Remember how I was asking, post-Gunne Parade, for someone to please start a Gunne Sax database? Well, guess who jumped on it? None other than our friend Nicole from Atelier/Flaming Hag Folkwear!

Nicole felt like a regular "database" would be just too darn boring, so she put the Dream into blog form. You can peep her first few entries (including a history of the founder of Gunne Sax, Jessica McClintock!) at Gunnes on Parade. 

Best of all, you can send her your pics of your Gunne Sax duds, for inclusion in the blog, at this address: gunnelove@live.com. Let's fill up the blog with pics of all the Gunnes of the world!

These pictures are some of our fave Gunnes that we have already sold, but don't despair- Violet Folklore is your Gunne Sax source! We have lots of gorgeous Gunnes in the store even as we speak… even one that is almost a copy of this cute purple one!

 
 
 (A huge thanks to Nicole for being so kind, so cool, and so ON IT.)

xoxoxox

You all remember our Gunne Parade in Sacramento this past weekend, of course?

Here is the wonderful Atelier, one of the most charming clothing stores in all of Northern California. The ladies who run it have made an intimate, inspiring space filled with incredible vintage and one-of-a-kind clothing designs. It's true love right from the rosebush by the front door:

Hey, that's us on the sign! And recognize the clothes on that rack? It's our Trunk show! We just love how all the pretty dresses look hung up together…

(Every inch of Atelier is thoughtfully decorated, even the windows!)

Here is one of the Atelier "advertisements" for the Gunne Parade… none other than an exquisite Gunne, of course! And some more of the dreamy inside of the store:

The adorable children's section:

We were talking about how someone should do some kind of Gunne database… I mean, all of us agreed that we just keep seeing new Gunne designs all the time! How many dresses did this one company make? Here's a late 60s one that takes the cake:

Love those birds!

The Gunne Database might solve some of the Gunne Mysteries… like why these two very similar dresses (one is ours, one belongs to Atelier) have different labels. One is in the Bridal Collection, one is not. Huh??? (By the way that's Amber with Kara, one of the owners of Atelier. Kara also runs the fabulous Etsy shop Porkchop Rules! Check it out! Kara is wearing a Gunne skirt/vest set.)

Our fearless parade leader, Nicole, with her daughter Kama! Kama did the hand drawn flyer that's in our first picture. Being 9 years old, she actually fits in those teeny tiny Gunnes, lucky girl… and check out Nicole's awesome Gunne, again one in a style we'd never seen! Those stripes!

(Nicole co-runs Atelier and has two awesome stores on Etsy– Dig Vintage, which features clothes very similar in "boho" style to Violet Folklore, and Flaming Hag Folkwear, where she showcases her beautiful handmade jewelry.)

We were a small parade, but we made up for our size with our enthusiasm… and our noise! We brought lots of toy instruments and we played them with the wild abandon of Hari Krishnas, throughout the busy streets of the Second Saturday artwalk!

As twilight descended, all the ravens flew home… it was a never-ending river of ravens in the sky! It probably happens all year long, but it felt so totally OCTOBER!

Crossing the street is so much more fun when you are musical, and dressed up all purty.

Amber and Sasha: bright lights, big city; but we're doing our part to keep it old-fashioned!

We are just going to go ahead and call this the "First Annual" (can you call it Annual if it's the first one ever? We dunno) so let this be an inspiration for all of you to join us next year! Meanwhile, keep rockin your Gunnes, and someone please make a Gunne database… Nicole and Kara have both seen Gunnes with UNICORN prints, and we're dying to know what they look like! Sounds like a Trophy Gunne, if ever there was one. Hmmm…..

Atelier is at 1617 16th Street in wonderful Midtown Sacramento. They are open every day except Mondays.

No, really!:

That means you, girls (and guys, we don't discriminate!)– come on down to Atelier (1617 16th Street in Sacramento), trussed up in your fave Gunne Sax piece, and parade with us through the happening streets of the Second Saturday Art Walk in Midtown! We're even going to get some music to accompany us. Parade ends back at Atelier for munchies, antics, and shopping– we'll even be doing a Violet Folklore trunk show. Come on out and be ridiculously girly and silly with us– just think, haven't you always wanted to be in a parade? 

Btw, here are a few of the myriad accepted modes of parading: skipping, sauntering, cartwheeling, sidling, jigging, and hopping. 

Are you in?

xoxo

Sasha and Amber

From Sasha

You all remember Cerise, our fabulous Australian friend who bought the California Dream Girl Dress? If you read her spirited interview, then you probably won't be surprised to learn to learn that this multi-talented young woman is a talented photographer. She took the Dream Dress out for a shoot with her lovely friend Jessica, and just LOOK at the magic that they created!:

It makes my heart absolutely HUM with happiness to see one of our dresses becoming part of someone's artistic inspiration, half a world away. I hope they all find such happy homes!

For more of Cerise's beautiful camera work, check out her Flickr stream here. Told ya we have the best customers.

From Amber and Sasha

While The Great Republic of Rough and Ready has an very imposing name, in reality it is a small rural community situated just outside of Grass Valley. Though it is just a five minute drive down the road, it feels like worlds away. Rough and Ready made motions to secede from the Union in 1850, in protest of a tax on new mining claims and the prohibition of alcohol in Nevada County, but the community voted itself back in when they realized that they could no longer celebrate the 4th of July if they were independent from the Union. This doesn't stop anyone from celebrating "Secession Days" every year in late June, and there is an outlaw vibe in Rough and Ready that remains to this day. When my in-laws moved from the suburbs of the Bay Area to the foothills, they looked at a house there. Their conclusion? "It's too rough, and we're not ready!" 

We, on the other hand, were ready to take on the historical downtown, if for one afternoon– with bags of vintage clothes and a camera!

This shot was taken just for fun in one of Amber's own (non vintage) dresses, with the *cutest* boots ever that Sasha found!

This sweater is another item that Sasha scored that quickly found it's way into a very grateful Amber's closet.

*These new beauties (aside from the stripey dress and the boots and sweater peeping into the outhouse) are all coming to the shop as fast as we can put them up!*