The Bill Elliot Swing Orchestra at the Historic Fox Theatre in Pomona
Dance to the Amazing Bill Elliot Swing Orch. at the historic Art Deco Fox Theatre! It'll be like stepping right into the 1940's! Dine and Dance at this fundraiser to help preserve this historic landmark! http://www.pomonafox.org/
Saturday April 28th
The 17th Annual Uptown Whittier Spring Antique Faire
Antiques, Vintage, Contests, Food, Fun and more!! Come down to the Annual Spring Antique Faire!! Enjoy the entertainment, the crowd and all that vintage!! You never know what treasure you'll find for a steal!
Sunday April 29th
2012 Smiths/Morrissey Convention
The 2012 Smiths Morrissey convention is here!! Dance and enjoy 6 full hours of non stop Smiths and Moz!! Djs, Bands, Contests, Giveaways, Merchandise and more!! I'll be sure to see you there!!
Here is a small clip I shot at last years convention of the always popular and amazing These Charming Men!
Here is some footage I shot at the 2010 convention at the early hours of the morning when the crowd that's left is dancing.
Jukebox Jumping & Bloody Sundays at Vertigo's Nightclub
Rockabilly and 80's!! Is that not a perfect combo? Presenting every Sunday night at Vertigo's nightclub in Downtown LA. Featuring Live DJ's, Bands and much more! Plus it's 18 & up!
Richard Halpren's Hollywood Cavalcade at the Cicada Club
It's time for another night of Richard Halpren's Hollywood Cavalcade!! Dine, Dance and Listen to tunes of the 1920's and 1930's, with special guests and performers you'll never know who'll stop by! Get you're Charleston on!
(I posted a clip of the last Hollywood Cavalcade I attended, You can catch me dancing at 51:06 hahaha with my lovely friend the "San Francisco Song Bird', Mikal Sandoval! I'm wearing the coral evening gown!)
Here's just a recent outfit post! This is my ensemble for the Vintage fashion Expo this past Sunday!
I wanted something fun and kind of casual since I wasn't planning on staying that long and I was in a rush. I really love the print of my blouse it's soo vintage looking, but it's totally new! As for my hair I decided to do some victory rolls, I'm not too experienced doing victory rolls I always think they look weird on me. Like the roll on my side is too small, but oh well it's a roll none the less.
It's been awhile but here are some events that I will surely be attending and I think you'll like to attend them too!
Friday December 23, 2011
Valerie's Boulevard Vintage Shop
Huge Store Sale
Come check out this relatively new cute vintage shop in Whittier, CA. They have great items and at amazing prices!! They specialize in 1950's but carry garments from the 1940's -1960's for Women and Men. I've bought a lovely Sapphire Blue Taffeta Late 1950's dress from them that I wore for a very special event (I'll be talking about that soon), and I only got it for $25!! Many beauty queens and pin ups have flocked to this shop. So this sale should not be missed!! Who knows you may find that last minute Holiday or New Year's dress you've been waiting for!!
Sweet and Tender Hooligans & Strangelove Show
at The House of Blues in Anahiem
A promotional video
I've totally waited for something like this to happen, it's a match made in tribute band heaven!! My two very favorite and some of the most beloved tribute bands around are coming together for a show on Christmas Eve-Eve at the House of Blues in Anaheim located at Downtown Disney, near Disneyland!! The Sweet and Tender Hooligans are an amazing Smiths and Morrissey tribute band well Strangelove is a phenomenal Depeche Mode tribute band!! These boys put all the effort and talent into this to guarantee you an unforgettable show!! So if you're a Smiths and DM fan this is a show not to be missed! I'm super excited and I can't wait!! It's a perfect christmas gift to myself and a great way to end the year.
*Ticket's are going fast, and it's sure to sell out get them while you can!*
My mom recently told me about this new thrift/ antique store in the neighborhood. So when I got out of school the other day we went together to take a look. I ended up buying these:
My brand new, or like new stereo! Isn't it lovely and ohh so retro! I only payed $25 which I thought was a great deal. It has a AM/FM radio and a turntable. I needed a new record player, my 1970's/ early 1980's compact one was taking up a lot of space in my room and wasn't so easy to carry or pretty to look at.
I spotted this vintage hair comb and broach hidden in the display case. They're soo lovely. I don't know exactly what decade they're from, but you can tell those flowers were made by hand, and the colors are lovely! I purchased the both of them for only $3.
I also found just what I've been looking for! A straw boater hat with a black band and bow!! I wasn't even looking for it and voila! I can't wait to wear it! If it was the perfect one it would be slightly smaller, so I can perch it right at the top and tilt it over my forehead. But this is just as good and only $4!
I think this has become a new favorite place of mine, the shop is little and there isn't a lot of gems but I really like it. It's close to home and only about a five minute walk down the street. They had a couple of things I wanted, but had no room for like these:
I really wanted this teal colored antique mirror and vintage 1950's/ 1960's lime green (in practically new condition) separating sofas! If I had my own storage unit, I'd buy everything up and save it for when I finally have my own place, I wish!
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I found this very good, much needed, stress reducing and life saving Wolf Form dress form at a local furniture thrift store. I snagged it for only $200, and boy was that a deal considering the average price of a Wolf Form is over $600!! Also I needed it in a hurry at the time I was draping a dress and finishing at school was becoming hard. So now I finally have my own form and I brought that store some business! Because my friends got the remainder of the dress forms, haha!
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Also, about 2 months ago I did this school interview/survey thingy and to compensate for my time they gifted me with a $40 dollar gift card for Amazon. This is what I bought:
"Everyday Fashions of The Forties As Pictured in the Sears Catalog" and "Mad Men The Illustrated World". I've been dying to get my hands on that 40's Sears Catalog book since I checked one out at the library a couple of years ago, now it's mine! It's filled with tons of amazing Black and White photographs of every type of clothing you can think of from the 40's for Men, Women and Children they even include accessories!
The Mad Men book I first spotted in a book store a while back and I thought it was the cutest and funniest thing ever! And being a fan of the show (even though I haven't seen every season or episode) I just had to have it! It has tips on how to dress, office etiquette, how to make a cocktail and what to do incase of a nuclear attack! Oh and awesome paper dolls! The images are really cute!
This section will sure come in handy for my 21st birthday! haha
It was my first time going the the Uptown Whittier Antique Faire and I'd have to say it was quite good! There were a lot of deals, a ton of jewelry, knick knacks, furniture and clothes too! I made off with quite a few items that I've really been wanting. My only regret though was not buying a fox fur stole for only $25!! I've been wanting one soo bad! I know it's fur and I'm an animal lover, but if it's been dead for over 40 years I'm okay with it, plus it didn't have a head on it or anything. I some how convinced myself that I didn't need more fur, but one can never have too much fur!!
Some items at the faire
My outfit for the day; I received plenty of wonderful compliments! The dress used to be my mother's in the late 1970's, now it's mine! I paired it with my 1940's hat from Bullocks that I bought at a thrift store for only $6!! Talk about a steal!
Myself and my lovely friend and fellow ReVamp intern Ariana! She's Miss Uptown Whittier!! A very lovely Miss Uptown I would say. She also designs and makes a lot of her ensembles, like this lovely Black and White frock.
My lovely new Vintage Black Patent Leather handbag! I needed a new one my favorite one broke, so this is much bigger, which is great for carrying extras. I believe it's 1960's and it was only $10.
Two new hats!! I purchased both for $20, the Forest Green one is 40's I love it!! It's velour and it has a thin netting draped on the sides. The Red one is early 60's, it's such a cute little Boater hat with a bow and birdcage netting.
I didn't only get myself something I surprised my brother Angel, with a 1940's tie and vintage flask! He's been wanting both, especially the flask (mind you he's only 17). He wants it more for joking around as to use for underage drinking, haha he said I'm allowed to use it anytime. Oh and those are two vintage hair curlers that I bought for my grandma. She recently lost her hair curler that she had since she was 16, she uses it to curl her eyelashes so I bought her these two as a surprise.
(all photos by. Victoria Inez Rivera)
1939's The Women Birthday Party
(April 30, 2011)
I was invited to my fabulous friend Ashley's brilliantly themed 1939 "The Women" birthday party!! Held on the glamourous historic Art Deco luxury ocean liner the Queen Mary. All us ladies were asked and encouraged to dress as a character from the film, guys were invited too but since there was no men in the film they can come as there own glamourous selves.
The 1939 original trailer, not the crappy remade version with Meg Ryan! This has got to be the original chick flick! Comedy, drama, cattiness, fashion and an all star female cast!! It's a must see, especially since the entire wardrobe is Adrian, including a technicolor fashion show in the film!
Check out these dames!! The birthday girl is in the center with the biggest grin! She's so sweet and I must say on of the most glamourous women I know, I'm always so envious of her outfits and accessories. You can find a lot of her items or findings for sale on her etsy shop:
With my friend Lauren and the birthday girl herself. Lauren was "Peggy" (played by Joan Fontaine), Ashely was "Sylvia" (played by Rosalind Russell) I soo wanted to be Sylvia, she's hilarious and she has the best wardrobe, but there wouldn't have been a better Sylvia than Ashley she even had the eye blouse!!! I wanted it soo bad, I forgot to ask her if it was an Adrian original. I was stuck on just who to be, I thought about being "Lucy" (you know the owner on that divorce ranch in Reno), but at the last minute I decided to be a background character. You remember those fitting room girls wearing black dresses with their updos? I was one of them, my friend Ashley knew who I was as soon as she saw me! A couple of friends told me "Do you know you have a measuring tape around your neck?" haha
Here's a fitting room scene, she the fitting girls wearing black in the background.
Some of us gals going crazy! My friend Sari on the left was "Crystal" (played by Joan Crawford) I loved her dress it was to die for! Other lovely ladies, lysbett wore this awesome powder pink late 50's matching coat and dress with ostrich feather trim and Jayde owner of Bell Jar Vintage wore her grandmother's late 1930's wedding dress!!
Me and my always dashing, dapper and handsome friend Andre.
Me and my friend 'The San Francisco Song Bird' Mikal Sandoval showing off our gams! As she likes to call it I'm her "Hotcha Muchacha" I love it!!
My brother Angel, looking very snazzy wearing that new tie I got him!!
Sipping away on a cocktail with "Jungle Red" nails haha! My dress is early 40's, I bought it at a friend's yard sale over a year ago for $25 and my 40's clutch though you can barely see it I also bought at the same yard sale for $5.
(all photos by. Angel Rivera)
2011 Smiths/ Morrissey Convention (May 1, 2011)
Well this year's convention was quite eventful and an actual Smith showed up, the placed was packed like crazy, These Charming Men put on an awesome show, I met old friends, made new ones and met a blog fan! And I never thought I would be dancing to David Bowie's "Fame" at a Moz convention (not that it was a bad thing). To be honest I had fun, just not as much fun as I would have liked too. Being that it was so packed the dance floor was really cramped and really really sticky eww, the song selections weren't as good, I didn't get any free items this time. But that won't stop me from going again next year!
The dance floor
These Charming Men!! Even though I've said The Sweet and Tender Hooligans are the best Smiths/ Moz tribute band, I think it's correct to say they are the best in the US, but These Charming Men would be best foreign tribute band being that they are from Ireland. Their singer was a great Moz and swung those gladiolas perfectly!
Richard Blade with Andy Rourke of The Smiths
People went mad for these raffled off banners, they ended up having a dance contest which I found myself in. I personally didn't want a banner, but this guy I met earlier that night begged me to be his dance partner he really wanted a banner. I wonder if he won? haha
Do you see that (what is it a Smiths single?) up in the left corner? It has Montgomery Clift on it!! Could it be any more perfect! I want it!! I just wasn't willing to pay the $60.
Me and my friends that I met up with later in the night
Literally as soon as I walked in the club, a stranger approached me and asked if I was Victoria. With confusion I said yes. He then asked if I was the "Victoria Vintage Girl", "Yes!" I exclaimed. I had just met a blog fan of mine for the first time! Englebert (or is it Ingelbert?) is a big Morrissey fan and had never heard about the convention until he read my blog, he thought he would check it out and had told his wife he had hoped to meet me. I was so thrilled, I hope they had a wonderful time at their first convention. (Remember Englebert you can find me on Facebook)
(all photos by. Victoria Inez Rivera)
Here's a video shot by my Facebook friend and huge Moz fan, Jay Tando of the 2011 Smiths/Morrissey Convention. The Fan interviews are a lot of fun, very interesting and oh so relatable.
The other day I was browsing through O Magazine, Oprah Winfrey's own publication and noticed a spread titled "O, Yes You Can!" featuring different women at different ages showing off unexpected style choices at their age. I was soo thrilled this lovely women was featured. Embracing the Vintage/ Retro look! The woman featured is 29 year old Jennifer McClain who is a sales diector of the NYC based vintage store What Goes Around Comes Around. The article says not only does she wear the clothes, she lives the lifestyle: "My apartment is furnished with antiques, and I organize my closet by decade, I love playing dress up every day." There have been so many times when people and myself why do you dress like this especially at your age? Because I want too! haha Well I've received many more positives then negatives. I have a friend at school who calls me Granny Goose because of my "granny" style and taste haha but I love my nickname! I think it really is wonderful that we have more people females and males who are embracing this classic style. I think it's much more accepted today then say maybe 20 years ago, even though the 1990's had a huge retro revival. With hit shows like Mad Men (which was a blessing), vintage becoming trendy, and today's vintage/ retro style and burlesque queen Dita Von Teese they all have helped I think bring more of an interest and acceptance of vintage retro style. However there is a time and a place for everything regardless of age. I know if I was going to something like a serious job interview I wouldn't want to necessarily go like I completely stepped out of a time capsule, I might want to tone it down a little ( I know I have days were I look more contemporary then usual). Also I think age plays a factor how old should you be or allowed to dress like this? Well to each his own, if you want to more power too you. In fact I had a couple of friends tell me there was an episode of the tv show "What Not To Wear" were two stylists make over someone who's wardrobe is deemed horrible by friends and/ or family and our in desperate need of a makeover. I'm familiar with the show, and on this episode they were making over a 47 year old woman who was a big vintage collector. Now I haven't seen this episode, but they did get rid of her wardrobe which is sad, however her ensembles she came up with were quite questionable. ( Frankly I think she looked much better after. I think that her age has a lot to do with it.)
It's like a love/ hate relationship with the show, sometimes they just take away peoples uniqueness, and I love that Oprah's magazine embraced it! Plus I love that they gave little tips if you want to hop on the retro bandwagon, which are very helpful: "When looking to capture a specific era or style, the key is in the details, from the print on [McClain's] a dress to [her] carefully coordinated jewelry, hat, belt, gloves and shoes."
* Start with small doses. You can pair vintage costume jewelry with jeans and a tee. Gradually work up to more pieces, like a scarf, hat or skirt.
*Pay attention to fabrics. Clothes from the '20s were often made of thin silk and tend not to preserve well. Later decades incorporated synthetics like rayon, which drape nicely. (Ignore sizing- a 14 then might be a 6 now.)
"People think I dress like Mad Men characters. Nope, just my outfit today!"
I love it! That's happened to me plenty of times, (funny thing one time I was on set of where Mad Men was shooting and one of the techie guys thought I was an extra haha) and I'm sure it's happened to you too!
Isn't this blog suppose to talk about fashion? Haha I haven't done that much or even put up an outfit post in a very long time! So like the inevitable procrastinator that I am, here are the past outfits (worthy of or ones that I only could snap photos) of 2010. Starting with the most recent (December 2010) to the oldest. I don't think I'll describe each one, I'll give a little snippet. But I can guarantee you that in every outfit there is something thrifted and vintage. All of these outfits are just my everyday work and school outfits, except the one taken at night that was for a small cocktail party. I'd have to say my favorite outfit of 2010 had to be the 10th photo, that was the most simplistic, comfortable and it could be dressed up and dressed down in an instant. Sorry for the very glamourous bathroom mirror photos, I hate having to ask someone to snap my photo, plus by the time I leave home my 'personal photographer' aka my brother has left for school.
Does my outfit look okay? haha
This dress used to be my mothers back in the late 1970's
With my coat
Without my coat
You can't tell but I'm wearing one of my favorite 1940's hats!
I was in a 1960's mood
Most likely my favorite outfit of 2010
My brother says "It looks like a luau exploded onto you." haha I love bright colors!
I've owned this blouse since the 5th grade; it fits much better now haha
