scavenger aesthetic

Maximalist Spring Florals by Ernestine

2019-06-05T12:55:00.001-04:00

Feast your eyes on these Ernestine beauties. It's been a long winter here in Vermont and spring is taking it's time. It was a cool 40 degrees earlier but the clematis is in full bloom despite the chill. Check out fresh floral picks at Scavenger Aesthetic Etsy & freshen up your table game!

Also Biggest Sale EVER at SA! I'm getting my knee done on Monday, June 10th so I can be in fighting shape for ski season 2020-21 & then off to my beloved Maine for some R&R - so from today through Saturday, June 8, I'm having a helluva sale. If you have been dreaming of that off -the -hook Marimekko maxi, or an exquisite mid century Omersa hippo footstool. This is the moment to take the leap. xoxoxoxoxo

psssst...(the sale on Etsy is 20% off, but you, my faithful reader can get 25% off & free shipping on items over $30 with this code: INSIDER

Thank you for visiting Scavenger Aesthetic. Here's a list of things to do here! *Subscribe to be entered into my monthly Vintage Treasure Give- Away *Check out new additions to my shop at www.etsy.com/shop/scavengeraesthetic *Check out the American Refugee Committee page & consider what you can do to resist these dark times *Say hello on Instagram @scavenger_aesthetic and join the #freechairproject *Check out #freechairproject and #ilovebellows pages & come play in Instagram *Explore Bloodhouse events get yourself on the guest list xoxoxoxox Jack

The Marimekko Dress: Be Free & Seen

2018-06-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

Forgive me - I am going on about Marimekko again. I was inspired by the brilliant article in The New Yorker by Alexandra Lange, Jane Jacobs, Georgia O'Keeffe, and the Power of the Marimekko Dress . Many friends sent me this article when it was published in June 2017. It's brilliant, read it.

In the article Lange cites fashion critic Eugenia Shepard who says of Marimekko "...a uniform for intellectuals...Marimekko is for women whose way of wearing clothes is to forget what they have on"

All true I say. I would add one important distinction - while the Marimekko wearer demands the freedom to not have to think about or be reminded of what one is wearing, Marimekko clothes are not for hiding behind either. The wearer demands to be seen, unlike say Eileen Fisher clothes which are designed with freedom and comfort in mind but have a "nothing here to see, just trying to blend in!" vibe.

The Ways Women are Reminded Constantly of What We Are Wearing
(and are thus distracted from our real work at hand)

1. by tugging, adjusting, is my bra showing?
2. hmmm can I pick the baby/knife/cupcake off the floor without flashing my knickers?
3. Can I run or do a high kick in this thing?
4. Can I eat (a lot) and still be comfortable?
5. Do I need a special bra (read: expensive, complicated, most likely uncomfortable) to wear this thing?
6. God fucking forbid this garment requires Spanx, aka a girdle, aka 12 steps back for womankind

Marimekko is for forgetting, but it's not for hiding. Marimekko is for being SEEN, and high kicks & running.

One of my favorite Marimekko designers is Annika Rimala (1936-2014) designers of Keidas Maxi Dress - (long sleeves, A-line, exuberant pattern - made for high-kicking!!!)

Annika Rimala (1936-2014) Photo from www.marimekko.com

I've had some memorable freewheeling times in my Keidas. Whenever I don my Marimekko I feel free and seen and usually end up barefoot.

Cocktails and popovers at the Asticou Inn MDI with kiddo

Provincetown 2017. FAWC opening where my man exhibited a sculpture

Post swim, pre art opening changing into my dress in the Wellfleet woods

I've been on a mission lately with the warmer weather to bring more Marimekko to the shop. The pieces and styles I love are getting harder and harder to find, but I have some treasures in stock at the moment and I'm relentlessly on the prowl.

This skirt! oh my... with our Omersa Hippo Hank!

There is much more to say about Marimekko design and history, so look forward to more posts on the subject. In the meantime, thank you for visiting me here at Scavenger Aesthetic.

Thank you for visiting Scavenger Aesthetic. Here's a list of things to do here.

*Subscribe to be entered into my monthly Vintage Treasure Give- Away *Check out new additions to my shop at www.etsy.com/shop/scavengeraesthetic

*Check out the American Refugee Committee page & consider what you can do to resist these dark times www.arcrelief.org Scavenger Aesthetic makes a monthly donation to the ARC and an additional $1 for every vintage treasure you purchase at www.etsy.com/shop/scavengeraesthetic

*Say hello on Instagram @scavenger_aesthetic and join the #freechairproject *Check out #freechairproject and #ilovebellows pages & come play in Instagram

*Explore Bloodhouse events get yourself on the guest list

xoxoxoxox Jack

Beautiful Things for Dark Times (Click To Read More)

2018-05-21T22:49:00.001-04:00

Hello Dear Reader,

I've been deeply troubled, angry and confused since the 2016 election, so much so that I've had a real hard time squaring the joy I take in the business of Scavenger Aesthetic with the horrors and callousness of the elected administration - I mean really - who gives a shit about mid-century Italian ceramics and Instagram when we have a president who regularly predates upon, bullies, insults and dehumanizes refugees and immigrants (and women and people of color). I mean, what kind of sick fuck menaces and actively works to destroy the hopes of people who have lost everything or are willing to bravely risk everything for the chance to make a better life for themselves and their children?

Many of us here on this page can take for granted the roof over our head, the food on our table and the clean water that miraculously spills out of our faucets on demand. We enjoy hot coffee, fresh flowers and art on our walls every damn day. As well, many of us have the luxury and privilege of cherishing beautiful objects and heirlooms inherited from previous generations of family and friends - we are so ridiculously lucky to be born into this life - but for millions of others, their circumstances are such that they have been stripped by circumstances so far beyond their control, of home, family and country.

To this end, Scavenger Aesthetic is committed to making a modest monthly automatic donation to the American Refugee Committee (ARC) and will and additional $1 for every order generated through the Scavenger Aesthetic Shop .

As Scavenger Aesthetic grows, so will our contribution to making the world a little bit kinder.

So why The American Refugee Committee? Well, they are pretty bad ass, boots on the ground kind of organization with super high ratings from Charity Navigator, the Better Business Bureau & Charity Watch (Top Rated). Their scope is large, their goals ambitious and their actions effective. In other words - they're not fucking around. Helping displaced people is their only mission and their reach is about 3 Million people a year. They work in many countries including response to Hurricane Harvey and Katrina in the U.S.

The mission of the American Refugee Committee is as follows:

ARC works with its partners and constituencies to provide opportunities and expertise to refugees, displaced people and host communities. We help people survive conflict and crisis and rebuild lives of dignity, health, security and self-sufficiency. ARC is committed to the delivery of programs that ensure measurable quality and lasting impact for the people we serve.

Who can't get down with that? I'm asking you to take one minute today to reflect and really feel how fortunate you are. Look around your beautiful, safe, weather tight home, open your refrigerator and cabinets and marvel at the abundance, pour yourself a cool, clean glass of water and give thanks and then do something to fight the power in these dark times.

You can donate directly here:
American Refugee Committee

Not Feeling Ultra Violet (Click to read more)

2018-05-20T11:36:00.000-04:00

My color of the year.

From the Poem "Blue" by Robert L. Jones

The green of life requires blue,

not too deep or too intense,

just a line of blue-green held in mind,

to knit tatters of shrouded days,

tint the darkness,

and relieve the time of glare.

Read the poem in its entirety here:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/40748/blue

Spring Cleaning Give - Away. Artichokes. Like a Boss: Jacques Pepin (Click to read more)

2018-03-28T19:59:00.002-04:00

Hello Lovelies! Another month in the books which means we're careening towards another Subscriber Only Give-Away. Because April Fools' Day is just the best day - this one will be extra special. I'm thinking a set of four Italian majolica artichoke plates and no, this is not a prank : )

Italian Majolica Artichoke Plates with a Place for the Artichoke, Melted Butter & Leaves.

The winner will be announced first on Instagram - if you follow me @scavenger_aesthetic you'll be in the know! Of course I will also email the winner. Here's Jacques Pepin showing an artichoke who's boss

In keeping with my Spring cleaning fervor I'm having a mad, mad, sale at my shop through April Fools Day. I have so many gloriously, beautiful things there to give your home a shot of joy.

Happy Spring xo

It's That Time of The Month. Flower - Power GIVE AWAY (Click title to read more)

2018-02-27T14:59:00.000-05:00

It's GIVE-AWAY TIME. Again. I love give-aways more than I like selling things. Does this make me a shitty business person? Maybe. As my partner at the restaurant I started often observes with dismay and confusion: "If you had it your way, we'd give everything away!!" The truth is - I'm not a shitty business person, but I really do enjoy giving real, tangible, treasures away. I love delighting people whether it's with a glass of wine or a Scavenger Aesthetic treasure. I won a seasons ski pass to Magic Mountain this past weekend and I'm still humming!

Read On!

Snow Day Give-Away!!!!! February 7th, 2018. (Click to read more)

2018-02-07T15:36:00.000-05:00

It's SNOWING and in celebration of the fine skiing to come, I am giving away this nifty set of vintage cocktail glasses! Tonight! My friend and partner in wine, Charlene, is coming over tonight for soup and bread and butter and wine. I'm going to ask her to select a Scavenger Aesthetic subscriber as the winner of this super chic set of lowballs. Fun. Right? I'll announce the winner tonight on Instagram! 10pmish....xoxoxoxoxo

Christmas Eve 2017: Flu - Struck and Dreaming (Click to read more)

2017-12-24T20:59:00.001-05:00

I'm missing out on all kinds of family gatherings tonight. I'm nesting sweaty and achey on the couch and overdosing on Saltines and canned soup. But this song... My anthem for 2018. What's yours?

Scavenger Aesthetic Give-Away! Edith Cockroft Signed Cup & Saucer. October 2017 (Click

2017-10-24T16:05:00.003-04:00

Dear friends, I am reviving my monthly treasure give-way wherein one you, my faithful and generous subscribers, is chosen at random, to receive a sweet package in the mail containing a vintage treasure, scavenged from some barn sale/vintage store/thrift shop by yours truly! The drawing will take place on the last day of the month - which means All Hallows' Eve this month. The lucky winner will be announced the following day. What a nice way to begin each month, don't you think?*

I am actually going to save this entry as a draft and I am going to walk down the street to one of my favorite sources Aumand's Junk-Tiques at 4 Atkinson Street in Bellows Falls, VT to see if I might find something worthy of you.

It's 1:59 PM on Tuesday October 24th. I'll be back soon!

Ok...It's 3:38 and I'm back. Aumand's wasn't open today, so I headed downtown to the SEVCA Good Buy Thrift Shop on this moody , windy, leaf swirling autumn day and I found you a real bona fide treasure:

A somewhat rare tea cup and saucer by American artist Edith Cockcroft with this delightful and apropos leaf design. Photographed here on my wood pile.

Robin's Egg Blue Edith Cockcroft Tea Cup

Absolutely sweet leaf design. Hand painted.

Signed by the Artist Edith Varian Wyland Cockraft

About the artist:

Edith Varian Wyland Cockcroft (1881-1962).
Edith Cockcroft’s oil paintings and other works of art are displayed in a variety of American museums. Her work has been exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy, the National Academy of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Corcoran Gallery from 1908 through the 1930s. She was a decorated artist for her floral works on pottery & ceramics, as well as oil paintings and textile design. Edith Cockcroft’s works of art are rarely found on the open market. She was a friend of Matisse.

This is a real treasure. I'm not fucking around.

You must be a subscriber to be entered in the monthly drawing. You do not need to worry about getting a load of email from me. I'm too busy to spam you.

While at SEVCA, I also found a set of my favorite vintage champagne/cocktail coupes - the mid century Libbey Sharpe Georgian coupe with the bamboo motif stem and an exquisitely chic shallow bowl. I will use these at my next Bloodhouse event (this Sunday the 29th of October featuring writer Pamela Mandell) for the copious amount of champagne that is always served.

Bright Design in Dark Times: Marimekko vs. GOP

2017-10-05T14:12:00.002-04:00

Ever since the tweeting moron and his dark sycophants took over, I have found myself subconsciously drawn, evermore to the exuberant optimism of vividly colored design. Antidote or escape? Should I be ashamed of myself because I am retreating into a bubble and taking such pleasure in bright and beautiful objects? Or is it ok? Allowed? Maybe even a beautifully human impulse to appreciate aesthetics. Both?

Poppies! Marimekko come to life.

Mid Century Design Gum ball Coat Hooks at Popolo

Vintage Tin Tray

Vintage Marimekko Kirjo Print, Designer Pentti Rita 1974

Portuguese Pottery from the local Antique/Junk Store filled with my first peonies

Vintage Pucci Cotton Scarves. As of this posting, the pink one is still available on my Etsy shop.

Ernestine Salerno Charteuse Espresso Set & Vintage Liberty of London Scarf. Listing soon on my Etsy Shop.

Antique Art Deco Limoge. I cried when these sold. Baby.

Ernestine Salerno Pottery. Obsessed. May list on Etsy, may keep it to myself.

Wacky Caftan I purchased on Ebay. I worse this all summer, sorry Husband : )

Welcome to Bloodhouse Summer 2017. Unordinary Events in Bellows Falls.

2017-07-18T19:13:00.000-04:00

July 15, 2017 marked the inaugural Bloodhouse event with a luminous and mesmerizing reading of story and poetry by Rebecca Wolff - brave and beautiful she stood. Unordinary. Brave and beautiful too was the audience - curious sorts who responded to such cryptic invitations! Self selecting for interesting. It was magic. First of many. If your interest is piqued let it lead you to the Bloodhouse Events page above and follow the path.

the invitation

rebecca wolff: poet, essayist, founding editor of Fence Books. badass.

listeners

listening feet

particles vibrating

cake. always cake.

Emerging from the Darkness

2017-05-28T16:17:00.000-04:00

Spring has arrived and fled and arrived once again, as it will here in the ever changing weather in Vermont. The shock, disappointment, and paralyzing rage of the election is lifting just a bit as the ship of fools takes on water. Since we last spoke, we moved into our dream house - a grand victorian named the Lydia Blood House and each day of the last seven months, I have to pinch my self when I look around at the splendor that is the Lydia Blood House. As well, I exhibited my first body of work of the #freechairproject - my ongoing photographic essay of unwanted roadside chairs.

Lately, I have been enjoying the pleasures of roaming the back roads - free chair hunting & barn sale searching. To this end, my shop is filled with all sorts of exuberant treasures! And to all of my lovely subscribers, a head's up that everything in the shop is 10% Off with the coupon code: FRESHPICKS

#ilovebellowsfalls

2016-02-03T16:45:00.002-05:00

I love this scrappy town. I love the grit and the train tracks and the grand victorian homes with their turrets and stained glass. I love the way the village is sandwiched between Fall Mountain, the Connecticut River and Route 5. I love how the geography of this place does not allow for sprawl. I love how the village teems with church bells and town bells and spires and a clock tower. I have never lived in a place with so much texture. I love the layers and the bridges and the tunnels and the slate roofs. I love that we have a bookstore and an arcade that my son can walk to on his own. I love that we have a movie theater that shows classic movies on Wednesdays and a restaurant where one can get an amaro. I love to get a flat white at the local coffee shop that sits in what is possibly the most charming building in a village chockablock with charming buildings. #ilovebellowsfalls Thank you Bellows Falls for bring so damn cool.

Home of the Flat Iron Exchange coffee house.

The Village Clocktower

The Train tunnel that runs beneath the restaurant Popolo

The Exner Block Artist Studios & Housing

Dropping of my first book (my love letter to bellows falls in pictures) at Village Square Books on the Square

Baby, It's Not Cold Outside & I'm Hoppin' Mad. Summer Fruit Cordials Await.

2015-12-27T16:44:00.001-05:00

Waiting for the cold and snow to sample my summer fruit elixirs.Take note of the angry frog and empty cordial glasses.

Love Letter To Wardsboro. Stepping Away. Looking Back.

2015-10-15T13:45:00.000-04:00

On August 1st I left the restaurant I opened with friends in 2012. The summer of 2011 was the last summer since the opening that my head was above water. Opening and running a restaurant was like being swallowed. Like Jonah - it was a great adventure but I was pulled so far, too far from the rest of my life. The summer of 2011- August 27th, to be exact was the day Hurricane Irene hit Vermont like a hammer, destroying our land, but thankfully leaving our family and house in tact. Nonetheless, something beautiful and irrevocable was lost when our creek was smashed and widened by four. Gone was our lovely brook with holes deep enough to swim with great rocks for sitting and sunning. It was left widened, shallow, and ugly with the debris of waterfront cottages crumbling and abandoned and falling rotten into the water. My memories of our last summer in Wardsboro include the devastation, but also so much beauty. I was acutely aware that with the impending opening of Popolo that everything was about to change. I ran a lot that summer - through the hills and trails behind our old farmhouse, listening to 'You Woke Up My Neighborhood' by Billy Bragg obsessively. We had some great parties late into the night on our candle lit porch. We laughed a lot.

Popolo Summer 2012

Last of the Wardsboro Porch Parties

In our old farmhouse kitchen we had one of those silly little Bavarian barometers that looks like an alpine cottage. When the weather is dry and sunny the little woman swings out from the left side of the barn and when a storm is brewing the little man emerges from the right. Merritt and I vividly remember being doubled over with laughter in our kitchen on the night of August 26th with Hurricane Irene on everyone's mind as our friend Bruce imagined the National Weather Service headquarters relied on one of these same barometers - but a REALLY BIG one. Oh how we laughed as we finished up with the late night after party clean up. Then we all went to bed and in the morning, feeling a little nervous about the predicted storm, our friends hustled to pack to head back to New York. Bruce ran down for a quick dip in the creek before hitting the road. He was the last person to swim in the hole before it was wiped away by Irene.

One of Merritt's sculptures torn from the ground and crushed by Irene

Why am I telling you this now? To explain my absence I suppose - to you and to myself. I haven't posted since May. The hardest thing for me about the restaurant was being contained. I couldn't figure out how to keep my life big. This blog helped me feel like I was connected to the world. Still, it was hard to leave. After my last post in May I was in the final eight week stretch and finishing up was all I could do. All of my energy went into showing up those last eight weeks. And then August 1st came and I was free and floating and sad and exhilarated and lost and in love with everything. I went deep into home and family and the wild beauty of summer in Vermont. Other than winter, I don't know what's next...

Subscribe to Scavenger Aesthetic and wonderful things will come your way!

Birthdays. Cold Cake. The Long Life of Beautiful Things.

2015-05-28T08:49:00.000-04:00

I am eating cold cake left over from Leo's 11th birthday party. Yesterday also would have been my grandmother Colligan's Birthday 101. We were supposed to go to her 90th birthday party in 2004 but instead, Leo was born. Today is my beloved Aunt Helen Fehrenbach's 88th birthday and she has passed many of her mother's tableware onto me. I am lucky to have some beautiful porcelain, crystal and cut glass dishes that once belonged to both 'Grandma Colligan' and Aunt Helen.

For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to old dishes and glasses. One of my earliest memories is of an antique washing basin and pitcher that stood at the end of the hall at Grandma Colligan's. I loved drinking tea from Grandma Fehrenbach's floral English tea cups. As a young woman in Burlington, VT I purchased my first vintage piece - a purple Lustreware teapot and sugar bowl. I smashed the tea pot in a fit one day, but had the sugar bowl for years and it gave me such pleasure to look at it. Over the years I have acquired many a sparkling old cordial glass and a number of colorful depression era dessert bowls. It's a beautiful sight to see these mismatched beauties scattered across the long table at the end of a summer porch dinner party. The Italian blue stemmed antique wine glasses break one by one as the years and the parties roll on.

All of this to say that an aesthetic appreciation for these old bits of clay and melted sand has been in me for a very long time but something has happened - something I don't understand - something wild in me has been unleashed and I CAN'T STOP COLLECTING these gorgeous things.

My personal aesthetic tends towards monkish - I like to shave my head and wear a lot of gray so it is a little confusing how deeply moved I am by the sheer prettiness of these things. But so it goes.

I am happy to announce that the lovely Maura of Cape Cod won the March Give-Away of the charming vintage peacock brooch. Please subscribe to be automatically entered ALWAYS into my give-aways. June Give-Away: Antique Limoges Trinket Dish.

No Actually, I Don't Have Anything Better To Do. Vintage Floraline Vase. Judgmental Bull. Demented Dog.

2015-05-23T12:47:00.000-04:00

Birds and Bees: Tiny Treasures & March Give-Away

2015-02-20T09:44:00.000-05:00

So much has happened since we last spoke: Holidays, holidays, holidays, the sale of our first home, our beloved dog passing, a broken neck(not mine), deep dark winter, so much falling snow, such short days & wow, the cold... Now the days are getting longer and I feel my Spring mojo stirring so let's get this party started again!

I want to kick things off with a few tiny treasures from the Windham Antique Center in Bellows Falls. The place is packed with treasures and I can always satisfy my scavenging itch by sifting through the costume jewelry. I couldn't resist this pretty little peacock pin or this vintage hat pin. You know I just learned how hat pins work - Ladies used the pins to scoop up a lock of hair by pushing the pin through the back band of the hat to better anchor the hat to the head. I did not know this! According to The American Hatpin Society (yes, for real) hatpins have been in use since the 1400's with their heyday between the 1880's and the 1920's (when the ladies chopped their hair off - just like Lady Mary of Downton Abbey did a few episodes ago). Please follow the link above to learn more about hatpins if you so wish.

I would like to offer the cheery little peacock for my monthly give-away. All subscribers are eligible to win this little treasure which I will pack up and send out in April. So please subscribe to Lala and you may just win!

Oh Baby Doll! The Perfect Gift For The Awful Child In Your Life.

2014-12-09T08:32:00.003-05:00

What a find! A treasure trove of vintage dolls - the perfect gift for the child in your life whom you really don't like at all. Prop one of these up in some dark corner of their bedroom on Christmas Eve and they will never want to go to sleep again. Give the gift of nightmares...

Don't forget to subscribe to Lala! This month's Give-Away is an extraordinary treasure - a beautiful vintage hat pin. Drawing will take place on the first night of Hannukah - December 16th, and will be shipped to arrive in time for Christmas.

And The Winner Is! November Give-Away = Holiday Sparkle. Pretty, Vintage,Earrings.

2014-12-03T15:17:00.000-05:00

"Earring" is a weird word. Say it or write it over and over again and wow, it dissolves pretty quickly into gibberish. Anyhoo, thank you dear readers for playing along with me! November's subscriber give-away is getting wrapped up in a pretty, little package for Elisa. The contrast of black enamel and glittering rhinestone embody the approaching winter solstice, don't you think? Pair with a little black dress and hello 2015! Well Elisa, I hope you love them. Here are some of my other fun vintage clip-on finds - all of which can be purchased at my Etsy shop. Oh, and the December Give-Away is gorgeous!!! I discovered it just the other day at the Windham Antique Center in Bellows Falls and it is a treasure. Details forthcoming. Become a subscriber, and it could be yours! xo

November Give-Away

To Whom Did These Belong? A Lady No Doubt.

2014-11-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

Recent find at SEVCA thrift shop in Bellows Falls: Vintage 1960's Morris Moskowitz purse and midnight blue Etienne Aigner pumps. Something tells me they belonged to the same woman and I bet she looked swell when she stepped out.

October Melancholia. Boots. Goodbye Good Dog.

2014-11-14T13:59:00.000-05:00

It has been a gloriously beautiful and melancholy Vermont autumn throughout which I have spent alot of time driving out to our old farmhouse in the country readying it as an airbnb rental. The long quiet drives through the back roads to and fro became a vivid meditation on color and the relentless passing of time and season. We started our family in the old Wardsboro house in 2004 and our sweet dog Grizzly came to us there in August of 2006. Grizzly passed suddenly a few weeks ago and I am heartbroken.

He accompanied me on the back and forth throughout the fall, settling himself on the porch or in the grass in the sun as I bustled around cleaning and hanging curtains. So where do the boots fit in? I am not sure if they do, but I feel it necessary to mention my fuzzy guy before moving on... so, other day my dear friend Melissa invited me to coffee - she was a friend to Grizzly and she knew I needed a shoulder to cry on. Over chai at The Valley Cafe in Bellows Falls, we talked of dogs and life and the conversation turned to boots as it so often does. She leaned forward and told tell of boots so special, so glorious, so kick-ass, that she spotted at a thrift store up the street just the day before. And how she tried and tried to force her feet into them! how she rolled around the floor in a sweaty grunting mess! and how she didn't care that she looked like a mad woman! She so wanted these boots: vintage Timberland knee high lace up boots: ass-kicking and burnished to perfection.

But alas, she was defeated. But guess what, they fit me.

Rest in Peace My Friend

Goodbye October. Goodbye My Friend

Vermont Fashion Week Preview

2014-11-14T13:57:00.000-05:00

"It's strong, pretty and wearable. And the stores will love it"

- Anna Wintour

Summer's Crowning Glory: Ana

2014-10-03T06:43:00.000-04:00

This is Ana. Ana came in to Popolo for dinner this summer after a long day in the fields and market and I rudely dragged her from her table, filched the bartenders phone (I uncharacteristically didn't have my camera with me) and quickly snapped these photos. Please excuse the blur - dusk was setting in and the light was low but the moment needed to be captured. What a vision of late summer beauty she is! I love how she brings so many stylistic references together; she's a pre-raphaelite, punk, pin-up with a little Frieda & Bacall thrown in.

The floral crown was made by Ana herself from flowers she grows in alarming quantities- you see, she and her man are farmers, bona fide farmers of Guerrilla Grown Produce in Westminster, Vermont. Yes, this is Ana. Now let us bid adieu to summer and open our arms to Fall...

P.S. Subscribe to Lala to be entered in my monthly give-away!

Crazy S*%#t Happens When You Melt Sand. September Give-Away.

2014-09-18T09:35:00.000-04:00

This summer was all about scavenging glass (heat kills my interest in clothes), mass produced American glass from the early to mid 20th Century specifically. A lot of this stuff clearly crosses the line into TACKY! but I find the candy colors and the expression of whimsy kind of sweet & irresistible. How fun to imagine that during the depression and beyond these mass produced beauties were packed into cereal boxes and flour sacks and given away as prizes at gas stations and movie theaters. I find myself having a weird attraction- repulsion relationship with Fenton Hobnail Compotes and Indiana Glass Kings Crown Thumbprint glassware - Is it beautiful or ugly? Both I think.

In honor of my glass hunting summer, I am giving away to amber Indiana Glass cordial glasses to one of my trusty subscribers. All subscribers are ALWAYS automatically invested in my mostly monthly give-aways. Not a subscriber? Subscribe already! I won't muck up your inbox, I promise. XO

Behold Lala's September Give-Away.

P.S. Most of my glass finds eventually make their way to my Etsy shop.