Some Kinda Update.

Yo. It's almost spring.... so even though it's a very confusing 72 degrees in Illinois and a stingy, brisk 35 degrees in New Mexico I still am allowing myself to hope for some sort of weather induced euphoria to grip me any day now. Come on Weather.... I know you can do it.  Just give me a couple 75 degree days with no pollen and a bunch of fluffy, jolly ass looking clouds kicking around up in the sky! It should be relatively easy, no? No. The Weather says.... "Nope."

Jerk.

What else is new? I re-opened my Etsy shop. Road Trip Journal. I am slowly but surely loading it back up with good stuff. I have a few pieces listed that are personal favorites. Things that I agonize over actually selling. I am not a rational person when it comes to this particular topic. I will hold on to a dress that know I will never, ever have the occasion to wear or it looks stupid on me for years just because I think some day by some magic trick it will all make sense. I will grow 4 inches taller, my waist will shrink to a circumference of 24 and I will be on my way to a black tie affair that has a 70's theme. What? Right.

Anyway.... check these out. The first one is a 60's mod shift dress with penguins in the print. I have been selfishly clinging to this dress for like 4 years. I have never worn it. I just keep it stashed away. I'm a sort of hoarder I guess. In the mildest hoard sort of way. I look like a middle aged albino stewardess in the thing so it's time to let it waddle it's way into the heart of a new owner somewhere out in the world. A girl who has a tan. And isn't 40. Go girl.

This next one is the hardest to possibly part with. It's a 1970's Koos Van Den Akker masterpiece. His designs are curated at The Met.... he's the Cosby sweater designer of the 80's. He's one hell of a groovy designer with such a unique vision and style.

I grabbed a few images off the web to fill out the visual. Remember these sweaters? If you watched the Cosby Show in the 80's the sweaters were almost like an actual character on the show as much as the people were.

I know I have passed up a few of these sweaters over the years while I was out thrifting and I wish I hadn't. At the time I did not picture them coming back into popularity and I did not yet have an appreciation for the artful fabric collage work Koos does/did enough to start collecting him yet. I love this dress (and shawl that accompanies it) and if it does not sell I am more than happy to keep it in my personal collection. I have seen his vintage dresses selling for anywhere from $800 to $1100 online and have mine priced at $600. If some bohemian goddess comes along and snatches it up at least I will have a decent chunk of change to fill the empty space in my closet (and heart) for a little while. Thanks Koos.

I bought this dress about ten years ago in NYC and have had it squirreled away too.  It's a 50's era day dress. Sort of an upper crusty one. Day into evening wear perhaps? Anyway... it's awesome. It's a silk fabric with a beautiful texture and sheen to it. It's so totally Betty Draper. Perfect for a Mad Men theme party or if that is just the way you roll in 2012.... looking like it's 1957. It's too big for me... and I guess I can't rationalize gaining 15 pounds so that it will fit. Can I? Hmmmmmm.... So into the shop it finally goes.

So, yup. That's what I have been up to. Shooting photos and writing up Etsy listings. Researching pieces and hunting for new stuff. Billy is painting like crazy and we are still working out our plans for spring and summer. He has 4 shows lined up.... one on Nantucket, his two week show here at El Zaguan, the show we are doing together here at El Z come August and then he is going to show at a local coffee house in September. It's a lot of painting to get done but if you know Billy... he can do it. He is a painting powerhouse. The kid can't stop. He paints. He eats. He sleeps. He watches bad movies. He has sock fights with Rudy. That's it. No time for anything else.

Time to grab a coconut popsicle outta the freezer and break away from the net for awhile. Happy first week of spring (almost!) to you wherever you may be.