Featured Poet: Jill McFee

Exodus

by Jill McFee

It would be easy

to lay down our lives

like spades after plowing

and walk away with nothing

but the stories on our backs

the vein maps to everywhere

we’ve already been

I would walk away with you

our hearts in hobo sacks

we trade and sling over our shoulders

as the dust of the road paints our faces

we’ll know when we’re there

because it is somewhere far from anywhere

and it is where we will plant

a flag and lie in the grass

without wondering where there

is a washing machine

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Featured Poet: Jill McFee is a bubbly, adorable multi-talented lady, and if you'd like to get to know her better (which obviously you do!) you can find her lovely blog here. 

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Are you a poet? I'd love to feature your original work!
Submission Guidelines:
Subject matter is not limited, though profanity is discouraged.
Submissions are subject to editing.
You must be a follower of The Quirky Poet via Bloglovin' or Google Friend Connect.
You may send your poems to rachelmarie@thequirkypoet.com.


Thanks for reading!

I Hate Jeans

It's true. I hate jeans. I own a few pairs so as not to seem like an American pariah, but I hate wearing them. Especially the hip huggers. With a long waist like mine, low-rise jeans = plumber's crack. And that's not lady-like or attractive by any means. (I know I'm not the only one this happens to! I've been to WalMart!)

So when I found this pair of retro bell-bottoms, I fell in love. They're corduroy and a delicious chocolate brown. So comfortable. Ahhh...my new pants and the spring sunshine have made for a very pleasant afternoon.

Outfit Details:

Earrings//ModCloth
Blouse//Vintage, 1980s
Owl Necklace//Antique
Bell-bottoms//Revolve Clothing
Shoes//ModCloth

Playing Dress Up

After an eternity (no exaggeration there) of devoting myself solely to workworkworkworkwork, I indulged in a brief round of dress up yesterday. I also spent time watching old episodes of House, made some muffins, and then decided I would do some painting with watercolor. Yep, I play dress up, write poetry and I paint too. 

Some people say that makes me a hippy. My brother says I have a chubby seven year old spirit trapped inside me. Which I suppose isn't too far off. I live off of sugar, and I mean, seriously, I'm wearing a t-shirt with a giraffe and a lion riding a tandem bike.

Outfit Details:

Hat//The Quirky Poet

Earrings//Kohl's

Necklace//The Quirky Poet

T-shirt//Modcloth

Skirt//Vintage

But there's nothing wrong with that :)

What sort of things do you like to do in your free time?

     

Aren't these dresses lovely? They would be perfect for a spring tea party.

They're for sale in my shop right now, and they could be yours for 40% off.

Just use code AUREVOIR40 :)

Featured Poet: Amber R. Nelson

The Redwood Children

by Amber R. Nelson

He said: I wouldn’t mind if you buried me on that knoll

under a red boulder from the ruins of the big house.

It was the discovery of two small graves in the Valley of the Moon.

Children of a pioneer, gripped by sickly root, lay underneath

fallen oak leaves and warm earth, tuned to the field mice

and bearded trees.  Their loneliness is expansive.

In this spot a father burst open on his knees

before trudging forth that silent morning over

newly-shaven hillsides.  A wilted lily, a redwood tree

reaching out of the ground marked with redwood tablets.

The wood oscillates.  In this soil are the hundred year old

hoofprints left by an appaloosa, the freshly-discarded

skin of a rattlesnake, the down a towhee shed in the thrust

of flight.  The boulder was rolled up to the burial ground.

The happy death: to let one’s remains give company to two others.

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Featured Poet: Amber R. Nelson is a published poet and keeps a stylish little blog called Un Petit Fauve. Her poetry always seems so sophisticated to me. If you'd like to read more of her beautiful words, you can visit her blog or purchase an exquisite broadside of this poem in her shop.

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Are you a poet? I'd love to feature your original work!
Submission Guidelines:
Subject matter is not limited, though profanity is discouraged.
Submissions are subject to editing.
You must be a follower of The Quirky Poet via Bloglovin' or Google Friend Connect.
You may send your poems to rachelmarie@thequirkypoet.com.


Thanks for reading!

 

Determining the Age of Vintage Treasures (Part 3)

And so I have imparted all the knowledge I have of vintage clothing labels to you. (If you've missed my previous posts, you may click here to catch up.) When you are shopping vintage or even browsing your local thrift shop, I encourage you to utilize these methods. It's like playing detective. It makes the experience that much more rewarding! Aside from reading clothing lables to determine a garment's age, there are some other tricks...



1. If the label does not have a RN or distinctive mark, Google the name on the garment's label. Etsy is also a great place to search lable names. You can normally get a good idea of how old something is based on what the consensus is. This label is from a dress of mine from the 1950s.

(source)

2. Watch old movies or period movies. Familiarizing yourself with the way a certain era looks allows you to eye a garment and quickly get an idea of how old it is.

(source)

3. Study old photographs; it works the same way.

(source)

4. Familiarize yourself with previous trends in fashion. But you have to be careful with this one since fashion is so cyclical. For instance, in the 1950s, women wore full skirts that usually fell mid-calf. In the 1980s, women wore similar skirts. It's tricky. The pattern above is from the 1980s.

(source)

5. Talk to your relatives! I have learned so much by talking with mine. If I'm not sure on a date for a piece of clothing, I can always consult my mom or chat with my grandma. It makes me feel closer to them, talking about what their favorite outfits were when they were younger.

Looking for more advice?
Well, I hope you aren't opposed to good old-fashioned books. I've learned so much from these:
Dressed for the Occasion by Brandon Marie Miller  
This book is full of gorgeous photos and fashion trends dating as far back as the 1600s.
Fashions of a Decade series (1920s-1990s) 
This one has beautiful color photos as well as written descriptions of fashion trends of each decade.

Happy researching! Be sure to let me know if you make any exciting discoveries :)