Saturday night I went to an underground party where formal dress (of the Prohibition Era preferred) was required. I chose a Jonathan Logan with lovely shoulder detail,
and earrings of my grandmother’s to meet others similarly costumed and in disguise at the undisclosed location with bootleg vodka drinks and a band to beat the cold away…
The shirt is Country Suburbans, a ruffly top for the peacock print of the skirt without a label. I found the skirt at Bittersweet in Charlottesville, Virginia (the owner has a wonderful eye for vintage that she mixes into new pieces).
Plumes call for heels, and these are by L.A.M.B.
And even though you’ve told me you like to see my face, this blog is really all about the clothes; I like the the way the magenta comes forth in the fabric in the darkness—
I’ve been saving this one with a Saks Fifth Avenue label on a fabric of grey and electric pink from, I think, the ’60s.
To be more accurate, I would wear a low-slung belt; for now, it’s my usual empire waist. The vintage silver hoop earrings are from the same period.
Tonight, I’m going to an Underground Food Collective dinner in Brooklyn with friends that have traveled here for the occasion—Hot pink fabric and meats are this Friday night.
This dress doesn’t have a tag, but I like the way, from a distance, this is a dress from the past (the ’70s angles, the ’80s dotted swiss overlay) belted into the future.
The bottom of the dress is pleated strangely for any decade, and I may try a petticoat underneath to emphasize the shape in warmer months.
The dress I found years ago, the turtleneck is vintage, Country Suburbans, and the velour catches the light differently in the winter (these are Fall colors, really). The Cloisonné necklace was my grandmother’s; I’m fond of the clasp that looks like a bead.
This dress was hanging at Jelly Roll Vintage rack at the Brooklyn Flea this summer—it’s homemade (with sweet tucks at the elbows). The best part is the bottom of the fabric, where the pattern is fun and late ’60s (doesn’t it look as though Max and the Wild Things could be running through the vines?
The dress isn’t vintage (it will be vintage of mine to pass down), but the blue earrings (for the blue moon last night) are, sparkling beacons from the Hip Zipper in Nashville, TN.
The hat is also vintage, from the Brooklyn Flea. Here’s to 2010—
My sister Kat took this of me on Christmas—I’ve blogged the skirt here before—this time I’m wearing a truly red shirt of my grandmother’s.
Here’s our 2009 family holiday photo; proud to say my sisters Kat and Kass are both wearing vintage dresses.
The label on this vintage dress (that I found at Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s infamous Beacon’s Closet) is “a Pomette,” which sounds like a girl group that might have been slightly out of touch with the groove of their decade.
My favorite parts of this dress are the big bow at the collar and the outrageous chartreuse in the pattern.
The first time I wore the dress, a man stopped me walking out of a Manhattan subway station to tell me he thought I looked incredible.
The compliment goes to the dress; it was one of my first oh-how-I-love-New-York moments.
I’m wearing leggings underneath (and a rose belt—looking for a purple belt to match the color in the fabric or a white belt for the spring), so it’s a little Flashdance at the ankles. I’m in a house full of dancers this week, though; what a feeling…
On my way to D.C. today for the Great Snowpocalyse, this is a vintage dress with bright purple flowers from New Bohemia in Austin, Texas under a rosy sweater that has interesting ends and over a bright purple sweater that matches the flowers (it makes more sense in the larger version). I like to tell people an aunt knitted it for me, but that’s not true. The rose belt goes with a vintage dress I’ll wear in a few months.
a chronicle of vintage dresses from kthread.
dedicated to my grandmother.
