A long-time vintage clothing dealer talks about her work, her wardrobe and all those good buys.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Shoelace Corset by Lanajean of Groovyjuice.com - Recycled Fashion Design at San Mateo County Fair 2013
The theme is recycled fashion design and I created an accessory out of recycled shoelaces.
I sewed each shoelace by hand into a daisy shape, added a button to the middle, and I sew the daisy shapes together.
The final result was a play on the corset. I used black laces along the bottom to give the illusion of thinner waist, and two long shoelaces at the sides to string the front and back pieces together.
Each daisy took about 20 mintes to make and the end result, many hours. Its the first time this fashion reseller has ever designed an original clothing item! I was inspired by my deceased elderly friend who saved the shoelaces, and made it in her honor.
I'm in good company at the fair, as all the entries are great! I'm also near Jill Pilot's display of Riccocet, who designed the dress above, and kitty corner from the fabulous Fabmo, which salvages designer fabrics for reuse in the community.
It was fun to be a participant this year and get the complimentary tickets for my effort ;-)
So far, saw a great show by the fabulous Whispers (above) and also saw Three Dog Night (below).
I'll write more later about my other fair entrees, the fabulous flower bouquet made out of water bottles! The San Mateo County Fair runs from June 9-16th, 2013. My entries are located in Redwood Hall, Sustainable Living section. Hope to see you there.
Let me know what you think of my shoelace corset, especially if you cannot get to the fair! I'm already brainstorming designs for the 2014 Recycled Fashion design contest. !
Lanajean
San Mateo, California
Sunday, May 12, 2013
The Hanger Sisters - My Groovy 60s Girls
These girls have been with me for ages. Some of you may recognize them from the exhibit I did years ago at the San Mateo County Library featuring metal flower pins, where I used them as part of a back drop.
I keep them in my hallway entrance, and I have dressed them in
vintage craft smocks. These colorful garments used to be quite common in the original 70s do it yourself days.
I've got a small selection of the flower power craft smocks, and I rotate the shirts every once in a while to keep things fresh. To me they are my adult paper dolls, and the first thing I see when coming home each day.
My ex webmaster Dennis scored these at the DeAnza College Flea Market in the early 90s, when cool 60s stuff was still affordable and abundant. When we split things were mostly amicable, but the hanger sisters were one thing we fought over bitterly. I decided I had a right to them even though they were "his" because I had grown used to seeing them in our shared apartment and made the point that were he to take them back, they would simply hang naked in his apartment, looking curious among all the "manly" stuff. He gave in and thankfully let me have them. I say thankfully, because he went on to sell a good majority of his collection!!
The only problem I have with my hanger sisters is that I've only got a blonde and a redhead. . . Yes, somewhere out there is the brunette, and I am determined to find her. But truth is, I never have. I have seen similar design in plastic, but never the paper cardboard style.
Let me know what you think of the hanger sisters, and if you have anything similar. And I especially want to hear from you if you have the brunette!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
This Welltron 8 Track Player Would make a nice Groovy Juice.com T-Shirt, no?

Hey it's Lanajean again from Groovy Juice Virtual Store. I wanted to get some feedback from you all.
I was thinking of making up some Groovyjuice.com T-shirts on Cafe Press for years. And my idea for a design is the 8 Track ball you see at the left. You can see that the 8-track inside says Groovy Juice on it already, so I actually got started on the design. I think it might also say Groovy Juice.com underneath, but not huge. I was also thinking of possibly adding a background pattern as well, perhaps a wall of 8 track tapes.
I was wondering, would any of you buy a T-Shirt of this design? I really think this screams out 70s, and I wish my neighbor Dennis still had the Welltron, which was the name of this model. But it took 8 D batteries and weighed a ton. I have collected 8 track players, and all of them had quirks. This one didn't never worked right, and didn't play longer than 15 minutes on batteries without the power cord. Despite that, the Welltron is a 70s icon and would make a good T-shirt to celebrate my 10 years online.
What do you think? Would you wear this shirt? Do you have other ideas for a T-shirt design? Would you all prefer I put my pet rock on the front instead, or as an alternate design? How about just a logo, like in the post below? Let me know. . .






