Erin Barry photoshoot

My new friend Erin did a really fun shoot with me at my house and nearby to build her portfolio. She has a great eye for composition and color. All items are from my wardrobe and all are vintage with the exception of the hat which is American Apparel. We also did a short video in black in white (very "nouvelle vague") that she is setting to music, will post when its finished! Thanks Erin!

Market Publique shop is a go!

So I mentioned how I was cleaning out my closet and selling stuff left and right. Some stuff though just seemed like a shame to let go to second-hand shops for pennies on the dollar, so instead I am putting some pieces up (including some pieces new to me that I picked up at Beacon's) on a new website called Market Publique. MP is a new website started up by some kids in New York (I believe) that is essentially an Ebay exclusively for vintage. The format is great and you can sell stuff for fixed price or auction style. The great thing about it is that it is curated so not just anyone can be a seller (fortunately they approved me, perhaps it will get more exclusive as the site grows) and items will be of high quality. I think I am going to focus on shoes because they are easy for me to photograph on my own.

More stuff will be coming soon (as with any of these sites, listing takes a while). But here's what I have up so far!

Rite of Passage

As one of the only 20-somethings living in Brooklyn without a tattoo, I've always had a sort of ambivalent relationship with them. I've seen so many kids getting tattoos on a whim, when they were too young, without significant thought or consideration. I always thought this was sad. An exboyfriend of mine had once gotten a number 13 tattoo simply because it was Friday the 13th and a tattoo shop was running a $13 special. Then again, lots of people had such beautiful designs that really made a statement about who they were, and I always admired their guts. I knew I always wanted one, but went back and forth about where to put it or what to get. After several years of having the same design in mind, and after an evening of conversation with Megan over drinks at Roebling Tea Room, I decided it was high time to make it permanent. I don't know why now, perhaps because my life is sort of in a weird limbo period right now where I'm making lots of existential decisions, but for some reason my fear of permanence disappeared (hopefully not temporarily).

I did a lot of research on the internet to find an artist. Fortunately here in New York we have lots of talented artists with all different styles. I decided I would be more comfortable with a female artist since getting a tattoo is sort of an intimate experience and I wanted to be as calm as possible. I also wanted an artist that had a sort of "illustration-y" kind of style. I hate all those gothic devils and goblins like tattoos, and I also didn't want an artist who would have thought my design was kinda girly (it is, I admit it, what other kind would I get really?). It was this image, along with a number of positive reviews I read on the internet, that made me decide to see Joy Rumore at 1228 Tattoo on Havemeyer street:

Totally amazing. And the rest of her portfolio is great too. A couple of weeks ago I went down to her shop to consult with her about the tattoo. I brought in some images that I had found on the net (thanks, Google images!) and a rough idea of what I wanted. I put down a $50 deposit for the artwork and we made an appointment for Friday night the 27th.

And last night we made it permanent. Megan came with me as moral support (thanks Megan you are the best!). The tattoo took about an hour. After going over her drawing and fiddling with the stencil, I lay down in her chair on my side and she went to work. The first 15 minutes were the hardest. Part of this had to be the group of people hanging out in the shop and trying to talk to Joy while she was working on me which I found very distracting. She didn't, but it made it hard to try to calm down and distract myself from the pain. After they left it got easier. I stopped breathing so deeply and started chatting to Joy. She has herniated discs in her back so we talked about that a lot. Its a very hard career to have when you have back problems. Her problem seems to be a lot worse than mine and the surgery that she may have in the future a lot more serious. Once we got to talking I calmed down a lot and the tattoo went more quickly. I'm not sure I could have sat there for much more than an hour (my other foot completely fell asleep and I got drenched in sweat from being nervous) but it was totally not as bad as I thought it would be.

Ta da! The red part is not red shading but a bit of blood that will eventually go away. I am still totally sore and a little in shock but I am so happy with how it turned out and thankful to Joy for getting what I wanted to do.

Journey across the River

I have two job interviews tomorrow so am thus looking for an excuse to procrastinate rather than prep for them, so here's a blog entry I meant to write a few weeks ago (I have no camera for now, so old material must do!).

Every New York vintage-loving girl knows that good vintage in this city comes at a price, whether it be through digging through bins of ugly donated t-shirts at your local Salvation Army in search of that rare gem (which you rarely find since someone else got to it first), or though paying through the teeth for a garment from one of the dozens of overpriced "vintage" stores in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Personally, I generally avoid both of those avenues and stick with shopping at stores in Berkeley when I am visiting my parents, events like the Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show (also generally overpriced, but known for some good deals, and an endless supply of vintage eye candy) or the odd flea market here or there (which, of course, are not real "flea markets" as they are known in other parts of the country where it might actually be possible to score a cute 50's dress for $10). And of course there is Ebay, but all too often the bidding war gets out of control and by the time your item reaches your door you get that buyers remorse that I was talking about a few entries back...

So what other options does a New York girl have? But of course, the Vintage Road Trip! Unfortunately for me, the road trip generally requires a car, unless you are traveling to somewhere that is accessible by public transportation. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you a somewhat untapped vintage fashion destination: Jersey City! Yes, New Jersey, home of the Sopranos and Bruce Springstein. Back in the day, I used to go to Jersey once in a while to go to a show at Maxwell's, but these days, I have pretty much no motivation to go there. Not to be a Jersey racist or anything but I've seen what kind of characters that state turns out and it ain't pretty (the exception being my mother, sorry mom you are cool (but you don't read my blog, I hope (can you tell I really like parentheses?))).

So it was to my surprise that there were supposedly some decent vintage stores in Jersey. A few weeks ago, intrigued by a Craigslist ad I saw for a store going out of business (sad), I decided to check out what Jersey City had to offer, and promised myself I would spend no more than $20 if I were to find something I liked. The journey took a miniscule 50 minutes from the moment I left my doorstep to the moment I stepped out of the Jersey City PATH station. The first stop was the aforementioned closing store called World of Style Vintage. Sadly, though everything was 1/2 off, there was not much stuff to be had, and the atmosphere was weird... it was based out of a hair salon and there was one lady there getting her hair did and she and her hairdresser were talking about cheating on their boyfriends or something. It was sufficiently Jersey trashy. After a few awkward minutes listening in on their conversation, I left for my second destination, Another Man's Treasure.

NOW we're talking. This store has that incredibly sweet, homey vibe that I love about most of the vintage shops in Berkeley. Whereas many of the New York shops tend to feel more boutique-y, AMT has little vintage knick-knacks and a portable record player that I believe was playing the Smiths when I walked through the door.

While the prices were certainly not cheap, they were a far cry from what you would find in the city (I saw a mint condition Suzy Perette for $75). The pretty cocktail dresses were calling my name, but were unfortunately out of my $20 self-proclaimed budget, so I instead opted for a more practical 80's tiered blouse for $15. I would LOVE to copy this blouse in silk crepe if I ever end up designing a line:

Oh, and did I mention this store is owned and operated by a super cute British guy? Oh yeah, and his wife I think, but yeah, he was nice.

Check out the try-on room!



I wish this was my bedroom.

As for the rest of Jersey City, I cannot say, the shop owner told me of another good store called Hala Vintage but as I had pretty much reached my budget limit I opted out. The good news for those not willing to make the journey is that AMT will be bringing their stuff to the Manhattan Vintage show in April so look for their booth.

Thanks for the top AMT!