A Wardrobe for Cleaning.

Because everything in her house is waterproof, the housewife of 2000 can do her daily cleaning with a hose.

Another confession my friends. I'm not very good at motivating myself to do the cleaning. Of course I do it on a weekly basis, but I don't particularly like it. I know it doesn't take long. I know it's not as hard as I think it is, but you've got to admit it isn't really very fun.

I think the problem is my cleaning wardrobe. I normally clean in a pair of shorts and ratty tee shirt. This is boring, lame, and above all frumpy. It is simply not acceptable. What I need are some new cleaning outfits like these. 

Oh, this could be my dream kitchen. Don't you just love the kitschy wallpaper? And did you all note the fabulous white strappy shoes! The mini wedge is super cute. Oh white strappy open toed shoes, I need you more and more each day. Who knew they were acceptable cleaning footwear? Yet another reason to pick up a pair! Cleaning is more fun when you are looking your best!

Or I could always clean in an outfit like this. I'm sure Fiancé wouldn't mind. Just make sure to have all the curtains drawn before you start cleaning in this daring look. 

Vintage aprons are fun, but I've got enough of those. What I really need are some vintage house dresses. Yes, house dresses are the key to joyful home cleaning. I mean, look at this women. She's just brimming with the joy of domesticity. Would she be as happy if she were wearing a Frumpy McFrump outfit? I think we all know the answer to that question. 

This is my real cleaning schedule. I basically divide my weekly chores by the day. I generally follow the FlyLady program, with a few changes to fit our crazy schedule. 

Monday: Weekend recovery/Kitchen Day (Water plants, mop kitchen floor, clean kitchen counters and appliances, Clean up whatever mess we inevitably made over the weekend)

Tuesday: Big Cleaning Day/"Home Blessing" Day (Change Sheets, vacuuming, Fiancé empties trash cans and puts garbage out for pick up, Clean out fridge, Dust furniture.)

Wednesday: Dreaded Bathroom Cleaning Day (Mop Bathroom floors, Clean mirrors and doors, scrub toilets, do whatever's left over from Tuesday, make grocery list)

Thursday: Errand Day (Dry Cleaning, Grocery Shopping, Other appointments)

Friday: Paperwork Day/Misc Day (Pay bills, send out birthday cards, mend clothing, clean out car, clear out laundry room) 

Friday night is Date Night. Fiancé normally takes me to our favorite little Japanese restaurant. 

Don't tell anyone, but I sometimes cheat and don't do everything I am supposed to. This is all due to my lack of a proper wardrobe of course. (Right. Wardrobe. That's it. Really! I swear!) So I have constructed my fantasy cleaning wardrobe for optimum cleaning fun. With these I bet I could clean all day and all night. 

Monday starts with this 1939 house dress. Wouldn't cleaning the kitchen sink be so much more fun with this lovely little number? I love the first view with the rickrack. So cute! My ideal Monday dress is the view on the left in a lovely minty green with red or yellow rickrack trim. This is my favorite dress of the bunch. It's important to put your favorite thing on a Monday to help motivate you for the week!

1942ish. The big sleeves on this would be great for the more intense cleaning work I do on Tuesdays. I have got to be able to move around to do all that vacuuming and dusting. The big pocket is perfect for stashing little knick-knacks, papers, or misc. items that need to be placed in another room. I picture this dress in red. Maybe a little ivory rickrack around the arms? hmm? hmm?

Loving the ruffled sleeves on this house dress. Can you see that I have a thing for ruffles? Don't get me started on ribbons. This pattern is from 1948, but the cut of the bodice really reminds me of the 1930s. Imagine view 2 in a blue cotton floral print! Laundry would be so much more pleasurable in this lovely little number. Of course I would have to wear my special bathroom cleaning apron on top of this while scrubbing the toilets. I really don't need those anywhere near my homemade dress. Yick.

Thursday is errand day. This 1953 belted house dress would be perfect for taking a quick run out to the grocery store, picking up the dry cleaning, and getting my hair done. I'd wear a comfortable pair of cleaning shoes at home, but of course I'd switch to pumps to leave the house. I picture this dress in a lovely forest green with a big black belt. 

And finally Friday's house dress from 1941. I picture this in a soft pink cotton print with little flowers or polka dots. (Note stappy white shoes again.) Friday is paperwork day and doesn't involve a lot of elbow grease so a pastel would be just perfect. It also has nice large pockets for holding objects to be transported from room to room. It is also a wrap dress. What type of figure isn't flattered by a wrap dress? With this cut once the cleaning is done it would be a perfect dress for date night! No changing necessary. I'd just let my hair down and go. 

What's your fantasy cleaning wardrobe look like? Would having a cleaning wardrobe turn household chores into house hold joys? Let me know!

The Rubys!

Tada! I'm so happy to get to present these! What is it they say? The victory you work the hardest for tastes the sweetest? And I worked for these photos lemmi tell you. Someday I might tell you about the 3 hour downloading ordeal, but not today. Love my shorts, and sooooo perfect for the beach. Actually Fiance's office is having a fun summer boating trip in August... can you guess what I will be wearing? Loving the fit around the waist and the hips.

 I'm digging these rubies un-folded. I like the longer shorts feel. Yes, big floppy hat is mandatory.

Think they look anything like my 1947 Vinspiration?

They definitely have a good flair out to the sides.

And if I'm not feeling super retro-esque I can wear them the way they're supposed to be worn. Here's the traditional Ruby fold, but as you can see I did not iron these into a crease. Also cute, but not really loving them as much as I do when they are long.

First summer essentials done and posted. Sew-a-long completed. Phew.

Look what I won!

Show and tell time again. Just snagged this fabulous 1930s knitting and crochet pattern book off ebay. A wonderful find at under $10.00 including shipping. I do not have it in my possession yet (still on route), but I snagged some photos off the ebay page to share. I was so excited I just couldn't hold it in anymore!

The book includes all sorts of fun patterns included a fabulous coat, matching sports outfit, knitted suit, Men's Sweaters and best of all a pattern for a knit bathing suit! All and all it has over 20 1930s knitting patterns. Awesome!

Really loving that coat and hat combo. Could you imagine it in a soft ivory or better yet a bold red? So stylish. Also, I want her shoes! If only I had a magical time machine that took me back to 1933 so I could swipe some killer 1930s shoes. I think my favorite vintage shoes come from the 20s and 30s.

Knitted suit. Looks a bit heavy, but might not be so bad if it's made in a lighter weight yarn. KnitPicks has some fabulous cotton/linen blend fingerweights that would be fantastic for this. Of course I'd need to rework the pattern, but I do that with everything I knit anyways. Maybe it wouldn't be period correct knitting materials, but it would make it more reasonable to wear in Atlanta.

I don't think I need to tell you that this was the entire reason I bought this book. A 1930s swimsuit pattern in ENGLISH. Finally. Think this would count towards my Summer essentials if I made this? Definitely going to have to go historically correct on this one. For some strange reason I really want to try swimming in wool. I need to know why this was the preferred material for 50+ years. I'm thinking a soft yellow would be nice for this suit. Circa Murray perhaps?

This will be for Fiance. It's a really handsome sweater. I have to admit I haven't seen many Men's sweater patters from the era, so I was super excited to find this in the book. And so we're all clear,  I can knit him a sweater now that I've got the ring!!

So I know many of you Sew Vintage, but does anyone Knit Vintage? Leave me a comment and let me know!

PS. Look at what finally arrived in the mail today! Our 1930s cake topper! I took a closer look at the bride and she has a really sweet Bob hairstyle in fingerwaves. I just love it! 

I really do have 1930s on the brain right now, but can you really blame me? I'm trying to devise an Art Deco inspired wedding. Just have to figure out how to make it okay for the men to wear tails in the afternoon...