Hudson's Bay blanket

There is a lot of confusion and fast growing myths about Hudson' s Bay blankets  these days 

Here are some recent conversations at market

C = customer

M=me 

C- "Oh look, everyone is  knocking off Hudson Bay these days"  pointing to very nice Ottawa Valley blanket c. 1940 ( above)
M- ( keeps mouth shut)

C- I'm looking for a Hudson Bay blanket.
M- Here you go, from the 50s or so.
C- Not that, I want a real Hudson Bay , with the stripes ( 1950s blanket, above)

M- A very interesting Hudson's  Bay blanket from the 1920s or 30s
C- But this one says its made in England
M- yes, that right.
C- That's   nonsense, we all know they are made in Canada.

C- showing an overseas guest around, " only Canadians are allowed to use these colored stripes"
M- "Actually this is a 1940s Mariposa blanket from Ohio"
C- "whatever"


 I must say, whoever owns The Hudson's Bay Company there days is doing a fabulous marketing job....I believe they even print those stripes on toilet paper,

Liberty scarves and more

Here are the latest thrift store finds to add to my collection of Liberty scarves

Pre war red paisley.....I am wearing it as  we speak and it is my favorite  sort of scarf. Warm, rich  colors, old and traditional. I think I have a couple more of this pattern, possibly a different size and colorway,

 1970s blue floral Liberty silk scarf!

Not a Liberty but I love it. Old Macclesfield classic print. Again pre-WW11,

I also could not resist these two Indian wool shawls with hand embroidery. A pleasure to wear and always useful.

Hermes alert, alert, alert

In about 25 years of collecting ( cheap) Hermes scarves at thrift stores and bazaars this is the first tine I have had a three Hermes day!!!.

 First up, a pastel peonies  design, 'Les Pivoines' by Christiane Vauzelles , rather the worse for wear with several quite noticeable ink stains. But hey - it was 99 cents and its an Hermes.

 In much better condition, like new, in fact, is 'LeTemps des Marionettes'. I believe this was designed in 1996 by Annie Faivre. This will be coming with me to Europe in October.

Finally, my favorite ' Costumes des Departmens de la Seine Inferieure du Calvados de la Manch et de L'orne'  designed by Zoe Pauwels in 1989. But this is not the exact design that is featured  in the Hermes scarf catalogue.......do you think it might be much earlier????
 Not pristine, but good enough for me.

 Not bad for a days work, eh? I hasten to add this is the first for my collection  in about a year/

some nice publicity

Kelly Brown, an exuberant, sunny,  fashion stylist and blogger from LA, borrowed some of my vintage dresses this summer for some shoots.

 A couple were featured in Jute magazine. I must say the dresses  look a damn site better than my amateur  pics here and here !!!!  sigh........I hardly recognized them.
 Wonderful photos by Michelle Aristocrat.

Kelly was so much fun to work with, full of enthusiasm and joie de vivre, she and her team did a terrific job.
I hope she comes back to Toronto next year.

Liberty scarf du jour

The current favorite from my vast collection of vintage Liberty scarves is this one. 

Probably from the 1950s, a beautiful warm, flattering coral, I chose it by just dipping my arm into an over stuffed Tupperware
 box.

Just right for these chilly mornings.

Farmers Market

Some mighty fine summer squash were to be seen at the Brickworks Farmers Market yesterday.

It has not been the very best year for me,  but I always enjoy meeting the customers and the farmers.

My pitch is down by the quarry. Above,  some vintage textiles I took with me. 1950s barkcloth, 30s damask and a Casa Pupo type rug from the 1960s .

   Vintage Aran sweaters, always a good seller,

 and I  hung some old quilts about the industrial machinery.

 This 1940s- 50s blanket, in perfect condition is from Lanark, Ontario and the river Clyde runs through it. A customer told me all about the area, I always learn something new.

Fabric picking though the ages

There is nothing my granddaughters like more than a day out with Nana.

This consists of a troll about the thrift stores and a sushi lunch.

During these forays this summer I managed to pick up for myself

a narrow - 11 inch wide- long piece of turkey red print that I am pretty sure is 19th century.

A dressmaking length of scarecrow cotton, 36" wide ...how 1930s  can you get!

and a couple of yards of  wild 1970s psychedelic cotton/ poly mix.

A nice variety don't you think?