Grandma Nora's House Dress circa 1940

Dear Friends,

This beautiful hand-made 1940's house dress belonged to a woman named Nora, the great-grandmother of a good friend of mine, Ms. Macon Gurley.  Nora lived in north-eastern Virginia and she was a darn good seamstress with impeccable taste in fabric.    This is a wrap dress featuring a side tie, collar, and pocket.  Primary colored flowers pop out on a teal and white stripe backdrop.

Thanks Nora!  And thanks for reading friends.

Best,
Nora Jane

1940's Lounging Apparel

Dear Friends,

On a recent trip through Kansas, I stopped off in the lovely town of Lawrence and did a little vintage-shopping, where I found this charming 1940's day-dress; the label calls it "Lounging Apparel." :)

It is a wrap-dress and it fastens in the front with two buttons. On the very LARGE pockets, are sewn actual cloth, flower seed packets. The pattern is a sketchy white polka-dot on a beige background. I love it and knew when I saw it in that antique store that it would be perfect for my family reunion at Gull Lake in the North Woods of Minnesota.

Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

Country Girl in 40's Checks

Dear Friends,

I found this darling dress in an antique mall in Vinton, VA. It was $22. Hooray!

The material is teal and brown cotton with raised white crisscross stripes and the skirt is sort of peasant style ruffles. The neckline is a sharp V and I love how the pattern is lined-up horizontally to create V's on the top and is straight up and down on the skirt. Very flattering!

I feel like I sould be heading to a barn dance every time I wear this sweet sweet dress. I've paired it with my 40's style brown heals and a brown leather belt.

Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

The Details

Dear Friends,

This lovely navy and white 1940's number is unlike any dress I own. It has three-quarter length sleeve, a v-neckline, and a really flattering detail around the hips and bum. It was a little loose on me and, while a wonderful woman (pictured above) offered to tailor it for me, I choose to take an olive-tan 50's cocktail dress that fit me perfectly.

The lesson: Unless it's perfect, don't take it (even if it's free) because you simply will not wear it.

Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

California 40's Red Crepe

Dear Friends,

This is my first west coast vintage piece and I love it. It's a beautiful the softest 1940's crepe dress I've ever met...I mean, felt. :) The print is whimsical and wonderfully colorful. I lvoe the deep pockets and the bright red buttons. I recently decided that wearing red on stage is definitely a good move so I'm keeping my eye out for red dresses.

This gem was given to me in Newman, California. Thanks Farris!


Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

Bearfoot Nora Jane

Dear Friends,

I am thrilled to formally announce that I recently became the new lead singer in a totally awesome band called Bearfoot! Hoorah! For the first photo-shoot with the band, I had a serious decision to make: should I carry-over my custom of performing in vintage clothing or should I create a new persona and have my vintage duds be exclusive to my solo carrier. (I even considered choosing a different decade for the new band!) Well, after hours and hours of thought, I finally decided on a comprise.

For my solo gig I am going to continue performing in 1940's and 50's dresses-- mostly of the cotton day-dress variety-- and with Bearfoot, I am going to give myself a little more freedom to use vintage pieces along with modern pieces. (Although, for the shows we played two weeks ago, I wore a 1950's red dress...nothing modern about it. :)

In the above photos I am wearing a 1950's teal bathing suit and a 1940's thick-woven linen skirt. The bathing suit, I purchased several years ago in Brooklyn, NY. At the time, I felt a little silly spending about a hundred of my hard earned bucks on a 50 year old bathing suit (complete with wire ribbing and rooshing!!!) but now I am so glad that I grabbed it when I did. I found the skirt in Nashville's very own vintage treasure-trove Pre-to-Post Modern on 8th Avenue.

For more photos, videos, and tour schedule, visit the band's:

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/bearfoot.fp

Website: www.bearfootband.com

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/BearfootbandAngela

Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

It's a 1940's Christmas

Dear friends,

When I found this dress in an antique mall in Virginia, I was totally thrilled. The print is just darling-- holly leaves and berries on black cotton cloth. It features rhinestone buttons up the front, elven-like pointed cuffs on the sleeves, and a nice-like framed v-collar.

It's perfect for playing shows around the holidays. I wore it for the first time at a show in Birmingham, Alabama and I might just wear it again today.

Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

Late 40's Pink with Rhinestones

Dear Friends,

This is my first ever vintage eBay purchase. (I got it at a pretty darn good price too, which apparently is tricky on eBay.)

The dress is late 1940's -- no zipper -- and features rhinestone buttons down the front, and darling pockets with an embroidered flora motif and rhinestone studs. It has the classic 40's A-line silhouette and and is made of pink cotton material in which the weave is visible. It also came with a thin purple belt with brass clasps (shown above). Bonus!

Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

1940's Ladies Jeans...SO AWESOME!

Dear friends,

These are women's jeans from the 1940's. I found them in an antique mall in Missouri two weekends ago and I TOTALLY LOVE THEM! The have a sturdy brass colored zipper on the side and the stitching is orange. In these photos I have them rolled-up in the style consistent with how they would have been worn in the 40's and 50's. The saddle shoes might bring these up to the 50's, but they are the closest I've got to period shoes to go with jeans.

Adding a scarf, either around the neck or as a hair tie, to this outfit, really ties it together. (no pun intended...)

Thanks for reading friends!

Best,
Nora Jane

Nancy's Grandmother's Dress

Dear Friends,

Once or twice before in my life, I have been given vintage dresses by kindly women who are looking for a good home for a dress, but never have I been given something that is so exactly aligned with the era and style of dress on which I have patterned my "look." After hearing that I was wearing a true 1940's seersucker romper (blog post to follow :), Nancy, resident of Middletown, RI, came up to me during the intermission of our show at Common Fence Music last night and told me she had several of her grandmother's dresses form the 40's in her closet. When she asked me if I would I be interested in adopting them, I jumped up with an enthusiastic, "Yes!"

The bootleggers and I stopped by her house first thing this morning wear I tried on this amazing garment. As we got in the car to drive away, Dave, my mandolin player, said, "I think that might be the best dress you own." I think I might just agree.

Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

Elderly Instruments

Dear Friends,

Michigan in July is a very good thing.

The Bootleggers and I had two very nice shows at night and Saturday afternoon we played an in-store at the famous: Elderly Instruments. I wore this sleek late 1940's early 1950's blue-bell linen skirt with a white tee-shirt tucked in. This skirt is such a winner because the material is heavy and so it sways beautiful when walking. It also has a lovely thick band at the waist which means no belt is necessary (perfect for warm weather) and this detail is echoed in the slanting pockets.

Visiting Elderly was something I've always wanted to do and getting to perform my first time there was pretty neato.

Thanks for reading friends.

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

Talk of the Town

Dear Friends,

The woman who owns the amazing vintage store, Vintage Ooollee, in Augusta, Georgia, told me that if on my travels I am ever near Cincinnati, I simply MUST stop at her favorite vintage store, Talk of the Town. Well, on our way home for Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, we just happened to be driving right past Cincinnati and I just happened to remember so to Talk of the Town we went!

This store has a vast selection from the 1920's on up, is organized by size, and labeled by decade. All of the clothes are in very good condition and I would have liked to take home many more tha I did. I took home the lovely yellow 1940's. It buttons up the front and has really neato little round pockets and a matching detail on the top.

The wool 1950's number is totally amazing. I probably should have bought it, but one must curb one's desires occasionally.

Thanks for reading friends.

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

The Dress

Dear Friends,

The morning we left for our great journey to Telluride, Colorado, I held up this dress and told the video camera, "This is the dress. That's all I'm going to say."

It turns out, it was the dress...the dress that I wore on the main stage in the final round of the band competition when we won. :)

It's a beautiful late 1940's, pink cotton with a side zipper, triangle cuffs, collar, and neckline, and a row of covered buttons going up the front. This dress is a keeper.

Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane

Fanny's

Dear Friends,

Sometimes, there are too many wonderful dresses. I tried on 6 or 7 of these (all of which fit perfectly) at East Nashville's half vintage/half music store, Fanny's, and came home with only one-- the brown 40's with diagonal white stripes. :)

At least it was one that I love!

Thanks for reading friends!

Sincerely,
Nora Jane