Fabric design directions for Spring, 1962

I have been flat stick today packing orders and putting some fabrics on the website - not to mention taking shots of another 10 pieces I want to put up this arvo or tomorrow. Phew! I also want to start revisiting my American Fabrics magazine collection to feature some beautiful photos and textile designs of the time...

These shots feature some Spring 1962 fabric design directions...apologies for the photos that have gone on their side for some reason! I'll continue to do 1962 tomorrow...

Psychedelic ladies on the website

Ness' Gaglio for Abtex 1974 trippy faces fabric is on the website. Well - the last of the bolt...the rest went locally :) (and I think some disappeared in to Ness' stash)...

Arabia ruska and the expensive kitchen

It's amazing what these magazines put in their photos of 'kitchens' etc. I say kitchens lightly as please don't try and convince me this kitchen has been decorated for the photo shoot. Or perhaps not. Perhaps I am jealous!

How's the purple Homlegaard vase on the top shelf next to that kooky bird? I love the vase - the bird can be tossed. And the Finel pot, Arabia pot and the Ericofon!! LOVE And love the Arabia ruska on the bench. We're going to be selling off a lot of Arabia ruska on eBay this week. We got rid of a lot at the Mill Markets and now it's down to the last billion pieces. We use it every day but these pieces are excess and I am tired of keeping clutter when I don't need to. So out it all goes. BTW - will be having a free section on this blog soon. Yes - a FREE section. If you want fabric and other stuff you can have it - all I ask is you cover the postage, that's all :). That's on top of our giveaway, too! Lots of things happening around here!

Space age story - 1968

This is a lovely little article in the Feb 1968 Australian Home Journal. Interesting to see the space age idea isn't as 'space age' as you would think. Love the mono Marimekko fabric on the couch and the flouro pink/red rug - very cool! Story below...

From the sublime to the ridiculous in 1968

Does your life ever go so far off course you feel like you're on a horrid sidecar ride at the annual show and you're whirling around all confused and agitated by all of the noise and you can't seem to find anything that feels like home. That's me at the moment. Something to do with my poor body being dehydrated earlier this week and putting my system out of whack. So - what does one sidecar riding dehydrated sick woman do? Read the vintage mags, of course.

These scans are from the Australian Home Journal, Feb 1968. I particularly love the above Marion Best advert. It's only a small one - around 12cm high x 7cm wide, but due to the fabric (!!) it speaks to me. This is the gorgeous Kaivo by Marimekko draped on a mod girl. Sublime.



And then we have the ridiculous. This kitchen is, quite frankly, hideous. It's a scan from the article 'The Animal Look'. This kitchen features kizard-skin wallpaper, a Wilson's crown vinyl, at $7.50 a roll. Black and brown estapol has been mixed to match the wallpaper and used to frame the (hideous) surface. And look at that lobster sitting on that chopping board. Lizard skin and lobster just don't mix - is the wallpaper meant to make the lobster look more enticing or is it the other way around?

That's 1968 for you.

The dream vintage home

Anyone who knows us or who follows this blog regularly will know we love vintage mags and the vintage aesthetic.

We found this article in House and Garden USA, 1969 and it is definitely Justin's dream home. It's round, kinda space age and it rotates. Yes, rotates.

The article is a great read and the plan is just interesting. We wish they still designed houses like this these days...well, they do, but they are still so bloody expensive!

We're slowly working away through our own reno and rejuvenation plans. Starting with solar power and solar hot water. Learning to keep things to a minimum.

Still haven't narrowed down the flooring. Still thinking polished concrete for heat/insulation reasons but I know some houses can echo with this finish...

Other than that - we need to find this home and buy it today :)

Nomey retro fabric - ebay

This one isn't my cup of tea - far too minimalist - but's it's retro nonetheless!

Apia...original?? Highly sought after if it is...

Scandinavian uber cool fabric...

A fab kitsch seagull fabric...

Have a gander at these crackin' retro fabrics! Nomey16 has been around quite a while on ebay and the fabrics are always very, very popular - even to fabric sellers who re-sell them at an exorbidant price! I have seen the fabrics get turned into fab wall art, used in cushions etc etc...and there's a great collection of them up at the moment...so I thought I'd best tell you about them while there's time to bid! Don't forget to check the postage rates for postage outside of the USA...

Funnily enough, we have the original print of this one now in stock - it's a new arrival and quite striking....it's called Cranes...



And we also have an original of this one below in an orange colourway (from memory...and with original tags attached, too)

So bad - but just so good! Retro interiors...

Of course, being vintage fabric lovers we are also huge fans of original retro interiors. We've just relocated into a huge original 1971 house, complete with orange St George oven and hotplates...hilarious and very kitsch. Brown everywhere, wood everywhere...glass walls, door panelling...ahhhh, life away from beige and the 80's!

When renovating we feel it is really important to strike the right mix of modern and retro. For instance, we have shag rugs in almost every room - red, orange, brown, white etc etc...we love them and wouldn't have a home without them...even if they are dust catchers! We also use quite a lot of retro lamps instead of lighting and our decor is mainly teak in some rooms and art deco in others...all with Lynch and Tretchikoff prints, nude prints and lots of wonderful glassware and retro pieces.

Hmmm....how far do you go when renovating when these interiors were deemed some of the worst in 1974? It's from the Eurobad Exhibition - funny, aren't they? But some of them are just sooooo cool!

How they ever got carpet into bathrooms is beyond me...

Dutch-Details - a fabulous ebay store...

I'd better start this blog with some vintage fabric stuff, eh?

This is an ebay store located in Amsterdam and usually has an extensive collection of gorgeous super graphic, novelty and botanical Scandinavian fabric from the 60's and 70's. The good bit is the fabric is all on original bolts and postage isn't too high to Australia, considering the fabric weight.

You can find their ebay store here - some of their fabrics are pictured above...gorgeous, aren't they?