Looking for Portland Volunteer Opportunities this summer?  The Big Float asks you to come on board The Big Float Event July 31, 2011.

This is my friend Lauren. AKA LoLo.  She will be volunteering in PDX for the Party/Fun team! She will be making sure the after party is set up for maximum fun times, and then she will tear it down.  She <3s destruction. She is very cool and if you sign up to volunteer with her, maybe she will tell you tales of how she once met a seal in Antarctica!

Long and lean ladies: listen up for swimwear advice! Women who want to show a little more curve in their hips and waist when wearing a bathing suit should stick to these heuristics when shopping this summer. 

Pencil shape ladies need swimwear that breaks up the straight, contoured lines of their body.  These ladies will want to gear their searches toward swimwear with bright colors, embellishments and ruffles.  These features give your look a more feminine style, softening the contour of your body.  Horizontal stripes can also break up the long body lines, too!

 This Vintage Bandeau Top from Popina Swimwear has an adorable tie that pops out from the form in the center, naturally ruching the center for more detail.

Pairing this top with this Popina Pin-Up Boy Short with Draw Cords complements the top by adding more feminine features to the suit.  These can also be adjusted for maximum customization.

Swimwear for Pencil Shape Bodies to Avoid:

·      One Piece Swimwear.  Unless it’s a cut out design, all the color and fabric running down the center brings the eye inward, rather than outward, thus not accentuating your curves.

·      Solid Colors (especially dark solids).  It’s better to have your swimsuit color pop off your body than hide!

Doing any Oregon river tubing  this summer?  Here is your simple guide to river fun:

1.     Find a few friends

2.     Head to Popina Swimwear to pick up your Portland inner tube.

3.     Take 2 cars out to Dodge Park on the Sandy River, only a 20 minute drive from Portland (Exit 12 from I-205)

Did you know that an electric trolley used to bring people out to Dodge Park to go to the river?? Why did that end?

4.     Park one car where you plan to end up at the end of your float.

5.     Scope out the end-of-float site to familiarize yourself with the surroundings.  This will make it easier to figure out when you’re supposed to stop floating!

6.     Everyone hop in ONE car

7.     Drive upstream. Remember, driving takes a lot less time than floating, so don’t go too far.  (I made this mistake once and floated for 5 hours as the sun was setting!! Brr.)

8.     Park the car and leave everything you can live without:
You CANNOT live without your keys to the other vehicle (keep them in a Ziploc baggie). A fanny pack is nice to put all these things in.

9.     FLOAT ON! Like Modest Mouse, ya’ll.

Retro Swimwear by Popina is all about getting you into the most sexy and flattering suit possible!

Finding the swimsuit that looks sexiest on your figure is all about the right cut.  Popina Swimwear has retro swimwear for every shape – you just need to find the right one!  Going to the swimsuit store with the knowledge of what suits you best will eliminate some frustration about why some suit styles seem to be unflattering.  

Today I will focus on the Pear Shaped ladies.  “Junk in the Trunk” is our middle name…and it’s awesome.  Beyoncé, Scarlet Johansson and Jennifer Lopez are some celeb pear shape ladies. For these bodies, I suggest patterned swimwear that has bright colors or embellishments on the tops and solid colors and basic lines on the bottoms.  For example, this Shirred Keyhole Bikini Top with Calico Ribbons gives a lot of attention to the upper parts, drawing the eye up! Don’t be afraid to try separates, or two-piece swimwear.  This way you can mix and match to find the right pattern for the top, and a complimentary color solid for the bottom.

Swimsuits to avoid with Pear Shape Bodies:  

·      Bottoms with frilly embellishments - NO!

Happy suit shopping!

Did you know that the Hawthorne Bridge, TBF take-out site, is the busiest biker and transit bridge in Oregon? According to Wikipedia, about 800 cyclists and 17,400 bus riders have the chance to see you Portland river tubing in at the East Bank after the “Great Crossing” of the Willamette! It will be a site to behold…

These are some things these people will see you doing and therefore be jealous of you for:

1.     Enjoying the water

2.     Having fun with friends

3.     Eating at some of the most delicious food carts in the Northwest

4.     Flaunting your swimwear

5.     Drinking Portland keg beer from Kona Brewing!

6.     Going through a human car wash!!

7.     Aaaaand supporting your local river, with Willamette RiverKeepers!

Cute Portland Swimsuits are here! Drop by the Pearl District Bathing Suit Boutique or the Northeast Swimwear Shop this week to get your summer kick started with new suits!

Portland designer Pamela Levenson knows her stuff when it comes to retro designs for Portlanders.  She designs swimwear and hand picks fantastic retro swimsuit lines that are elegant, flattering, and flirty! 

Portlanders are the reason local designers, artists, and vendors continue to exist. Don’t spend your money anywhere else when it comes to shopping for swimwear! Buy local swimwear in Portland and make a strong community!

Your Portland water activities begin at Marquam Bridge.  Not driving on top of the bridge, my friends, but under! 

Don’t worry, the Marquam Bridge holds importance as the first Portland bridge was the first to undergo “seismic retrofitting” in 1995, a process to modify the structure to resist seismic activity.  THANK GOODNESS.  Well, now we know the bridge won’t fall on our heads when we float! Great news.

Now that we know The Big Float is a safe Portland activity, let’s meet at the Eastbank Esplanade to parade our way to the river!

See you at TBF! July 31^st, 2011!

Retro Popina High Waist Bikinis: Waistlines are rising to the occasion of style! It’s that inch or two of fabric around your waist that really sets apart a regular bikini bottom from a classy swimsuit with style and form.  A higher waistline bikini bottom that contours the hips and emphasizes the narrowing of the waist really makes more fashion sense than any other bottom. 

Here is a High Waist Panel Boy Short in Navy

And the  High Waist Foldover Boy Short

And the Full Coverage High Waist Bikini

Popina is introducing their high waist bikini bottoms for the 2011 Summer.  Good for matching with a Popina Retro Kelly Bikini Top or a Retro Bandeau Top.  Also, stopping by the website to pick out a new High Rise Swimsuit Bottom to match a top you have at home from last summer can spice up an old look!

Today, the Portland after party planners really went to work.  After a pick-me-up at Cooper’s Coffee in Southeast, a café near the party grounds, we headed out on foot to the riverside.  It starts to get exciting when you are at the point of physically walking around a party site, figuring out where are the PDX food carts, beer stations and even Honey Buckets are going to be! Yes, even the Honey Bucket planning was exciting!

Don’t forget, even if you don’t plan on doing the Portland river activities, you still have a lot to enjoy at the after party.  So bring anyone who loves fun! And Honey Buckets! (Just kidding – but no really, if your friends love Honey Buckets, that’s fine , too.)

Retro Swimwear Portland by Popina has all the 40s and 50s swim styles for your 2011 Summer!

503.282.5159

Shopping for retro fashion in Portland is not a cheap endeavor.  With the popularity of vintage styles in Portland, there’s more money in consigning to vintage shops around town.  Buyers are showing up at stores like the Goodwill Bins early in the morning to get the best finds and turn a profit on vintage and mid-century dresses and shoes. 

One thing I’ve noticed is that there are certain types of clothes they leave behind.  Dresses with hideous shoulder pads and hemlines at the ankles aren’t quite stylish enough for the hip shops around town. 

But, I’ve learned a couple very valuable, basic sewing skills to make bringing home these pieces worth it!  Cutting off the sleeves and shortening the hemline is pretty easy as long as you know how to do a basic hem.  You can turn unsightly skirts into stylish ones and ugly 80s dresses into cute ones!   

Sally Jane Vintage Blog explains perfectly the same process as I use – it’s very simple! I don’t have any before pictures of my dresses, but “after photos” are to come!

Below are photos of Sally Jane Vintage’s dress makeover masterpiece!