new york, new york

congrats new york!!

now get busy planning those weddings! (ps, go vintage, it's not only fabulous but eco-friendly!)

When Vintage Looks This Good....

Why shop the mall and wear what everyone else is? On a nearly daily basis I hear people express that they "can't" wear vintage or don't get how to wear it without it looking like a costume. Well, here's how. And swing by the site to check out a page devoted to showing you other WAYS TO WEAR VINTAGE....either head to toe, mixed eras or pieced into a modern wardrobe. Its hot AND eco-chic!

40s appliqued skirt with an 80s sequined tube top and 30s velvet corset lace dirndl with an Edwardian crocheted bonnet...

Here, a red rose print chiffon 50s dress with 70s belt, red velvet cape from the 1930s, 50s bottle green scarab beetle brooch and 40s feathered cocktail hat....

Early 1920s very Mary Pickford babydoll style wedding dress with organza ruffles and silk ribbon worn with a hat from my line, SUGARLIDS designed from a vintage fox pelt & millinery pieces....

We could mix it up all day, but these shots give a great idea of how vintage can be worn with a very modern attitude!

~Ang

Jean & Bob's Wedding (orginally published May 30, 2006)

Jean met Robert Huie while attending college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I actually WILL have access to the letters they wrote to each other whilst "courting", but a friend is reading them right now! I will also get Jean's diary.

Several days after my initial batch of clothing from Jean's house, I returned for things the estate coordinators were finding....Jean kept EVERYTHING, and pieces were turning up in boxes all over the house. One of the things I got on that trip had been discovered in a small old steamer trunk in the attic.....it was supposed at the time it may have been her travelling outfit from the honeymoon. It indeed had some condition issues....but since all the clothing was mine, I naturally took it!

The ensemble consisted of a cocoa brown velvet jacket with a wonderful stand up ruffled collar with a bow on nape of neck, a matching skirt with covered buttons and a sheer lace blouse with velvet ribbon trim. It was stored with and assumed WORN with a darling brown cloche hat, and wonderful late 20's leather shoes with beaded buckles on the vamp. With it was a box from Saks Fifth Avenue, with original lace & velvet scraps & extra buttons...

On the last day I had access to the house, I went purely to get LETTERS. Having been in the attic, I knew there were boxes & boxes....I had also already gathered some snapshots, and had begun to really want to rescue Jean's memories! So I went up & got what I could haul out....literally BAGS & boxes of correspondence spanning DECADES. In one case the papers I took were already in a garbage bag (just paper, no real GARBAGE!)....so I can say with certainty these items were headed for demise.

When I got home & started sorting throught them, one of the first things I found was a newspaper. I glanced over it & saw the headline....from Friday, October 4, 1929. The paper was the Rock Valley Bee....and the blub above the article said "TWO COUPLES TAKE MARRIAGE VOWS", below that it said "Robert Huie Married".

Naturally intrigued about their wedding, I read on. It detailed the date, time & place of the wedding....September 29, 1929 at First Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa...on a Saturday morning. A breakfast followed. It went on to describe the ceremony...

The bride entered the church on the arm of her father to the strains of the Lohengrin Wedding March, played by Miss Cecila Kohl... (list of attendants)....The fireplace, banked with ferns, made an appropriate setting for the simple service. Tall baskets of chrysanthemums and gladiolus on each side lent a gold & bronze color note to the setting.

The bride wore a suit of brown transparent velvet, made with a sleeveless blouse of Bretonne lace and a loose fitting jacket with tight-fitting sleeves. Her small hat was of matching brown tricot & felt. She carried a bouquet of pernet roses. Miss Roberts wore a dress of light castor brown crepe with hat & accessories to match, and carried an arm bouquet of rapture roses."

The velvet set was her wedding dress! I would have had NO idea had I not happened upon that newspaper clipping. The very next thing I laid my hands on was an envelope....and I truly did get tears in my eyes at what I found inside.

It stuns me to this moment that these.....perhaps her most treasured memories, were literally hours away from being lost forever. I am certain it was some kind of fate that lead me to gather THOSE papers, out of an attic literally covered wall to wall with letters, bills, magazines & receipts. I am thrilled to have them....and thrilled to share them with all of you who are following along. I hope people are enjoying this as much as I am documenting it, there's so much more to share! Ang

Just a Wedding In June....1930

In years of collecting and dealing in vintage clothing, I had never come across a collection of pieces so well kept and poignant as the one I was recently asked to sell. What follows is the complete bridal trousseau stored for 79 years, from a wedding on June 20, 1930. The beautiful silk dress, with the original pattern it was made from, and silk ribbon headpiece adorned with wax flowers. The stunning silk peignoir for the honeymoon, also with the original pattern it was made from. A fantastic silk jersey step-in chemise with whittled waist and full legs and silk stockings worn beneath the wedding dress. White silk gloves. But beyond the wearable pieces and patterns, there is more. The invitation (making it fantastically easy to date the pieces!). A newspaper article with recipe suggestions for the June bride. Ribbons and bows, napkins and a gorgeous tablecloth all used at the reception. And to top it off...a paper bag of rice.

As I shot the pieces that not only make up a superb vintage collection of wedding epehemera, but as a whole created a magical day in one woman's life 70 some years ago, a song came on the radio that made me take pause and revisit the invitation for the date. Amazingly....June.

The entire trousseau will be available soon on my site on the bridal page. My hope is that it finds a new life with another young bride, to be worn again and celebrated for its beauty....then cherished as a source of happy memories for years to come. It is truly an amazing thing to see all of these pieces still together after all these years!

~Ang