Mission Statement

This blog is dedicated to the love of real vintage clothing & accessories - not just any old shmata that might be called vintage, just because it is more than 20 years old - but clothing & accessories that are truly interesting, aesthetically & historically, to fashion makers, designers, collectors, & lovers of the craft.

I collect designer label & 'ready couture' vintage clothing. My love of the craft & passion for fashion provides the inspiration to build my own collection.
Within my collection, each piece has it's own intrinsic value, historically (in it's contribution to modern fashion, post-1900) & aesthetically (in it's design). Also, each piece relates to one another within a certain genre or era, like a collection or a series (by designer or by look). And each piece is a reflection of not only my own taste & interests, but the taste & interests of those amazing mentors who taught me on the subject of fashion & fashion history.

My favorite periods/movements in modern fashion history are:

-The bias cut of the 1930's, as invented by Madeleine Vionnet in Paris and immortalized on actresses like Jean Harlow by Hollywood costume designer Adrian

-The hippie look of the late 1960's/early 1970's, particularly interpreted by those designers who introduced a softer, more romantic clothing with 'flou', like Ossie Clark in England & Giorgio di Sant Angelo in America

-The disco and punk looks of the mid 1970's to early 1980's, still soft but with a harder edge, as interpreted by designers like Stephen Burrows & Stephen Sprouse in America and Zandra Rhodes & Vivienne Westwood in England

-The Japanese contribution of non-western aesthetics & construction to western fashion of the late 1970's to 1980's (and still going stong!), by designers like Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto

-The power-suit/ladies-who-lunch look of the 1980's, like Geoffrey Beene in America and Yves Saint Laurent in Paris

Note: I don't mean to exclude various modern fashion eras from my collection - namely the 1940's & 50's - but it was a time when clothing was so 'built up' with layers of support and interfacing that it fit women like straight-jackets...very un-liberating. That's not to say there weren't amazing designers during this era, like Claire McCardell & Pauline Trigere, who WERE liberating women and disliked rigidity in women's clothing. And at the same time, I can not exclude artists like Charles James, for his genuis contribution to design & construction).

Additional designers that I love and adore in my collection:

-Mountain Artisans, the West Virginia collective who brought the art of quilting into vogue in the late 60's/early 70's

-Gil Aimbez and Clovis Ruffin, for their elegant sportswear and whimsical knitwear for working women in the 70's & 80's

-John Kloss, for his sexy, slinky lingere that was so amazing, it was worn as sportswear & eveningwear in the 70's

-Sonia Rykiel, Diane von Furstenberg, Norma Kamali and Donna Karan, for their incredible contribution to the liberation of women's bodies in their clothes since the 70's

-And of course, Halston...the master of American sportswear