Personal Style: A Family Easter Weekend

 (wearing my mom's vintage dress and some thrifted, red vintage shoes, necklace f 21. love them)

Our Easter weekend was busy and wonderful. Our church family had a temple outing and then headed off together for a little bbq and Easter egg hunt, followed by a slide show of everyone. A very lovely, very pleasant, somewhat stressful, very exhausting day. Our Sunday was full of reflections on Christ, chocolate, salsa and naps. I hope everyone's Easter was wonderful!

 

*Linked to: Clothed Much's Rule Breaking Monday

Weekend Eye Candy - Jacques Fath Draped Dress

October 1946 - Jacques Fath couture draped crepe dress in two tones of grey. Yum.

How to Dress Well on Practically Nothing!

The October 1959 issue of Ladies Home Journal has a small month-to-month feature about dressing well on a budget. This is Mollie Farnham, a young Midwestern kindergarten teacher. The magazine notes that in the September issue, Mollie had purchased a camel skirt and beige blouse, and then knitted a cardigan sweater to go with them. In this issue, Mollie shops for her "all-important fall-and-winter investment: a coat." Since she already had a white dressy coat and an evening cover-up, Mollie needed a good serviceable coat for everyday wear.

She shops carefully, and considers several options, but chooses this black and white tweed coat by Gordon Corpuel for $35.00 ($260.00 today). "Mollie's new coat has a flattering cowl collar, is warmly lined in furry black Orlon. The black and white tweed will go well with her beige separates from last month as well as another of her favorite colors: blue." She then adds a black handbag for $3.00 ($23.00 today). She can now alternate the coat and purse with beige or black shoes, and white, beige, or chamois gloves.
Her second accessory purchase is a hat for $3.95 ($30.00 today) . "Mollie rarely wears a hat to school during the week, but for Sundays and special occasions she does. The coat takes on a special occasion look when accessorized with her new turquoise hat, pearls, and white gloves."

Lastly, if Mollie has time and a few extra dollars at the end of the month, she'll invest in some blue wool to sew this basic sheath dress from Vogue Basic Design #3000.

The focus here is on investing in practical but versatile basics that you can accent in different ways with accessories. Mollie's coat wardrobe is complete with one tweed for everyday, a white dressier version, and an evening wrap. How many coats are in your closet? How many dollars have you invested in trendy styles, inexpensive fabrics, or unusual colors that don't work for everyday? Isn't it wiser in today's economy to spend more money on one practical coat in a high quality fabric and basic color that can be worn for years? A change of accessories changes the look in a few seconds.

Our mothers and grandmothers got along with far less clothing than we do today. Each piece of clothing was a carefully considered investment that was meant to last for several years, not several months. Think about it this way. How big are the closets in most houses built in the 40's and 50's?

Weekend Eye Candy - Jackie Kennedy

Since this week has been so focused on the election, I thought a few photos of the Kennedys out on the campaign trail in 1959 might be fun. The photo above shows the Kennedys with then Vice President Richard Nixon.

Here, they share a cup of coffee at a diner in Oregon. Same dress, different accessories.

The dress? A grey wool knit overblouse dress by Givenchy Boutique Fall 1959. This is one of the styles that Jackie made so popular in America. The dress has a thin silk bodice, which doesn't add bulk under the overblouse, that likely buttons up the back.

Vintage Designer Puzzle - Who is Rappi?

During my years as a seller of vintage clothing, I've run into this label a few times, but I can never find any information about this designer or design house. All of the garments I've had by Rappi have been from the 50's and 60's, and all but one were cocktail or evening dresses.

So, I'm sending out a plea to the vintage community. If anyone knows anything about Rappi, please comment here or contact me through the website.


UPDATE: You'll find some great information about Rappi in the comments. This photo of her comes from a vintage sewing pattern.

Weekend Eye Candy - Balenciaga

I am in love.

Grey wool jersey dress by Balenciaga from Spring 1950.

Vintage Dresses - in Black Velvet

I love the waist detail of this dress from 1956. 4 rows of satin cording with bows visually accent the tiny waist compared to the flare of the hips and bust. This dress was featured in the August 1956 issue of Glamour magazine and shows St. Louis debutante Jean Hamilton wearing a dress by Doris Dodson Juniors. The dress was about $18 in 1956 ($142 today). She wears a Therese Ahrens bandeaux hat and carries an Ingber purse.

You'll see the same waist accent in this early 60's velvet cocktail dress available at www.coutureallure.com. No bows, but this one's got the added allure of a large satin rose set off to the side. Click the picture to see the details.

Vintage Dresses - In Red!

Red is the color of fire and blood, and is a very emotionally intense color. This is why it is associated with passion, desire, and love. Studies show that red can have a physical effect, increasing the rate of respiration and raising blood pressure. Wear red when you want to stand out from the crowd and be noticed.

The two dresses shown above, from 1955, are perfect examples of how to get noticed in a sea of black cocktail dresses during the holiday party season. Do you dare?

Get the look with this 1950's red taffeta bubble hem dress, just listed on our website! Click the picture to see the details.

Full skirts not your style? How about this body conscious early 60's evening gown, also available at our website. Click the picture to see the listing.

If allover red is too much for your taste, add a pop of color with your accessories. This 1940's Holzman box purse is just the thing. Available at our website. Click the picture to see the details.

There are lots of red options at www.coutureallure.com. It's time to add some passion to your wardrobe!

Fall 1975 Fashion

Is it just me, or are these clothes unflattering, and in some cases, just plain ugly? These images are all from the July/August 1975 issue of Vogue Pattern magazine. I've always found Vogue patterns to be fashion forward, so these styles were on trend for 1975. But I just can't get excited about these clothes.

Maybe its because I've already had to deal with not liking these styles once in my life during my 20's. I hated the fashions that were in the stores back then, and always felt unhappy with my wardrobe. But what do you think? Are these styles great, or not so much?

Hippie Fashion Revival

The musical "Hair" is in revival Off-Broadway in New York, and apparently has been a smash. It closes this weekend, but rumors are that it may move to Broadway this winter. Who knows?

What I do know is that Bohemian hippie fashion is back......again. Indian gauze prints, layers, patchwork, fringed leather, vests, long strands of beads, and piles of bangle bracelets - it's all good. The above photo shows the current cast of Hair in Central Park.

Get the look with these authentic 1970's dresses, now available for one week at Couture Allure on EBay. Click the picture to see the listing:

See all of our Bohemian Luxury Collection, available for one week only.

1950 Fashion Silhouette #4 Bell-Shaped

The full skirt - introduced by Dior after the war with his New Look collection, and worn into the early 60's. This dress is a shirtwaist with very full sleeves to complement the fullness of the skirt. The full sleeves are set onto a dropped shoulder line, which makes the dress look more grown-up. A full gathered sleeve set into a normal armsceye might make this dress look too girlish.

This dress was made from Simplicity pattern 8269. The model is wearing a wide belt, which again accentuates that narrow tiny waist and wide curving hips. She has on a tiny pillbox style hat with a full veil covering her face. Here's a look at the back view:

Get the look with this taffeta check dress available in our EBay store. It's got the same dropped shoulder line, the same full skirt, the same Peter Pan collar, the same shirtwaist styling. But this one comes from a high-end Boston boutique named Jay's. Click the pic to see the listing!

1950 Fashion Silhouette #3 Tubular

Of course, we would call this "wiggle" today, but the Fall-Winter 1950 issue of Simplicity pattern magazine defines this as a Tubular Silhouette. Doesn't sound all that attractive or complimentary to me. Since, the 1980's, a tube dress is considered one that is made from a circular knit tube that is very stretchy and tiny so it stays on and contours to your curves.

But back to this outfit. The article states the smooth sculptured look of the sheath dress is the most important of all the evening silhouettes for 1950. And the most sexy, I daresay. This is actually two pieces - a satin tank top made from Simplicity pattern 3263, and a super slim velvet skirt made from Simplicity pattern 2937. So, is the skirt really that skinny at the knees? Not according to the back sketch on the pattern envelope. Honey, you know once the fashion stylist gets the model pinned into that skirt, she's not walking anywhere! But it sure makes her hips look super curvy, doesn't it?


That tank top is darted to fit the waist though.


The thing I love best in this photo is those lace gauntlet gloves. They are by Aris, and wouldn't they be perfect for this season's focus on all things lace for evening? Oh la la!