As one of the last five or so people on the planet who still occasionally write actual letters, I’m into fun paper. I steal hotel notepads, collect Sanrio stationery, pick up postcards at Venice Beach to send off even though I’m not on vacay. So a dream gift would be One Good Bumblebee’s Pile of Paper. For 25 smackers you get a one-of-a-kind collection of vintage paper stuff, possibly including greeting cards, antique photographs, postage stamps, illustrations, matchbooks, postcards, medical papers, labels, ledgers, diagrams, paper dolls, and maps. And right now, if you buy one Pile of Paper, you’ll get a second one free. The offer’s only on for five days, so fly thee to the Bumblebee fast as you can.

More than star stylist Rachel Zoe nearly single-handedly making eating disorders the talk of glossy magazines, and boho more than that thing Kate Moss had been doing, Zoe turned vintage fashion from Sex & the City Carrie quirky to poptart hip.

I’ve always loved pinches of vintage as a way to keep a wardrobe fingerprint unique; using “vintage nick-nacks and findings [can] make each piece [of clothing] its own,” says vintage boutique Decades Inc, describing a necklace by Second Coming Design.

...continued: Ooh La Love: Fresh Vintage

Famed Los Angeles vintage boutique Decades Inc. has just launched a blog, largely covering their collection -

Think Hermes Birkin bags, vintage Versace, Nelly Furtado’s Decades dress she wore to the Teen Choice Awards, and -

Reworked vintage mink.

Ooh la love.

Oh, the things you can do with gelatin and a loaf pan. We have to admit a certain misguided sense of glee when we see these Technicolor illustrations of lunch loaves of yore. It’s vintage gourmet nostalgia that money simply cannot buy.

We’re not about shopping just to shop (though we do count it as a valid form of recreation) or consuming conspiculously (though we’ve nothing against the latest Louis bag).

We love products largely because they help make your life easier and lighter, and tell some of your story.

We’ll let vintage fashion blog Debutante Clothing explain:

“Garments are very personal, even that $12.99 top from Forever 21. You create memories wearing those articles. I remeber everything I was wearing on the most important days of my life. I even rmember random moments in grade school when I thought I was the cutest dressed six grader at Levi H. Dicky elementary school.”

I got an email from Anissa at I Adore Style, who also runs IndieShopping.com and FemminaStyle.com.

I’m skimming through her sites as I blog. I Adore Style covers pretty mainstream fashion - think Chanel shows and Clinique bronzers - while IndieShopping.com and FemminaStyle.com both pimp indie and vintage clothing. Browsing these two e-boutiques, I’m thinking how I love this shift from indie as an aesthetic to truly independent design and production, from “emerging designers” meaning less DIY hipster and more handcrafted hip.

Check these My Olivette crochet flower earrings, for instance. So quirky-chic, I smell a knock-off look-a-like pair at Anthropologie in fall.