Sky blue, cloud white

Can't help but think about those summer days lying on the grass looking at the sky when I see these vintage plastic earrings.

Black / Gold

Vintage black and gold Eighties earrings. Nice to find delicate earrings from that decade.

Labels

Labels matter to me. Yes, I partly mean labels like Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, à la that awful Sex and the City movie theme song. I do care about finding vintage designer stuff, because it's fun, interesting, and exciting. Same with heritage labels like Great Northern Knitters, a now-defunct heritage knitwear company from the Island, or Hudson Bay Company. 

I also take care in reading and learning about the actual, physical labels on my clothing and accessories. Where was it made? Are there hints about when it was made? Who made it? Was it union-made? Why did the textile industry in Canada have to disappear? Lots of questions can (and, I think, should) be asked about the provenance of things that you buy.

Which brings me to the vintage designer ties I have for sale on my Etsy shop. Many of them were made in Canada, and it makes me happy to think huge labels like Oscar de la Renta and Christian Dior outsourced their labour here, where clothing manufacturers aplenty made super-high-quality garments. If only that were still the case! 

Check out some of the labels on the ties on Milk & Amber:

The three above are of this awesome vintage Oscar de la Renta tie.

Here's another Oscar de la Renta (above).

Or this red striped vintage Christian Dior tie.

A good label makes a good garment even better. If you have vintage clothing, try looking up the CA identfication number here so you can find more out about the things you own. It's a fun to try to know the history behind what you wear!

Pastels

It's interesting. In the past few months, I've taken to a few trends that I might not have gotten so caught up in if it weren't for the ubiquitous Instagram photos of top-knotted, Michael Kors watch-wearing, Peter Pan-collared ladies on Pinterest (Follow me here!). Coral, mint, peach, lavender, sky blue - yes, these pastels have always been favourites in my colour repertoire. But something about the way they've been presented to me has really made me so much more aware of my preferred palette, and I've become more adventurous with colours in my wardrobe as a result. Even my little sister and I joke about the ubiquity of certain trends on Pinterest - "wow, that's a nice Pinterest outfit" to refer to pink high-waisted shorts with a mint lace top.

Anyhow, I've taken to searching for these colours and have started offering some on Milk & Amber after combing through my stores. Here are some of those items!

Four-pack of vintage pastel enamel earrings, sourced around PEI.

Vintage mint green plastic hoop earrings

Vintage multi-coloured pastel belt

It's safe to say that fall will change my colour preferences a bit, but it's been  a nice summer experimenting with these looks. I'm looking forward to blending these with fall colours too - mint with brown leather, lavender with forest green, peach and midnight blue... Exciting!

Name Change & Shop

So it has been a little while since I last posted. I love reading blogs, and I admire people who are able to commit themselves to writing theirs, and I always have lots to say... but somehow, a regular blog post is virtually impossible for me. I want to change that, though! For a few reasons:

1) I have a new endeavour that I'm excited to talk about: I started an Etsy shop named Milk & Amber, which has been super fun and enriching. It lets me live out that persistent dream of owning a vintage shop just a little bit. All my treasure hunting feels like it's being put to some good use. And now I have lots of pictures and finds to share!

2) Since graduating, I feel a little pent up writing-wise. I used to write thousands of words a week, now I skim Pinterest for stimulation - big change! Writing will be good for me, I like sorting out my thoughts, even if it's only me (and maybe my poor boyfriend) who will read it.

3) I work at a thrift store now! I'll be surrounded by neat old clothes and such all day, so there will surely be gems I'll need to show off!

Yep, I'm excited to try to get this going again. I'll be sharing lots of finds that will be available in my shop. And I'll try to keep the 'editorials' to a minimum.

Talk soon,

Katharine

Find: Saraghina, Brooklyn, NY

I get mad cravings for fresh mozzarella, and our trip to New York was the perfect time to satisfy 'em! Few restaurants in Charlottetown offer good mozzarella or bocconcini, so I was like a kid in a candy store when it came to good Italian. Saraghina, a lovely neighbourhood place in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, was perfect for this: fresh, homemade margherita pizza with big basil leaves, sweet tomato sauce, and big chewy pieces of fresh mozzarella. It's busy all the time, apparently, but if you can ever make it down, make it part of your itinerary - you won't be disappointed!

Finding: Hair directions?

So, I've been thinking about where I'd like to go with hair over the next little while. My hair is usually some variation on brown-ish, short-ish, curly-ish. Like the following:



The curls are permed in, I have naturally straight, thick hair. Short? Long? Blonde maybe? If so, which blonde and how much of it? Help!