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

If you live any where near NYC, you have to check out the American Woman exhibit.

American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity is the first Costume Institute exhibition drawn from the newly established Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Met. It explores developing perceptions of the modern American woman from 1890 to 1940 and how they have affected the way American women are seen today. Focusing on archetypes of American femininity through dress, the exhibition reveals how the American woman initiated style revolutions that mirrored her social, political, and sexual emancipation. "Gibson Girls," "Bohemians," and "Screen Sirens," among others, helped lay the foundation for today's American woman.

I am not a museum studies expert by any stretch of the imagination, but after attending the Betsey Bloomingdale exhibit at FIDM last year, I grew a tremendous appreciation for the art of textile and costume display. The "wigs" of this exhibit are stunning!

If anyone has attended the exhibit or plans to attend, and you are interested in writing a review for it here, I'd love to hear about it! Email me!

Last Sunday, Mary Kincaid of Zuburbia, and I headed out to the Santa Monica Vintage Expo for some shopping and long, overdue blogger/vintage maven meet up time. I wasn't necessarily shopping for anything in particular, and definitely not shopping for resale. I was really looking forward to meeting some of my favorite sellers and bloggers in person though.

liz, me, mary

I didn't have any celebrity sightings this time, but I did find some amazing couture vintage. It's like an archive!

I was thrilled to meet up with Liz Baca, the lovely treasure hunter at GottaGetTheGoods.com. I was able to convince her to do a short video interview about her Vintage Expo experience...

I also got to chat with Kristine of Elsewhere Vintage in Orange, CA. She has the most amazing selection of mid-century vintage and is opening a vintage clothing store just for men!

I also met Janet of Woodland Farms Antiques in Texas who is a fellow Vintage Fashion Guild member.

janet and me

You would've loved my little red hat! I wish I would've gotten a better picture of it. It has a velvet appliqued arrow across the top. It's very whimsical and surreal. I love it.

It was a great shopping, talking shop, and mingling sort of event. Mary and I cooked up some ideas and shared our vintage empire dreams over lunch. It was a great afternoon.

Are you liking these videos? I'm really enjoying doing them. Let me know what kinds of videos you would like to see!

This weekend, vintage collectors and sellers will be going nuts on both coasts - the Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show and Santa Monica Vintage Expo are in town. I'm already making plans to meet up with some of my favorite sellers and shoppers. Maybe I can get some pictures to show you!

In the meantime, if you've ever had questions about these types of shows, or are just curious about who runs them, I have a great interview with the co-owners of the SM Vintage Expo, Robert and Christie Alvarez. They share their history with the show, their professional observations, and some valuable insider tips on how to work the show. It's an older video, so don't mind the dates they have given.

If you want to see more videos, let me know what topics you are interested in! I promise to show my face in the next one.

Enjoy!

Nicole Jenkins of Circa Vintage in Australia is on TV! She was featured on an Aussie show called Collectors. Candace of Super Kawaii Mama models vintage swimsuits from Nicole's collection. She looks so adorable. Please check it out! It's the third segment in the episode.

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

Betsey Johnson has released a collection of fashion show videos from her archives. They are so much fun to watch and I challenge you to walk away after just one. When you think about how long Betsey Johnson has been in the business, you can bet her energy and stamina have kept the label going strong since the 1970s!

Without sounding all Project Runway on you, you can see Betsey Johnson in her collections year after year. When you see a BJ outfit, you know it's her. Her designs are always fun, youthful, quirky, romantic but with a bit of edge.

As a fashion collector and vintage dealer, I'm always thrilled to find any form of media that contains a piece I own. It concretely dates the garment. Imagine my surprise when I saw the matching skirt to a vintage Betsey Johnson top I own. I shrieked! At 6:20, we enter the Kibbutz room in the multi-themed room fashion show of Fall 1982. I didn't see my top but it doesn't seem like we get to see all the models.

The top may not have a lot of value - I don't collect Betsey Johnson pieces for that reason. But I am so proud to own a piece of subculture fashion history.

Betsey Johnson and Vivienne Westwood are the doyennes of high end, subculture fashion. They brought street, music -namely punk -influence to the runway. Even BJ's label is punk rock!

I'm so happy the week is almost over. So happy I could dance. This routine by the Nicholas Brothers is said to be the greatest dance routine of all time. Eat your heart out Fred and Ginger.

I've always admired Betsey Johnson for her vintage inspired and subculture rooted designs. Unlike some other unfortunate designers, even though she lives with one foot in the past, and one foot in the present, she manages to incorporate design elements that matter. Designs that made a mark on the fashion world then with signature Betsey Johnson femininity that will never go out of style.

When I came across this video interview with Betsey Johnson, I was mesmerized by her recollection of a time, which she so rightfully describes as a time when a new fashion had been invented. Check out her beautiful memories of those crazy mods and how much Edie influenced her.

If you're looking for a way to celebrate Earth Day, don't drive there! Just revamp stuff you have in your own closet. Of course, it helps if you have a talented designer laying around to help you.

Vintage Couture legendary boutique, The Way We Wore, will be hosting a very special event where several famous designers will revamp vintage and create an entirely new look in honor of Earth Day, April 22nd. While I usually don't condone the cutting of vintage, in capable and educated hands, reworking vintage can breathe new life into an otherwise unwearable garment. Be sure to check out these one of a kind items when they go to auction on Ebay.com. How will you celebrate Earth Day?

Thursday night, I had the great pleasure of attending the Louis Verdad Louver collection preview. As if that weren't enough fashion pleasure, Cameron Silver of Decades Inc. also showed a collection of twenty-four incredible gowns representing some of the best wearable vintage couture. I was so excited about this event that it wasn't until I sat down to edit the video footage I took that I realized I was sitting behind Louis Verdad and Cameron Silver! The only stars in my eyes were the vintage kind.

The crowd was an interesting mix of fashionistas, celebrities such as Rose McGowan dressed by Cameron Silver in a vintage Loris Azzaro, Nicole Richie in vintage Zandra Rhodes and her new line, House of Harlow, Nicky Hilton, Dana Delaney in a green vintage wiggle dress, and Marisa Tomei in a 1958 vintage Christian Dior, with a few drag queens for good measure. The entire night was a museum worthy installation of beautiful fashion in every possible medium: 18-foot photos by August Bradleya, a fashion film by Robertino Fonseca that captured Bradley's photo shoot, Louis Verdad's collection displayed on mannequins, and the piece de resistance, the Decades fashion show.

The show started with a very somber operetta by two vinyl, corseted evening gown clad singers. Even the cello player was tightly bound in black vinyl. Perhaps this was a way to bridge the gothic themed collection by Louis Verdad and the vintage runway show.  Overall, it was an interesting performance. Then, a parade of vibrant vintage gowns marched down the runway.

The show included stunning gowns from the 1930s to the 1980s. Some of my favorites included a pink 1950s Pierre Cardin ombre ball gown and a 1930s blue paillette mermaid gown that I never would've guessed was that old. The crowd went wild over a red sequined 1960s Norman Norell cocktail dress. The colors ranged from fuschia to sea foam - I imagine Cameron Silver is getting the store ready for spring.

The event was a much needed injection of glamour and high fashion in a town that is best known for it's Hollywood starlets and very casual dress. I was thrilled to see so many attendees in vintage too.  I was no longer self conscious of my bright pink and red dress amongst the sea of black - vintage should stand out and be noticed. Isn't this part of why we wear it?

I am pleased to show you the latest of what I hope will be a series of vintage themed videos produced by DebutanteClothing.com. I hope my little Flip camera does the show justice. Enjoy!

Most of us are familiar with the famous Italian designer, Valentino. However, few of us are familiar with a relatively obscure, but equally talented designer, Valentina Sanina Schlee (1899-1989).

When it comes to fashion design, not fashion as it relates to the masses, fashion magazines and media seem to push the familiar, the collections with mass appeal. This is a business after all. But Valentina did not buy into trends and fads. Her designs and cutting edge work led to her being regarded as a pioneer in American couture.

A Russian immigrant, her life was a true American dream story. Valentina went from an unknown, to a celebrity fashion designer due to her fashion forward designs. Her clients included Greta Garbo and Mrs. Hearst. She reminds me of another immigrant, fashion forward designer plucked from relative obscurity until she was worn by one of the most famous women in the world - Isabel Toledo.

Valentina was a designer beyond her time, and stylistically, cared very little for trends. Much like Dame Vivienne Westwood, Valentina exclaimed, "I hate fashion!".

It's a shame that the fashion business thrives on pumping trends rather than form, art, quality and design. If Valentina Sanina Schlee were alive today, there is no doubt fashion bloggers would be typing their fingers to the bone about her fashion forward designs.

Check out Market Publique's blog post about this amazing and fascinating designer.

Valentina's work will be on display in an exhibit at the Museum of the City in New York titled, Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity, February 14 through May 17.

In the meantime, check out this fantastic video featuring the author of the book by the same title, Kohle Yohannan

Man! I need to publish this now because I read about this this morning and everyone is already buzzing.

Glamour.com did an interview with Mad Men costume designer and Costume Designers Guild Award nominee, Janie Bryant. If you think Bryant just finds some random vintage clothing at the thrift and calls it costuming, you are very mistaken.  When asked by Tracey Lomrantz of Slaves to Fashion, a really great blog by the way, if there were any plans for her own line, Janie replied,

"I'm working on some things right now...I hate to be so mysterious but I can't really say! It would have my name attached to it though."

Apparently, the former fashion designer, actually makes many of the costumes for the principal actors. I always wondered if she replicated vintage clothing with modern fabrics in colors and slight design modifications that looked better on TV. I mean, I've never seen a late '50s/early '60s dress like Joan Holloway's!

I cannot wait to see what Janie Bryant designs. Designers such as Michael Kors have already been bitten by the vintage, Mad Men style bug, so Janie Bryant should take more than credit for bringing vintage style to modern fashion. She should bask in the glory of recreated fitted wiggle dresses, full skirts, and shark skin, slim suits.

Sometimes I find the line between collecting and hording vintage gets a bit blurred. And don't even get me started on trying to sell the treasures I find. You should see my inventory. I am working very hard on trying to get back into selling mode and get things listed in the store, but I have to admit the blog has taken on a life of its own.

But when it comes to collecting, I only collect what I love. And I just can't get enough vintage costume jewelry. The great thing about shopping for vintage jewelry is that you can still find some great stuff in the thrifts and at yard sales.

Before you make your next thrift store expedition, check out this great video on vintage costume jewelry.

They say Marilyn Monroe was a size 12. Well, the 12 of the '50s is not the 12 of today. In fact, there is no standardized sizing system in place. I love going to the Gap or Old Navy and kidding myself that I am a size 6 when really I'm an 8.

When shopping online, especially for vintage clothing, it is very important to know your measurements before falling in love with a dress that won't fit. Here's a little video tutorial I created to help you figure out the dimensions of your curves!

Enjoy!

Vintage swimsuits have got to be one the best designed garments ever. They accentuate and minimize where needed. Maybe I'm biased because I love to play up my upper body, but would rather cover up as much as possible on the bottom.

Check out these hot to trot (down the catwalk) swimsuits from 1956. Oh, and check out the amount of men at this particular runway show (and their expressions).

Many thanks to Glam for the great little video players and Vidcat for the fun reels.

When you think of the New Look, usually you think of the house of Dior. Jacques Fath had a hand in the New Look. If those waists get any tinier, ribs will have to be removed.