This Audrey Dress

cocochiacchieri — Mon, 02 May 2011 04:31:35 +0000

I just started this section for my daydreams. Just because I don’t buy NEW clothes doesn’t mean I don’t still like to shop, and also does not mean I don’t believe in fashion.

You can never have too many little black dresses. This Audrey Hepburn vintage number from Posh Girl Vintage is amazing. It’s also, not surprisingly, already sold. But someday I’ll stop being afraid of my sewing machine and I will make myself this dress.

Alexis Grace

cocochiacchieri — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:14:27 +0000

Got a super cute pair of Seven jeans at this wonderfully curated local gem. Affordable, diverse in sizes, and a good mix of vintage and contemporary. You must visit if you are in Worcester. Their shop info is available on their website, which also gives you a great perspective on their style.

If you are not so fortunate, you can still check out the new Alexis Grace Etsy Shop! They also support great charities and other local businesses, so show them some love.

My Wedding Dress

cocochiacchieri — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 03:53:16 +0000

So I haven’t had a lot of time, with all of my other projects, to update here. But I’ve been meaning to post a little bit about a special DIY project of mine for a while. Part of my Fashion Justice philosophy is that whenever possible, I do not buy NEW clothes. Now, a wedding dress certainly seems like a reasonable exception to this rule, except does it?

I mean, let’s think about it. We only wear it ONCE. And there’s so many amazing ones already out there. At a size 12, vintage wedding dresses would be hard to come by, but I did have this vintage piece lying around that I’ve been wanting to use for something for a while. So my mother helped me handsew this beautiful vintage skirt onto a corset top, and together we chose embellishments that I liked. My mother than used some remnants from the tulle to make a small ’40s style veil. Here’s the result:

Record Bowls

cocochiacchieri — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 04:00:25 +0000

My husband and I have made a very modern decor in our livingroom area. We have a media theme, and lots of stuff. So when I was thinking of how to capture all of our keys, pins, change, chargers, remotes, coasters, etc in, I wanted something that would go with the giant poster of Woody Allen’s head, the vintage Jazz concert posters, our framed photo prints of Classic Black Cinema postage stamps, and our vintage record player, vhs camcorder and boombox.

Lucky for me, we found a cool record bowl at a local craft fair. Then I decided I had to know how to make more. We now have one on our mail table, two on the coffee table, and one on the book shelf. Also, many people have gotten them as gifts. Here’s a quick video tutorial:

Welcome to Coco-Chiacchieri!

cocochiacchieri — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:33:52 +0000

I named this project after a nickname a friend of mine gave me in college and my Great Grandparents. The Chiacchieri’s came here from Italy as a family (after my Great Grandfather spent years on work visas) in 1948. My Great Grandmother Filomena was a full-time Grandmother to my mother and uncles, and a jack of all trades, from gardening to cooking to sewing. When my Great Grandfather passed, my Great Grandmother wore Black and Grey dresses for the rest of her life. The faded grey ones were for gardening and she made newer Black ones to replace them when they got too worn. I never met Filomena, but I heard so much about her growing up and she appeared in stories I wrote as a student. One thing I always tried to do was give her clothes some color and personality. I hope this honors her in some way.