dress of the year project, a red seersucker dress with red piping.

Well, after purchasing the material about a year ago and the notions about 5 months ago, I finally got around to actually making it! Once I actually got working on it, it only took about 3 days to make... something like 18-20 hours. Since this is the first sewing project I ever made with piping, I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Also, I'm proud of myself for going the extra step and putting in a liner at the bodice... even if I didn't follow the instructions and added it as an after thought so that the lining ended up coming out a little funky.

(Check out the first dress of the year made by me here.)

I'm still a newbie at making clothes and up until this year have only sewed clothes for Halloween costumes. The instructions on the sewing patterns still make no sense to me sometimes, but I'm hoping with every project, I will learn a little more each time. This time I learned what exactly grainline means. ;) Also, I learned, I may be able to go down a size in my sewing patterns. I had to take this dress in quite a bit after sewing it, and even still, I can tell it fits a little big. My next project, which I've already started on, is a size down from this pattern so I guess I will see if that hypothesis is true.

For this dress I used Butterick pattern B5603 and followed dress pattern B.

Butterick B5603 In Red Seersucker- Front View

Butterick B5603 In Red Seersucker- Side View

Butterick B5603 In Red Seersucker- Back View

Butterick B5603 In Red Seersucker- Close Up of Ties


Butterick B5603 In Red Seersucker- Front View

Butterick B5603

My goal is to make four dresses this year. With my third dress project already underway, I think I'm going to make it!

Monday, August 4, 2014

Outfit Of The Day- Saturday At The Fremont Festival Of The Arts

Saturday I spend the day with my ladies at the Fremont Festival of the Arts, A.K.A. Fremont Arts and Wine Festival.

I usually leave the festival with all kinds of goodies but, being slightly bummed at some unexpected and pricey car repairs I had to take care of just a few days previous, I wasn't much in a buying mood. I did however leave the festival with a venetian style cat mask, some cookies to share with my hubbie and a mini bundt cake just for me.

My friends tell me this is creepy.
I like the face it makes with your teeth.

Outfit of the Day:

For today's outing I wore my Trashy Diva Norma Jean dress (purchased slightly damaged from Trashy Diva on ebay) with a straw hat by Kathy Jeanne (purchased from Modcloth). I paired this with my trusty black flats from the Gap Outlet for pure comfort! Lots of walking going on this day.