High Society Dressing

One of the perks of my job is getting to work on interesting custom pieces I don't usually get to tackle. Recently one of my most stylish clients asked for something a little bit different, a re-production of a Grace Kelly movie dress she had fallen in love with.

In the movie High Society Grace Kelly wears an amazing sky blue and white stripe dress by Edith Head as her character Tracy Lords sweeps into magnificent room to dazzle the reporters from Spy Magazine. Big sleeve, big skirts, and big glamor!

At first glance it seemed a fairly simple construction, but a glimpse at the back, and a showcase at the V&A showed a more complex meeting of solid and sheer fabrics that Ms Head was famous for. On top of that tracking down a strip silk in just the right size stripe, and just the right shade of blue took some serious supplier sleuthing. Fortunately I contacted a silk supplier in NYC the week they happened to get in the perfect fabric!

The project took a lot of experimentation to get the right drapes and translucency, as well as more than 17 yards of pure silk!

A few changes here and there to fit the lady who would be wearing it, but certainly an enjoyable challenge, and one I was sad to see leave the studio! (The waist on the dress is actually much smaller than the display mannequin, hence the gap on the over skirt band)

Kanzashi Romance

I've been busy with kanzashi making the past few months, but trying not to spam up the blog too much with them. I love making the traditional geisha style kanzashi, and that's been building up into quite a collection! I also love the chance to do something a little more creative with designs as well.

I recently made up a batch inspired by vintage valentines cards and corsages for the shop perfect for valentines date outfits or valentines gifts. I made a decent name for myself back in the day making quirky kanzashi and loved trying some new things  out with these like making rose bouquets and pansies.

Also been adding little traditional mini monthly kanzashi for those interested in collecting a full calender of the flowers like me, without totally blowing the bank! 



Another thing I'm slowly working on is features on how to actually wear kanzashi since a lot of people seem to have fallen in love with them as objects over the years, but no-one seems to have much light to shed on how to use them! I started on the first steps to fixing that this week with some retro looking fashion plates featuring some of the kanzashi available in the shop worn in a 1930's inspired hair do.

Plans in the works for hairstyling tutorials to go with them too in the future. In the mean time if you are looking to buy some there are some rather nice (if I do say so myself ) traditional and retro designs in the Vivcore shop, and here are some kanzashi in action!

Retro Belle

Not much to read today, but I know everyone loves a good retro photo or 4! I had the pleasure of shooting with the lovely Kitty Lynne the other week and snapping the following shots of our Mid Century Mode collection.

 

She's such a gem to work with, and always one of the funnest parts of being a designer. You can still snap up the dresses from the Vivcore shop, and stop by Kitty's page too for even more! There is also a quick interview with her from a few months back when we first started working together.

Brooch Bouffant

If you collect vintage jewelry, you probably have more than a few vintage brooches constantly on hand> Now sure, the obvious place to put them is on a nice  frock, jacket or cardigan, but why not get a little more exciting and use them to decorate your vintage hairstyle too! A popular early 60's look, just perch it front of your bouffant or up do to add a little extra glitter a la Betty Draper in Rome.

The sparkle of a tiara and keeping retro without having to go all out princess!

You can just pin the brooch to the ponytail elastic, or you can follow this basic tutorial and turn your brooch into a hair ornament in it's own right!

(If you lack brooches there are some in the Vivcore shop)

It's Fabric I'm in Love

From the V&A

A while back I was fortunate to catch the V&A's Golden Age of Couture exhibit and spent longer than most staring into a glass case of fabric swatches saying over and over in my head, "If only I could lay my hands on those....". Back in the 1940's Zika Ascher founded a London fabric company that really changed the face of textiles as we know them today, Ascher fabrics. They were the first to work with fine artists of the time like Picasso, Henry Moore, and Cecil Beaton to create stunning fabrics and scarves. Their fabrics were used by couture houses such as Dior, Schiaparelli, Givenchy, Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, and Mary Quant. The cherry on the top is that not only were these fabrics designed by the best and used by the best, they were even worn by some of the most exciting clients as well. Such as the then, Princess Elizabeth.

In short as an English girl with a fine arts degree, a clothing company and a passion for vintage fashion and art, it was love at first sight.

Mid Century Mode Collection

Back in October of last year, part serendipity, part research lead to my standing in a fantastically vintage archive room, sighing over thousands of fabric designs from the 40's up, and coming away with a stock room full of bolts of Ascher cottons, all sporting vibrant mid-century designs, just waiting for Spring. Although a late debut, the dresses from this vintage dream are finally rolling out in Vivcore's Mid Century Mode collection. It's been a real pleasure working with fabrics of such a perfect pedigree, and a thrill to be able to add an extra dimension of authenticity to our vintage inspired designs, by using fabrics designed by the best in the decades we all love the best!

Although the first dress from this line came out a while ago, this week is a the big launch of the Mid Century Mode Collection with 4 bold new dresses added to the store. It's all about authentic vintage flavor, and a real pleasure to add this extra slice of elegance from the motherland.

The collection, like a flower, is just showing it's first pretty buds and sure to grow. Keep watching to see how it matures! Supplies of each fabric are limited, so each design will only be available as you see it today for as long as the fabric is available. Check out the dresses here!

Pastel Pearls

As much as I love crazy all out sparkle, just like Marie Antoinette I have a real soft spot for pearls.  Lustrous, luxurious, but also natural and understated. There is a gentle beauty to them. They always make a girl look her best. They flatterer our complexions, and go with every single outfit in our wardrobe!

I have a box with 3 full faux pearl parures, but over the weekend I was able to add to my jewels wardrobe a demi parure of real large fresh water pearls.

This set is already so special to me. The pendant was a Christmas present from my husband and features tiny diamonds and and a sizable pink amethyst that glitters so beautifully.

The style is so classic and elegant, but the pastel candy colors I hope give it personality and make it a little more fun and rococo feeling.

Get the Look Sale

If you want to pick up some pearls of your own, there is a sale on pearls over on the Vivcore shop, so you can save big and pick up a full or demi parure of your own too, even pearl wearing dolls are on sale!!

Instant Accessories Wardrobe!

If the dress can make the girl, then right accessories make the dress! One of the elements of vintage style that really define the vintage look,(especially in the 50's early 60's) it is the trend towards matching suits of accessories.

Matching jewels and matching small goods always really pulled together an outfit. Wearing vintage in this modern age it is very tricky to be able to find these perfectly matched sets, especially in small fabric goods, but it is a wonderful and effortless way to make any dress a polished ensemble!

Chose a color accent to play up in a print dress by choosing an accessory set that matches a detail in the dress, or pull a look together top to toe by color blocking accessories that match you shoes along with a solid color dress (different colored sets can really make a simple dress look different in almost endless ways, a great way to stretch a limited wardrobe on a limited budget!)

Get the look

Whilst jewelry can sometimes survive together in sets, fabric items rarely do, but as always that's where repro comes into play! The new "Pretty You" collection on in my shop is made in this old style only new, so you can indulge in this vintage trend today! The flirty little flower brooch, scarf, hair bows and whimsy are all hand made from scratch in the exact same fabrics so they are all a perfect match in color and texture. Sometimes it's possible to marry a few vintage items to look like a set, but there are always discrepancies in the texture and color (especially with white accessories since they age very differently making all kinda of different colors). It's possible to build your own set from the collection items, and the nicest thing to me about them is that they can turn any lone dress into a finished outfit!

The collection is based on a set from one of my 1963 catalogs to make it as authentic as it is cute!


Follow here to pick up the set and get the look!

Pearly Queen

If there's one fashion thing people universally agree on, it's that you can't live without a good set of pearls!

When I'm putting together my outfit for the day one of the things I most frequently reach for is one of my favorite strands of simulated pearls! I love them because their beautiful subtle luster looks classy for day or evening wear, and they really do go with everything!

I do have a dream of one day owning a beautiful set of real pearls, but that's one of those dreams I have for the future (if I ever strike it rich someday), for right now though I'm all about nice simulated pearls (even Jackie Kennedy wore faux pearls so there's no shame in being a part of that fashion club!)

Things I like to see in my pearls are a hand knotted cord (It's super secure, and adds a touch of authenticity to the pearls as that's how the real deal are strung) and interesting clasp (the best way to add some extra glitz to the simplicity of pears!) and color.

Color me  retro
Classic white pearls are a great and timeless choice because they literally go with everything a girl might own, ball gowns, jeans, sundresses, the works! But I also love fun colors. In the 50's and 60's especially, colorful pearls were all the rage. With names like Creme de Menthe green, manufacturers went crazy for colors to fit with the vibrant styles of the time. A strong mid century trend for rainbow colored pearls mean colorful pearls are a super way to make timeless pearls look that little bit more obviously retro cool. 






Get the look!
Inspired by vintage pearl jewelry we've recently added a collection of classic pearls in elegant white and retro colors to the shop as a perfect finish to any and all of our outfits! Hand knotted on silk cords to match our Swarovski crystal pearls, and joined together with beautiful crystal clasps in the exact style of our favorite vintage gems.

The great thing about buying this old style new is that you can get the full matching set in tip top condition (so no devastating cord breaks) and with no discrepancy in color or luster between the pieces the way a married set of vintage jewelry has. We even package all our vintage style jewelry in lovely retro velour boxes so it really is just like back in the day!

***Visit the new collection of pearl jewelry just added to the shop today to pick up your own set and get the look today!***

 

Fashion Foundations

When I'm getting dressed on a morning, or for a night out I have a kind of internal check list as I go... Got hair all pined up in the best curls of vintage roles? Check! Ruby red pout? Check! Rocking a gorgeous dress? Check! Ready to go? Well kinda... The first part that goes on, before the dress, the heels, even the lipstick for me is foundations! it's a word that goes over my head about 3 times before I finish planing my outfit, foundations, foundations, foundations!!!!

Girdles and waist cinchers were a staple in every ladies closet back in the day. At some point (looking at you 1960's) they became a kind of relic, something people looked at as kind of matronly even. These days they are finding their footing again! They've shed that old fashioned stigma and firmly embraced once again as retro lovely! You can see all different kinds represented in pin up photography, and not only that but they give us modern gals that vintage figure the clothes just cry out for!

For me if it's a full skirted look I pull on my waist cincher for a nipped in wast above the billowing crinoline (smaller for everyday, huge for evenings!) for a perfect hour glass shape, and for straight dresses I pull out my long girdle to get that neat sexy wiggle and super sleek curves.


Shop Update
Recently to help celebrate the wonderful world of spandex and nylon curves I've introduced several of my absolute favorite girdles and waist cinchers to the Boudoir Shop! So if any one out there was looking for some new foundation garments I hope you'll stop by our store!

Wearing History

I've been getting that period costume itch again, the little voice in my ear that is always saying "panniers are practical, it's those modern narrow doors that are all wrong!" has been speaking up again.

It's no secret I love my fashion old, not just 1950's old but 1780's old and even further back! One thing I love about vintage fashion is how people, even back then liked to play around with styles gone by.

Hero to vintage fashion fans Christian Dior was a big dabbler in all things old school, even in his day. He had dreams of the Belle Epoch before the 1st world war where the houses and people were opulent and more beautifully dressed than in the world he saw around him. His house created some amazing period costume inspired pieces such as the famous Zumire suit which recalls an 18th century riding habbit.

Digby Morton made a huge splash in 1952 with his Tudor inspired evening ensemble.

"He [Digby Morton] designed a cocktail-into-evening jacket that is almost a replica of the swashbuckling sixteenth century jacket. Only the cocktail hour was then non existent they simply started drinking at breakfast!" 1952 newspaper on the collection

The glamorous Lady Alexandra was mistaken for royalty in 1948 wearing a Victorian inspired gown from Jacques Fath. Balenciaga also produced some stunning bustle dresses inspired by the 19th Century. 

"Style that hints at the classic and elegant forms of the past is a characteristic of 1950's fashion"

It's funny how we sometimes think of the current obsession with fashions past as a more beautiful style utopia, to be a modern condition. But I seems people have always idealized and looked wistfully backwards for inspiration. I suppose if any of us really were born back in the 40's-50's we might have been swanning around as fashion eccentrics in Edwardian hats and gowns! I know I certainly like to think so ;-)

Get the look!

Lately I've been getting my fix of vintage period drama with a few of my favorite designs from Candy Violet. My pink silk chemise dress, paired with the drop earrings and necklace in coral. Makes me feel like Norma Shearer!  For any one else out here looking to try out a bit of that vintage take on centuries past we have a sale on a few items this month to help you do just that! We have a selection of dresses and accessories on sale here 10% off till February 1st ! I hope you'll help us spread the word and celebrate centuries of romanticizing the past!