Lady Mary, Lady Edith, and Lady Sybil wore these

 

Downton Abbey styles you can sew and wear yourself: Poiret style gown here, 

Model T dusters here, and dropped waist dresses here.

Jumpsuits, flightsuits, moonsuits, spacesuits...

The way out of the boring-off-the-rack clothing of today, where threads just start peeling the moment you clip the price tags from the knitwear you bought at the bullseye or max stores, is threading your mom's sewing machine to make a spectacular outfit from the past.  Here's a slew.

Everybody's waiting for the man with the bag

Family favorites to think about starting sooner than later. Why not give yourself a head start this year so you don't kick yourself later? These were found here.

Hungarian ornithology

Rothschild Herend hand-painted mocha tea cup set. Claim them here.

Versace, folded in an envelope

More designer patterns.

The envelope needs some surgery, but look at that side hip ruffle. I say make it in a mid-weight crêpe de Chine.  There are very few Versace designs that Vogue made patterns of, this was no. 2375. I wish this draping style or even just sarouel trousers, would make a comeback in the US. (Update July 2016: Oh, I guess they have...)

Boots of Cover

It was a long, rainy walk from the Ebina station when I asked myself why I always did this to myself: suffer wet feet when abroad. The next afternoon I scoured the Shibuya shops for a pair of travel rain boots, light wellies, or as these seem to go by, "Shoes Cover of Boots Type", which in my mind I still call "Shoes Type Boots of Cover". I also scored a set of retractable earbuds with 3 different pads sizes to custom fit your ear's outer canal. It seems that if you think of it, they're already selling it in Japan.
These "Shoes Cover of Boots Type" pack flat, taking no room in your bag. I didn't have my phrase book on hand to ask if I could try them on, so I bought two sizes. If I had the phrase book, surely I would have been asking, "Size rain buy, for try, me the to boots, please?" and ended up buying three pairs. This is where I offered the too-big-for-me pair.

Child-friendly weaving

This table loom would be great for small projects or, as seemingly intended, for children to learn about weaving.
There is no app for that. It was sold from  here.

World War II Christmas

This came from an estate sale, a Lord and Taylor Christmas catalog from 1946. Lord and Taylor is on Fifth Ave in NYC, working hard to make a come back. For those in their 70s, it still has a certain allure. The pop-up tree in the front steals Christmas but the whole illustration of products and copy is great fun to peruse. What kind of gifts the well-to-do gave at the end of the war. See more unusual gifts here.

3 Chains of Gold

Set of 3 Prince, the greatest rocker of my soul, comics. Two are from Piranha and the third is from Revolutionary Comics. For real, right here.

Gargoyle on vellum

Where did this come from? I got it at a yard sale with a bunch of other books. When I really looked at it, I realized it was hand-painted on real vellum. Depicts a certain gargoyle in Siena on a street off a plaza, the building now houses a clothing shop. It seems like a Grand Tour souvenir circa 19th to early 20th Century. With a little care, this could be turned into a fantasy prop for a secret Harry Potter society, or a log book for an occultist frat house. See more photos here.

'Cause you are a woman

This pattern's cover shows two kinds of 70s males a woman could sew for. One is the guy who wants to get you into the hot tub to share a beer, and the other two are the kind of man you actually marry and prefer to stay away from you in the study. Bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, you only need this pattern to dress either man.

Tartan, ripe for a Westwoodian bustle

Does anyone remember that V. Westwood ad from the 90s showing a bustled miniskirt and topped off with a tiny top hat? Or so that's the memory I'm left with. Here are a few yards of this lovely, unusual Pendleton, vintage, woven in the USA. Nearly 5 yards, it is a punky plaid. It was sold here.

Linen and leather

The department stores that lined the way to Stephansplatz each had a Trachtenmode section. Couldn't find so many more recently. Traditional dirndls and boiled wool jackets were no where in sight, but this pattern bridges the gap and can be found here.

Himalayan robots

Cover is illustrated by Doug Rosa, the kind of illustration that is dead. Maybe too much horror vacui going on in the composition for modern tastes. Anyway, not nearly enough fantasy is set in the Himalayas, and pulp like this is getting harder to find, except here. Speaking of the Himalayas, anyone remember that Tibetan or Nepalese restaurant down around 2nd Ave  in Manhattan that served a drink called, "Himalayas on a Bicycle"?

Female vampires show more leg

The most underrated, discontinued Halloween pattern on the market can be found here.

Claes Oldenburg for you

For some of us, art and food are everywhere. Some food might be art, or at least for pensively resting on.  Food for thought like this was sold  here.

Are you the new empath?

 You can be, and don't need the holodeck to whip this up here.

Red lotus served

Simply an unusual red lotus bowl from Japan, especially in this light. More unusual gifts at the shop.

Lounge wives

Let the Great Ann Curio tell you how to shake your baby maker here.

Unicorns, rainbows, and slot machines.

Take the long-distance bus below Canal Street before midnight. When you get off, the driver will hand you a roll of quarters, about what you paid to get on the bus. If you make it past the slots, that roll might pay your seat at an all-you-can-eat. Or, pass Go and head for the boardwalk shop hawking the likes of these. Oops, not anymore, these are pure 1980s fantasy zeitgeist manifest as kitchenwares. Find more unusual gifts here.

Bohemian lizards and spiders

A street trash pile from a storybook house-gutting in Vinohrady yielded this treasure. The oblong album had no pictures in it, but the nearby effects included mechanical and architectural folly drawings from the 1920s. Which I'm keeping. Between the black pages are translucent pages (onionskin?) embossed with a spider web design you can see here.

Poolside volcano

Christian Audigier bikini, crystallized and alchemized. More pool-side than ocean-side for sure...for Shore. New with tags, large. I think from the stabbed or Death B4 Dishonor collection. See more about it here.

Venetian vinyl

Down a winding canal in Venice Italy, I came upon an unlikely clothing shop not selling the usual Murano glass goblets and naughty figurines. They sold hip, junior wear and it wasn't one of the usual chain stores you see lining Europe's main drags since the Euro malled the continent (pun intended). This place had great, trendy crap and it wasn't even a Ha und Em.  These clear pink pumps reminded me of the 1960s clear domed umbrellas. The kind of umbrella that could protect Patsy Stone's beehive. I wore these with indigo jeans and a festooned top to see the Yeah, Yeah Yeahs, The Darkness, the Beastie Boys, and Jay-Z at Jones Beach. What an eclectic summer line up. Nearly missed the last LIR back to Penn Station that night. Someone decided to dance in these in the rain and bought them here.

Auspicious, ombre summer heels

A pair of Kenneth Cole of New York ombre shaded leather heels. Size 8 medium.  Name of style is "Take Out CC" in orange although half of the color is really yellow too. "Made in Spain" and  is blind stamped on sole arch. They were worn to two weddings in the summer of 2005. Both marriages are going strong so let me pass their auspiciousness on to you, I just never looked good in yellow but these shoes are hot, hot, hot. More items at my Ecrater shop here.