Field Trip!: JoyRide in Orange, CA

Darlings!  I was stuck in gawd nowhere, Orange county on the way out to see my father in Sun City. Due to a Metro Link transfer gone horribly wrong, I had TWO hours to kill and decided to go for a walk, and man am I glad I did! I have found the most wonderful place!

JoyRide! A fantastic men's vintage shop styled to the max and full of amazing and gorgeous duds for amazingly stylish boys and bois alike!

 

Everywhere you look around the shop you will find stunning vignettes, pristine merch, and absolutely fabulous finds! JoyRide is two shops down from mama store Eslewhere Vintage! Also stunning and perfect for women's vintage lovers! I found a new pair of glasses I will be rocking asap at Elsewhere.

I scored a pair of World War II spats and wait til you see what I'm gonna do with them dolls! 

Ruby Does SweetLeigh!

One of the most amazing singers and performers you will ever see local L.A. rock goddess Ruby Friedman Facebooked me with a quick note saying, "I remember you sew!" I replied with a "Why yes Ruby, I do!" Ruby of Ruby Friedman Orchestra needed me to do a fabulous rehab on an ill fitting 70's maxi she had vintaged for a show in London the following week. Uh, yeah!  Right up my alley!

First things first Gorgeous Ruby happens to have a perfect hourglass figure. The dress had it going on in the waist but was falling short in the hips and bust line. So we needed to solve that problem while makin' it a little more rock n' roll. I removed the zipper, and converted the top closure into a double key hole with long ties. Then I edged the keyholes out with some fabric salvage from what was formerly a sash belt. 

To make the dress a little more comfortable for sitting and mic acrobatics, I reworked the underskirt and replaced the zipper to keep it fitted but wearable for the stage. Then we decided to make the underskirt a mini to both keep her from melting under stage lights and show off Ruby's fab legs. In the end it was about keeping it rock and roll updating the whole look.

Pretty fab in the end, made even more fab when Ruby pulled out these killer Jeffrey Campbell shoes she decided to wear with the dress. I refrained from saying "I die." The girl is a Rockstar all the way.

Field Trip: La Bomba in Long Beach!

Hello Darling Dolls! Sorry I have been away so long! I've been working hard making the Frida Collection and starting Bridal goodies for y'all! I had to share a recent field trip I had in Long Beach during the much hyped Carmaggedon here in Los Angeles (the weekend closure of a the 405 Freeway that connects the coast line from north of California to LAX airport).

Carmaggedon turned out to be pretty cool for a couple of reasons. Angelenos and Southern Californians stayed home! No crazy traffic neighbors interacting with each other and people operating on a very local scale for a change!

I however took advantage of the much locally hyped  $4 JetBlue "Over the 405" special promotion where there were two round trip flights between Long Beach Airport and Burbank Airport just north of Hollywood. My mom accompanied me on a short day trip to Long Beach for the hell of it! We had a very fab and fancy lunch at Gladstones followed by my mad dash to the famous 4th Street's vintage shopping!

I had heard the stories about La Bomba, but man oh man was I psyched to actually get there! Not only is this store impeccable, well organized, color coded and absolutely inviting in every way, the staff is Super cool, friendly and let's face it quite dashing!

 

Nothing excited me more than the fact that I actually happened upon La Bomba the one weekend a month that they have The Pile open in the back yard. Literally a small mountain of goodies that you sort through taller than me!

The proprieter requests that you remove your shoes to climb the pile, i was wearing a dress and just ill prepared but next time I will have my climbing gear!

Man oh man did i find some fabulous dresses and fabrics to SweetLeigh ReFashion for the Frida Collection! Stay tuned for fab millinery and accessories from my haul! In the meantime GO TO La Bomba! It is for lack of a better term, the Bomb!