Newsletter May 2011 VFG Members on the News
Transcription
Newsletter May 2011 VFG Members on the News
Newsletter May 2011 VFG Members on the News Runway Von (VintagePretties) was interviewed about Easter hats for the Ft. Worth Star Telegram (TX). Read the article here. The sidebar included links to Vintage Pretties (Von‘s Ruby Lane shop) and to another VFG member, Brigitte of Posh Girl Vintage. Von notes that the reporter only asked questions about vintage hats and didn‘t mention anything about altering them…. Barbara (Rue de la Paix) will be giving a Haute Couture Antique Hat Fashion show and luncheon on May 7 at The Altadena Country Club. This is a fundraiser for the Pasadena Museum of History; see its Programs and Events page for more details on this presentation. Barbara was also featured in April in about eight Southern California newspapers, including the Pasadena Star-News, as well as a SoCal entertainment magazine, The Scene. Read more here. Julie (JoulesVintage) was the grand-prize winner of a contest that was part of ―Fashion Week El Paseo‖ in March. She won a $3,500 shopping spree and more! See details here. Julie reports she was determined to win this package, and visited at least 20 shops collecting stickers. Trusting in the power of positive thinking, she said to everyone, ―I am going to win.‖ Sure enough, she got the call from Palm Springs Life Magazine that she had won! The magazine arranged transportation and a photo shoot. We eagerly anticipate her report for our next issue! Sandra (debutanteclothing) reports that the pop-up marketplace ―A Current Affair,‖ at which she had a space, was a huge success and that she ―had a ton of fun.‖ Read her blog article, in which she shares that the local CBS affiliate reviewed the event on its website. Check out that review here; don‘t miss the blurb on Debutante Clothing! News Runway cont. Jonathan (Kickshaw) attended the April Gadsden Sale in Toronto, as both a seller and buyer. He reports that there were 27 dealers at this sale and that the venue—originally streetcar-repair barns that are now long halls intended for events like sales—was excellent. There was some ―great stuff‖ there, and he found for his own collection an 1823 dress, the earliest Canadianprovenanced one he now has. Two Simonetta couture ballgowns also made their way home with him. He notes that there didn‘t seem to be any decided trends in what was selling; he brought a smattering of everything to the sale and sold one or two items from every category. In April, Jen (Morning Glorious) had a display of vintage and antique clothing at Adagio Trattoria, Brattleboro, VT. The exhibit of 12 outfits, accessories, and the accompanying text illustrated the changes in the shape of fashion from the 1870s to the 1970s. The exhibit was part of Brattleboro‘s ―Gallery Walk.‖ Jen will be a vendor at the Sturbridge Antique Textile Show, Monday, May 9, at the Sturbridge Host Hotel, Sturbridge, MA. And from Tuesday, May 10, through Sunday, May 15, you can find her under the Vintage Fashion Tent at Brimfield. The yellow-and-white fashion tent on Rte. 20 in the Mahogany Ridge field typically features six to 10 vintage specialty dealers from all over the U.S., including vendors from LA; NYC; Kansas City, MO; and, of course, New England. The Brimfield market is open May 10–15, dawn to dusk. Veronica (SomeLikeItVintage) was a guest blogger on Collectors Weekly, with her piece ―Mary Tyler Moore, 70s Style for Strong Women.‖ She notes how relevant ―Mary Richards‖ is today, including her wardrobe! Karen (KarenAugusta) is holding Augusta Auction Co.‘s two-day Fashion & Textile Auction at The Host Hotel, Sturbridge, MA, on Tues., May 10, and Wed., May 11. On Tuesday is the uncataloged ―Discovery Auction,‖ where boxes are opened, and bidding starts at $25 on a found treasure in a box. If nobody chooses a specific item, the whole box is offered for whatever anyone will bid. The catalog sale is on Wednesday at 4 p.m. See our ―Events & Exhibits‖ section, page 9, for details. And visit Augusta Auctions online for more info. Nicole (CircaVintageClothing) has a big fashion parade at the Melbourne Vintage Clothing Show on May 28. She‘ll also be exhibiting at the show, which runs May 27– May 29. She is also doing a series of talks for the National Trust of Australia, the first of which was April 30 and was about Melbourne couture fashions in the ‗50s. On May 14, she‘ll speak on Melbourne couture of the ‗60s, and on June 25, her topic will be accessorizing and how to put an outfit together. More information about the talks can be found here. Mme. Tie Tycoon The Lore & Legend of Countess Mara Carrie Pollack (cmpollack) Accurate, in-depth information about ―Countess Mara‖ (aka Mrs. Malcolm D. Whitman, nee Lucilla Mara de Vescovi) can be even harder to come by than one of her celebrated early ―pictorial‖ ties. The snippets about her in the handful of contemporary tie reference/collector books around have been quoted and requoted—sometimes by each other, and sometimes by blogs, websites, and that paragon of factual accuracy, the eBay listing—until what gets passed on is as reliable as the result of a game of telephone. 1952 Ad You may know, for instance, that she wasn‘t a ―real‖ countess and chose the title ―Countess Mara‖ for its ―snob appeal.‖ True enough, but what makes Mara interesting as well as a marketing whiz is that she was an Italian aristocrat (with a baroness for a mother and a countess for a grandmother) who mingled with New York‘s upper crust (when not giving them art lectures after retiring from her professional singing career), and that she chose to launch a tie business not to ―console herself‖ after her husband‘s suicide, as a 1946 TIME article puts it (she actually travelled in Mexico and Europe for three years for that purpose), but because as a widow with three grown daughters, unbounded energy, and an incredibly fertile imagination, she needed what she jokingly called a ―new baby‖ to challenge and occupy her time. Likewise, you may know that she pioneered the designer or ―branded‖ luxury accessory/clothing trend, incorporating her logo of nine-pointed coronet and fictitious initials (―CM‖) into the print of every design and proving skeptics wrong who thought a woman‘s initials on a tie wouldn‘t sell, then strictly limiting the production quantities for and distribution of each design, thus driving market demand not just up, but wild. Also true, but what motivated her, perhaps even more than her spectacular business instincts, was the opinion (expressed in a 1949 New Yorker article by one Geoffrey T. Hellman) that ―it is very dull to see the same design on a hundred different men‖; as Hellman put it, ―the aesthetics of her trade mean[t] more to her than its economics.‖ (And that‘s not just spin—her unpublished scholarly article on the history of the tie, ―The Cravat Saga,‖ which the New Yorker article quotes from extensively, demonstrates exhaustive research and real enthusiasm for her subject). Le Collection Carrie The tie all the way to the right is a Tina Leser; after the smash success of CM's ties, tie manufacturers solicited artists like Tina Leser, Jacques Fath & Schiaparelli to do similar ties for them in the late 40s. Countess Mara cont. You may know that her ties designs involved, instead of Art Deco-era geometrics or bold abstractions, what a 1953 New York Times ad called a ―picture story,‖ but not have any idea of the vast range of her whimsical motifs and themes. The New Yorker article lists 41 of them, an incomplete catalog that includes everything from horse racing and dancing girls to giraffes, card decks, and dragonflies—but omits the entire (but later-alluded-to) category of her ―artistic nudes,‖ with subjects like Adam and Eve and Lady Godiva. In addition, you may not know that each of her designs had a title: The three ties pictured in the NY Times ad, representing each of the three price tiers available—$7.50, $10.00, $15.00—were called ―Bona Fortuna,‖ ―Sidewalk Superintendent,‖ and ―Meadowland,‖ (respectively), or that she learned to print silks herself in the early days of her business, after a few months of working with pre-printed silks left her artistic sensibilities feeling stifled. She was a fast and more-than-capable learner, too, winning a Neiman Marcus award for fabric design in 1944. And, finally, you may know that her ties travelled in exclusive circles, but not that among her customers through the years were Leopold Stokowski, Nelson Rockefeller, Frank Sinatra, J. Edgar Hoover, Noel Coward, Eugene O‘Neill, and Harry Truman. And you probably don‘t know that when burglars broke into her store in 1946 and stole $75,000 of merchandise, they selected only the handprinted ties, leaving the solid colors (which her shop kept in stock but showed only on request, and logo‘d only with the coronet, never her initials) conspicuously behind. So, now that the record has been straightened out and expanded on a bit, let me supply a few more basic facts. Mara opened her Park Avenue store in 1938, after an abortive attempt in 1935 that relied on expensive (pre-printed) European silks. Originally, she designed and printed the ties herself, working with two cutting assistants and subcontracting the actual sewing of the ties, but by 1949 she was working with four assistants on the tie designs, then having the silk hand-printed by Cramer Screen Print Works and sewn in the Poughkeepsie factory she opened in 1948. She was well on her way to becoming the ―tie tycoon‖ the New York Times would dub her in 1958, and developing 800 designs for 250,000 ties per year, two thirds of which were wholesaled to select department and specialty stores (no more than one or two per city), with the rest sold at her NY shop. Fairy Tale Tie Definitely the gem of Carrie’s “little collection”! At the bottom, the “prince” presents the Cinderella/femme fatale with her (ruby) slipper; above, a lady’s maid tends to her toilette in various phases, combing her hair a la Rapunzel in one scene. In the early days, Mara‘s shop sold silk men‘s accessories (dressing gowns, mufflers, and hankies) as well as gloves and socks, and in 1958 Countess Mara, Inc., added other luxury items: Vicuna socks, gemstone cufflinks, and silk broadcloth shirts. By 1963, the company was owned by Wembley (which later morphed into Wemco), but it wasn‘t until the 1980s that CM licenses and product lines really began to proliferate to include suits, formal wear, sleepwear, small leather goods, and women‘s wear, transforming the company into a huge, global business, which by 1988 was doing $50 million in sales annually. Closeup of hunt-themed tie Countess Mara cont. The brand‘s luxury image was maintained throughout, with gold-threaded and gemstone-encrusted ties retailing (and selling!) for anywhere from $125 to $5000. When the company began to founder in the 90s, with an endless series of management shakeups struggling to reboot the brand and shake its by-now conservative image, it settled (in 1999) on the creation of a fictitious granddaughter of the ―Countess‖ as an advertising ploy. As for Mara herself, she retired to Italy in the early 1960s and died in 1968, at the age of 75, leaving behind a legacy of ties so unique and wonderful that hunting down the all but one-of-a-kind remaining examples Closeup of Navigational Theme Tie can be a dangerously habit forming-pursuit. Member Blogs If your blog is not here, and you would like to see it included in future newsletters, please post its URL on the next call for newsletter items. This appears on the trade forums, under “VFG Projects.” Vintage Fashion Guild Melody’s A Vintage Ramble Louise’s Catwalk Threads Nicole’s Circa Vintage Clothing Cat’s Club Vintage Fashions Carrie’s Cur.io: A Vintage Blog Eileen’s Daisy Fairbanks Vintage Sandra’s Debutante Clothing Pam’s Glamoursplash Susan’s NorthStar Vintage Hollis’ Past Perfect Vintage Ang’s real-vintage.com Lei’s Side Saddle Kim’s The Girl Can’t Help It Lizzie’s The Vintage Traveler Maggie’s Vintage Denisebrain Jody & Pam’s Vintage Detail Julie’s Vintage Goddess JoAnn’s Vintage JoAnn Theresa’s Vintage Style Files Joy’s Flannery Crane Vintage Fashion Jonathan’s kickshawproductions.com Veronica’s Some Like It Vintage Debbie, Chris & Anne’s Reflections of Vintage Meika & Warren’s Another Man's Treasure Jody’s Couture Allure Vintage Fashion May Fashion Parade Themes Each week, fashion “parade” themes are brought to you by the VFG site committee. We urge seller members to post relevant listings to the dedicated weekly thread, which runs in the “Sneak Preview” forum on the public board. Parade selections also appear in other VFG internet communications, and three items per week are featured on the VFG blog. So this is a great way to get exposure for your listings! Mexican circle skirt available at Devoted 2 Vintage May 2: Happy Cinco De Mayo May 5 is a celebration (mainly in the US) of Mexican heritage and pride, and it‘s a great day to wear—or find!—a beautiful vintage Mexican circle skirt, embroidered jacket or handcrafted jewelry. See the colorful vintage creations in store for you courtesy of the VFG. May 9: Color of the Year As the Pantone site says about honeysuckle, its 2011 color of the year: "Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world…" Honeysuckle is indeed a vibrant, gorgeous color, but it has been around before. Why not show off this bold and beautiful pink in vintage style? May 16: Barely There Let us be crystal Rain coat available at Etsy shop clear: Sheer is in. Whether it‘s a vintage MagsRagsVintage dress that requires your best slip, an illusion neckline or a diaphanous scarf, vintage is the clear choice! 1930s dress available at Dorothea’s Closet Vintage May 23: Summer Jewelry Summer‘s the time for casual style, and vintage summer jewelry takes a casual turn toward plastics, natural materials and fun seasonal motifs. 1950s Wooden Bracelet and Earrings available at Etsy Shop badgirlvintage May 30: Q: What Should I Wear to the Luau? A: Vintage Hawaiian clothing of course! This week, members of the VFG show their best men‘s and women‘s aloha attire for luaus, beach-combing...and every summer day! Men’s 1960s Hawaiian shirt available at Some Like it Vintage Welcome to Our New Members! In April, we welcomed new VFG members Zoya Niechoda (Hula Kitty) and Dawn Crawford (candy_ says). We also can now properly introduce from last month‘s roster of new members Julia Creighton (StelmaDesigns). Julia says she must have been born with a ―collect-and-hunt-for-treasure‖ gene. Her earliest childhood memory of this was when, as a child of about six, she proudly gave her mom a lovely gift of an old metal powder compact and a handmade wool-felt floral pot holder, which she had scavenged out of a trash pile! (Much to her mother‘s chagrin, she‘s sure….) Today, Julia lives with her family in an antique, a house built in 1895. Though she calls it ―just a funky plain Victorian Farmhouse style,‖ it‘s on the historic list of structures in their area. And, of course, she loves it to pieces! Organic gardens and perennials surround the house, and the grounds feature a new, fancy chicken coop for 10 layer hens and one rooster. In addition to Julia, her husband, and their two teenaged daughters, the house is residence for three dogs, one rag-doll cat, and a mean lovebird. Beginning in her final year of junior high school, then on through college and graduate school, where she earned her MFA, Julia was ―seriously into‖ vintage clothing. She learned everything she knows from those days of scavenging with artist friends, trying to be the first to score 1940‘s through 60‘s dresses and accessories as they went in groups to thrift shops and yard sales. Wanting to be cool and different, as those were the days of New Wave and Punk, they dressed as wild as they liked. And vintage was ―it.‖ She learned about vintage-fabric care through trial and error: The first time she washed a 1940‘s black crepe dress in water and shrunk the living daylights out of it, she cried. Having sewn since she was 10, she also made remarkable restorations to the vintage clothing she found. During and after her school years, she worked in retail, starting at Nordstrom and ending in management at Coach Leatherware. (She didn‘t make the best use of her fine arts degree, but that's a whole different story!) Working in those environments tuned her in to the importance of having the best-possible customer service. She opened her Etsy shop, StelmaDesigns, almost three years ago to sell her handmade necklaces, fashioned from antique and vintage buttons. To fill up her shop and create interest, she added some vintage clothing. The vintage has done better than the necklaces, and since Julia always wanted to open her own little lingerie boutique, her online shop has been a great way to do this. She specializes in vintage intimates, and for fun collects antique and vintage perfumes. Her Etsy shop satisfies her addiction to vintage clothing and accessories, her creativity, and her love of learning. After all, she asks, are we not learning something new about our vintage clothing and accessories all the time? 1960s Hawaiian dress at StelmaDesigns New Members cont. Dawn’s UK-based website, Candy Says, showcases a huge selection of vintage clothing and accessories from the roaring 20‘s to the electro 80‘s. Launched in 2003, it has received worldwide recognition for its collection of hand-picked vintage stock for men, women, and children. A ―vintage obsessive‖ herself, Dawn‘s understanding of what makes great vintage underscores her commitment to sourcing great pieces at affordable prices. Her online shop features everything ranging from elegant 1930‘s bias-cut dresses and 1940‘s utility wear to playful 1950‘s rock ‗n‘ roll frocks, sweet 1960‘s mini dresses, and hippie 1970‘s maxis to loud 1980‘s batwing jumpers, and pretty much everything in between! She offers unworn vintage as well, including French cotton 1960‘s frocks, burlesque lingerie, nightwear, children‘s wear, and knitwear. Candy Says has been featured in Miller’s Collectables and Antiques Guides, and received praise from You Magazine, Vogue, Happy Magazine, and the Daily Mail. Dawn has participated in national TV and radio programs about her passion for vintage. Her site has also been listed in the UK Independent’s ―50 Best Vintage Shops.‖ 1960s Mini Dress at Candy Says Events & Exhibits 1940s Suit at HulaKittyVintage Zoya opened her Etsy shop, HulaKittyVintage, in 2009, and sold on eBay for several years under seller i.d. tabbypjs. In addition to her online sales experience, Zoya sold directly to vintage shops for more than 20 years. She has collected ―all things vintage‖ for more than 25 years. When not selling vintage online, Zoya works in the film, television, and theater industry in costuming, a vocation she‘s pursued for the last 19 years. This work periodically takes her to her hometown of Vancouver, BC (Canada). She currently resides in Naramata, BC. Members who live in, or will be traveling in, the areas in which these events are taking place may want to check them out! If you do, feel free to submit a short story and/or photos to share in an upcoming newsletter! “ManStyle,‖ an exhibit on men‘s fashions, runs through Nov. 27 at the Ian Potter Center, National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Australia. It explores the extremes of masculine style and some of the most influential ideas over the past three centuries. “Cocktail Culture: Ritual and Invention in American Fashion 1920–1980” runs through July 31 at the Rhode Island School of Design‘s Museum of Art. It is a multi-disciplinary exhibition exploring the social ritual of drinking and entertainment through the lens of fashion and design. Events cont. The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty from May 4 through July 31, 2011, in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall, 2nd floor. Organized by The Costume Institute, the exhibit celebrates the late designer‘s extraordinary contributions to fashion. Approximately 100 examples will be on view, including signature designs such as the bumster trouser, the kimono jacket, and the Origami frock coat, as well as pieces reflecting the exaggerated silhouettes of the 1860s, 1880s, 1890s, and 1950s that McQueen crafted into contemporary silhouettes transmitting romantic narratives. The first Brimfield (MA) Antique Show of 2011 takes place May 10 through May 15. Many east-coast VFG members look forward to Brimfield as a place to both buy and sell. Show hours vary depending on the specific ―field,‖ starting from daybreak on. Admission and parking fees vary. See the Show website for details. “Mad for Hats!” runs through June 12 at the Pasadena (CA) Museum of History, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Gallery. There are several related tours and events throughout its run. See the museum‘s Programs and Events schedule for details. “Balenciaga and Spain” runs through July 4 at San Francisco‘s de Young Museum. It is the first exhibition to consider the impact of Spain‘s culture, history, and art on the legendary designer Cristóbal Balenciaga, whose innovations transformed the way women dressed. Augusta Auctions, owned by VFG member Karen Augusta, is holding a twoday Fashion & Textile Auction during May‘s antiques week at Brimfield, MA. Held at the Host Hotel in Sturbridge, the auction takes place Tues., May 10, and Wed., May 11. Dealers and collectors won‘t want to miss Tuesday‘s uncataloged ―Discovery Auction,‖ beginning at 4 p.m. The auction house will open boxes, customers will pick out a treasure, and bidding will start at $25 for that item. If no one chooses an item, the whole box is offered for whatever anyone will bid. On Wednesday is the catalog sale, with the preview 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and the sale starting at 4 p.m. Up for auction will be an incredible lace collection spanning the 16th to early 20th centuries, two-dozen quilts, costume jewelry, fabrics, fine linens, 18th-century silks, 19th-century textiles, 18th to 20th-century men‘s, women‘s, and children‘s clothes and accessories, display racks, and acid-free boxes. Designer offerings include Worth, Doucet, Maison Rouff, Chanel, Vionnet, Norell, Halston, Cashin, Pucci, Mainbocher, Givenchy, Brooks, Trigere, Hawes, and more. Of particular interest is men‘s clothing— collarless shirts, hand-painted and hundreds of printed 1920–1950 neckties; also militaria, a collection of early 20th-century printed house dresses, lace dresses and coats, etc. There will be very large trade lots. For information, see Augusta Auctions online, or phone 802-376-7166 or 802-3769988.