The Charleston Museum

Today I actually left the house and didn't end up at either Costco OR Walmart. It was the most amazing thing. Due to the fact that my car is totaled, I must be driven around by my mother in a rental car (which one cannot drive legally under 25 years old, evidently.) So whenever I can actually get out of the house I am grateful, and today I was even more so because I got to visit downtown Charleston. So what did I do there? I went to the first museum in America.

It. 

Was.

Awesome.

Reasons why this is so:

1. They have a pretty sweet collection of revolutionary war artifacts (for obvious reasons)

2. They have an even sweeter collection of fossils/skeletons, including a Moa from New Zealand.

3. They have a really bitching collection of 18th - 20th century textiles and fashion plates.

4. They have a nice little selection of antique clothing you can try on, mind you they clothes are very old, smelly and tattered. but still awesome.

5. (possibly the best of all) THEY HAVE A PIANO GEORGE FUCKING GERSHWIN RENTED! (p.s. that is his given name.) 

Take a look-see.

Gorgeous shaw type thing.

Really pretty embroidery on the bum area of this coat. 

An Update of Insignificant Proportions

Howdy Y'all,

Things on the home front have been busy and hectic and I haven't really had a chance to get my thoughts together enough to compose a good post, but alas I am going to at least say "hi" and Happy New Year! And I hope all of you have made promises you cant keep but somehow become the people you want to be anyway. Jocularities. But seriously, if you did make resolutions I hope they are positive and attainable and that your every hope and dream may come to be reality.

Here are a few of my "resolutions" (but really I am just making lists of things I can improve so that I feel a little more alive now that I'm living on a very isolated little island)
- Take more photos
- Pet the cat
- Learn to bake something new (at least) bimonthly
- Learn a shit-ton more about film and history
- Write a fan letter to Robert Osbourne
- Sew only what needs to be sewn (meaning of "needs" is flexible)
- Paint my nails more often
- Got to more museums and libraries
- Meet attractive Citadel Boys (just sayin.)
- Learn how to play the ukulele properly.
- Reread The Hobbit before the film comes out
- Read more, in general (psht as if that's going to happen)
- Floss
and most importantly (but not really, because, frankly I think flossing is probably the most important thing on that list) Do more outfit posts on le blog!

So... to attempt to begin fulfilling one resolution, I give you todays attire:

1940s black velvet hat I got in Cardiff, Wales for something like 12 pounds.
1950s (I believe) blouse I got as a gift from my sister.
Black skirt handmedown from my aunt.

And then me and my little Brownie camera which I adore. I mostly just put this one up because you can kind of see how I did my hair (as in: not down for once!)

Happy days are here again!
Cheers,
Gracie

'Tisn't the Season...

But I've got swimwear on the brain. I know. I'm nuts because it's January blahblahblah, but really it makes sense. It has been getting well into the 70s (Fahrenheit) here for the past few weeks and despite being in the northern hemisphere, I feel quite like it's summer time. I almost like it.

Either way, I decided to share some of my swim wear inspiration, just in case you plan on popping down here or down under (as it's hot in both cases) for a dip or lounging around the beach (as I do.. haha not. I would die.) and because I am going to make a new suit (even though it is FINALLY going to get kind of cold this week tomorrow... of course).

I think I know what I want to do, but feel free to share which are your favorite, you may sway me out of my decision. 

p.s. I have made three swim suits of my own previously (Okay... it's 2 and a half. One was a ill-fitting black one piece I cut and altered. You'll see them at the end of this post, just so ya know.)

p.p.s I sincerely apologize for not giving credit where it is due in terms of sources. I am a jackass for not taking note, but what else can I say?

The Littlest (and Last) Bit of London (as well as Oxford and Blenheim Palace)

Ill talk to y'all soon, I swear it.

For now:

A Little Bit of London - The Wallace Collection

It's... Well... Just... I .. ugh just look at the pictures and then multiply all of the beauty and awesomeness by 1000 and you will have some understanding of this adventure.

A Little Bit of London - The Imperial War Musuem

So, London was my first stop on my three week trip to the United Kingdom.  I stayed in a nice, little (...ish) hostel in Swiss Cottage which made for a lovely daily commute on the tube to the center of the city. My first full day there I spent almost entirely at the Imperial War Museum. It was so fantastic, I cannot even explain it so here are some low quality pictures (thanks to my fancy new iphone thinger) to help assist you in understanding. I only took photos of the Children's War, the 1940s House and bits of the WWI and WWII  exhibits, but there is so much more there. If you get a chance you should definitely go, unless anything related to wars or other significant world events doesn't interest you.

Meet Me in the U.kayyyU.kayy

Yes, I was trying to get you to sing "the U.K." like "St. Louis" in a Meet Me in St. Louis -esque way. Congrats to you if you did this with out my helpful hint. 


Anyway, tomorrow I am to ship off for England. I will be in and around London, Oxford and Bath for my first week or so, so if any of you who are in those areas would like to meet up with me and possibly Emily (depending on her school work) please feel free to contact us! I would love to meet other vintage bloggers and get tips from any of you about the location, shopping, museums and all that good stuff. Oh and food, of course. Always food. And maybe drinks, too. We'll see.


In the meantime, I'm still panicking a little bit about my passport, which my mother found TODAY (not however many weeks ago I asked her to) and when I looked at it this morning I saw that it expired last June. Apparently adults get 10 years of use and minors (I was 14 at the time) get half that, but she had did not know this and thought mine would be good another five years. Excellent, right? So, I am going to try to get one tomorrow for a big, stupid fee. I am mad and even more stressed out now. But at least you can see passport photo...

Exciting, isn't it?


I'll let you know if I actually make it across the world, but let us pretend I will.


So long farewell,  auf wiedersehen, good night,
xx Geezer.