Paco Rabanne’s chainlink armored mini dress, circa 1967, is among the pieces up for grabs via eBay Live June 10. Bidding for this piece will start at about $6,000.
Those who appreciate vintage fashion might enjoy taking a look at the garb up for grabs via eBay Live’s “Passion for Fashion and Fine Textiles,” an auction taking place June 10.
Found it by accident while doing one of my standard searches for Ossie Clark and Lanvin and hit the Mother Lode of European fashion, 1920s through 1980s. What a pleasant surprise. Usually, I feel lucky if I see one beautiful, collectible piece.
I have a love of vintage clothing that dates to my teen years. It was the most tangible way for a girl from Waipahu — pre-Internet — to feel connected to the larger world, past and present. After running my own vintage/consignment boutique here and scoring my own vintage Pucci and Lanvin dresses, I became particularly enamored of the work of European designers done in the 1930s through ’40s, and 1960s through ’70s.
I read that ’40s and ’70s inspired H&M’s Fall 208 collection, described as “sharp, androgynous, elegant.”
You can own Jerry Hall’s Antony Price white lace wedding dress dating to her 1990 marriage to Mick Jagger. Bust 34, waist 26 inches. Who knew she was so tiny? She looks like a big girl standing next to Mick.
Ossie Clark snakeskin coat, circa 1967-68. Bidding starts at about $700. Fits a 34-inch bust. People were tiny back then, before they started pumping up at gyms and supersizing meals.
The auction also features tapestries and garments from the 1700s, and it appears that Jerry Hall is emptying her closet of clothing circa her life with Mick Jagger, including her wedding dress, which is starting at about $300.
Even if you can’t or don’t want to buy anything, it’s fun to look at the pieces and certainly would be beneficial for any alleged student of fashion to see. (more…)
Hope you have a chance to read my story in today’s paper about the Bon Ton, one of the first department stores in Honolulu, which opened in the early 1930s and closed during World War II.
The story grew out of one of my blog entries, when Gayle Ozawa, reading about Jane Lyman’s birthday, contacted me regarding a gathering of the Bon Ton Girls, including Jane.
Their story showed how, even at the worst of times — the Great Depression — people made the most of what they had and still had an appreciation for fashion.
Considering that in the early ’30s, a Bon Ton salesgirl made $1 an hour, and a dress at Bon Ton sold for $1.99, she’d have to work two days for that dress. Today, a person making $10 an hour working two days would have $160 less taxes for a dress.
It’s heartening for me, because when you consider all the things people have to worry about these days, writing about fashion would appear to a lot of people to be one of the more frivolous subjects.
Le Palais-Royal, one of the stage sets that form the exhibition “Théâtre de la Mode,” which was shown at the University of Hawaii Art Gallery in Fall 2001. The collection comprised 27-inch mannequins dressed in the 1946 spring/summer collections from 54 of Paris’s haute couture houses.
To that I would say, here’s a link to a story http://starbulletin.com/2001/10/02/features/story1.html I wrote in 2001, that shows the lengths post-World War II Paris designers went through to demonstrate that the war’s devastation of Europe could not dampen their creative spirit or the will of a society to survive. It says everything I want to say at this point in time. The intent of the exhibition means more to me today than I realized at the time, now that we are feeling some of that era’s fear and uncertainty, many of us for the first time.
High school marked the end of my tanning ways. I had a sense adults were right and it would only lead to dark spots, wrinkles and skin cancer, but the challenge of being as dark as a surfer — had to try! Naturally, I was always out there during summer, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the worst times of the day people said. These days, any time in the sun is a bad time. Bleached hillsides attest to that.
After that I started covering up so that beach picnics meant combat fatigues, including the hat and Jackie O size sunglasses. I’m finding now that my skin is paying the price for essentially, only two years of aggressive burning.
A few years ago I was carrying an umbrella and wearing a hat when walking from my car to the office, but gave up after deciding the rays were probably bouncing off the pavement anyway. Better to walk very fast. For a long time, I lived three blocks from the beach in Kailua, and wouldn’t go there until 5 or 6 p.m., just before the sun went down. I wasn’t as bad as the mom of one of our summer interns, who made special sleeves that she wore to cover her arms when she was driving, and also placed a towel across her lap.
Now that it’s becoming hotter, I think people are wising up to UVA/UVB hazards. Even so, I don’t think Americans are quite ready for the burqini, as available at www.ahiida.com. The company sells “dynamic swimwear and sportswear for today’s Muslim female.”
The suits make it look as if the women are wearing full-body condoms. That’s some powerful sun protection. They come in slim, modest and active fits, and sell Down Under for AUD$230. This is not something you’d see as a photo spread in the daily, unless it somehow becomes a trend. Beach fatigues might at least look edgier.
Too bad his Hawaii appearance wasn’t a public one, although he decided during his first trip here that he may just have to come back to explore our beaches and compare them to those of Miami, where he grew up.
He was here for only a day to show the new Sex and the City by Cosabella collection during a training session with Neiman Marcus staffers. The line will be arriving in Hawaii in early to mid-May, just before the “Sex and the City” movie opens. Can’t wait to see the clothes in that one! I might have to see it four times or something. When “The Devil Wears Prada” opened, I had to see it twice, just for the opening credits and Anne Hathaway’s ensembles. Multiply that by the four leads in “Sex”; see what I mean?
Here’s the Nordstrom March 5 fashion show footage for those who weren’t there, and the many who werethere but still missed both runs because of the size of the venue and the general feeding frenzy (of both edible and material sort)!
The show was divided into several cohesive segments. My apologies for the show coordinators, but I’ve mashed segments together so people with the worst Internet connections won’t think it’s too much of a chore to download. The real show had about four times as many outfits. Could have been more. I’m really bad at math, but you’ll get the gist as far as the size of the stage, the pacing and general ambience.I also made a separate video of the men’s segment, again, for easy downloading.
AP photos Design from the Gianni Versace Fall/Winter 2008 collection.
The Milan fall/winter shows started on Wednesday, and it seems as if the global economy has brought Italian and American designers in sync. Many of the streamlined silhouettes and colors looked as if they would have been right at home on New York’s runways. Collections from Dolce & Gabbana, Romeo Gigli and Versace were relatively devoid of excess.
Of course there were luxurious fabrics and accents such as Fendi’s renowned furs, but I can’t help thinking that worries about a sinking economy are leading designers to tame their wildest impulses to create more wearable pieces.
New York is not the only city hosting Fashion Week. Berlin also presented shows, and flamenco style hit the stage during the International Flamenco Fashion Show in Seville, Spain, on Jan. 31. The ruffled dresses below are by Vicky Martin Berrocal.
Plan to post news of New York’s Miss Sixty show later, but for now the real job calls.
Nadine Kam photos Cathy Sumimoto, left, and Emma Wo wear creations by Kimono Samba’s Chieko Yamaguchi. Cathy’s dress is made from fabric from a wedding obi. Yamaguchi will be back to show with her students at the Japanese Women’s Society fashion show, “Open Your Tansu.”
After spending a day on Maui, I left early Sunday morning, Jan. 27, to make it over to the Japanese Women’s Society Foundation’s new year Shinnen Enkai celebration at Natsunoya Tea House on Alewa Heights. I felt like I was on “Amazing Race” hoping timing would be good. It wasn’t so good when the company called to pick me up at Four Seasons never showed at 7:20 a.m., then said the pickup time that had been arranged was 9:45 a.m. Well, my flight was to leave at 9, so that wouldn’t do.
Made it over to the airport by taxi, where the lines waiting to get through inspection were as long as those to any big concert or Black Friday sale. Yuck. Honolulu departures are easy by comparison except they really seem to be suspicious of laptop computers. Luckily, once on Oahu I was out and running and in a taxi en route home by 10. I live a couple blocks down the hill from the teahouse, so walking there for the 10:30 a.m. event was fairly easy. I figured it was close from having driven past there before, but what I didn’t get from being in a car is that, true to the Heights name, it was all uphill.
Chieko Yamaguchi showed how her modern interpretations of kimono can be worn with traditional kimono, as worn from left by Yutaka Shiomi, Sadako Miyashiro and Tamae Oshiro.
The event offered a sneak preview of the society’s April 13 fashion show, “Open Your Tansu.” Just as the name implies, it’s an invitation to dig into your closets and chests to discover what kimono and obi have been stored away, just waiting to be reborn as a new garment. Among the models were JWS members and beauty queens Cathy Sumimoto, Emma Wo and Aureana Tseu.
Chieko teaches the art of giving birth to new designs through informal classes in Japan, working under the name Kimono Samba. She doesn’t sell her work, but empowers women to try it on their own, saying it involves mostly cutting, very little sewing, and involves no modern fasteners such as buttons or zippers. A lot of the work is held together by tying pieces together. She’ll be back with her students for the April show.
Nadine Kam videosChieko Yamaguchi demonstrates Kimono Samba style.
Traveling with Chieko was Hanako Yuuki, below, who practices the art of kirigami or cutting paper. Her hat is covered with nuno hearts and topped with a bird. The little pieces of fabric art are sewn from kimono remants so that no piece of these beautiful silks goes to waste. Here’s a Yuuki’s kirigami demonstration on video:
The Paris designers are now showing men the right way to wear color for fall 2008. Are you ready? I love it! Different and stylish without being overly dandified.
AP photos British designer Paul Smith’s take on menswear for Fall 2008.
Spanish designer Josep Abril came up with color accents.
All is quiet on MLK Day in Honolulu, but over in Brazil, Sao Paulo Fashion Week is going on, and here are some photos. It’s always fun to see what other people around the world are doing. It’s so easy now when you can follow people on all continents through Twitter.com. It was only amusing at first. Now I’m addicted.
AP photos
Erika Ikezili design.
Models for Cavalera paraded on the banks of the Tiete river to call attention to the pollution there.(more…)
