· Chicago Cultural Center ·

I have a bit of an unusual post today- all of the elements of this outfit have been posted about previously, but I just wanted an excuse to take photos in this building! ;-)

Living in Chicago means easy access to fabulous photo locations- no need to settle for the standby driveway shots!  I tend to do my blog photos in batches, so for this day we were hauling around all the paraphernalia for this outfit, my 1930s rayon dress, and my late 1930s cotton dress.  The Chicago Cultural Center was conveniently located, has nice, clean, big restrooms for changing outfits, and.... is stunningly beautiful and worthy of a photoshoot in its own right. ;-)

I knew I really, *really* wanted to take photos here, but I also felt like it could stand to be the feature rather than my clothing, so I let the outfit take the backseat on this one.  The skirt you've seen here, and if you've been a long-time reader you might remember this blouse.  The cardigan is yet another example of my knitwear altering obsession. 

The hat is new, however!  It came to us in a collection from a member of a small historical society in Iowa.  She noticed my family while they were in Des Moines for a conference and wondered if we would be interested in some vintage hats. (ha! would we?? you bet!)  Her historical society was too small and overflowing to be able to display or store all the hats they had collected so she ended up mailing them to us!

There were so many fun hats in the mix and most of them were florals, which our own collection is surprisingly lacking.  This hat is one of my very favorites and I love how it just happened to perfectly match my new skirt. :-)

Estate sale necklace!  Our jewelry collection has exploded since frequenting estate sales so now we're desperately trying to keep up with storage options!

I know.  I think it's a great problem to have, too. ;-)

The Cultural Center was constructed in 1897 as the city's first central library and the main entrance and staircase still bear witness to that in the mosaic tributes to classic authors.

The Cultural Center is a truly stunning building (and free!) just across from Millenium Park and it's even more beautiful in person.  The mosaics glitter in the light and the magnificently stunning Tiffany dome (not pictured in this post) is breathtaking.  Sigh.  Love it!!

· Photos by Kathryn! ·