The weather is overcast, the clouds promising a late afternoon shower and you quicken your pace down the hedge lined path tugging at the sleeves of your cardigan sweater and adjusting your hair scarf. As you push open the heavy wooden doors the hinges groan a tired but friendly "Welcome" and instantly the smell of old pages and books and weathered pine fill your senses and you're transported back home, 3000 miles away.

A wave of nostalgia and homesickness washes over you as you glance around. Despite the size of the town's library, old bookcases stretch nearly to the 16 ft ceilings and there are a couple old wooden and metal ladders on rails. You question their safety but find them charming nonetheless and feel as if you've walked onto a movie set library. You let out a long audible sigh and suddenly an older woman's head pops up from behind a counter, her pure white hair pulled tightly into a bun, not a single strand out of place. She gives you a look as if to say "How dare you make a sound in my library?" and raises a thin penciled brow in your direction.

"Young lady, can I help you?" she says in a voice that's deeper than you would have expected, it has a thin shrill about it that makes you instantly feel like you're back in grade school.

"I'm Samantha Post, Sam if you will, I'm here to meet with Mrs. Cleery?"

The old woman's mouth slightly frowns.

"Ahh, so you're the one they've sent to replace me." 

Here at mypiggywiggy it is our ardent hope that our online women's clothing boutique always has a selection of timeless, romantic, and feminine clothing and accessories inspired by vintage and stories from the past. We hope the carefully selected wares from our shop inspires you to live a life of simple attainable beauty and a life you have imagined for yourself.

Perhaps this is why on this uncommon cool summer evening you're especially excited to snuggle into a cozy new lightweight sweater (though it should be noted that you're still barefoot in the grass) while you await the symphony at dusk conducted by the neighborhood birds. 

Here at mypiggywiggy it is our ardent hope that our online women's clothing boutique always has a selection of timeless, romantic, and feminine clothing and accessories inspired by vintage and stories from the past. We hope the carefully selected wares from our shop inspires you to live a life of simple attainable beauty and a life you have imagined for yourself.

A welcome soft breeze gently tickles your legs, waving the hem of your white cotton eyelet midi skirt. You sigh feeling so happy back in this place as childhood memories flood into your mind of the treehouse and the tire swing and Aunt June's peach cobbler and famous sweet tea waiting on the wicker set on the porch. The very same one in front of your eyes.

You smile to yourself as the last bit of heaviness in your heart relented to the warm southern sunshine...

Tis the season of Summer, when birds call early in the brightly lit mornings, and warm breezes tumble fragrant petals through one's hair. The days are long and one feels especially pulled to the shores of local beaches and rivers to enjoy the fair weather. 

Here at AV, we are positively inspired by the season to go outside and enjoy natural landscapes, good company, and picnic treats. And if you are reading this, you probably understand the importance of finding the right garments to echo one's mood to complement the adventure. This wardrobe recipe was inspired by the quaint 1930s fashion from the 2012 film, "Cheerful Weather for the Wedding", starring Felicity Jones. We hope this sparks your imagination and you, too, take to the local scenery.

Scroll to the end for details on the featured products!

The Ingredients

1. Lightweight Button Down Blouse (preferably in a cheery print)
2. Summer Cotton or Linen High Waist Shorts 
3. Strappy Sandals 
4. Large Straw Sunhat (choose one that comes with, or can be adorned with, a ribbon for tying about the neck)
5. Picnic Basket, of course!

Optional: seasonal fruits, baguette, soft cheese, playing cards, portable radio, blanket or tablecloth, and a book of poetry.

The Recipe

To echo Felicity's character, Dolly's, charming outfit that she wears on a canoe outing at the lake, one needs to assemble the classic pairing of puff sleeved printed shirt with solid cotton or linen high waist shorts. The beauty of wearing a button down blouse is that you can tuck it into the shorts, or tie it at the waist to create a feminine silhouette. Of course, when the day is at it's warmest, you can then leave a few of the top buttons undone as well to welcome a stray breeze. To keep off the heat from your neck, wear your hair pinned up, in heidi braids, or tied up in a hair scarf. Finish with a straw sun hat and strappy sandals--it is summer after all. 

Weather you're on the water or by its edge, stretch out with a vintage table cloth or blanket and an assortment of snacks and activities. We love 

Shop the look:

blue gingham Summer Sweets Top, high waist cream Desert Market Shorts, Penelope Basket Bag, large straw Tuileries Sun Hat.

Read More About The Film Here

MORNING:

After cheerful "Bonjours!" to one another and a quick check in, Devon and I will start on our tasks for the day. Devon is our customer service correspondent and also the one who packages your pretty parcels for you with lots of care. 

Depending on the day, if we receive parcels in the mail, we receive inventory, look through everything to make sure nothing has defects and it meets our standards, then proceed to process the new stock that's arrived in the warehouse. 

Devon and I share a couple different hats, so both her and I handle all the garments at different points of their stay with us before they make their final journey on to you. 

Around 11:30 I usually eat a little pastry snack. It's ELEVENSES! 

AFTERNOON:

Usually I am photographing products or prepping new collections for shop arrivals, coming up with stories, photography ideas, styling flat lays and what not. I take photos for the website, blog, newsletters, social media... I love doing this, it's where I get to really be creative. 

Usually Devon will measure and prepare the product listings and I go in and finish them and edit all the photos and finalize the listings before it goes live.

Throughout the day if we see the other person may need help and we're finished with our main tasks, we'll share in the world load. That's the sort of work environment I really love being in, everyone has their main responsibilities of course, but if and when you can lend a hand then it's encouraged you do so. 

We have different big tasks we focus on for each week. Usually on Fridays we catch up on things from earlier in the week and we do a long team meeting. Sometimes we have it at a cafe over brunch, other times its with cake and tea at the studio, and lately it's mostly been like "OK, go, tell me your week, ok now my turn...ahhh ok back to work!" 

This week we had Model Go Sees to find a couple new faces for the shop (I'm sure you're sick of seeing my face all over, lol!) and there was also a lot of catching up because so many of our deliveries from UPS and Fed Ex got delayed due to weather! 

Devon and I are a hard working little team here at AV HQ and we're learning so much both as a team and as individuals. We think sometimes people think AV is a much bigger operation that it really is, but there you have it, a little ditty into a typical work day at mypiggywiggy with us two gals. 

Next week we head off "To Market" which is the industry term for all of these fashion conventions that happen around the world. There are several markets that happen in the USA and around the world and maybe someday we'll be able to go to the markets in France...ahh wouldn't that be a dream?

Anyhow, last August before I went to market I started journaling about my inspirations for what styles I wanted to keep an eye out for. I started looking at different sources of inspiration from art, paintings, vintage photographs, favorite films... 

This time around Devon and I are both attending Market so we've spent a lot of time these past few weeks gathering inspiration for what sort of clothes the mypiggywiggy girl could be wearing for the upcoming Spring and Summer 2019 season. (We'll be looking at some Fall and Winter 2019 styles too, eek!)

We definitely want to bring in more softer muted pastels, mypiggywiggy tends to carry a lot of super neutral clothes, which we always will carry, but for the upcoming seasons we are going to challenge ourselves by bringing in more colors inspired by the 1930s.

Here at AV we get emails inquiring where we get our inspiration for our clothing and often times so many of you assume we make and design our own clothes (someday perhaps, but we'll cross that bridge when and if we want to) because the vintage inspired dresses and tops we carry in the shop fit the mypiggywiggy feminine and romantic aesthetic so well. 

This is a HUGE compliment for me as it lets me know that I am doing a good job of selecting styles that resonate with the story I have created for mypiggywiggy and that you are helping create and shape with each new garment we send to you.

As we prepare to depart for Market, we are keeping in mind all our different inspirations. From soft colors from an 18th century still life painting, to a photograph of a flower seller in 1880s Paris, to vintage photographs of friends during WWII wearing crisp white tops and simple a-line skirts... 

Our inspirations come from so many different sources that inspire us. We rarely look at fashion magazines and most of the trend reports we get via e-mail or mail we chuck in the trash. 

To me, and hopefully to you, mypiggywiggy is a shop for clothes you want to wear now and clothes you want to keep wearing as you evolve and change. They are clothes your core person wants to wear. I want to sell the kind of clothes that resonate with your true being, not just the temporary delights of "for right now". I hope that makes sense. 

"I would like to know if your vintage inspired dresses are sustainably made. What fabric do you source and where does it come from? Who makes your clothes, what are they paid, and what are their work conditions like? I really love the look of your clothes, but I want to buy them with a clear conscience."

My response was pretty lengthy... here it is copied from our email conversation.

"Thank you for your email! This response is kind of a long one, so I hope you have some tea or coffee next to you!

All of the vintage inspired clothing in my shop are sourced from different designers and makers and are not made solely for mypiggywiggy. Every brand I choose to carry are small indie brands most being companies with less than 15 employees, I've carried one brand that was started by two sisters and their entire company was 5 people. Hehe, but then again, my entire shop is run by just me :)

Some items are manufactured overseas and some in the USA, every product description will state this. I understand your concern about making sure workers are paid a fair wage. I worked for a fashion production company in Los Angeles that produced/designed some clothes for companies like Nasty Gal and Mod Cloth for example. I can't speak for every company, but the company I worked for, we had one manufacturing company in China and our CEO visited every season and knew everyone's names and the working conditions didn't differ from any well managed and maintained manufacturing companies I have visited in the USA.

Basically, what I'm saying is, each company is going to be different, but the larger the volume of clothing (think Forever21, H&M, Zara) then the working conditions could be questionable. Poor working conditions isn't just an overseas problem either, there are several Made in USA companies that don't pay their workers fair wages and have horrible working conditions.

I'm really happy more and more people are becoming conscious about where their clothes are made. I started selling vintage clothing online back in 2004 and I always say the best way to be ethically fashion conscious is to wear vintage and also choose clothing you will get a lot of wear of (classic silhouettes and prints and colors) that way you're not always buying new clothes.

I can completely understand if you choose not to purchase from my shop if your conscience feels conflicted, though I'd like to add if you do decide to purchase something from mypiggywiggy you are supporting a small woman owned business (haha that's me) and I donate 10% of my monthly sales to DonorsChoose.org, TumainiInternational.org, and RefugeeCareCollective.org.... I hardly talk about it on my website because I'm a little uncomfortable with marketing that involves philanthropy. Though, totally sounds like I'm pitching at you right now! I'm not :) just want you to know that a regular gal trying to make a simple living and trying to give back to the world in some small way exists behind the mypiggywiggy virtual shop doors.

Thank you for your email! This topic has actually been on my mind lately and I may do a blog post on it in my Shopkeeper Journal! It's important to think about and be aware of!"

- - - 

This was her response:

"Thank you so much for your thoughtful response! This was very helpful. :)" 

And she DID end up purchasing a dress from my shop. Yay!

Over the years I have created a very definitive style and look of the mypiggywiggy girl. She's romantic, feminine, she loves soft muted tones, straw hats, florals, elegant silhouettes, timeless prints... and I created this look by being gradually becoming more and more selective with the vintage dresses and vintage clothing I was stocking my shop with. 

The decision to start selling modern feminine dresses inspired by vintage styles was a slow process. I thought and thought about doing it for about 6 months before I finally pulled the trigger. I was so worried about what the gals who shopped mypiggywiggy would think. (Augh, mypiggywiggy totally sold out!) I was spending so much time sourcing very brand specific styles of floral maxi dresses in watercolor tones and pretty blouses with lace details and midi skirts in neutral shades... and I'd list it and they'd be gone in minutes, sometimes seconds.

At that point I couldn't keep the shop stocked long enough and I was getting more and more requests for different sizes and emails about when I was going to add more dresses and I would get the "Why is everything in your shop sold out? So hard to shop!" or something along those lines.

So, I thought, OK, I was missing the connection here. It wasn't that my customers necessarily wanted MORE VINTAGE, they just wanted MORE clothes that adhered to the look of the mypiggywiggy girl.

The vintage inspired style of mypiggywiggy is so near and dear to my heart. In many ways the look came about because I want to be the AV Girl. When I was younger I was always so inspired by historic movies and series. I loved Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie. My favorite American Girl doll was Kirsten Larsen followed by Samantha Parkington. I adored the clothing from The Secret Garden and The Secret of Roan Inish.

 Some girls were drawn to flash and fuss and glitter. I never was. I loved pretty dresses that I also could run around in. I remember my favorite dress when I was in 5th grade was a chambray button up sundress with little pockets. I wore it with high top sneakers and tube socks when my class took a field trip to the Statue of Liberty. 

The vintage inspired style of mypiggywiggy is like my chambray sundress from the 90s. There wasn't anything particularly 90s about it, but thinking about the dress brings up nostalgia for a time and place. It brings up memories of standing on the deck wondering if my crush Andrew noticed me AT ALL and then being mortified when the wind blew my dress up (thank GOD I had biker shorts on!) and my friend Danielle SWEARING no one saw.

The vintage inspired clothing I want to sell and am selling in my shop are for living your life in. It's the dress you're wearing when that certain moment happens that you'll look back on in 10, 20 years and smile about. I hope when one of the best moments of your life is happening, even a simple one like picking wildflowers off the side of the road, you're wearing a dress from mypiggywiggy. 

Every month I feel like I fine tune the vintage inspired styles I select for the shop. I'm getting better at choosing silhouettes, prints, and colors that will become a part of your feminine and timeless vintage inspired wardrobe. 

Once a week (actually, it's more like every other day) I spend looking at linesheets from various designers and showrooms to see what to buy for the upcoming season. It has been a learning process, for sure! So without further ado...

The 6 Fashion Trends & Details I Avoid When Buying for mypiggywiggy

1. Clothing that will show your bra or undergarments.  

I know there are different strokes for different folks, but I do not understand why you would want to wear a knit sweater that has giant cut outs or slashes in the back? I find this clothing trend design detail so annoying. I've come across so many cute sweaters and then I see the back and it has a giant piece missing. Why? Or tops that have really deep armholes. I talked to a showroom rep once and she said "you just wear a pretty lace bandeau, it's very Coachella looking." No, thank you. If the mypiggywiggy girl goes to Coachella, she's probably wearing an antique Edwardian dress.

2. Sheer dresses that are not lined and hard to wear a bra with. 

This is a gigantic pet peeve of mine especially since most modern dress styles don't compliment a vintage slip very well. At another showroom I wanted to order this BEAUTIFUL white cotton halter dress with floral embroidery on the bodice but it was unlined and a halter! What sort of bra would you wear with this? I was told by the rep "Some girls go braless." Sure! I do it a lot. But this is white and gauzy cotton! I don't want to give the world a little show!

3. Gross feeling polyster or fabrics that just feel gross.

You know what kind I'm talking about. Feels like plastic. Yuck. I'm not super against polyester because some of it looks, feels, and drapes like rayon or silks. It's that weird polyester that a lot of late 70s clothes were made of. I shudder even thinking of it. Yuck again.

4. Exposed zippers.

I passed up SO MANY pretty vintage inspired dresses and tops for Spring because they would have UGLY GIANT EXPOSED zippers on them! If you design a soft, feminine, and pretty dress, why would you RUIN it with such an eyesore? Hide those zippers!

5. Garments that have too many trends or details happening.

I have made this mistake a couple times and while I totally take ownership for selecting the style for the store, I have worked with sales reps that were great at convincing me certain things are a good choice even though my head is like "What?! This dress has a collared neckline, a back cut out, flounce hem on the sleeves, a surplice bodice, and a high low hemline! Run away! Run away!" (Hey, they were doing their job! And a good one at that!)

6. Cutesy, kitschy, girlie-girl prints, patterns, and colors.

Because I market the modern clothing in my shop as vintage inspired, most of the designer reps and showrooms I've worked with instantly want to show me styles they sell to Modcloth. I have nothing against Modcloth of course, but the mypiggywiggy girl does not wear cutesy or kitschy prints that would look charming on a 5 year old but kind of odd on a 35 year old.

One of the things I want to be really intentional about is defining the mypiggywiggy girl. I say girl because I feel she has a childlike wonder about her. That she never lost her love for the simple and beautiful things in this world and still delights in seeing rainbows, dewdrops on wildflowers, and heartily eats sugary desserts. Not that she is childish, there's a big difference. 

She's spirited too. She schemes and dreams. She goes after what she wants but will always extend a hand to help those around her. She believes that inherently all people are good. She's a romantic but would never lose her senses over a fella. She loves flowers. No, no...she adores them. 

In many ways I am the mypiggywiggy girl. But in so many more ways, I aspire to be her. 

I've been thinking a lot about this gal. What does she do for fun, what sort of music does she listen to, what is her ideal Sunday like? In a big way, I want her to be my best friend. 

It is an odd thing to start a company and create a brand and start seeing the brand grow outside of you. I don't know if that will make sense to you. But for the longest time mypiggywiggy was based on things I liked then I started to notice AV became it's own thing. People from outside my world started defining who she was because they could relate to her. 

Then all of a sudden I felt like I was looking at a stranger. Like we were friends in high school, then lead separate lives for several years (but kind of kept in touch), then our worlds collided again but I knew something was different.

And it isn't a bad thing. Just something to notice. That the mypiggywiggy girl no longer is me because I have changed a lot as a person and my tastes in music (and even fashion) and interior design have changed from what inherently is mypiggywiggy.

Of course, this is all OK. But now it's getting to know my dear friend again. And that pressure is gone to try and recreate what we once had...when we were just one and the same.

Is this post totally freaking you out? Haha, well... this is just a peek at the inner workings of my mind and how I think of "my work." mypiggywiggy is so much more than just my job or just my shop. My heart and being is in it too which is why I care so very much about every aspect of her. I personify my shop because this shop is run by a person, one person (that's me! The one writing this).