Chocolate Mint

Dress - vintage

Jacket - Ralph Lauren

Necklace - Marc by Marc Jacobs

Earrings - my godmother

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

Good Day, Sunshine

We had warmth and sun in the Bay Area today. I eagerly welcomed it.

Sunglasses - Chanel

Blouse - Miu Miu

Trousers - Helmut Lang

Belt - Salvatore Ferragamo

Earrings - my godmother

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

Smell the Flower

It doesn't squirt water, promise!

Sweater - Givenchy

Skirt- Gap

Brooch - vintage

Shoes - Cole Haan

Vintage Creepiness

Below are some selections from a recently published list titled "Fifty Unexplainable Black and White Photos." Judging from the clothing and props, I venture to guess they were taken during the late Victorian period up through the early 1940s. I found it fun to imagine the context in which they were taken, but some of you may not.  As my friend Amy said upon viewing them, "I...will never sleep again."

French Cuffed

Sweater - vintage

Blouse - vintage Escada

Skirt - vintage

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

The Starter Hat

A mission I had at the Vintage Expo last week was to find a hat. I've not been a vintage hat wearer at all, and want to slowly work my way into that, but I wasn't sure where to start. I tried out a LOT of hats, believe me, in the search of something versatile and not too flashy.

I wanted a cream colored one, but in the end I found this simple, close-to-the-head black one.  It has a satin ribbon around the band an a little rhinestone brooch.  Pretty pared down, and is dressy enough to dress up an outfit but not too formal that I couldn't wear it during daylight hours.

Even with all the gusts of wind today, it stayed in place wonderfully, and I didn't even use any pins or combs. A sound choice, I think.

Hat & Blouse - vintage

Cardigan - vintage Elsa Schiaparelli

TRousers - Helmut Lang

Belt - Salvatore Ferragamo

Earrings - my godmother

Bag - Elliott Lucca

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

Cuffington on CNN.com

I don't know about you, but I think that when James Earl Jones uttered the immortal words 'This is CNN,' an article about San Francsico style was precisely what he had in mind.

My friends from The SF Style were interviewed for the Living section on CNN's website.  It's so flattering to see that a photo of me was chosen for their slideshow. I remember the afternoon that photo was taken quite well.  For more pictures of that moment, click here.

Mugshots from the 1920s

The 1920s seem to have been just as roaring in Australia as they were in the United States. And along with wild abandon, opportunism, and an eager black market for heavily regulated or outright contraband goods (like alcohol and cocaine) came arrests! Below are mugshots taken by Sydney police officers, recently resurrected by Australia's Forensic Photography Archive.

It is rightly noted in this article that for many of these folks, it is highly likely that this was the first time they had ever had their picture taken. No wonder some of them look awkward or unsure of what to do.

It's a fascinating way to see what real people were wearing as they lived their lives. Magazines and mail order catalogs are great for seeing fashions of any time period (especially ones so long ago that photography was not particularly widespread yet) but often they are illustrations or staged visuals of an ideal.  Most photography at this time was taken during very important events, where everyone was looking their best.  Humans in street photography are often blurry, because the technology was just not fast enough yet.  I think these images are windows into the real world, because they are wearing their every day dress and also standing still enough for a sharp picture.

More of these here.

Through the Raindrops

Sweater, Skirt & Belt - vintage

Shoes - Prada

It'll Give You Wings

This is the other 1940s rayon dress that I got at the expo last weekend.

A cool thing about it are these accordion folded panels on either side of the waist.  They tend to flap in any sort of breeze.

Dress - vintage

Bracelet - H&M

Necklace - vintage Bakelite

Earrings - my godmother

Shoes - Manolo Blahnik

I Almost Forgot About This

A few months ago I was looking on tumblr (I deleted my tumblr by the way, it was much more distracting than helpful) and came across an image from an editorial in Teen Vogue called 'Wild at Heart' from their February 2010 issue.  I remembered how much I adored the whole spread, whose primary focus was a ginger haired rockabilly-ish lass.

This was an issue of Teen Vogue that way back when I had actually without an ounce of shame blogged about and I'm really glad I hung onto it.  These first two photos/looks are my favorite, but I'm putting up the rest of it below.

Enjoy.

Plum Pudding

Blouse - vintage

Skirt - Yves Saint Laurent

Earrings - my godmother

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

1940s Costuming and Cheek Moles

Ah, A League of Their Own. One of my favorite movies from the 1990s. You know how sometimes films that are meant to take place a few decades before the time they were filmed really kind of half-ass it with the costuming and hair (Grease, I'm looking at you)?  A League of Their Own takes no such shortcuts.  Last year I had the privilege of seeing this film once again on the big screen and found myself paying close attention to the amazing costuming.  The film is set in the United States in the mid-1940s.

Here's Geena Davis and Lori Petty at the beginning of the movie.  You can't tell, but they both have high waisted sailor-type blue jeans on.

Here's a still from the charm school montage.  Hello, skinny belts and blouses. I like Geena's skirt and would totally steal it. Madonna's platforms are a bit higher than Geena's because she's such a shorty-pants.

Here's a shot in color from the same montage.  Rayon dresses!  A total staple of a 1940s wardrobe.

This is toward the end.  What a lovely hat.

This scene, where the bus gets stopped for a few minutes, has quite a few longer shots where you can see head-to-toe outfits.  It's a good one if you're paying attention to the costuming.  This one and the scene at the dance hall are the best for that, I would say.

Okay, so I saw this movie in the theater when it originally came out.  I was very excited.  We went for my sister's tenth birthday.  I distinctly recall sitting in my chair looking up at the screen and contemplating Geena Davis' cheek mole.  I remember my own hand slowly creeping up my face and realizing that my own cheek mole was on the same side of my face, almost in the exact same spot as hers.  This filled me with delight.  I mean, in my mind, Geena Davis was the most beautiful movie star there ever was.  And maybe some day - by the sheer existance of our matching cheek moles - I'd grow up and be able to capture a fraction of that beauty, too.  Isn't it crazy the moments we remember.

My sister tells me that what she remembers from watching this movie in the theater that day was the part when (spoiler alert!) Betty Spaghetti's husband George dies in the Pacific.  And it's very sad, and everyone cries, and my sister was chewing like five pieces of Bubblicious in her mouth at the time, so much gum in one place that she could barely close her mouth, and tears fell down her face while she wheezed through her nose and drooled.  Alas, she had no cheek mole to cheer her up.

Shorthand

I got a great deal on this 1940s rayon dress this past weekend at the Expo. Whee!

Dress & Belt - vintage

Earrings - my godmother

Shoes - Miu Miu

Vintage Expo

Today I went to the Vintage Fashion Expo down at the Concourse in SoMa.  I had never been to something of this size before and it was overwhelming at first.  I did a lot of looking before I bought anything, to ground myself.

At one point a vendor asked if my shoes were vintage and I said, nope! As we chatted, I realized that with the majority of contemporary stuff that I buy, I get it because it has a strong vintage vibe, and by that I mean 1940s-70s.  That was kind of a big realization for me. The more you know!

Dress & Coat - vintage

Sunglasses - Ray Ban

Bag- Elliott Lucca

Stockings - Hue

Shoes - Pour la Victoire

Come Magalog With Me

The other day when I mentioned reading my Net-a-Porter magazine, I got a comment about it's very existence.  Well, I am here to say yes indeed, Net-a-Porter has been putting out a twice-yearly print rag since last spring.  I have all three issues thus far.  I really enjoy it.  I don't pay for it, it just comes in the mail like magic.

Right. "Magic." At the end of the day it is, of course, a gentle yet slick way for Net-a-Porter to push its own product.  Many of the photographs, be it original Net-a-Porter-generated content or snaps from runway shows, have a tiny number alongside each separate garment in the shot.  But not too tiny to read - this is the product number that Net-a-Porter has assigned to their items.  One can jump on their website, type in the six digit number, and be immediately directed to the item, where dropping it into your shopping cart is mere clicks away.

I think it's interesting that Net-a-Porter took a step in a new, uncharted (for them) direction by going in to print.  After all, they started online (in the fall of 2000) and this is what made them extraordinary.  They have their own online magazine, as well as a special app for the iPad.  Up until last spring, their entire existence was only online.  The last frontier for them was print.  They are so 21st century that they had to do it backwards.  Go figure.

Many other companies in the apparel business, from H&M to Bergdorf Goodman have "magazines" that are little more than dressed-up catalogues (And who can forget Abercrombie and Fitch's infamous A&F Quarterly?) Neiman Marcus' The Book (including the legendary Christmas Book) has been around for decades, and although that has never claimed to be a magazine, it's heft and presentation have made lasting impressions and laid positive groundwork for the brand's heritage and image.

I love the ritual that accompanies the act of reading print magazines.  I also love the convenience of shopping online.  But putting those two experiences together rarely looks as good as it does when I turn the pages of Net-a-Porter.  Too bad it's only twice a year.

The Grace Dress

In the documentary The September Issue, Grace Coddington wears this exact dress in a couple places (it's easier to spot in the extra scenes, if you have the DVD) and I about flipped out when I made this realization.

It's certainly not my most flattering dress (Marni from S/S '07) - it's intentionally baggy around the tummy and has an awkward length - but I find myself feeling a bit more spry and delighted when I wear it, especially after making the Grace connection.

Dress - Marni

Cardigan - James Perse

Necklace - Fenton/Fallon

Shoes - Lanvin

The Electric Slide

As promised in yesterday's post, I don my electric green skirt from a few seasons ago.

Blouse - vintage

Sweater - Banana Republic

Skirt - Lela Rose

Earrings - my godmother

Shoes - Miu Miu

Blowing Away

Twas quite blustery today!

Sweater, Blouse, Skirt - vintage

Bag - Chloe

Shoes - Christian Louboutin

Bright Ideas

Call it electric green, citrine, lime, or neon - super bright green (sometimes with an equally daring bright dash of orange) is a color to be reckoned with this spring. I was reminded of this while flipping through my Net-a-Porter magazine, which came in the mail today.

I was also reminded that I have a skirt of that hue in my closet that I have not worn in quite some time. Maybe tomorrow I'll put it on for old time's sake.  It's nice to be able to view old garments with a new coat of freshness.

Speaking of new coats of paint (and orange) about a week ago I stopped by Sephora and gave Yves Saint Laurent's orange-y lip shade (appropriately named 'Le Orange') a whirl.  I'm still noodling with it, not sure if I can commit.

In an Old House in Paris All Covered in Vines

Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines

They left the house at half past nine

The smallest one was Madeline

Sweater - vintage (Elsa Schiaparelli!)

Blouse - vintage

Skirt - vintage

Bag - Elliott Lucca

Earrings - my godmother

Shoes - Cole Haan