Debutante Clothing :: A vintage clothing and fashion blog for unconventional style where vintage and runway meet.

Two Saturdays ago, I experienced  a day full of haute couture and style. The Costume Society of America, Western Region hosted a curator led tour and premiere documentary screening of High Style: Betsy Bloomingdale and the Haute Couture at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Curators Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson led us through this magical, privileged world of haute couture and high fashion. We took a curated walk through Mrs. Betsy Bloomingdale's wardrobe, overflowing with Givenchy, Balmain, Galanos, Adolfo, and of course, Dior. To be that close to real live haute couture worn by one of the last remaining wearers of haute couture was an amazing experience.

Mrs. Bloomingdale was the wife of businessman, Alfred Bloomingdale, a descendant of the famous Bloomingdales that found the iconic department store. Mr. Bloomingdale made is fortune in the credit card business as co-founder of the first independent credit card, Diner's Club. He wanted to bring his business to France. This was the beginning of the beautiful beginning of Betsy's relationship with some of the most important couture houses of the 20th century.

In the documentary, which unfortunately will not be released to mass media, Mrs. Bloomingdale reminisces fondly about the glory days of shopping in Paris at the couture houses of Balmain and Dior. "I had no idea I was collecting anything so important," says Mrs. Bloomingdale. She recalls how shopping for haute couture was such a quiet experience. Society ladies met for lunch in Paris and attended the shows at 3pm. There wasn't much sound, just stunning gowns parading through the show room. No fanfare, no theatrics, just the ladies and the gowns.

Christina Johnson, Betsy Bloomingdale, and Kevin Jones at opening night of exhibit

Betsy's world of couture spanned about 30 years. Her first purchase was at the house of Balmain in 1961 and she faithfully attended couture shows until 1996.

Walking through the FIDM museum was visually overwhelming. Three galleries were punctuated with gowns and ensembles that looked like sculpture.

Mount maker Carolyn Jamerson gave us a detailed tutorial on how to create invisible garment forms. I have to be honest and admit that this wasn't nearly as important to me as some of the other CSA members considering that many of them are involved in curating and museum studies. I just love clothes. They could hang on a hanger for all I care. Until I saw the garments displayed in the galleries. I was mesmerized by the artistic display of clothing. They were almost an optical illusion - a parade of floating silk, lace and satin. It was a stunning display.

Kevin Jones, who was as entertaining as he was educational, explained that FIDM now has custody of around 200 croquis from Christian Dior. Croquis were the hand colored reproductions of the designer's original sketches with a swatch of fabric attached. Christina Johnson, co-curator, told a funny story of how these wonderful croquis were decorating office walls. Aye!

If you can't make it to the gritty streets of Downtown LA to see the exhibit, you can purchase the catalog at the FIDM Museum gift shop. The exhibit ends December 13. Check FIDM's website for more details.

Three French vintage clothing dealers talk style, quality, history, and smart buying. Check it out!

Last night's episode of Gossip Girl may have been full of sex and betrayal, but what intrigued me the most was the social moires of the debutante ball. My site is called Debutante Clothing, but the name of my store and blog, was never intended to showcase overpriced, society approved fashion. In fact, Debutante Clothing was inspired by the line in Blondie's song Dreaming...

when you met me in the restaurant, you could tell I was no debutante...

The name is tongue in cheek. It represents the idea that one can wear beautifully made clothing from decades past and look like you just stopped off a runway.

I started wearing vintage as a cheap way to recreate runway and high fashion looks. A way to have unique style. Most people wear vintage for this reason. Debutante Clothing for me was sort of a cheeky mindset of having fabulous style in a completely unexpected way. Much like the blonde in Blondie, Debbie Harry. Debbie Harry was the queen of the high-low mix. Stephen Sprouse mingled with thrift store finds. And she was a style icon.

Now that I am older and my taste has evolved, along with my pocketbook being a little thicker, the debutante wardrobe isn't so unattainable. But I still can't bear to look like a high priced clone.  To this day I have to give my wardrobe some unexpected edge, some vintage flair, and unique style ala Jenny Humphrey.

It always baffles me when I browse through Etsy.com's vintage section or troll Ebay.com for vintage steals. More often than not, I see 1980s garments being sold as 20s flapper dresses, or worse, fringed polyester flapper costumes from Halloween super stores being listed as RARE! flapper dress. I want to take my already loved copy of The Little Guide to Vintage Shopping and scream, Here! Read this!.

If you are new to vintage, or thinking of starting, this is a MUST read book. Written by a well respected member of the Vintage Fashion Guild, Melody Fortier has been in the vintage fashion business for almost 2 decades. And she has proven her know how in this business in her wonderfully insightful book.

There are several books on collecting vintage clothing and accessories that merely give you bios on famous designers and tons of beautiful pictures. That's great for a coffee table or reference book. But The Little Guide to Vintage Shopping is truly a guide, and instructional manual on how to shop for quality vintage, and loaded with tons of insider tips.

The book is adorable. It has the illusion of being an old, embroidered cloth covered book. it's small and compact enough to fit in your bag - perfect for shopping. But let's talk about why this book is so invaluable.

Chapter 1 Vintage Defined gives you an overview of vintage is, and what it is not (ahem, 1990s) and a wonderful little glossary of some terminology you should know as a buyer. Not all designer is couture but that word is thrown around and awful lot, with a price tag to match.

Chapter 2 On the Market talks about options for places to buy and important considerations when shopping for quality.

Chapter 3 Styles of the Times gives an overview of typical styles for each decade with a great visual time line of silhouettes

Chapter 4 Dating Dilemmas (my favorite chapter) discusses how experts determine dates of garments: silhouettes, tags, labels, buttons, zippers, seams, and fabrics

Chapter 5 Sizing It Up gives you tips on how to measure and which measurements to pay attention to to ensure a good fit as well as typical silhouette features for each decade that could determine if the style is right for your body (I'm very 40s and 50s shaped)

Chapter 6 Labels and Pricing gives a good guideline for determining how much something is worth based on the designer and/or label. This is extremely helpful for today's market, but keep in mind that prices are set by the market at any given time.

Chapter 7 Condition and Care (another favorite chapter) gives tips on what to avoid when shopping, how to care for your vintage, how to determine what fabric the garment is made of (pre-1970s garments do not have care tags). These are tips that only experts know. I was impressed

Chapter 8 Finishing Touches discusses accessories and shoes, and equally important segment in the vintage marketplace

Chapter 9 Altered States (a surprising chapter) is all about how to alter vintage for the modern wardrobe, and what you should not alter - couture for one.

Throughout the book, you'll see colorful images of vintage pieces - some to illustrate the chapter, some are just eye candy. This is not a coffee table book, or a collector's book so you won't find the one page images of vintage. There are also expert tips from vintage sellers and authors sprinkled throughout the book.

There is a very brief section on great places to shop for vintage. A whole book can be, and has been, published on this topic alone so I didn't mind that it was brief.

All in all, I have to say I was very impressed with the breadth of knowledge that was published in this book. For such a little guide, you gets volumes of expert knowledge that the average vintage shopper might not know.

If you love wearing and shopping for vintage, or if you are a new vintage seller, I highly recommend The Little Guide to Vintage Shopping.

I got an email from the vintage lovely folks at Modcloth.com. If you love vintage, as I'm sure you do if you read my little blog, then you probably love the vintage and vintage inspired selection at Modcloth.com. Love it enough to try your hand at buying for the shop? Here's your chance.

ModCloth wants you to Be the Buyer. They are asking customers to help the ModCloth buying team select designs to be produced and sold on ModCloth! Be the Buyer allows customers to be virtual members of ModCloth's fashion buying team, and invites you to vote on potential clothing designs.

We'll showcase these designs on the site, and using a 'Pick It' button, shoppers can vote for their favorites. If a style gets enough votes, the design will be produced and sold by ModCloth, and participants will be notified via email.

This means that within a few weeks of voting, participants might be wearing a design they chose!

I'm hoping something flapperish and frivolous shows up. I'm feeling sassy. Check out their blog for more details.

And if that weren't enough, they are also having a killer sale. 50-80% off selected merchandise. What are you waiting for?!

I found this great Halloween costume idea on one of my favorite blogs, What I Wore. Jessica is so creative when it comes to styling that I'm not surprised she was able to put this together. Of course, my non-fashiony friends would assume I am a hip George Washington.

photo source: What I Wore

SNAP SNAP
The Americans and Beat Poetry What: One-day intensive poetry writing workshop inspired by Robert Frank's legendary portfolio and the literary cats of the time.
Why: Just in the nik of time.
When: Sat., 11 a.m.
Where: MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave., at 3rd St., Downtown.
To register, call 213-621-1745 or e-mail education@moca.org.

MANHATTAN VINTAGE CLOTHING AND ANTIQUE TEXTILE SHOW AND SALE
When: Friday, October 9th - 1:00 PM TO 8:00 PM
Saturday, October 10th - 11:00 AM TO 6:00 PM
Where: Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street (Between 6th & 7th Aves)
Admission $ 20.00

Photo: via The Invisible Agen

The most celebrated fashion photographer of the 20th century has passed. Irving Penn, the master photographer whose fashion images in Vogue magazine for more than six decades bridged the gap between commercial photography and fine art, died Wednesday morning at his home in New York City. He was 92.

via WWD