Looking at my photostream, I realized the amount of yellow I've been wearing lately. Which is good, because sometimes I worry that I wear too much black, or too many neutrals (dont get me wrong, I love neutrals. I would wear all neutrals if I was asked to choose between that and all color!) But in the summer coming up, and seeing all of the girls pulling off colors and patterns, I knew I wanted to try it out more... little did I know I was already doing it! I LOVE SUMMER! (plus, this version of yellow is perfect for me because its not too showy and bright... more of a mustard yellow that's in my wardrobe!)

Is my birthday soon yet?

c/o: littersf, via nastygalvintage blog

I watched the classic movie Grand Prix on TCM the other day, and just loved the 1960's costume design! I wanted to post a bunch of film stills, and there are some good ones out there of the wide shots and dashing male characters. But not of the fashion, or any of the female characters I wanted. So instead, I thought I would do a quick little collage of Eva Marie Saint herself (who was in the film). Isn't she so cute? My favorite picture is the one of her with the beer mugs!

5.22.09, originally uploaded by allison the valiant.

chambray blouse: H&M
black stretch dress: H&M
leather bag: thrifted, for sale at Hello Ladies!
mens watch: lost and found at work
shoes: Steve Madden, from DSW

ps: ive been trying to figure out how to upload more than one photo to my blog through flickr, and it is totally hard! Do they think that I have time to blog each image separately and then compile them in Blogger? Someone, please help.

So Sorry to have been lacking in the art/design department lately. I really do want to post more! But I have been feeling totally uninspired. All of the design blogs I used to read are either boring me (Design Boner) or annoying me (Apartment Therapy, much?) lately. Others don't post enough, so they inevitably end up falling off of my radar. Design*Sponge is the only blog I really visit anymore, and even that hasn't been satiating my thirst for more. (All of the wonderful photos below c/o Design*Sponge)

Could anyone recommend any good art or design blogs? ...Emma? I'm searching.

Okay, I've done a couple of alterations and DIYs, but nothing super fancy. Shini, over at Park&Cube however, does some serious DIYs and I am constantly inspired by her and others that make awesome things out of nothing. So when I saw these high-waisted mom jean shorts at the St. Vincent De Paul, I knew I had to try it. Shredding. I've never owned that perfect pair of cut-off shorts, and I feel like this summer is the time. I plan on spending my unemployed days on the beach and catching some rays as much as humanly possible. I might as well enjoy being unemployed and uninsured, instead of having anxiety attacks and stress headaches at home all of the time! AM I RIGHT?!?

What do you guys think, I'm not completely sold... They're not fitting as well as I thought they would (they were never worn, with tags so I figured they'd shrink down in the wash a little more), and all of the finger-numbing shredding I did basically turned into giant holes. But it still has the effect I was going for. Maybe I'll go take them for a test spin and let you know.

On another note, don't forget to check out Hello Ladies this week, lots of stuff is selling and we'll be adding more this week, hopefully! We'll let you know when that goes down. For shizzle.

Chel over at Lets Live Fast titled her post "If I were a Boy," but this is basically how I strive to dress all of the time! Especially that last one. The hair, the jeans, and GAH I want that soft, flowy vest(?) so much!!

c/o The Fashion Spot, via Lets Live Fast

found for $1.99 at the st. vincent de paul

My favorite spot, the Savers Thrift Store, has a VINTAGE SECTION now. But actually, I can't decide whether this is totally awesome or not... I go there pretty often and have to sift through all of the dresses then all of the blouses then all of the pants (you get where I'm going here) to find the vintage stuff. And if all of the vintage stuff is now going to be in one place, it could either make my life easier or potentially make all of the good vintage stuff more readily available for everyone else to find! Ah! What do we think?

photos c/o: cookie v (this is exactly what I'm going for this spring. simple tank, simple skirt, light colors) artd!va (scarfs in the summer? heck yes.), maritaBliss (the always classic white blouse and perfect jeans. so sophisticated!), onemoredress (for some reason I currently crave big eighties floral prints on skirts and dresses), elyoo (fancy skirts paired with basic tees, i love it.) ps: don't all of these girls happen to have such GREAT SHOES?!?

3.14.09, originally uploaded by allison the valiant.

Alright, now that the shop is up and running smoothly and I've got a chance to take a BREAK, Im gonna wear shorts and pack a picnic lunch! See you all when I get another minute... My schedule may be pretty packed this weekend!!!

barette: vintage, from antique store in Shakopee
dress/tunic: thrifted from Everyday People, originally from H&M
shorts: originally pants from Express, cut off
modified flip flops: Urban a few years ago
cardigan: ON
bag: free from DSW

In honor of Emma and I recently joining the Etsy community (go take a look at the additional 10 items we added today!), I thought I'd do a post about some really great shops out there! Some longstanding favorites and new finds alike, I present to you:

imyourpresent

I admire this girl for not only her adorable handmade girly-chic clothing and earrings, but also for the SHEER AMOUNT of work she sells a day. She must have quite the following if she managed to sell 33 ITEMS this last Saturday!!!! You Frickin Go Girl!



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Clever Nettle's estatesale

I've mentioned this lady before, but I am still infatuated with her lovely photographs-that-look-like-illustrations! Not to mention, she always has such a vast array of adorable items for sale... You can check out her blog here (which I've been reading for awhile, and is how I found out about her etsy).



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sallyjanevintage

A long-time favorite of mine, this lady always has a well-edited collection of vintage items for sale. My personal favorites are the dresses, OH THE DRESSES. And she's from the south, one of the few bloggers I know of from the south, and so its refreshing to get her angle and style updates mixed in with my usual LA and NYC-residing bloggers (I love you too!) Plus you can keep ahead of the game by reading her blog due to the fact that she updates you like clockwork, every week!



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domestikate

Lastly, but CERTAINLY not leastly (can I say leastly??), this shop has me floored. A self-proclaimed "junker" who is both country, rock and roll and "definitely a little bit pirate," domestikate has the most beautiful collection of household goods and antiques (she also has a vintage clothing etsy!). And the photography is perfect. I'd like to frame some of them and hang them as still-life paintings. And I guess I have to mention that she's also been mentioned (mentioned?!? I should say lusted over!) by such prestigious blogs as Apartment Therapy, HGTV blog, Real Simple, Vintage Indie, and PoppyTalk to name a few.




That's all I can handle for now, but I'll keep you all (all? does anyone read this? maybe I should just say 'you' and keep myself in the dark. edit: I'm in a chips-and-salsa-induced-stupor right now, I apologize if I sound wierd...) updated on things if I find more that I just have to share.

Good news, the shop is finally open! In case you didn't already guess, Emma and I have been plotting for awhile to set up a vintage clothing etsy, and now Hello Ladies Vintage League is up and running! Check out all of the adorable items we have up right now, all procured in hopes of selling them to eager vintage collectors just like us! Needless to say, we are very proud parents.



The items in the post below and a few other things should be in the shop shortly, too. I'm still getting the process of ironing, photographing, uploading, editing and measuring then POSTING the pieces down to a science. That may take awhile...

Spread the word, we need customers!

I recently went to Savers looking for cheap work pants and sneakers, and they were having a .99cent sale, and so of course, I brought home more than I had anticipated! Which is fine I guess, as long as it was cheap!!

On of the things I found was this awesome hippie sweater thing, and since I never buy stuff like this, I took some inspiration from Rumi at Fashion Toast (the most adventurous of the fashion bloggers I know!), and tried it out below. I decided to try it a couple of different ways in a Sally Jane Vintage four-ways-post kind of way, just to see how I liked it best. What do you think? Am I a bonafied hippie-slash-suburban-mom who thinks shes hip?

I kind of like it.






I went with the jeans for today, I thought it was a little more daytime. Stay tuned for more posts about my recent thrifting adventures!! Also, some really exciting news involving my friend Emma and our mutual love of vintage.

poncho-sweater: thrifted, Savers
tunic-dress: Urban
jeans: Old Navy Limited Edition, thrifted from Savers
gladiator sandals: Steve Madden, thrifted from Buffalo Exchange
boots: Chinese Laundry, from DSW