Tales From A Vintage Wardrobe

The Ivy Style (Preppy) Collection

Vintage Foster Grants

Vintage Navy Blue, Pink & White Leather Wallet Horse Bit Buckle Closure

Mid-Century Aqua, Pink, Olive & White Twill Striped Scarf

Vintage Bullet Bra Pink & Green Floral Swimsuit

Introducing "The Ivy Style (aka Preppy) Collection" at The Red Velvet Shoe on Etsy.  Hey, everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon, so why not? 

 

 

Art of Dressing

However you will be spending the coming days, I can only hope you and your man look this good...

 

 

Aubrey Beardsley~Let The Bidding Begin...

Vintage late 1960s-early 1970s Aubrey Beardsley "The Peacock Skirt" print dress
Live Auction 30 November-5 December
View Auction Listing

What's on Your Wish List?

 

Please Pardon My Error

It has been brought to my attention from a fellow vintage fashion aficionada that the print on the dress in my last post, although Poiret~ish, is actually an Aubrey Beardsley illustration produced for the first English edition of Oscar Wilde's play "Salome" in 1894...It's called "The Peacock Skirt".   Please allow me to properly introduce to you "The Peacock Skirt Dress".  

 

 

Posh Poiret Print?

This stunning vintage dress was the result of a last minute, unplanned 10 minute treasure hunting expedition. I was avoiding doing things I didn't feel like doing and popped into one of the shops I frequent and there she was, waiting for me. Don't you just love when that happens? Serendipity, once again.

I was bit stumped as to how to describe the print on this dress at first.  But I keep going back to Paul Poiret, when his work took on the influence of orientalism. 

It's about a size 4/6...not a tag or label to be seen, so off to do some research.  Look for it soon in The Shoe.

(Addendum~4:00pm EST 23 November 2011: In the six hours that have lapsed since this post, I have been provided with updated information about the print on this dress.  Please visit here for more information.)

Halston & Karan...They Go Way Back

 
(quote borrowed from "The Berg Companion to Fashion" by Valerie Steele)
 
This 1970s Halston 3-piece khaki wool suit is on it's way to The Shoe.  Everyone knows menswear inspired suits are "in" for fall, but I also found it interesting how boxy the jacket is on this suit, another very fashion-forward current trend.  I also remembered reading this quote by Donna Karan about how much Halston inspired her work as a designer.  I finally found it again and realized that although the suit pictured above from her fall collection (far right) is different in many ways, the "simplicity, fit and the importance of uniform" is there and the same. 

Update:  You can find the suit here.

Fit For Royalty

 

I found this amazing suit at an Estate sale earlier this year.  It's stunning.  I know I always say that about the suits I find, but this one is, well, stellar.  The only label, aside from the Union tag, is "Betty of Providence".  Not much info out there about who Betty was, except that there was a boutique with this name on the East Side of Providence in the rather exclusive Wayland Square neighborhood a long time ago.  It's still one of the few places you can actually stroll and shop in fine boutiques, pick up some really good cheese and wine, and have a wonderful lunch or dinner.  I've always said if we ever "downsize" I want to live a condo in one of those great old houses in Wayland Square.  Maybe someone around there remembers Betty.  I'll have to go snoop around. 

Back to the suit...it's divine.  It has the weight of a fine, almost couture garment, and the design, cut and workmanship are superior.  I venture to say, given her penchant for fabulous suits and dresses in all shades of blue, that even the Duchess of Cambridge would approve.  Too bad it's not her size.   Find it here.

Kimono Craze

I've had a bit of a "Kimono" thing going on lately.  It started when I found a great polished cotton cherry red one while out thrifting one day and decided it would be the perfect thing to wear when I am "beautifying"~~you know: masking, waxing, coloring, & painting myself in an effort to fend off the damages of time.  Considering it cost less than a Stella at my favorite watering hole, I can justify the chance of "ruining" it~~and it looks much more elegant than an oversized t~shirt & boxers.

 
 

A few weeks later, I scored this amazing vintage Haori and I was hooked.  You can, literally, wear it with just about anything from lingerie to jeans and it looks amazing.  I was in love.

 
When I saw this image from Dries Van Noten's Spring 2011 collection it caught my eye...not quite Haori or Kimono, but there was just something about it...

 

Then in March, I came across this little beauty: a vintage Pomare Hawaii Kimono style top with a keyhole neck & frog closure and just like the little piggy I carried it all the way home...because it reminded me of something I had seen but just could not seem to recall what or where...

 

Until I was flipping through my March issue of US Vogue and there it was:  an ad for the very same Dries Van Noten top!  

 
(photo source: Hollister Hovey)

To wrap it up, today I visited one of my favorite blogs of all time: Hollister Hovey.  And there she was, with her sister Porter, showing us exactly how to wear a Kimono perfectly. 

 

This one is for the shop and will have to feed your Kimono craze and not mine as we were not made for each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And In This Corner...

Ok, I admit I feel a bit poorly about ranting on (and on, and on, and on....) about the whole eco-UNfriendly recycled vintage dress/gown controversy that I wrote about yesterday and a few weeks ago.  So you can imagine how thrilled I was to read about a much more "friendly" and well executed vintage gown makeover in the May issue of Vogue.

Elettra Wiedemann is one very fortunate (and beautiful) young lady.  Daughter of the stunning Isabella Rossellini and granddaughter of the iconic screen beauty Ingrid Bergman, she found herself the heir of a trunk full of Ms. Bergman's evening dresses that had somehow been long forgotten (a vintage treasure hunters dream find!)   She humbly admits: "My family is so amazing, but it's also so overwhelming and overpowering...I'd felt honored to be part of my family but also not sure what accomplishments were mine and what accomplishments belonged to someone else bigger than me."  She also makes this insightful comment:  "It's interesting how clothes can connect you to a sentimentality that can be very complicated sometimes."  (I nod my head in silent agreement as I contemplate the part of my grandmothers wardrobe I've inherited...)

Ms. Wiedemann, in honor of her grandmother, has chosen to wear one of her gowns to the Costume Institute Gala (aka The Met Ball ) on the 2nd of May.  The gown she chose was created for Ms. Bergman by the postwar Roman couturiere Fernanda Gattinoni, who also created the costumes for Ms. Bergman in the 1952 film Europa '51.  Designer Prabal Gurung was called upon as the "cosmetic surgeon" for the dress, as there were a few issues with fit & fabric.  Both heir & designer agreed that it was important to maintain the integrity of the dress and to pay homage to it's original owner, which, being her grandmother, would be of utmost importance to any grateful heir of such beautiful pieces of the past.

"It's still the same dress," says Wiedemann, "but it feels a little bit sexier, more contemporary, and younger."

"The beauty of this dress," Gurung adds, "is it's history."

I think we have a winner.

 

(All quotes from May 2011 US Vogue p. 172 & 174)