Eye Candy Circa 1953

 

Wishing it weren't winter?  So were the ladies who first glimped this beauty of a sun dress in Bazaar's December 1953 issue.  The design is by Adele Simpson, sewn to sweet precision in tufted cotton pique. 

 

You can fulfill your wish for instant summer with our vintage sun dresses, currently about 100 available from the 1940s to the 1990s.  Just add sunshine!

Buy This, Not That: Free People

Free People... we love 'em for their vintage-inspired layers and bohemian-street vibe. Here's a few pages from their December 2012 catalog compared to some of Vintage Vixen's latest finds:

 

Slouch Gray Jacket at Free People, $148, has wing lapels and same-color trim, echoing the lines of our Bonnie Cashin style mohair & leather jacket, $125.  Mohair for less than cotton, and by a haute label, too.

 

At left, Free People's Striped & Crochet Pullover, $108, a sexy take on the disco era and similarly styled to our zebra-like 1980s stripe sweater.  They've paired it with cutoffs but I'd like it with black jeggings.

 

 

Their (not) "vintage" Morrocan plate & fringe necklace, $78, compared to our authentic vintage gypsy chic metal necklace, $24.  Artisan industries have produced bohemian jewelry like this for decades, so vintage necklaces from varying decades often look similar to this hippie classic.

From Gucci With Love

Years ago, a curious inheritor of a very rare Gucci handbag inquired by mail about its authenticity.  And years later, we acquired this same bag with said letter enclosed.

The request was sent to Gucci's Palm Beach location.  Unfortunately Gucci stores do not often authenticate handbags nowadays, but in 1980 when the inquiry was made, it was apparently a free service to all who asked.  This was, of course, a few years before the faux handbag market really expanded, so authentication was not as pertinent as question back then.

Stanley A. Wentling, the gentleman that he was, took the effort on behalf of Gucci's Palm Beach office to both inform and sincerely thank his correspondent.  Only thirty-odd years ago, but it was a different time.

This vintage Gucci shoulder bag is available on our site, or I should say it was available at the time of this writing. It's a terrific find for a Gucci collector!

A Very French Sunday

We spent yesterday picking up a beautiful vintage French Provincial bedroom set that I've been dreaming about for years.  Not for myself, it's for my 3-year-old's room... but really, it's for me.  All that vintage frou-frou and goldleaf just beckons me.

 

There are lots of French Provincial bedrooms on the market, but I wanted a Parisian look that matched this gorgeous custom-painted dresser I found years ago:

 

That was easier said than done.  Most of the French Provincial styles have these flourish handles, but few have greenish tones to the paint, and even fewer are painted in a dark hue.  

 

 

I also wanted a set that included one of these - a nightstand with a metal lattice pair of doors to the front.  I'd found a pair of these nightstands a few months ago in my vintage travels, but they were already promised to another lucky Vixen.

 

 

So when I came across this set - in pale green & ivory, with a lattice front nightstand and a fabulously femme vanity to match, I knew my girl and I would love it.  The set was Thomasville's Camille design, and though the look is much earlier, the set is stamped with the year 1979 on the back.

 

 

I actually considered painting panels to match the dark green of my custom-painted find, but now that we're setting up the room, I think more dark hues would be too heavy.

 

 

The vanity's already getting a try-out.  It has a pop-up mirror and still smells of sweet vintage perfume... the prior owner said she had many fond memories of playing make-up at this vanity with her grandmother.  Indeed it was still in use, with combs and powder inside, when we looked at it.

 

 

But we're a little young for blush and such, so instead we played a game of Hi Ho Cherry-O on its gilt-edged surface.



 

 

Until next time, Vixens!