Aztec Cardigans

Lately I can't get enough of those 70s cardigans with Aztec prints. Here are some of my current favorites on Etsy.

Found in Mustardseed Vintage's shop, $22.
(Probably my favorite. So gorgeous, so inexpensive! Why haven't I bought this yet? Seriously ladies, if you don't snatch this up soon, I will.)



Found in Milan Vintage's shop, $37.
(her pictures are blurry, but you can still tell that this piece is awesome!)



Both of these are from RockyMountainRetro's shop, $25 and $29.
(the back of the first one is a solid orange, which I think is great! And the colors of the second one?! Amazing.)

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And here's my Aztec-inspired cardigan vest, for sale in my Etsy shop. It's the most beautiful color, the most beautiful quality- Pendleton!


Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

The new finds that I just couldn't part with.

I had a great day thrifting, and among the amazing finds I got, I found two dresses I was planning on listing on my etsy page, but after I put them on, I knew I couldn't let them leave my apartment. They're just too much. Too phenomenal, too much my style. Check it.

Accordion pleated from the chest down? Yes please!


And here it is without the belt on. I just love the flowy tent style. And see the way the sleeves gather at the cuffs? Very Victorian. I think I'm in love.

Here's the other one. Holy crap, right?

SLEEVES!

Sorry, ladies. Let me love these for a little while, and then maybe they'll make it to etsy. I did, however, list this STUNNING winter jacket, which was very hard to do (I want to keep this, too!)


You can find it here.

Happy fall! It sure does feel like winter here in Maine.

The Girl From Sufjan Stevens' Band Wore My Vintage!

I'm a huge fan of Sufjan Stevens, and really, who isn't? His record, Illinois, blew me away when I first heard it, and it still ranks high as one of the best albums I've heard in the past 5 years. So when I heard he was coming to my town, I got really excited... and when I went online to get tickets, my heart sank because I found out it had sold out in a hot second. Luckily, thanks to my dear friends, I was able to get in last minute, and caught his last three songs. Phenomenal. After the show, I was hanging out with my friends Hannah and Sophie, and we were talking about how it would be really cool if the band wanted to come back to Sophie's gallery, RISE, have some wine, and look through our huge vintage sale that we had earlier that day. Sophie went up to the merch guy, mentioned we had a ton of sweet vintage right down the road, and he immediately called over the girl in Sufjan's band, Nedelle, to tell her all about it. She was very excited, and we took off in my little 1985 jetta with her, her drummer, and Sophie & Hannah. Nedelle got a lot of great vintage, as well as some AMAZING jewelry that Hannah made, and the next night in New York City, she wore an item from the Grandma June collection- a beautiful pale pink shirt with strips of lace down the front, and buttons up the back. Here are some pictures!

Photo by tammylo


Photo by tammylo

Photo by e d d d d d d d i e

Very cool!

LEATHER.

Gotta give props to Wilsons Leather here, this jacket is perrrrrfect for fall! And it's for sale in my etsy shop!

And seriously, this jacket couldn't come at a better time in my life because I am all about the leather!

Example #1. I just bought an air freshener for my car that's leather scented. (Bad ass, right?)

Example #2. I can't stop singing "Zero" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. "So get your leather, leather, leather on. You're a zerooooo, what's your name? No one's gonna ask, you better find out where they want you to goooooo!" Man, seriously, this song is on repeat in my head, all day, every day. At work, in the car, in the shower, in my dreams. And I'm not sick of it yet. I am going through a very serious Karen O phase.

I must say that I do not support the leather industry (I've been a vegetarian for 10 years, and won't buy any new leather - I have to say that just in case my idol, Chrissie Hynde, ever stumbles upon this blog), but if it's a vintage piece, I'm cool with it. Or if Karen O wears it (even if it's new), I'm cool with it.

YES. Let's evaluate the coolness levels on both ends of the spectrum.
Wearing leather = HOT.
Protesting leather = HOT.


Exhibit A.

KAREN O.

Exhibit B.

Chrissie Hynde

phewwww picnic!

I mentioned briefly last month that I had been approved for a table at PICNIC music & arts festival on September 12th, 2009, but haven't said anymore about it. I'd like to give a huge THANKS to everyone who came, said hi, and supported Grandma June. I had such a blast! I've worked many festivals, arts & craft shows, etc. in the past, but this was the first time I did it for MY business. And man, let me tell you, it is so cool being your own boss. I spent many hours of many days preparing for this event (going through items, pricing, organizing), and I'm really happy so many of you came to my table, and checked everything out! If you missed it (I know, it was raining, I don't blame you... that much), here are some PHOTOS!

Here I am the night before PICNIC, in my bedroom, acting kinda frantic, pricing clothes.



A wide view of my shop! I had a bargain bin, a huge rack of vintage, a shelving unit dedicated entirely to shoes, and a shelving unit mostly just for purses/clutches. Plus great stuff sitting on the table including earrings and scarves! A lot of the stuff that didn't sell should be posted on my etsy site soon. (Including that gorgeous pale pink dress you can see at the end of the clothing rack!)

Here's a closer view of the vintage! And my clothing tags! On the front was the Grandma June logo, and on the back I hand-wrote the size and price. I used a pale peach ribbon, and little gold safety pins to attach the tags to the garments.



Customers!



I put this picture of Grandma June next to me at the table to show who my fashion inspiration is! Gotta give PROPS!

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And I know I've been saying this for a little while, but I MEAN IT... New vintage coming to the shop SOON. I did a photo shoot just this afternoon! Now I just have to take measurements, and crop the photos. Keep an eye out!

grandma june

also, while i was up at camp, i got some old pictures of grandma june. thought i'd share.


grandma with my mother's great dane, brandy. this must have been early '80's.




here's grandma with her dog, ellie-mae. early '80's.




this is how i remember grandma the most. this picture has to be late 90's.


LOVE YOU GRANDMA!

man oh man

so i went up to camp this past weekend (waaaaay northern maine, on the border of canada), and spent some quality time with some family members i don't see often. my grandfather's house is an hour from our camp, and my mother and i took a ride over on saturday. after finding out my new shop is called "grandma june" in memory of my beloved grandmother, my grampa finally decided he was willing to let go of my grandmother's wardrobe. she's been dead for three years now, but anytime we tried to clear out some of her stuff, my grandfather always refused. finally the time has come, and grampa wanted me to take it all... so i did. packed the car to capacity. i am back home in south portland, and overwhelmed with my apartment. SO MANY CLOTHES! PURSES! SHOES! and her smell, it's everywhere. now comes the time where i go through everything, and make three piles. 1. stuff to keep for sentimental value/personal wardrobe. 2. stuff to sell. 3. stuff to donate to goodwill.

here's a sneak peek!

THIS JUST IN!

Grandma June has been approved for a table at PICNIC music & arts festival on September 12th, 2009 at Lincoln Park in Portland, Maine! HOORAY! We will be sharing a table with Art By Hartley, whose work you can find here!:

http://artbyhartley.blogspot.com/

Learn more about PICNIC here!:

http://picnicportland.wordpress.com/

Vintage Sailor Dress

I love this dress. I've owned this dress for many years. It fits like a glove, and I feel like a princess in it. Not a snooty, bratty princess, but a beautiful, loved, fairy-tale princess. It was a hard decision for me to give this one up (ladies, why do we get so attached to our clothes?!), but I don't wear it often enough, and knew it deserved to get out of the closet more! I especially love the bow on this dress. DESIGNED SO WELL! Why can't I come up with ideas like these? (I'm working on it....)

UPDATE: This dress has sold, but I have many more vintage goodies (nautical, princess, and more!) at my ETSY STORE!

And here are some other sweet vintage sailor-inspired dresses that I love.

Holy cow!

I honestly had no idea how hard it was to start an online vintage clothing shop! I think I have a pretty good eye, so finding the vintage isn't the hard part for me- it's the modeling, picture-taking, measuring, editing, and posting on all social networking sites that's so hard! Hard, and TIME CONSUMING! In a matter of a week, I've started this, an etsy, a facebook fan page, a myspace, and a twitter account! And I can't keep track of them all! Please don't take these past sentences as complaining, because, in all actuality, I am the happiest I've ever been now that I have this new project - my baby - GRANDMA JUNE! Grandma June was, of course, my grandmother. I'm sure many other women can relate to me when I say that my grandmother was my idol... in so so so so so many ways. I honestly believe she completely shaped my fashion sense, and my attention to style. I've already contacted family members about getting some old photos of her to share (I have none because she HATED having her picture taken, especially later in life.), but please trust that I mean what I say when I say my grandmother was SMOKIN' HOT! So confident, so stylish- she was a hairdresser her whole life, and, luckily for me, a packrat! This means I have now inheirited almost her entire wardrobe from the 50's on. I haven't posted any ACTUAL Grandma June clothing on etsy yet (I'm still having sentimental problems with that), but I know it's something I need to get over because I just have too many clothes! And my momma (Grandma June's daughter) gives me the go ahead so it's comin'... I'll make sure to post if an item is a Grandma June original.

But until then, check out some of the current items I have for sale on etsy!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7836194