Some great stuff in here for your holiday gifting: A paper hostess dress, a chartreuse-and-green cake serving set, faux Beatles cake toppers, and just what Everyone needs: Giant Sexton fork-and-spoon set.
Mid Mod Madness
Kitchens – Countertops

I have been working on retro laminates lately – and originally thought there were only these big five: Wilsonart, Formica, Pionite, Nevamar and Arborite. But – I’ve now discovered a 6th company – Arpa USA. They have a terrific-looking portfolio — of solids, in particular. Some of the greens come darn close to that famous [...]

How is this one, Retro Renovation readers? I recently scored a full box of est. 1960-65 era GE Textolite laminate samples, absolute mint condition unused. This is the first bunch — the others aren’t so over-the-top FABULOUS, but still are great gauges of what to look for. OMG. What else do I need to say. [...]

Retro Renovation’s Countertop & Metal Edging Design Tips from pam kueber on Vimeo. Laminate countertops with metal edging are among the most popular choices for homeowners updating the kitchens in their mid century homes. In this video, I show you the Formica Skylark boomerang countertops in my aquamarine kitchen… We take a look at the [...]

Where to find speckled gold laminate? Also called “lame” (with an accent on the “e”, as in “lam-ae.”) A typical reader question, like this one: Hello – I really hope you can help me. I have been searching for weeks with no luck. I have an old trailer from the 50′s and need to replace [...]

I felt blog ego come upon me (horrors, ego!) when Ronn challenged my assessment that the countertop in this kitchen was original. Maybe yes, maybe no, but if his belief is that it’s 90s because of the integral backsplash and edge (rather than the pattern) – I did respond that I’ve spotted integral design for [...]
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Merry Mint-In-Box (MIB) Madness from etsy 














Please, someone, anyone…
Explain to me the paper hostess dress??!!??
This does not look like too good an idea to me. None too durable. Perhaps that was the idea? Sort of a giftwrap on its’ own?
Did anyone actually wear these things, and if so, why????
My mind is running amok with incomprehension.
Anybody?
-Dave
Paper dresses were a big fad in the ’60s. I am sure every era and culture has experimented with paper clothing. I believe Scott was responsible for part of the trend. The paper is not thin, but it is usually a one time wear thing. The ones I have seen were very vibrantly patterned.
Additionally, lots of couture houses have shown paper clothes at one time or another. This season on “Project Runway” there was a “Design a Dress Out of Newspaper” challenge, and several of the looks were interesting/ pretty and wearable.
hmm…I’m very intrigued by the paper dress! I may have to pick one up for the next holiday I host (can’t leave the house in a paper dress!)
I seem to remember there was also a fad for paper panties at one time too, in the early ’70s … or am I confusing those with the edible underwear craze?