Back in Business

Sweater - vintage

Blouse - vintage Escada

Trousers - Marc Jacobs

Earrings - my godmother

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

A Little Love for Trudy Campbell

Many go off the deep end when speaking of the costuming of Mad Men's female characters. The breathless fawning over the wardrobes of Betty, Joan, and to some degree Peggy, are the subjects of endless scrutiny and admiration. There's one supporting character whose style doesn't get a lot of attention, but who I have quietly decided is my favorite. I'm talking about Trudy Campbell.

When at home, Trudy usually goes for a long-ish sleeved shirt dress with a full skirt, which I have decided is my favorite look for fall. 

She prefers prints. Her accessories are usually minimal, save for large bulbous earrings and the occassional statement hat.  Well bred and blue blooded, Trudy is mindful of trends but isn't a slave to them, unlike Jane, another young brunette who married a Sterling Cooper exec and has a sad whiff of fashion victim in her dressing.

Trudy is polished, on point, yet always having fun, and for that I tip my wide-brimmed hat to her.

Tied Up

Sweater - vintage

Skirt - vintage Missoni

Necklace - H&M

Shoes - Jimmy Choo

Fall Style Inspiration

I think this fall will be the time I break free of my self-imposed work uniform of skinny black trousers and vintage blouses and just dive into the nipped waists and full skirtedness of the silhouettes below.

This is Lara in the September 2010 issue of Vogue, photographed by Peter Lindbergh.

I'll accessorize with a bag though, instead of a baby.

The best part of all is that you don't have to spend $4,000 on a skirt from Louis Vuitton to achieve this look. As beautifully rendered as LV's clothes are, I could pull all this together with incredible ease with a quick trip to a select few vintage shops in my neighborhood and maybe a swing though J Crew or Banana Republic for the sweaters.  I haven't bought clothes in a couple months, which is a long time for me, because I like to be certain what it is I spend my money on. At last, the choice is made.

Plaid to the Bone

Blouse - vintage

Vest - H&M

Jeans - J Brand

Shoes - Pour la Victoire

Color Photos from the Depression

This collection of photos, originally posted by The Denver Post have been making the rounds on the internet lately, but I wanted to share a specific few. It is so rare to see color film from the 1930s and early 1940s, even rarer still that ordinary working folk and homesteaders were chosen as subjects for these photographs.

Recently, the lovely Lauren of Dear Golden wrote about how she wishes that films from the 1930s were in color so she could see the costumes as they really were. I know what she means - the only color films from that time that immediately come to my mind are Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz - both came out in 1939 but neither actually took place in the thirties. In this series of photographs, the dream to see life as it was in full color comes partially true, however most of the outfits are not movie star fancy.

The Depression was a tough time for all sorts of reasons. People added color to their lives when they could afford to. Fiesta ware was started during this time, to bring some cheer into homes.

This is only a small sample of the collection. I highly suggest you visit the Post's website on your own time and see more of it for yourself. I did some cropping so that close ups of the outfits could be better seen.  All photo credits are given over there as well.

Fake Vintage

The guy at the bank complimented me on my blouse and asked if it was vintage. I sadly told him no, it's basically the complete opposite of vintage.

Blouse - H&M

Skirt - Kate Spade

Earrings - my godmother

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

I Have Found My Bag

I've been searching for a weekday bag that is serious enough for work but un-serious enough that it won't murder all the fun when paired with a weekend outfit. I've seen this Celine bag before but never in these colors.

Something soft yet squarish. Impeccably crafted of mixed materials. Multi-tonal preferred. A teeny touch of hardware without being flashy. Functional. Beautiful. Here you are!

Photo via Jak and Jil

This is Fall

A camel coat with narrow sleeves, a few non-fussy bulbous gold buttons, and a fur collar. This is Miu Miu, so it's fairly safe to assume it's a couple thousand dollars (a similar version on Net-a-porter is currently selling for $1865) and so instead I shall journey to my favorite vintage shop and find something similar for a teensy fraction. This is my plan for fall. That and the knee-socky Prada loafer heels.

photo via the Calivintage tumblr

Introducing: Dronning Vintage!

Loves, I have a special announcement. I've been working on a side project for a few weeks, and now it's finally up and running. Say hello to Dronning Vintage!

I'm definitely not the first fashion blogger on earth to set up an Etsy shop devoted to lovely vintage items, and yet here I am, open for business. It all began a long time ago when I was making my thrifting rounds. I found so many awesome things, but on that particular day, everything was either too small or too big. Then the lightbulb came on - why can't I share all these lovely treasures with the world? I took them all and thus, Dronning was hatched.

'Dronning' is the Norwegian word for 'queen.' Everything in the shop is hand picked by me and is something I'd wear any day of the week. Dronning is classic and clean with a quirky undercurrent. You will find pieces from the fifties through the eighties. There is nothing from the nineties because thinking of the nineties as vintage hurts me in my heart and makes me feel four hundred years old.  Ever so reflective of my aesthetic, there are some big names in the shop, like items from Bergdorf Goodman, Pendleton, and Saks Fifth Avenue's in-house lines, and also just as many anonymous gems. And it isn't only clothes - purses and other accessories are in there too.

My first day of business was yesterday and I've already sold a couple items. Things are up and running! So stop on by and say hello. You can also add Dronning to your Twitter feed too.

I'm truly delighted to share all of this with you! And now, back to our regularly scheduled Cuffington programming.

Golden Girl

Blouse: vintage

Sweater: Burberry

Trousers: Banana Republic

Necklace and earrings: my godmother

Shoes: Christian Louboutin

I'm This Many

Four years ago today I began Cuffington in it's current incarnation. What had once been a personal blog during the previous year took a turn for the fashionably worse (or better, at least I think so) with a post about Marc Jacobs leggings and I've been traveling down that road ever since.

And you have all been riding shotgun alongside me. We've been through quite a bit together, and I want to thank you for letting me commandeer this ship. There are some big things afoot and I'm going to fill you in on all of them later this month.

I love you all.

Mister Conductor

Jacket - vintage

Shirtdress - Rag & Bone

Vest - vintage

Jeans - J Brand

Boots - Fiorentini & Baker

Dressed Down

Sweater - Trovata

Shirt - vintage

Jeans - J Brand

Shoes - Converse

Something to Try

My brows are very blonde, and I pencil them every single morning into a plain jane arch. But just you wait: one day I will take a flying leap and do them like these gents. Behold the handiwork of the makeup artists who styled John Galliano's last menswear show. Wow.

I mean, I can't just stand in the shadows my whole life. Sometimes one needs to embark on delicious flights of the imagination, be it in the name of eyebrows or otherwise.

The hair is pretty cool too.

photos via Jak & Jil

Shark Week Style

For those of you who have both a television set and the Discovery Channel, you are well aware that Shark Week began on Monday. I have neither of those things, yet I still am not oblivious to this fact. Shark Week is a national phenomenon, and I count sharks among my favorite animals. I also count Jaws among my favorite movies. This is all to say that today on Cuffington we're going to talk about the costuming of Richard Dreyfuss's character in Jaws.

I'm just going to put this out there. In the seventies, Richard Dreyfuss was a total hottie.

Jaws came out in 1975, and his character is kind of scruffy (so not my type) but take a quick look at his work in American Graffiti or Close Encounters of the Third Kind (both also from the seventies) and you'll see what made my thirteen year old heart do the flitter-flutter.

In Jaws, Richard plays Matt Hooper, a recent college grad who now works for what is ambivilantly reffered to as 'the oceanographic institute on the mainland.' His specialty is sharks, science, and lookin' good in weathered sweatshirts and boat shoes.

In eighth grade some of my friends were talking about which actor was 'the hottest of hot.' The general concensus was that Brad Pitt was. Late to the conversation, I piped up with my Richard Dreyfuss love, and it was a one way ticket to eating lunch all by myself.

Pale pastels and hair tousled by the salty sea air are his bread and butter.  I think his character is supposed to be somewhat unlikeable - a snobby, entitled intellectual - but that just translates to mad nerd love on my end.

At one point he trades his navy wool beanie in for a navy blazer and burgundy tie when meeting with the mayor of the ficional town the film takes place in.

But pretty soon they all get back on the boat to hunt that shark.

It's a simple look, but one that works well and seems remarkably comfortable, even when you're dodging a 25-foot great white.

That Old Texas Sky

I found these old photos on my computer from a trip I made to Texas earlier this year. Enjoy.