inspired by the stage.

We mentioned last week that we were lucky enough to catch a local production of The Merchant of Venice on stage at our awesome local theater, Trinity Rep.

The show was absolutely incredible -- and that's coming from a couple of everyday girls that did not read the cliff notes beforehand. Since I have a hard time leaving a voicemail without stuttering or mispronouncing my own name, I am always impressed at these inspiring actors that can recite such beautiful monologues with emotion (and without stumbling).

The actors were so amazing - and the play so entertaining - that the beautiful costumes were totally an added eye candy bonus. Jane was so inspired she decided to take her inspiration for our everyday wear from the stage. While wearing an actual Shakespearean costume might not be your pick for your Wednesday work outfit, it is possible to integrate hints of such beautiful costumes. A chain here, black velvet here, high boots there -- piece it together to create your own look, inspired by the stage!

an interview with brianna.

After Jane and I saw Brianna Moon's collection during Style Week Providence, we knew we wanted to get to know the designer behind the beautiful, feminine, inspired clothes. We were lucky enough to meet with Brianna in her home studio, after the hustle and bustle of her very first Style Week Providence fashion show was under her belt.


Walking into Brianna's studio feels like walking into your best friend's studio .... somehow, the space manages to be as warm, beautiful, classy and comfortable as Brianna herself. (and we were only slightly swayed by the homemade bread she made.) It is such an incredible creative place ... and we can see how the feminine, pretty details of the room inspired the same in Brianna's creations.


This was my first show at Style Week Providence. I had started watching a lot of movies, including Audrey Hepburn films and movies focused on the 1960s, like Factory Girl. I started to find inspiration in the mixture of the classic looks of Hepburn and in pop art. I wanted to merge these two for my spring/summer collection.

I didn't sketch anything at first ... I just started playing with fabric. I like to start, pull the fabrics together, let the ideas come to me ... and see what happens.


I feel like my clothes are for the everyday girl because every woman wants to be able to throw on something that is easy to go and feel beautiful. I'm known for simple, pretty and feminine a-line dresses. Maybe a pretty dip in the back ... but nothing too scandalous. It's not necessary for women to have to wear such scandalous, uncomfortable clothes in order to feel beautiful.

I strive for two characteristics in everything I make -- classy and comfortable.


We don't know how we could be any more impressed with this amazing fashion designer. Brianna is incredibly creative, talented and brave ... & it shows in her work and in her life (like when she went to France on her own and survived without speaking the language!).

Brianna has a few of her handmade pieces in her etsy shop -- keep an eye on it, she'll be adding more soon! And keep an eye on her ... this is one designer that is going to go places. And look good doing it.

an everyday girl shout out

one of our favorite designers from Style Week Providence, Nicole Lebreux, happened to be on TV last week talking about her new line and guess what she said....."I design clothing that the everyday girl can wear." It's totally true. She designs for all of our everyday girls. Each and every one of you!

Check out the clip!

Nicole Lebreux talks bold collection: foxprovidence.com

xo~jane

i am the everyday girl.

And so are each. and. every. one. of our beautiful and vibrant everyday girl models.

Maybe they all look so happy because we had just taken them out for ice cream treats, or maybe they just know that being the everyday girl is where it's at.

vogue italia.

My original title for this post was va-va-vroom ... but I didn't think I fulfilled the 'creepy-uncle-with-the-70s-stache' prerequisite to use that phrase. Although -- I do have the gravelly man voice.

In case you missed - Vogue Italia used some damn fine ladies on one of the latest covers. And just when I thought Italy couldn't get any sexier.

the everyday girl goes to a wedding.

Break out the Bed, Bath & Beyond 20% off coupons -- it's Wedding Season! And in case you're invited to a wedding (or three) this season -- here's a handy Everyday Girl Guide on What to Wear! So you can relax about the wardrobe and worry about how the only thing left on the registry is mint + ivory colored washcloths.

Here's to open bars + dj's that don't play the macarena! Happy Wedding Season!

in our blouse opinion.

We've recently spent some time stalking checking out all you lovely ladies that have recently starting following the blog here or leaving the occasional comment or two ... and ... we. are. impressed.

You're funny! And witty! And you can rock a trench coat! You speak fancy languages like German! You have gorgeous hair! You're a good cook! You're doing amazing things like moving across the world, holding your very first art show and taking tango lessons!

You're all perfect everyday girls -- and we're loving getting to know you -- creepily, through your blog archives late at night while we're finishing off a bag of chocolate chips.

A nice, formalish - welcome to blouse!

put a bird on it.

I am so devasted (ok, maybe just a little devasted. or at least highly upset) that I don't get the IFC channel. Watching the hilarious clips from the new show Portlandia has been the only thing salvaging this Tuesday-that-feels-like-a-Monday.

This particular sketch might have made me think of etsy. A little.

'tis the season.

oops.

There I let a week go by blog-less. And we still owe you two more gift guides, shoppe updates and maybe a handy-dandy guide on picking the perfect new year's eve wear.

And yes, maybe I did just say handy-dandy.

Isn't this the season to get so busy and plum forget about things like blogging or shaving your legs? Um, isn't it? It has been busy here in blouse-land ... but finding the time for a little holiday party last night that included chinese take out, no bake cookies, a glass of cabernet and the annual trip to the christmas spectacular in warwick, rhode island (google it-you'll see) got us all in the spirit for the holidays.

Here's some more inspriration from internet-land that'll make you want to drink hot chocolate and lip synch to a little mariah carey ...

Sources.

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yokoo.

You may have seen this lovely video on etsy ... but we had to share one of their handmade portraits - about yokoo, an artist that has made over a thousand scarves and hats. We loved the sweet simplicity of the video -- and the sweet simplicity of yokoo herself. Under the video are a few of our favorite quotes.

It's important for people to create their own world. You have this world you live in, but I think we should be creating a subworld to protect us.

When the idea hits you that you are in control of your life, it's almost like opening a window in a stuffy room.

I grew up poor, but only because everyone else had money.

I think what's hard is going against a current, trying to be something else.

We all need to allow the silence.

I enjoy immensely being great.

erika.

This one's for my mom ... tonight we somehow found ourselves having a conversation about All My Children (it's a long story) and then I just had to waste the following hour or so ransacking through google images looking for pictures of the great Erika Kane.

I had to share my favorite. A knockout, right?


p.s. you've signed up for the giveaway, right?

new friends.

Ok ... so "new friends" might be an exaggeration. It's actually "new blogs we're advertising on," but we'd be happy to be gal pals with either of these lovely ladies.

You can now find a cute little blouse ad on purple deer vintage, a sweet blog run by the lovely Melissa (who has charmingly nicknamed us the j.j.'s). Melissa has an amazing eye for vintage goodies - which her shop on etsy attests to.


You can also find blouse on the great blog LuLu Letty -- run by the adorable Maria. Jane has a total blog-crush on this stylish, inspiring, pretty lady. She has a few items up in her vintage shop, O Captain Vintage .. how great are those conductor shorts?? And how great is her style?? We love how she's always changing it up!


Go show our advertisers some blouse love!

panther moderns: the everyday rockstar

i'm in this band. we're called panther moderns. when i first moved to providence, about 2 years ago, all i wanted was to sing in a band. i answered an ad on craigslist and met some of my most favorite people in life. we've been a band ever since. way plays guitar (yes that's his name. he told me his parents were hippies.) pete plays the drums. kate is the bassist. she's saved me more than once. and i sing.



the other day we had a cd release party. it's just 4 songs. (they call it an ep in the biz) we love them all. if you'd like to hear them click here. everyone has a different favorite. mine's yellow and red.

i searched for the perfect vintage dress and found it at Great Grandma Agnes on etsy. and when i say searched i mean searched!! i looked through ALL of the dresses on etsy. and that's a lot. but this rainbow number was ideal.

i hope you love it.

xo~jane

girl crush.

Just discovered the tumblr Got a Girl Crush. (...so many girls, so many crushes.)

And totally vibing with the Anjelica Huston circa 1970s. How gorgeous is she.

fat talk free.

Anybody heard of Fat Talk Free Week?

According to their facebook page ...

***
Fat Talk describes all the statements made in everyday conversation that reinforce the thin ideal and contribute to women's dissatisfaction with their bodies. Examples of fat talk include: "I'm so fat," "Do I look fat in this?" "I need to lose 10 pounds" and "She's too fat to be wearing that swimsuit."

Statements that are considered fat talk don't necessarily have to be negative; they can seem positive yet reinforce the need to be thing. E.g., "You look great! Have you lost weight?"

We believe that by eliminating fat talk, we can start to change the conversation about body image.
***

Like Jane said ... um .. maybe it should be longer than a week? um .. yeah.

We especially like the part of their mission that talks about these sneaky negative-positive remarks. Last week, I was standing outside a banquet hall and a group of young people arrived for a wedding rehearsal. One of the young women was marching around greeting everyone, and with each faux hug (you know the type, t-rex arms that do a quick pat on the shoulder blades?) she would shriek very loudly, "You look .... SKINNY!!!" It felt so ... gross. Not like a compliment should feel.

Fat Talk Free - we're in! (nice job delta delta delta ladies!)

a blouse birthday.

Today, blouse is 1 year old. Part of me can't believe that it was just last October that jane + I spent a night sitting at my kitchen table ... drinking red wine and agonizing over the absolute best name for a vintage shoppe. (we may or may not have high fived when "blouse" was decided on. who doesn't high five when tipsy on pinot noir?)

It has been an amazing first year ... and since the beginning, we've been falling in love more and more with blouse. And we know, we couldn't have done it without you. (warning: mushy lovefest ahead.)

**********
Thank You to the moms of blouse ... we've got one in New Jersey and one in the Midwest ... who despite the distance, manage to support us, love us, and send us the best vintage stuff for the shoppe (which is awesome.). Thanks for being our first blog follower, for allowing us to talk hours on end about things like hemlines and shipping costs and for believing in blouse. (aka: us.)

Thank You to the blouse manager ... on the biggest level, thanks for having a childhood best friend (jane) and a girlfriend (jen) who realized a year ago at the kitchen table that they could start an online vintage shoppe together. Thank you for the lessons, for building us clothing racks for our first outdoor festival, for carrying Tiffany, for watching slideshows of thousands of photos of jane on a pier, jane on a carousal, jane in front of a green armoire, for allowing blouse inventory to occassionally take over the office, and for letting us pay you in steamed clams and buffalo wings. And of course, thank you for always coaching us to dream bigger.

Thank You to the biggest fans of blouse (shauna, court + kate, we're looking at you) ... thank you for the blog comments, the photo comments, the facebook comments ... thank you for loving everything we do ... it makes us feel famous, loved and so damn special.

Thank You the guest models of blouse ... to Amanda, for letting us bully you into modeling and for working the summer sundresses. To Regan, for being so willing to let go of your nerves and effortlessly becoming the everyday girl. And to Joanna, who came all the way from Chicago and didn't bat an eye when we asked her to transform into an elegant party hostess, a drunk bridesmaid and an old fashioned librarian all in one day. You all inspire the hell out of us.

And last, but definitely not least ... Thank You to our customers. From Turkey to Norway to Michigan to Oregon ... you have each made our day - and we still think about the blue handbag that we sent to Canada for a wedding, the red plaid cape that was our very first sale, the fancy shcmancy hat we mailed to NYC ... and all the amazing, fantastic women behind these sales. We wish we could invite you all over for a nice potluck to talk more about vintage and just how awesome we think you all are.
**********

To all of you - thank you.
We can't wait to see where the next year takes us.

Love,

jane + jen

vested men singing.

Around blouse, we have a habit of being seriously inspired by music videos (as you may already know.).

Well, and we just love music videos.

This morning was one of those mornings of driving to work, hearing song on drive to work, googling pieced together lyrics I remembered from song on radio while driving, and landing on this amazing, classic, beautiful music video + song.

the location + instruments + vests + tone of his voice + strings of lightbulbs = so vintage.

(and now, I have to add old theater on my list of fantasy photoshoot locations.)

here comes the bridesmaids.

I just found an adorable etsy shop called The Ritzy Rose ... run by a creative, talented lady that had the most adorable wedding.

(yes - I might have stalked this creative lady via her shop and her blog.)

All her bridesmaid wore different (amazing!) vintage dresses for the wedding ... an idea that I simply adore. Look at these girls! How freaking adorable are they?

This idea has inspired me for a while to dream up my own photo shoot, equipped with a bride and bridesmaid, all in vintage. Pretty and romantic, right?

You know the saying "be careful what you wish for?" Who said that, Grandma? Disney?

Anyway - totally true. And I have the photos of um, bridesmaids in um, vintage dresses to prove it. (coming soon.)

photos via the ritzy rose

p.s. if you're absolutely in love with any of these dresses - make sure you check out her shop ... she's selling them!