Goodbye, Collectif

One of my favorite, possibly my most favorite, vintage brand has closed its doors forever.  Yes, my dear fellow vintage lovers, I am sad to share that Collectif has given up the ghost and while fashion heaven has gained an angel here on earth we are certainly feeling the loss.

There are a lot of reasons why businesses close.  It seems like Collectif truly tried to continue making beautiful clothes using mostly Cotton.  Have you noticed that everything is becoming fully to at least partially cheap synthetic fabric?  Ugh it's awful!  Which is why I really hate to see the loss of brands like this that carried so many beautiful pieces in natural fibers.

Yes, their clothes were pricey, but the quality matched and not only that, but Collectif would bring back their best styles and prints year after year, so I could get one pair of high waist jeans and wear them for a year or so and then go back and get another when I needed to instead of having to stock up on a certain style and spend a fortune all at once.

 And now, they're gone.  I'll admit to a few weeks of panic in which I was desperately scouring the internet for any new or resale pieces still out there, trying to hold on to them all.  It was a frenzied panic and I had to break myself out of it by reminding myself that if I loved it, I already owned it.  I pretty much found a way to get the things from Collectif that I really and truly wanted if at all possible or made my peace with letting them go when the store was still open.  I just needed to grieve and let go.

I'm so very grateful for all the years of wonderful styles that made me feel beautiful and I am sad so see Collectif go, but I am also excited to see who comes along next to try to fill those vintage shoes.  There are a few brands I'm keeping my eye on and I'll keep you posted, of course.  In the mean time I've also decided to go back to making my own dresses in vintage styles with whimsical novelty prints.  I've let my sewing machine rest for far too long.

So, for today's post, as we bid a fond farewell to Collectif, I thought I'd share some pics from last autumn in one of my favorite prints of theirs, and remember the good times.  Here's to you, Collectif.  You were truly one of a kind.

Outfit Info:  Collectif Pencil dress, Qupid heels

Shopping Successes

I started talking about my shopping struggles a few years ago, hoping that putting it out there would really give me some accountability or maybe even support.  Can you guess what happened instead?  People got nasty.  I shouldn't have been surprised, it's the internet after all, but it wasn't just the internet; it was in real life too.  To be fair, there were some who were supportive and encouraging, but that wasn't the end of it.  In fact, it was mostly real-life people, people who called themselves my friends, who were the first to draw blood.  Ah, people.  It's times like this that I really  can see why hoarders feel safer surrounded by towers of things rather than flesh and blood relationships.

What I learnded from that experience is this: be careful to whom you confide your stuggles.  Some people will want to help lift you up; others will use your vulnerability to gossip about you, criticise and destroy you.  I learned a long time ago that we all have problems, all of us struggle in some area, so even though it's not easy to be in the very vulnerable position of honesty about one's faults and failings, ultimately, it is a happier way to live than to be forever hiding things, but it still ok to be selective about whom we choose to reveal the honest truth about ourselves.  "That's none of your business," is a perfectly valid response to questions asked by people you do not fully trust.  To that end I realized that I haven't really talked much about what I have been doing with my struggles with shopping since then though and thought it was high time to delve into that subject once more.  

Over the past couple of years, I have tried a lot of different techniques to help me rein in my spending and haven't been 100% successful at any of them.  That's because I love clothes, like really, really love them.  Ever since I was a very little girl, in fact for as long as I can remember, I have wanted a collection of beautiful dresses.  Now I'm a collector, but there's nothing wrong with carefully curating one's collection.  I have learned that this is something I don't ever really want to let go of completely (God save me from the bland, beige, minimalist wardrobe!) but I can scale back.  I can also be kind to myself when I slip up or outright fail to refrane from spending.  

The main indicator for success at anything is when someone just keeps going, and keeps trying.  So, I keep trying and I can tell with each passing year and with every new attempt, I actually am making progress.  I have had times in my life where each day revolved around online shopping.  Now, I only indulge a few times per week and carefully track my spending.  I still spend more than I would like to, I wish the things I loved didn't cost so darn much, but they do.  

The best thing I can do, is to create a strategy for success that is firmly based in reality.  For example, a lot of the Decluttering and Minimalist Influencers talk about having a No-Buy Year.  And I thought about it, then I realized that for me, having a No-Buy Year would be like deciding to take up running by entering a marathon on day one.  I wouldn't make it; no one would.  You have to train and prepare for a long time to be ready for a marathon and someone who has spent a lot of time shopping can't just switch it off for a whole year cold-turkey.  I do think I might get there one day, but if I don't, that's ok too.   I'm only human, after all, just like those who support me and those who detract.

While I still get new things on a semi-regular basis, I have been trying to focus more on thrifted items in order to help me stay on my budget and I'm pleased to report that I've actually gone months at a time now without buying anything at all and that's huge because I wasn't white knuckling it the whole time, I just wasn't interested in buying anything.  I think the reason, more than anything, is that I am really just feeling at peace with myself right now, not out of control, guilt-ridden, or self-hating, but truly at peace with myself, faults and all including my spending, but also with my place in life, my job, the whole lot.  That is pretty amazing and it inspires me to keep going.

Outfit Info: Dear creatures dress thrifted from ThredUp

Unpublished PinUp

Taking a break from home renovation posts, because well...we are still working and nothing has been finished so that I can post about it.

Sometimes a photo shoot goes so well that I have more photos than I could ever possibly use in a single post.  It is a rare occurrence, but it certain did happen on this particular shoot and so I decided to save these pics for a little closer to autumn since they have such a fall earthiness to them. 

What an amazing and unusual year it has been.  It never ceases to amaze me how if I had thought back to this time last year I never would have imagined all the things that have come to pass.  Life has such a funny way of surprising us.

But, here we are at autumn again and the year has gone by so quickly while being full to the brim with new challenges.  I can't say it has been easy or even very enjoyable at times, but it has always been challenging and I have tried to be thankful through it all.

I won't say more than that, I'll just let these previously unpublished pics speak for themselves.

Prepping for the Weather and the Holidays

By now, all the gifts should be got, all the halls should be decked, and it's time to gather to celebrate this highest of holidays, Christmas.  Our Christmas is most definitely white this year, which hasn't happened around here since I was a very little girl.  We typically have snow for Valentine's Day, not Christmas, so in a way this is a real treat.  In another way, it brings a little foreboding because along with the snow usually comes the ice, broken water lines, and power outages.  That means before we can sit back and enjoy the snow, we have to prepare.

As I sit here watching the snow falling, I am reminded of how my mother used every snow day as an excuse for a full-on floor boards to ceiling scouring of our house.  We all had to help and I never understood why.  It seemed to me if we were going to be trapped indoors for days on end with nothing else to do, that was the perfect time to clean.  My mom was of the opinion that if all the chores were done, we could enjoy the snow in comfort or perhaps be freed up for other chores, like melting snow if the water lines busted or cooking hot dogs over an open fire in our rickety fort if the electricity went out.  Those sorts of things sound like fun, but took all day for very little pay off.  I always half-assumed that the possible impending doom was just an excuse to force us to do chores instead of playing in the snow, but as an adult, I find myself repeating those same words with just as much emphasis as mom said to us every time it snowed, "Let's hurry and clean up before it snows!"

This morning, I looked around and thought things looked good enough.  I sat down and tried to do some work, but by 8:00 a.m. as the snow began falling, I knew it was no good.  I had to get up and clean.  Whether I've just been trained or it's an instinct, I'll never know, but I had a burst of energy that I rarely experience in mid-life that allowed me to do a day's worth of chores in only a few hours.

I am writing this post from the comfort of my armchair next to the fire.  School has let out for the holiday break and work has been canceled for the storm.  I've spent the morning giving the house a thorough cleaning, mom would be proud, and have vegetable stew in the crockpot, a fresh loaf bread and chocolate chip cookies cooling next to the oven.  The animals' houses have all been loaded with extra bedding on the inside, and insulated on the outside to keep out this below freezing north wind.   We never know if these storms will pass quietly or if they will bring mayhem, but at least this one area of our lives is peaceful and orderly, and maybe that's what mom knew all those years ago.  It's easier to weather the chaos of the storms outside when  inside is tidy and calm.  So, where ever you are, in whatever weather, I wish you a peaceful and bright Christmas surrounded by as much love and joy as possible making memories that will warm your heart even on the coldest days.  

Shopping Info:  Pleated Bust Short Sleeve Pencil Dress-£35 from Voodoo Vixen

Re-Vamped

My love of vintage under garments logically led me to corsetry and I dearly hoped to have a corset of my own, even contacting the lovely people at What Katie Did to inquire about sizing, but all to no avail.  It seems that corsets are not made for my measurements.  Since I failed to find a corset that could accommodate my proportions, I've had to make do with buying a cheap Vamp corset and tailoring it myself.  

A Vamp corset if you're unfamiliar with the term is an extremely curvaceous fit, squeezing inches off the waist to create an hourglass shape.  The trouble is that if your measurements are not quite right, you'll end up with gaps around the hips or under the bust.  I chose a corset that extends from my shoulder blades all the way down over my hips and then proceeded to sew sections together where there were gaps around my hips and back.  What's the purpose of all this effort, you may ask?  Is it worth it or necessary?

Of course it's not necessary and it's worth it to me as a project, just to see if I can.  I love the way my shape can totally transform from pear to hourglass.  With just the pull of a couple of strings I suddenly fill out my wiggle dresses just like those vintage bombshells I admire so much.

While I'm not sure I would want to wear this corset daily or even weekly, fashion does involve a little experimentation, so why not try something and keep trying until you find something that works for you, even if that means getting out a needle and thread and painstakingly hand tailoring it yourself.

Shopping info:  Dress from Collectif, vamp corset from Poshmark