Inspired by Vintage

I bought a pair of lovely vintage Mary Jane swing shoes off of Etsy from the 1940's that appear to be barely worn.   It's so fascinating to know these shoes are from the 40's when swing music was in full gear!  The shoe is very quality made.  This is what I am looking forward to about shopping vintage is the quality of the garments and shoes.  

I have been browsing some really fantastic blogs on women who dress in vintage 40's clothing and it is so inspiring.  Since I can remember, I've loved this time period.  In fact, I have a bunch of CD's from the swing area that I should pull out and start playing:)   I'm also going to watch a couple of vintage movies with swing dancing.  I remember dragging my friend off to a big band swing dance in the 90's but when we got there we were the youngest ones.  I think everyone there was retired.  They were all so sweet and they were amused that we liked the music so much to come.


Here are a couple of eye catching items I found.  This dress certainly puts me in the 40's.   I love the richness of the colors.  I would love this dress but they don't ship to the USA.

Link to shop


Look how fab this is a matching bag and shoes!  I know it's pretty pricey but how often do you see something as nice as this?  The straps on the shoe are awesome.   I love this bag too!  But, alas, the shoes are not my size so no more temptation needed.

Link to shop

Vintage Bow Clips

My next quest is to put together a vintage outfit.  I'd really like a kind of 40's swing outfit but if I see an awesome dress from the 50's, I will let the path lead me where it may.  Vintage bags and rhinestones are so affordable.  You can get some really beautiful bags, quality made, barely used from the 40's and 50's for less than $100 and $100 would be an awesome beaded bag.  I'm thinking even $50 for a nice decent bag.  I just picked the bag below off of ebay for $40 shipped and it's silk and in mint condition.   I bet even at the local vintage market there are some beautiful bags for under $20.
Here is a nice bag on Etsy for $20.

The dress is a little bit more difficult.  I've been looking but haven't quite found the one I want yet.


I love rhinestones and all things that sparkle:)  Also, lately I've had a fascination with bows.   So, what a better thing to search for than vintage rhinestone bows:)  There are so many great ideas for incorporating vintage rhinestones into your accessories.  The great thing is they are also very affordable!   While I was looking around at vintage rhinestone accessories, I came across bow clips for shoes.  I had no idea this was in fashion in the 40's.  In fact, I had no idea about rhinestone shoe clips...what a great idea!   I won these lovely clips below.  When they arrive, I will be sure to take a picture of them.

My Quest For Mary Jane's

I have this facination with Mary Jane's.  They are my favorite shoe.  I think it's a combination of the visual appearance, youthfulness, and a through back to the 40's that keeps me facinated with these shoes.

I was reading about how the name Mary Jane came about. They say it came from a character in the Buster Brown comic series. Interesting.  I recall back in the late 90's early 2000 when the pointed shoe was in style and all I wanted was MJ's. I had a great Prada MJ but I sold it at a consignment shop because it was one of those shoes with the heel so high you could barely walk in it:) Now, I'm wishing I would have kept it, if only just to stand still.

I have been looking around the internet trying to find a pair of black suede MJ's and I finally succeeded in finding a pair!

Below are some cool MJ's I've found in my search quest...

Love this Marni Shoe!!! I'm quite sure I couldn't do a walking tour in them but they are lovely. I think sometime in the future I'd like a pair of Marni's. This shoe is on pre-order  and purchased for the low sum of $715 here.

Ahh, what a beautiful shoe this is and apatly name "Leila".  Love it!!  The shoe is by Rupert Sanderson and can be purchased here.

For some good priced MJ's, Modcloth had a nice variety.

One of the problem's I was running into when trying to find a pair of Mary Jane's that I wanted was the heel, I was looking for a pair with more of the traditional block heel.  This proved kind of difficult to find since it seems that the current trend is for more thin heels.

And, there is a blog for all you MJ lovers!!  Here

So, which shoes did I end up with you ask?  This lovely pump below.  When they arrive, I will be sure to take a picture.  The brand Pas de Rouge.  They are made in Venice, Italy by hand and have this great "rouge" interior.  There are some great pictures on their website of the process. I can't wait to try them on.  It was a process finding a shoe I really liked so I'm hoping I love this shoe.