Holiday Round Up Part 2 : SHOPPING!!!

Well the whole point of this part of the trip was to shop - and boy did we shop!

SHOPPING DAY ONE : SANTA MONICA
It was probably planned this way, but the Santa Monica Vintage Expo was on while we were in LA!  This is an expo with over 80 stallholders that happens 5 times a year and it was FABULOUS!

This is our group after shopping up a storm

Oh, and Dita Von Teese was there!  She shops there all the time apparently.  There was this one divine and unusual bag she was looking at, and had she declined to buy it I would have been in there like a shot.  Unfortunately she bought it... damn!  Anyway, she is so glamorous she made me feel like a fat frumpy cow when I stood next to her!

Its hard to pick my two favourite purchases from the Expo, but I somehow decided on these:

 

Lilac is my favourite colour, and I found three lilac dresses!  This one is a lovely shirtwaister with embroidery down the front.  And its deadstock, so never worn and with its original tags.

 This piano shawl from the 20s is divine - such beautiful embroidery!  In near perfect condition too - just a bit of fading on the fringing, but no-ones going to notice that!

After the Expo we headed for the outdoor mall in Santa Monica and had a bit of a wander around and some lunch.  I also topped up my makeup supply at Sephora.

Some of the ladies had margaritas the size of their heads!

That night we headed back to the Los Angeles Theatre for the screening of La Dolce Vita.  It was really different (and wonderful) to see the theatre so full of music and people.

As mentioned yesterday, La Dolce Vita would have to be the must confusing, plot lacking movie of all time.  I had no idea but it goes for three hours!  I gave up after 2 hours and 40 minutes!  It was worth it to see this dress in motion though...

So many floaty layers and such magnificent construction to keep Anita Ekberg's voluptuous curves contained!

SHOPPING DAY TWO : BURBANK
This day started out with a visit to the Melrose Flea Market out in the sunshine!  So many amazing pieces of furniture we could have easily filled a shipping container!  I didn't buy any furniture, but I did buy this:

First up, I apologise to those of you who don't like fur.

Meet Angelo - the fox fur so magnificent that we all decided he needed a name.  He is DIVINE! and in such amazing condition.  I've been an admirer of fox fur stoles in the past so this purchase was a no brainer for me.

After the market we headed to West Magnolia Boulevard, where I made a beeline for Pinup Girl Boutique.

Now this was the shop I was most excited about visiting out of the whole tour, so I bought a fair bit.  I love Pinup Girl Clothing's designs, and the fabrics that they use, and their construction methods.  They are my style and they fit me so well.

After a great day of shopping we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our visit to the Queen Mary.  Yes, the ship.  It is now permanently moored at Long Beach and part of it has been turned into a hotel.  We got glammed up and traveled to Long Beach in our stretch limo for our tour of the ship.

This is me reflected in the mirror in the bedroom of Winston Churchill's suite.  And yes, he did stay in this room when on board the ship during WWII.

SHOPPING DAY THREE : LONG BEACH

This was probably my favourite area to shop in - the shops had a real sense of community.  Each of the shopkeepers knew each other and would pop in and out of each other's stores for whatever reason.  It was really friendly.

After the previous two days I really needed to stop spending so much!!  I did a good job curtailing my spending and only purchased a few things, my favourite of which is this:

 Its not 1950s, but its a lovely light cotton shirt in really pretty colours - and it was cheap as!

And thankfully we had an early night, which was great because I was exhausted... all the shopping and late nights out was taking its toll on me!  I'm such a nanna!

SHOPPING DAY FOUR : HOLLYWOOD

We started out with a private appointment at Shareen Vintage - the vintage store with its own reality TV show!

Shareen Vintage is basically a warehouse filled with racks of clothing, and there are no boys allowed.  This is because there are no changing rooms, so if you want to try something on you just do it, wherever you are.  However, there is always someone hovering to help you into and out of the clothing.  The store has a section called 'design pieces' because they either need repairs or are stained and this is where we mostly shopped.  The rest of the stock was either too modern for us, refashioned, or Shareen's own collection.

I unfortunately can't show you a photo of my favourite purchase from this day because it hasn't arrived yet!  Its one of the things I had to post home because I was worried about the weight of my suitcases!  It is a floor length black silk velvet coat.  The lining needs some work (stains and split seams) and its missing some buttons, but I think its PERFECT for a winter dressing gown!

After Shareen Vintage we went to a few other stores, and I found this fellow:

Yes, this stuffed peacock on a tree can be yours for $2,500!

No rest for the wicked - it was back out to Joe's Bar and Grill for a night of dancing. 

But on the way we had a private appointment at the Besame store! What a wonderful opportunity to have the products shown to us by the person who created them!  They were also selling some of Gabriela's collection of vintage hats just as an added sweetner.

I should have bought this one, but I didn't... bought a different one...

But back to the dancing...thankfully for the non-dancers amongst us, they hold basic swing dancing lessons before the band starts.  However, the newbies were quickly shamed back to their seats when the more practiced took over the floor!

And hey, we met this guy, who is the voice of Donald Duck!

See that guy, waaaaaaay back there???

SHOPPING DAY FIVE : LA BREA AVENUE

I never thought I would admit to this EVER but I was pretty over shopping at this point!  However, we did visit the What Katie Did store, which got me pretty excited!  I bought quite a bit of lingerie and hosiery!!

We also visited the Remix Shoes store where I made a new friend!

 This is Earl.

I am apparently I am special because he doesn't crawl onto the laps of many people.  Can you tell I'm missing Miss Stella super bad at this point???

And this was our last day of the tour, it was over... sad face!  To celebrate we took our limo (again!) to Musso and Frank's Grill - established in 1919, and I swear that some of the waiters have been working there since then!

But seriously, this place is a Hollywood institution, owned by the same family since 1927 and frequented by such icons as Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Steve McQueen, and Rita Hayworth.  The menu hasn't changed much in its life, and nor has the cocktail list, or the furniture, which dates back to 1934.

I originally had a different outfit on, but it was requested that Angelo make another appearance, so instead I wore this:

Excuse the creepy red eye that makes me look like I'm possessed...

We had a great time - and WE felt like the celebrities!  A lot of people wanted to talk to us and have their photos taken with us, and one lovely gentleman even sent two bottles of G.H Mumm french champagne to our table!!!

I only have one more photo to share with you from this portion of the trip, and that is this one:

This bag has served me well on several overseas trips, and I was sad to say goodbye to it.  I really hope that someone on staff in the hotel took it home....

The next, and final, instalment will be my adventures in Canada!

Beccie
xxx