Ragstock Vintage Halloween

After that virtual trip to Spirit Halloween, I'm going to share a little more of the mall with you guys. Do any of you have a Ragstock store nearby? These stores might just be a Wisconsin thing. Ragstock is actually a surprise for me to see in a mall, because it's a vintage clothing store. I don't recall us having a vintage store in the mall before this. I would have probably been here a lot back when I was looking for Halloween costumes at Goodwill. So, here's the entryway:

I took a few pics of the window displays too. The ladies side:

The gentlemen:

I love how they decorated the store this year! I don't remember this much effort being put in before. How great is that vintage looking sign? "All Weirdness Welcome" These decorations at the door remind me somewhat of the way I've seen dime stores decorated for Halloween in old photos. 

And the decorations don't stop inside! This is the table display you first see when entering the store. For the groovy alien. 👽

How about those boots! I think David Bowie would have worn those.

They have a lot of used leather jackets. I'm not sure how they end up with so many similar items, but sometimes there are racks of many of the same used thing. This looks like a good place to find some vintage motorcyclist pieces. Looking at this pic, high five to whoever managed to tack those cobwebs to that type of ceiling. Those ceiling pieces like to pop off if they're so much as touched. 

You could do a lot with these furry vests too. That first vest is pretty wild. Those almost look like little feathers all over it. 

OK, I love the names on these. "Tiger Mullet" "Celebrity Chef" "Groovin' Guy" and "80's Tinsel" Not that we can't figure out who these are! (Aside from 80s Tinsel) Oh man, look at the facial hair upon facial hair on Celebrity Chef! I wonder if that's all one piece? I can't stop laughing at Groovin' Guy, even now. I wonder if the beard is attached to the wig? I was actually watching an old episode of The Joy of Painting the other day, and heard Bob Ross say that he received some fan mail from a lady who told him he should get a different wig to match his beard! 

Lots of critter accessories:

Have you guys ever seen these whiskers attached to a little nose? I wonder how well that little button nose stays attached to your actual nose? I dressed as a cat for Halloween years ago and painted some whiskers on my face. I have a feeling I'd get annoyed by these, but they might be cute. 

Some of the neon 80s/90s section here looks similar to what I shared from Spirit Halloween. Check out that Viking helmet on the shelf!

No comment on this shirt. Haha! We're between the hippies and the Good/Evil section here.

The makings of a Tinker Bell or butterfly/fairy costume are on the left.

I have never seen a mask with this much going on above it. It looks like you could maybe spread out that "Laser Fringe" so it looks kind of feathery? This looks like a good Mardi Gras mask to me.

So there's Ragstock's Halloween selection this year! Although you could argue that anything in that store could be part of a Halloween costume. I enjoy seeing costumes that people have put together with vintage pieces. Do any of you have memories of thrifting for Halloween costumes? I used to have access to some really old clothes in vintage/antique stores. I never knew what I would find!

I also wanted to share some pics of the mall's train! We have a train that scoots around the mall carrying kids and any adults that can squish into the cars. There's a friendly conductor and everything. Depending on who is conducting, this train can get pretty wild. You hear that choo-choo and you better get out of the way! It's not like it's on a given track or anything. One time I had to jump into a store as the train zoomed up behind me. 

As you can see, this train is decked out for Halloween. Last Christmas, there were little trees, snowflakes, and lights on it. Here's an idea of how long it is. 

In keeping with the vintage theme, here are some books I picked up from the library last night. The girl at the bottom reminds me of Adele. 

I recently joined our town's historical society, which has involved looking at a lot of old photos. I've been seeing a number of different hairstyles in those photos. Those hairstyles got me thinking that it might be fun to try out some of those same looks or at least a modern variation of them. So, I looked through the library system to find some inspiration, and there was a lot of it! There were far more books than these!

How about the Beatnik's ponytail? I got a kick out of that. The book with the "Twenties... Then and Now" has a section for every decade in style from the 1920s to the 1980s. I can't wait to try some of these hair and makeup techniques!

If you are going for a vintage Halloween look this year, a trip to the thrift store and your local library would be a great start! 💄👠🎩

A Much Anticipated Return to Farm Girl Antiques

I am so excited to share this year's photos from Farm Girl Antiques! Part of my excitement comes from them being open. You might remember that we weren't able to get in last year. The other reason I'm excited about this trip is because I photographed some new, unique items. Starting with one of the more unique decorations, how about this guy? What a character.

This is part of the window display. I may have mentioned in the past that this store has open display windows you can walk into. Can you spot the little yoga skeleton? 

I took a few photos in what I call "Squirrel Vision" where I stoop down on the floor and just tilt the camera up. I didn't even know what I'd get in this one. There's something about taking a photo at ground level that really works with mice. 

Another view from inside the display window:

Classic!

Can you guess what these are?

Shark teeth! They seemed spooky enough to be included with the Halloween theme. They were marked 10 for $1.00, which is probably a pretty good deal, as far as shark teeth are concerned. Not that I'd even know. I wonder how someone amassed such a large collection of these.

Here's a ghostly image of a little... mouse? Bear? It's cute, anyway. There's something ghostly about the man in the photo too. I didn't even notice him until looking through these photos at home.

There's a lot going on here. It's always interesting to look at the details in a photo like this later. I like those mini lantern pumpkin lights.

Some more dollies:

And now onto the costume section:

This looks like a ghost prom or ghost bride getup. 

This gives a nice view of the tin ceiling.

A possible autumn floral inspiration pic. 

Now this. THIS. This is my own photo and I have trouble looking at it. The longer I look at this, the more uncomfortable I feel. I discovered her while crouching down to take one of those "Squirrel Vision" pics. 

I found this guy down near the head. He's also creepy. I know he's kind of ridiculous looking in some ways, but he had a vibe. 

I love this jack-o-lantern! He nearly fooled me into thinking he was an actual antique, but after checking his tag, I saw he was a Bethany Lowe. They do great recreations. 

I can tell that little pumpkin on the tree is also a Bethany Lowe. 

Here's a close-up view of one of those party hats. 

Each year they set up this old carriage with a different Halloween display. I remember it decked out for Christmas as well. I still remember the year they set up a skeleton "driver" in the carriage. 

Now onto the owl section. 

How cute are these little guys? 

I found it so surreal to be photographing this antique camera with my modern camera. Lens to lens, it felt so personal. Try taking a photo facing an antique camera some time and see how it feels. For me, it felt like an object that had been looked through many times was now looking at me. Can you see the old building reflected in the lens?

Some of you may be familiar with the Brownie cameras. I'd heard about them, but hadn't seen one in person before. 

I took a pic of the door to the store on the way out. This will give you an idea of those display windows. 

I thought I'd include a few photos from in front of a Mexican restaurant near the antique store. 

This skeleton sculpture was inside another large display window. This space was used as a gallery years back when I took those Day of the Dead photos. Perhaps some day those gallery events will take place again.

I hope you enjoyed looking through these photos as much as I did! It's always fun to revisit photos like these at a later time. I've looked over my Farm Girl Antique photos years later. There always seems to be something hidden.