Retro Age Vintage Fabrics

Fumbling through the Instagram haze...

2012-01-27T22:26:00.000+11:00

I am now on Instagram. Yep, sure am. Have no bloody idea how to use the thing, yet...have taken a couple of random shots and stuck them up somewhere on the web. Have no real idea where - or how - or what - I have done. I am sure I will work it out. From memory I am 'vintagefabrics' - or maybe not! But I plan to take random shots during the day of what we get up to etc...mainly to do with Retro Age, but other things may pop in, too...like when we decide to buy some fish and chips...as below...

You may think I have changed this photo in some way. You know - put a 70s look on it. But, no - that's what my local 'hood looks like.My 'hood is stuck in another time...hence why I like it so much.

I am sure I'll work out how to do noice things with Instagram. For now, it's weekend time...and that means we all have to relax and lay like broccoli, do some things we want to do and generally chase life a little bit more...

Have a great weekend!

xNess

Vintage Fabric Love : Fabric names and terms 1947

2012-01-25T21:27:00.000+11:00

These terms have been taken from my American Fabrics 1947 issue two magazine...this is just the start! Some very interesting pieces here...so much to learn about vintage fabric!

Above: Okay - can someone please tell me when denim was used in furniture...I had no idea!

Above: I am currently researching cretonne - more information and photos on this coming soon...cretonne for beach wear??

Above: Crepe was huge in the 1940s - it's nice to know crepe is the correct term!

Above: Popped in for information...

Above: I can't believe they put this in the listing, but it's interesting to note. I love the 'it's use is implied by the term' - quite hilair....

Above: Popped in for information...

Above: Popped in for information...

Above: Popped in for information...

Above: Popped in for information...

Above: Popped in for information...

Above: Could the real barkcloth please stand up - and here it is...bark crepe!

Above: Popped in for information...

Above: What on earth is extract wool...cow hair (gosh - how long is it?), mungo and noil? Much research needed here...

Above: Popped in for information...

Business Highlights - January

2012-01-24T20:59:00.001+11:00

I feel the need to record some of my highlights this year - I have no idea why. I have tended to hide behind my business a little over the years and I have also tended to under-rate myself and what we have achieved as business owners as our competitors stalk us and love to copy anything and everything we do. But, really - I shouldn't care so much, should I? It's like internet trolls - you know they are there and when they raise their ugly heads, you just have to go about your own business and ignore them.

But in 2012 I want to talk more about my business and what we can and have achieved. As you know, we service customers world-wide - and that means chatting to some amazing people in film, interior, photographic and other creative industries. We love it when textile and clothing designers purchase our fabric - and some well known Australian labels and their famous designers have continued to shop from us in January this year. Our fabrics feature in mag layouts and fashion shoots, too.

We've also had some fabric going off to several television and film locations of late...there seems to be a run on 1960s and 70s films and programs. And we have seen some amazing cushions and dresses made out of our fabrics recently - seeing these shots really do make our day!

Our January just may be our best yet, lovely customers - and that says a lot in these current economic times. Thank you so much - from the bottom of our vintage fabric hearts - for continuing to shop with us...

xNess

A Year of Good Things - 11/366 - Conquering

2012-01-23T19:34:00.001+11:00

So...two days ago I cleared out my personal Facebook account. Yep, I messaged all of my 'friends' to tell them I would only be communicating on Facebook via the Retro Age page, so to come on over if ya'll want to chat there etc. I've been on FB for 3-4 years, I think - too long, perhaps. Some 'friends' followed. Some 'friends' didn't. But I didn't care. The power was in deleting the friend list and deleting my communication with 'friends' on Facebook. I felt like I was on a pure high. I felt elated. I felt relieved. I felt totally free. I had wanted to delete my page for a long time but was always fearful of people being offended or of losing contact with people I loved and liked. How bloody silly is that? I know all of the people I love are in my life, in one way or another, and I had to remind myself that I was loved and cared for offline.

So I conquered my fears about removing the FB 'friends' and just did it. It feels strange - yep, even after two days - but it feels even more fantastic by the day!

PS. This post should actually link to a really cool clip on YouTube but it's not embedding for some reason. If you want to see it - it's here...

11/366
Good Thing - Removing my FB 'friends'!
This Good Thing is For : Me!

Vintage Fabric Love : 1947 : Tina Leser, Vera Maxwell & Pauline Trigere

2012-01-20T21:17:00.000+11:00

These little pieces are from the Summer 1947 American Fabrics magazine. I love the reference to the 1800s and the fact that the 1940s modern woman is really, in the essence, no different to us.

A Year of Good Things - 10/366 - Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

2012-01-19T22:44:00.002+11:00

Today was all highs and stepping outside comfort zones. It started off with a bungee jump or two for the kidlets. Both were nervous, but determined. Both dominated their fears and got in the harness. And then both proceeded to leap and twist and twirl in all manner of directions...

Please note I officially saw people playing ball games, riding skateboards, riding bikes anywhere and everywhere, walking mutts hither and thither and also driving (and biking) faster than 5kph. These peeps were definitely living life on the hardcore side...according to this sign.

...and then our day ended up in a night ride around this mighty wheel. I was nervous as I am not entirely a fan of heights (I am a totes bad flier). And even though there were a couple of moments I was sure we were going to die and the carriage was going to fall apart, I mostly felt giddy (with excitement)...and exhilarated by the view (and feeling 15 again).

Good Thing - step outside your own comfort zone!

A Year of Good Things - 9/366 - Buckley and the Chickens

2012-01-18T22:49:00.001+11:00

A good thing for my spirit and soul is touching base with nature. I am not the hiking type (trust me)...I am the 'slow stroll by a beautiful lake' kinda gal. Today the boys and I went off to a local spot called Buckley Falls to admire some pretty special scenery. The falls form part of an old paper mill and the water comes out just below the blue stone building. (I would link to Wiki for you, but the site is down in protest).

Our good deed for today was taking in two chickens who someone no longer wanted - and, to be blunt, who were treating them badly. Today was spent trying to get these lovely black and green ladies into our coop and then welcomed out of the coop to free range with our little flock. The newbies were cage ladies so are fearful of everything out in the open (you can barely handle them and they are even scared of sparrows) and they don't seem to know how to peck and forage...but I am sure they will work things out. There are much 'pecking order' shenanigans going on and our own gals don't seem enthralled with the idea of their huge space being invaded, as there is much bustling on the best roost position tonight. I have to say watching these girls sort each other out is quite interesting...and entertaining.

xNess

Vintage Love - The 1940s Glamazon vs the 1960s burlesque

2012-01-17T21:27:00.000+11:00

I adore both of these images. The one above is a Hoffman fabric advertisement from 1947 American Fabrics and the one below is from Man Magazine, 1964. Both show a side of women not common of the time (well - there has always been nudity!). But I think both pieces depict the different eras of women and how they were portrayed. The strong 'glamazon' was huge in Hollywood and general advertising in the 1940s. Then we get to the prim and proper 1950s housewife with undercurrents of unhappiness. And then we see our burlesque queen below, coy and daring. Both women are wrapped in gorgeous fabric and both are just so beautiful in their own eras and times.

xNess

Vintage Fabric Love - 1947 - fabric swatches

2012-01-16T21:15:00.002+11:00

Did I tell you I have become a student again this year? Yep, well, I have. I am studying Ness' Bachelor of Modern Textile History. Well - I would be if such a course existed. But I can't find one, so I am creating my own. One of my first stops is my American Fabrics collection and I am currently on Volume 3, 1947.

In my time researching fabric and textile I am learning so much it's not funny. More to come on that over time (such as the correct name for 'barkcloth'). For now, these photos of tiny swatches from 1947 are here for your casual viewing...

Above: Well, this looks interesting. Rabbit hair. Hmmm - could I wear rabbit hair in this day and age? Perhaps not, I am thinking - although I do love a bit o' bling fabric like the one above.

Above: Nutria? What on earth is nutria? Mink I know - but nutria sounds like a facial cream. So I had to look it up. Oh goody - it's a river rat...how not lovely.

Above: This little piece caught my eye. How is that dainty bird design? Just gorgeous. So of that period.

I have a lot more prettiness to show you in the weeks ahead...stand by!

xNess

A Year of Good Things - 8/366 - Clean Up Australia & Florence

2012-01-15T19:41:00.001+11:00

Pip gave us a little pep talk today about taking the 'Year of Good Things' one step further - and rather than basking in our own grateful glory, to actually give some good back. So I asked the kidlets if they would like to take their 'claw toy' to our local wetlands and we'd walk around and pick up rubbish. Of course they lept at the chance to make the wetlands clean. And while we were there we had a ball - the kids were horrified at how much rubbish there actually was (and we were amazed that they'd never actually noticed it!). Half an hour of picking up rubbish, kids fighting at the bit to pick up the next piece and two parents tired from laughing left us with...fighting ducks. Yep, two ducks were not happy chappies today. Their shenanigans made us laugh even more. Sorry about the a la crappola photos - I took three shots before my camera battery packed up...

Now that I know doing a good thing actually means doing a good turn, I have to say that my take on 'good' is a little different. I am going to try and do good turns from hereon in, but I also wanted to continue to focus on what I think is good...and the people who made such positive impacts in so many ways. Florence Broadhurst never failed to be herself - well, she lied about everything under the sun, including the place she was born and her parentage, but I have to say she remained truthful to her 'design' ethic that she found after returning from Englan right up until the day she died. Some of her designs will be around for hundreds of years, I am sure. I admire her for this strict adherence to gorgeous design - in fact, I gladly thank her for her 'good thing' - her design legacy.
,
Florence Broadhurst advertisement, as displayed in House and Garden magazine, September 1973.

Vintage 1960s Love : The Hedgehopper

2012-01-14T19:39:00.001+11:00

We were promised a lot in the 1960s and 1970s. High on my list was living on the moon, as that just seemed around the corner. That was closely followed by marrying a sexy star-fighter who wore tight pants and suede jackets. And I also wanted a robot dog. I also wanted to live in a commune where everyone just lived - and that commune was on a starship. Apparently this Hedgehopper was going to 'take a market', too. The Arcoptor Gem III looks mighty cool, I have to say - but as little that was promised in the 1960s and 1970s came to fruition, I am not going to dream of owning one of these.

This is from Man magazine, May 1964.

Vintage 1960s Love : This Tickled My Funny Bone

2012-01-13T20:25:00.001+11:00

This so tickled my funny bone. It's a cartoon from Man magazine, May 1964. I swear that is my Nan in that telephone booth. My Nan could be on the phone for hours and no one could get her off...her favourite saying was exactly....exactly....exactly. My Pop used to mimic her exactly! to a 't', much to my delight.

I am going to do a lot more 'vintage love' on this blog, I have decided - not just the textiles, but what framed eras...like humour, for example.

A Year of Good Things - 7/366 - Change

2012-01-12T21:30:00.001+11:00

Usually there is nothing better than slothing at a park and enjoying a game or two with the kidlets. You know the usual here in Australia - kicking the footy, chucking the ball, playing an over of cricket. Usually I sit aside and let the boys run amok with each other....Daddy and the boys, all playing and having fun. Today I sat aside to read Frankie magazine. And that's where the usual good thing stopped for me. You see, I have Frankie popped aside at my local newsagent for me every two months (since I let my subscription lapse). I had forgotten to pick up the last issue and the lovely peeps at the newsagent called yesterday to let me know I had the new copy - and the old issue - to pick up. So I drove past yesterday and picked up both mags and promptly shoved them in my satchel.

And forgot about them.

Then, when we were off to the park, I though 'hurrah - I'll take my Frankie's' and read them lazing about in the sunshine.

But I didn't.

I have to now admit to myself I think my love for Frankie is on the wane. Why oh why, I beseech you? I have no idea myself. All I know is that I forgot to purchase two months ago, forgot to read them last night and then flicked through them today and got a 'meh' from my brain.

Oh dear.

But then it struck me how good change is. Something has changed in my life for me to move on to something different and exciting. And that is a really good thing, I think. I adore Frankie, but when it's time to move on, it's time to move on.

I am sorry, Frankie love...but my good thing today is change. I now need something different to feed my soul. Sad, but true....and that is a good thing for me, I think.

12/366
Good Thing - Change is for the better - a new door always opens for you!
This Good Thing is For : Me!

A Year of Good Things - 6/366 - Having a cackle every day...

2012-01-09T21:48:00.001+11:00

It was one of those mornings. You know the ones - you're the last one up, the kids have been fighting over toys since they got up and the husband is grumbling that we've run out of bacon. I can hear them rabbiting away to each other in the lounge room. I come slothing out of our bedroom and yell out 'good morning!', but get tiddly squat response. I think gosh, what a way to start the day. And then I walk into the kitchen and reach for the jug, only to look into the eyes of a....chicken.

Obviously Miss Mary Land couldn't wait for her Weetbix this morning and was having something to say through the kitchen window.

I laughed. Justin laughed. The kids laughed their head off. What could have been a crappy start to the day ended up being the perfect start.

Ya gotta laugh throughout the day, peeps - laughter is good for you! Don't forget to remind the negative Nancy's to laugh, too...and those pessimistic types...and those dower people who never enjoy themselves.

Thank you for the laugh, Miss Mary Land. It made the most wonderful start to my day.

9/366
Good Thing - Remember to laugh!
This Good Thing is For : Our mind, body, soul and spirit!

A Year of Good Things - 5/366 - Love One Another

2012-01-08T21:32:00.001+11:00

We strolled around a local sanctuary today, all keen to get out and about in the fresh air. The day was very average, I have to say - but it was warm, so the outside invited us in for a visit, so to speak.

Our township has around 9000 people clustered together - and surrounding us is classic Aussie farmland and bay.

We walked and chatted and enjoyed ourselves. And then we spied a much beloved family. There is Papa at the rear, led by his six cygnets strutting out front.

And, boy, are they friendly now! No more Pap and Mama raising their feathers and beating their wings at us. No, siree - they were all curiosity and friendliness and welcoming-ness and had no problem waddling up as close as they could. By this stage you can imagine how the two boys were. Giggling. Giggling. LAUGHING! As were all we.

Here is proud Papa, all black and beautiful. He kept a close eye on his loved ones, but never felt intimidated or worried about the humans loving his boys and girls.

Here are two cygnets, all friendly and nippy when they missed a tidbit of bread. They loved Logan's toes peeping out of his shoes - and they loved my fingers on the camera!

And five minutes later we came across Mama on her nest, all tucked up in the corner of the reeds, safe and warm.

Seeing this gorgeous display of love and family made me think about the people who don't have this kind of affection in their lives. I think it is very important to love one another - as friends, as lovers, as family...in fact, as a community. We need to be there for each other more, I think. These days we are all so much more fearful rather than welcoming, don't you think?

Black swans mate for life (apparently there is a 6% divorce rate according to Wikipedia!) - and although I have spent almost half my life with my love, I never felt unloved before I met Justin. I was loved by friends and family - strangers, sometimes! - and that made me feel good. Perhaps just remembering to show and tell someone how much you appreciate them - and love them - would make their day?

8/366
Good Thing - Telling each other how much we love them!
This Good Thing is For : All of us

A Year of Good Things - 4/366 - Childhood Rituals

2012-01-07T22:07:00.002+11:00

I loved playing board games when I was a kid in the 70s. Absolutely, utterly adored it. I was a Monopoly machine and a draughts dynamo. Loved the odd card game, too. So today I found myself playing the same games with our eldest. He almost beat me at draughts on his second game...either I have lost my edge or he has my draughts genes. There was a bit of chess going on, too - although the youngest thought it was funnier to make the chess pieces talk and move them in ways that aren't in the rules. It was lively. It was funny. It was spontaneous and just oh do good. Visit your childhood rituals, peeps - it's heaps fun passing on the childhood love.

7/366
Good Thing - Passing on your childhood rituals
This Good Thing is For : my sons...and their children, should they have any

A Year of Good Things - 3/366 - Summer

2012-01-06T20:59:00.002+11:00

It was a beautiful warm day today - tonight was the perfect pre-dusk walk along the beach. A perfect time for family time. We went up through the dunes and almost got lost - so many dead end walking tracks. We had fish and chips and ice-creams and laughed. We stole some of Logan's peppermint ice-cream. Gabriel repeated the word 'stupid' (oops) and it was windy and blustery and beautifully warm.

Sigh. I love Summer family time.

6/366
Good Things - quality family time
This Good Thing is For : my family - and for me!

A Year of Good Things - 2/366 - Twinkling Lights

2012-01-05T20:29:00.000+11:00

I love a twinkling light - yep, I sure do. It takes me back to my childhood Christmas' in Thornbury in Melbourne, Victoria. I loved those Christmas tree lights - I could spend what I thought to be hours (which is probably seconds in parent time) admiring their beauty and spirited twinkling. I loved waiting for Santa to arrive and I vividly remember being marched off to bed 'as Santa won't come unless you're asleep', only to realise it was pure daylight and I had a long night ahead of me. I have made going to bed a kind of ritual of late, making myself go much earlier than normal to just enjoy the Summer evenings, lay there to appreciate the dusk and birds chirping and also have enough time to read before ebbing into my sleep. And I have put some twinkling lights on my bedside table to say goodbye to the day with me...

A Year of Good Things - 1/366 - Choppy Chop

2012-01-04T13:10:00.002+11:00

Sometimes we forget the good in life, you know? Sometimes our days can get so busy and go so quickly that we forget to truly evaluate what was great about it and how you actually lived it. Pip is doing a series on 'A Year of Good Things' over on her blog - and while I am not one for doing this type of thing, this series truly got me thinking.

I also want this blog to be a place my sons can read and learn about what their parent's get/got up to and why.

Each and every day I look forward to my breakfast/lunch. Justin and I went primal late last year and we are not looking back, I can tell you. We try and eat grass-fed meat, free from hormones and all the other icky stuff - and as much vegetables and salads as we can. No more preservatives, no more processed food, no more wheat, sugar and no more legumes.Some sun each day and some exercise, too. We eat when we're hungry and don't stick with the breakfast, lunch and dinner thing. We eat when our bodies let us know 'hey - we need some calories here!'. Today my first meal was just after 12 midday and it was a warm salad with marinated lamp chops. Delicious. It's like your own private BBQ every day...

I am truly thankful for the food we can get and eat. I would prefer to be vegetarian, though - but when I went vege for six months I got very sick. So meat it is for me.

So - this is my good thing. Food for today - my body is very thankful for it, too!

xNess

Maggie...

2012-01-02T18:41:00.001+11:00

This is Maggie. She lives at a cafe that's a bit off the beaten track - a local haunt that can win accolades, but one surrounded by bush, nonetheless. It's a great spot for a quiet coffee with a great book or your journal. Sun, shade, quiet...this place has the lot.

Maggie's a bit picky with the food she likes, as she can pick from a divine menu. She didn't think much of the brownies, but she sure did like the lemon tart and passion fruit cake. She's obviously got good taste, methinks...

It got me thinking about how cool it would be to be a bird. To fly. To be free...well, unless you're locked up in a horrid cage somewhere. I don't like birds in cages - I regret having one as a child, to be honest. I prefer wild birds than birds as pets. That's my thought for the day...

I wonder if Maggie would agree?

xx

Slothing...

2012-01-01T20:40:00.001+11:00

I said hello to 2012 in true Ness-slothful-style. Oh heeeeeeeelllllllllllooooo, 2012. It's nice to see you here. Let's make it a great year, okay?

It's the last public holiday tomorrow - and any bet the hot cross buns will be in the supermarkets by next weekend. Shame on them, I say.

More slothing tomorrow and then it's back to work for us on Tuesday....hurrah!

xNess

Looking back...

2011-12-31T21:17:00.001+11:00

Looking back, this year has been a pivotal year, I think. It will be one of those years I will always remember - as you know there are some that just disappear into the ether. 2011 isn't one of them. We've had tremendous highs and lows of the lows. When I think of 2011 I think of my Nan passing. I think of Justin's awful fight with viral encephalitis (that is still continuing) and Gabriel's surgery at the Royal Children's Hospital to remove a coin that had lodged itself in his chest after he swallowed it. Then there's the arthritis. But then I think of all of our wonderful celebratory birthdays, the arrival of Syd-the-whippet, loving working with fabrics each and every day and the love Justin and I continue to have for each other. Even through the dark days we truly feel blessed to live where and how we do. I am also so thankful for having the loveliest Mum who continues to support us with each step in life we take. Our boys had great years at school and kindy and we move into different grades and levels next year - new challenges to excite us all.

We went to the beach this evening - I felt the need to wash 2011 away, to cleanse the end of the year to start the new one afresh. I feel a new life coming on, to be honest. Bigger and better things. New horizons. I am ready. Oh yes - I am so ready.

It's all this and that...

2011-12-29T21:15:00.001+11:00

This time of year is all family and all fun. Lots of water play and lots of slothing. We are doing the basics with the business, but we want to make sure our little ones have a fun and memorable Summer. After all - we can work any time, any day...so who wants to work now when it's Christmas and New Year? Not us. No, siree. Just a tad of work here and there - and the rest is play. As you can see, lots of time lazing on huge blow-up donuts and riding down green slides...with dancing kidlets to the side. Hurrah for Summer...hurrah for family and fun times...hurrah for life...xx

Just mine

2011-12-28T19:44:00.002+11:00

I am on the other side of Christmas and I am waiting at the door to open for 2012. I am already calling it twenty twelve. Shame how it rolls off the tongue before I even get to the year.

Christmas was lovely. Too much food. Lots of laughter. Lots of family time. Lots of lovely pressies. I am now thinking of taking the kidlets to a welfare center/soup kitchen next year to remind them of what Christmas means to some. For not everyone is as blessed in life - and I would like my kids to learn about how hard, sad and difficult life can be for some, no matter how or why they got there.

Business returned to normal today and I started on the backlog of orders that have come through in the last week. I'll continue tomorrow and Friday and will definitely have everything off by then. Hurrah for Saturday dinners and then drinks, celebrations and then toasts and midnight smooches and then slight hangovers on Sunday.

Before the year ends I have been 'spring cleaning' the house and have created a new little nook for myself. I love it. I turn the red lights on of an evening and all of a sudden the spirit and the body relaxes and I can just be. Just. Be. Me. Perfection.

Merry Christmas vintage fabric lovers!

2011-12-23T10:29:00.000+11:00

It's that time of year when we say adieu to the online world to spend as much quality time with our loved ones as possible. We are still working here at Retro Age and will continue to post when it's not a public holiday. I may pop some pics up on here - or I may not. We'll just see how everything rolls...

Merry Christmas, vintage fabric lovers! May all of your Christmas dreams come true - and may 2012 be all that you wish it to be!

Thank you for such a fantastic 2011, too - it's been another blast of a year!

xNess, Justin & boys (waiting for Santa on the firetruck to arrive, above)