TRACTORDOG

JC's FOXY in Puerto Rico

2010-11-06T16:54:00.015-04:00

Just got back from PR!
Jeffrey Campbell's FOXY (in caramel) was the star of my suitcase.
These remains from an unfortunately placed house, slightly unlevel, surrounded by slippery sharp rock...was the PERFECT place to put them on display! Shown with a vintage nautical bodysuit from tractordog

photos by my dear Scott Key

my favorite spring florals

2010-04-14T23:45:00.003-04:00

floral goddess

let me count the ways floral tank

body by betsey johnson

tied cropped top

structured floral

a peek at the SHOP

2009-09-26T21:50:00.003-04:00

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
tractordog.etsy.com

Thoughts on Chictopia

2009-05-08T14:39:00.007-04:00

I have neglected my blog because I've been SO enthralled with Chictopia. Honestly, an embarrassing amount of time spent browsing the most recent posts. I'm starting to question it a little. Such a popularity contest...eh...but I guess everything is...kinda what trendy is in general. You are cool if you get the most comments. I'm running out of adjectives: beautiful, fabulous, gorgeous, killer, etc. And I've only been on there for a week. I need to give it a rest I guess. I always overdo it. When I find a new favorite food I burn myself out on it...like creamed spinach. AND when people reply to EACH and every comment on their own blog...just to up their comment number. Seems like it would be much more genuine to look at that person's posts and find something you'd like to comment on. I'm not hating, just questioning...everyone on there is so friendly. I have been getting lots of great feedback and really appreciate it. Who doesn't enjoy photo comments!? It's a good way to rep my shop. Very inspiring and l love browsing by city and seeing the different trends. What do you think about Chictopia??

AND HERE is the result of my sewing project.

Featured artist: Brooke Reidt

2009-04-26T00:10:00.005-04:00

My sewing project inspiration.

I revamped a 60s floral chiffon dress with a Brooke Reidt tank top. Here is the result:

SOLD to San Jose, CA

Yumi Kim?

2009-04-25T17:09:00.008-04:00

Reminds me of those 70s hawaiian floral dresses.

I'm slightly embarrassed to say I like this...it's my 18 yr old beach rat side coming back out. Well...actually I'm wearing a yellow and white gingham dress with lace and frilly straps...anything goes...just depends on the day. I like candy, run on sentences... am always oogling at the damn clouds...and some commercials make me cry. BUT, I still wear combat boots in the summer :) Anyway, her prints are beautiful and I love the lines and construction of that fitted bodice. I found a cute black and teal flowy mini dress at the thrift store. I didn't recognize the label: hideous & metallic that read Yumi Kim. I was hoping it was 80s but knew it wasn't. After googling...I found her...she's a cutie!

Check her out Yumi Kim | 2009

SHOP UPDATE

2009-04-23T21:15:00.004-04:00

Here's what's new in the shop!
TRACTORDOG

I'm scouting for a new studio space...
Feck. Everything is cut off.
Anyway...check the shop! xo
TRACTORDOG

HEEL HELP - VOTE!

2009-04-20T19:11:00.007-04:00

I need a new pair of black heels...BAD. There have been a string of shoe porn blog posts recently and I'm crrraving a new pair. I feel like I have plenty of shoes...but the only black heels I have that are photoshoot worthy are these played out gladiator heels. And you can tell by the photo that I'm not so pumped on them. SO, here are some options I've rounded up.

Sweet Life By Dolce Vita Lace Heel $128

Patent sock maryjane heel $23.70

RACEYY $149 with 25% off = $112

Kelsi Dagger 'Justina' Boot $129

Jeffrey Campbell $134

$100 + is a bit outrageous for me to be spending on shoes right now...but I look at it as an investment. WHICH ONES??!!

Farewell floral tent dress!

2009-04-19T23:47:00.009-04:00

Being a beautiful, breezy sunday...I decided to put on something nice and pedal down to the coffee shop with Scott. I rarely dress up. Not much of a fashion scene in this lil east coast beach town. Pretty much bikinis, flip-flops, and those awful terry cloth smocked dresses. Most days, I put minimal effort into my outfit. My mom buys me pajama pants for every occasion...I don't ask for them. I might un-earth a cute top and wear that with my pajama bottoms for a week straight. Gross, I know. If it gets chilly, I have a cropped mechanic's shirt (BOB) that is like my second skin.

BUT TODAY...I have cleaned up and put on this lovely late sixties floral pleated tent dress. The material is to die for and the colors, in person, are nearly neon. I had it for sale in my shop...and was thinking, 'Man...I love this dress...I need to raise the price.' No sooner had I thought that and sat down to change it, it SOLD! Funny how that works.

Farewell floral tent dress, tomorrow I'm sending you off to New York. This really doesn't seem like something a new yorker would wear. I've been to NYC...but only for about 5 hours. I traveled there with Scott on tour, we came in through the Lincoln tunnel at rush hour. IT WAS A MESS. As we neared the club, SEAS OF PEOPLE IN BLACK COATS rushed the streets. I had never seen such. It's just not for me...I'm happy for New York...I'm glad it's there...but I'm staying here.

Make a wish...

2009-03-24T19:37:00.005-04:00

I'm wishing for warm weather! Ready to hit the beach without a hoodie.

This lovely photo is by Sarah Loftus, and the dress is from Tractordog ;)

I LOVE this dress, its an authentic 60s school girl uniform. I really miss it, but obviously it's in good hands. I wore it to see the Dex Romweber Duo on Valentine's day in Chapel Hill. Dex is legendary. I like his old stuff better, but the new stuff is cool too...his sister is the drummer! Here's an old video of him...I watch it daily:

I always encourage my customers to send photos of themselves in their new vintage garments. Check out our Happy Customers myspace album

A handful of new VINTAGE posts...

2009-03-23T21:24:00.003-04:00

80s Dollhouse ROMPER

70s BOHO renaissance REVIVAL Gunne Sax dress

80s striped blouse

80s cotton Garden Party dress

70s MOD t-bar SHIFT dress

What's your work style?

2009-03-19T14:43:00.003-04:00

I have my laptop and serger set up on the kitchen table. I almost always have the tv on for background noise...I'm addicted to the Style channel. Our cable is finicky...sometimes that's the only channel that's not fuzzy.
Favorite shows:
RUBY
Peter Perfect
CLEAN HOUSE! my super fav

But I always take time to walk to the sound and relax...

Project inspiration: Walled up Windows

2009-03-16T18:04:00.006-04:00

Another project I have going on is designing logos for a local brewery to go on their tap handles. One of their brews, Port City IPA....errr...its easier for me to just list my thought process:

Port City > Wilmington, NC > cape fear river > PORTS > FORTS > BRICKS! ...naturally.

Downtown Wilmington is filled with old, brick architecture. There's even remnants of a large, stone fort wall from the civil war. AND there's tons of bricked up windows. Why brick up a window?! Yahoo answers claims there used to be a tax per window, so to save money the townspeople would wall them up!

So I went downtown and took some photos of brick archways and various masonry. I was inspired by Chris Dymond's above photo I found through a flickr search. It was the winning photo from a Walled Up Windows contest.

Here's what I came up with:

New logo & old memories...

2009-03-16T03:49:00.006-04:00

I'm working on re-designing Lula Balou's logo. It's a cute lil boutique here in Wilmington. I cased the place the other day and came up with this visual documentation of the store. It was a fun exercise: I found repeating squares mixed with organic lines...modern beachy! Which is perfect, because that's the owner, Lucy Cherry's style.

Here's the original logo...

And my FIRST DRAFT...

I want to ditch the wedding style script...but keep with the fun-bubbly-underwater feel...and then add some contrast with a sans-serif. I need another element...something simpler than that crazy mermaid. Its Jezebel and Avenir...I've used this combo before in Line Up. But that last mag didn't even go to print...so I think its safe to use again.

After perusing the clothes at her store, ...wait, I have to say that I haven't been in a normal clothing store since early october. That's when I reaallly got on this vintage kick and was sucked into it like a vortex. Seriously, our home is packed with towers of clear bins that store all my vintage finds. SO, now I'm in this beautiful shop, everything brand new...and it ALL LOOKS VINTAGE! Like this Aztec print bandage dress by Tricia Fix

It reminded me of a dress I have in the shop.

Lula Balou also carries these simple screen-printed tanks...

By Lauren Moshi

Which reminded me of my senior year print-making studio! Awwww man, miss you Leigh!

Our professor Charles was the best!

Harem Pants!

2009-03-14T17:37:00.010-04:00

I love styles that teeter between fabulous and ridiculous.

Harem pants fall in this category. A quick search of the word harem, wiki describes it as a sacred place. More specifically, 'referring to a sphere of women usually in a polygynous household and their quarters which is enclosed and forbidden to men.' But don't let that detur you from this funky fashion! Barbara Eden's harem pants were straight costume...but Urban Outfitters carries a more updated look by Silence & Noise. Those are lovely, but I'm still drawn to the original 80s styles offered by NOIROHIO and Freestyle Vintage Co.

Comfy, quirky, can't beat em.
I have a fab black pair with multi-colored polka dots I need to post to the store...

Hello world!

2009-03-13T15:28:00.002-04:00

This is me, low-res as hell, cold sore and all. 3:00 pm, 2 cups of coffee, still in my pajamas. In the 'office'...which doubles as a kitchen. :)

I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home. I'm a freelance graphic designer, but my latest business venture is TRACTORDOG, an online store that offers lovely vintage goodies. I had to start this off by introducing my store, as I'll be using this outlet to keep folks updated on new vintage posts. But, I'm also excited to share other thoughts and meet new friends!