Mom the Style Star

You know what’s kind of awesome? Coming across a not-forgotten-but-somewhat-misplaced box of amazing photographs of your mom, circa the 1960s.

 

Theme-wise, it would make more sense to hang onto these and post them right in time for Mother’s Day, but why wait until May when they can be enjoyed right now? 

What’s especially inspiring about these is how many of the outfits were hand-sewn,  and realizing how many of them are still in existence, whether as part of our own personal collection or stored in Mom’s cedar chest. We only wish it could be all of them...

THE AUTOMAT PARTS AND CRAFTS

We were feeling a little creative and a little garden-ish (can that now be a word?) this past weekend so we decided it was time to try out something we've been thinking about for awhile.... and the results made us pretty darn happy.

Take one cute mug from our Domestic Affairs section (more coming next week!), add one small plant that doesn't need much root space, and that's all there is to it.

The Automat Trunk Show

A big thank-you to everyone for coming and making The Automat's Trunk Show a success!

Doll-sized snacks...

...including hard-boiled quail's eggs.
(with a tiny dollop of garlic aoli)

Rainbow merchandising is our favourite.

Several people were struck down with cuteness-induced brain hemorrhages 
from this display of salt & pepper shakers.

Thanks again to our lovely and gracious host Jessica from Vicious Little Bitches
and our expert steamer and egg-peeler extraordinaire, Emily.


(psst... the next show will be in November!)

From 1917...

 

From 1914 until the end of World War I in 1918, George Brown (no relation to the Toronto college) was stationed as an ambulance attendant in France and Belgium. He relied on the postal service to send souvenirs to his family back in Canada. Birthdays, Christmases and other occasions were marked by the arrival of envelopes containing pressed flowers, delicate lace handkerchiefs, exquisite embroidery, and carefully handwritten cards, sent to children who were so young when he left they had no real recollection of who he was.

George survived the war; so did some of the mementos he sent, now passed on to us. 

It's always a pleasure to find something other than a bill in the letterbox.

Native Funk and Flash

 Thanks to the number of internet sites selling used books, this 1974 title isn’t as hard to come by as it once was… but it was still exciting to find it in hiding in a Goodwill in small town Arizona, even with a little water damage on the pages.

Filled with creative and inspiring images, it’s also an incredible piece of history documenting textiles arts in the post-hippie world of early 70s California. The authors and their subjects were (and, we hope, still are) people who genuinely lived the lifestyle and who wanted to capture their culture.

Who doesn’t wish they had a neighbour who could hand-make a pair of shoes, turn an old bed sheet into an embroidered marvel, or ornament a toilet with coins? Amazing.

"Native Funk and Flash" by Alexandra Jacopetti, with photographs by Jerry Wainwright.

Meet Dolores!!!

We've had a few questions about sizing and measurements this week, so we'd like to introduce you to our adventurous mannequin, Dolores! 

Dolores has classic curves, with a 34" bust, 24" waist and 34" hips. She is, as you may have noticed, a little on the headless side at the moment, but if she did have one she would come to somewhere between 5'8" and 5'9". 

We try to offer a good solid range of sizes, and as accommodating as Dolores is, she's just not going to fit everything! Items that are too big for her are usually pinned to hang properly on her frame, and we try to keep the proportions intact- for example, if we've pinned the waist in by one inch, we try to pin in the bust and hip by one inch too so the actual shape of the garment isn't misleading.

And for items that are too small? Often Dolores will fit in them for a front view as long as we leave the back zipper open, and the back view will be shown on a hanger.

The biggest challenge for Dolores is jumpsuits- we like to think about what she's got, not what she's lacking, but the fact is that without legs, pants are especially tricky. Jumpsuits are sometimes pinned flat on the front, and sometimes maneuvered up the post.

Any other questions about sizes? Email or call us, we're happy to help.