Paris Couture - 1966

How about a little Parisian couture from the Fall of 1966 today? Yes, I thought so.

Left: Christian Dior black silk crepe dinner dress with a wide band of silver sequins at the empire waist and at the same level on the upper arm. The long sleeves are slit to the wrist.
Right: Christian Dior black silk crepe evening gown with cut-outs at the back accented with diamanté ball buttons.

This cut-out style was destined to be copied by nearly everyone. I've sold numerous 1960's cocktail dresses with interesting cut-outs at the back. This is the original.

Lanvin black silk crepe evening gown is circled in stripes of pink, acid green, and black sequins at the bodice. Interesting squared-off armholes.

Patou coatdress in cream double-faced wool that has been cut on the bias. Welted seams tame the bias. Worn with ribbed tights, kidskin boots, and a wool cap over a silk head scarf.

Left: Philippe Venet back wrap coat in neon yellow brushed wool fleece.
Right: Philippe Venet back wrap coat in cream wool fleece. Has a belt and a slit at the front hem.

OK, I have to comment on these coats. They close in the back. Interesting, but I can just see myself trying to figure out how the heck this was worn if I ever found one of these at an estate. I would more than likely have put it on the mannequin backwards and wondered why it wasn't falling correctly and why the pockets were on the back!

Yves St. Laurent grey wool coat with a flared fit and big silver disc buttons.

Yves St. Laurent black wool coat fitted at the bodice and flaring below the waist. Accented with big gold disc buttons.

New at Couture Allure - Vintage Evening Gowns & Accessories

REMINDER! Tomorrow is the last day to place your order with Couture Allure if you want your item shipped before we close. I will be away on a buying trip until December 10.

It's been a quiet week at Couture Allure, but I did manage to list a few accessories, including a bunch of vintage scarves, hats, and some jewelry. I also listed some vintage evening gowns that will be perfect for New Year's Eve.

1980s Victor Costa Strapless Navy Chiffon Goddess Dress

1960s Black Silk Evening Gown from Bonwit Teller

1960s Brown Velvet Mattelasse Gown with Matching Purse

1970s Halston Silk Chiffon Scarf

1940s Wide Brim Tilt Hat with Veil

1940s Beaded Tilt Doll or Toy Hat

Weekend Eye Candy - Madeleine Vionnet 1925

1925 dress by Madeleine Vionnet with silk roses appliqued on tulle.

Fashion Illustrations - 1963

I am an art lover. When I travel, I spend a lot of time in museums looking at art. I admire and envy anyone who has talent with a pencil, pen, or brush. Don't get me wrong. I have my own talents. I can take a flat piece of fabric and use my sewing and tailoring skills to turn it into a beautiful garment. I can embellish that garment with embroidery or beadwork. I can knit and crochet. But, much as I would like, I cannot draw and I cannot paint.

It takes great talent to look at clothing and translate the look and feel of it onto paper. These illustrations from Harper's Bazaar magazine from 1963 are wonderful examples. Can you feel the fabrics? Can you see what these garments look like in real life? There are no artist signatures, but in tiny print at the corner of each page is the name Perint. These drawings are some of the early work of fashion illustrator Gladys Perint Palmer.

Georgia Bullock dress and matching fringed stole. Dress bodice in charcoal wool knit with skirt and stole in bias cut charcoal and taupe plaid brushed wool. Sold for $145 in 1963 (about $1010 in today's dollar).

Left: De De Johnson camel colored wool knit dress and jacket with leather half belt and buttons. Sold for $110 in 1963 (about $766 in today's dollar).
Right: Off-white worsted whipcord wool suit by Couture West. Sold for $160 in 1963 (about $1114 in today's dollar).

Left: Oscar of Beverly Hills camel's hair suit with welted seams. Sold for $185 in 1963 (about $1289 in today's dollar).
Right: Weatherbee windproof coat of beige cotton suede lined in Acrilan pile. Sold for $35 in 1963 (about $244 in today's dollar).

Pure white camel's hair coat with collar and lining in guanaco fur by Stanley Nelson.

Happy Thanksgiving~

I'm Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S. It's a day when we stop to think about all the things in our lives that we're thankful for. Today, I am thankful for you.

I'm thankful for all my dear readers who come here each day to share a bit of my world.

I'm thankful for the online friends I've made who also enjoy vintage fashion.

I'm thankful that I have a place to share things the that I am passionate about.

I'm thankful that you "get" me, that you understand, and that you love the same things I do.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading my blog. Thank you for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Travel in Style

As those of us in the U.S. prepare for tomrorrow's Thanksgiving holiday, today will be one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Airports, train stations, and bus terminals will all be extra busy today.

Roads will be heavily traveled as more people choose to drive to grandma's house in this tough economy.

As you make your way to your holiday destination, please travel safely.

And travel in style!

Paris Hats - 1945

October 1945. Paris was liberated the previous August and the final German surrender in Europe took place in late April. 6 months later, a French fashion magazine asks, "Sommes-Nous Prêts?". "Are You Ready?" for the return of la Haute Couture Parisienne?

In the fall of 1945, fashion was just beginning to emerge from the strictures of the war. The best Parisian milliners produced some magical hats to celebrate the rebirth of beauty and couture. Descriptions have been translated from the French.
Left: Jane Blanchot green velvet hood with otter fur back and pom-poms.
Right: J.-Suzanne Talbot braided felt and velvet tall hat with jewels at the front crown.

Left: Eneley Soeurs brown velvet with beige feathers.
Right: Germaine Bouché velvet with ferns and birds.

Left: Gilbert Orcel velvet with tartan fabric and feathers.
Right: Agnès brown felt decorated with imagination.

Left: Blanche et Simone black felt and velvet.
Right: Le Monnier high shape decorated with chiffon.

Left: Simone Cange black velvet with knit tulle.
Right: Sygur velvet toque with tropical birds.

Left: Claude St-Cyr tobacco brown felt with cock feathers.
Right: Nelly Levasseur velvet with ostrich plumes.

Left: Janette Colombier black velvet with heavenly feather plumes.
Right: Rose Valois brown felt with feathers.

Wooden blocks~

I picked up this bag of 80 wooden blocks about 6 months ago from a thift store for .50cents. I had no plan what I was going to use them for, but for .50cents I couldn't pass them up. Anywho, the blocks have been in and out of the "donation" bag for these past few months off and on-- so I thought I'd better think of something to use them for or out they go-- for real this time! I also picked up this wooden box with a hinged lid..... hmmmm then it hit me. duh~








Stringing beads!! Soooooo I drilled a hole in each one of them. Some are perfect :-) some not so perfect :-P but whoop-dee-doo right? After drilling holes in each one, I painted them with a flat black spray paint. Next comes the fun part~ I purchased these Disney Car stickers from Walmart for a dollar-- scanned them onto my computer, (I am so going to jail right?) printed them out itsy-bitsy size, cut each one out --- 160 in total (thank goodness I love to cut!) ... and then glued one onto each side of each block. Then I gave each block a coat of clear gloss. I painted the box black and added some car stickers and coated that with clear gloss as well. Now my grandson can lace them up to his hearts content.... so fun! Whew, a lot of work, but look how darn caute they are!

The other 40 are for my grandaughter, Chloe. For her set, I'm using Tinkerbell. I've got awhile before I'm needing to finish those up, she is only 10 months old~

Kimm is hosting a trash to treasure party on her blog: Reinvented... go check it out~ Kimba over at A soft Place to Land is also hosting a linky party~

And The Answer Is....

...1984! You guys are good! You were all close. I tried to make it a little harder by changing the image to grayscale, but I still didn't stump you.

The image was from an ad for Cutex nail color and lipstick. Here are more images from 1984 to inspire you today.

New at Couture Allure - Vintage Dresses and a Jumpsuit!

New this week at Couture Allure are several fabulous vintage dresses and an early jumpsuit by Calvin Klein. This is but a small sampling of the new items we've added this week. See our What's New section for all the rest!

1960s floating silk chiffon goddess dress we're attributing to Sarmi based on a vintage advertisement we found.

1960s party dress with black paillettes covering the bodice.

1960s Norman Norell wool knit chemise dress.

1970s Adolfo knit maxi dress with changeable collar.

1950s strapless taffeta circle skirt dress with green sash.

1970s blue wool Calvin Klein jumpsuit from very early in his career.

Weekend Eye Candy - Yves St. Laurent 1967

An Yves St. Laurent mini dress from 1967 of ivory organdy over pale peach silk, heavily embroidered with shaped geometric pearlized and silver plastic pieces surrounded by rhinestones, silver thread and crystal beads. Sigh.

A Little Friday Guessing Game

Up for a Friday puzzle? When was this photo taken? Answer on Monday!

Show & Tell~

Well, I never thought I would get this garage finished... what a lot of time went into this! Anywho, enough moaning & groaning, its finished and I'm happy with it!

Here is the before and after photos.

I created the brick using illustration board. I've blogged about how I made the brick here. I used real grout to set the brick into place. I made a drawer under the garage floor by cutting off a piece of the wood base and adding foam core to create the drawer. Perfect for holding all the odds & ends that the garage is going to be needing. I've managed to pick up all of whats shown in the drawer from garage sales. I used a wheel for the drawer pull~

I used illustration board for the roof as well. I cut 1 inch by 1-1/2 inch pieces using my paper cutter and hot glued that in place all over the existing roof and then just painted it with nutmeg brown paint. For the inside I painted the walls white and used black & white checkered fabric for trim on the walls. Here is the down stairs.....The photo below is the upstairs~ I created the false wall using foam core. Those little cubbies will hold 5 cars.
I printed the car signs off of the web by googling "car signs" The neon sign that says "Hot Rod Garage" was found on a site that makes & sells neon signs, I just printed it out and cut it close to the image and glued it in place. I've still got a little bit more I'm wanting to do to this little garage. The door openings are the perfect size for a hot wheel track to fit inside of... I think it would be so neat to be able to have a car zoom out of the second story window, so I'm needing to make some supports for the tracks. Geeze, I can always think of more to do can't I.... anything to get out of housework!

You can also see more Show & Tells over at Cindy's blog "My Romantic Home" If you have linked to my blog and wish to view more, just click right here!