Two and a Half More Things for You

Just wanted to remind you that there is PLENTY of time to donate to Books Through Bars:





Remember to put "Dress A Day" in the dedication field and email me your receipt so as to be eligible to have a character in my "Secret Lives of Dresses" novel (coming from Grand Central and Hodder in 2010!) named after you! We're trying to get to $1500 by January 7 ...

Has anyone else heard about the proposed CPSIA law? The best discussion of it is going on over at Fashion Incubator. If you buy from small manufacturers (or ARE a small manufacturer), you should REALLY know about this. Seriously. Go check it out.

Also? These are my favorite joke right now.

Stuff I Forgot

Holly at LuciteBox Vintage asked me to point out that even though she'll be away from the 22nd-28th, she'll be shipping again on the 29th, AND the discount (15% off anything on the site) and the donation (10% to Books Through Bars in honor of the purchaser) still applies until the 27th!

And I missed a whole slew of stuff from Pamela (of GlamourStitch, GlamourSavvy, and GlamourSurf ... and Glamoursurf, by the way, is offering 20% off through Dec 31, enter the keyword "Santa")

So you could get a discount on something like this:



Or this:



Or you could just head over to Glamourstitch for this:



Or to Glamoursavvy for these boudoir shoes, which if they were my size, would have never seen the light of blog (despite the fact that my nightwear now consists solely of exercise clothes, so as to obviate one more excuse to avoid the treadmill, and these would look ridiculous with Target flare-leg yoga pants):



Whew! Okay, now I think that's it. But if not, email me!

This might be the last of it ... did I forget anybody?

Janet at Lanetz Living couldn't choose just three patterns (and I can't blame her) ... instead, she created a special 25% off coupon for you! Use the code "xmas" when they check out and it will automatically be deducted. Plus, Janet offers free Shipping in the USA and Canada when 3 or more items are purchased. (International shipping is discounted with three or more items.) The coupon will be good from now until New Year's Day.

Janet has over 200 Vogue Designer patterns to choose from ... has newly listed McCalls Needlework Magazines from the 1930's to 1950's ... and (my favorite) dozens of shirtwaist dresses that span the era from the 1940's to today!

Holly at Freudian Slips Vintage says that Dress A Day readers will receive a 10% discount off anything from her website if you type in coupon code RUDOLF. Check out with the shopping cart as usual, then click "recalculate" to receive the discount from your order. The discount will run from now until the 20th of December only, and will finish at midnight UK time.

If you're looking for something to spend that discount on, you might want to peep at these:










Whew! I think that's it; see you after Christmas! Happy Holidays!

Almost done ...

Sheila at Out of the Ashes has created a coupon JUST for Dress A Day readers good until December 26 for 15% off instead of the usual 10% - yay! Put in PRESENT at checkout it's not too late to get a pattern for a New Year's Eve dress ...

Tina, at What-I-Found offers these for your holiday listmaking:










These are from Lisa at Miss Helene's:










And these are from the Vintage Fashion Library:

Ain't No Stopping Us Now

I'm going to post all the fabulous Christmas and Holiday links I got today if it kills me.

Luckily, Jen at MOMSPatterns is making it easy; look at this:




If there is someone on your list that wouldn't like this pattern then perhaps next year you should just send them a card.

She's got this great men's shirt up, too, on eBay:




Jen is also offering 20% off any Dress A Day order through the end of the year, with the coupon code 'alliwant20'. It's good from now until 12/31/2008 midnight, EST. Good on any MOMSPatterns order, excluding gift certificates (although gift certificates are a REALLY good idea)! Oh, and the 20% is even good on that shirt above -- mention it when you win the auction and Jen will adjust the invoice!

Anna at BootyVintage has these in stock right now (but probably not for long):

Men's boxers:



A pattern of gifts "children can make for the whole family!"



And some great aprons:

But Wait! There's More!

Julie at Damn Good Vintage has these treasures:







Both of these dresses are larger sizes ...






Eileen at Daisy Fairbanks knows what good girls (and possibly, bad girls) want:









If that tie makes you happy, be sure to check out Burda's "David" tie pattern! (Make one for the Pink and Black Tie Ball! ... and don't forget their Holiday gifts blog ... I love these easy silk flowers!)

Oh, Oh, Oh ... Merry Christmas!

Birgit at Stitches and Loops sent me these, and only my sense of bloggish responsibility kept me from buying all of these myself and not posting them:










Christine at Alley Cats has these for some lucky Jazz Age babe:










Hotpatterns is doing a sale: buy any two of their three bestselling dresses and get the bag pattern of your choice free! (You have to email in your choice of bag pattern to sales@hotpatterns.com and they will add it to the order -- Offer ends Dec 31st! One of their three bestsellers is this one, which I love and plan to make Real Soon Now:

Are you ready for more?

Of course you are. Karen at Mystique Vintage is offering these three charmers:

A great sheath dress pattern:




Some really nice floral 1940s fabric:



And, for the girl who has (nearly) everything: a faux-fur and satin hanky-holder. You know, for the vanity table:




Karen has also added a gift certificate feature to her site through Paypal - good on all items for sale at Mystique Vintage (with no expiration date!) and in denominations of $5.

Amy at Viva Vintage has this heartbreakingly wonderful vintage coin charm bracelet:




And this mother-of-pearl bracelet:




And this wool cape and muff set, which is so vintage it looks like it's from the future!




Oh, and Deborah sent me this link to an Etsy necklace supposedly inspired by this blog! I am very, very flattered.

And Even More Holiday Shopping

Marge at Born Too Late has the perfect suit for your Mad Men-obsessed friend:




She's also got this sparkly green cocktail dress, this really cute Anne Adams newspaper pattern and this Vogue pattern (ahem, Santa, I've been really good this year ...) And Marge is giving 10% of the purchase price of all items (not including shipping) to the Salvation Army through the end of December!

Carol [not Caroline, as I had it earlier! ooops!] at Dandelion Vintage has a great selection of vintage purses (including this mock-croc doctor's bag):




And if you're giving a bag, why not put a vintage hanky in it? Carol also has lovely vintage aprons, which make great gifts whether the recipient cooks or not (if she does, it's useful; if she doesn't it's funny).

Holiday Shopping CONTINUES ...

Jill (Old & Beautiful Vintage [not the Purse Diva, sorry Jill & Holly!] at the Main Street Mall online) sent me three links that tell a little story ... there's this gorgeous Winter Wonderland dress:




And this mink-collared coat:




And this alligator purse:




At first I thought they were all worn by the same woman, but the dress is much smaller (and doesn't really go with the purse). But eventually I figured out that the coat and purse are worn by the mother of the girl in the dress! (Am I right? She's a debutante, her mom's a society lady? Together, they fight crime?) There is a whole movie in this collection of items ... and a couple of really, really fancy presents!

More Holiday Shopping!

More holiday shopping ...

Rita at Cemetarian suggests these wonderful things ...

I love this old dress ad -- an inexpensive frame from the craft store and you have a fun present:



This vintage knitting book would make a great gift for, well, knitters. If you're feeling flush, included the recommended amount of yarn ...



I *really* want the guy's sweater in this booklet, shown here (but not enough to learn how to knit, sadly):



And if you still need a dramatic holiday dress, I bet you could get this in time ... I would make it in tartan, myself. (Because, yes, I *enjoy* looking like a sofa ...)



Rita is offering 10% off with the code adad ...

AND: Kathleen at Little Hunting Creek is offering a free handmade baggage tag (and they are CUTE) with every purchase over $25. And if you buy three or more patterns, you still get free shipping! (Put "Dressaday" in the comments.)

Holiday Shopping

So, here's the deal. I haven't even come close to finishing my holiday shopping yet -- I celebrate Christmas, so I'm gonna call it Christmas shopping, please feel free to substitute the name of any holiday you like -- and I haven't even had time to even look, for the most part. And I figure, with the way things are in the world, a lot of you might not have finished yours, either. And time's a-wastin'!

One of the things that's been holding me back, shopping-wise, is that I didn't really feel like buying mass-produced, cookie-cutter things for people who are (to me) one-in-a-million. I'm planning to do a little shopping on Etsy, and at craft fairs, but I've been looking for cool vintage stuff for folks, too.

So I asked all the lovely folks who advertise with me what they would suggest as presents for vintage-loving or sewing-loving folks, and send me some links, and I'll be posting them all week (sometimes several times a day, if I can manage it ... I got sent a lot of links!) so check back early and often!

I know a lot of folks hesitate to give vintage, since it usually can't be returned, and because you really have to know the recipient for it to work. But really, this year -- if you gave something from Linens-N-Things, well, that can't be returned now either! And a really great vintage dress is so much better made than almost anything modern -- if you're not entirely sure of someone's size, give it and an offer to get it tailored to fit them. (Personally, I'd rather get one fantastic vintage dress, even if it didn't quite fit, than ten "eh" presents ...)

First up is Holly from LuciteBox, who sends three fantastic dresses ...

I would send this one to a best friend who is looking for a cool but still possibly office-y dress:



This one is definitely a teen-ager's dream ...



This one I think folks might be tempted to get for themselves ... New Year's Eve is coming up ... or maybe you should forward this to your significant other?



But wait! There's more! Holly is offering NOT ONLY 15% off any purchase on her site (with the coupon code: pleasegive), she will ALSO donate 10% of the order total (less shipping) to Book Through Bars, our charity this year!

Here's the sweet part. Every customer who shops using the pleasegive coupon code also gets to be entered into the pool of names to be chosen for a character in the upcoming "Secret Lives of Dresses" book. If you've already been entered, you'll have increased your chances of getting chosen when part of the proceeds of your purchase are given to Books Through Bars. (Holly promises to send me your name right away.) This offer expires on December 27th, 2008.

How can you resist that? The dresses, plus the discount, plus the donation?