how to wear a vintage suit...

wearing vintage clothing is currently the trend...for many. for the rest of us, we have been drawn to the quality and uniqueness of these pieces for years. after wearing a number of vintage suits for quite some time and ultimately opening up my online shop, i realize many people struggle to with how to wear a vintage suit...in a modern way.

so...

i figured i would share how i do it.

because vintage suits are not custom made for most buyers, getting the proper FIT is essential to a timeless look. the shoulder width is a great starting point in making sure the size will work for you. sizing numbers have changed over the years, so attempting to located a numerical size can often fool you. so make sure the jacket fits in the shoulders. the sides can be taken in for a more custom look.

a jacket arm length should fall directly in the palm of the hand. and the jacket itself should cover the butt. i know its trendy to wear short jackets, but that is for people who do not dress in classic style. big difference.

most vintage pants will have a flair to them. bell bottoms. i do not like bell bottoms, so i simply take them in to be tapered or straighten out.

after fit, comes accessorizing.

since vintage suits are already dated its, essential to balance them out with modern fixings. when choosing colors, the key element to making it work is to treat it like a cast. there needs to be a lead print and a co starring print or prints.

a major rule to provide balance and not make yourself looks like you just stepped out of willy wonka's chocolate factory. (please note, some guys like that look. meh).

so there you have it. a few excellent tips on how to wear a vintage suit.

*details: suit, lapel flower and pocket square are from www.thecarrawayconcept.com, shirt is ralph lauren purple label, tie is by brooks brothers, shoes are magninni, socks?, accessories are vintage.*

my NEW HOUSE...sort of

has it been busy around these parts? yes. before i go any further, if you are interested in an INTERNSHIP or PART-TIME position with Mr. Goodwill Hunting and Rashon Carraway Designs, please email us your resume and in the subject line write "INTERNSHIP or PART-TIME"

alright...so about this new house...sort of.

for quite the time i have been really intrigued with shipping container homes (some call them storage container homes). i guess my initial attraction to them was the fact they were so inexpensive to buy and could really be formatted into a pretty swank design. lets take a look at a few.

when i first saw them i thought they would be a great project for mr. goodwill hunting. this would be great as n eco-friendly movement and would certainly make a NEW HOUSE for me, sort of.

as i began to look further, i realized i was only scratching the surface of the possibilities of what shipping containers can do. take a look.

wow. amazing.

i truly do believe this is the start of a great eco-friendly movement. and to imagine that the idea really started off like this...

...a way of creating housing for the impoverished.

since this isn't a short term or long term planning idea for me, i won't go into details regarding price, zoning restrictions or how they are made. honestly, i just don't know.

i do know that the idea is fantastic and it worth exploring.

perhaps this may be my new house...sort of...

so could you live in a shipping container home?

brunch at samuel heath (london)

i just got my water bill the other day. apparently i used over 18,000 gallons of water last month. pfft. someone should have told me so i could have installed an in ground swimming pool and put that water to some good use. but, if i had to waste water (not that i would...knowingly) it would definitely be by way of a samuel heath bathroom fixture.

 during my time in london on the blogtourld team i visited the samuel heath showroom. what a visit that was.

samuel heath was a sponsor for blogtourldn and i can definitely say their showroom was amazing. everything was sleek and simple yet sophisticated.

 when the blogtourldn team arrived to the showroom this was waiting for us. if there is one thing i love, its a good brunch and this is probably the second best thing i enjoy doing on a sunday (after a good a church service of course).

as we all were feasting on the delectable fruits, bagels and pastries, we couldnt help but touch and feel the amazing products in the showroom. perhaps amazing is a bit of an understatement as samuel heath has been producing quality fixtures since 1820. thats quite the time to perfect the craft...wouldnt you agree?

hand produced from brass, i was drawn to the style moderne collection. with its sleek polished black brass i could simply imagine the contemporary feel it would give to bathroom space. my bathroom space.

to see more you can visit their website samuel heath and take in all of the sophistication you can muster.

before i go, the 18,000 gallons of water fiasco was due to a running throne as well a a leaky shower in my house. so glad im renting and not owning (that's my coping mechanism for really wanting to own my own home).

use this hashtag #BlogTourLDN to see more of the team posts and pictures

GIVEAWAY from London!!

i had the best time duing blog tour. i could not have gone without the support from many of you.

as a thank you i am giving way this pillow moth pillow straight from the dwell studio in london.


here are the rules that must be followed in order to win.

tweet the following:

@MrGWHunting was a perfect match for #BlogTourLDN @Modenus.  #MrGWHGiveaway

you dont have twitter account? thats cool. just leave a comment below letting me know how you would use this pillow in your space.

giveaway will end on friday september 28, 2012. winner will be announced on monday october 1, 2012.
winner should email claiming their prize.

a few photos from london

i am sooo happy to be over here in london.

here are just a few photos from the previous days. with limited internet access it is a challenge to blog, but here are a few of some of the sights and sounds of london.

i picked up this amazing vintage luggage before i left for london on saturday. i thought this piece had a great london vibe to it. surprisingly it wasne very heavy during check in and i can actually get a lot of stuff in it!

century old buildings are such a common sight here. its still amazing to see that they have survived this long.

this boat ride to dinner the first night is a constant reminder of how i could not hang the first day. lol. jet lag got the best of me and it took everything i had in me to stay awake. ha! failed. i fell asleep at dinner only to find a mile high burger at my seat when i got up from my nap. lol.

on the streets of london!

i have a lot more pictures and as soon as i return, i will share them all. i mean all of them and some pictures of other folks. lol

happy friday...wait is it saturday?

London! London!

with just over a week left before heading the london design festival there is a lot to be done for me to get ready.

namely there will be a lot to do when i make my first visit across the pond.

i created a pinterest board HERE to help me stay inspired with sight, sounds and sartorial images. 

london wouldnt be london with a visit or a picture near big ben...right?

i am definitely excited about wear as much tweed as i can. the weather here in north carolina is getting cool, but not quite there yet. so hopefully london will be cool so i can wear all of the tweed that is in my closet.

the london eye is beautiful in this picture. i am afraid of heights (yes im pushing 30 and still terrified), so i am not really sure if i will venture onto this. granted i wouldn't to miss a single amazing adventure, i can squeeze in while on this trip. so im still on the fence. 

yes. savile row. all well dressed men know that savile row is the epitome of class and excellence. to have an opportunity to even step foot in one of those shops is pure awesomeness. i hope i have time in the schedule to drop by. 

i will be spending a lot of time with some amazing blogger here from the us and well as from london. the design packed scheduled is intense and i am sure all of you are going to really enjoy all of the photos and the posts that are in the works. 

without these fine sponsors this amazing experience would NOT have been possible. you can click the above photo and get linked to all of their wonderful products. i will be sharing more about them in the days to come. 

the strangest thing happened...

over the weekend.

albeit i should have stayed my hind parts home, i went out thrifting anyway.

while headed to the register i realized everything created this amazing storyboard for the perfect space. honestly, it was the strangest thing.

normally when i go in to a second hand store i head straight for the men's clothing area, because i am always eager to pick up another great suit (whether i wear it or not). after not really seeing anything i wanted, i glanced over at the quilts and sheets and BAM!

this red plaid fabric was just hanging there. the main reason this spoke to me was it is my favorite color, red. bright red at that. when i opened it up it was honestly just a wide piece of fabric. i'm not sure if it was a blanket or what.  bought it.

then i ventured over to the "what not" area, or the "if you touch anything everything is going to fall" area, as i like to call it.

i saw one of these paddles and was like hmmm. if there is one, there must be two. so like an excavator in an indiana jones movie, i delicately peeled away frames, wooden apples, this and that to look for something else (i cant really say what, because then a few folks will start looking for them and then i wont have them anymore. not too worry, i'm sure its nothing any of you want. just a few locals)

and there was the other one. there were a few spots and blemishes on the other one, but hey that's what we call character.

as i went to the check out i saw this necklace. originally i thought it was a bike chain. nope. it was a necklace from jcrew. nope. i didnt need it, but i have a sister (mom doesn't really wear necklaces and thangs), so i bought it for her.

let me go back and talk about the shoes in the first picture. i honestly have never bought shoes from a thrift store before. im a very selective with my footwear and i dont like cheaply made shoes. however, lately i have been finding some really nice loafers. i am thinking they will be the perfect candidate for a makeover for the fall.

well that was my weekend. last week was really rough for me and i honestly went thrifting to clear my head. locating unique items honestly changes my mood.

hope your weekend was better than mine.

i almost tripped over them...

happy labor day monday!

did you enjoy the weekend or are you still enjoying it...lol.
me? well there are no real holidays when trying to build a business. seriously. anyway...
i have a question. is there anyone here who loves grasscloth wallpaper as much as i do?

grasscloth adds so much texture to a space. the truth is you don't really need a lot of it for it to have an amazing impact in a room. just a corner, a nook, or a single wall will really do the trick.

i don't think they have caught on yet, but i go into ralph lauren and try on clothes just because of the grasscloth wallpaper in the dressing rooms. its designed so effortlessly with stacked-crisp-white moldings. design crushing over here.

wallpaper is considered a natural wall covering so it is also eco-friendly. but let me be real with you guys for a moment. i would like it even if it was so much eco-friendly. don't judge. 

honestly, every since i started seeing the wallpaper i have always wanted some. i never took the plunge to buy any because i am renting right now. no need in spending a lot money for something that i cant use at the present. im on a budget remember? lol

if grasscloth is incorporated correctly it can really add a bout of elegance to a space.

 whether in a small or large space, powder room or

even in a kitchen, grasscloth is just the right element to add an extra layer of texture to a room.

so imagine my surprise when i almost tripped over 6 rolls of grasscloth wallpaper, yesterday while i was out and about. (insert church dance right here.) 

seriously. i am for sure i had come through this particular area already, i didn't see them. when i came back they were rolling around on the floor. i think a lot of people still have this idea that wallpaper is old foogy, so i am sure that's why it was still there and two because ive never mentioned this store on the blog. its my little secret. same place i found the drafting table. ummm hmmm.

i didn't get a chance to do a little research on the wallpaper company until i got home. let me tell ya, this was a great buy. i am always leery about giving out prices here on the blog, because i don't want to be the reason someone else goes into a store and its like 3 times the price, but anyway. each roll was less than $2!

yea i know. although this particular line is no longer being manufactured it would have probably gone for around $80-$100 a roll. eeek! worth the investment tho.

so what am i going to do with it? nothing. well not yet. i am saving it for my apartment or my house that ill hopefully come sooner rather than later.

so grasscloth...could you love it for $2 a roll?

*all photos can be sourced here*

...haven 2012...

i was asked to speak at haven 2012 on last year. i am so glad i accepted. it was an amazing blog conference. amazing i tell ya.

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now i speak at a number of engagements on a weekly basis. however talking about the love of design with a twist of thrift is certainly new to me, but easy at the same time.

 i gave quite a few tips and even some secrets that i told that group not to share, with anyone. i believed they shared it with everyone they came in contact with. lol

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i did my best to make it as entertaining and informative as possible. lol. tey did a lot of laughing at my corny jokes. lol.

this was the very first time i used my ipad for a presentation and it is so much easier than a laptop. the first day i didn't orient my pages correctly and the auto-lock kept popping up. however, by the second day i was ready for visuals.

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 what an amazing group of women (and men...lol)

so i have absolutely no photos of my own. i brought my camera, but it remained in my suitcase the entire time (way ta go carraway). so i am using pictures from attendees and anyone else who doesn't mind me sharing.

did you attending my thrifting 101 session at haven 2012?
do you have a few photos of the thrifting 101 session? want to share them?

well go ahead!!!

photo sharing

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