Everyday Vintage

Hello again,

     

     I thought I would start my updated blog with my process of easing my way into the vintage world. How simple can you get with everyday vintage looks? At first I wanted to throw everything out of my wardrobe and replace it all with vintage dresses and what not. After realizing that I don't have the time or money for such a thing, I started to approach my current closet with a different perspective.

     The easiest thing to incorporate is hairstyles and makeup. Even if you don't have dresses and skirts, playing with hairstyles and getting your cat eye on pointe is a must. (Plus, it's really fun.) I started out with victory rolls for week #1. Even if I didn't have time I would find ways to roll and pin it back creating a 40's look.

     Outfits -  I have a lot of simple dresses and cardigans (and apparently one belt) that I played around with throughout the work week. I wasn't afraid to pair my skirts and dresses with boots and leggings since it was cold outside. The cardigans made it easy to switch up the outfits and add warmth.
     Here is a picture of three of my work looks from week one.

Vintage Work Looks

Week Two - 

     Week two included a lot more casual outfits which brings me to a very important part... It is OK to dress casual. Don't get me wrong, I'm working my way into this vintage look concept, but I know if I am running behind in the mornings, I'm not going to worry about my hair being rolled perfectly unless I have the time. In fact, the last Friday of the month last week, I wore my hair down with jeans and a cute top. I looked the most casual I had in over a week!

Week 2 Looks

   Can we talk about my look on the left of those pictures though? That was Sunday (When I had time!) and I don't know how but it was perfect for visiting a vintage record shop in downtown. Peter and I had a blast!

Well that's all for now. I'll be posting more of tutorials and specific vintage looks soon!

Shayla J.

New Style and Happy 2017!

Hello dreamers!
     Happy New Year! I wanted to let you in on a few life events and then I'll dive right into some changes that are taking place.
     I got hitched! My biggest news of all. My best friend and I tied the knot on October, 29th 2016!

Peter and I

     We had a Tangled/ Vintage themed wedding that went perfectly! It was truly a dream come true. (I'll have a dedicated post to that soon.) We've moved into our adorable apartment in Nashville and we couldn't be happier.
     Next, now that I have a space to sew with a second bedroom I'll be able to work on my vintage desires. Along those lines, one of the changes to my blog is a slightly different direction. My style as of recent has been all things 1940's and 1950's. I love my blog name however, as much as I am a victorian at heart my new passion is vintage. I will be changing just the theme, style, and name of the blog. Also, I have my Pinterest (Shayla Johnson/ vintagedreamer9) and Instagram (VintageDreamer2017) account you can follow or read here for more details into my style and life. I hope your 2016 was wonderful and I'm happy to say,

Welcome Vintage Dreamers!
Yours,
Shayla Johnson

"Adventure is Out There!"

Dear readers,
Hello and Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season, I know I certainly did. I'll start off with the 1861 Christmas Ball that happened on December 5th, 2015.
     The Christmas Ball took place in a new location in the middle of nowhere, Columbia, TN. It was a beautifully decorated barn, however and the heaters certainly made the atmosphere cozy. I restyled my Christmas dresses from last two years.

Progress!

I added the velvet black trim and sash.
 This was before the velvet bows I added to each gather.

Me and my Beau 

Stay Classy My Friends

Before the Ball

Elise and I in our matching dresses!

      The ball was lovely and it was always a pleasure getting to dance the night away with my Prince Charming.  Christmas was wonderful, Peter and I spent the day with both our families, building legos and eating lots of delicious food!

Our Disney Legos!

Little Christmas Tree

Matching PJ's!

     I made Peter Mickey Mouse pj's so we could match. I know, adorable.  After Christmas, I went on a road trip to Kansas City for a friends wedding with Peter and his brother.  We got to explore the city, see a few museums, shop and eat at one of the, in my opinion, best restaurants! Cinzzetti's Italian buffet was pretty exciting. On our way back we stopped to see the Arch but it is unfortunately under construction for a few years, but that didn't stop us from getting a selfie by it.

Typical Selfie...

     I love traveling! I am excited to say that this time next week I will in Florida with my best friend.  I hope I can get to a fun project before I leave and maybe I can get a photo shoot by the beach!

That's all for now!

Yours truly,

Shayla P.

Finding Myself and Fancy Dress Balls

Dear readers,
Hello there! I hope you have all had a wonderful summer (and fall) and are now starting to plan for the wonderful winter months.  I'll jump right in with my updates...
     Back in July, I reconnected with a young gentleman I met at a Christmas ball a few years ago.  Our first date happened in the middle of August and needless to say I have been a little distracted since then.  *Insert stupid grin here* We are still dating and have gone on many adventures together since then. 
My plans of traveling through the costume world has been put on hold also due to lack of funds.  However, I have managed to make a few creative costumes as well as two ball gowns for this year's fancy dress ball on Halloween. 

Enchanted Entertainment

     The Masquerade Ball was hosted by the 1861 Girls School at Antrium Plantation in Columbia, TN. This was my first masquerade but not only did we wear masks but also we also got to be in themed costumes, like they did in the 1860s. My themed dress was Starry Night (no, not like the painting but an actual night sky).  The black taffeta type material had little gathers all over the dress and made the "only in movies" swoosh I've dreamed about.  The bertha was leftover gathered tulle with star rhinestones throughout.  The tulle overlay was covered in hand glued rhinestones with a hidden Mickey on there.

Starry Night

This is Me and My Beau

.

Prince Charming and Christine Daae
 

Myself, My best friend Hannah, Elise and Linnea

A Very Important Hair Picture



Hannah's dress was modeled after a Rose Lattice
 and Disney's "Painting the Roses Red"

I made Hannah's out of two skirts I already had then a new bodice for her.  This was her first ball and she said she really enjoyed herself! I may even talk her into coming to the Christmas ball.

That's it for now!
Yours Truly,
Shayla P.

Exciting News!

 

Hello there!
      I realize that it has been quite a while since I updated you with news. Well, here I am! I have really exciting news but you'll have to wait until I've finished updates! (haha!). As you probably know, I have been extremely busy this last month because of many events and such. The first thing that happened in July was the 1861 Girls School tea. I was an alumni this year, and I made my new Summer Sheer dress in that gorgeous yellow plaid I bought a while back(see it does pay off to have a fabric stash at times). Here is the finished product that I wore to the tea:



My first ruffle dress!



The Ladies of Murfreesboro

Elise and I

      After the tea on July 16th, was my sister's birthday and the graduation ball.  Now my sister was insistent for a Harry Potter party so we decked out the house with candles for the "Great Hall", Platform 9 3/4, a whomping willow, a spider trail, moaning myrtle(yes she talked in the bathroom courtesy of me!), chamber of secrets, house banners, the rules from Umbridge and a whole bunch of themed treats that I don't want to know the amount of sugar to! I had the idea to dress up as Bellatrix, a crazed wizard who follows the bad guy like a puppy, and I managed to get the skirt, shirt and sleeves together.  I also needed to finish up my ball gown that was revamped from my mother's dress she used in the play Go Tell It on the Mountain. Long story short, I didn't worry about pictures or finishing that costume since I had to leave for the ball in two hours. HA! I left an extra hour after that due to my ball gown needing to be finished... everyone loved it though and I had the most magical time once I actually got there. (Get ready for more pictures!)


Please excuse the "after polka hair"

I'll be fixing the hook and eye tape later...

The full group of ladies from Murfreesboro!

My dear friend Katie whose dress makes one with mine!
 

      We had a wonderful night mingling and dancing the night away, per usual, and a great hurrah at Waffle House afterword, as is tradition.  We also found out that the Harvest Ball will be a themed Fancy Dress Ball! This was the official name of an 1860's costumed masquerade ball! Yay! The ideas immediately started coming and I couldn't get a sketch out quick enough!
     The last update was at Miss Charolette's birthday party(pictured in the beautiful white and green at the tea). She had a wonderful theme of Disney VS. DreamWorks, which of course I went as Disney! I was Ariel in her town dress and yes, that is my real hair just with tons of red color spray!

Ariel, Esmeralda, and Elsa(Murfreesboro gals!)

Now on to more exciting news! Just this morning I had a moment of realization of what I wanted to accomplish! This may not be a big deal to half of the population who know from the moment they hit high school or even the 5th grade what they will be doing for the rest of their lives (which I have to admit I know about half who do half who don't). However, I never went to college or a trade school, in fact after high school I stayed with my parents and continued my small job at a very well known sandwich restaurant. I just didn't know what to do with my life, and during high school I had put off sewing so it wasn't my passion yet.
     First off, it's ok if you haven't found out what you want to do in life because I believe finding what you love is a trial and error. It takes time and some "soul searching" to find what you love.  I am happy to announce I have found just that. My love history and fashion has been growing whenever I find research or a new project I love, unfortunately there is not many colleges that offer a degree in historical fashion/costuming. If they do its far away, expensive, and doesn't guarantee you a job. None of which I want to dive into. So, I've decided to start from maybe about the 1300's and work my way through history by costuming and research! I may not go into extreme detail by costuming each decade but definitely the change in eras and researching what made the changes in fashion and how it affected the people. (That's my type of history!) I'll do some research and decide on a starting point within a few weeks and I hope to blog about the journey especial fun facts and the finale product, maybe even a few tutorials. :)
     I'm sorry this post ended up being so long but I hope you'll join me on this new adventure and feel free to share information and facts, history has a lot to it and I love discussing all things history and fashion, obviously.

Yours Truly,
Shayla P.

Updates and New Projects...

       Hello! It is so nice to be able and take a moment and blog after so long! I have lots of fun tid bits so I might as well dive in...

       For starters, the living room is fully painted and has a beautiful beach theme! It was an awful orange before had and it was everywhere, literally everywhere. Now that we've improved on the home I've been thinking of little things here and there that I could do to my little apartment.  Enough about that though, I'm sure you've been wondering what I have been sewing and creating.  Well, I'm happy to say I have become branch manager of a company called Enchanted Entertainment.  It specializes in children's entertainment such as birthday parties and special events. It is a wonderful opportunity to be involved with children and making magical memories! I also have a job working as a sort of costume manager/creator/stylist which has been keeping me fairly occupied with sewing.  Although, I have managed to come back from MTAC 2015 with wonderful memories and lots of fun pictures!  I also have a few new costumes for my summer reenacting that I am so excited to get back into. As fun as creating costumes is, the more strict rules of reenacting is calling me again.  So here we go:

       For MTAC 2015 I was able to Disney Bound as Vanessa (Ursula in human form) the first day, be Tinkerbell the second, and a casual look on the last day.

I already had the dress but made the necklace myself.

Yes, I made all that! :)

Grumpy Tink

The shadow was perfect...

     As you can see, I had fun! I also met lots of little princesses and fans of Tinkerbell! They all truly believed. 

    Speaking of new friends I've also made some with Aurora, Belle, Anna, of course Elsa, and Maleficent! I do enjoy my new job! The latest event I attended was the Tennessee Renaissance Festival. My sister and I had the same look going for us but she was a gypsy and I was a fairy who lost her wings. (basically didn't have time to throw anything else together lol)

She makes such a cute gypsy!

God save the queen!

     Elise (check out her blog here: http://blissfulchickadee.blogspot.com/ ) also came with us and even though it was muddy and rainy we still had fun! We also ran into a lot of friends to which was great! 
     
     So what does my Summer 2015 have in store? Apart from working, managing, sewing costumes, etc. I plan to attend my second WWII event in late June at the Wilson County Fair Grounds.  I have the perfect blue rose fabric in my stash and a dress pattern waiting to be used(even though I think I own plenty of 40's dresses. Oh well.) Hopefully I can get that made in the next few weeks.  That beautiful sheer yellow plaid finally has a plan- a V-neck civil war day dress that I can not wait to wear to the 1861 Girl's School Tea. (Also I have a new petticoat thanks to my wonderful friend Linnea.  She lives out of state and I got to visit with her last weekend!) I am unsure about a new ball gown or not but I suppose that depend on time. A just for fun project on my list is a 1700's French dress. I'm not quite sure if I want it in color or simply white with accents yet but I will have to see if I can find the right fabric.

    Well I wish you all a wonderful pre-summer and hopefully I will be able to right again soon!
Yours Truly,
Shayla P.

Dear Old Friends...(Catching Up)

Dear readers,
     It has come to my conclusion that I am terribly awful at writing of late. For this I am terribly sorry.  Recently my family has come into a rough time and we have been busy with anything you can imagine. Including, a spur of the moment task that my mother and I have taken on of painting our whole living room/dining area,/kitchen space that makes up our downstairs heart of the home.  It really does look much better though.  As for what I've been up to includes quite a few projects. I will list each project, what I used it for(or where I plan to), and of course a picture of its state.

Frozen Elsa Costume #2
    I am using this as an upgrade to what I previously started with.
 The dress is finished but eventually I would like to line it, add some more bling to the ice bodice, and put more details on the sleeves.

Frozen Anna: Traveling Costume
     This is for my little sister who wanted an Anna costume since the movie came out.
The main outfit is completed. We managed to make the cape look nice but it is missing the pom-poms, the ribbon trim, and the little details above the ribbon.  She also doesn't have the hat, gloves, or boots with the details on them. As it is becoming Summer I won't worry about it until fall.

Tinkerbell
     My MTAC (Comicon) costume that I will be wearing Easter Weekend.
I am still working on this as I need to finish the wings, the shoes, and fix up the dress. It needs a better neckline, some minor adjustments in the seams, the leaf details, and some straps.

I can at least wear it though!

1950's Inspired Cinderella Dress(based on the 2015 movie)
     I wore this to the premier of Cinderella (3-12-15)
This is completely wearable(I even wore this out in public!) I would, however, like to adjust the bodice to fit some more and maybe fix the gathers on the skirt.

My Glass Slippers!

Finished dress, complete with 6 layers of tulle and chiffon!

I made my sister a tulle skirt as a surprise to take her with me.

 Cinderella Cartoon Work Dress
     I have no idea where I am going to wear the dress but I love it! I have the pieces but I am far from done. I need to adjust the necklines of the two shirts, make darts or take them in, fix the skirt or buy a new one, sew the apron and hair rag. (Fairly simple but that's at the bottom of my list.)



Comparison to the original movie(the colors are spot on!)
 

     Oh yes, and then there is a stash of beautiful semi-sheer sunshine yellow plaid cotton in my sewing pile that I am undecided on. I have enough to make a Civil War dress, which I am dying to get back to historical projects, or I could make a bustle dress (I have never done that before) or a 1950's tea dress that I can wear in public(Which is so nice to do!). I'll have to see where my imagination takes me on that one.
      I hope you've enjoyed getting to see what I've been up too! I will do my best to try and post more but I cannot you will be sure to hear from me after MTAC! Oh, and please feel free to meet me and say hello! I won't bite. ;)

Yours Truly,
Shayla P.

P.S. If you are interested, I have been considering a YouTube channel where you can see my work and what I've been up to.  Let me know in the comments!