A place to find about styles of vintage clothing from the 1940's to the ‘80's and ethnic and art-to-wear fashion. Enjoy the aura that dressing in vintage clothing and jewelry will create.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Friday, February 11, 2011




On the runways of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in NYC, there was short dresses in bright colors and bead embellishments, sleek pants, and high teased hair were retro-inspired looks many designers incorporated into their Spring lines.
The 70s Bohemian vibe has been around for quite some time now, but is it back as embellishment on steroids. You will see tassels, lace, crochet, and beaded embellishments make their way onto many Spring 2011 tresses. This trend doesn’t stop there— wide leg pants, wooden clogs, and retro inspired floral prints are back and ready for Spring 2011.
A new trend that has evolved from the “motorcycle chic” trend, is the “80s punk” trend. This look includes lots of studs, heavy boots, safety pins and leather pants.
Looks like it’s time to go vintage shopping again ............................................

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

A Sparkling Zipper

Most women wrestle with zipper through their lives. Those zippers are on dresses, slacks or jeans. I found this zipper while I was doing the required reading of what was going on in the world and I stumbled upon a zipper that I would not mind having to struggle. The well known fashion writer for the Washington Post and the New York times gave us this sparkling news about a zipper from Van Cleef & Arpels.

“The white gold teeth clench and then slide open — the zipper reveals throat and then breastbone, as a diamond tassel quivers in the cleavage.

Van Cleef & Arpels’s zipper necklace

The zipper necklace, set as a cluster of geometric gem stones, is a marvel of workmanship. And its history at Van Cleef & Arpels goes way back — to when a special client in 1939 asked the Paris jeweler for a diamond-encrusted working zipper.
This feat of technology for a madcap jewel was not achieved until 1951. By then, the client, Wallis Simpson, had become the duchess of Windsor, and she never did have a diamond zipper to close the back of her little black dress, as Elsa Schiaparelli, the surrealist designer, had suggested to her.
The sartorial link between dressmaker’s zipper and couture clothing is not a coincidence. The Van Cleef archives are rich with lace “collars” and gem-set cords that have linked the jeweler to fashion. “The zipper shows jewelry’s capacity for transformation — in its function and its ability to make the ephemeral eternal,” said Stanislas de Quercize, the chief executive of Van Cleef & Arpels. ”

This is an except from an article entitled Jewelry: Unzip the Bling By SUZY MENKES,Published: January 31, 2011 in the New York Times and a version of this article appeared in print on February 1, 2011, in The International Herald Tribune.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

The Secret Lives of Dresses Blog has become a book!!!

Google alert just let me know that a wonderful new book is being launched on February 10,2011 by a member of the Vintage Fashion Guild,Erin McKean. She will be at the San Francisco vintage clothing store Ver Unica to launch her very first book - The Secret Lives of Dresses (inspired by her blog, www.adressaday.com).

The Secret Lives of Dresses tells the story of Dora, a college student who decides to run her ailing grandmother's vintage clothing store.


The Secret Lives of Dresses Book Launch. Thursday February 10, 2011, 6-9pm at Ver Unica, 526 Hayes St., SF.