Outfit Post + Thrift Haul

camo jacket, blouse, skirt, shoes, purse, necklace, bracelets - thrifted

As usual, I've been bad about doing these, but here's an outfit post (yaaay). And also as usual, everything I'm wearing I bought at thrift stores. I am obsessed with this blouse. It's made of a lovely white silk, with very subtle shoulder pads and a really cool embroidered pattern of alternating white and black arrows along the cuffs, collar, etc. I bought it for $3. The red skirt is suede with a houndstooth pattern. You can't see these details cos I suck at focusing my camera with a self timer! Oh well.

I also love this camouflage jacket. I have no idea what it was used for, but it was definitely made circa the 1960s based on the tags and the material used.

Above are a few things from this past weekend's thrift haul. The first is a ceramic bowl signed "Ardenware by Kate." Ardenware was made in Arden, Delaware, which isn't too far from here. Arden was initially a commune in the late 1800s, but I believe this was made in the 1970s. My boyfriend and I loved this bowl so much we decided not to sell it. Artichokes and mushrooms are some of our favorite things to eat, and we're both getting into collecting glazed pottery, so into our china cabinet it goes!

The second photo shows a bunch of handmade matchboxes I picked up for 25 cents each. They have what I think are magazine clippings (there is a different one on each side), covered in a veneer of some kind, with handmade matchsticks inside a box constructed mostly of masking tape. These were definitely made a while ago. I love weird items like this; this is really why I am a thrift shopper, and these kinds of things are what keep me going back out there. You can't buy this stuff anywhere; they just appear to you, out of the blue, and you can only wonder at their back story.

NEW: UV HOME // GARDEN

Ultramarine Vintage will now be selling housewares! Check our home // garden section in our shop to view our housewares line. New items will be added to this section all week. From obsessively thrift shopping, I've collected way more household items than I can keep in my tiny studio apartment, so I'm sharing them with the Etsy buying public!

In other news, UV now has a tumblr. Check it out!

Busy week

Coming soon to the shop!

It's been a very busy week, and it's not going to get less so over the weekend. Still have to wrap up a few projects, not to mention all the new items I have to list! Speaking of which, it's getting slightly less creepy and a lot more fun to do these Etsy photo shoots by myself. I hate getting photos taken of me, but now it's more a game of dress up than anything else. Also, I love the clothes, so that helps.

Yesterday I fought for and won tickets to one of the Kraftwerk retrospective shows at MoMA. I was so happy (and also drained from the ticket buying experience--apparently I am one of the 1.2% that got them) that I pretty much spent the rest of the day eating Chinese food. I'm really excited about going, as Kraftwerk is the only band (now musician, singular) that I've wanted to see live, and it'll be nice to take the trip to New York City.

I haven't been to New York since I was 17, when I spent half a day drinking gin and tonics at some weird thing in Kenny Goldsmith's Manhattan apartment. I'm actually kind of phobic about NYC. There's something about it that's so overwhelming for me. I don't really want to be around so many people at once, you know? Growing up in Philadelphia doesn't help. Philadelphia is a small town in comparison to New York. I mean, you have to understand that it is likely I'll end up a reclusive cat lady some day. And by that I mean becoming a reclusive cat lady is my goal in life.

God, all I talk about are cats.

They forecast snow today

I have so much work to do, but I feel creatively wiped out. I know I can get it all done, so I'm not worried, just a little frustrated with myself. I want a cup of hot cocoa and a day to watch crappy movies from the 70s. Recently I've been trying to finish The Baby on Netflix, but my boyfriend keeps falling asleep before it's done. It's been three nights, and we still haven't finished it. It's pretty much one of the creepiest psychological horror movies I've seen, it just doesn't get any weirder than The Baby.

jean jacket - found among my boyfriend's high school clothing, so free; doc marten's thrifted when I was 16; bdg jeans - buffalo exchange


dangly heart earrings - dollar store bought a million years ago; glasses - thrifted (and yes, they're prescription, I can't see shit without them)


bracelet, express angora rabbit hair shirt - thrifted

This shirt makes me feel furry like a cat. I bought these jeans a few days ago, I don't know why cos they make me look short. I'm just desperate for more jeans. This is why I originally stuck to skirts, they're just easier to buy and fit into.

Back to movies, another great psycho-horror cult film I've seen recently is Monkey Shines. If you love animals you'll probably commit suicide after watching it. Both of these movies feature a incapacitated man with psychos acting on his behalf. I wish they still made movies like this in earnest.

Daily Outfit

skirt, top, shoes, bag - thrifted, tights - h&m

I bought this Forever 21 top, the shoes, and the purse Saturday for $3, $4, and $5, respectively. The acid wash Bongo jean skirt I got for $3 a couple of weeks ago. This was another subdued outfit for a lovely and warm February day. I can't believe how nice it's been this winter. It almost makes me wish I didn't work from home. But then I would miss my cat.

Speaking of which, I've been reading about how cats can spread a parasitic bacteria that has evolved to make infected hosts desire cats and not mind the smell of their urine. This bacteria can infect humans, and it supposedly makes us a little crazy in addition. Does this make it OK if I become a crazy cat lady some day? It's always been a dream of mine. Also, is it weird that I'm not freaked out by this news? It just doesn't affect my love of felines, and I don't think anything can.

Thrift Haul #3

It's that time of the week! I picked all of this up over the weekend, mainly Saturday.

take note of: the distressed leather jacket that is too small for my boyfriend so I get to keep it; the blue button up shirt that has Zodiac symbols all over it; the long sequined dress made in India, 100% silk; my cat.

take note of: new purse, a pile of fabric and linens that I have no idea what to do with, and, my favorite, salmon-colored gloves!

take note of: framed "Tom Kitten" illustration by Beatrix Potter (the thrift shop owner gave it to me for free).

take note of: my new dresser!

I got the dresser for $23. I was really excited to find out that it was made right here in Philadelphia. It was made in the Northeast on Rising Sun Ave. My boyfriend and I plan to fix it up a bit, but it's exactly what we were looking for and it fits perfectly in this spot. Overall, this weekend was a grand success. Not pictured is a lot of clothing I bought, mostly for myself. It's been a while since I sought out anything for my own use.

edit: I just discovered that the man who owned the furniture company who made my new dresser recently passed away. Here's his obituary from this past December. I was tickled to discover he was a Mason, I find that stuff pretty interesting.

Victorian Wildlife

So Valentine's Day is coming up. Do people celebrate this holiday? I mean, do you truly 'celebrate' it, or do you just use February the 14th as an excuse to eat a lot of chocolate? Well that's actually OK, cos there isn't even a religious tradition behind Valentine's Day. There is no one guy the day is named after, and while the Catholic Church has records of several Saint Valentines, none of them were martyred for love-related reasons; in fact, there really isn't much of a historical record of any of them. Valentine's Day was something Chaucer and other poets in his day made up as a plot device for the courtly love genre.

But no matter. There are still traditions associated with Valentine's. The Victorians, for instance, knew how to celebrate a hoax holiday: make everything lacy. So if you love fashion and want to celebrate Valentine's this year, I suggest watching Picnic at Hanging Rock, made in 1975 and directed by Peter Weir. It's the most beautiful film ever made.

A digression

I spent most of my childhood watching weird movies by myself and having lonesome spiritual epiphanies in their company. My parents never restricted what I watched, so I ended up watching a lot of stuff that was probably inappropriate for my age. For instance, I was completely obsessed with horror movies between the ages of 7-10. My favorites were The Fly (even though it almost made me throw up) and Candyman. I would probably let my kids watch this stuff. They didn't make me wet my bed, and I'm not a mass murderer or anything now.

But I think there were some movies I saw when I was a child that were so beautiful, and their beauty so emotionally captivating, that they traumatized me. These films made me believe there was a perfect, glimmering mystery behind every moment in life. I became convinced that I would grow up and live an enchanted, bittersweet fairy tale. I prepared myself throughout childhood to face tragedy and romance, not responsibility and boredom. In other words, sometimes movies are so good they make you lose all faith in reality, and you grow up to be a dreamer.

This is one of those movies that can do that to you. I first saw Picnic when I was eleven. It came on TV, and I had no idea what it was. The movie begins on the morning of St. Valentine's Day, 1900 in an all-girl's boarding school in rural Australia. The girls and their teaches visit a mountain called Hanging Rock, stab a cake in honor of Saint Valentine's, and some of them go hiking never to return.

Perhaps this doesn't sound romantic enough for you. If you have a heart (and you should, it's Valentine's Day, man!), it'll take your breath away. Just watch the opening here. Listen to those pan flutes! Soon enough you'll be wearing a corset and reciting poetry with ribbons in your hair, too.

But the best part of this movie is the haunting mystery at its heart.

It's about the force of nature over mankind, and girls blossoming into women, and repressed sexual urges. It's about things you'll never know in waking life. You have to watch it.

And I suggest doing so in full Victorian garb. Maybe your boyfriend will like it? Or maybe you should just dump him after all. You have less than two weeks. Get started now.