Dress - The Art of Wearing Vintage

Vintage fashion photographs that inspire me

DRESS — 2012-04-12T05:44:28Z

1950s Vintage Balenciaga dress Harper's Bazaar-Karen Radkai

Recently, I've heard from several photographers that today, anyone with expensive equipment and top of the line editing software can take professional looking photographs. There's probably some truth to that. But, professional photographs and those that become pieces of art are two very different things. I love vintage fashion photography almost as much as I love vintage clothing, and I'm a huge a fan of the talented photography pioneers who worked for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar during the golden ages of fashion. I'm fortunate to have a huge collection of vintage fashion magazines, I mainly use them for research, but sometimes, I take a journey through the pages of those fabulous decades just to be inspired by the unique perspective each of the photographers brought to the world of fashion. Whether they are done with Lillian Bassman's signature ethereal light artistry, the surrealism of Horst and Hoyningen-Huene, or the unforgettable non conformist Richard Avedon's instantly recognizable style, these photographs not only make me want to buy the clothes, they make me want to be the women in the photographs!

There are more iconic images, but these are a few of my favorites.

No words are necessary, they speak for themselves;

1920s Vintage Vogue Edward Steichen )1879-1973)

Vintage Schiaparelli dress 1930s Bazaar George Hoyningen-Huene (1900-1968)

Lelong vintage dress 1930s Vogue - Andre Durst

Irving Penn (1917-1909)

Charles James vintage dress 1940s Bazaar- Louise Dahl Wolfe (1895-1989)

Balenciaga 1950s Louise Dahl Wolfe (1895-1989)

Vintage Tina Leser Dress - Vogue - Horst P. Horst (1906-1999)

1930s Vogue - Horst P. Horst (1906-1999)

Vintage Madame Gres dress 1950s Bazaar - Gleb Derujinsky (1925-2011)

Vintage 1950s Christian Dior - Karen Radkai

Vintage Balenciaga Dress 1950s Harper's Bazaar Richard Avedon (1923-2004)

Vintage Schiaparelli 1950s Harper's Bazaar Richard Avedon (1924-2004)

Vintage Hannah Troy Dress 1950s Harper's Bazaar Lillian Bassman (1917-2012)

Herbert Sondheim vintage dress 1950s Harper's Bazaar Lillian Bassman (1917-2012)

Will Steinman Vintage 1950s Vogue Wedding Gown Lillian Bassman (1917-2012)

"I believe that the camera is a medium of light, that one actually paints with light. In using the spotlights with reflecting lights, I could control the quality of the forms revealed to build a composition."

— Louise Dahl-Wolf, 1984

PS One of my Twitter followers reminded me about Henry Clarke! I'm sorry that I forgot to include him - he was amazing..

1950s Vogue Henry Clarke (1917-1996)

The orange dress dilemma? My search for the elusive tangerine tango!

DRESS — 2012-03-24T01:47:25Z

Do you know about the color board? Yes, the color board, and not the kind of color boards people create for their design projects. I'm talking about a group of people appointed to an executive board who decide every year what colors will be "IN" for fashion, home interiors etc.. They not only decide what shade of blue or red we'll wear and what color fabric we'll use to recover our sofas, they market their decisions so brilliantly that we actually start to believe it was our idea to suddenly want to paint our living rooms sweet lilac, margarita or driftwood. Kind of scary right? I like to believe I'm buying a color because I love it and not because a group of people in a room decided that I was going to like it!

I think that working for Pantone and coming up with color names would be a dream job. Pumice stone, spiced coral, tomato puree, wild dove, blue grass..just to name a few. If you are a Pantone-ophile and obsess over color, you probably already know that Pantone 17-1463 - Tangerine Tango was the 2012 color of the year. Last year it was Honeysuckle and the year before that it was turquoise.

So in 2010 and 2011, brides all around the world were pining for turquoise and honeysuckle for their weddings and the fashion runways were filled with splashes of the same.

So here we are in 2012, the year of the tango dancing tangerine.(?) Just like clockwork, that means that brides are looking for tangerine bridesmaid dresses and that girls everywhere are buying tangerine scarves, tangerine dresses, tangerine skirts and tangerine tops to be on trend. I am irritated by the words "on trend" almost as much as I am by the idea of the color board - maybe it's my rebellious spirit but anything "on trend" makes me nervous. That only means that it will be "off trend"very soon, just as you've finally filled your closet with it. I love innovative design and am the first one to admire creative designers, but I have a hard time pushing a particular color on my customers just because someone has decided it's the hot new thing. ( I know, not a successful business strategy, but I'm stubborn). Seriously, Can you imagine Coco Chanel or Christian Dior checking with a color board or the Pantone people before designing their lines? They drew their inspiration from the women for whom they designed, and the world in which they lived. But, because I do LOVE color and because many of my customers were asking, I thought I'd try to find some tangerine vintage dresses in my inventory to put on the site.

This is where my dilemma began.

Don't get me wrong, tangerine is a beautiful color! But it's very difficult to know exactly what everyone means by tangerine. Even online, the Pantone swatches all look different and your monitor will show the shade a slightly different hue than mine! The photo above shows 8 dresses that I pulled in the orange category - You can find some of these dresses down below and see why I was frustrated - who knew that orange could be so complicated?

Those of us who work in industries where we have to describe color often try to find new and unique ways of describing a particular hue. I decided to draw inspiration from Mother Nature herself and buy everything orange in the produce section I could find.

Once I had the orange edibles on the table I tried to match each of the dresses with their shade of fruit or vegetable.. Unfortunately, orange is one of those colors offering more questions than answers. Is it a peach or more of a nectarine? Pumpkin or melon? Kumquat or navel? Raw or cooked salmon? Ripe or not quite ripe melon? Dried or fresh apricots? Florida oranges or the yellowish oranges we get in my state? Raw or baked sweet potato? Clementines or tangerines? Peel or fruit?

I guess we all need the expensive pantone book to communicate about color. Now there's a smart company with a terrific business plan...rental companies, clothing stores, furniture stores, apparel stores, bridal shops and so many other businesses use the Pantone color system to communicate to their customers. I wish I'd thought of it. Instead, I sell vintage clothing, and try to keep up with the new names given to colors that have been around since the beginning of time.

I would describe the above dress as salmon. Yes, definitely salmon. (But maybe it's actually more of a coral). But the dress below is definitely tangerine. YES, now that's tangerine!

Oh, but wait, isn't this dress more of a tangerine?

This dress is clearly peach. Right? (But are peaches really that color)?

No.. on second thought, maybe it's more of a melon.

After losing the battle of the produce, I came to my own conclusion about color. Color, like fashion, is subjective. Regardless of the clever names given to different shades by the elusive color-namers, one person's orange is another's sweet potato. Just simply buy the colors you love; the ones that make you feel happy and the ones that make you feel beautiful. If tangerine is that color, buy it, but if it isn't, choose one that is. If you are buying online, always send emails asking questions if you are concerned about the shade of color. This is particularly true of reds and oranges, but ask questions like, " is it more of a yellow orange or a red orange?" "Is it more of a blue red or an orange red?" Those are much easier to answer than "would you call this a pomegranate or a plum?" Most of all, don't feel pressured into buying something just because someone out there somewhere says you need to do so! Have fun with color and find the ones that work for you - then feel free to call them whatever you'd like!

Vintage wedding for my modern girl part III - It's all in the details

DRESS — 2012-03-09T23:35:00Z

I originally thought that the most difficult thing about planning my daughter's wedding would be deciding on the big things; Helping her find a dress, a location, florist, caterer, photographer, music, etc... but to my surprise,most of most of my time was spent on the tiniest of details. Maybe each one would go unnoticed, but all together, they make a statement! My goal was to re-use as many things as possible and bring out the bride and groom's personalities without compromising sophistication..If you are planning a wedding with enough time in advance, you can spend the year before gathering special things at thrift stores and estate sales that can add so much character! The key is to focus on one color, shape, or style so that the wedding doesn't end up looking like a yard sale itself!

Vintage globes became one of those things I started to collect. I had thought of a million different things to use for seating table assignments, including chalkboard paint, fabric charts, custom flash cards, clever flags, letter tiles, etc.. but ultimately chose something that paid tribute to my daughter and her fiancee's love of travel - vintage globes! These proved easier to find than the vintage trophies, thankfully!

The hard part was trying to figure out a way to cleverly display the names! But after failing with magnets, push pins, and other unique ideas, I went with simple stickers that I made with the same fonts used throughout the wedding. We arranged them on a table and the guests loved spinning the globes to find their names!

The table numbers were named after Battlestar Galactica colonies (the bride and groom are huge fans).

The next detail that became my OCD wedding obsession; Vintage Linens!

Because I sell vintage clothing and linens, I am a bit of a tactile fanatic. I can tell vintage pieces with my eyes closed! Even the "deluxe" table linens had that sticky, slippery, bad polyester feel to me. I also didn't want to spend a fortune just to RENT natural fiber so I decided to buy grey pure linen and have it made into runners and then placed the vintage napkins almost like place mats so that the white table cloths were no longer center stage.

There is nothing like genuine damask table linen and, hopefully, for my next daughter's wedding, I will have saved enough table cloths to use instead of rentals! But this time, I used antique damask for the napkins only. I started collecting monogrammed dinner napkins years ago, so that collection came in very handy! I did my best to find initials that were either one of the family's names, bride and groom's first initial, etc.. but also used any beautiful french and European monogrammed vintage napkins I could find! One of my other daughters, Katie, kindly starched and ironed 200 napkins for the wedding - Thank you Katie!

I'm not sure if anyone noticed the monogrammed napkins, but they were just another detail that I hope my daughter appreciated. I then gave she and her new husband several sets of the napkins with their last initials on them for Christmas this year as a gift. The only napkins I didn't re-use were the cocktail napkins. I ordered 3 different sets of napkins with trivia questions about the bride and groom instead of the traditional initials or name and date. The guests loved trying to answer the multiple choice questions!

I bought silver picture frames at thrift stores and estate sales all year long and then filled them with photographs of the bride, groom, and their family and friends. I then labeled each group so that the photos I had of wedding guests with the bride and groom would be on their table! I also put photos of the bride and groom's grandparents at their weddings in frames at the guest book table. Yes, this was a little psycho and took a lot of time, but people seemed to really appreciate it and loved seeing photos of themselves on the tables!

I bought vintage covered glass and crystal jars whenever I could find them, in all shapes and sizes. A couple of nights before the wedding, the whole family helped filled the various jars with pink and white jelly beans and yogurt covered peanuts and pretzels and tie on the labels. Once I saw the glass mixed with silver, I decided that a little color was needed and I fell in love with the 1950s Jeanette "shell pink" milk glass pieces. I bought them all year and ended up with enough to put a few pieces on each table.

The labels on the candy jars were a perfect touch but I again underestimated how much time they would take to make!

I found vintage badminton, horseshoes and croquet sets for the reception, that was the easy part! The thing that took the most time was finding and painting the easels and making the signs!

I ordered the letters for the signs online because I wanted to be able to use specific fonts, and then I put them on old boards I found at a salvage yard that I painted black. I then tied ribbons from the easels in the many shades of blue, buff pink and gray that made up the rest of the decor. I also made a sign for the entry to the cocktail area.

The rest of the graphics I did with my own computer.The flag boy opened the ceremony with a "Here We Go" flag, and the flower girls led the guests our of the ceremony to the tent with "Hors d'oeuvres and Cocktails" flags. We also had "Let's Eat Cake" flags for the cake cutting ceremony. Though they were fairly easy to make, these little things always take more time than you think! I bought the poles at a craft store and then used over-sized card stock paper for that flag portion. The ribbon around the poles and the streamers took time, but were fairly easy to do (once again, thanks to the bride's sister Katie)!

Signage, programs, menus, flags, and other graphics were extremely time consuming and I wish I had started on them much sooner!

This wedding was a gift of love to my little girl and it is my hope that other brides and wedding planners will be inspired to use vintage items to create a romantic vineyard wedding like this one, a simple country wedding, a beach wedding, or an ultra modern urban wedding. No matter what the venue or theme, you can re-use beautiful found objects to create a sustainable, personalized, elegant wedding that will be uniquely your own. Just don't forget that it's all in the details!

If you have something special that you used in your wedding that you found at a thrift store, re-sale shop, or estate sale, please send us a photo at information@dressingvintage.com and put vintage wedding in the subject lined! We'd love to show off your talents to our readers!

Photography by Erica Ann

Vintage wedding for my modern girl part II; Loving cup Journey

DRESS — 2012-03-07T20:17:16Z

When it was time to decide on decor for my daughter's wedding, I wanted to recognize the passion that she and her fiance shared for inspiring others and making a difference in the world. They met working in the corps for Teach for America so I wanted to find a way to honor their mutual commitment to excellence! I decided to use silver trophies called Loving Cups, perfect, right? The flower fairies at Geranium Lakes Florist then filled them with beautiful wild arrangements. These became a huge part of the wedding ambiance and great conversation starters!

Of course, once I became obsessed with vintage trophies, I found out that they were out of my budget! Seems that there are some serious loving cup trophy collectors out there! We had a lot of tables so I desperately scoured the world to find those trophies that were still affordable at online auctions, estate sales, and thrift stores. My favorite was the one in the photo above from the first Corn Maize crop of 1914! It is over 2 feet high and I now have it in my living room!

I love the patina of old silver plate, so it didn't bother me at all if some of the brass beneath the plating was exposed. I think it just added to the richness of the pieces. I also care deeply about sustainability and wanted to re-use and up-cycle as much as possible.

Once I realized that we needed more than one loving cup per table, I decided to mix in other silver pieces with the loving cup shape; vintage creamers, ice buckets, etc.. these were much easier to find at local thrift shops for literally a dollar or two at most.

I mixed in a few vintage silver epergnes and bridal baskets to add some unique, interesting shapes.

There is something about vintage things that you can't duplicate with modern day pieces, and the juxtaposition of the old and new is so beautiful and real! So my loving cup journey, though long and tedious, was completely worth it in the end! Of course, my original plan was to use them for the wedding and then sell them afterwards. You can guess how that turned out - they are all still in my house because I can't seem to part with them! After all, you never know when you might need one (or 20). Don't laugh - maybe I'll start a trophy museum!

Next time, I'll tell you how we incorporated the travel theme and antique linens into this eco-friendly vintage wedding!

Photography: Erica Ann

The gift of a vintage wedding for my modern girl Part I

DRESS — 2012-03-01T20:20:21Z

My oldest daughter's high school rebellion was very dramatic, yet oddly unique. She expressed her teen angst by going down that all too familiar teenage road of shopping at J Crew and The Gap. Heartbreaking, right? I had tried to convince her for years that vintage clothing was the ultimate in originality and style and that if she wore it with confidence, she'd be the envy of everyone - Hence her dramatic decline into the tempting, sparkling aisles of Banana Republic.

So when she and her fiance decided on a wedding date, I was sure she would want something sleek and ultra modern to define her special day. I was very surprised when she asked me to be her wedding planner, knowing that she knew that if I was involved, it would somehow turn out to be a vintage style wedding! Needless to say, I was honored to be able to create a magical day for my little girl. She (and her fiance) had definite ideas about a few things though..and they were non negotiable.

#1 The dress.

Being 5'11", she knew that my mostly tiny vintage wedding gowns would be more difficult to make work, so she wanted a new dress. She chose a silk chiffon Vera Wang gown that was nothing I'd imagined her wearing! But when she put it on, we all had that "this is the ONE" moment we had previously joked was just a silly marketing ploy or an ad teaser for "say yes to the dress."

#2 The Shoes

She bought the Vera Wang Lavender silver shoes to go with the dress. Once again, a little conscientious about her height, she wanted flats and these were a perfect choice!

#3 The Groom and Groomsmen attire

My son in law had definite ideas about the fashion for the men and he has great taste so we knew it would be perfect! Since it was a hot, outdoor wedding, he went with vests only for the groomsmen and he was the only one wearing a jacket. They all wore Ben Sherman ties in blue plaid and white shirts. They got ready in the estate's beautiful "barn" which has a working apple cider press below!

#4 The Location and color palette

When I first saw this venue, it reminded me of "The Secret Garden" which was one of my daughter's favorite books as a child, so I knew she would love it! When I saw the New Mexico speed sign on the driveway, I knew it was meant to be, since it was my future son in law's birth state! There were little fairy tale spots everywhere, including a "playhouse" that was built for the owner's grandchildren with a vintage coke machine and child's toy car on the front porch. There was even a conservatory which took my breath away!

I sent my daughter color boards artfully designed with lime & plum and pomegranate & tangerine, and other delicious sounding color combos, but she was pretty firm about this. She wanted neutral, soft colors and wanted the location of the wedding (an outdoor venue) to be the main attraction in terms of color. She was absolutely right!

#5 The bridesmaid Dresses

We had the hardest time finding decent dresses. I absolutely insisted on natural fiber, which is almost impossible in the wedding world these days! Because she had 10 bridesmaids (yes 10).. my daughter wanted them to have some say as to what style they wore. She ultimately chose Amsale silk chiffon charcoal gray dresses and each girl picked the style she wanted. Her maid of honor wore the same dress in a pale, nude pink. The bridesmaids wore shoes that they chose themselves in that same shade of nude pink.

#6 The Food

We chose the fabulous Devil's Food Catering to create food that blended the local Oregon sustainable ingredients with the bride and groom's special connection to the place they met; Texas. Fried Chicken and waffles with kale, steak sandwiches, macaroni and cheese in ramekins with gourmet toppings, and a local organic salad with all things Oregon; field greens, hazelnuts, berries and Rogue River blue cheese. Yum..it was delicious!

#7 The Cake

It was actually my daughter's fiance who cared more about the cake..one of the reasons I knew he and I would get along well! We must have taste tested 50 different cakes! We finally found a woman who made her fondant out of marshmallow cream believe it or not! We chose her and my daughter wanted it to be relatively simple with beautiful fresh flowers and gray ribbon.

Though they were involved with most all of the decisions, those were the few things that my daughter and her fiance were pretty adamant about being a part of. In my next few posts, I'll show you how I incorporated vintage elements into a sustainable, eco-friendly wedding and reception!

Photography: Erica Ann Photography
Flowers: Geranium Lakes
Location: DeArmond Garden Estates

Who Cares about Whitney Houston? (I do)

DRESS — 2012-02-23T20:15:14Z

I was at a dinner party the other night when a couple of the guests started talking about Whitney. I was actually just thinking that I needed to get home to see if there was anything on the news about her death when the evening's conversation started.

"Why is everyone gushing over that woman when she was such a train wreck?"
"Yeah, and why do people sing the praises of a crazy drug addict when there are so many people doing good in the world who have died and actually deserve that kind of praise?"
"The real question is why does the media give her death so much attention? Who really cares about Whitney Houston?" etc.. etc..

Yikes.. I was going to be in for a rough night. I guess I have to add Whitney Houston to topics "off limits" in public along with politics and religion. But, I couldn't just sit there quietly, I had to admit, albeit a little sheepishly to that pack of determined wolves, that I did. I cared about Whitney Houston.

"Seriously, you do?But why?" They responded in a slightly condescending tone.

"There are a LOT of reasons", I said. "But for starters, I love her voice."

#1. THE VOICE

"You have to admit, she had an incomparable voice." I gushed on.

"Yeah, but she destroyed it. A lot of other great singers have died recently, who actually took care of their voices, didn't smoke crack or cigarettes, and they didn't get that kind of press or public attention."

They had a point..

After all, in the last 5 years, we've lost American Opera soprano great Beverly Sills, unforgettable Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, triple threat actress, singer and dancer Lena Horne, bluesy Phoebe Snow, and the great Grammy award winning singer Etta James. Not to mention Dan Fogelberg. But I went on determined to persuade them with my second point.

"At least admit that none of you can think about the late 80s and early 90s without thinking of Whitney Houston! She was a pop icon and represented so much about that era!"

#2. ICON

I looked around, hoping they'd just agree and we could move on and I could get home and Google "Whitney Houston cause of death" and see if there was anything new. Okay, I'm a little embarrassed to have admitted that..

"We lost more important icons during the past 5 years than Whitney Houston - why didn't anybody seem care about them?"

They were right, there were quite a few..

We lost Elizabeth Taylor - that's pretty major. Also,during the last five years, we said good bye to Merv Griffin, Johnny Carson's straight man Ed McMahon, Mary Travers of the iconic 60s folk group Peter Paul and Mary, Jack LaLane, who basically invented the fitness industry, Boxing great Joe Frazier, writers JD Salinger and Norman Mailer, director Ingmar Bergman, world famous mime Marcel Marceau, Journalist and tv anchor Walter Cronkite, TV Host Art Linkletter, unforgettable actors including that blue eyed philanthropist Paul Newman, Charlton Heston, and Tony Curtis.

"Okay," I got back on my feet and jumped back in the ring

"You can't deny that she was not only a talented singer, but a fashion icon, and a true superstar."
(I assumed that if I threw the word Fashion around, they'd know I knew what I was talking about and simply nod, deferring to my area of expertise).

#3. SUPERSTAR

But no such luck-

"Oh come on, I don't think she even ranks in the top 3 of most glamorous superstars we've lost in the past five years."

Oops..I forgot about Farrah. Not only did we lose the beautiful Farrah Fawcett, but in the past 5 years, we also lost screen sirens Jane Russell and Anne Frances. I never even saw the news report about the deaths of Jane and Anne! "Well, she was influential enough to make me want to wear high waisted jeans and headbands. I almost bought a track suit after she sang the National Anthem! But, okay, I hear you! I do think you are forgetting one important thing; All of the people you've been talking about, with only a couple of exceptions, have been white. Whitney was a black woman who broke boundaries and gave a generation of aspiring singers and actors of every color, including those as ridiculously white as myself, someone to aspire to be."

Yeah, I played the race card. ( Even though I'm not sure if I did it right or am allowed to even play).

#4. BOUNDARY BREAKER

"Are you kidding? There were a lot of other racial boundary breakers that died in the last five years and their deaths were barely mentioned. Give me a break."

I guess Ike Turner, Isaac Hayes, Bobby Farrell, Bernie Mac, Nick Ashford and Don Cornelius know a little something about being black too. Sadly, we lost all of them within the past 5 years and I have to be honest and say that I don't think the press gave them a memorable farewell anywhere near the scope of Whitney's.

I clearly wasn't winning this argument proclaiming the many things I loved about Whitney Houston, so I decided to go in another direction.

"Well, maybe people are interested because the press focused so much on her marriage to Bobby Brown and everything was played out before the public eye. It must have been so hard."

#5. FAMOUS MARRIAGE

"Oh really? What about that reality show she agreed to do with him? They brought on that kind of attention to themselves by putting it all on television. Think of all the women who didn't want that kind of press who still maintained their dignity without becoming crack heads!"

Tammy Faye Bakker Mesner, Betty Ford, Delores Hope, and Elizabeth Edwards all died in the past 5 years and the attention given deaths was anything but sensational. And no, they were not crack heads, although Betty Ford was an alcoholic. Somehow, that doesn't bother this group as much as crack.

I finally resorted to the sympathy card.

"How many talented people like Whitney Houston can you think of who have died in the last 5 years that have died before their time in such a tragic way?"

#6. DIED YOUNG

"Dying young has nothing to do with it. She wasn't even the youngest that died recently- and besides, people who die young often do die tragically."

They were right about that one. Since 2007, we've lost a lot of our most talented people too soon. Among them were fashion genius Alexander McQueen, actors Gary Coleman and Patrick Swayze, actresses Brittany Murphy and Natasha Richardson, pro golfer Erica Blasberg, and filmaker, blogger and game designer Theresa Duncan, (who by the way, died of taking Tylenol PM after drinking alcohol..what?)and to add to her tragic ending, her husband, unable to stop grieving her death, committed suicide shortly thereafter.

"Well, you all know that the media is always drawn to celebrity deaths that are related to alcohol, drugs or some other type of addiction. Everyone was interested because they had been following Whitney's battles for years."

#7. ADDICTION

I reminded the group about another death related to addiction that DID get press attention.
"Okay, yeah, you're right, Anna Nicole Smith's death got attention. America seemed to care about her for some reason. But what about the actually talented people who died?"

Ooooh..harsh!

"Okay, I've got another one," I pressed on, "People were fascinated by Amy Winehouse and her death was VERY publicized." I was finally getting somewhere.

"So let me get this straight, you're saying that in the past five years, of all the many high profile deaths related to addictions, you can only think of two got much attention? That's just pathetic."

"Okay, what about Heath Ledger?"

"That makes 3, still pretty pathetic."

Okay, they were right again - drugs and alcohol claimed quite a few talented people over the last five years and there were some I'd never even known had died, and that's sad. Other than Amy, Anna and Heath, we lost actor Brad Renfro, Alice in chains bassist Mike Star, (whose attempts to break away from drug addiction were chronicled on tv's Celebrity rehab, Wilco Guitarist Jay Bennett, DJ AM, pro golfer Andy Irons, ice skater Christopher Bowen, Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans, grown up child actor Corey Haim, and though not related to drugs or alcohol, David Carradine died of another type of addiction that led to his untimely death.

"Okay, you've made your point, but I still say that Whitney is different. She just is."

I don't know why we care so much. Maybe we care because everyone De-humanized Whitney Houston so much during her life by labeling her a "Crack Head" that when death came along, it surprised us by revealing that she was quite human after all. Maybe it's because we watched her grow up, and go from a fresh faced, hopeful girl to someone who lost almost everything to powerful addictions. We tend to do that with our celebrities, we love them when they are on the top but if they get into trouble, we turn them into Saturday Night Live sketches and laugh at them at dinner parties. I can think of only one other celebrity who has tragically died in the past five years whose death has impacted me as much as Whitney Houston's. They were both exposed and vulnerable, and gave us so much but ended up tired and depleted gossip fodder in the end. We watched both of these young people rise to the top and eventually crash down even faster to the bottom becoming parodies of their former selves. Some of us held out hope that they would both once again somehow recapture that refreshing innocence they had when we first fell in love with them, and that they would be restored to the brilliant talents we once adored. Life had other plans.

Who cares about Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston? I'm not embarrassed to say that I do. I care that they lived and I cared when they died. We were similar in age and we belonged to the same human race - that shared commonality compels me to reserve judgment on their mistakes and withhold criticism of the choices they made in their lives. Yes, there were definitely more important, distinguished people who died in the past five years, and there were people who maybe deserved more of my admiration, but Whitney and Michael touched me in a real and beautifully flawed human way. For that I will always be grateful.

In Memory:
Over the past five years, in addition to those mentioned, we lost so many other talented individuals from a variety of genres including entertainment, politics, sports, literature, and journalism. RIP: Yvonne DeCarlo, Kurt Vonnegut, Don Ho, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Boris Yeltsin, Liz Claiborne, Lady Bird Johnson, Joel Siegel,Deborah Kerr, Joey Bishop, Robert Goulet, Evel Knievel, Suzanne Plishette, Sydney Sheldon, Jane Wyman, Tom Snyder, Roy Scheider, Sydney Pollack, George Carlin, Estelle Getty, Harvey Korman, Cyd Charisse, Michael Crichton, John Hughes, Dom DeLuise, Bea Arthur, Ron Silver, Tony Curtis, Leslie Nielsen, Patricia Neal, Jimmy Dean, Rue McClanahan, Lynn Redgrave, Dixie Carter, Teena Marie, Blake Edwards, Jill Clayburgh, Tom Bosley, Barbara Billingsley, Dennis Hopper, John Forsythe, Robert Culp, Fess Parker, Peter Graves, George Steinbrenner,, Andy Rooney, Peter Falk, James Arness, Harry Morgan, Dan Peek, Jackie Cooper, John Dye, Jani Lane, Derek Boogaard,
Ben Gazzara, Ron Silver, Leslie Carter, Joe Paterno,

Before The Royal Wedding - The pre-Kate fairy tale wedding dresses and the unknown brides that wore them

DRESS — 2011-05-02T14:49:00Z

Kate Middleton
not the first fairy tale princess bride

I was so happy when the future wife of Prince William appeared in that Grace Kelly - esque gown that captured all of the critical fashion buzz words; style, elegance..royalty...sophistication. Like the one worn by Grace herself, it will go down in history as one of the most beautiful wedding dresses ever made. I'll be honest, I never liked Diana's wedding dress - (is that blasphemy)? Yes, it was iconic and grand, but even in the 1980s, it was too over the top for me. But this wedding gown was perfection personified - It is much easier to design a dress with exaggerated opulence than to create one that is simply sublimely beautiful, well done Sarah Burton of the house of McQueen! But it got me thinking about brides...is Kate really that different from the millions of brides who walked down the aisles before her?

In my adventures as a vintage clothing dealer, I've seen my share of abandoned wedding photos. It's the single most powerful thing in the privacy of people's homes that makes me think the most about my own mortality. I've never understood why no one in the family is interested in keeping those images that represent of one of the most important days in a life. Sometimes it's because the departed couple doesn't have descendents, but most of the time, that's not the case. I always buy them..I have a huge box of them that I'm not sure what to do with. Yes, I claim they are for fashion research because I do sell vintage wedding gowns, after all, but to be honest, I think that's just an excuse to justify the obsession.

This 1920s wedding dress is one of my favorites, as is this little couple! I say little, not only because of their stature, but because they look about 14. Her bouquet is larger than she is! It's no wonder that vintage wedding gowns are often so small, they were made for teenagers! Her wedding veil so so exquisite! I think a lot about their thoughts on that day, and how their lives will be together. Will she have children, even though she is still a child herself? Will he be faithful? Will they laugh together or grow tired of each other? There's something sweet and genuine about this couple and I like to think they might have actually been in love and that their life together was a good one.

Here's another one that always captures my curiosity - and coincidentally, they are also a couple that is small in stature. Once again, her bouquet has taken on a life of its own! She looks terrified, maybe wondering why she's even doing this. I wonder if this was more of an arranged or convenient marriage. I could be wrong, but she looks almost angry. The other photos from this wedding were all the same, fearful, severe faces. She seems to be begging for someone out there, beyond the camera, to rescue her from her fate. Too dramatic? Maybe..but what do you think?

This couple had a very glamorous life together. They lived in Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s and I have her exquisite silk wedding gown in my inventory. I can't bear to part with it yet, it is truly spectacular..but I will eventually have sell it. They were married in 1930 and were never able to have children, so they spent their lives showering attention on each other. The 1930s dresses, peignoirs, slips and nightgowns I acquired from her estate are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Her family speaks of her with such affection but remembers the infertility as a lifelong shadow of sadness over her life. I'd like it if she knew that people are still remembering her and how beautiful she looked in her gorgeous gown on her wedding day.

This couple also makes me wonder. I'm fascinated by them for some reason. It's not her 1930s wedding dress - (it's not that exceptional of a gown). Her bouquet is somewhat wild and out of the ordinary, but it's not that. Maybe it's the fact that she is so much taller, or that he seems so much smaller. It is he who looks terrified this time! How did those boy-child grooms become instant grown man-husbands? They took on the behaviors of men but still had little 12 year old boy hearts. Maybe not much has changed.

This couple brought in the 1950s with their wedding vows. Her applique organza wedding dress was affordable and store bought, but fit like a glove. Even though she didn't have a custom designed dress and even though their celebration was a relatively simple one, they were married for 65 years.

The early 1960s was the backdrop for this couple's "fairy tale" wedding. A tulle and lace pre-equal rights amendment bride with a feisty spirit. She looks happier than any of the brides in my photos. Other than the little flower girl, the ring bearer, and a couple of the groomsmen, this group is either deliriously happy or these photos were taken after a few dry martinis.

Well, that's just a small sample of the brides whose wedding photos I've adopted as if they were those of my own relatives! Though each of these brides didn't have a wedding as grand as that of William and Kate's, and weren't able to hire Sarah Burton or Helen Rose to design their gowns, they aren't that different. Like Kate, each one probably had a shaky hand and butterflies in her stomach as she walked down the aisle. Each one hopefully felt like a princess starring in her own fairy tale wedding and the father of each bride most likely shed a tear on that day. Yes, these photos beg the questions about the lives lived beyond the wedding day, and in doing so, they manage to take their own special royal place in history.

A woman's sacred place - How I learned about private spaces from baking a cake

DRESS — 2011-04-06T17:11:00Z

I've always loved cake. It's an unhealthy obsession that I've never been able to conquer. When I was five, my friend Tracy and I decided to try bake a cake ourselves. Banned from the kitchen by a cleaning lady who threatened us with death by hanging" if we dared even walk on the sparkling clean floor she'd just polished", we considered other options. Somehow, my five year old brain flashed back to my mother talking about "pancake" make up and made a (quite brilliant if I do say so myself) association with flour and cake. Tracy and I grabbed a bowl and spoon from the kitchen and tiptoed into the forbidden world that was my mother's bathroom.

The first thing any good cook does is take an inventory of ingredients. Here, in the world I was never privileged to enter, was a secret supply of baking ingredients that made my imagination go wild. Somehow, we never considered how we would bake this incredible cake, but 5 year olds don't always think that far ahead.

The obvious place to start was with the dry ingredients, so we looked for anything powdery. We found compacts, loose powder and dusting powder and emptied them all into the giant bowl carefully. We were meticulous chefs, painstakingly mixing each ingredient, but the murky brown powder just didn't resemble the snow white cake flour our mothers always used. We decided that color would be an improvement , so we found some pretty red blush and crushed it into the concoction. We then added the wet ingredients - pretty bottles of tan liquid, each a slightly different shade but all with very fancy lettering. Vanilla wasn't an easy ingredient to replace, but luckily, my mother had Jungle Gardenia and Shalimar perfumes, so we added just enough to make our cake smell like heaven. We were just starting to crush the tubes of red, coral and pink lipstick into one of the now empty powder containers for frosting when I heard the sound of high heels coming in our direction.

My mother came around the corner and smiled that smile that only Southern women can. She said calmly and with a a perfect, but forced pleasantness, "Tracy, I think it's time for you to go home now." I knew exactly what that meant. "NO TRACY don't GO!!"my little brain shouted on the inside, but on the outside I was frozen and quiet, knowing what would come next. My mother's weapon of choice was the perfect hairbrush, and she yielded it with the expertise of a samurai. The firm bristles of that hairbrush taught me about the forbidden world of a woman's private bathroom and would one day teach me about the forbidden world of the sacred closet and the holy pocket book as well.

My children haven't had that same experience, and have no fear of my private spaces. They borrow shampoo, blush, lipstick, tweezers, clothing, shoes, and anything else they need, with no reservation. I must have raised them that way as a response to my own experience, but I do have a few places I try to keep to myself. I have a huge leaded glass antique china cabinet in my bedroom that houses the treasures of my private world. It doesn't lock, but I hang a giant key on the door for implied secrecy.

If you were allowed access that cabinet, you might be disappointed to find out that there are no 24k gold earrings, Tiffany diamonds, or Rolex watches.

You'd find instead, a collection of Chanel No 5 perfume bottles, most with no perfume in them..

A nice collection of antique Pharmaceutical bottles

Little jars of antique mother of pearl, crystal and glass buttons

Hundreds of Rhinestone brooches, shoe clips, and buckles that I never wear but love to have around..

A dress buckle my daughter Kirsten brought me from Europe

And.. vintage fashion books, my dad's cufflinks, letters from my husband, close friends and children, the Parent's weekend name tags from all of my daughter's colleges, my high school class ring and a small photo of my daughter, Katie in a tiny pillow frame she gave me.
Yes, if you were hoping for Cartier, you might be very disappointed indeed.

It seems ironic that I grew up and made a career out of going into the private spaces of women. When I enter a home, I'm not interested in the kitchen, living room or dining room - it's the bedrooms and bathrooms that call to me. It's there that I find the beautiful lingerie, clothing, jewelry, shoes, handbags, scarves, hats, gloves, handkerchiefs, belts and vintage fashion treasures that have become my passion. I always feel a little guilty, peering into the intimate spaces that were kept from the rest of the world for so many years. I wish I could be more clinical, but it's never just business to me. I get caught up in the world that was this person's life and feel compelled to know as much as I can about the woman who owned these treasures. What mattered to her? Was she happy in her marriage? Did she have any regrets? Why did she keep that one pair of earrings in a different place? Where did she wear that beautiful designer gown? What was her passion in life?

It's a crazy business, selling the material manifestations of someone's life, and I never want to lose perspective. I open evening bags that still have a single kleenex inside, find lipstick tubes in cosmetic cases and valet tickets in coat pockets. These small things remind me to take a second, (when I lose myself in the excitement of finding Pucci sunglasses, Hermes scarves, Halston dresses or designer handbags), to remember that those aren't just inventory items, they are fragments of a person's life. It's absolutely essential that I honor the woman whose possessions I am now entrusted to care for. I know that they would want it that way, and I'll admit that I hope that one day, when someone goes through my secret cabinet, they will take a second to wonder about the crazy woman who filled it with such a quirky assortment. Considering the actual person behind the "stuff" is what brings dignity and humanity to what we do. So I learned my lesson, from the hairbrush, about respecting privacy and the intimate secrets of a life, but I'm still obsessed with cake. One out of two isn't so bad.

SEND ME YOUR OWN STORY ABOUT YOUR PRIVATE SPACE WITH PHOTOS! IF WE PUT IT ON OUR WEBSITE WE'LL SEND YOU A $100 DRESS VINTAGE GIFT CERTIFICATE!
send story and photos to: info@dressingvintage.com

Fashion resolutions - An ethical commitment to style and Fashion

DRESS — 2011-01-28T04:38:00Z

I used to pretend that the chicken I ate once roamed free in a green pasture with his/her cow and pig friends and that they all frolicked together with butterflies until they were ever so gently and humanely made edible for me. This, of course, all having been done by a farmer with a straw hat and a beautifully weathered face who knew each animal by name. (And, who,..of course, lived in a red farmhouse...with a windmill).

Then something happened that forced me to let go of that illusion; Food Inc. Did you see it? I've seen a lot of "those types" of movies, but for some reason, this one hit me hard. If you are like me, you sometimes wish you didn't know everything you know.. Now, I'm even MORE obsessive about where my food was grown and how it was processed. It would be so much easier on me and my pocket book to go through the drive through at a fast food restaurant and buy something from the dollar menu, but now, I absolutely HAVE to buy free range, organic meat and swallow the price difference with it, which means ultimately, eating less meat. Gulp. Ignorance is bliss..and much cheaper.

I used to imagine that my clothing was carefully created by French or Italian women, (the accent was essential), who would be working alongside each other, sharing stories and a laugh or two. I could see them; the gray haired all knowing woman who did all of the hand finishing, the fashionable happy seamstresses who obviously loved their jobs at the sewing machines, for which they were well compensated, of course, and the designers (who bore a striking resemblance to Coco Chanel or Hubert de Givenchy). Pseudo Coco or Hubert would breeze in Bonjour comment allez-vous to examine their work and sometimes even correct a stitch or two themselves. The fabric, always perfectly draped on a mannequin, was purchased from countryside weavers who had created intricate designs with vegetable dyes. My clothing would be carefully wrapped in tissue and brown paper with chunky twine and put on a shelf next to a cardboard name tag that bore my name, which was written in perfect French cursive strokes. Okay..I have an active imagination.

But then it happened..I became more and more aware of how, where and by whom my clothing was being made. My beautiful fashion illusions were shattered one by one.
France or Italy
My new jacket was made in China. Take a look at where your clothing is made and you'll find not only China, but Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, etc. In her book "Deluxe; How Luxury Lost its Lustre " Dana Thomas exposes luxury brand factories that have the "Made in Italy" labels sewn on in sweatshops in China. At least with my vintage designer fashions, I know they were actually created in Italy, France, and the USA. That's nice.

The Countryside Weavers

Instead of doing his math or reading, a 9 year old boy probably picked the cotton that made the fabric that became my blouse. In Uzbekistan, children are forced to leave school for months at a time by the Government to pick cotton that supplies a lot of the most popular clothing chains. You can read more about this and the efforts to stop it at The Environmental Justice Foundation

The Gray haired woman

A 10 year old girl probably beaded my new purse. According to this Forbes article;
Every time you buy an imported handmade carpet, an embroidered pair of jeans, a beaded purse, a decorated box or a soccer ball there's a good chance you're acquiring something fashioned by a child. Such goods are available in places like GapKids, Macy's (nyse: M - news - people ), ABC Carpet & Home, Ikea, Lowe's (nyse: LOW - news - people ) and Home Depot (nyse: HD - news - people ). These retailers say they are aware of child-labor problems, have strict policies against selling products made by underage kids and abide by the laws of the countries from which they import. But there are many links in a supply chain, and even a well-intentioned importer can't police them all.

The Fashionable happy Seamstresses

My new dress was probably made in a sweatshop. Sweatshops aren't just factories, they are workplaces that ignore the labor laws and take advantage of their employees. There's nothing I hate more than this popular argument: "Well, at least THOSE PEOPLE have jobs" or "THEY would have nothing without the sweatshops." People actually say that. But it's not their ignorance that caused the problem, that would be too easy. It's actually our demand, as consumers, and stockholders, for cheap clothing or wider profit margins, that puts pressure on the manufacturers to reduce their costs. Who suffers? THOSE PEOPLE. According to the International Labor Rights Forum , In many factories, workers report the following:

Nonpayment of minimum wage
Very high production quotas that often require them to work long hours everyday
Discrimination against workers that are part of a union
Training by factory management on how to lie to inspectors that come to the factory

The Designers

A designer did not pin my dress to a model. Pierre Balmain doesn't live here anymore. Unless you are buying true haute couture, spending more money on "designer" clothing, doesn't guarantee that your new garment was made with any more integrity than a less expensive brand. According to the Telegraph UK In his book, The Fashion Conspiracy, Nicholas Coleridge estimates that the entire couture industry rests on the whims of less than 30 immensely wealthy women, and although the number may have grown in recent years with the new prosperity of Asia, the number of couture customers worldwide is no more than 4,000. And yet, we shop with the illusion that we are buying "couture" when the term "couture" is in the company name. The truth is, even Target and Walmart have "designers" and their clothing is often manufactured in many of the same factories as the better known designers. Luxury brands are owned by huge conglomerates and the supply chain is so long and complicated, often spanning continents, that the designers themselves aren't even aware of how it their clothing is made.

So what do you do? Where do you shop? How do you know the truth? Well, to be honest, it's not as easy as advising you to buy that free range chicken or organic produce. But, I can tell you what I'm going to do.

Here are my 3 fashion resolutions for 2011:

I'm going to buy vintage. If not vintage, then upcycled or second hand clothes whenever possible. This is the easiest way to be an ethical consumer and is something I've done for quite some time now, so that won't really be a challenge for me.
I'm going to stay on top of what's happening in sustainable fashion. i will educate myself on the issues on a regular basis. Of course, that includes reading those boring supply chain and labor law reports - not something I look forward to every day, but that's why I've made it a resolution!
I'm going to support ethical companies Something more powerful than boycotting is to re-direct your purchasing power. I'm going to buy from those clothing companies whose mission is to create ethical fashion from the cradle to the grave. This is easier said than done for two reasons; 1. These companies are often much more expensive (because they are actually paying their workers and following safety guidelines), and 2. It's not easy to find companies that are fully committed to ethical fashion and also have great style. It's easy to find simple tee shirts and basics, but the higher fashion is trickier. There are more and more of those kinds of ethical talented designers out there (and for some reason, a large percentage of them are in Europe), so I'll have to do some research.

My little dream of the Coco-ish designers and chic seamstresses sharing a baguette in France might be gone, but that's okay. I've come up with a new fantasy.. In this dream, children go to school and adults go to work for a living wage at a company where they can expect to be respected, safe and that their basic human rights will be honored. I don't like to sound preachy, but I hope you'll become engaged in the discussion and that you will feel empowered with your choices. You can use the voice our democracy has provided you to demand corporate transparency and the dollars you've earned to endorse or reject the ethics of any company you choose.

Dreams can come true..I've seen some pretty happy chickens lately..

If you are interested in learning more, here are some resources you might find helpful:

MADE BY , a non profit organization with a mission to improve environmental and social conditions in the fashion industry, has a short list of Partner brands who have joined them in their mission.

Sweatfree Communities has a helpful guide to becoming a responsible clothing consumer

Ethical Fashion Forum
Free 2 Work

Apparel Supply Chain Compliance Program
Behind the Seams - Ethical Style Blog
As You Sow

International Labor Rights Forum

Ecouturre

Ecouturre , a website devoted to the future of sustainable fashion design, listed the 18 questions created for designers who wanted to exhibit at London Fashion week. Wouldn't it be nice if we could get the answers from all of the designers and companies that create clothing? Or, better yet, wouldn't it be amazing if the rising stars of fashions thought about each of these questions as they form their new companies?

1. How can you use intelligent design to reduce the social and environmental impact of a product’s life cycle?

2. Do you consider the environmental effects of the colors and prints you choose for your collection?

3. Can you create a longer-lasting and better-functioning product, thereby reducing the need to replace it?

4. How much water does it take to produce your fabrics?

5. Are you aware of the sustainable alternatives to the raw materials you are currently using?

6. When selecting your fabric range, do you think about the end-of-life stage, such as the implications of disposal?

7. How well do you know your supply chain?

8. What are the social costs of your production process?

9. Have you ever considered using recycled pre-consumer/post-consumer waste in your collection?

10. Are you able to reduce the amount of solid and hazardous waste in your packaging?

11. Have you considered a local supply chain to decrease mileage in the production process?

12. Could you reduce the weight and volume of a product by using fewer or lighter materials to optimize transportation?

13. How durable are your products; is it possible to increase their longevity?

14. How can you encourage the customer to form an emotional attachment to your product, thereby discouraging disposal?

15. How does your product need to be cleaned and what impact will this have on  the environment?

16. Can the product have a second life?

17. Could you offer an upgrading and/or a repair service to your customer?

18. Can you reduce the waste impact of disposing your product by making it recyclable  or biodegradable?

Broken Dreams - The Mad Women of Mad Men

DRESS — 2010-10-17T18:02:00Z

I was a child in the 1960's. Yes, that reveals my age, but it's undeniable. We girls of the 60's didn't have a myriad of after school activities, and unless "go play" counts, didn't get a lot of suggestions from parents as to how to spend our time. We'd never heard of day care, knew only a few people from divorced families, of which I was one, and we rode in cars without seat belts. We had ponies at our birthday parties, wore saddle shoes and socks trimmed and lace, and thought our mommies were beautiful even as we breathed in their toxic second hand smoke. Adults were in a different dimension from our worlds and the two rarely intersected.

Every Sunday night, I can now watch my childhood in living color and remember what it was like to live in a world of smoke and mirrors that appeared to be one thing but was in reality something quite different. It's called Mad Men.

Mad men brilliantly portrays life in the 1960's and the fragility of the paper thin facade that surrounded it, like the walls of a crumbling fort designed to protect its frightened inhabitants. Somehow, Sally Draper touches that little girl inside of me who saw and felt too much but was told to go watch tv and be a good girl.

I've written about it before, and by now, unless you live in a cave, most of you have at least heard of the AMC original phenomenon or, like me, you too have become addicted to the lives of its complex, multi-faceted characters. Don Draper is the painfully dapper and mysterious creative art director who has a love hate relationship with women as well as himself, Pete Campbell is a desperate little boy trying to prove his worth, but doomed to be perfectly average, and Roger Sterling is a sad but mesmerizing compilation of all that was dysfunctional about mid century executives.

But it's the WOMEN of Mad Men who move me. They represent the real women who paved the way for the women's rights movement and broke down barriers for generations to come. And as ancient as the 60's seem to us now, we, as women, oddly identify with the three very different main female characters who somehow manage touch a sensitive cord in all of us.

Behind the Curves:
JOAN HOLLOWAY HARRIS

Joan, played by Christina Hendricks, is one of the most intriguing characters in Mad Men. Perhaps it's because she has mastered the art of appearing amused or concerned as she pretends to listen to the boring men around her as they pontificate on their many accomplishments and woes. Or, it could be because she refuses to crumble under the oppression she faces as a woman every day and toughens her resolve with every disrespectful comment thrown her way. She plays the game well and hides her intellect and abilities according to an outdated play book that she has come to know too well to abandon.

Yes, she's known for her curves, but it's her strength and her enviable ability to bite her tongue that I admire most. She has what is referred to in The Velveteen Rabbit as a "knowing expression" and never needs words to tell exactly what she is thinking. Though she has used the age old guile of womanhood to get ahead in life, it has ultimately betrayed her by limiting the extent at which those around her would take her seriously. She struggles with the role of wife to a disappointing choice of husband, former mistress to a man who rejected her, and career woman trying to reign in rude little boys playing office.

But Joan is all knowing, all seeing and discreetly keeps it to herself. Perhaps she is most threatened by Peggy, the girl she hired who refused to follow her advice and then succeeded in spite of it. Janie Bryant uses paradox to dress Joan in clothing that shows her curves but screams for the right kind of attention at the same time.

Behind the Bows:
PEGGY OLSON

If there was ever a character of complete contradictions, that would be Peggy, played by Elizabeth Moss. Since Season I, prim little bows of every variety have adorned her neck to artfully disguise the rebellious wild child that lives just below the surface. Though her clothing suggests a docile, compliant, sometimes borderline homely girl, Peggy is a force to be reckoned with. Talented, intelligent, and stubborn, she refuses to use her sexuality as a tool and rejects the societal norms imposed upon women of her age.

She made history at the Advertising agency by fighting her way into the executive offices of the firm, but has never been accepted as an equal. She bravely navigates, without a compass, the unspoken code of male domination. Peggy is determined to understand, experience, and conquer the male experience, while maintaining her female identity. We identify with feeling that there is always a symbolic club that refuses to offer us membership into it's exclusive world. Acceptance eludes all of us at one time or another.

Peggy's neutral appearance keeps curiosity seekers at bay. She keeps the bows tightly tied to remain obscure enough to do exactly what she wants without attracting attention. But those who take the time to look beneath the surface of this seemingly simple woman would be shocked and amazed at the volume of experiences she's managed to squeeze into her young life so far.

Behind the Hair:
BETTY DRAPER FRANCIS

The blond beauty who's crown grows a little dimmer every season. Betty, played by January Jones, represents the girl who played by the rules set by her mother, and her mother's mother, and was awarded with the ultimate betrayal. She looks like a perfect trophy wife one day and a debutante the next. Once hopeful and starry eyed, she now oozes melancholy and anger with every smoke filled glance.

Although arguably the least sympathetic of the female characters, Betty might deserve our sympathy most of all. She is a product of a generation that demanded perfection, and told the prettier girls that finding a good husband was their only hope for happiness and the only tangible proof of their self worth. Her clothing is the personification of the perfect female of the time - Sexy without being gauche, elegant but sophisticated and appropriate without being boring.

Betty dresses for the part that her generation demanded she play. Still a child herself, she is frustrated as a mother and resents the life she's been doomed to live. One understands from the first season that Betty is perhaps the saddest character, and like the very children she resents, raised to be seen but not heard.

I'll be sad when Mad Men comes to an end. I just want to keep watching, through the 1970's and the 1980's in a desperate attempt to understand the human condition, and perhaps my own life experience. Mad Men is one of those shows that will leave us wondering. What will happen to Sally? What will become of Joan, Betty and Peggy?
Perhaps those of us who were children of the 60's need to look no further than our own lives to get the answers we need.

Always a bridesmaid, but never a boring one! Incorporating vintage into your bridal party

DRESS — 2010-09-13T22:34:00Z

Always a Bridesmaid?

Well, maybe, maybe not, but at least you don't have to be a boring one!

Bridesmaid dresses are expensive! So, if you are asking your dearest friends to spend hundreds of dollars on a dress, why not make it one that will make a statement? So many brides try so hard to find that dress that their bridesmaids will "wear again" that they end up settling on somewhat ordinary dresses that still cost an arm and a leg! You really don't need to compromise when it comes to creating a beautiful bridal party that expresses the personalities fo the bride and groom! Incorporating vintage clothing into your wedding brings personality, style and uniqueness that can't be found in off the rack clothing. One of the easiest ways to find vintage dresses for your bridesmaids is to focus on Color, or color families and then, the possibilities are endless!

Color is the easiest way to make a statement when it comes to bridesmaid dresses! You can pick up that same color, or a contrasting one in the men's ties, socks, and or pocket squares. Choose a color that will look good on all of your bridesmaids, that's important so that they feel beautiful and look beautiful in the photographs! I'll start with the color that looks good on everyone:

BLUE!

Here is a simple, but chic vintage 1950's dress from Timeless Vixen Vintage on Etsy that would make a fabulous bridesmaid dress

Don't be afraid to tell your bridesmaids to find a dress with two colors! Here is a beautiful blue dress with black lace From DRESS

When color is the starting point, you can give your bridesmaids a paint strip from your local hardware store that shows the shades of blue you'd like them to find. It won't matter if they match in terms of shade exactly, as long as they are in the same tone and color family. Then, tell them to either find a vintage dress in that color in any style, or give them a style to work with. Either way, they will have fun searching for the dress and can send you photos from their phones! If you'd rather find the dresses yourself, get their measurements and contact the vintage clothing websites you like and tell them what you are looking for! Most of us don't have our entire inventory online and can often find things that people are looking for if they just ask!

RED!

Red doesn't look good on everyone, so it's a trickier color to use with bridesmaids. But if you think that most of your attendants would look great in it, it can add drama to your wedding without much effort! Here is a classic 1950's prom dress from couture allure that would be a whimsical bridesmaid dress for the out of the box wedding!

Ceil Chapman vintage 1950's dress at DRESS

If you aren't determined that your bridesmaids where the same style dress, you could ask them to match the color but wear whatever style they choose. The color still brings a sense of cohesiveness to the group, but the styles give each bridesmaid a chance to express his or her own personality.

PINK!

I still love pink in a wedding! It can be an easy shade to match and there a tons of vintage pink dresses out there! Here is another example of a 1950's prom dress but this time in pink from Dorothea's Closet. www.dorotheasclosetvintage.com

GREEN!

Green is another one of those colors that are more difficult to work on everyone, but because almost everyone can find a SHADE of green that will work for them. If you don't mind that the girls will be wearing varying greens, it can be a good way to let them choose what shade works best on them. If you are having bigger variations in color, I would suggest that you ask the girls to all wear similar styles to keep things somewhat consistent. Here's a pretty green dress from Vintageous that would be a fun bridesmaid dress!

Green with aqua overlay and lace bodice at DRESS

A lime green vintage dress at DRESS

BLACK or WHITE!

More and more brides are choosing black and/or white for their bridesmaid dresses. This gives you endless possibilities! Since black and white are the obviously easiest to match, the girls have more freedom to choose dress styles that work with their individual body types. You could even do black AND white for your bridal party. Black also gives you more options in terms of eras since it is much easier to find black in every decade. The first dress is an example from Antique Dress that is a designer dress in the $600 range. Yes, it's more expensive, but when you give your bridesmaids the option of finding their own vintage dresses, some of them might choose a dress in a higher range.

I doubt that any bridesmaid would choose the Christian Dior numbered couture dress below from DRESS , but it's an example of what style would be beautiful for a group of girls to wear! You could tell them to all find black lace vintage dresses, black taffeta, black chiffon, or black velvet, it would depend on what you preferred!

White or ivory are fun colors to use in your bridal party because you can choose an accent color that is easily added with sashes, ribbons, or bows. Here is a silk chiffon ivory dress with pink accents from DRESS

NEUTRALS!

Neutrals are some of my favorite bridal party options! I love shell pink, pale champagne, light oyster and all variations of cream as bridesmaid dresses. Neutrals give you the same flexibility as black and white in that your bridesmaids can be more flexible in the styles they choose. I would still suggest consistency in fabrics, beading or no beading, styles or lengths, but your girls will have more fun looking when they have more options available! Here is a pretty beaded champagne satin dress from Timeless Vixen .

And another example of neutrals in lace from Dress.

DOTS!

Polka dots are a fun way to add instant personality to any wedding! They can be picked up in the decor, the programs and the groomsmen attire. Black and white dots are the easiest to ask your bridesmaids to find, but any color combination is possible! You don't want your wedding to look like a circus, but polka dots can be incorporated into the bridal party with sophistication if done right! You could give the girls a base dress color, such as black or white and tell them what color dots you'd like, or that any colored dots would be fine, or assign them each a different color dot Here are some fun examples of vintage polka dot dresses!

Vintage white dress with red polka dots at Blue Velvet Vintage

Vintage Black dress with pink polka dots at DRESS

Ceil Chapman vintage Navy dress with white polka dots at DRESS

These are just a few ideas of how to start with color and create a unique, sophisticated bridal party with vintage dresses. The possibilities are endless, but most importantly, vintage clothing is the perfect ethical fashion option. A lot of the less expensive dresses, and even many of the more expensive dresses available today as bridesmaid dresses are made in sweatshops or from fabric that was created in sweatshops.Buying vintage gives you peace of mind that you purchased ethical fashion for your special day! You can also tell your bridesmaids to re-sell their dresses when they are finished wearing them - it's easy to do and they would re coup some if not all of their money! And.. in choosing vintage, I can't promise that your bridesmaids will one day be brides themselves, but I can promise that they will be anything but boring!