Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Manufactured Fibers

One thing that we should be thankful for in this modern age is manufactured fibers.  Though polyester ruled the day in the 70s and just ended up making everyone sweaty and uncomfortable, it really paved the way for experimentation.  I can't tell you how many times I've gone to list an item from the 70s and looked at the garment tag and thought, "Whaaaat??!!" at the name of the fibers written.

However, when you look at the alternatives, cotton and linen that wrinkle easily, silk that's very delicate, and wool that's itchy and gets eaten by moths, poly-blend items really make living easier.

And less ironing.  I hate ironing.

Polyester and blends really began around the post-war era, when cotton/nylon blends began to emerge and America was taken by the whole TV-box dinner way of life -- simple and easy.  Or "Wash and Wear," when it came to clothing.

The 60s and 70s really brought about the experimentation with fibers and polyester, virtually eliminating the need for ironing (thank, God!), and, in effect, keeping colors more vibrant and fabric more durable.
So, we still see it to this day.  50/50 cotton/polyester blend is stamped in many, many tshirts and jeans.  Also, in carpets, blankets, and various other housewares.

Making life a little easier and wrinkle free, I like that.

Links
1   |   2   |   3

Monday, January 28, 2013

Vintage Designer Feature: Vera Neumann of "Vera"

When I am looking at things to put in the shop, I'm generally always drawn to interesting prints and bright colors.  Because of this, I will always pick vintage Lilly Pulitzer items and Vera.

In much the same way as Lilly Pulitzer and starting around the same time, Vera Neumann created iconic works of wearable art in bold prints and colors, always signing her prints as simply, “Vera.”

She started out designing linens with her husband out of their New York apartment, until the linens were picked up by a department store, and the couple outgrew their space.

At this time, the Second World War was happening and linen fabrics had become scarce, so Vera began experimenting with parachute silk, which lead to the creation of the iconic scarves she is now so well known for.

She always signed her scarves with her signature, thus becoming a well known name in the fashion industry with the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly wearing her designs.

Dating her work is simple by looking at her signature. If her name is all lower case, you have one of her earliest works dating back to the 1940s. Starting in the 1950s, she began capitalizing the letters in “Vera,” while in the 60s, she added the copyright symbol and a ladybug next to her name. By the 70s, the ladybug was used less and less, until it finally disappeared, leaving just her name and the copyright symbol to this day.

This picture shows a sampling of Vera scarves we have in the shop. I love their bright, vivid colors and bold, geometric designs. What do you think?


Images
1  |   2   |   3

Friday, January 25, 2013

Introducing -- MENS!






During our Holiday Hop Block Party around Christmastime, I had a cute couple come in, and, while I was checking them out (she bought one of my favorite dresses in the shop at the time -- a purple geometric print 50s dress), they began talking to me about if I bought anything from people and if I was interested in mens.

The answer to both of those questions was, "Yes."

I get quite a few guys coming into the shop asking about menswear, more than I ever thought I would get, and I have begun to start searching for it.  Men's however, I've come to find, is harder to find.

But here, I had two people who were asking to bring things in and show them to me.  I was all about that.

A month later, I got an email from Jade, asking if her and her husband could come in and bring things for me to look at.  The next day, they came, I searched through giant bags of vintage, and here are the beginnings of the men's section at Ollie Otson.

Hope you guys (and I really do mean GUYS) enjoy!

Links
1   |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5
6   |   7   |   8   |   9   |   10

Monday, January 21, 2013

Le Petit Echo de la Mode







 I stumbled across this site that sells authentic, vintage magazine covers, not reproductions, and had a lot of fun sifting through what they had.

I love paper euphoria, having for many years focused on just making my wallets with vintage and vintage inspired prints I found, so whenever I see it somewhere, I'm very drawn to it.

These covers are from a magazine called Le Petit Echo de la Mode, which was a French, weekly publication for women's fashion.  It stayed in publication throughout the war years, though publication became a bit sporadic during due to the shortage of paper brought on my the way.

For over 100 years, the magazine was in print, until sales began to decline in the 1980s, and it was pulled from the newsstands in 1983.

This website has lots of the covers from the publication throughout the year, and even has them categorized by events, such as Christmas, Funeral, and Off to the Races.  It's really worth a look!

Image Sources
1  |  2  |  3  |  4
5  |  6  |  7  |  8

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

What a Waist!


The waistline of a dress is your key to solving fit issues.  Many different waistline styles can fit the same person, yet some are meant to stay away from.  Depending on your body type, where the waistline falls can help accentuate your bust, make your torso and legs seem longer, and hide your hips.  However, choosing the wrong cut can do the exact opposite.
Below are the five basic waistline cuts for garments, highlighting what each emphasizes and diminishes and how it will look on you when you wear it, as well as which decade the cut was most prominate in.

Natural Waistline
The waist is the skinniest part of a person's torso, falling just below the belly button between the ribcage and the hips.  If a dress is cut at the natural waistline, it falls right on this line for a person. 

This look is perfect for hourglass figures, as it provides a balance between the bust and the hips.  However, whose midsections are as wide or wider than the hips will want to stay away from this look, as it will just bring attention to the midsection's thickness.

Most popular:  1950s


Drop Waist

A drop waist features a waistline that falls at or below the hips, creating a lengthening effect for the torso.

Perfect for:  Slim, boxy women as it gives the impression of having an hourglass figure.

Stay away:  Long torsos will appear even longer.  Petite girls will look like they have even short legs.

Most popular:  1920s. Repeated in the 60s till today in fashion.


Empire Waist

A gathered waistline that sits just below the bust.  Gives a long, slender look due to the draping of the fabric caused by the gathering.

Perfect for:  Everyone.  Adds curves to smaller framed women.  Hides the hips and stomaches of heavy-set and pearshaped women.  Enhances the bust on all. 

Stay away:  Larger busted women, as it will draw even more attention to your chest.

Most popular:  Jane Eyre times.  And the 1970s.


Basque Waist

Generally starting around the natural waist, this waistline dips about 2-3 inches in the center to create a u-shape or v-shape (also called the v-shaped waist or the Antebellum waist).

Perfect for:  Those with notable curves.  Petite girls as it elongates the torso.

Stay away:  Boxy shaped figures (equal waist to hips) as it will make the wearer look even boxier.  Pear shapes as it will draw attention to the lower belly.


No Waist
A-line silhoutte dresses contain no waistline.  This cut creates a long, slimming look to the wearer as it does not cut the body at any certain point. 

Perfect for:  Boxy, hourglass, petite tall.

Stay away:  Pear shaped (large hips).

Most popular:  1960s.


Sources:
1   |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6

Monday, January 14, 2013

Claire McCardell - The American Look

When I first started working at Playclothes in California, I had little knowledge of many designers in vintage history.  Of course, I knew the big names that are still around today, but little about those who had come and gone.

I still remember the day Phyllis, the manager of Playclothes, began going on and on about this Claire McCardell dress we had just gotten into the shop.  I couldn't understand why she was so impressed, it was just a simple, black frock.  She seemed slightly offended my ignorance and gave me a history lecture right there on the spot.  Since, I have never forgotten what she told me and have sought out the label in my own vintage travels.

If you are just as ignorant about this wonderful vintage designer as I was, Claire McCardell was one of the most influential designers to American women's wear and was dubbed as the creator of the "American Look." Her simple, yet elegant, looks were designed for the everyday woman and meant to be comfortable and practical.  She shunned the French influence on American fashion, and instead focused on what women wanted, generally drafting ideas that fit her own needs and concerns with fashion.  Through twenty years of work, Claire McCardell reinvented the wheel, so to say, of women's fashion, incorporating easy-care fabrics, the idea of separates, and the body over undergarments to create form.

Educated at the-now Parsons with a degree in costume design, McCardell's fashion career began and ended at Townley Frocks, with short stints at other companies when Townley Frocks closed for a few years.  During her time at Townley Frocks, she created numerous functional and sophisticated designs, her first being a tent-style dress called the Monastic which could be worn with or without a belt to give the wearer a form, and her next being a wrap-around dress that could be put over anything from a bathing suit to a housedress to a party dress called the Popover.  Her designs were innovative and relied on bias cuts and fabric draping to give them elegance, as well as the idea of clothing as separates.  Most importantly, however, they were versatile and comfortable and catered to the needs of every woman.

When World War Two came about and fabric was heavily rationed, McCardell very much embraced the use of natural-fiber fabrics, such as cotton and wool, and used them not just for day, but for evening and formal wear, as well.  She also started a craze of ballet slippers worn as shoes, sometimes covering them in matching fabric to the dress in her runway shows.  Her designs were frugal, using little fabric, but still fabulous, so much so that by the late 40s, she was Lord and Taylor's number one selling ready-to-wear designer.

The versatility and comfortability of her designs were not just due to the fabric used, but to the structure of her garments, as well.  Her designs relied more on the body's natural shape than an undergarment's shape to the body.  She used the fabric, cutting on a bias, to give shape to the bust and used the cut of the sleeves, rather than a shoulder pad, to give definition.  Her clothes were designed to give ease to the wearer not irritation.

Though her life was cut short due to cancer, Claire McCardell managed to create many essential looks to American fashion that are still present today.  Her versatility with design, fabric, and shape defined the American Look of the time, and those elements of design make her one of the most influential designers of the times.

Now, you've been educated.

Sources:
1   |   2   |   3   |   4

Friday, January 11, 2013

Printed Beauties -- Shop Update




1   |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6 

I recently accepted some pieces from a friend on consignment.  She's a costume designer and has loads and loads and loads of vintage stored away, though she's partial to most of it.  It's a process, but she's slowly letting go, starting with this vintage beauties.  She has a great eye and everything is in great condition, so I can't wait to see what else she sends my way in the future!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Causing Controversy - Hemline History

Out of all the components of a garment, the one part that gets the most controversy, throughout history, has always been the hemline. The rise and fall of this line of fabric has caused more stirs and scandals than any other. But why? Mainly, it has to due with women, their perceived role in society, and how the general population perceives that role.

All throughout early history, women wore long dresses that graced the ground and covered any aspect of their legs. Under the long dresses, they typically wore long bloomers, hoops under skirt, and numerous other garments that hindered any chance of the leg to see daylight. Up until World War One, that was considered the norm, until women began to take charge of their lives, rights, and costume.

1920s: The dawn of the decade brought a new right to women, the right to vote, and with this newfound righteousness, women began to dress more comfortably. Dresses became less fitted, more fun, and shorter. Hemlines rose to an all-time low in the later twenties as the carefree, Flapper look took over.

1930s: The stock market crash of the Great Depression that swallowed most of the decade brought hemlines back down, below the knees. Women dressed more conservatively for the times, and their outfits reflected this somberness compared to the lightheartedness of the twenties.

1940s: The second World War brought rations to many things, including fabric and clothing. As women bountifully joined the workplace and, even, the war effort, for the first time, hemlines shortened with this new independence.

1950s: The end of the war, the accessibility of ready-made clothing and credit, and the idea of the "American Dream" brought a new role and glamour to fashion for women in the fifties. A decade divided by ideals and age, skirts became fuller and hemlines dropped once again to below-the-knees, as women put their focus back on the family, and they became tighter and shorter during the later years as the younger generation began to have more of a say in fashion.

1960s: The media and the youth of America began to be the strongest influences during the decade and fashion became the most varied of any decade prior due to the want to cater to the youth of America. Though starting off by mimicking the classic look of Jackie Kennedy, the miniskirt invaded in the middle, and the hippie movement closed it out in the end.  Hemlines went from mid to short to long and, throughout the decade, covered everything in between, as America was torn over the military conflict in Vietnam.

1970s: Though the first decade to be mostly characterized by pants, hems still varied on skirts and dresses depending on the look. Mini, medi, and maxi skirts were worn, and, even with the strong musical influences on the decade of disco and punk, endured the era without one length being more popular than the others.

1980s to present: As history repeats itself, so does fashion, and the media and youth still have control over how the trends are received. Women's role in society is becoming stronger every day, and their influence in fashion has never wavered, though the length of the hem has.

Garment Sources
1   |   2   |   3

Monday, January 7, 2013

The Queen of Prep -- Lilly Pulitzer

I remember my freshman year of college, my roommate at the time, who was born and raised in the Carolinas, started going on and on and on about how much she hated it when her dad would come to visit because he'd always bring her a Lilly dress and that just wasn't her style anymore.

A "Lilly" dress?  What does that mean?  Being from up north, I had no idea, until she showed me a Lilly Pulitzer dress.  What she showed me at the time, a bright, crazy, beach-y print, was not something I would ever have worn, so I related with her.  I probably even made a face.  Whatever her dad had gotten her was hideous and that was the last time I had ever saw it.

Years later, though, as I was living in California and really starting to get into vintage, I came to love Lilly Pulitzer and her designs of the past.  They were creative and colorful, with a lot of care thrown in to the designs.  I remember going to American Vintage in Echo Park and finding a great, subdued Lilly print dress in beiges.  It's was beautiful.  Too big, but beautiful, so I bought it anyways and eventually sold it in the shop.

Nowadays, since I am back in the South, I always look for vintage prints by her and usually can't keep them in stock.  She's loved by many and her bright colors really draw attention and make a statement.

Here's a little backstory on Ms Lilly Pulitzer:

The old saying, "It's all in who you know..." could not ring any truer than in the case of Lilly Pulitzer.  Her former schoolmate Jaqueline Kennedy wore one of her designs on the cover of LIFE magazine, and the rest is history.

After eloping and moving from New York to Palm Beach, Lilly started a juice stand with the citrus from her husband's groves.  While working, she noticed that the juice would spray and make a mess of her clothes.  Her solution?  A colorfully printed, sleeveless cotton, shift dress, the first of many "Lilly's." 

To this day, the brand still thrives on the colorful prints it was founded on. Bright, beachy colors with feminine prints compose shift dresses, comfy skirts, pants, and even housewares, all with a hidden "Lilly" written somewhere in the design.



Lilly thrived for over twenty years creating her designs and prints, but in 1984, she decided it just wasn't as fun as it used to be, and closed up shop. In 1993 the line was revived with Lilly acting as a creative consultant, and it still holds the same intentions and ideas as before: making simple, comfortable items in crazy, fun prints for everybody.

Garment Links
1   |   2   |   3

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Out with the Old...


Instead of doing a "Sale" section on Etsy after the Holidays, I'm doing a quick lot of auctions/Buy It Now on eBay for a little cleaning up of inventory.


Plus, I have a lot of hats up there, as well, that have just been sitting in the back room.

Out with the old, in with the new!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's finally started to get chilly here in Savannah, chilly enough for me to pull out my winter coat.  This and my recent post on Pendleton Woolen Mills, plus a recent addition of numerous wool items into the shop the past month inspired me to do a little post on wool and how to properly care for it.

I always say vintage is a learning process, and I have ruined a handful of items in my pursuit to clean them, mainly because I think I know what I'm doing when I really don't have a clue.  My biggest upset was trying to spot clean a wool sweater once and ending up with a lot larger of a spot than I started up with because I ruined the fibers.

After I ruined this piece, I looked up the proper way to clean it.  Yup, after.  Because that's how I am.

Wool is one of the most versitile natural fibers in fabric production.  It can be spun with a number of different fibers, such as cotton and polyster, and acts as an insulator, keeping warm in the winter and cold in the summer, making it a fabric for all year.  Also, wool is a natural flame retardant, can absorb up to 30% of its own weight in water without feeling wet, and can easily be dyed or tailored, making wool highly desirable in the world of fashion.  Because wool is woven from natural fibers, it can be made into different weaves, but requires special care and storage.

There are two major types of wool weaves, worsted and woolen. The main difference between the two is based on how tightly the wool is twisted. Worsted wool is created by combing and twisting the wool into very tight yarns to ensure a smooth and relatively fuzz-free texture, while woolen wool is spun from varying length fibers that are untangled and lined up and spun into yarns with low to medium twists. The result is soft and textured with a fuzzy and warm look and feel. Worsted wool is perfect for wear in spring and summer due to its lighter feel and is generally created into gabardine, lightweight wool suitings, and wool challis. Woolen fabrics are preferred for the colder months and are used for soft-knits, flannels, tweed, and coating fabrics.

Wool is pretty low maintenance when it comes to care as it is generally only needed to be cleaned once or twice a year. If the garment becomes soiled, it is best to get it cleaned within one to two days of the incident by the preferred method of cleaning, generally dry cleaning. In the meantime, it is just important to store your wool clothes is closet with plenty of space and air for the fabric to breath. When hanging, put coats and suits on shaped hangers and blouses and dresses on padded hangers. Make sure to zip up and fasten any buttons to help keep the garment's shape. If folding wool sweaters, blouses, or dresses, make sure to put tissue paper between the folds to help avoid creases.

Even though the way wool is created makes it naturally resistant to wrinkles, creases and some wrinkles from wear do need to be assed periodically. When this happens, it is best to use a throroughly heated iron set on the steam heat setting for wool. Never use it on dry. Press as much as possible on the inside of the garment, but if one must move to the outside, make sure to put a press cloth or a white handkerchief between the iron and the fabric to keep from any press or shine marks. Worsted fabrics should only ever be pressed, while woolen fabrics should be steamed since they have more texture. 

Wool is very succeptible to bugs who find it to be very tasty. When storing a wool garment it is very important to make sure it is cleaned, the same goes for any other garments you might be storing with it, as food stains and invisible body odors attract moths. Dry cleaning kills moth eggs and larvae that may be residing on your clothing; brushing wool can also help get rid of this problem.

 Sources
1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5