In the Hood

Brand new to DOROTHEA'S CLOSET VINTAGE, a true rarity in the vintage world....this divine hooded black crepe 40s evening gown by "Miss America".

There are few who could pull of the glamorous look of the hooded gown better than Little Edie Bouvier-Beale, here in her 1930s white zip front gown re-created and worn by Drew Barrymore in the Grey Gardens remake of 2009.

Watch for it soon!

~Ang

Blue Drew

Apparently, all I do anymore is watch awards shows, and apparently, all the celebs I choose to comment on wear blue. At least the last two. And my excuse for sitting and watching said awards shows is simply this......I love the clothes, and its winter here in Iowa so I'm either iced or snowed in anyway! Saturday night the Screen Actor's Guild (S.A.G.) Awards show took place, and while I am certainly chock full of comments about many attendees, the one I actually had to Google to find out whether I was mad or way off on was Drew Barrymore.

Agreeing with the LA Times on her 60s inspired look (up do, pale make up) inspired by Brigitte Bardot & Sharon Tate (read their re-cap HERE>, I still found that on Drew it didn't quite work on stage. I wish I could find a clip (I'll keep looking)....because on the red carpet she looks smashing!.....

Under the lights of the stage the lip definition was lost and ended up washing her out horribly....sad indeed, given the effect it was clearly quite capable of. That said, more inspiration from vintage looks is always a good thing! And seeing Grey Gardens (a movie Dorothea's contributed to wardrobe for) win another award is always a great thing!

~Ang

Grey Gardens for the Win

It should come as no surprise to any reader of mine that I was rooting for Grey Gardens to sweep last night's Emmy Awards. Two years ago I was contacted by the wardrober about a few pieces from my website they were interested in using for the film, and when it finally aired on HBO this last Spring I was thrilled to see a 1930s dressing gown I'd sent them appear on Jessica Lange (as Big Edie Beale).

Unfortunately there weren't 2 awards available for best leading actress in a movie, as both Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange gave superb performances as the Beales and both deserved the win. Jessica won and looked stunning in a teal green...

And Drew channeled the young Little Edie in a pale pink 50s inspired gown by MONIQUE LHUILLIER and carried a handbag designed by RAVEN KAUFFMAN, aptly named "Drew" and created after the designer saw Drew play Edie Beale in Grey Gardens.

Lhuillier made quite an impact on the red carpet last night, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was impressed by her vintage inspired romantic designs. Emmy winner Toni Collette in a brighter pink...

And Mila Kunis in a cocktail length deep red Lhuillier...

So many gorgeous dresses. Dorothea's has officially dressed an Emmy winning actress for an Emmy winning film! Thats pretty thrilling to be a part of. And speaking of award winning, I'll be watching today's OPRAH SHOW to see the dress from my website worn by JANUARY JONES' Mom, Karen! Read about it HERE from Sunday's Des Moines Register. Hoping she gets the camera coverage she deserves!

~Ang

Little Edie at Reno Sweeney...New Hat at Sugarlids!

Yep, one hat. Buying a house and all that owning a home entails along with the Mom thing, the shop and website has made it tough to find any time to create anything but a mess...but I did finally get to do the hat I'd been dreaming of since watching Grey Gardens! At the end of the film, Little Edie realizes a dream when she is invited to perform at a night club in NYC called "Reno Sweeney"...here is a shot of Drew channeling Edie in full (accurate) costume....

And my interpretation, using a 1960s beat up red leotard cut down, an embossed felt side "base" and silk poppies and roses....

Found on etsy at SUGARLIDS!

Ang

The Gown.

On Jessica Lange in last night's premier of "Grey Gardens". A gown shipped off a year and a half ago, a gown I loved....a story I love. And to top it off, the music during the scene and the next was a song I recorded 7 years ago for my then-unborn daughter, as I waited to hold her for the first time....."All The Things You Are". The movie, the wardrobe, the sets, the ACTING, the soundtrack were all exquisite!! So happy to have been a tiny part of it.....

Well worth the wait!

~Ang

Grey Gardens & Glamour

Eight hours til the premier of the new HBO film "Grey Gardens", a remake of the 1975 documentary about Big & Little Edie Beale, cousin and aunt of Jackie Kennedy, who were the darlings of East Coast high society in the 20s to 40s, somehow ending up living destitute and in squalor in their mansion (Grey Gardens). The ORIGINAL documentary and follow up, the Beales of grey Gardens, are must see films. Surreal, shocking and sad yet somehow one cannot help but see that despite the bizarre lives these women are living, they love each other ferociously. I recommend seeing these before seeing the remake, which isn't exactly a duplicate of the original but delves into the women's lives prior to what we see in the 1975 documentary...but if you cannot, go YouTube the title to get some idea of what the original was like.

Here is the trailer for tonight's film...

I've been dying to see this film for a year and half now, since the first email from the wardrobers asking to aquire a few pieces from my website for Jessica Lange's "Big Edie" character. It was my first experience working with a costume stylist for a film (and it went smoothly, no problems at all!) and since then I've been anxious to see the film and find out whether my pieces made the final editing room cuts. Tonight's the night! So watch for this gown....

And this 30s travelling suit....

Also a pink spiral-ey peaked 30s hat I can't find a picture of now. I've been studying every image I can find of the film to see if I spot these pieces, and meanwhile have discovered a few things I have very similar examples of on my website, most notably Little Edie's late 30s coming out party....

Which looks very like these dresses of the same era! This one is on the site already, white pique cotton with velvet bow and bolero....

And this raspberry moire taffeta gown and jacket should be added today....

This persimmon velvet robe shows up in a lot of film stills, worn over silk palazzo lounging pyjamas....

I had a gown nearly exactly like that with a mammoth bakelite orb button a year ago, can't find pics, but it reminds me a bit of this poppy red 20s opera coat....

And this hat seems to have ended up the signature look for Big Edie, even making it onto the film's promo poster....

Reminds me quite a lot of this Edwardian beach hat on my site, albeit different colours...

Lastly, here is my Little Edie inspired hat, created from part of a men's sweater with siganature brooch, available at SUGARLIDS.COM

Cocktails & snacks at my place start at 7, movie at 8....wear your best scarf & brooch!

~Ang

The Revolutionary Costume for Today...New Hat from SugarLids

I made another hat! I'm fascinated by the Beales of Grey Gardens and had an inspiration this morning while thinking about Little Edie's headgear in the film (can't wait to see the upcoming remake, partly because I have clothing from my website in it but because I love the documentary and can't wait to see Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore portray these women!). So I give you the first in what will be a series of headpieces inspired by Little Edie (and maybe one day I'll get ambitious enough to find a big floppy hat to work into a Big Edie look!).

I used a tattered men's wool/mohair blend cardigan sweater and did some sculpting, ruching and manipulating to get it into hat shape (slightly 30s inspired, actually) and left the sleeve to wrap about the neck. Added a brooch a la Little Edie and a hat was born!

~Ang