From the Etsy Files....

I swear I love the third Wednesday of the month. It's time for From the Etsy Files again! I'm not sure why, but I'm going through this really big '20s phase right now. I love the Roaring Twenties anyway, but I've noticed that when it comes time to do these posts, I keep searching for items from this era. When I'm not searching for '20s-inspired things, I'm looking at medieval stuff. '20s and medieval times. What a mix. LOL I try to come in now with some sort of idea or theme that I want for the items featured, but it usually ends up being all over the place by the time I'm finished. So all I can advise is to buckle up and enjoy! 

First, I wanted to show off a few of my favorite individual pieces that I came across this week. 

1950s Cupcake Floral Party Dress,
$159

I saw this dress and springtime immediately came to mind. I love the red cummerbund at the waist, and the flowy bottom of the skirt. When you look at this dress close-up, you'll also be able to see the buttons going down the front. I thought that was a little unique as buttons like that usually go down the back of the dress, but this dress has a zipper back. Usually when I see dresses like this, there's a button or zipper back but the front is plain. I'm focusing too much on buttons here. Anyway, I just think this is a really fun, easygoing dress for a springtime picnic or event.

1920s Fringe Flapper Dress, $340

Words cannot describe how much I love this dress. I'd do the most with it too; nice chandelier earrings, a rhinestone and white feathered headpiece, and sparkly shoes. So maybe I'm not always very subtle. LOL At first when I saw the bottom of the dress, I didn't really like how I thought it would look in motion, but it's grown on me. I think with all of the fringe, movement and busyness of the rest of the dress, the bottom looks fine as is being simpler yet still flowing. I'd probably shimmy myself into a broken hipbone in it. 

Vintage 1920's Gatsby Style Lingerie Set, $300

Speaking of the '20s, here is this original vintage set from around that time period. The pictures aren't entirely accurate in terms of color though; even though the lace detailing here looks to be somewhere between a peach and coral, the description names it to actually be an ecru to tan color. The silk is a pistachio color. I think the only time I've seen lingerie in this style with the boudoir shorts was when I watched the remake of Bonnie & Clyde a couple of months ago and Bonnie was wearing something similar to this set. I was never crazy about wireless bras as I prefer It & Bit (yes, I named them) to have some support, but I can't deny that the bralette is cute. Sorry for the TMI. lol 

1960s Vintage Strapless Wedding Dress, $345

I was never one for the short wedding dress trend until I saw some vintage styled engagement and wedding dresses. I realized that if done correctly, a shorter dress will look just as great as a long one. I personally think that whatever fashion you wear has to fit who you are, but for something like a wedding dress, it definitely has to be true to you. This strapless number is suitable to use for an engagement party or as a wedding dress, although I'd probably use it for the former. It has a less stuffy feel and few details, so you can dress this up with accessories or go as simple as you like and it'll still look fine. I love twirly dresses so that was a bonus. This would look really cute for a wedding reception too if you want to change after the ceremony. 

1970s Oxblood/Burgundy Dress,
$82

How gawgeous is this dress. ModCloth has a similar dress that I featured in last year's Valentine's fashion post, except it's red and knee-length. I love the deep shade of this dress, firstly. I think purple is the forgotten color of Valentine's among the sea of red and pink, but this would be perfect for a Valentine's formal event. Again, love the cummerbund style waistband, and I like that the halter neck isn't cut dangerously low. It's glamorous in an understated way, which I appreciate.

1960s Oscar de la Renta Silk & Velvet
Dress, $396

I know this dress isn't anything fancy but I love it. It's an elegant LBD and honestly, what got me was the neckline. It's still a bit of a wonder to me as to why I like this dress so much; I'm not that crazy about velvet and I usually don't like sheer sleeves. However, both of those elements are what make up this dress and somehow I still think it would be very flattering on the body without being too stuffy or overdone. For a dress that has elements that I normally hate, they come together and form a dress that I adore. I have no idea why.

I wanted to mix things up a little this week and instead of doing a bunch of photos of individual items, I thought I'd share some of the shops I've been plotzing about this week as well:

This vintage shop has some super cute goodies from 1900-1960 and is where I got the short engagement/wedding dress that I featured earlier. All sorts of fashion, from accessories like hats, clutches and jewelry to stockings, lingerie and panty sets, from that time period are in this shop. Everything I've seen in the shop so far is in good condition and upkeep wouldn't be any harder than for any other vintage piece, and although pricey, isn't out of the range of acceptable. This shop is classy. 

This shop might still be expanding, but the things it already has are quite fab, if I may say so myself. This was where I found the very first item in this post and fell in love. I found a lot of really beautiful pieces of vintage jewelry in this shop as well as some awesome clothing from the '20s through '50s. Everything I came across had a simple yet sophisticated feel, something that I could wear for work or out to dinner. Prices weren't that bad and the shop is rated 5 stars. 

Aquamarine Dream is a cool smorgasbord of vintage items. The first page alone has an antique china set, stuffed animals, a burlesque corset, and Italian swimsuit patterns, just to name a few things. The shop is very varied in its offerings, which I like. The items are also well priced; the china set is Art Deco themed and only costs $25. Not bad if you ask me. It was a unique shop that I enjoyed looking through. I was curious to see what other unexpected things would pop up in there, and wasn't disappointed. Everything is in good condition, the prices are great, and it's well-rated. 

This was one of my favorite shops to look through. I found so many things I wanted to feature from this shop that I just decided to show off the entire thing. There is an awesome handbag on or around page 7 that I want in my life, along with most of the dresses. As the banner mentions, there is also a lot of vintage bridal wear from different decades. The '60s isn't one of my favorite decades in fashion, but I find myself changing my mind because of some of the clothes in here. If I had more money, I would drain so much of it in this shop. 

Bellasoiree is an excellent shop to check out if you want to see some authentic 1920s pieces. There are pages upon pages of Art Deco and flapper wardrobe pieces and accessories to look through and ogle. Most of these pieces look really delicate with beading and other details so I wouldn't advise buying them for daily wear, although I'm sure you could. However, everything is in great condition, especially considering their age, so if you want to expand your horizons a little on '20s fashion aside from the typical flapper dress, this is a wonderful place to start.  

If you're looking for a shop with a healthy assortment of jewelry, accessories and shoes, this is it. I saw a lot of cameos, sunglasses and necklaces in here. I've always wanted a cameo and some of these are very rare pieces, but everything is really affordable which makes the acquiring of said pieces even better. There are clothing items in here, but most of my favorite things in this shop were jewelry pieces. I found a '30s bathing suit in here; I hadn't seen one other than in photos before. Like the other shops in here, Flawless Finds is high rated, has a good amount of sales, and photographs the products well so you can see exactly what you're getting. 

For the first time in I don't know how long, I escaped a post almost completely unscathed. I'm still having problems with embedding some of the photos and links, so let me know if anything doesn't work on your end. It seems to be working over on mine for the time being, so let me know if there are any problems. Anyway, as always this post was fun, especially because I got to look through even more shops so I could find some to feature this week. I think I might start doing that for each Etsy post. Yes, that was another excuse to stay on Etsy longer. But it's valid. #dontjudgeme lol. I hope you enjoyed the shops I featured this month; if you own a vintage Etsy shop or know of a good one I could check out, pass it along and you may see it in March's edition. Don't forget TNT tomorrow and I'll be back with Amazon's Files next week! 

"Studying" for next week's post by checking out Amazon now,