Lisa's Gift Guide: 2016

Winter Scene Skirt: Unique Vintage (Reg) (Plus)

Evolution Vintage Jewelry

I can't even believe it is that time again. Time to deck the halls, cherish your moments with family and friends and celebrate the year behind you. It is a busy time for everyone so each year I like to offer my suggestions for gift giving to make shopping a little easier.

I do the majority of my shopping online and locally via small businesses. Here are my 2016 picks:

BOOKS:

To Inspire:

BUY

For the writer in your life:

BUY

Your Inner Stylist:

BUY

Children's Books:

BUY

BUY

For the unique woman in your life:

EVOLUTION VINTAGE has a wide range of one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and Vintage Clothing for every occasion (Shop this silver cocktail ring & SJP Collection "Carrie" Pumps -available in several colors and heel heights - White Satin )

Sparkle Splurge! Tina Craig X Nouvelle Heritage Ring

BUY

PINK SUGAR CRYSTALS - This is a hand made iPhone case with my monogram but you can custom order ANY design and color combinations. She also has a wide range of pre-designed sparkly gifts! 

SJP Collection Shoes! There is literally something for EVERYONE in this collection. It is my personal favorite footwear brand as it is so diverse, modern and classic at the same time. Made in ITALY and a real investment shoe! Shop this BLUE TARTT SHOE

House Of Kat Swank - Chokers, Headdresses, Capelets, headbands and more! All Hand made and comprised primarily of vintage materials. (Styled here with Evolution Rewind Ring)

Memories:

Got old photo negatives lying around? Scan them into your phone! 

This one is also on my Santa list! 

BUY

The "Polaroid" returns in this colorful Fiji Instax mini camera and accessories. Available in several colors. BUY

Sound of the Season: 

We all know and love the traditional classics. 

I always like to select something new each season. This year I chose Rita!

Rita Wilson - The Christmas Sessions

Inspiration:

Inspiring words each day of the year from Dr. Wayne Dyer!

BUY

ART:

Ashley Longshore does the most amazing, unique and one-of-a-kind pop art jeweled paintings available in all sizes!

Ashley Longshore Art 

(Inquire for pricing)

Rhonna Dra

BUY (Use code: EvolutionGifts and save 15%)

Love, Gratitude and Abundance

Obviously it is the thought that counts this and all days. If you are on a budget a hand made item, letter, or piece of art/holiday ornament is more special than any gift you can purchase. Stay tuned for future DIY Holiday Gift Ideas and Step-By-Step guides!

Time is ticking ...... We are just over a month away!

Pink Holiday Style

The holiday season is here! In the US this encompasses Thanksgiving and for people in the rest of the world the halls have all ready been decked and trees ready to be trimmed for Christmas. The holidays to me mean parties, celebrations, dinners, and gatherings of all kinds, sizes and calibers.

Everyone has a certain combination of colors for their interior (and exterior) decor to reflect who they are and I would guess that the same is true for their holiday wardrobe. From casual chic to gown gorgeous you know, through color what says holidays to you.

SHOP - Vintage pink velvet Gown $80

I personally have a broader scope from the traditional red, green and gold that is typical at this time of year, even beyond silver, blue and white ... what about PINK?

It is a fabulous accent to silver and winter white and in pretty opposition to the seasons traditional fiery red. Pink is not a "traditional" holiday color or even usually part of the fall/winter color pallet but for me it is a beautiful option for holiday dressing! 

THINK PINK with EVOLUTION VINTAGE

 Vintage Pink Textural Dress With Fringe - $85

 Pink Floral Gown - $90

 Hand Beaded & Chiffon Gown - $350

Image: Tom Fowler

 Vintage Chiffon Gown With Crystal Waist Detail - $150

Image: Tamara Wickstrom

 Vintage Pink Beaded Dress - $120

Image: Tamara Wickstrom

Pepto Pink Gown (color in this image varies from actual - it is darker) - $80

Will you have a PINK Holiday Season?

Pink Sequin Nutcracker - $29.95 (Save 15% Use code MERRY15)

Reprieve

Moon and Me: 11/13/16

I have not even had the motivation to take to this digital space to discuss anything since election day. There are really no adequate words to express my disgust and disappointment, not just in the presidential election results but in the entire election cycle and process. It was clear after seeing what the DNC (Democratic National Committee) did to Bernie Sanders we were in trouble as a nation.

Contemplating the impact this presidency will have on my daughters (both bio and step) I really started thinking about women in general. My heart goes out to all others who are also effected, which basically is anyone who isn't a white male. 

After the gut wrenching task of telling my daughter that Donald Trump was elected president, I wrote this on my Facebook: "Kaleigh's first question this morning, Mom who won? I told her. She is expressing how I feel inside on so many levels. We will surround each other in love and hope in my home and beyond. The things no one can buy, no one can rig, cheat, control or steal from us. We will tell our daughter(s) that they do deserve equal pay for equal work even though they won't receive it in this country. We will show them, through word and deed the protection of our environment is a priority and not a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese like the president elect has stated. We will tell her that her body does not belong to the white, privileged, religious hypocrite men in power and her choices are her own. We will celebrate differences instead of mocking the disability community like the president elect has done. She will feel connection to her brothers and sisters of all races. She will practice respecting everyone's choices of beliefs and religion. She will reject the notion that women are sex objects to be grabbed, talked down to, belittled for their physical appearance as the example Mr. Trump has shown her over and over again. She will understand that HE doesn't not speak for her or represent her. But above all she will understand that LOVE does and always will TRUMP hate. In solidarity and love. L

Her reaction to the news.

It reminded me of the importance of Women's issues and the right to choose. Ani DiFranco is a singer/songwriter that I was introduced to by my best friend in University back in the early 2000's. I fell in love with her intelligent lyrics and poetry that resonated with me on several levels and continues to do so today.

During this time I am reminded of a poem of hers that was the title of her 2006 Album 'Reprieve'

I wanted to share it in hopes of inspiring some introspection about your values and what you may be willing to do to stand up for ourselves and our daughters as the Trump mess unravels over the next four years.

"Manhattan is an island
Like the women who are
Surrounded by children in the car
Surrounded by cars
Or Manhattan was a project
That projected the worst of mankind
First one and then the other
Has made its mark on my mind

It's sixty years later near the hypo-center of the a-bomb
I'm standing in the middle of Hiroshima
Watching a twisted old eucalyptus tree wave
One of the very few lives that survived and lives on
Remembering the day it was suddenly thousands of degrees
In the shade

And what all of nature gave birth to
Terror took in a blinding raid
With the kind of pain
It would take cancer so many years just to say
Oh to grow up gagged and blindfolded
A great big mans world in your little girls head
The voice of the great mother drowned out
In the constant honking haunting the accident scene up ahead
Oh to grow up hypnotized and then try to shake yourself awake
Cause you can sense what has been lost
Cause you can sense what is at stake

Yeah it took me a few years to catch on that those days I catch everyone's eye
Correspond with those nights of the month when the moon gleans like an egg in the sky
And men are using a sense they don't even know they have just to watch me walk by
And me, I'm supposed to be sensible, leave my animal outside to cry
But when all of nature conspires to make me her glorious whore
It's cause in my body I hold the secret recipe of precisely what life is for
And the patriarchy that looks to shame me for it is the same one making war
And I've said too much already but I'll tell you something more
To split yourself in two is just the most radical thing you can do
So girl if that shit ain't up to you, then you simply are not free
Cause from the sunlight on my hair to which eggs I grow to term
To the expression that I wear, all I really own is me

I mean to split yourself in two is just the most radical thing you can do
Goddess forbid that little adam should grow so jealous of eve
And in the face of the great farce of the nuclear age
Feminism ain't about equality, it's about reprieve"

Songwriters: Ani Difranco

Reprieve lyrics © A Side Music LLC D/B/A Modern Works Music Publishing

Hear her recite it

Dancing Dee: The Story Of A Dress

Dee Turnell was an MGM era dancer and actress. With 21 films to her credit (IMBd) she danced her way through Hollywood alongside some of the greats like Cyd Charisse, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. She was born in Illinois on born on November 27, 1925 (and according to my source she passed away in January 2003 as Dee Thorpe in Walnut Creek California). She made her way to New York in 1944 and began her dance/acting career in the film Copacabana  (Groucho Marx and Carmen Miranda).

There was no doubt that she was a part of MGM history of escapism films and a highly talented dancer/performer. There is scarce and conflicting information about her personal life. One source says she left Hollywood in 1955.  She had three children, two daughters and a son. There is more to her story for sure but the mystery intrigues me.

Cyd Charisse w Dee 1948 - Words and Music

Cyd and Dee

Ballet dancer Dee Turnell performing at Copacabana nightclub. (Photo by Eileen Darby/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

The Dress:

A friend from my past connected me with a woman who had a gorgeous Vintage gown she thought I may be interested in for my eBoutique Evolution Vintage. We met and she showed me the dress and I  immediately fell in love with the exquisitely beaded bodice. She began to tell me the story of a woman who once lived a glamorous life who was, because of old age and ailments under her care in the East Bay of California. She was given permission from one of Dee's daughters to take whatever she wanted as many of her personal effects were being discarded. She spent a lot of time with Dee in her later years and felt the need to rescue some of her personal items, this gorgeous gown included. She expressed how humble and kind Dee was while she was caring for her. She didn't make the connect about who she was until after she had passed and she went through photographs that were left behind.

I wish I knew the exact story of this dress but I am sure it saw the inside of a Hollywood or Palm Springs function, cocktail party or some other soiree. This gown is from a time where actresses who worked for film houses actually purchased or had gowns made from them by costumers. Many of today's stars are given their dresses or are loaned them by designers. This gown appears to be purchased from the then famous Los Angeles department store 'Robinson's' where famed costume designer Helen Rose did a run of commercial evening gowns but altered/reinforced for the actress.

Vintage 1960's Helen Rose chocolate Brown evening gown with an exquisite jeweled and beaded bodice.

It appears that the interior bodice of the gown was deconstructed and fitted to Dee by the hand of a costumer/tailor. I consulted a costumer who was employed my Paramount Pictures for 20+ years and she confirmed that the gown had indeed been altered from it's original state for the actress. The interior was altered from the original state; the original zipper and the label re-sewn in (see image). I have left the garment in the state that I procured it.

The bodice appears to be hand crafted in India due to color pallet and bead work. The pattern is backed with chiffon on the interior and a piece of "french bone" in the garments center to assist in the shape. The bodice is comprised of intricate beading detail (bugle beads, crystals, rhinestones, large and small beads) In a gorgeous color pallet of Browns, coral, moss green, lime green, orange and red. Accented with Aurora borealis beading ans droplets trimming the empire waist (measuring 1.25"). The back of the bodice has an extensive hook/eye closure system.

The waist is empire style and the fabric used in the skirt is a Matte Jersey. A perfect fall gown.

Bust = 36"

Waist= 28"

Hip=56+

Length = 60"

Plenty of additional photographs available upon request of interior and exterior of garment. A great piece of Hollywood History.

$1,000 USD

I would love to see this dress get a new life!


Where would you wear it?

Dee: April 10, 1944 - New York

Sparkle Into Fall

When I collect the treasures of Fashion's past for my tiny eBoutique EVOLUTION VINTAGE I always look for unique pieces that can be re-styled / re-worn in a modern way. We can be modern, express ourselves in an authentic way and also be gentle on the earth by wearing these textiles and not letting them end up in the land fill.

This black and blue sequin top was once a dance/performance piece for band, a dance troop or the like. Now it is re-styled here with distressed denim and a heel to be worn out for cocktails or an evening event. Pair with a blazer or moto jacket to reflect your unique style sensibilities. Don't let the initial intention of a garment limit your styling possibilities.

BUY IT

Sparkle and Shine right through the fall season and beyond!