Art Deco Miracle Mile Walking Tour

A couple of weeks ago a friend invited me to a walking tour presented by the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. The subject of the tour was the Miracle Mile, a section of Wilshire Blvd. that in it's day was the destination shopping, business, and residential mecca.

 Our guide, Eric Lynxwiler, held up before images of many of the areas on the mile.
He also wrote a book on it.

I blame myself.

I'm fasting. That's it. 

I'm fasting from buying myself vintage patterns and booklets for a while. Not that I don't see some that I want, trust me, I do, but more so than that, I'm tired of the outrageous pricing/gouging and the insane mis-categorizing I see all over the web!

NO! A 30s-40s pattern isn't from the 50s! Nor can a pattern span 3 decades and still be relevant! People listing 30s patterns as 20s, 40s patterns as 30s, 50s patterns as 40s and even 60s patterns as 50s! Last I checked, mini-skirts were not big in 1956. I've actually contacted a few sellers on eBay about that and most of them have changed it. If it flusters you as much as me, then please, let them know.

Its driving me crazy.

Remember when I posted about pattern booklets? 

Remember when I said that they were the next big thing? I shit you not, a week after that post a slew of booklets were all over the web at $12, $15, and $20+ each! I'm not a trend setter, nor do I believe people actually listen to what I say, but that was a shocker. I'm sorry to all you collectors out there, and I take full blame for it. That post has even bitten my collecting in the ass.

I'm just tired of overpaying. So, I won't be for a while. No protest of any kind, I'm just going through my stuff as I'm packing and I'm quite content with my collection as it stands. I need to revel in that. I need to know I can't get everything all the time. Not that I think I can, but I'm just tired of thinking that *this* one is the only one I'll ever see, ever, when it's never been the case, ever.

I could go off on a tangent and bitch about people listing patterns on eBay for $70 when they are barely worth $15. I *could* talk about how lazy people are in listing patterns that they never even checked for pieces but want $100 for an 'old' pattern. I *could* say that if you don't know the era, then SAY SO and save us real collectors a lot of heart ache sifting through your intentional mis-listings in order to get more traffic to a pattern no one wants...

I could say that, but I won't.

I have five full boxes of goodies and I will happily be sharing those via catalog Sundays and the like, so don't think this 'fast' will affect this blog! I got y'all covered. I'm just deciding if this is what I want to spend on right now even thought I have the income to do so. I'll peep out some of my secret places and stay away from eBay for a while. It's, making me angry. So many things are popping up. It just seems that vintage is getting more plentiful, but the prices are getting higher.

What's up with that?

Just Because...

A page from the actual sewing book (which is a pretty good sewing book) 'Sewing made Easy' by Sally Stitch.

Make & Mend thanks to the Men

One thing I've always found fascinating about WWII home front culture is the Make & Mend mentality that was so heavily pushed by everyone. Using what you have so as not to deprive those that need for a larger effort. That's so commendable in today's throw away culture.

Manners for Moderns: Why is Etiquette?

As I clear out the crickets from my last two posts, I continue on with Man Month and a section of the book, 'Manners for Moderns'. I find it amusing that even though this book is written for men, it was written by a woman. Ha!

Try the quiz at the bottom of the post.