Wanderlust

Before and After: The Secretary Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Fri, 25 May 2012 03:40:00 +0000

Sometimes I buy something for the shop and I am sure it's going to sell right away but instead it sits in the shop forever, overlooked for one reason or another, in favor of other dresses. Such was the case with this brown leafy secretary dress. (Excuse the poor 'before' photo quality, it was late and all I had was my phone!).

I loved this little dress before but with it's long sleeves and even long hemline, I think it was just too matronly for your average Portland gal. I shortened the length and removed the sleeves and now it's the perfect thing to wear to a summer BBQ or out for drinks with your friends. If you want to come by the shop and pick it up for yourself, I'm putting it out tomorrow. It's a size large (dress size 8-12) and $22.

A disclaimer: Normally I don't condone the altering of vintage dresses but since this dress was made in the late 1970s/early 1980s it's 'new' enough that I feel comfortable making this a more wearable dress by altering it a bit. If it's something from 1969 or earlier, I will mend it to the best of my abilities but I would never completely redo a dress that old.

Vintage Inspiration: The Maxi

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:00:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've done a Vintage Inspiration post and coming back with 'the maxi' now seemed appropriate. You see, last Summer I couldn't sell a long dress or skirt to save my life. I had a gorgeous long lace dress sit in my shop for months! But this year it's a completely different story.

I've always had a thing for the 70's and if the print and color is right, I think a maxi looks more easy-going-bohemian than costume. In previous years it seemed like everyone thought 'costume party' when they saw a brightly colored long skirt but now, it's all anyone wants!

We have a few great ones in the shop (and some I've been hoarding for the opening of the new location). It's been a shift for me to think that long dresses are no longer 'off limits' when I'm out buying for the shop but I'm happy they're coming back in style.

A maxi is comfortable, breezy and you don't have to worry if you forgot to shave your legs. What more could you ask for?

Sun, Work, Cute Clothes

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:31:00 +0000

It's easy to get use to the sun. We've had such an early Summer this year, most of May has been sunny and 70-plus degrees. Yesterday the rain finally returned and it was rough! Everyone went back into hibernation and we ended up closing the trailer an hour early because North Williams was so dead.

I'm also getting nostalgic for our little Williams lot, even though we're still open there. I'm going to really enjoy this last month next to Lodekka and in our little space.

Our official plan is to move the trailer off the lot at the end of June, opening our new brick-and-mortar location with an opening party July 7th and then we'll be taking the trailer to the Mississippi Street Fair July 14th.

I'm going to add some more items to our online Etsy shop later this week as well so keep an eye out for that. There's a few super cute things I can't wait to show off!

Instagram Week

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:16:00 +0000

Today I'm sharing some fun Instagram photos I snapped this week. I've been working so hard on various shop-related things and it's nice to look back on these photos as a 'recap' of everything I accomplished. (Our user name is 'ShopWanderlust' on Instagram, if you use the app!)

This last Instagram is of our little trailer shop on the front page of msn.com. They picked up a recent story from Conde Naste Traveller on the '11 Mobile Stores to Visit' and MSN used Wanderlust as the main photo for the story! What an honor. I had extended family and friends coming out of the woodwork to congratulate me on this one. It really made my whole week!

I also wanted to mention that we're now opening at 10am on Saturdays and Sundays. There's a big 'brunch crowd' on North Williams (thanks, Tasty & Sons!) and my hope is people will stop by to get some shopping done while they're waiting. Come by and see us!

Mother's Day Event and The Velvet Bird Trunk Show

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:20:00 +0000

We had a fantastic time on Friday evening at our Mother's Day event and first trunk show with The Velvet Bird. I got to chat with Vanessa for a while which was awesome. I'm so happy to have her adorable dresses in the shop!

We were also serving up yummy cocktails with Dry Soda and vodka or gin which was super refreshing on a sunny May day. And Anna Mara Flowers had mini-bouquets set up for mom, which looked super cute!

Thank you so much if you were able to stop by! It was fantastic to have our first event of Spring/Summer be such a success. It was a little bittersweet since I'm not sure if Erin and I will have another event before I open my new retail store, but all the smiles, hugs and good times helped me forget about that for the night and enjoy everyone's company!

The Velvet Bird Trunk Show!

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:34:00 +0000

As I mentioned last week, we're hosting our first Trunk Show on Friday to coincide with the Williams Avenue Mother's Day event. We're hosting the lovely and talented Vanessa who runs The Velvet Bird. The two of us have been chatting over email for sometime and when the opportunity to host a trunk show came up, I thought of her first. Lucky for me this very busy lady decided she could fit it into her busy schedule.

Vanessa will be bringing some dresses and hopefully a few other sample pieces and one-off accessories. It's a great opportunity to see some of her beautiful designs in person, I think we're the first shop in Portland to carry her things!

Come by Friday May 11th from 5-8pm. We'll have some great cocktails with mixers provided by DRY soda, 20% off everything in the Wanderlust shop (Velvet Bird items are excluded from this) and some bouquets from Anna Mara Flowers to pick up and take to your mom on Sunday.

Mother's Day Shopping Event

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Hi there! Today I wanted to share the details of this awesome event happening on North Williams NEXT Friday evening. A bunch of our neighbor shops are participating and we'll ALL be offering 20% off your purchase. I'll have new jewelry, scarves, hair accessories and more that are just perfect for Mother's Day.

In addition, we'll be hosting our first ever trunk show the same evening with Velvet Bird. More details on this to come, but needless to say I'm VERY excited. Dan gave me one of her caplets for Christmas this year and it's absolutely gorgeous. I'm so honored that we'll be the first business in Portland to carry her amazing dresses.

I hope to see some of you out for this next Friday May 11th.

Simply by Bluebird

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +0000

I love buying well made, reasonably priced, handmade items on Etsy. However, sometimes the problem with shopping online is that you can never know the quality of something until it arrives on your doorstep. I first ordered a necklace from Simply by Bluebird for my mom this past Christmas. It was $25 and with all the super expensive jewelry on Etsy, I wasn't sure what to expect with this reasonably priced item.

When the necklace arrived in mid-December, I was totally blown away with how delicate and amazing it was. I quickly placed a wholesale order for my shop and customers seem to really love these necklaces too! I just placed another order that includes the three necklaces pictured here. They should be in the shop next weekend, just in time for Mother's Day. Come by and check out this dainty line of jewelry, you'll want to get one for yourself and your mom.

Rhapsody in Blue

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +0000

I'm putting these all in the shop tomorrow. I know I've said it here before, but I love when I find a bunch of stuff in the same color. I had great luck this week shopping and I can't wait to put out all this cuteness.

I took these photos in the new space, on our new dress form. It's so fun to go in there and sort clothes or measure for furniture. This month we've been taking it easy but May will be full of work on the new location. A little painting, a little rack installation and lots of tagging merchandise and steaming out wrinkles! I can't wait.

Etsy Update

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:53:00 +0000

Stop Draggin' My Heart Around Tie

Vintage Straw Wedges

Along Came Betty Tie

I've been an Etsy posting fool lately! I put a bunch of cute accessories in the shop, including a couple adorable ties that would like awesome at a Spring or Summer wedding.

This week I'm finalizing a plan for the furniture and racks in our new shop and sorting out where our clothing racks are going to be installed. I love designing the new space and I'm so excited to share it all with you!

Tendril Flower Cart

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:15:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my previous post we had a great little addition to our pod on North Williams last weekend, Tendril Flowers! Our friend Nyki runs this adorable little flower shop out of a darling wooden cart. She wheeled it over to our lot, set up her bouquets and flowers and was open for business. If you're looking for a little Spring arrangement to brighten up your home, she'll be at the lot next weekend (and we hope longer!) so you can come by and check it out.

She put these adorable daisies and other flowers in a vintage teapot and I set them in front of the shop, on our metal cooler. It looked darling! We really love having another business on our lot, it looks really great. Now that the weather is warming up (we're actually having a bit of a heat wave, for April, in Portland) it was fun to be outside all weekend, selling vintage clothes and flower. What a perfect pair.

Instagram (Finally!)

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:38:00 +0000

I've been waiting for Instagram to come out on Android phones FOREVER. I'm so excited to finally be a part of this little world I only see snippets of on Twitter. I just started posting photos last weekend but if you want to follow along as I share thrift finds and other lovely things I come across during the day, my username is shopwanderlust

This weekend should be a fun one at the shop. I think a new little flower cart will be joining us for the first time on our lot, so you can come by and pick up some fresh flowers for Spring. I'm loving how our little astro-turf pod is developing! I'm sure going to miss it when we open our new storefront in a couple months.

Before and After: The Green Rose Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:08:00 +0000

I have another little before and after for you today. The dress actually sold this weekend, but it's such a cute one I had to share. I don't have a great 'before' shot of the full dress, so bear with me here.

This dress was part of a huge private buy I did last weekend. There were so many dresses to go through and when I picked up this one, the first thing I saw was the huge tear. I was determined to save it though because the fabric and cut were so cute!

Luckily, this tear was about 5-6 inches from the hem, so I could cut it off at the tear and it would still be a decent length. I folded it under and did a whip stitch to finish it off.

Once I finished that I noticed the dress has already been mended years ago on the waist. Looks like I'm not the only one who thought this dress was too good for the trash heap!

And here it is, done and hanging at the shop this weekend. It's more of a mini dress and hits a few inches above the knee, which is a popular length right now anyway. I don't think I'd normally cut-off a vintage dress, but since it was already damaged, it was also a great way to update it.

Surprise! It's a Store!

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:14:00 +0000

It's time for us to come clean. We've been keeping something from you and the time has come to finally let the cat out of the bag.

We are opening a new brick and mortar retail shop in July! That's right, we're expanding and our new location will be in Southeast Portland on the corner of 28th and Ankeny, a block south of Burnside, next to other trailer-converts, Holiday Hair Studio.

This was a big decision, but one that came about organically. We initially built our trailer shop to be an 'events based' business, doing a handful of events a year. As my love for running the shop grew, we found permanent homes for the trailer first on Alberta and now on North Williams. Operating like this we've never been able offer the variety and room for all the vintage and handmade we'd like, and have been dealing with all sorts of other cart-related mishaps like weather, leaks and heating/cooling issues. When the opportunity to open in a dream location in a dream space fell into our laps, the timing seemed perfect. As we approach our two year anniversary, we're ready to expand and moving into a more traditional store front feels like the right move.

The trailer will still be around, traveling to events, just as we always intended. And soon you'll be able to find adorable vintage and handmade items year-round at our new location. There's even a full size dressing room and a bathroom! Imagine, that!

We're so excited to take this next step with Wanderlust. Today I want to unveil our new logo from the ridiculously talented Mary Kate McDevitt. Isn't it beautiful?

And don't worry, our trailer is still open on North Williams every Friday thru Sunday so come by and visit it there while you still can!

Thank you for all the support of our little trailer business. Without it, we would never have been able to make this next step. I'm humbled weekly when people discover the trailer for the first time and fall in love. I can't wait for you all to see the new location, I know you'll love it just as much!

Now in the Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:36:00 +0000

Far Away Blues Sundress

Where Have All the Flowers Gone Sunnies

Love is a Swingin' Thing Hat

Coming Soon...

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:27:00 +0000

Just popping in to say I'll be adding a few new things for Spring to our Etsy shop this week. I still need to measure everything and write descriptions, so it will probably Wednesday or Thursday. I think you're really going to love these dresses and most of them will be available in our shop Friday too!

Easter Greetings

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:10:00 +0000

This week at an estate sale I stumbled across a bunch of Easter goodies, just in time for Sunday! Looking at these magazines and cards reminds me of my childhood. Easter Sunday was always a big deal in my house, and even though I'm no longer religious, I love the tradition and adorable paraphernalia that comes with Easter.

I will be putting everything out in the shop on Friday, in a little Easter section. We might even be pouring mimosas on Sunday, which seems to have become a bit of a tradition.

Knitted Lovelys

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:30:00 +0000

The weather in Portland has been all over the place, I suppose it's just typical Spring. One day is pouring rain and the next is sunny and dry. The temperature seems to remain around the 50's if it's dry or not, so a sweater is the perfect thing to throw over your dress or t-shirt and jeans. Here are some great finds from this week that I'll be hanging in the shop Friday.

These long sweaters for the ladies would look fantastic over a secretary dress and with a cute belt around the waist, don't you think? I am totally obsessed with 1970's sweaters and cardigans right now.

I've been selling these button up cardigans to men and women alike. The colors on these ones are pretty unique and, I must admit, I freaked out a bit when I found the green one.

Bow Ties!

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:58:00 +0000

I've been making and selling these little clip-on bowties in the shop for a few weeks. They're perfect for a Spring or Summer wedding, don't you think? I use a combination of deadstock vintage fabric and new plaids and ginghams. Today it was finally nice enough outside for a photo shoot, so I've gone ahead and listed a few in our Etsy shop.

I'll be making more in a variety of fabrics throughout the 'wedding season' and hope to continue to carry them in both our physical shop and online.

I also wanted to share our little write up over at Conde Naste Traveller today. What a privilege to be included in their round up of mobile shops from all over the world!

Before and After: The Golddiggers Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:48:00 +0000

Believe it or not, the tag in this dress says 'The Golddiggers'. Ha! I love the Vera-esque butterfly print on this house dress but with the ruffles and tent-shape, it wasn't very wearable.

I was inspired to keep the cute neck details but slim the shape and remove the ruffles, to create a mini dress shift instead. It already had the tie belt, so I kept that and with the belt it has a much more modern feel to it.

Here's the new hem. No more ruffles!

Even without the belt, it's a cute shift!

I'll be putting this dress out on Friday, along with a bunch of cute Spring sweaters and some adorable floral scarves.

Gillian Hills, Mad Men and 'Zoobee Zoobee Zoo'

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:14:00 +0000

I loved the 5th season premiere of Mad Men. We watched it last night, since we ordered the season on iTunes and it doesn't download until after the show airs. I love the Megan Draper character! She's speaks French, has an overbite and loves herself some eyeliner, what's not to love? Her rendition of 'Zou Bisou Bisou' in the premiere episode just about killed me. I love 1960's girl pop, especially in French!

I went on a youtube search for the original song, and came across Gillian Hills, the woman who originally did the song in 1962. Check her out on a French tv show, performing another song. Adorable!

And it looks like Gillian loved to thick black eyeliner too. This photo is fantastic, don't you think?

And another one photo, just because!

The One the got Away

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:26:00 +0000

This dress was in the shop for approximately four hours before it's soul mate (who also happens to be a friend of mine) took it home. She looked lovely in it, but it was sort of a shame that I didn't even have time to post this online before it was picked up. I thought I'd share this beauty here today, even though it's no longer available.

This Maurice Rentner dress was a Bill Blass design from the late 1960's before he bought the company and changed the name to 'Bill Blass.' It's such a special dress and shows how styles and colors really are cyclical. This neon-green mini dress could easily be hanging in Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus today, don't you think?

In Like a Lion

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 23:00:00 +0000

In our neck of the woods, March really has come in like a lion. The weather has been all over the place, which makes dressing yourself difficult. I like layers and heavier-weight fabric on dresses. Then you have the choice to take off a cardigan or add a pair of tights.

And just for fun, a photo of our shop after the intense hail on Sunday. Unbelievably, I took the other photos in this post earlier that same day, when it was sunny and dry.

Before and After: The Dress in the Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:44:00 +0000

This weekend as I was enjoying an after work drink at the Box Social, a friend appeared with a wad of vintage fabric in her hands. As she sat down, she unfurled a nearly destroyed early 1960's cotton day dress. Apparently someone found it in a nearby tree and thought it had come from my shop. I saw it has a great opportunity to start a new feature on the blog, Before and After.

I'll take near-ruined dresses and other vintage clothing, and show you how I've made them wearable again! Sewing is a passion of mine, but clothing construction can be incredibly difficult. Mending, taking out stains, shortening a hem and other projects I can finish in an afternoon have become par for the course since starting the shop and I've found I really enjoy doing them and breathing new life into an old piece of clothing.

When I got home from the bar, I took a look at the condition of the dress. Luckily there weren't any stains, but the seams were ripped out under both the arms and along the waist. There was also a missing button-detail on the bust of the dress.

I ended up having to tear out an entire sleeve and re-sew the seam. I also put the pleats back in the skirt of the dress and re-enforced the zipper where it was getting weak. There was no fabric to cover another button and replace the missing one, so instead I took some vintage buttons from another dress instead and used those.

Remarkably, the dress is now in totally wearable condition. It's a super cute style and print and I think I'll put it in the shop this coming weekend! It would have been such a shame to let a garment that's over 50 years old head to the trash and now it's ready to wear.

Spring Florals

noreply@blogger.com (Wanderlust) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:15:00 +0000

This weekend, I noticed how many fantastic florals we have around the shop right now. Polyester print, embroidered, cotton day dresses, there are flowers on everything! I wear prints pretty much year round and right now florals are my favorite.

These dresses are some of my current favorites and the print on the Hallmark photo book is so adorable. What are you looking forward to wearing as the weather warms up?