Sparkle & Fade

One of the most catchy rock album's of the 90's was Everclear's Sparkle & Fade. And ironically, many things that were made in the 90's are now vintage. Which is great for shoppers of thrift stores in need of a shiny outfit for NYE (nice segway, right?).

For a muted but shiny and silky look, this bronze dress from the DressBarn is perfect for a house party or VIP at the club:

DressBarn Bronze Silky Dress, $19.99.

The best part of any outfit are the accessories, these vintage coin purses are small enough for just the essentials!

Vintage Whiting Davis Gold Coin Purse, $7.

Whiting Davis Black Sequin Pouch, $8

Vintage Black Beaded Purse, $12 / Vintage Whiting Davis Gold Patterned Purse, $19.99

One of the lovely things about Anthropologie is that many of the pieces they carry are new, but look vintage. It's like the best combo ever. This dress is casual enough for a summer day with great gladiator sandals or paired with opaque black tights and sparkly heels for ringing in the New Year!

Anthropologie Moulinette Soeurs Tier Dress, $39.99

Happy Shopping and Happy 2013!

Merry Little Outfits

It's beginning to look a lot like Holiday party season...

At the Christmas party hop, mistletoe is hung for you to see and all of the stylish couples try to stop. One of the most festive times of the year is the entire month of December. With Hannukah, Christmas and New Year's Eve making an appearance on many calendars, shopping for the perfect outfit for the many different occasions could become as difficult a task as shopping for everyone on your list.

Blackbird Attic would like to make your shopping a little bit easier with outfit inspiration that won't break the bank.

For a cocktail Holiday party or a swanky NYE, this red H&M dress accessorized with a black camera necklace is the perfect addition to any party. 

Blackbird Attic, H&M Dress $6.95 (on sale). Camera necklace, $5.00.

If you want to look stylish at a low-key office Holiday party then the red sweater with pink and cream pencil skirt is the outfit to unwrap. The red rabbit fur scarf adds warmth both literally and figuratively.

H&M Red Turtleneck Sweater, $8. Red Rabbit Fir Scarf, $14. Old Navy low-waist pink and cream skirt, $12.50.

One can never go wrong with a classic LBD for any party, Holiday or otherwise. This Elie Tahari number is classic with a little bit of sexy rolled in that will have you ringing in the New Year with style!

Elie Tahari Black Dress, $34.99.

The best presents always come wrapped up in a bow, this is how I feel about this next Holiday outfit inspiration. The black leather skirt, Judy's vintage black turtleneck sweater are the presents and the Herve black and gold belt is the bow to complete it.

Herve black and gold belt, $6. Black leather skirt, $19. Judy's vintage black turtleneck sleeveless sweater, $24.99.

Happy Holidays and Happy Shopping!

Hi, my name is...

Hi everyone! I'm Allie. I am the new contributor to the Blackbird Attic Boutique blog. Before I become your eyes into all that is trending in the fashion world, I think I should tell you a little about myself first:

I like to describe myself as a 20-something shopaholic, skin nerd and advice giver just trying to find a place in the blogoshpere. I love everything about social media. I’m a sucker for a good sale and my credit card limit has seen better days.  I love styling and putting outfits together and I’m a firm believer in that you don’t have to spend a million to look like a million. And although most fashionista’s will tell you “fashion over function” I’d choose a warm, cozy knit over a pair of stilettos any day.

I grew up in the Hudson Valley, graduated SUNY New Paltz with a Journalism degree and currently work on the digital publishing side for a major women's lifestyle magazine in NYC. 

What can you expect from this blog? The perfect fashion cocktail: current trends, fashion news, outfit inspiration and everything that's going on at Blackbird Attic. 

Stay tuned for Holiday Party trends as well as what's hot this winter!

Summer Windows, Here They Are!

 Photos by Courtney Scalzo


As promised, some better photos of my summer shop windows! My intern Ngoc started by painting the windows with regular acrylic paint. It's pretty easy to get this stuff off windows, you just get it wet and scrap it off. It's a nice little non permanent, yet lasting, idea to be used in your home on any windows or glass surface.

Next she made the backdrop for the blue window by painting regular poster paper (in a roll, bought from Michaels Craft store) with a sponge brush. I really like the texture feel of it, it reminds me of fabric. To achieve this she just watered down the paint. I bought the rope from Home Depot and the little nautical accessories were on sale at Michaels.

To make the coral, we just used 2 coffee filters, folded them in half, cut the tips off, and stapled for a dart effect. Then turned inside out, we poked our fingers in them by the staples to puff them out a bit before painting them with watered down acrylic paint. The white ones really remind me a of jellyfish. You could make a cute mobile or something similar out of them!

The white hanging balls were pre-made from Michaels, I wish they had LED lights in them, but they are simple and pretty alone. I used shells, coral, and driftwood from my own beach ventures to further accent, and threw the vintage sewing machine in there because it's so darn cool and works the fashion angle of the shop ; ).

That's about it. Like I always say, they look nicer in person, so visit soon!

Preview of Summer Lookbook

Had a fun little shoot last Sunday with Courtney Scalzo. I was hoarding vintage dresses in the back just for this occasion. I make look books once in awhile just as a little marketing tool.. to basically say, "Hey, look at all the cute things I sell!" Anyway, these cute things are for sale. Summer Lookbook will be posted as the photos get edited.

Making Barnacles, Decorating Windows

Just a few photo teasers of the new windows. It was first suggested by my friend that I do a nautical theme window display. Next friend suggested I hang some rope from the ceiling. I went from there. It always takes a couple ideas to jump start the creative process for me because there are so many possibilities! And it has to be an easily executable possibility. I was also most definitely inspired by Anthropologie as always. We used coffee filters to make a sort of art installation of "barnacles/coral". Stop by to see it in person!

The last photo shows a little preview of the other window. It can be tough dealing with 2 windows. They are also an odd shape. I want them to look nice from the front street view, but then also have things angle from the side view. You can see here we put up paper and painted it to imitate the ocean and then cut out cellophane in the shape of a wave. The cellophane was layered to give more color depth and texture, but it was too wrinkly for my liking, and not in a cool texture wave wrinkle kind of way. After about 4 attempts to fix it, my boyfriend took it down and painted instead! I'll post pictures of it in it's completion very soon.

My Week Recap 6/18/2012

1 & 2. Still trying to incorporate cleanse "principals" into my diet.. Basically eating a filling healthy breakfast and bringing a healthy filling lunch to my shop. I am loving kale salads for lunch. There are a lot of different recipes, but I really like using olive oil, apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard as a dressing. I add in whatever veggies I have, nuts (sunflower, pumpkin, almond), and dried fruit. I've never tried eating a sweet potato for breakfast before the cleanse. This one I popped into the oven (wash, prick and wrap in foil, cook for about 60 mins at 350 for it to be nice and mushy) as soon as I got up so it was ready for breakfast. I filled it with toasted nuts (pecans are the best!) and craisins, with cinnamon apples on the side.

3, 4, & 5. All finds (minus cat) from the annual city wide garage sale. All of these items are from the same house actually. Lot's of great little vintage fabric and vintage Christmas decorations. Also I couldn't pass up this 1935 baby name book!

I went to the little beach in Cold Spring, about 15 minutes south of us. Above is a cheesy photo op from that day. I forgot to post the rest of our photos, but we basically played fetch with Sterling and enjoyed the view.

My friend Jess is leaving me! She's moving upstate a bit but will hopefully be visiting Beacon often. Here is her and her favorite species at her going away party.

What are these crazy photos you ask? Well after the little get together for Jess, I was randomly invited to something called CoSM. It was a visual experience to say the least. My favorite part was walking up the road in the dark woods, with just hints of laser popping through the trees and dance music in the distance. Felt like I was in another world, no drugs necessary.