Celebrating International Women's Day
[ Livin' La Vida Vintage ]

International Women’s Day – Who’s Your Inspiration?

International Women's Day
In honor of International Women's Day I take a moment to remember my grandmother Madge Beals Meredith. Naming my online shop #MadgesHatboxVintage, was loving nod to her years as a #milliner. Then a chance remark by my aunt sent me on a yearlong journey in sea...

Tags: 2019 womens day, international Womens Day 2019, kansas, livin la vida vintage', madgeshatbox vintage, me too, metoo, miliners, milliners millinery, scooba mississippi, sod house, vintage hats
Iris Apfel
[ Livin' La Vida Vintage ]

Iris Apfel, My Icon of Style

This is an update to a post originally published November 13, 2014
Iris Apfel, My Icon of Style 
"I never had a fondness for gems or the extravagance
of Harry Winston or Van Cleef & Arpels.
I’ve always liked the more flamboyant, imaginative things.
I lusted after costume jewelry. 
My hus...

Tags: costume jewelry, iris apfel, livin la vida vintage', madgeshatbox vintage, NaBloPoMo, Rara Avis: Selections from the Iris Apfel Collection, style icons, vintage jewellery, vintage jewelry
Salt Lake City's mysterious Gilgal Garden
[ Livin' La Vida Vintage ]

The Mysterious Gilgal Garden

Tucked away in a quiet residential neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah is the mysterious Gilgal Garden.  But is not a regular garden.  It's a garden of stone. It’s easy to miss; in fact, Madge did miss it on the first pass since it’s a very narrow sliver of land next to a house.  Only a simple blac...

Tags: ancestry, book of Joshua, Church Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, church of jesus christ of latter day saints, exodus, Gilgal Garden, gilgal the garden of mystery, LDS, livin la vida vintage', living la vida vintage, madgeshatbox, madgeshatbox vintage, maurice brooks, river jordan, rock garden, rock sculpture, Salt Lake City Utah, Thomas Battersby Child, Thomas Battersby Child Jr, vintage style
dover st.
[ Livin' La Vida Vintage ]

Dover Street Market – The Art of Retail

Yesterday in this space, Madge lamented the demise of the late, great department store and also took a tour of the wonderful online site Department Store Museum.   While we will never return to those golden days of retail, Madge recently visited something completely new in retail an...

Tags: Comme des Garçons, Craig Green, Dover Street Market, emerging fashion designers, Giambattista Valli, Jill Sander, Junya Watanabe., madgeshatbox, madgeshatbox vintage, nablopmo, new york travel, Prada, Rose Bakery, Sibling., Simone Rocha, Sofie D’Hoore, vintage fashion, vintage style
scooba mississippi
[ Featured ][ Madge's Story ]

Finding Madge in Mississippi
A Granddaughter’s Journey

Opening an online shop to sell my vintage collection was a conscious act to de-clutter.  Naming the shop Madge’s Hatbox, after my grandmother, was a loving nod to her years as a milliner.   Then a chance remark by my aunt sent me on a journey in search of a hat shop my grandmother o...

Tags: ancestry, back to mississippi, chanute kansas, end of the road, family research, family tree, finding madge, grandmother, hat, hats, journey, kemper county, livin la vida vintage', madge meredith, madgeshatbox, madgeshatbox vintage, milliner, millinery shop, pamela lappin, scooba mississippi, scooba ms, the journey begins, trip, vintage
SCAD little black dress by André Leon Talley
[ Livin' La Vida Vintage ][ What's In A Label? ]

André Leon Tally’s Little Black Dress at SCAD

In honor of André Leon Talley, Madge revisits this post on the SCAD "Little Black Dress exhibit originally published in 2012.Madge recently got a chance to view "The Little Black Dress" exhibit at the SCAD Museum of Art (the Savannah College of Art and Design), curated by André  Leon Talley in Savan...

Tags: andre leon talley, antique black dress, antique dress, antique dress exhibit, Balenciaga, black vintage dress, Calvin Klein, Fortuny, Gwyneth Paltrow, Le Smoking Jacket, Madame Gres, madgeshatbox, madgeshatbox vintage, Pierre Cardin, Savannah College of Art and Design, scad, scad musuem of art, Stella McCartney, the little black dress, TOM FORD, vintage dress exhibit, vintage fashion, vintage fashion blog, vogue magazine, YSL, Yves St. Laurent