The Pleat According To Dior

Monsieur Dior says -

 

 For years pleats have been, and will continue to be, a high point of fashion.  I love them because they are feminine, energetic and moving.  They always give a look of simplicity that I like very much.  They are very young.

With pleats you may put the greatest fullness in a dress without making it look bunchy.  They are very slimming and becoming to almost every woman.

They are very versatile, too - you can have box, accordion, unpressed, inverted, and sun-ray pleats - and they all have their uses.

Photo: Vogue, March 1, 1955.
Source: The Little Dictionary Of Fashion by Christian Dior

What's Old In Ottawa: Annual Vintage Clothing Show

The Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show is a one-day event held Sunday, April 13, 2014 and we Vixens are there in spirit... the photos on their site are splendid, and the variety looks oh-so-tempting.  And they're in a bigger venue this year (the Ottawa Convention Centre), which is sure to please customers and vendors alike.

On-site dressing rooms are available, but you don't necessarily need to waste time getting into one.  Our usual get-dressed-in-public ensemble is:

• thin opaque camisole
• opaque tights
• simple elastic-waist skirt
• open front jacket

 You can peel off the jacket and skirt for impromptu try-ons at the booth.  And with 50 vendors gathered in one spot, you'll be doing a lot of fabulous fittings!

Canadian Vixens, we want to see photos of you in your favorite finds, so please post 'em.  :)

Not What You'd Expect From Lilly Pulitzer

We recently compiled every Lilly Pulitzer print we've ever had into a single-page fabric library, and in doing so, I came across this dress I'd almost forgotten.

It was a Lilly Pulitzer dress we'd sold over fifteen years ago.  At the time, our business was so young I don't think I knew it was a special dress, though I knew Lilly was a special designer.  She's always had a dear place in my heart because we're both Floridians.

But this dress is a rare one.  Lilly Pulitzer prints are known for their bright florals in tropical, often fluorescent colors.  This dress is autumnal, in earthy hues and an especially soft fabric that felt like a Pima cotton.  It's hard to justify the word "rare" in mid-century ready-to-wear, but I've never seen another Lilly Pulitzer like this one, fifteen years later.  I think I can place the word rare as its descriptor without much hesitation.

I wonder if Lilly was trying to capture another season... she nailed spring and summer, but there are no fall or winter Lilly Pulitzer clothes to speak of.  It seems this look was as close as she got.

Little Known Labels: Albert Capraro

One of the less commonly seen labels of the early-mid 1970s is Albert Capraro, a little-known designer today who had a big audience after dressing First Lady Betty Ford.  Capraro had gained eight years' experience working at Oscar de la Renta, crafting the boutique collection while honing his skills and readying to strike out on his own.

After a mere six months in business with his own label, Capraro got a call from the White House.  At first he thought it was a joke.  But in reality, Mrs. Ford wanted Capraro to create designs for her using Asian fabrics recently brought home by the President. 

Two days later, Capraro arrived in a government limousine at the steps of the White House.  After that first meeting, he designed five dresses from the imported fabric and thus began a series of appointments exclusively outfitting the First Lady's needs.



Albert Capraro's designs are clean and functional, of superb quality and were usually sold in exclusive boutiques.  The 1970s originals are hard to find because they were a high price range and lower production, so relatively few exist in relation to the mass quantity of other ready-to-wear lines.  If you can find one, consider yourself lucky.  You're dressing as well as a president's wife and with the chic sophistication this label was known for.

Source: The Fashion Makers by Barbra Walz & Bernadine Morris

Buy This, Not That: Ladylike Suits

Beautiful suit by Prada.  Price tag?  $3310 for the set.  Ouch.

Of course we'd opt out of that price point.  You too I bet.  And you probably know (vixen that you are) that vintage clothing's a savvy alternative for couture style at common sense prices. 

Here's a few options from our current collection of ladylike suits:

1950s Vintage Lilli Ann.  $245.

1950s Parisian Chic.  $145.

Hand-Crocheted In Portugal.  $110.

60s Charcoal & Persian Lamb.  $87.50.

Lillie Rubin / David Hayes.  $82.50.

Much more to see at (sensibly priced) Vintage Vixen...

take a look at over 350 vintage suits and buy this, not that.

Source: Harper's Bazaar August 2013.

It's A Plaid, Plaid World

Here in Florida it's already back-to-school time, and up north the date is nearing.  School and autumn always makes me hunt up my favorite fall clothes - plaids.

Whether it's a plaid kilt, a Pendleton jacket or a preppie Madras dress, plaid vintage clothes have a crisp, classic look that make them perennial favorites.  Here's a few currently in store:

There's over 100 items of plaid vintage clothes on our site at the moment, and more arriving for fall.  Enjoy!

Zippers Fresh From The Can

We gather a lot of vintage sewing items at Vintage Vixen.  Everything from buttons and snaps to trim and zippers is fair game.  There's a perpetual need here for vintage notions like these, as we repair many of the vintage clothes we sell.

When our buyer Pat came across these zippers, though, we had to take a second look.  Pat's had a great nose for interesting little things for decades, and I'd never seen zippers in "cans" before.

Apparently Coats & Clark's decided little clear plastic containers were an eye-catching way to sell their zippers in the 1960s.  Not only do the vintage graphics and plastic styling tell us the age, but also the colors.  There are lots of sherbet hues and colorful brights, primarily in oranges, greens, blues and purples.

The color names are singularly vintage, too.  There are classics like hunter and lilac, along with quaint hues like ciel (pale powder blue) and parakeet (bold turquoise).

If you go to a sewing shop today, you might find equivalent colors but not identical containers like these.  Coats & Clark's must have decided these fun little jars weren't the best solution for packaging zippers after all, but they certainly are fun!

Vintage Clothing Catalog

We write a lot here at Vintage Vixen.  Not only do we write up descriptions about the vintage clothes we sell, we also write for this blog and other online venues.  So when we ran across this page from a classic 1910s vintage fashion catalog, I thought the verbiage was just as interesting as the graphics.

 

 

Catalog writers tend to be pretty observant about other catalog writers' techniques.  Writing style, sentence structure, word choice... everything's noted when you write for a living.  The intriguing aspect of this caption is that it really was meant for the average female shopper.  And the word choice:

 

Artistic Applications Of Prevailing Lines In Dress

 

That's a lot different than Sexy Silhouettes For Summer or Hot Looks Now.  Which grabs you?  It's no contest, though of course in 1915 or so (when this fashion plate was printed) "sexy silhouettes" weren't exactly printable text.  Yet the phrase chosen a hundred years ago feels like a textbook descriptor more than a fashion magazine caption.

 

Notice too that this illustration refers to "the mills".  Even through the 1950s & 60s, fashion magazines regularly incorporated information about the fabric mills that created the raw materials for advertised fashions. 

 

This is an interesting example of two points - firstly, that most women in this era sewed for their family and thus were familiar with shopping for raw fabric, and secondly, that these ladies expected to hear about their clothing makers' fabric choices to ensure they were buying "choice goods" from a quality mill.

 

And here's some frocks that are apparently "envoys of a new era in fashion".  As "severity [tempers] the mode" these ladies are enjoying "plainer, saner" styles for summer.  What a way to shop!

1970 Not 1870

These grand dames have the look of Godey's ladies from the late Victorian era, though their eccentric colors suggest a more recent vintage.  They're actually a nostalgic fashion print repurposed into a wrapping paper that was mass-produced in the 1970s.

In the 1970s, fashion was more multi-faceted than in prior decades, as fashion-savvy women adopted divergent looks in the pursuit of individualism.  One of those facets was the antique look.  All things nostalgic were again fashionable, a development alongside late 1960s bohemia and in parallel with the birth of the first vintage clothing stores.

Clothes that were once "old-fashioned" were again freshly viewed as new fashion, with references to endearing accents like granny squares and granny boots.  Here's a few items from our current inventory that are 1970s, not 1870s, though the look certainly is antique:

 

As you can see, 1970s designers took the romance of the Victorian era and styled it with beautiful antique panache.  So if you were born a century too late for the 1870s, or a decade too late for the 1970s, there's still plenty of vintage finds to enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Vintage Clothes To Wear Now: July 2013

Maxi Dresses: Summer's in full swing, and autumn's around the corner.  What to wear?  Our vintage maxi dresses range from sleeveless to long-sleeved in floor-skimming styles.  This fresh white cotton frock (pictured at left) is perfect for a bright afternoon party.  It's an early 1970s design from a haute boutique label.  If you go from outdoors in, just add a navy cardigan.








Stripes: Stripes aren't new news, but in vintage clothing we like "old" news when it comes to fashion!  And big bold stripes keep showing up on the runway and the street.  Check out our women's striped clothes for a big bold variety!

                                                             

Vintage Denim: Good old denim is a great stand-by in every vixen's closet!  Our denim clothes for summer include sun dresses, short shorts and vintage capri pants.  Or check out all vintage denim for over 100 items including jeans & jackets for upcoming autumn style.






 

Sexy Leather: Pick up vintage leather shoes in dark hues now, and you'll wear them into fall with fabulous style.  Leather's a hot look at the moment in garmenture, and while we have beautiful suede jackets and such, they won't get as much use in July as a practical pair of heels.  Also - there's a bunch of new-old stock 1940s shoes at the link above for shoe collectors.

 

 

 

Lucite: Fashion's pretty obsessed lately with 1990s style, which means lucite and lots of cutting-edge ideas.  But lucite's not just a 1990s thing.  It goes back decades and appeared in interesting variety, from completely clear 1970s lucite heels to lucite buttons & 1950s handbags, all viewable in our stash of vintage lucite fashion.

History Repeats Itself: Vintage Balenciaga 1945

You don't have to look outside the fashion world to see where designers get some of their inspirations... you just have to look into the past.

 

This sketch is not by Claude Montana or Giorgio Sant Angelo.  It's not even 1985.  It's 1945, and the designer is Cristobal Balenciaga.

 

The exaggerated shoulder with its stitched detail is the only hint of Balenciaga's encompassing cocoons and capes that would arrive in the following decades.  Yet this practical and rather anonymous design of his became a quintessential look of late 80s & early 90s boutique lines. 

 

Dresses like this were produced by the thousands about forty years after this particular one was sketched.  It's a classic example of history in repetition... something vintage clothing collectors know all about.

 

Photo Source: Balenciaga Paris edited by Pamela Golbin.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to all!  We vixens are glad to be home after the long road trip.  What started as a ten-day trip to the Northeast turned into a three-week excursion through Pennsylvania and Connecticut.  Lots of vintage fashion, museum hopping and beautiful purchases made.

We'll be posting the first items from this trip in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned... and stay safe amidst the fireworks!

On The Road Again

Load up the convertible!  These 1964 vintage vixens
are on their way.

Working online as a vintage clothing dealer usually means a lot of isolation within our little sphere.  Inside the office it's a beehive of activity (and we enjoy the dickens out of each other)!  But we're cut off from the outside world for the most part, with only the phone and a Wifi connection as the conduit to our customers.

It's a treat to work in this cozy comfort zone most of the time, but once in a while a Vixen needs fresh air.  And - because we're into vintage clothes - we also "need" musty basements.  We recently got a chance for both when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Yes, do you buy clothing?"

"We do.  What do you have?"

And the conversation begins.  Usually it's a few pieces or a few boxes' worth, and they're shipped here.  For local people we go on appointments.  But then there are the trips.

This weekend begins a fun-filled trip to Philadelphia and points north, where we'll revel in the fashions kept by a family inhabiting the same house for 103 years.

Fun?  You betcha.  Fresh air?  Well, some. 

Bon voyage!

Source: McCall's Magazine, May 1964.

Plus Size Vintage Clothing circa 1941

 

One of the myths of vintage clothing is that it's all so small.  There are a few reasons why this seems to be. 

• people were more likely malnourished a century ago and grew to smaller stature
• the smallest sizes survived over time because they were only worn for a few years, as women likely took larger sizes after childbirth
• women trained their bodies into smaller silhouettes with corsets and the like

All of these speculations had some impact on the size of existing vintage and antique clothes.  However, Doris Langley Moore long ago refuted much of these claims by measuring and comparing extant Victorian garments and reporting an average 26-inch waist - a modern size 6.  We recently cataloged an 1870s silk ensemble with a 41-inch bust and 33-inch waist, close to a modern size 16.  Not everybody was tiny.

And this catalog of 1941 Lane Bryant fashions shows many more recent vintage clothes in "stout" yet "slenderizing" examples.  The history of Lane Bryant with its initial focus on maternity wear, surpassed in the 1920s by the demand for plus-size clothing, bears out the real need for mass production of larger women's clothes early in the last century.  Sales of plus-size women's clothing exceeded half of Lane Bryant's $5 million revenue in 1923.

These pages show model after model in cherubic profiles with "smart" vintage dresses at "sensible" prices.  Sizes range from a 37-inch bust to a 59-inch bust, which is approximately equivalent to
women's sizes 12 to 40 today.

 

Even the shoes offered a generous range of sizes, from 4 to 11.  Lane Bryant was a single source for plus-size women over the last century, including everything from underwear to hats and bathrobes for larger ladies.

 

For a glimpse of plus sizes on our site, check our women's vintage clothing section and choose your size from the left column.  We offer over 400 authentic items in a size 13 to 26... and over 6,000 items site-wide.

"If I were allowed to choose...

...from the pile of books which will be published one hundred years after my death, do you know which one I would take?  I would simply take a fashion magazine so that I could see how women dress one century after my departure.  And these rags would tell me more about the humanity of the future than all the philosophers, novelists, prophets and scholars."

So said Anatole France, a French novelist who died in 1924 at the age of 80.  The women's clothes he saw in his day ranged from Civil War era hoop skirts to enormous leg-o-mutton sleeves to the liberation from corsets to the high peak of flapper frivolity in his last years.  Imagine that variety over a lifetime, and he a man of letters who paid attention to such things.

And nearly a hundred years have indeed passed since his death.  Imagine the developments since then.  Just a few years after his passing, fashion dictated swimsuits that show all a woman has, and ladies in hard-tailored suits as severe as men's... Would he think us too feminine and yet too masculine?

Then there's the reprise of the Victorian era in the 1950s, the Gibson Girl in the 1970s, the re-created flapper during the 60s, and so on... Are our closets today a split personality of sorts?  Too many acceptable looks run awry of the dictum of fashion?

Look at the mainstream fashion of vintage clothing today... Would he think us unabashedly nostalgic?

I wonder what he would think about our humanity.  What would you guess?

Who Designed It? 1965 College Degree Show

These grainy images are part of a fashion college's historical archive, as they depict the degree show designs of a once-famous vintage fashion designer.  The print-on-print effect is a clue, as is the bohemian feel of the head scarf on the woman at far right.

Who was it?  Guess it right and win a $10 gift certificate to VintageVixen.com!  We'll share the source of these terrific 1960s vintage fashion show images when the correct designer is named.

Lilly Pulitzer's Fabric Supplier

The passing of a favorite fashion designer has been on our minds this month at Vintage Vixen.  Lilly Pulitzer died in Palm Beach on Sunday, April 7, just as spring and her ebullient prints would arrive once again to grace our days.  She's especially close to our hearts as she's a Florida girl, like we are, and her whimsical prints were created not far from our headquarters.

The story goes that Lilly Pulitzer first got into the dress business by accident.  She worked at a juice stand in Palm Beach, just off Worth Avenue, and quickly realized that the bright citrus stains did not wash out from her clothes.  So she created dresses that hid them.  Pretty soon, the dresses drew more interest than the juice.  Even Jackie Kennedy wore one that Lilly created from kitchen curtain fabric.  From that point on, Lilly was in the dress business.

The main ingredient in Lilly Pulitzer's fashion line was her signature fabrics.  They were works of art unto themselves in brilliant Floridian hues with flowers and novelty motifs like jungle animals.  Often her name was artfully curliqued amidst the print.

Behind the Pulitzer name was another business, Key West Hand Prints, that supplied Lilly with these wonderful screen-printed fabrics.  For decades, its establishment on Key West was a mainstay for the island economy. 

 

This 1973 brochure from Key West Hand Prints factory shows step-by-step how their original screen-printed fabrics were made.

From the brochure:

1. The first step in the life of a Key West Hand Print Fabric is in the selection of a subject matter for a design.  When this has been decided upon, the artist creates an original design suitable for printing on a textile.
2. When the design is completed it goes to another artist who does color separations of the design onto heavy plastic acetate.
3. When the color separations are done, they are palced separately upon a glass topped light table.  Then a wooden frame tightly stretched with man-made fibers (the silk screen) is coated with a light sensitive photographic emulsion.  When the emulsion has dried it is placed over the acetate and exposed to light.  After a short exposure the screen is washed with a pressure hose.  Where the light has not struck the emulsion, it washes out leaving the design stencil.
4. The screen is checked and taped and is ready for printing.  Color is then mixed by adding specific weights of pigment, according to the depth of shade desired, to extender.
5. The Color is poured into the screen and by the application of a long wooden board, a squeegee, the paint is forced through the stencil onto the fabric.
6. The fabric is rolled onto padded tables, carefully pinned and is now ready to be printed.
7. The printed fabric is removed from the tables and threaded through an oven and cured under intense heat for a short period.  This curing process alters the chemicals in the colors, and bonds them to the fabric.
8. The fabric is then rolled onto tubes and is ready for use on the consumer level in fabrics for dressmaking and decorating... His and Her ready-to-wear fabric fashions... and the Custom Styles of Vanda... The Lilly... Accessories such as scarves, ties, beach towels, aprons... For the home, place mats, recipe towels, unique wall hangings, and fascinating Ends and Odds. 

The demand for Lilly Pulitzer designs kept the Key West fabric industry humming through the mid-1980s, when Pulitzer's business filed for bankruptcy.  But the fabrics (and Lilly's legacy) live on, in vintage stashes across the world.

http://fashionhistorymuseum.blogspot.com/2013/04/lilly-pulitzer-rousseau-passes-away-at.html
 
http://thatchersfinetimelessfabric.com/about_us.html

http://www.jennyhaniver.com/?p=14

1966 Go-Go Girls

Check out these dance floor moves!  We couldn't resist the looks of these 1960s go-go girls.  They're from a vintage 1966 knit fashion magazine, each with her own signature swingin' style.  The original text says:

Discotheque-ing calls for a special kind of dress - fluid for Go-Go action, low-necked and sleeveless for strenuous dancing.  These styles - one to crochet, two to knit - may also be worn at more sedate parties.

Left: Go-Go Scalloped Dress.  Swinging blue dress has crisp crocheted scallops... Dress gleams as she dances.

Center: Fringe-Trimmed Dress.  Tossing fringe on bottom and tab of blue dress set the "with it" mood.

Right: Discotheque Baby Dress.  High-waisted "Baby Look" dress, favored by young London discotheque-ers.

These vintage dresses were meant to be created at home, a popular and productive hobby in the mid-1960s.  And despite the descriptions, these dresses are more suited for the office than the discotheque, though the look echos a swinging London style.  For a really authentic go-go look, shop for psychedelic prints, flared bell sleeves, chain-link details and thigh-high hems.  Think Laugh-In and you've got the right idea.

Today you can find 1960s dresses and more daring vintage mini dresses on our website - no knitting needles required!

Made In British Crown Colony Of Hong Kong

This label is one you'll see in better quality clothing of the 1960s.  But what is its origin?  The phrase "made in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong" across the bottom is telling.  Find out about this label and more in vintage fashion in 1960s Hong Kong, part of our free fashion history info section.

Top 5 Vintage Clothes You Can Wear Now

Cardigans: It's only February, so most Vixens still have a month or more of winter... but if you're in Florida like us, or in California like many of our customers, you may be layering up and down all day.  If your wardrobe is on the fence weather-wise, vintage cardigans are a terrific layer to toss into the mix.  And a vintage cardigan adds a special touch to an otherwise contemporary outfit.

Cocktail Dresses: Ladies, Valentine's Day is just days away!  The time is now for finding the perfect date-night dress.  We have a unique selection of one-of-a-kind vintage cocktail dresses in every size.  Currently over 125 to choose from!

                                                             

Vintage Boots: Finding a beautiful pair of vintage boots is not easy, but we've cropped up a group of sexy boots in fine leather and suede.  Some high-end boutique labels here!

Sweater Dresses: A sweater dress feels like wearing a snuggly pajama, yet the look is sexy as a vintage pin-up!  Best of both worlds, ladies.  And we have a terrific group of vintage sweater dresses ready for winter-into-spring.  There's Chanel and Missoni on this link for the designer hunters.

Gloves: Ladylike style is always expected in a beautiful pair of vintage gloves!  Dress up your daytime with a cozy artisan-knit pair, dramatize your evenings with black velvet or rhinestoned satin.