Contentment Farm

Gone But Not Forgotten

  • 1860s Trained Day Dress

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My Favorite Things

  • : Eucalan Regular Woolwash

    Eucalan Regular Woolwash

Love to Read

  • Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel

    Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel

  • Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel

    Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel

  • Kathryn Stockett: The Help

    Kathryn Stockett: The Help

  • Garth Stein: The Art of Racing in the Rain

    Garth Stein: The Art of Racing in the Rain

  • Tiffany Baker: The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

    Tiffany Baker: The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

  • Tan Twan Eng: The Gift of Rain: A Novel

    Tan Twan Eng: The Gift of Rain: A Novel

  • David Wroblewski: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

    David Wroblewski: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

  • : Water for Elephants

    Water for Elephants

  • Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

    Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

  • Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

    Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

  • Stieg Larsson: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage)

    Stieg Larsson: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage)

  • Ingrid Hill: Ursula, Under

    Ingrid Hill: Ursula, Under

  • Geraldine Brooks: People of the Book: A Novel

    Geraldine Brooks: People of the Book: A Novel

  • Jenna Blum: Those Who Save Us

    Jenna Blum: Those Who Save Us

  • Lisa See: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

    Lisa See: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

  • Susan Vreeland: Girl in Hyacinth Blue

    Susan Vreeland: Girl in Hyacinth Blue

  • Brunonia Barry: The Lace Reader

    Brunonia Barry: The Lace Reader

  • Linda Olsson: Astrid and Veronika

    Linda Olsson: Astrid and Veronika

  • Jeannette Walls: The Glass Castle: A Memoir

    Jeannette Walls: The Glass Castle: A Memoir

  • Darin Strauss: Chang and Eng

    Darin Strauss: Chang and Eng

The Gift of Friendship

LotImg41636
Here's something that most people don't know about me.  I love books!  Not just current books for reading but, antique books with beautiful bindings and illustrations.  I've never been able to resist them.  But recently I found that my library is overflowing and I need to pare it down to something closer to "under control". 

Since my reference library on clothing and textiles is essential and current books are both shared and borrowed I've come to the conclusion that most of the antique books must go.  So, with that in mind, I've listed some on eBay.  But I also wanted to share some of my favorites here.

The Gift of Friendship: A Token of Rememberance was published in 1848 and is full of illustrated verse and stories.  Similarly is another of my favorites that also has an embossed and gilt binding, Songs of the Heart.  To find such detail and craftsmanship on a book today you would be looking at a price tag in the thousands of dollars.

Sca027 copy 

This book has wonderful illustrations and verse.  Below are a couple of my favorites.

Sca033 copy 

Sca034 copy 

Another category that I have always enjoyed, not just for the beautiful bindings but for the detailed and whimsical illustrations too, are children's books, especially from the late Victorian era.

Sca035 copy 

Sca015 copy 

Ernest's Golden Thread and Our Animal Friends.

Sca024 copy 

See what I mean about the whimsical illustrations?  If you'd like to see more please visit my eBay auctions.  Who knows, maybe you'll be hooked too!

January 29, 2009 in Home, Other | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Weiner Werkstätte

When studying early 20th century fashions we tend to concentrate on French and Italian design houses like Poiret, Chanel, Lanvin and Fortuny.  Without a doubt, these design houses were outstanding and always leaders of the industry.  Poiret and Fortuny pioneered unstructured clothing with Fortuny developing methods of pleating and stenciling that are still unrivaled today.  Chanel was responsible for the little black dress and sportswear as well as incomparable evening wear and Lanvin for the Robe du Style, children's clothing and her romantic clothing.

Still, there are many designers and houses that are overlooked including Wiener Werkstätte in Vienna.  Founded by architect Josef Hoffmann and painter Kolo Moser in 1903.  The company consisted of artists and craftsmen and is better know for their furniture, accessories, fabrics and interior design than for their fashions.  In fact their fashion house, established in 1910, was an offshoot of the hand-painted and hand-printed textiles that had been produced for many years.  The fabric designs were so original that they attracted the attention of the Paris designers and even the great Poiret bought their fabrics, beginning in 1911.

Wiener Werkstäte Dining Room 

Above is a photograph of the dining room in the Palais Stoclet designed by Josef Hoffmann with a frieze painted by Gustav Klimt.

Mela Koehler Illustration

And, here is an illustration by Mela Koehler that I own, of a wonderful gym or exercise outfit that probably dates to the late teens or early 1920s.  Though there is no description with the illustration you can see the matching printed knickers peeking out from below the skirt that falls just above the knee.  Both the dress and knickers are trimmed in solid black with print fabric at the yoke, short sleeves, encircling the waist on on the knickers.  And, don't you just love those shoes with the wrap ties?  What I wouldn't give to find the outfit to go along with my illustration!

January 05, 2009 in Home, Other | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

For those who wonder.

ContentmentFarm This is the home of Contentment Farm in central Massachusetts.  I happened to take a few quick pictures the other day in preparation for putting it on the market.  Sadly, it's time to relocate.  I wish I could pick it up and take it with me!

August 01, 2008 in Home, Other | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Vintage Sewing Patterns

4096So, I don't usually have vintage sewing patterns but I came across these vintage Vogue patterns, with a smattering of Simplicity mixed in, recently and just couldn't walk away from them.  It must be the inner wanna be seamstress in me that made me bring them home but since I couldn't sew to save my life I've listed them on eBay.  The last group of them will be listed tomorrow at some point, so take a look.  Maybe you'll find just the pattern you've been looking for!


The pattern pictured here is a Vogue Special Design of which there are a few.  You'll also see a few Vogue Young Fashionables, two even have their original labels intact.  All are complete and many are unused, so take your pick and start sewing!  Click here to view the collection.

March 11, 2008 in Other | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Cohorts

  • Contentment Farm
  • Debutante Clothing-the Deblog
  • Lady's Repository Museum
  • miss cavendish
  • Miss Maddie's
  • NorthStar Vintage
  • Shorpy Photo Archive | History in HD
  • The Pioneer Woman
  • The Vintage Traveler
  • Vintage Detail
  • Vintage Fashion Guild

Recommended Reading

  • Dean L. Merceron: Lanvin

    Dean L. Merceron: Lanvin

  • : Fashion a History from the 18th to 20th Century: The Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute (Taschen 25th Anniversary Editions)

    Fashion a History from the 18th to 20th Century: The Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute (Taschen 25th Anniversary Editions)

  • : Women's Shoes in America, 1795-1930

    Women's Shoes in America, 1795-1930

  • Harold Koda: Poiret (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)

    Harold Koda: Poiret (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)

  • Betty Kirke: Madeleine Vionnet

    Betty Kirke: Madeleine Vionnet

  • Jonathan Walford: The Seductive Shoe: Four Centuries of Fashion Footwear

    Jonathan Walford: The Seductive Shoe: Four Centuries of Fashion Footwear

  • : 18th Century Costume in the National Museums and Galleries of Mersyside

    18th Century Costume in the National Museums and Galleries of Mersyside

  • : Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900

    Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900

  • : Historical Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries

    Historical Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries

  • Alexandra Black: Evening Dress

    Alexandra Black: Evening Dress

  • : Dangerous Liasons:  Fashion and Furniture in the Eighteenth Century

    Dangerous Liasons: Fashion and Furniture in the Eighteenth Century

  • : What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America

    What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America

  • : My Likeness Taken: Daguerreian Portraits In America

    My Likeness Taken: Daguerreian Portraits In America

  • : Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail

    Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail

  • : The Corset: A Cultural History

    The Corset: A Cultural History

  • : The Cut of Women's Clothes:  1600 - 1930

    The Cut of Women's Clothes: 1600 - 1930

  • : From Paris to Providence, Fashion, Art and the Tirocchi Dressmakers' Shop, 1915-1947

    From Paris to Providence, Fashion, Art and the Tirocchi Dressmakers' Shop, 1915-1947

  • : Style & Splendor: The Wardrobe of Queen Maud of Norway 1896-1938

    Style & Splendor: The Wardrobe of Queen Maud of Norway 1896-1938

  • : The Cut of Men's Clothes: 1600-1900

    The Cut of Men's Clothes: 1600-1900

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