Hats from San Francisco in the 40's...

My favorite: A flirty little number for Fall... (tag reads "Austelle Fashion")



Close runner up for my personal favorites, the tag reads: "designed Monte Rey in california"



The most extravagant, but no tag to be found:



The most surprising number of the bunch (to me). A sexy, mysterious hat. Tag reads: "City of Paris. Paris - New York - San Francisco."



The most demure hat of the bunch, this hat is also missing a tag:



*sigh* Sadly, Purchased later in her life, this one is faux fur and made in China. But it was fun to imagine that it, too, was a SF original...



And finally, as a shout out to my Grandpa:



...I hope that his military hats aren't thrown away. The family planned on discarding his WW2 uniforms, but my father salvaged them.

Dresses: The Reality

So...sad news on my dress-buying activity. Remember the dresses I posted not so long ago? The ones that led me to boast about my deal-finding abilities? They all sucked. I sent all of them back save one, which had a "no return" rule on it. I will attempt to have it tailored.

The others were complete failures for a variety of reasons. The most hilarious being the presence of a "death star crevace" in the way the fabric fell down my rear end. (So deemed by my boyfriend). It was bad.

So...I spent a few weekends actually trying on merchandise and this is what I came up with:


A romantic mid-calf rose-print dress:
(I have a long locket in the mail from Etsy to pair with this)



A tube dress to wear over my new bikini when we go sailing out to a snorkeling site:



And a bohemian dress that will look incredible with a brown belt and some gladiator sandals:



I rounded things out with a cute boho skirt that looks great paired with a little gray tank top (thanks to yoga my abs are looking good enough that it will look great paired with a bikini top):



Finally, a new bikini (because lets face it, you're in one every day in Hawaii so taking at least 3 is necessary...)



Remind me not to shop online. Even when ordering shoes I send 80% of what I order back.

A Beautiful Dress. Or Four.

I understand that this blog on the tail of my last one (you know, with the whole bit about being frugal) may seem to drip with hypocroisy. But the truth is, that it all ties in. With the money I saved on coffee in one month, I bought 4 dresses that will soon be keeping me comfortable, cool, and classy on a beach in Kauai.

Behold:



(#1) A beautiful black (yes, the image is decieving) halter dress from White House Black Market. Perfect for slipping on over a bikini on the way to and from an afternoon of snorkeling on ke'e beach. Can easily transition into lunch out by simply stripping away said bikini top, tousling hair, and throwing in a flower. Beautiful. I love it.



(#2) More beautiful beachwear. Casual enough to throw on over swimwear, or to wear at the resort resturant with a pair of dressed up flip-flops and a cool necklace. This one is American Eagle.



(#3) Another American Eagle dress. This one will not see the inside of a resturant unless we are going to a fish taco or shave ice stand. But it will dry quickly and the empire waist tie is going to be really flattering.




(#4) WHBM red halter dress. I'm thinking appropriate evening wear when paired with heels & gold bangles.



There are very few things that I go as crazy for when shopping as a good summer dress. I love looking in the off-season because I manage to hook things for great prices, and then I get to take it easy and browse as the summer draws near...no frantic searching for the "perfect" vacation dress! Only 6 months 'till vacation!!