It all just seemed so unreal - I left at the end of October, feeling like it was the middle of autumn, and Christmas was a looong time away. The trip, a good three and a half weeks, seemed to stretch out in front of me forever. Then it somehow passed by in a whirlwind. And whilst shopping in Christchurch the day before I flew home, the local department store, Ballantyne's, was already in full Christmas swing, with music, catalogs, gift ideas and what-have-you. Though the whole setting seemed utterly surreal to me - after all, it was spring, it was warm, and all the shop windows featured the latest beach wear for the coming summer - I ended up buy most of my Christmas pressies there. I had barely arrived back here, when the first snow came, and I realised that it was time to get started on baking Christmas cookies, or they would never arrive in time on the other side of the Atlantic... oh dear!
However, I haven't been lazy about vintage fashion on my trip! I spent a few extra days in Wellington, where I spent two afternoons trawling the vintage and second hand shops on Cuba Street. At Hunters and Collectors, I found the most divine early 60s shirtwaist dress:
It's by Julie Miller, an American label. The dress came in very handy for a dinner I was invited to by Tourism Wellington - after everybody had kept telling me that the restaurant, which I had mentioned to my tour guides earlier in the day, was the latest, trendiest in Wellington... I knew I'd wear this instead of what I'd packed for the occasion. Traveling light and dressing nicely isn't always easy...
In Christchurch, I walked into Gertie's Vintage Fashion on High Street, a vintage shop right after my taste! A lil' bit chaotic, and chock-full to the rafters with goodies. An incredible red 1940s jacket by Fashionbilt made it home with me. The fabric is butter soft, the tailoring is impeccable and it has some amazing details - what more does one want?
I had been talking about having created a new Willy-Nilly before I left. Since this one, which was a gift, has now reached it's destination, I can finally show it here:
Coming back to vintage fashion, the last few weeks have also been a good time to wear vintage! First, it was time to debut a gorgeous forest-green, supposedly 1940s dress I'd bought on Etsy late last summer. I admit, I only got around to make the 2-3 small repairs it needed some two weeks ago - and to take a closer look at it. It fit beautifully, but something told me that it felt more like 30s than 40s...
So, I asked the VFG Forum, what they thought... and they kept telling me that I was wearing it the wrong way around! I was still sceptictal, I admit, but in the end, tried it on the other way 'round, and after some contorsionist-worthy moves to button it up in the back and close the belt buckle - suddenly everything fell into place! I had a really good laugh at myself! I really had had it on the wrong way, not even thinking that the buttons could be in the back! They did love back detailing in the 30s after all - and this dress is definitely 30s, though it has been shortened.
Anyway, it's a cute dress and I love wearing it!Another dress that I bought last summer had it's debut this month too - it went to the opera, and turned a few heads... with everybody wearing black, a red dress was all that was needed to stand out in the crowd!
It is quite a bit faded in some places, from having been exposed to sunlight, but I bought it anyway because I liked it's shape so much. And it is perfect. To be frank - the fading doesn't bother me at all... And it's real secret is actually it it's back:
Speaking of the VFG Forum, I can't say just how much I enjoy the discussions there - and seeing the new stuff in their online shops, which they show weekly. It isn't just about fashion, there is so much more involved, and so much more to be learned! About life, about society, about history... and it's such a fun community too.
Recently, this incredible Emilio Pucci tie fascinated me. Just trying to imagine what it would look like with a dark suit and white shirt. Great!
A lot of the Vintage Fashion Guild members also have blogs, and I enjoy reading them too, though I don't always have so much time to read them all. This post on the Kickshaw Productions blog caught my eye today. I remember the lively discussion on the forum well enough - and also the differences about British and American English. I admit, I'm terrible with distinguishing the two, and my own English is probably some bizarre mixture between the two - however, that whole discussion certainly had me in stitches - not even certain Youtube videos have made me laugh so hard!
Since Jonathan had to re-do his blog, after it got deleted when the Fashion History Museum website went online, a lot of his older posts showed up as "new" and I had a good browse and read around this afternoon. This post might be already a year old, but it certainly provided an amusing look back on fashion of the 00's, and made me smile.
Karin
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