CREATURE OF COMFORT

I'm so tired of California weather. i'm done with the cold, i'm done with the rain, i'm done with it being over cast. these are the moments my Miami blood kicks in and my skin thirst sunshine!

So in these internal days of no sunshine, my dressing in cute girly dresses motivation is way down and i become a creature of comfort; throwing on my jeans and hoodie or sweater top. 

In this case my newly bought vintage raglan mickey sweater has been on my back the whole weekend. i love how it's already very much broken into and it is so soft and comfortable to wear. i was going to add it to this weeks vintage pile to hit the store; but i decided it was a keeper since i had the same exact  one when i was a little girl. here's hoping for more sunshine...pretty please.

SWEATER: vintage 1980's mickey raglan 

JEANS: Gap bell bottoms. bought at thrift.

T-SHIRT: heather Alternative Apparel tee.

CLOGS: Mia

What's your favorite comfortable wear?

gisela

GETTING BACK TO BUSINESS

Hi guys! working on getting back to business as usual. the curve balls of life keep coming at us but we are fighting and getting threw them with many dear friends helping us through it all. although Zoe and i have an upcoming trip to Miami in two weeks to visit family, i will be working  hard to get back on schedule here on the blog and in the shop.

There are allot of exciting new things happening in growing our little business. when i say "our" i'm always talking about Zoe and I. my beautiful girl is as much part of my focus on being an entrepreneur, because as a single mom she has been by my side in making my goals a reality. it's as much hers as it is mine. 

So with that i am happy to introduce the name of our new vintage shop and soon to be coming small clothing label, gisela&zoe! there are two reasons for the change in name of bella vintage.  one, is because i wanted the brand to be under the same umbrella for business/tax, and branding purposes. and two,  because their is nothing out there close to our name. it was easy to get our url and everything else that needs to be set up. unfortunately there are tons of things close to bella vintage and i wanted nothing to be confusing or to be similar to our name. in many ways it's been a long journey because i've changed my vintage shop name twice; this one being the 3rd but last for sure! it's been a learning experience in the last few years and i'm also learning from many past mistakes.

the name gisela&zoe also has so much personal meaning within it too and is why i also chose it as our clothing label name. my name is not such a common name and well i chased my career goals always conscious in never compromising in the  raising of my daughter. it took a while getting to this point, because i never wanted to put my career ahead of her. thus came the creation of our label gisela&zoe and my dream of finally making clothes i love!

bella vintage will continue to operate as i transition into opening the new vintage  shop and also try to sell most of the vintage out of the shop. but we will be transitioning not only the store but the blog too. i can't wait till we get to the final point of this particular goal!

You can click and favorite our new shop meanwhile it opens next week. i will have sooo many cute dresses stocked up for this beautiful spring! i also have acquired to new wholesale warehouse sources chuck full of yummy vintage and can't wait to see what treasures i dig up to bring to you. it's all very exciting for Zoe and I!

Thanks guys for all YOUR support! and i can't wait to start this new journey with you all!

xoxo, gisela

S IS FOR SPRING & SLIP DRESSES!

Sorry guys for the long hiatus. i needed to take some time off from blogging and basically most social media. Zoe and I have been going through some tribulations both personal and financially, but i feel blessed to give my burdens and worries to God. i wouldn't know how to deal with everything coming at us at once if it wasn't for Jesus.

I'm grateful for all of you still reading my blog. and i hope your all good! we are going through some transitions with Bella Vintage and will be sharing as the changes come.

The heat has finally broken through the California sky and i am smitten in breaking out all the comfortable dresses. 

There was still a chill in the air at the time i took these pictures; that's why i'm wearing the over-sized cardigan and am not over killing my self with heat, haha! 

I have quickly fallen in love with this slip dress. i have always loved how vintage slip dresses can be easily worn as outer wear. all the detailing and craftsman-ship just can not be replicated in the mass retail market. my favorite slip dress era is the 1920's-1960's. with all the pretty pleating, contrast stitching, and laces. 

This one has a pretty zig-zag stitch detailing on the front bodice. definitely comfortable wear for this spring / summer season. and so versatile too!

SLIP-DRESS: 1970's vintage,  thrifted

OVER-SIZED CARDIGAN: 1980's vintage, thrifted

BOOTS: 1980's vintage 9 West, thrifted

MUSHROOM NECKLACE: fleamarketgirl

wearing easy hair, the messy bun and the red lips continue..

xoxo, gisela

RED LIPS

The weeks literally have been flying by. when your so busy it feels as if your the one trying to keep up with the time. some days i don't even know what date it is. good or bad it always reminds me to appreciate life.

If you've been following my blog for a while then know i barely like wearing makeup. it's more because i'm lazy about putting it on then not liking how it makes me look. but there are the days i just want to whip out some color, and on those days it is either a bold lip color or a dash of bright color on the eye lids. i've had my Mac matte red lipstick for over 10 years. yeah, a little gross but i barely use it and it feels like a darn shame tossing it in the garbage even though many experts would say to do so. after all i dished out $16 bucks for it. but that's what i get for getting it and knowing i don't much like wearing lipstick.

These navy vintage 1970's Levi slacks have been part of my closet since i was 16. i love them so and most especially like that they are high waisted. for a few years now, you barely did see the shape of hips among a sea of under wear peek-a-boos when the waist line went way south.

At times i have been a bit self conscious since my hip line has grown but i feel that high waisted pants can be much more flattering for figures like mine.

TOP. Marc Jacobs

SLACKS. thrifted 1970's vintage Levis 

SHOES. Mia clogs

BELT. thrifted 1980's vintage 

I have a jammed pack weekend trying to focus on updating my poor shop. wishing you all a lovely one. 

gisela.

p.s. i look so mad in the first picture. i wasn't ;)

SPRING COLORS

Happy Valentines day! just when i thought the weather was turning for the best here in Los Angeles, it once again fooled us and brought in a cold front. i miss my sweaty hot days. i am saying this now that i'm cold but once the sweats come in i'm complaining it's to darn hot. or like Zoe would say "i'm blazin hot"!

I did a double whammy today. i wore this dress yesterday (pictured here), but oh so comfortable to wear today to work. i do that allot i'll wear the same outfit 2 maybe even 3 days in a row! do a any of you do that? it's like the new favorite song you have to hear 100 times in a day. 

I found this cute 1960's yellow beauty in a vintage store trunk outside of a store with a big old $1 sign on it. i love rummaging through boxes or trunks  with signs like those. you never know what deals you may find.

My favorite things about this dress besides the peter pan collar is that it is made out of silk. also love the vibrant colors. i've said it once and i'll say it again, i LOVE color. not all colors suit me, but yellow is a color which catches my eye and i don't see enough of; at least in a well made way. 

I also almost cut it to give it a better length. but i opted not to because i did not want to mess with it being silk. either way tea length skirts and dresses are every where right now. and it's to delicate an old to start cutting it up. 

I also finally got the clogs i've had my eye on for a while. i just was waiting for them to go down way on price. i can't dish $100 dollars for shoes right now. i'm happy to have bought them for $40! they are the original MIA's made in  Sweden. Karen's been wearing her's in the cutest combinations. she's inspired me to want to wear mine all the time! they are so comfortable and so easy to throw on when you are walking out the door!

dress is an vintage 1960's peter pan collar tent dress bought for $1. 

clogs are Mia's purchased for $40 on endless.com.

ring antique from friend.

bracelet is a F21 cuff.

GALS OF THE 90'S!

Happy Friday! today is Bieber fever here in my home..oh yeah i said it Bieber fever, it's the life of having a full fledge teenager at home who's goo-goo ga-ga over this boy! she already has her tickets ready for tonights film on him!

So with that segway i continue my 90's week with ladies that i loved both style wise and musically. as a teenager in the early 90's i was really into punk and rock music and totally loved seeing women in rock/punk bands and doing indie music! all of these ladies with the exception of a few i still love to listen too. and although i was already into fashion magazines, my style inspiration came more from them then they did from Vogue or Seventeen magazines. especially because some wore vintage and by that time i had discovered my love for it. oh how i miss those Sassy Magazine days where most of them appeared on their pages. Sassy was definitely the "punk" fashion magazine amongst the others!

Courtney Love. i just loved her vintage baby doll dresses worn with mary janes. she always had the coolest ones and i searched EVERY Miami, Florida thrift stores snapping up all in sight. i built quite the collection of them and SO regret giving most away! if only i new then i would be one day selling vintage!

Shirley Manson of Garbage. when their first album came out i worked at a music store which would play it over and over again, and i did not like them, not sure why. but they grew on me and i could not stop playing their album day and night. love her red hair, make up and rock style. she's so cute.

Bjork. i loved her in the The Sugarcubes, mostly obsessed over 1 song. then her first solo album came out in 93'' when i was in high school and i was immediately hooked. she had a very quirky style when she was in the The Sugarcubes which i appreciated; but in the 90's i was smitten with ALL she wore. i could never do the hair twist like in the picture below and always wanted to. my hair is way too thick! but i later was able to do it on Zoe, and i mostly styled her hair like that when she was a toddler instead of pony tails!

PJ Harvey. boy was she huge in the 90's. her songs were on rotation in my tape player. her voice so cool and her style very much her own. love her eye brows, makes me wish i never touched mine! she just looked like one tough chic!

Kim Gordon. talk about tough chic, she's definitely one. she at one time had her own clothing line and store called x-girl. i wanted a t-shirt but could not get my hands on one in Miami. Sonic Youth sounds like no other band out there, especially with Kim's melodic deep vocals.

Tori Amos. what beautiful music she makes with her pretty soft vocals and piano. i don't listen to her any more, but i was so enchanted then with her music. her style so simple and effortless, with the prettiest curly red hair, lips and porcelain skin.

Hope Sandoval. love, love, love Mazzy Star. and back in the early 90's Sandoval's natural beauty mixed with a vintage / bohemian style was ahead of her time. look at the times now, it's pretty much what you see left and right here in Los Angeles and everywhere. 

source: all pictures taken from several google images and itsthe90s.tumbler.com

RACHEL ZOE COLLECTION

Happy Thursday all! hope your all doing great today! i'm doing a little intermission from my 90's week blogging to do some fall 2011 collection blogging. as all you may know fall 2011 fashion week started today so i can't help but want to blog about it. so you'll see some random fashion blogging in between this week! just going to have fun with it and blog what ever fancies my interest..

I spotted some favorites among Rachel Zoe's new fall 11 collection. of course she drew heavily on 70's vintage inspiration. she also received some criticism on replicating a vintage dress exactly to the T from a Teen Vogue editorial she shot a while back. not sure if this is true because i have not seen them side by side. but this is always an issue in fashion and i understand where she is coming from. this is something me and Karen always discuss. the line between copying and/or bringing in your interpretation of design. so much information goes in the brain and sometimes things you do envision may be similar but really ALL has been done design silhouette wise. it's about bringing in your creative eye, the execution and the craftsmanship. it's also about making it better and bringing something new to it. it's what makes it yours. it's a very fine line and whether the criticism is right or not, pretty much all designers are influenced by the past. look at Marc Jacobs. he just does it soooo well, and you know it's him!

Any-hoo here are the favorites:

I agree with Vogue's review on the line, the outerwear are the stand out pieces. the faux fur coats look great! it's pretty much the reason why i wanted to blog about it, love the coats!

This top is great! it's a hard piece to find vintage wise, love bat wing tops!

Love the color, buttons and sleeve cuff detail in this one.

Ok toggle faux fur coats, yes please! i have a 70's vintage one in the SHOP right now. amazed it's not gone yet! check it out below!

Vintage 1970's faux fox fur toggle coat found HERE!

source: all rachel zoe collection pictures are from refinary29.com.