Current Online Obsession: Dorotheasclosetvintage.com is a meticulously archived vintage shopping site organized by decade, from the 1800s through the 1980s. Browsing through the site reminds me of digging through the closet of the glamorous great-aunt I always wanted.
gotta blush a little. desiree, if you're out there and come across my blog, THANK YOU!
click the Lucky image to read the rest and see the lovely Desiree....
~Ang
40's fern green (a truly rare color!) crepe gown with beaded detail...
Some little black 50s dresses.....
Pleated bodice w/ rhinestone accent...
Satin bow on bodice, by Milton Lippman...
Some superb 70s pieces on our newly renamed section (still on the site, but a quick route to 70s clothing is to type in THAT70sDRESS.COM
Dreamy Ossie Clark inspired gown with ruffled angel wing sleeves..
Romantic Gunne Sax gown....
Coming today, a 30s dress, 60s dresses and this late 40's PURPLE boucle wool noir starlet suit dress by LILLI ANN.....
Check it out!
~Ang
new in the last few days.....
50's toile print circle skirt dress with velveteen & lace collar, border print of courting Colonial couple....
Late 70s silk jersey dress by LEONARD PARIS...
60s full length column gown in knit wool with nude silk inserts at neckline in hem with gorgeous black beading....
Sydney North 50s wiggle dress with dramatic collar....
50s teal and yellow swimsuit by ROSE MARIE REID...
50s silk draped wiggle with bold red rose print by KEY SELIG...
Another gorgeous rose print, blue on white with draped detail at hips front and back, by DOROTHY O'HARA....
30s gown with beaded bodice and racy slit open back detail...
Fantastic 60s genuine alligator bag with asymetrical flap, unusual closure and whip stitch details....
~Ang
D.D. was known for her eclectic designer tastes ranging from Zandra Rhodes to Ossie Clark, spent time working for Halston and was responsible for the children's book series "Eloise" as she encouraged a cabaret singer friend of hers who created the character to write the book which quickly became a best seller. and she was cool. and stylish. and fabulous. and GROGAN & COMPANY now has the pleasure of auctioning off some of this fascinating woman's estate, and her collections are truly as fascinating as you'd expect. some of the HUGE selection....
A grouping of fashion photographs featuring this one, called WOMAN WATER SKIING, by Toni Frissell.....
Only 2 of the crazy amounts of vintage Emilio Pucci pieces....
Some of D.D.'s own creations (there are more!)....
Miriam Haskell beaded necklace and earrings (i covet)....
An assortment of bakelite i also covet but will never be able to afford....
there's so SO much to love! i need a million dollars please. email me for my paypal info if you'd like to enable my buying addiction!
~Ang
in 1955, however, it was not at all expected that an actress would wear vintage (imagine! liz taylor in a flapper dress? audrey hepburn in a worth gown? wouldn't happen). that said,
grace kelly's dress worn while accepting her award in '55 was actually a year old, designed by edith head and worn to the 1954 premier of the film she won the award for, "the country girl".
there's something charming about her wearing the dress twice in a day and age where gowns are often not even purchased by actresses for the event, but are loaned out by designers as advertising. in a throw away society the importance of buying and wearing vintage takes on a whole new meaning!
~Ang
as it turns out, our friend Gustave was a major player in the design world of late 50s to 70s, studying under the likes of Hattie Carnegie, Mme. Fath and in the case of the dress shown, having his own couture house here in America designing for such fashionistas of the day as Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly. In 1972, he took over the house of Norman Norell after his death. so gustave was no slouch where it comes to fashion design!
googling discovered this slide show on Flickr, your favorite martian, who apparently spent some time at the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Perelman Building, where there was a show featuring Gustave Tassell along with James Galanos and Ralph Rucci. i am smitten in the oddest way by this wedding dress by Tassell, which yes, is where the jawa wedding reference comes in....
and completely unrelated to the 60s chic, this over the top fantastic and unaccredited 40's two-tone dress and hat in the same slide show makes me weak in the knees....
hooded wedding dresses and knotted two-tone stem-topped hats....only in vintage fashion!
~Ang
~Click the picture to find it at the Noir Boudoir.
~Ang
Want to see the real deal (sans belt?).....from my website, a killer original Ceil in bold floral silk, expertly draped, clickable pic...
A hot look never dies.
~Ang
The Sweet are my new musical obsession. You may assume with my obvious love of 30s & 40s clothing that I am partial to the music of those eras.....which I am, mostly. But seriously, gimme some shiny pre-metal glam rock any day and I'm a happy girl, all roller skates and feathered hair and too much eye-liner. As a vintage clothing seller it did take me some time to let my secret love of 70's glam allow me to add a 70s page to my website.....I'm utterly unimpressed with the prairie and hippie looks of that era, but glam I firmly embrace! One of my first purchases and then sales of serious glam were these shimmering pastel rainbow platforms reminiscent of the work of TERRY DE HAVILLAND....
I sold them on eBay for a decent price, small size that they were (6?)....if they fit me I'd not have parted with them. They can now be seen at SHOE-ICONS.COM, click the picture to get to the proper page of 70s shoes to see them. My friend and fellow seller Laura of VINTAGE GODDESSWEAR ON eBAY has a pair of PETER FOX shoes prominently placed on the site HERE (wish I had a picture to show you, trust me, click in to see these pink bejweled beauties!).
Started off rambling about my love for The Sweet and got sidetracked by my love of SHOES!!! Lastly, a plug for an amazing book by a fellow member of the VINTAGE FASHION GUILD, Jonathan Walford.....
Have I mentioned I love shoes? And The Sweet? And glam? And shoes? Shoes. Are. Sweet. The end!
~Ang
Louis Jordan, early 40s. you won't find THAT kind of cool at the mall.
~Ang
demi. no. clearly a 30s gown with GREAT sleeves.........
i won't even show you great 30s gowns on my site, you can click demi to get to good ones. but girl. posture is bad, hair is bad, wearing a 30s gown with NO REGARD to its fabulosity is.......bad.
~Ang
I had a dress even better, but its sold to the fabulous SIMARA of STARLIT! even BETTER! click her pic to see her myspace page to get better acquainted....
THAT 40s dress takes ta-tas and some womanly hips & attitude to make work, which our friend rachel zoe has not, and the dear simara ROCKS. rocks, i tell you!
~Ang
$10 plus 5 to ship on eBay, click to buy (from seller timon michelle).
speaking of which, hey, hollywood writers.....step up the negotiations. i miss pushing daisies!
~Ang
~Ang
So I began searching the racks and got out the things in back and started a two day marathon shooting pictures and adding lingerie to the site. A lot of what I have is 30s and 40s, and as I was shooting a friend of mine (hi Julie!) mentioned that she had for years lamented that nearly all lingerie from the 20s to the 40s was either white, peach or pink but that she had come to make peace with that. And it really is true.
After editing the pictures of the above early 30's bra and tap pants set, I realized why. This, to the naked eye, looks like peach silk. Peach silk trimmed in ecru lace. When photographed it began to take on a "nude" hue. Maybe its overthinking it, but it seems logical to me to assume that in the 20s, 30s and part of the 40s the higher end of lingerie would have been targeting American, caucasian women. Lingerie as something to be seen at all by men was a post-Victorian mentality, but still new territory. Keeping the textiles in the color range of the white woman's skin with hints of "sheer" lace was, I imagine, the raciest notion those of the female persuasion could handle!
Taking this a step further, on my site there is a black silk and ecru lace bra and tap pants from the 40s that came to me with a story of how it had been purchased in France by a young GI during WWII, and brought home to his lovely (likely blushing furiously) bride who then refused to wear it becuase the black was too racy.
It wasn't until the later 40s that black started to make its way into the actual underpinnings of women's wear....certainly, previous to that some forward thinking women may have worn it, but for the average woman wearing a black bra or panties was unheard of. It is interesting that as times changed and America became more accepting of its melting pot status in the world, the idea that the color of lingerie not necessarily match the color of your skin became more acceptable too. And interesting, too, that women these days shun the "nude" colored lingerie in bras, stockings and slips in favor of bold colors, prints and designs....
Here's to women of all colors....and to women being comfortable enough in their own skin to wear whatever they damn well please!
~Ang
