Musings from Marilyn

Posts Tagged ‘Vintage’

I just could not resist this utterly charming 60s traveling wardrobe knitting pattern for a Barbie-sized doll!  It consists of a dress, a travel coat, and luggage.  The luggage includes a suitcase, duffel bag and hatbox.  I never played much with Barbie dolls in my girlhood, but this is just so fantastic.  It is soooo Mad Men;  I could just see Joan or Betty wearing this.  In fact there are Mad Men Barbie dolls out now – this would be absolutely perfect for them.

Simple stockinette and seed stitches form the basis for the travel wardrobe.  The dress, made in two pieces in stockinette stitch, is bordered with seed stitch.  The coat is knit in one piece.  The suitcase, duffel bag and hatbox are worked completely in seed stitch; pieces knitted straight up.

Have fun knitting up this snazzy Barbie doll ensemble! 

Download Pattern Here

~Marilyn Huttunen

While going through my vintage knitting patterns, looking for a shawl pattern similar to the green frilled shrug Kate Middleton wore grocery shopping, I ran across this beauty.  I guess I could say that it’s a 1950s version of Kate’s shawl.  I love how the model is depicted wearing this over her bathing suit at the beach!  Yup, just the place I would want to wear a warm stole.   Anyway, who knows?  Maybe Kate is wearing a shawl at the beach on her honeymoon?

This pattern calls for all-purpose yarn, and is 28″ wide by 72″ long.  The knitting directions look relatively easy, and it gives detailed instructions for making the attached fringe.  It also gives instructions for those who are tall and wish to make the stole a little longer.

So happy vintage knitting, readers!  Let me know how it turns out if you decide to make it.  And pictures, please.

~Marilyn Huttunen

Download: Knit a Fringed Stole

I delight in the serendipity of thrift store shopping.  Those times when I run across something so wonderfully unique, that I take pause to wonder if it was placed there fully intended to be found by me!  My latest occurrence was yesterday, while I was looking through the miles and miles of designer fake vinyl purses that tend to populate the thrifts.  Anything made of real leather jumps out at me, and I spied a large, thick leather hippie type of purse that I remembered from the 70s.  They look like they were handmade by some sort of folksy artisan.

As I was marveling at the heft and substance of the purse, I noticed an amazing etched drawing on the front flap.  It was of two little laundresses with washboard and tub, and hanging laundry on a clothesline!  Of course, it had my name written all over it; being an avid laundress/clothesline user AND adoring and collecting vintage purses.  I need another purse like I need a hole in my head, but I could not leave without it!  No one else would ever appreciate the unique whimsicality of it like I would.

I like its large size and durability.  It’s been heavily used but there is hardly any wear to the thick leather.  It’s just so delightfully funky; the juxtaposition of the sweet, quaint laundry scene with the rugged hippie element is hilarious!  I’m sure that there is no other like it in the world.

My son, who is quite used to my unique findings but isn’t into vintage, wasn’t so amused.  “You’re not actually going to wear that are you?” he said, rolling his eyes.  He should know me by now, and should know the answer.  Yes!  As a matter of fact, I will.

~Marilyn

Now that winter’s here, my sweater wearing is on full-force.   My personal yarn of choice is cashmere.  It is incredibly soft, thick, and luxurious…and is really the only natural wool that I can wear next to my sensitive skin.  It adds needed warmth without unnecessary bulk;  I don’t like looking like a linebacker in those thick, chunky sweaters!

Of course, most of my cashmere sweater collection is vintage.  I look for the thick, plush cashmere, preferably made in Scotland.  There is just no comparison to most of the “whisper thin” cashmere sweaters that are out there today.  Good quality cashmere can last a lifetime, so it’s a good investment.  In fact, several lifetimes, as someone wore these sweaters a long time before me!

I love how cashmere retains scent.  One of my favorite things to do is wear a different vintage perfume each time I wear a certain sweater.  The scent gets picked up and blended with the others, forming a whole new evocative aroma.  They become pieces of  poignant delight, a magical signature, which is especially nice on these dark, dreary days.  I’m a bit sad when I have to wash the sweaters though.  All that captivating scent down the drain.  But it just gives me the chance to start a unique combination anew.

I shall remain forever devoted to cashmere, but sometimes it’s good to spice it up!

-Marilyn

Yardley of London – any fashionista who lived in the late ’60s/early ’70s will remember their fab advertising campaigns; I know I do!  My blog post on vintage bar soap spurred Yardley of London, oh wait, now it seems to be just “Yardley London” to send me an assortment of their bar soaps to try (more on this later).  This inspired me to look through my collection of  late ’60s/early ’70s Seventeen magazines, knowing that I would find some great examples of the vintage Yardley of London ads that intrigued me so.

Who could resist the beautiful English actress, Olivia Hussey, who played Juliet in the film “Romeo and Juliet”?  She was featured in a flowery romantic ad for Oh! de London fragrance in 1968.  “Oh! Romeo, Romeo, Oh! Falling in Love, Oh! Happy Dizzy Wonderful World, Oh! Rapture”.  Just incredibly effective advertising I’m sure, given the smashing success of the movie.  It was the “Twilight” of the day.

Another ad from 1969 featured the impossibly gorgeous (English, of course) model, Jean Shrimpton.  Dressed in country Victorian attire, in pigtails (?!) Jean glowingly hawked the Country Treats soap/skin care line.  “Remember the way girls used to be?  Innocent…shy…They smiled a lot and their skin had a pure glow, fresh as rainwater…the soft fresh country clean, men dream about…the clean that’s really beautiful…the way girls used to be…the way YOU can be now.”   Wow – makes me want to go scrub my face right now if I want to look like Jean Shrimpton!

Anyhoo, back to the soap.  As I’ve said before, I love vintage bar soap, so I was eager to try the current Yardley soaps.  They have a new natural soap collection which is fabulous, combining the great features of traditional bar soap with natural vegetable-based ingredients.  They have the gently cleaning and softly scented features I love.  I also got to try, once again, their traditional English Lavender soap which they have been making since the 17th century (now that’s vintage)!  It has the very poignant, familiar scent that is so lovely.  It is nice to know that vintage-type bar soap is still being made, and I don’t necessarily have to hunt it down in estate sales!

It was good to be reminded of fond vintage memories of a great product.  Yardley may not have the splashy ad campaigns of the past, but it’s nice to know that they are continuing the tradition of creating fine luxury soaps in this day and age!

~Marilyn

Today while poking around one of my favorite thrift stores, I came across an interesting vintage-y looking pink box with graphics of lingerie.  It was quite large, long and banded with two rubber bands.    Part of the fun of thrift store shopping is never knowing what you’re going to come across. I opened the noisy box (it rattled) and was extremely pleased to find a collection of old knitting needles and crochet hooks.  Large ones, small ones, wooden ones, metal ones, curved ones, and loopy ones.  A lifetime of handcraft tools all in one box.

I do knit and crochet, but am not actively pursuing this hobby at the moment.  It’s something that I always do come back to from time to time.   I enjoy the familiar and comforting rhythms of clicking needles and handling yarn.  It alternately focuses the mind and allows it to wander at the same time, while producing a work of art.  There is something about using needles and hooks passed along by someone else.  I wonder how many sweaters and scarves were lovingly knit with the needles over time?  I’m sure a certain energy is passed along after all those hours spent in industrious hands!

I enjoy vintage knitting and crochet pattern books and buy any that I happen to come across.  The patterns are incredibly lovely, intricate, and often amusing too!  How about making a pair of 1940s “Loafer Espadrilles” house slippers, or a “High Chair Doily” for elegant baby dining?  (I have the patterns!)  I am often amazed at how much work was put into making such household items.  I love collecting this aspect of vintage womanly arts.

Now that the cold winter wind is a blowin’ and I’m cuddled up warm inside, I think it may be a good time to pick up the needles and start a project.  I do have a stash of vintage yarn (I collect that too), the patterns, and many types of knitting needles, so I have no excuses.  And a pair of Loafer Espadrilles does sound quite fetching!

Marilyn