Lipstick on Your Collar...

All of you Mad Men fans out there are probably familiar with the Clorox ad that was created for the show’s second season DVD. The ad features a lipstick mark on the collar of a Draper-style white shirt. The headline says Clorox has been "getting ad guys out of hot water for generations."

Well, back in 1959 Connie Francis had a hit song about a guy who was in hot water because of a telltale lipstick stain...

Here's adorable Connie and "Lipstick on Your Collar." Sorry the sound quality is occasionally spotty - but I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing Connie singing live.

I haven't been running into very many men lately who have inspired me to leave my own lipstick mark. But a girl's gotta be prepared for that possibility down the road...

I adore the vintage lipstick case I currently own (a $1 find at an estate sale) - mainly because it's so practical. The enamel decoration has a texture that makes it easy to find in an overstuffed purse. But it's definitely seen better days.

I deserve something a bit more glamorous - don't you think?  So, I did a bit of shopping on Etsy and eBay, and discovered a wonderful world of vintage lipsticks, cases and vanity holders.   If money were no object, here are a few that I'd be drooling over.

Ornate Vintage 1950's Vanity Set, Lipstick Holder - Etsy: ShesFancy

Vintage Florenza Vanity Set - Lipstick Holder and Match Holder - Etsy: EyeCandyAntiques

Vintage Josef Original Young Lady Lipstick Holder - eBay: MauiGirl

2 Vintage Lipstick Cases, Red, Gold, Black Design (Made in Italy) - Etsy: LucillesAttic

SALE Vintage Rhinestone Lipstick Case with Beveled Mirror and Coty Lipstick - Etsy: SugarPopVintage

Vintage Nite Club Lipstick in Box, Tempting Red, J.R. Watkins - eBay: Suvee77 

Vintage Lipstick Tube Container Lot Revlon Coty Bishop - eBay: T-Time2005

Rare Purse Set by Ann Jackson Originals -1950s - Etsy: MomsVintageTreasures

Fabulous Vintage Ciner Compact and Lipstick Set Lots Of Rhinestones - Etsy: Compactastic

Princess Pat Vintage Lipstick Attached to Selling Card - eBay: Lonestar1845

Vintage Enesco Teen Girl on Phone Lipstick Holder Figurine - eBay: Vintage_Vanity

Lipstick Hanky with Kitty - Etsy: CarpeBellus

>Vintage Revlon Cosmetics Advertising Pin - Etsy: BunnyRabbitVintage

So...are you drooling yet?  Which one is your favorite?

My favorites: the Revlon Advertising Pin!  Also the lineup of Revlon, Coty and Bishop lipstick tubes.  Why? Because I can imagine an intriguing collection of vintage lipsticks displayed on a pretty shelf above my bedroom vanity - and at just $7.99 (opening bid) this would be a thrifty way to get started on the collection.   But I'm not planning to bid - so grab it for yourself if you'd like!

Enjoy your weekend!  And don't forget - Valentine's Day is just around the corner... 

Make sure those luscious lips of yours are ready for a little action. :-)

Trumpet Advance Lip Flexibilities - Etsy: AnotherWomansTreasur

The Color of Love

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon (probably shouldn't be, but I've chosen to make it that way) and I've been having some fun collecting vintage fashion images that make me smile.

In honor of Valentine season, I bring you...
The Lady in Red

Vogue - January 1953

- from a 1959 issue of Vogue,  herecomesthesky

1940's Carnival Chalkware - Snow White  (from my collection)

Pictorial Review magazine, April 1933  (from my collection)

Late 1950's "Plastichrome" Postcard    (from my collection)

Illustrator, Gil Elvgren - via Coca Cola Art Gallery

Vintage Coca-Cola ad - via PictureStore

sparkling vintage Coca-Cola ad, via The Mad Jewess

Hope you all have a little red dress, or a little red something that makes you happy when you wear it...

Have a lovely week,

Sarsaparilla

Short Post Therapy...and an Antique Lacy Fan Valentine

I just got home from work a bit ago, opened a bottle of merlot (after a 5-minute struggle with a way-too-complicated corkscrew) and poured myself a hefty glass to celebrate.  Yay!  I'm so HAPPY that it's Friday!  Aren't you too?!!

I wasn't going to write to you today because all of the creative post ideas that I had floating around in my head involved way too much writing & research & photos.  And it wore me out just thinking about it! 

I realize that my tendency to write looong posts is a wee bit neurotic. So today I am practicing Short Post Therapy.

All you're going to get from me today are some highlights of my week...

** I've been taking Yoga (vinyasa power yoga) classes twice a week for the past month, and yesterday my yoga instructor (who is about half my age) remarked how flexible I was.  Flexible? Moi?  I was beaming. You see, I used to be very flexible as a teeny bopper, but I never expected that I could get it back after all these years. Yoga is really good for the soul!

** I have signed up for Apron Thrift Girl's "Reseller's Listing Challenge."  Me (and 29 other vintage sellers, so far) have set listing goals for the month of February.  My goal is to list 10 items a week (or 40 a month) on eBay and/or Etsy.  This will truly be a challenge for me - but I'm doing great so far...

** My daughter had generously given me a $50 Trader Joe's gift certificate for Christmas, and on Tuesday I went on a little shopping trip.  Because it was a gift, I decided to only buy splurge items that I wouldn't normally buy for myself - interesting cheeses and spreads and crackers and desserts.  I've been in food heaven these past few days.  This was the best gift, Rachel - thank you!

** I actually pulled myself out of my cave on Wednesday and went out with a good friend that I hadn't seen in months.  After a yummy Italian risotto dinner, we went to a north Minneapolis bar to do a bit of karaoke (him, not me).  Very fun!

And finally...
Because it's February (Love Month) and because I'm a romantic fool...I thought I'd share photos of a favorite early 1900's Valentine from my collection.

"...To wish that sweet and fair as spring

Thy future life might be"

Isn't that sweet? 

Okay, so this post wasn't quite as short as I thought it was going to be.  Clearly more therapy is needed! 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Anyone have interesting plans?  When you stop by, I'd love to hear what you've been up to.

Catch you later,
"Sarsaparilla" Susan

Failed Resolutions, Etsy Love, and The Aqua Velva Man

It's January 30 already, and the coldest month of the year for Minnesotans is almost over! Yay! 

So, I'm curious... How are y'all doing on those New Year's resolutions that you shared at the beginning of the month?

I'm afraid that I'm not doing too well with my "Social Butterfly" goal - or my goal of losing 10 lbs. by March.

I feel a bit like the plump lady in this 1920's cartoon from The New Yorker...

It's not that I truly "wish to be alone."  I just haven't managed to find a way to fit in an active social life along with the two main after-work activities which suck up enormous amounts of my time:  blogging (and reading/commenting on other blogs) and selling on eBay & Etsy.

Those of you who have full time jobs AND blog AND sell in a shop AND manage to have a social life too - PLEASE tell me how you do it?

I feel like I'm always trying to wear too many hats at once, and it's not a pretty sight...



I'm a bit of a perfectionist (just a wee bit) and it pains me that I'm not able to devote the time necessary to looking marvelous in each of the hats that I'm wearing. 

So I'm often tempted to just say - the hell with it! - and let them all topple over and fall to the ground.  (You perfectionists out there - and I know there are plenty in BlogLand - you know what I'm talking about, don't you?)

Hey, thanks for letting me blow off a little steam.  I don't mean to be so negative.  Actually, there are some Things In My Life That Are Going Well Right Now...

1) I'm LOVING being an empty nester.  I was lonely for about 10 minutes - and after I got that out of my system, I have just been really truly enjoying my FREEDOM.

2) Etsy, Etsy, Etsy...How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...  Oh, how I adore selling on Etsy!  It's the best thing since sliced bread.  It's a perfect companion to eBay for me - and I want to thank all of you for nudging me to start selling there.

3) I've been graced with some lovely blog awards recently (thank you La Dama, Piroska, and Lady Cherry!) and am having fun coming up with a little list of bloggers that I'd like to pass the awards on to.  I'm a big procrastinator, though, so don't hold your breath for that.  In the meantime, take a peek at Lady Cherry's clever awards post:  A Night At the BLOscars.  She's so witty!

4) I've been doing the online dating thing for the past month, and...  Wait a minute, how did this slip into my list of things that are going well?  Online dating - Ugh!   To be honest, I have been a big fan of online dating in the past and have even had some success with it (short-term, obviously) - but lately the crop of interesting men seems to have dwindled.  Maybe it's just me - guess my heart isn't in it. 

Or maybe it's just that I'm still looking for this man...

"Ice Blue" Aqua Velva ad - Look magazine - December 11, 1956

I keep forgetting that the Aqua Velva Man has aged a bit.
And so have I. 

Happy Sunday!  Hope you enjoy the rest of your week.  I promise to put on my Blog Reading hat and find some time to stop by and visit soon!

Sears Roebuck 1938 Catalog...Glorious Colors "Good Enough To Eat"

Last week I promised you that my next post would bring you some SPRING - and I am a woman of my word!  

The Sears Roebuck 1938 Spring & Summer Catalog is bursting with glorious colors, prints and springtime fashions. 

Silk Print fabrics are featured above...and a variety of Rayon textures & weaves are pictured below...

Look at all of the varieties of "Celanese Rayon":  Sharkella, Sharkskin, Faconne, Pebble Crepe, Crepe Romaine, Satin Crepe...and "Sweet As Sugar"!  Wouldn't it be fun to have a few samples of each - so that when you came across a vintage dress you could say with confidence, "Aha! This must be Sharkella!"

Have any of you started a collection of vintage fabric samples?  Finding different samples would be challenge enough - but I would think that figuring out exactly what it is that you've got would be much trickier!  

Another fun research project:  identifying what colors & color names were popular, year by year...

 

These two "Ice Cream Color" dresses were photographed in black & white...

...but they came in four ice cream shades: "Pistache" (Lido Aqua 901); "Strawberry" (Pink 525); "Vanilla" (White); and "Lemon Ice" (Maize 705)

Isn't that long zipper in the second dress fun? It begins at the neckline and goes all the way down to the hemline!

The first dress not only comes in four ice cream shades, but also two choices of fabric: Celanese Rayon Sharkella and "Star-Shan," a shantung effect spun rayon.

That year - 1938 - Sears included a Color Chart in the back of the book - so that a potential buyer would know what the clothing color names looked like:

These six "Mediterranean" colors highlighted in the corner of the chart were hot that year...

And these are the four "ice cream" colors available in the dresses above:

basic "Vanilla" (white), and...

"Pistache" (Lido Aqua 901)

"Strawberry" (Pink 525)

...and "Lemon Ice" (Maize 705)

L

I'm not sure I'd find a bowl of ice cream in those colors all that appealing - but the fashions are certainly yummy!

Here are four more dresses in the Sears 1938 Spring/Summer Catalog - and these were photographed in Glorious Color!

I've said this before...  I enjoy the colorful "vintage" language used in the catalog descriptions just as much as the vintage fashions.

The dress above is shown in one of the ice cream colors - Lemon Ice (Maize 705).  Can you imagine this two-piece dress for just $2.98!  And it came with a scarf too!

Buttons & Bows, Flowers & Lace, all in one perky dress!  It makes me smile...

More bows and buttons in this "corselet" dress!  I like the Wine and Aqua color contrast.

The first dress in the black & white "ice cream" photo above was available in "Star-Shan."  Well, this dress fabric is called "Sun-Shan"!  I love the names they gave to fabrics back then...

Here's a full length illustration of each of the four dresses modeled above - plus another view of the hats.  Which dress do you like best? 

I'm partial to the first one in Lemon Ice. And I want the whole outfit - 2-piece dress, scarf, striped purse & hat!  I'm going to fill out that Sears order form right now...

Isn't it fun to dream?