Remembering the 1960's with vintage New Orleans Memorabilia

Love the 60's...  Uncovered these relics from a yard sale in the Lower Garden District...  May of 1967 is very significant to me, so I grabbed that issue and somehow the 1965 issue got tossed in the mix too.  

My goodness, was she ever pretty!




Love turning the pages and checking out the advertisements...

This look is still cool.  Love the sparkly dress with the pearls.

Smoking was "kool."  But they don't look very "cool!" 

And then I went around the corner and found this matching vintage shift dress at an estate sale - circa the same era:

 

More classic ads...



Seriously, they used a fireman for a tobacco ad?  Hilarious!

"Let's get to the bottom of this."  Love it. 

Then the bohemian/hippie look got started:


And this look is making a comeback!  I think I found the matching the dress for that last weekend too:

  

 Still cool, after all these years!

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Vintage Dresses from The Garden District of New Orleans

As we were stumbling around New Orleans last weekend - exploring neighborhoods and popping in and out of estate sales, we fell upon a large house/mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans in which a few ladies had propped up a tent and were unloading cases of clothing to sell.  At first glance, it did not look that exciting to me... until a certain large, beautiful button caught my eye from the bottom of one of her clothing piles.  When I got closer, I realized that these were all vintage gems - racks and rack of them!  I'm talking real-deal vintage, mostly from the 1960's.  I was delighted to go through each and every article and admire its craftsmanship, fabric, and styling, but for the sake of my toe-tapping husband I just selected a few to resuscitate and recycle back into the world... Check these out:

An adorable 1960's nautical navy blue and white drop waist scooter dress with a pleated skirt:

Nautical 1960's Scooter Dress

A 1960's Jackie-O style shift dress in a beautiful pale sage w/ impeccable tailoring and construction.  Believe it or not, this one is sought after by a woman in Singapore!  It may be making its way to her home later this week!

Jackie O 1960's Shift Dress

My personal favorite - the 1960's full length blue-green floral gown with matching sheer full length jacket:

Full Length 1960's Blue-Green Floral Gown with Matching Full Length Sheer Jacket

Looks great without the jacket too!

A colorful cotton print handmade dress in vibrant late summer colors.  This fabric reminds me of something you'd see in Anthropologie - it is so awesome!  Belt it or leave it loose:

Vintage Handmade Cotton "Mock Anthropologie" Dress



And - are you ready for this?  How about a boho-chic casual wedding lace wedding dress?  Check this one out - a full length lace exterior with a long white slip dress underneath (with a pretty white lace overhang).  I'm loving this gypsy/bohemian look!  I'm guessing this is more 1970's...

Boho Chic Gypsy Lace Casual Wedding Gown

Or dress it down for casual bohemian fun

And finally... although it is vintage, here is a timeless classic: a navy blue and white strip shirt dress.  Probably from the 1970's.  Can't go wrong with this!

Vintage Navy Blue and White Shirtdress

Hope you enjoyed my trip to the past!  Check out more photos of these dresses and other vintage items in my shop: New Orleans Eclectics.

New Orleans Weekend with Bastille Day Events, A Traditional Second Line, and Some Lovely Vintage Finds!

What a weekend - filled with quintessential New Orleans tradition, a few new adventures, and some excellent vintage finds! 

The weekend started with an evening jaunt down to the French Quarter to watch the Fireworks Display over The River - in honor of Bastille Day.  Although the show was short (just 6 minutes!), it was indeed sweet, and it was an excellent way to kick off this hot summer weekend.

Bastille Day Fireworks over The Mississippi River in New Orleans

The next morning boasted the annual San Fermin en Nueva Orleans (New Orleans' version of Pamplona's Running with The Bulls).  Although we didn't make it to the Run this year, the town was filled with spirited Runners decked out in white and red.   Fun to see. (Confession: these images are from when we attended last year.)

Made our way over to The Bywater, then through the Treme, The French Quarter, and then finally Uptown for some early morning exploration.  We love crawling around these neighborhoods early in the morning before everybody is really awake.

Shop New Orleans Eclectics

Lucky we did that because stumbled upon a few excellent vintage finds!  You know I have upcycling plans for that flag  (stay tuned), but the other gems are available in the shop:

Shop New Orleans Eclectics

Vintage Picnic Basket

Vintage Picnic Basket

And don't get me started on the Vintage Dresses I unearthed from a mansion in Uptown!  It was a complete vintage goldmine and I will post more about that very soon!



But by far... the most moving and meaningful event of the weekend was taking part in a New Orleans tradition.  We joined a "Second Line" - which is a sort of parade/celebration/procession lead by a brass band.  This second line was in honor of a local New Orleans fellow that recently passed away.  

Start of Second Line - The Brass Band Begins (Oak Street)

It starts off with slow and somber music as everybody celebrates the life of the one who passed.  People traditionally wave white hankies and/or prance with umbrellas.  In this case we needed umbrellas because it was raining! 

"Second Lining" through the neighborhood

But the procession moves through the town, and sometimes ends up at a grave site for a burial, but in this case we ended up at the favorite pub of the gentleman that passed.  Celebration and music ensued all afternoon.  What a way to be honored and for people to share their love for their loved one in a joyous, communal manner.  Gotta love New Orleans!

Umbrella dancing and celebrating to the music outside the pub

Only in New Orleans will you see a scene like this... A "Bull Runner" from this morning's Bull Run and a man with an elaborately decorated umbrella - chatting with a beer on the street (with a huge storm cloud overhead) as if all is completely normal.  Just a typical day in New Orleans!

But Second Lines can be held for other celebrations too.  Here is one we saw for a wedding in The French Quarter a few months ago (it was also raining that day!):

Wedding Second Line in The French Quarter

Just another weekend in New Orleans. :)