Did Someone Mention Viva Las Vegas?

Well, yes they did, and it is NOT too early to start planning those Perfect, To Die For, Naughty Girl outfits.

Check out the dates and activities Here

And for your shopping pleasure and for the Do It Yourself crowd.... sewing, knitting and crochet patterns galore.

Deceptively Sexy Frosted Hot Mama

It was late on Sunday afternoon, and I really didn't wanna be there, but, I went to the last day of the sale. Little ole house, not much there, till I hit the closet............I immediately spotted a couple of 50's summer dresses and just started grabbing everything in sight. Paid for em, loaded em in the car and brought em home and stacked them in the to do pile.

Monday morning I started looking through the pile and this fabric caught my eye. It is a pretty Schiffli embroidered baby blue.


The dress didn't look like much. Just a straight 50's shift with a faux jacket in back that obviously created a blouson effect. Home crafted, but well done.


And then I got it on Hera and zipped it up and wow, it fit her like it was made for her. Nice but still I'm thinking "Just a sweet little spring dress......"


Until I turned her for the profile shot.....and Wowsa! This dress is bombshell sexy all the way. Figure hugging and demure at the same time.




See this beauty and some of the other sweet 50's dresses I picked up all at cemetarian on eBay

Fall is in the air....and it's time to think about keeping warm

And do we have the vintage coat and jackets patterns for you. From the 1940s through 2000. Swing, clutch, stroller coats and jackets. Dresses with coats and Dusters, Dresses with Jackets. Just about any kind of covering you would desire, including boleros and those wonderful 60's Capes.













Come on over to cemetarian.com and shop til ya drop!

Hush Hush.......It's a Cover-up

No not a political cover-up but a swimsuit cover up. From almost the beginning of swimsuit's there have been swimsuit covers. Part for modesty, part for sun protection and part just because it made a prettier presentation.

Here are just a few actual cover ups that I have found. Some are the actual garment and some are Magazine articles and advertisements and there are even a couple of patterns for you to make your own swimsuit and cover-up.


This little organdy skirt is featured in a 1951 Holiday Magazine article 5 page Fashion spread from 1951 showing the latest in bathing suit fashions. Designers included are Tina Leser, Carolyn Schnurer, Annis Originals, Sea Nymph, Caltex, Bestlyne, Cole of California, Rose Marie Reid, Jantzen, Mabs of Hollywood, Sacony and Gantner.



Men also had their Matching sets often called Cabana Sets. Colorful vintage McGregor sportswear ad from 1948. Ad shows several different styles of sportswear for men and promotes "Sun Sets" a brilliant new color achievement in teamed water suits.


Fun Novelty Print Vintage 50s Swimsuit Cover-Up From The Lucite Box

This cotton swim cover-up is so adorable. It's from the 50s and features a print of moustached bathers, lady sunbathers and beach umbrellas. (We like the old-timey swimwear these characters from 1915 are wearing.) The short little jacket is lined in white terry cloth and has two slash pockets. It's got a cute sailor collar. It slides over your swimsuit easily as there are no closures. It looks like this has seldom if ever been worn.



Beach dress in two lengths, two piece bathing suit & hat. The sleeveless beach dress tied at shoulders is gathered to yoke and has lowered round neckline and optional purchased belt. View 1 is regular length. View 2 is above knee length. Lined, two piece bathing suit has bra top with back button closing, and shorts with elastic waistline and leg casings. The lined hat has a large brim that may be worn turned back! 1967




Back buttoned bra, dart fitted pants or shorts with center back zipper, and sleeveless, seven panel princess dress or top buttoned at back. Bra is interfaced and faced with self fabric. Back opening of dress or top and pants or shorts waistband are interfaced. Dress has applied bow at top of vent in left front seam. 1965

Vintage 70's Bright DeWeese Design Blouse Cover-up S From Glamoursurf

Vintage 70's DeWeese Design Bright print blouse top swimsuit coverup beachwear, size Small. This most likely had a matching swimsuit at one point. Nice bright all over print in shades of pink, orange, goldenrod, lavender and rust. Self fabric covered button front closure. Shirt cover up is in excellent vintage condition. No fiber content tags, we believe this to be a nylon spandex blend.


Vintage 1940s Blue Coral Terry Cloth Beach Bolero Cape



Vintage 1940s Mustard Yellow Chenille Beach Cape Large




Vintage 1940s Chenille Beach Cape w Fish Medium

Newspaper Archives show ads in 6/1939 and 8/1939. $1.95 - 5.95 Polly Prentiss beachwear 1/4 off! Tufted chenille jackets, capes, boleros and long beach coats. And this one is a BEAUTY! 3 little fish blow bubbles over waves of the ocean.

Shades of Summers Past

We are having an unusually warm spell even for North Texas. It was in the 90's this week..........too hot for April, and we're hoping that it's not of sign of things to come. Between the hot weather and finding these 2 fabulous swimsuits one with the coverup.........I've been reminiscing about the summers of my childhood and teen years.

I grew up in the water. Literally. From Memorial Day to Labor Day my family spent every weekend at Lake Texoma camping, skiing, swiming and loafing. Not to mention Camp Fire Camp (Camp Rio Roxo) and 2 weeks vacation. During the week I spent every day at the swimming pool and was a member of the municipal Swim Team. So I went through about 5 or 6 swimsuits a summer.

One of the reasons I mention this is because it was very important to have at least 2 suits at all times. One for the lake and one for the pool. Texoma is formed from the Red River and they call it the Red River for a reason...............red sand. Red Sand kills a light colored swimsuit quicker that a cat can lick it's behind. And chlorine kills a dark colored suit the same way..........so all us girls had Pool Suits and Lake Suits.

The 2 suits I found this week came from the same Estate. Obviously she also divided her time between the pool and the lake. This first beauty is a Jantzen white over blue suit with white organdy eyelet cover up. (No need for a cover-up at the lake cause ya just threw on shorts or a towel and lived in the water)



And the 2nd pretty is a Sears Sea Stars 2 pc which still had red sand in it (but I got it all out and it's ready to go). Boy did that sand bring back memories.............warm nights, campfires on the beach, stars overhead, the boy from Dallas in the next campsite............OOPS....too much information.


Both of these lovelies can be found at cemetarian on eBay.

Walk A Way Dress And Its Rockabilly Cousin

In 1952, Butterick Pattern Co experienced a phenomenon it had not known since the 'Garibaldi Suit' of the late 1860's. They released pattern #6015, and dubbed it the 'walk-away' dress, because it was so easy you could "Start it after breakfast... walk-away in it for luncheon!". It's simple yet flattering wrap design and easy construction were what made it so popular.


The envelope back states: Here’s the smartest idea of the season….a dress that has only back, waist and shoulder seams, that has its back wrapped around to the front for a sheath-and-overskirt look. Binding finishes the edges. Wear it for any occasion.

Sales of the pattern were so great, that at one point manufacturing of all other patterns ceased, and only the 'walk-away' dress was produced until all back-orders for this dress could be filled.

The pattern was reproduced and released in the 90's under Buttericks "Retro" line, but the originals remain elusive to most collectors. Of the thousands of patterns I have collected and sold I have only had two.

And later that year Advance tried to steal Butterick's thunder with this lovely creation. It too is a wrap dress and very simple to make with only three pieces. So versatile you can whip it up to wear to the market, wear it over a sweater as a jumper, leave off a piece of the bodice and wear over a sexy jumpsuit for at home occasions or a strapless underslip for the fanciest cocktail party.

Both are available right now at cemetarian on ebay.

SISTERS! Twin Sisters. Dressing Alike for 88 Years

Born in 1915 these Identical twins loved playing jokes on the people around them.

They confused teachers in grade school and in High School they usually liked the same boy. One would flirt with a young man, leave and the other would come in putting on her act. The poor guys didn't stand a chance. The always shopped together and dressed identically. Calling to tell each other what they were wearing that day even if they weren't going to be together. One sister married twice and was in a long term relationship when she died. The other never married. In the thousands of pictures we found, there is only one of them NOT dressed alike and there are several of the Man of the Moment sandwiched between the sisters.

But like the song says "Lord help the Mister, who comes between me and my Sister, and Lord help the Sister who comes between me and my man"

A select lot of 100+ Twin Photos can be found this week at cemetarian on eBay

Lana Turner & James Galanos

No, they don't really have anything in common, except for the fact that they were both in Hollywood at the same time. One designed clothing and the other wore it extremely well.

The only connection they have is the fact that I got this wonderful Imitation of Life Photo Album and the Simply Stunning Chantilly Lace GALANOS Dress at the same Estate Sale. And as I was photographing and writing the listings for both I couldn't help but notice the similarity of the Lace dress Miss Turner is wearing and the Galanos Lace Dress.

That's the only connection..............except for the fact that both Turner and Galanos were outstanding in their fields.

The album was sent to the jeweler who supplied the $1,000,000 worth of jewelry worn by Lana in the film and there are 17 photos in the album with the cover letter. The album is currently listed at cemetarian on eBay.






The dress is one of the most exquisite garments I have ever had in my hands. The craftsmanship is beyond anything I have ever seen. It will be available on Monday, Nov 24th on cemetarian on eBay.