Vintage Slips … My Collection Continues in Denver

Based on my Betsey Johnson obsession, I started collecting vintage slips. They were the perfect addition to many of her dresses, and also many of the baby doll dresses I was making for myself as a teenager. And to this day, when I have the chance, I pop into a thrift store. I am always drawn in to see if there is anything I can add to my collection.

Among the things I loved about being a teenager in Kansas City were the thrift stores and vintage clothing shops. They weren’t necessarily always cheap, but they took my old clothes for trade. And this allowed me to hand in my preppy clothes for that pair of green Docs I had been eying.

When I was living with my family in Brasilia, it was isolating in many ways, especially the first year. We had left everything and everyone we knew to live for three years in a country that was unfamiliar to all of us and with a language that we didn’t yet understand.

During that time, one of the only ways I was able to feel grounded was to go back to the States once in a while for a dose of home.

My Time on a Food Truck in Denver

Luckily, my BFF had just moved from Barcelona to Denver, Colorado, to realize his dream of managing a food truck. Yes, I am talking about comfortablefood.com. Best friend, best blog and (until it closed) the best food truck. He is someone who can always make me smile, relax and just enjoy the day. And after our first year in Brasilia, that was just what I needed!

Those who are fortunate enough to have experienced a close friendship recognize the fact that some of the time you don’t even have to talk. We just know what the other person is thinking. But most of the time, you can’t shut us up and we are usually communicating in shorthand. Basically, we have developed our own language throughout the years, which strikes others as both entertaining and perplexing.

Quite often, our youth spent in the Midwest is what defines our view of the world. In a way, Kansas City and Chicago, are points of reference that we can always come back to in order to feel at home. On a side note, Ben and I were roommates in Chicago for two years before I moved to Copenhagen.

When I was in Denver to recharge, I got to see more of this new adventure that Ben was on, and was inspired by seeing him living his dream. Perfect timing – as I was in the process of figuring out myself what my next venture would look like. I only knew that it was going to be different from what I had been doing when I left Copenhagen for Brasilia.

… And So Began Comfortable Wardrobe

It was on this trip, then, that Comfortable Wardrobe started to take shape. What better way to build on our friendship than finding a way to connect our passions through our respective blogs?

So this is how we came up with the concept of Comfortable Wardrobe – before it even had a name. I wanted to take inspiration from his drive and passion. And I was anxious to put that into something that made me feel as excited and motivated as he was about food and his food truck.

Now how does all of this relate back to those vintage slips?

During this process, it began to dawn on me that I look at my wardrobe differently than a lot of people I know. Specifically, with regard to my search to find and buy things for my wardrobe that are meaningful. I had been doing it for years without realizing it, but here I suddenly had an epiphany. And I wanted to find a way to share my passion with my daughter by sharing these stories. 

So, going back to my early days of collecting clothes, I hit the streets of Denver in search of some thrift stores. I fell into one that had lots of vintage pieces. I was in heaven! The vintage slips were what drew me in, and I ended up leaving with four of them. A new record!

Finding anything with lace that is in good shape after years of existence, not to mention wear and tear, is a miracle in and of itself. And in this case, the hand-sewn stitches were impeccable. I completely fell for the lace detail. And this is especially true because it included embroidered flowers, which I adore. Have a look at my Stella, Manus x Machina and Dior posts. So even if I usually don’t like half-slips, it became a last-minute impulse purchase.

This was not about how or when I was going to wear the slips, but about having them in my collection. Sometimes slips have been a jumping-off point for sewing a dress. So time will tell whether I will actually ever wear these lovelies, or just use them as inspiration for new projects.