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

The fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent amassed an art collection that is renowned as one of the most fabulous in private hands. It includes works by Old Masters and contemporary greats, among them Picasso, Mondrian, Warhol, Matisse and Goya, to name just a few.

Now, following his death last month aged 71, Saint Laurent's business partner, former companion and heir, Pierre Bergé - with whom he built the collection - is reported to be considering a massive international sale.

source: http://www.artbistro.com/

When you think of the late Yves Saint Laurent, certain images come to mind: regular use of black models, le smoking, safari. But rarely do we think of the beautiful accoutrements that accessorized these YSL icons. Although the necklace is licensed, I feel it clearly reflects the mind and interests of Yves Saint Laurent's collections of the 1970s - bold and exotic.

available at Blonde Vintage

It's summer. I've given up on bikini body but my skin is in tank top and minimal make up condition. Unlike my good friend Stevie at LA-Story.com, the queen of beauty products, my beauty arsenal consists of mostly drugstore finds with a few MAC and Benefit products. Some of the best products are ones that don't cost you the equivalent of a tank of gas. Check out my tried and true favorites from drugstore.com!

Zim's Crack Creme, Liquid Herbal Formula

I had extremely dry cracked skin. Not the kind that even Gold Bond could cure. i found Zim's line of Crack Creme products very good. They really take care of cracks and flakiness.

Dickinson's Cleansing Astringent Towelettes

These little towelettes were a blessing when my husband and I traveled to Italy. In the summer. Let's just say that it's a good thing the place is beautiful because the humidity and heat, anywhere else, would've put a damper on the fun. When ever you feel a little sticky or icky, pull one of these out and wipe. You feel fresh and ready to go instantly.

Olay Total Effects Moisturizing Vitamin Complex

One of the best parts of being a writer is that I get to try out products I would never be able to afford. Yet, when it comes to moisturizers, I always come back to my tried and true -- Oil of Olay. It just works. My skin looks taut, moist and nearly pore free. I have combination skin and I have never had a problem with oiliness with Total Effects.

Burt's Beeswax Lip Balm

Remember when all we had was Chapstick? Burt's Beeswax Lip Balm is only slightly more expensive but a thousand times better. It actually moisturizes not just covers up the problem. The minty smell and sensation soothes as it smoothes. For a very subtle day time look, I use this with a bit of lipliner.

Nature's Cure Body Acne Treatment Spray

it wasn't long ago that I would never dream of wearing a halter top or a tank with my hair in a pony tail during summer months. I was so embarrassed of the acne on my back, yet my face was perfectly clear. The irony! I used Nature's Cure for about a month and I rarely break out now. And you don't have to get someone else to spray your back because it sprays at any angle.

Today, Yoox.com launches its newest vintage installation. Yoox traces the history of the maison Christian Dior with a selection of Vintage clothing and accessories. Through July, you'll get to feast your eyes on a carefully selected collection, curated but none other than Holly Brubach, a woman that I thank my writing instructor Sally de Lourenco for introducing me to her work.

Holly Brubach is a talented writer who has the keen ability to write prose about couture but in such a sassy and entertaining manner that non New Yorker socialites like me can appreciate. She curated the last vintage sale which featured vintage Chanel pieces, which incidentally flew off the virtual shelf.

"The limited time YOOX.COM Christian Dior Vintage Sale will feature a selection of hard-to-find signature styles and classic everyday treasures. With the expertise of Holly Brubach, renowned fashion critic and creative consultant for YOOX.COM, items were collected from a variety of sources such as estate sales, private collections and auctions from prestigious houses like Christie's New York. Pieces that were once hidden in one corner of the world, will now be available to anyone with internet access."

You know you are somebody in the fashion world if you receive an invitation the Costume Institute's annual gala. The theme this year was Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy. While some fashions were blatantly superhero inspired (Wonder Woman wore gold cuffs), many of the guests went for pretty and fantastical.

I was very pleased to see some vintage amongst the sea of couture and high end designers. But I have to admit, some of the vintage pieces weren't as inspiring as some of the new designs, and that was disappointing. Of the many ways to infuse fantasy and a touch of costume to your outfit, you would think vintage would be the way to go. Wearing vintage in and of itself, to an even like this requires more than just a vintage dress - here's you chance to pull out the most outrageous and beautiful pieces known to fashion history.

I felt these fell a little short. But I'll let you decide.

Photo: Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene

Images:
Michelle Trachtenberg, in a vintage skirt and top with Kwiat diamonds and a Cesare Paciotti clutch.

Kate Bosworth, in vintage Chanel Haute Couture

Caroline Trentini, in vintage Thierry Mugler and Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry.

Anna Sui, in vintage Zandra Rhodes and boots of her own design.

And some notable non-vintage looks:

Sarah Brown
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Dita Von Teese

Check out the rest of the images, all 164 of them!, at Style.com

Shirmpton Couture and Style It also have some images and commentary on the big event.

By now, everyone who loves the bold, graphic prints of Marimekko has heard of the amazing collection at H&M.

I also wanted to share with you the Marimekko concept store because colorful shapes and patterns shouldn't just be worn on your body! They carry a slew of punchy patterned lifestyle products from linens to art work.

But I am totally stumped on this pair of earrings I acquired. They are marked marimekko® DESIGN BY AURIFEX.

Are they vintage? They must be licensed and not truly Marimekko. I can't seem to find any information on them. Marimekko experts - help!

Back in November, I blogged about the announcement that John Varvatos would be using the closed down CBGB location as his newest boutique. Well, he has moved in, and brought all of his devil's music accoutrements with him!

The store front was given to Varvatos completely empty, but the graffitied walls plastered with stickers and posters and the theatrical lighting on ceiling remain. Varvatos wanted to leave the history, the memories and the artifacts proving that rock and roll once lived in his new home. "Walking around the Varvatos space at 315 Bowery just confirmed for me that energy doesn't disappear, it only gets transformed, you can feel it - all over the place!" said Arturo Vega, the Ramones Creative Director, who has lived around the corner from the club since 1973.

Alongside his exquisite clothing-styles that even good old punk rock boys wouldn't turn their nose up at-are vintage leather jackets, jeans and rock T-shirts carefully picked by What Comes Around Goes Around.

Varvatos says, "As CBGB's was a unique arena for the music scene, this store will be the same for fashion and rock & roll. They have always been intertwined and here they will live together!"

Photos: Business Wire

Good vintage transcends time. It isn't defined by one decade and is completely relevant to modern fashion. As is the case with this 1960s Geoffrey Beene shift. The hey day of Geoffrey Beene was the 1960s. But if you look at this dress, can you tell it's from the 1960s? It looks fresh and new and now.

dress available at eBay

I usually don't comment on fashion shows that I don't attend, because, well, that just makes no sense. But I was moved to comment on the Whitley Kros show because it seems to be the only show that had any value at LA Fashion Week.

Fashion Week Daily's review describes Marissa Ribisi and Sophia Coloma's collection as

embracing '70s and '80s style, from Working Girl hair to jumpsuits. Tweed and plaid fabrics mixed with faint animal prints and a color palette of red, salmon, burnt orange, black, and white, seen in oversized slouchy knits, blazers, and cigarette pants

Sounds very comfy and I'm all over the cigarette pants and blazers this season. Considering my petite height, I'd probably do a shrunken blazer over a slouchy one though.

But what caught my fashion-starry-eyed attention was the fact that André Leon Talley was in the audience. Seriously. At LA Fashion Week. I was stunned. Maybe it was the celebrity allure; Bijou Phillips, Juliette Lewis, Marissa's twin brother Giovanni Ribisi and her husband Beck were all in attendance.

This sounds like a show to catch. Note to self: get a press pass next season!

Along with art prints on dresses, I love bold, iconic jewelry. Paraphernalia makes the most fantastic plastic pendants using vintage images and creates them into wearable art. Hearts are cute, but this one is arresting. Be sure to check out their bow and portraits of famous folks.

Finally! A reason to shop at Walmart. The last time I went to a Walmart, I was scared off by a man who, in the middle of the pot and pans aisle, screamed "Don't be fucking disrespecting me. That why I don't like going anywhere with you."

So the only way I would step foot in a Walmart would be for such an amazing event like Norma Kamali. According to WWD, Kamali will create a collection of women's and children's wear, shoes, accessories, and home decor!

"My life dream has been to promote self-esteem for women and wellness for the entire family," Kamali said. "Now I have the opportunity with Wal-Mart to create products that combine my design experiences with great value and innovative ideas to fulfill this dream. Through the Wal-Mart stores and Web site I can reach more people and affect more lives than in any other venue," said Norma Kamali.

I am especially looking forward to the footwear, especially after being obliterated in the bidding war for a pair of vintage 80s Norma Kamali flats.

photo from WWD.com

The most coveted bag for the past two years has undoubtedly been the Chanel 2.55. Mademoiselle Chanel created this iconic bag in 1955, hence the name 2.55.

it seems like eBay is the premiere spot for vintage Chanel purses, but how do you spot the real deal from the fakes? Do your homework! There's nothing worse than being spotted sporting a fake, especially when you paid top dollar.

1. Check the serial number
The serial number will have seven numbers if it was made in the 80s and 8 numbers if it was made in the 90s. In older handbags and accessories there is a white sticker with gold circle CCs all over it. The black 7-digit serial number is black and is in the middle of the sticker. Newer bags have a plastic shield to protect the serial number. There is no plastic covering over this sticker in an older bag.

2. The logo
The interlocking CC logo can be gold, silver, stitched or other material. The top portion of the right C must overlap the top portion of the left C. The bottom portion of the left C must overlap the bottom portion of the right C. In a very few vintage Chanel handbags, Chanel has done the reverse overlaps on their interior flaps.

3. The hardware
The hardware-chains, pulls, eyelets-will always match each other. If the chain strap is silver, so will the rest of the hardware. If it is gold, the pulls and eyelets will be gold too.

The metallic logo stamp will also match the hardware. You will find a stamp indicating where it was made on the opposite side of the bag either in block letters or in an oval.

Even vintage Chanel bags are expensive. If you think the price of the bag is too good to be true, it probably is! There are still great finds on eBay, you just have to be a savvy vintage shopper.

Shift happens! And if you're lucky, it happens in an ultra cute way, wrapped in a mod bow.

available on eBay

Last year a popular exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art renewed interest in the French couturier Paul Poiret, interest that is likely to continue on Feb. 14 with a sale of his original clothing designs in Paris.

Now Poiret's grandchildren have consigned 124 of his designs and some paintings to Beaussant-Lefèvre, an auction house that uses the Drouot premises. The clothes belonged to Denise Boulet-Poiret, Poiret's handsome wife, who can be seen wearing them in period photos in the catalog.

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Diable and Diablesse, two amazing bloggers from Mexico City and future Manolo bloggers, about amazing designers in Mexico.

One of the designers that really catches my eye is Trista. Trista's designs are moody, slightly gothic, but incredibly beautiful and chic. This dress particularly caught my eye because I love mixing looks and styles. I mix punk and vintage 50s all the time.

Trista gets it. A bondage style bust...

And where exactly am I seeing flapper influence? Check it...

It takes time and effort to create the right eclectic mix of vintage and new. Trista does it beautifully for me.

I love little 40s and 50s chiffon and sheer nylon tops.

They're like little puffs of cotton candy. But I often feel too sweet in them so I toughen them up with a contrasting fitted cami underneath and jeans.

This Comme des Garçons top is so sweetly punk rock, it's sick. It looks like a Sunday school girl got into a knife fight and won. Love it.

Variety has reported that Shirley Maclaine will star as the leading role in a mini series about the return of Coco to her beloved house Chanel. Of all the media projects coming out about the life of Coco Chanel, this is the most promising in terms of getting to the root of the infamous designer herself.

The mini series will focus on Gabrielle's return to design after her exile due to WWII. She returned to revive Chanel in the 1970s. The label used at this time was Chanel Creations rather than the Chanel label we are used to after Karl Lagerfeld took over.

And speaking of Lagerfeld, apparently he fully endorses the project and will even have a hand in helping costume designer Stefano de Nardis to recreate the Coco Chanel's designs.

While we are all familiar with the iconic quilted 2.55 bag and the Chanel long silhouette suits, it will be very interesting to see the lesser known designs of the 1970s revival when Chanel came out of hiding and into the designer limelight once again.

One of my favorite online stores is Yoox.com. Where else can you find unheard of in the States Italian designers mingling with luxury vintage? This is the best of both worlds.

Currently, Yoox.com is offering their second installment of Simply Coco Chanel, a collection of covetable vintage and previously owned Chanel dress, handbags, and jewelry from the Holly Brubach's personal stash.

I imagine Ms. Brubach's time at the New York Times afforded her first eye view of each season's collections. I mean look at it all. Maybe it's just that I am not from NY, but how does someone amass so much Coco? But like Holly, I feel very confident when I do buy Chanel, all two pieces. Looking at the prices her pieces are commanding on Yoox, the only other brand I know that retains such great value is Honda, and well that's just not chic enough.

The Moon dress by the modern master of va va voom dresses, Roland Mouret, has finally arrived at Bergdorf's with half of the coveted frock already spoken for.

First it was the Galaxy dress and now the Moon dress. These beautiful dresses instantly give your body a look that only tens of thousands of dollars, some liposuction and rib removal could do. An instant hour glass shape.

But it's not in the fabric. There is no spandex sucking you in. It's all in the little known details that the original wiggle dress of the 50s and 60s featured that creates the illusion of a heavenly body.

The trick is to bring the eye to the parts that matter the most. The bust, the waist and the hips.

The Galaxy dress had the portrait neckline. The Moon dress has the faux shrug bodice treatment that darts and ends right at the center of the bust. Can't get more direct than that. That's a straight line to the girls.

The waist features a faux belt or stitching to define the waistline. The Moon dress features a diamond shaped panel on the waist. It doesn't matter that it doesn't go all the way around. As long as there is some sort of demarcation of the waistline. Even a thin strip of piping can give this illusion.

Some stylists will tell you to ahttp://www.debutanteclothing.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi?__mode=view&_type=entry&blog_id=1void any fussiness around the hips at all times. Like you can really hide the fact that you have hips! To create balance with the bust, you will need some sort of detail at the hip-flap, faux pockets, draping.

Whether you go with a clingy fabric or a very structured, lined skirt, the boobs and the hips are what will create this illusion of curves in all the right places. Embrace them.

available on eBay.com

On my weekly thrift shopping excursions, I always make a beeline for the jewelry case. Frequently I see clear plastic bags of junk jewelry: broken necklaces, loose pendants and other bits and bobbins best used for crafting. Where I see junk, Alison Woodward sees inspiration.

Alison is the amazing artist and designer of Reverie jewelry-handcrafted, one of a kind works of art made of recycled and vintage jewelry, buttons and pure artistic talent. Recreating jewelry from scraps isn't new, but Alison has an amazing eye for repurposing the once discarded materials, into pieces that are probably 1000 times more amazing than their previous life.

I got the opportunity to ask Miss Reverie about her amazing collection. Check out the Q&A:

DC: How long have you been designing your jewelry?

AW: I started designing a little over 4 years ago. It really began just as a hobby…a way for me to be creative and a good excuse for me to buy these parts and pieces I’d been admiring on my weekends at the flea market!

DC: Why “Reverie”?

AW: Well as soon as my pieces started to sell, I thought “Hmm. I may have something here!” At that point I figured I better name my line. I thought for a couple of weeks about it and one morning “reverie” just came into my head. Right away it felt perfect. I’d always thought that was such a beautiful, old-fashioned word. And it very much sums up my jewelry. Not only are my designs the product of my deep and ponderous daydreams, but they also have a way of carrying that feeling with them.

DC: Who do you see wearing your designs?

AW: I’ve noticed that my jewelry speaks to a really broad spectrum. Once a year I have a cocktail party in my studio and it’s so fun to see who identifies with what. I try to stay away from trendy styles so that each piece can really stand alone. This helps carry my jewelry through every season for any age woman.

DC: I noticed you use a lot of iconic symbols. What do you look for in potential pieces for your creations?

AW: What an interesting observation! I hadn’t even noticed that! I don’t usually know what I’m looking for when I go out in search of new materials. I try to keep a really open frame of mind and see the potential in everything I pick up. Which means I’m an incredibly slow shopper. Sometimes I’ll see something from ten feet away and make a beeline to snatch it up. And other times I find something after digging in a box for fifteen minutes that makes me wonder, “Can I really use this?” But if it’s speaking to me, I usually just go for it. And more times than not, that ends up being the best thing I got all day!

DC: What’s next for you and Reverie?

AW: This past year I’ve had great success getting my line into more stores and even a couple of galleries. But I’m not quite there yet! My real dream is to have my own Reverie store. So in the meantime I have to continue on with this balance of designing and marketing. I’m one of many artists who would much rather just work on their art. But I realize that the marketing aspect is crucial. That’s the only way people are going to know my jewelry exists! So I’m just going to keep at it. And hopefully in a few years I�