Moisten Winter Air By Slow Drying Laundry Indoors

Posted by & filed under Daily Life, Frugal Living, Health, Vintage.

Drying Laundry Indoors in winterIt’s that time of year again when I have to turn to drying my laundry indoors. Gone are the summer days where I could just hang a load out on the clothesline and have it be dry in a few hours. Nope, the slow method is the way to dry for the duration of winter around my house.

However, there are a couple of benefits of air-drying your laundry indoors. Yes, I do find it a bit annoying to have drying racks all around the house (I can’t tell you how many times I bump into or have to move the full racks). But it does have the advantage of releasing clean, moist air into your home. This evaporation increases humidity, which can be lost when we keep the heat cranked up all winter long. Another good thing is that air-drying laundry smells fantastic, and it fills the house with a cozy, linen-y scent.

Last but not least, slow drying your laundry saves you a lot of money in utility bills. Your clothes dryer is one of the biggest vampire-sucking energy users out there, plus the risk of a dryer fire is high. Just set your wet clothes on a rack and go on your merry way – no fuss, no muss.

~Marilyn

Nehru Style! 1968 Sears Christmas Wish Book

Posted by & filed under Daily Life, Fashion, Vintage.

The 1968 Sears Christmas Wish Book perfectly captures the zeitgeist of late ’60s mainstream America. All the fashions, toys, and gifts shown were pretty much what everyone wanted to wear, play with, or receive as gifts. It was the Amazon of my childhood. I’ve written several blog posts featuring items from this particular catalog, and I could probably write a hundred more considering the font of information it contains. But today I am going to concentrate on the hot fashion fad of 1968: Nehru Style. The Nehru jacket, with its stand-up Mandarin collar, became popular with the minimalist Mod style in the late 1960s. The Beatles, the Monkees, and several James Bond villains popularized the jacket. As you can see here, Sears pounced on the Nehru craze with groovy fashions for men, women, teens, and children.

Vintage Nehru Jackets Sears Wish Book 1968

This is probably the most classic Nehru jacket for men, “Tailored in the East Indian tradition”. In cotton suede cloth or corduroy, you were sure to look uber snazzy…especially when paired with a turtleneck shirt and medallion necklace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nehru Shirt Vintage 1968 Sears Wish Book“Sears tunes-in on the meditation themes and styles” for this Nehru shirt.  Also worn with a turtleneck and medallion necklace for that far out look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nehru cardigan sweater 1968 Sears Wish BookNehru collar Cardigan in 100% Acrilan. Wow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women could sport the look in this Nehru Tunic – a screen print in double-knit acetate. Worn with stretch pants and mod go-go boots, of course.Nehru tunic 1968 Sears Wish Book

Nehru style collar on this crunchy souffle stitch Orlon cardigan sweater.Nehru sweater 1968 Sears Wish Book Teen Nehru Jacket 1968 Sears Wish BookTeen boys could wear the Nehru sport coat that “swings with the new-right-now fashion beat”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

teens Nehru shirt 1968 Sears Wish bookYou could also get an Oxford cloth Nehru shirt in all kinds of groovy colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But perhaps the best look of all is the boys natty white Nehru jacket. How adorable is this? 😀 Boys Nehru Jacket 1968 Sears Christmas Wish Book

~Marilyn

Baby Shampoo Was Hot in 1973 – And Still Is Today!

Posted by & filed under Beauty, Daily Life, Fashion, Frugal Living, Vintage.

Johnson's Baby Shampoo ad vintage 1973This ad for Johnson’s Baby Shampoo is from 1973, a curious time when baby products (shampoo, lotion, powder) were highly touted for women. Gentle “no more tears” formula promised a soft, full, lively look for your hair.  I never used baby shampoo in 1973, as my hair was much too thick and oily for it to do the deep cleaning that I liked. I remember using Prell, and Breck for oily hair shampoos when I washed my long hair every day.

But times change, and I’ve rediscovered several uses for that good old baby shampoo. It hasn’t changed in 41 years – still the same “no more tears” formula. I started using baby shampoo to hand wash my cashmere, wool, angora, and mohair sweaters. Since these fibers are basically hair, baby shampoo does an excellent job in cleaning sweaters. They turn out so soft and fluffy, it’s like a miracle product! Very economical too – just a few dollars for a big bottle.

Then I went through a period where the skin around my eyes was red and irritated. Removing my eye makeup with regular cleansers seemed to exacerbate the problem. So I researched solutions and found a tip to remove eye makeup with baby shampoo to avoid irritation. It totally made sense as baby shampoo can get in your eyes and not cause tears. Wow, it worked! It’s a very gentle yet thorough facial cleanser.

Finally, I came full circle and started using baby shampoo on my hair. It has been brutally cold here in Seattle the past month or so, and my sensitive skin (and scalp) bear the brunt of it. I typically use all kinds of expensive shampoos and conditioners for color-treated hair, but lately they have just seemed so heavy and left my hair feeling limp. So I got out the Johnson’s baby shampoo and gently washed my hair and massaged my scalp. I used no conditioner or any other product on my hair. Voila! The result was nothing short of amazing – my hair was clean, full, bouncy, and very soft. Hey, if it’s good enough for washing sweaters and removing eye makeup, it certainly can do its original intent – washing hair!

~Marilyn

 

Vintage 1968 Yardley of London Slicker Nail Polish

Posted by & filed under Beauty, Fashion, Vintage.

Yardley of London Slicker Nail Polish ad 1968 Patsy SullivanYardley of London’s advertising was so fantastic in the late 1960s; a wonderful mix of romanticism and mod. I was going through my old Seventeen magazines looking for any Yardley ads that I may have missed, and I found one! This beautiful ad for Slicker Nail Polish looks to be the companion to the Face Slicker ad featuring Patsy Sullivan and Bruce Weber as models. Yardley of London ad 1968 Patsy Sullivan Bruce WeberIs it any wonder that we were all caught up in the magical Yardley of London spell in the 60s?

~Marilyn

Patches O’ Blue by Yardley Glimmerick 1973

Posted by & filed under Beauty, Fashion, Vintage.

Yardley of London 1973 ad - Jane Hitchcock modelThis is a quite lovely Yardley of London ad from 1973, featuring model Jane Hitchcock. It was for Patches O’ Blue Glimmerick water eye shadow. Compacts of patches of light, bright water shadows that go on soft to stay on long. Supposedly to match the mood of your days in denim.

Jane is seen wearing a lacy Victorian-style blouse and denim overalls. She’s hand embroidering some denim jeans, which is what we all did back in the day. Denim anything was big in the ’70s.

Jane was a very popular supermodel, and lent her beautiful face to many different cosmetic company ad campaigns. I never really bought into her as a specific ‘Yardley Girl’ model, when I saw her in so many other makeup ads.  Seemingly, she was the last of the supermodels that advertised for Yardley of London cosmetics before they ended up phasing out their makeup line.

~Marilyn

The Original 1973 Coty Sweet Earth Fragrances

Posted by & filed under Beauty, Fashion, Vintage.

Coty Sweet Earth Fragrances ad vintage 19731973 was the year that Coty introduced their very first collections of natural fragrances in a compact. Sweet Earth Fragrances – it was a novel idea! Arranged by threes, small enough to carry with you and smooth on whenever you like. Nine pure-as-nature essences: The Flowers, Hyacinth, Honeysuckle, Ylang Ylang. The Woods, Sandalwood, Amberwood, Patchouli, The Herbs, Chamomile, Sage, Caraway. To fill your world with the sweetness, the sultriness, the spice of life. Sweet Earth. Your earth.

~Marilyn