Happy Halloween - Fun With Photographs

Negatives:

Ever played around with the "negative" function on your photo editing program? With the click of a switch you can create ghostly images with unusual washes of colors.

Happy Halloween!

XOXO Empress Jade Vintage

Vintage Mini Dresses

Now if you've got great gams, nothing beats a vintage mini dress! Depending on your mood and the occaision, styles can range from babydoll cute to outright slutty. Check out our newest mini dresses just in this week:

Cute in mint green and gold trim. 70's empire mini dress with gold trim, Medium.


Adorable blue and white sleeveless mini, XS - small


80s asym batwing sweater dress small


A sleek and sexy black halter mini with sparkly lurex trim, medium


CLICK HERE to see all the mini dress currently for sale at Empress Jade Vintage

XOXO Empress Jade Vintage

Upcycling Vintage?

I've never claimed to be a purist when it comes to vintage clothing. I mix up eras, wear vintage with modern and I've been known to customize my own clothes for the sake of fit or fashion. However I usually refrain from altering vintage clothes that I sell. I realise some Sellers will shorten a maxi dress into a mini dress to get a better sale price, but I prefer to let the buyer decide.... lets face it some maxis are just so damn cool, why would you want to screw with them?

BUT, what about when an otherwise damaged object could be salvaged with a makeover? Or a boring unsaleable item upcycled into something really unique and cool. I really enjoy Funkoma Vintage's Blog "The Recycled Life" . She has lots of crafty ideas and fun projects. Check out her Etsy store to find upcycled T's turned into groovy skirts, or cashmere sweaters turned into soft and luxurious winter bloomers.

Having said all that I've recently done some experimenting of my own. Check out these two lovely slips that I've altered. I've tried dying nylon before without much success... regular Tintex type dyes will not work on synthetics, but I've recently been experimenting with some new products. I've used a variety of dip dying and tie dyeing techniques and I'm very happy with the results. The lovely thing about dying fabric is you never know how it's going to turn out. Each fabric will take the dye differently which creates some wonderful results.

The first one is a 70s strapless number from Wondermaid. For fun I've also made some coordinating tulle and shredded fabric flowers and dyed some ribbons to match. Available at Empress Jade Vintage on Etsy

The Second is a 60s lace and chiffon slip tie dyed in shades of green.

This slip also comes with a dyed to match tulle flower with a clip.

So, what do you think??

XOXO Empress Jade Vintage

I Love It When Customers Send Me Pictures

When I style the photos of my vintage clothing in Empress Jade Vintage I usually try to pair them with other separates and accessories that I have for sale, but I'm also trying to make a visually interesting shot. I am NOT a vintage purist, so sometimes I mix eras; a 40s blouse with a 80s pencil skirt, or an 80s fringe jacket with a beaded cami and modern jeans. I realize that this may not be how YOU would choose to wear a piece, so I always enjoy reading blogs like "What I Wore" or personal style sites like Weardrobe because I love to see the way that real people mix up vintage with modern; designer fashion with thrift chic.

But what I absolutely adore is when customers send me photos of pieces they bought from me. It's soooo much fun!

Check out Mary in an adorable ruffled floral mini jumpsuit. She's so cute!

Thank-you!
XOXO Empress Jade Vintage

Photos of my First Vintage Show

Yesterday I was a vendor at the first ever Victoria Vintage Fair. I normally only sell online, so this was a new experience for me. I wasn't sure how much product to bring or what kinds of things would sell the best, so I brought a little bit of everything. Unfortunately I woke up to a torrent of rain, so it was miserable getting the car loaded and unloaded again at the site. My poor husband David wiped out on a slippery grass slope, but thankfully didn't hurt himself (or the clothes he was carrying). Since it was a smallish venue I only had room for a 5 foot rolling rack and a 6 foot table with enough depth for a Chinese folding screen behind. It was pretty tight and the room was filled to capacity with vendors. I had no expectations, so I was surprised to see a line up of people waiting to get into the event as soon as the doors opened at 10. Happily, I was so busy I barely had time to take these quick snap shots.

A quick shot of showing part of my table and racks

Some of the other vendors:

So what did I learn?

-Expensive, luxury items got a lot of interest but did not sell (Hermes, Ceil Chapman, Biba, Sherman), even though they were very competitively priced.

- Small accessories, mid priced jewelery and lingerie sold very well and I should have brought more.

- The venue did not have enough change rooms so if I did this again I'd want to have a booth large enough to have my own change area.
- Tops, sweaters, leather jackets sold well, but I probably brought too many dresses ( I was thinking party dresses would do much better since we are getting closer to the Holiday season).

- I tagged my clothing with an approximate size and bust, waist, hip measurements which was a pain in the ass, but I did get several comments from people that said they were very pleased I did this.

- The tall commercial rolling rack I have holds a lot of clothes, but doesn't really show them off to advantage. Slips and dresses got tangled as customers dug through them, so I had to constantly straighten things out. I also need to invest in much better table displays if I do any more shows.

- This particular venue was full to capacity with vendors, so when the crowds of customers came in it was really tight. I definitely needed a second person working with me to keep track of the product and make sure nothing was nicked.

Over all a successful event and I would definitely do it again.

XOXO Empress Jade Vintage

More Vintage Slips

Just a quick post to show off some of the fab vintage slips I've put in Empress Jade Vintage on Etsy. Always one of my favs! Gotta love the sexy bombshell fit and lovely lace.

Sheer white nylon with flirty chiffon & lace hem

Palest blue lace on nylon jersey

Sexy Vanity Fair in black

This one has unique seaming on the bodice and pretty embroidery

Pale minty green with fab lace



Stunning black full slip with incredible lace & chiffon hem


XOXO Empress Jade Vintage

Victoria BC Vintage Fair 2009

A reminder to our local vintage fashion lovers to mark their calendars for the first ever Victoria Vintage Fair .

Next Saturday, October 17th 2009, at 1303 Fairfield Road (at Moss St.)10am-3pm

Across from the Moss Street Market

Free admission!!!

Some of the Vendor's:

Empress Jade Vintage - for cute, chic and affordable vintage clothing & accessories

Shi Studio - glass and textile fusion accessories

Auraware - a large selection of designer mens vintage clothing

Jessica Johnston - hand crafted jewellery from vintage silverware

Sarah Rempel is the founder of Travelling Sparrow will be bringing a wonderful selection of vintage costume jewelry

XOXO Empress Jade Vintage

Decadent Handmade Candies on Etsy

Not vintage, but I just had to share the most amazing little shop on Etsy. I was delighted to receive my purchase from Have It Confections.

Cloud Nine Caramels. These are without a doubt the BEST caramels I've ever had in my life.

Sinfully rich Mayan chocolate and buttery smooth caramel tempered with just a touch of unrefined Fleur de Sel. Amazing!

French style nougat with perfectly toasted hazelnuts and flavored with Tahitian Vanilla. Pure Heaven!

Have It Confections sells individually wrapped pieces as well as uncut logs that you can cut any way you want. They are quite busy, so expect to wait awhile for your order to be delivered, however it's definitely worth the wait!!

XOXO Empress Jade Vintage