New New New

One thing that is so fascinating about Vintage is that there is only so much control you have over your stock. You really have to work with what is available on the market when you are ready to buy. One of the creative challenges in this business is to show off your inventory in new and exciting ways and to be constantly reinventing your display to showcase such a wide variety of goods in the best possible way. But really it's the element of surprise and the flow of the goods through the shop that can make it so new and interesting at any moment and always worth a drop by.

I'll probably be talking about our new merchandise for a while it's barely Spring and it will flow out on to the floor over the next few weeks and it's going to take some time to get to know it. Everyone knows that I have a special place in my heart for top shelf vintage from the 1940s-1960s, we went into this buying trip with something else in mind: an entirely new and updated Men's section, great women's everyday separates from the 1950-1960s, spring coats with a modern flair a few adds to the top shelf rack, and a big add to the casual dresses from the 1960s/1970s. And I tell you this is exactly what we got.

There are of course always surprises when you get the goods home and look at it all together. One of which turns out to be a very good selection of dresses in the M/L to L/XL range. So if you're one of those folks who think Vintage is too small, come on in and let us dress you up!


 Lisette Murphy of  Rogue Femme Art and Non Plus Mag was in charge of dress selection and did an amazing job curating a dynamic collection Spring and Summer strolling dresses especially suited for our JP girls.   
 
Another surprise was a leather racing jacket. I'm still doing some research on it and I can't wait to go home and see if it still has it's "internal removable armor". It's a size small and I tried it on and was wondering what the Velcro tabs  inside the sleeves were all about. Probably one of the most fun finds. If you're an enthusiast, and know anything about these let me know. Anyway maybe you'll see someone wearing it riding around JP on a scooter. That's our dream anyway.

Congratulations

Big Congratulations to Jennifer Griffith of Šarka’s Collection for her first retail sale. The ribbon print circle skirt handmade from Vintage Fabric was simply adorable, and we wish her all the luck at her new venture at the SoWa market this summer.

Mama need a new pair of shoes?

Well I started off on a blogging roll in early March and the month quickly got ahead of me. I'm so excited about the weather this weekend! We've got a big Spring preview out in the shop already and come April the store will be totally transformed for spring and early summer.

This is your last chance to take advantage of our winter clearance sale, including handmade refashioned items at 30% off, come April it will all be gone.

We've got a ton of great shoes in the shop that I'll be listing on Etsy later today. Pretty 1950s Stilettos and 1980s Italian Ferragamo's, you can't beat the price. So if your not local here's your chance to take home a bit of Dame style.

If you’re local, check out Secret Boston's FB page for our funky shoe competition and the chance to win a $25 gift certificate for the shop.  If you see any shoes you like here they are in the shop!

Rainy Day Fun

This is what Wordle thinks of the Dame Blog:

March Schedule Update

For the month of March we'll be closed on Wednesdays. Everyone is traveling and we're putting extra time into planning great things for Spring. like the sewing group we've been talking about, (keep your eye out for an April start date) new handmade goods and designers in the shop.

The warm weather wear has already started coming out and the store will be remade for a new season by the end of the month.

Regular hours Thursdays-Sundays. All wool and tweed is still on sale for the month of March, including the Refashion line 'Freyed' by Nicole Deponte. Surprise additional discounts on winter wear; you'll have to stop by to see tho.

DIOR fall 2010

I just love this, it's totally over the top but I love it. My love of fashion is deeply rooted in history, costume design and art for art's sake. But if I could dress like this everyday!

Spring is Perhaps

A shout out to almost Spring, and this beautiful day. For a more personal look, take a walk through Forest Hills Cemetery  on a fine day like today and check out some of Boston's own literary history. Have a great weekend.

If freckles were lovely, and day was night,

And measles were nice and a lie warn't a lie,

          Life would be delight,--
          But things couldn't go right

          For in such a sad plight

I wouldn't be I.
If earth was heaven and now was hence,
And past was present, and false was true,
         There might be some sense
          But I'd be in suspense
          For on such a pretense
You wouldn't be you.

If fear was plucky, and globes were square,
And dirt was cleanly and tears were glee
         Things would seem fair,--
          Yet they'd all despair,
          For if here was there
We wouldn't be we.
e.e. cummings

Words to love

I've had a long standing love of peotry, but sometimes I just become smitten with a word the sound & feel of it, the connotations of impressions that go beyond the literal . Are there any dictionary nerds out there? Do  you look words up just for the fun of it?

Of course slang is especially interesting:
Did you know that 'cake eater' is a jazz age slang term for 'ladies man' and 'tomato' for 'ripe woman'. A 'choice bit of calico' for an attractive female student is my personal favorite. Check out a whole list here.  
Now isn't that the bee's knee's.

Here are some words I love that ultimatly led me to the Shop's name.

Main Entry: zaf·tig
Pronunciation: \ˈzäf-tig, ˈzȯf-\
Variant(s): also zof·tig \ˈzȯf-\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Yiddish zaftik juicy, succulent, from zaft juice, sap, from Middle High German saf, saft, from Old High German saf — more at sap
Date: circa 1936
of a woman : having a full rounded figure : pleasingly plump

Main Entry: fil·ly
Pronunciation: \ˈfi-lē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural fillies
Etymology: Middle English fyly, from Old Norse fylja; akin to Old English fola foal
Date: 15th century
1 : a young female horse usually of less than four years
2 : a young woman : girl

Main Entry: 1gam
Pronunciation: \ˈgam\
Function: noun
Etymology: probably ultimately from Lingua Franca gamba leg, from Italian, from Late Latin
Date: circa 1785
slang : leg

The Blogosphere

"quase fantasmagórica, a decoração é de se apaixonar..."

DAME was recently written up by the lovely Thais on a Brazilian blog called oiMODA. While I can't read the article (I don't speak Portuguese) the layout and photos look great and Thais was a pleasure to talk with when she visited the store. There may be an English translation in the future, which I'll be sure to post. For now, if you're curious or you speak Portuguese, check out the blog HERE. It looks like there's tons of other excellent stuff on there as well.