Auction Alert: Roger Vivier (??) vintage shoes

Quick note: just came across this lot on eBay, for a fine Coblentz vintage bag and a matching pair of shoes, which will close in a couple hours. The bag is lovely, but more importantly, the shoes are listed as "Roger Vivien" of Paris--which seems likely to be "Roger Vivier," who, as collaborator to Christian Dior, was defining the footwear of the midcentury. As always, buyer beware, but if you wear a narrow 8.5 US and fancy a bit of vintage shoe fashion history . . . take a closer look.

Postscript: The sole bidder got bag and shoes for $20!! A steal.

How an Off-Duty Model Wears Vintage

If you're not personally camped out in a café at the corner of Cool and Hip, Altamira: Models Off Duty is a great place to see street fashion worn as its designers intended. One of my favorite postings in recent weeks was of German model Aymeline Valade.

Check out her necklace, a big old pocketwatch strung on a long chain. I have a sneaking suspicion it's not actually old, but it's a great inspiration, no? Because how much more better would a real, slightly tarnished old silver one look? Plus the keffiyeh scarf, draped model style.


My favorite element? Those grey suede brogues. Brown suede is fairly common but I've never seen them in quite this shade before, which seems perfect for when winter's blacks start making the shift into springtime's navy and white.

What's best about Aymeline Valade's look? You don't have to look like Aymeline to pull it off.

(photos from Altamira: Models Off Duty, many thanks!)

What to Do With a Vintage Muff

My mom's been cleaning house again--translation: THROWING AWAY COOL OLD STUFF--and thank goodness, instead of consigning it to the town dump, or to the local resale shop, where it would have sat unloved until the end of days, she packed up and shipped, in a Harry & David Fruit of the Month cardboard box (they're still getting those? Grapefruit in January! Whoohoo!!), my great-grandmother's mint beaver muff.

As I unpacked it, the kids, eating their breakfast cereal, were agog.

"What's it for?!"
"To keep your hands warm, sillies."
"Didn't people have gloves in olden days?"
"Well, yes, but . . . "
"Didn't they have mittens?"
"Um . . ."

Logical questions on the part of my genius children, for which I didn't have adequate answers.

Further interrogation of mom revealed that the muff was worn on long car rides, in the days when cars were unheated. Hmm. A handful of mouseclicks determined that muffs have been popular among men and women since at least the 17th century, and that beaver pelts were favoured for their fine, dense fur. They were showy bits of kit in the Regency days, the bigger the better, and were frequently worn during bracing outdoor strolls.

So that's the history. But how to make the muff functional today, when cars have not only central heating, but bum warmers, and bracing outdoor walks no longer involve ankle-length skirts and pelisses?

I tossed and turned the muff, considering. One end could be sewn up and straps attached, to make for a cunning fur backpack. Which, come on, I'd never wear. Or it could be cut in half, and the ends attached to a cloth coat to make showy cuffs. But again, no not really.

Then, bing, the answer. The one true place to carry a vintage fur muff--on an airplane, back in the usual accomodations in cattle class. Where the air is always frigid. The blankets are hopelessly inadequate. And the seat configuration makes it impossible to squash a pillow into a comfortable headrest. The muff would solve all of the problems and more.

So once again, this old muff is going places. Prepared for takeoff? Yes indeed.

(fashion plate from Nicholas Heideloff's Gallery of Fashion, 1794-1802, from Catherine Decker's Regency Fashion page, many thanks!)

Pattern Matching with Grace Kelly

Just learned of the Victoria & Albert Museum's plans for a show on Grace Kelly's wardrobe next April (nice Daily Mail article on it here). CAN NOT WAIT, but in the meantime was most intrigued by the tidbit that the dress Kelly wore to meet Rainier for the first time was not couture, but in fact whipped up from a McCall's Easy Sew pattern.

It wasn't difficult to find Michou Simon's photos (via Paris Match) of their first encounter (and doesn't Rainier look pleased as punch), but digging out the pattern itself yielded only half-satisfactory results. The one below, with its dropped bodice, seems the best match, absent the long sleeves.



Will the exhibition reveal whether or not McCalls 3151 is indeed the model? Time will tell. But it was fun digging around the internet archives (especially So Vintage Patterns and the Vintage Patterns Pool at Flickr) to find the best match.

New Ways with Old Lace: How to Restyle Vintage Separates

Every so often some fashion expert will declare that vintage is OVER, the 20+ year movement has finally run off its legs. Impossible, I say. There are simply too many ways to wear it, renew it, make it feel fresh--especially those pieces that are not mainline elements but instead played a supporting role in the past. Today's entry is about thinking these sideliners out of old roles and into new.

The January issue of British Vogue, in their essential-reading More Dash than Cash, featured the model above in a vintage petticoat worn as a shrug. Not a look every one of us can pull off--but a great way to rework an underrepresented and easy-to-source piece.

In the brilliant Zuburbia vintage blog (bookmark now if you love old clothes and great writing about them), Mary Kincaid recently highlighted a gorgeous bedjacket that would feel right at home on the street this spring.

My favorite has to be this example from Etsy vintage seller PranceandSwagger. Wear an old frilly apron as a capelet? Absolutely, especially when it looks this cute.

Who's a Sexy Nun, Then? Why the World Loves a Wimple

Not a lot of explaining necessary here . . .



Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, and most recently, in the December Paris Vogue, Lara Stone demonstrate how to work a wimple.

Call me crazy, but I think Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga is going for much the same effect from an entirely different direction, with his sleeveless hoodies for Spring 2010. Yes they're black leather rather than starched linen, and owe as much to the hood rat as they do to the lamb of God, but don't they make the wearer look alluringly untouchable--encased--in exactly the same sort of way?

Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story, Sophia Loren in White Sister, Lara Stone photographed by Cédric Buchet for December 2009 Vogue Paris.

Pimp My Down Coat

In a land where small talk is overwhelmingly dominated by what's up with the weather, even the Britons are wearying of chat about the recent spate of snow and cold, and the insufficient supply of sandy grit to lend traction to the roads. Given that this is an island nation, i.e. ringed with beaches, the latter seems a bit mystifying to the non-native, but the whys and wherefores seem best left unasked.

Anyway, apart from conversation, the weather has lent an excellent excuse to revisit my Land's End down coat. Fashion writer India Knight, in her brilliant blog Posterous, recently rhapsodized about her own brand new one. I'm less thrilled about my ten-year-old one, because it's dowdy and it's black and I've worn it through rain and snow and sleet and hail and pregnancy on my appointed rounds. In this case, familiarity has bred contempt. Nowadays I'll only put it on when conditions are so dire nobody can see properly anyway.

But it's a perfectly serviceable coat. And I have the services of Sagheer, the wonder tailor. There's no reason apart from the dowdy factor that I shouldn't be wearing it when it's cold. So instead of rushing out to buy a Uniqlo Jil Sander puffa like countless fashionable others, I decided to give the old warhorse a makeover.

The first problem was the length. Mid-calf is great if you live in Fargo or Land's End and need that extra two feet of goose featherage to make subzero liveable. In London it's a sacrifice you can make in the name of style. So I had Sagheer cut it down to mid-thigh.

The next problem was the volume. The coat hung straight down from the shoulders, a silhouette designed to fit all shapes and sizes, i.e. dead boring. What it needed was a belt. Since we had like fabric aplenty from the cut-down, some of it was used to make an inch-wide, snap close belt. Just enough to lend some shape.

Finally, the special effects. How I would love to have added a pelmet or shawl lapels like Giambattista Valli did brilliantly for his Gamme Rouge line of down coats for skiwear specialist Moncler (above), or Junya Watanabe's marvelous line for Commes des Garcons (below).

But this kind of refashioning was beyond even Sagheer's formidable skills so I'm going to settle for draping on my faux fur scarf, pinned crosswise in front, so that it will sit like a collar.

And presto! A new look from old, for much less money than it would cost to buy afresh. If you'd like to try this at home but don't have a tailor on call, consider revitalizing your down coat by:

1) Just add a belt in similar nylon fabric, or go for a bold contrast. A bit of snug around the waistline could transform the coat's look. Keep the belt in the pocket when the coat is not on.
2) Fold the sleeves under to 3/4 length and wear with gorgeous long leather gloves.
3) Instead of wearing any old scarf, find one that suits your coloring brilliantly, and experiment with ways of tying it. If you want to splash out, check out this very cool down scarf by Nau.

So here's the end result. Sometimes a few tweaks are all you need.