Take Two from the 50s

Two from the 1950s. What do these tow have in common besides the era? An attention to detail I would say. Not the same treatment by any means, but still - detail in cordwork. The black linen weave clutch coat is very simple - a straight body cut with kimono type sleeves, lined in white taffeta. It couldn't be any simpler. But a simple cut is what is needed to set off all that white passementerie work down the fronts. More trim, and the ethnic reference could easily become too heavy handed. A more complex cut, and the long sweep of trim  would be interrupted or lose focus. Although I am sure it was originally intended for wear over a dress, I think this has great style potential over a blouse and pants, provided both have a good slim fit. 

Detailed 1950s Linen Clutch Coat with White Cordwork

Now, the shoes. Royal blue satin Daniel Green slippers or mules with rosy red trim and cord work frog. Lovely. This brilliant color combination certainly focuses the eye on the design details. The surface shine of the satin also makes a textural contrast with the matte cord. In a busy brocade the trim wouldn't pop as much, and in a matte texture, the cord work would hide unless it was done in a high contrast of color. Good design choices in each garment I do believe.

Snazzy 1950s Blue Satin Daniel Green Mule Slippers

Designer du Jour: Malcolm Starr

 

Malcolm Starr (1924 - 2008) was a popular American dress manufacturer and head of the ready to wear company  that bore his name at 530 Seventh Avenue. From a March 21, 2008 article in  Women’s Wear Daily: 

“The dress company he operated, Malcolm Starr, was started in the Forties by his father, Frank, a well-known figure in the textile industry. During that period, the family was one of the first to lease factories in India and China for manufacturing, and also operated boutiques in Hong Kong and Japan. ‘Even members of the royal family in Japan wore his fashions,'' said Starr's sister, Gloria Starr Kins. "They were the number-one country club set dresses. You would always see at least 30 percent of the women in any elite country club wearing a Malcolm Starr.’"

This label, although best known for beading and glitz, also produced a charming series of felt applique skirts with circus and carousel themes including clowns, tigers, and elephants. Elinor Rizkallah Simmons received label credit for the firm as did Youssef Rizkallah. Additional designers were Bill Tice, Jay Arthur Kobrin, and Carol Horn.

The embroideries and beading used on their line were elaborate and were often done in Hong Kong. A typical 1960s dress from Malcolm Starr would have be simply cut, perhaps in a shantung with curved sculptural seaming and have bold three dimensional beading at the neckline, collar or under bust. And jeweled buttons of course. There would quite often be a matching coat. Another classic line from them was the all over beaded sheath dress. Malcolm Starr also produced formal gowns in lace, silk and  chiffon with lurex, plus a variety of day wear dresses and coats.  But they were best known for cocktail and evening wear.  Elinor Simmons of Malcolm Starr is listed as the women’s costume designer for the 1967 Frank Sinatra and Jill St. John film, Tony Rome.

Frank Starr died in 1969, and Malcolm ran the business until 1976, when it was sold. From WWD: “Starr continued to be active producing clothes in Hong Kong and India and wanted to revive the Malcolm Starr line, but the Sept. 11 attacks cut short that effort.“

A small gallery of this line now available, plus one from our archives I couldn't resist including:

 1960s Cream Lace Malcolm Starr Dress now available at Past Perfect Vintage

 1970s Black and Gold Chiffon Evening Dress from 
the Past Perfect Vintage archives 

1960s Gold Malcolm Starr Dress

@shrimptoncouture.com

1960's Elinor Simmons for Malcolm Starr Mod Vintage Dress 

@MillCrestVintage.com

1960s Malcolm Starr Brown Silk Lace Evening Dress 

@coutureallure.com

Antique and Rare, Very Rare Indeed

In the vintage fashion business, there are few topics that can get a discussion hopping as quickly as :  Just how old  does a garment have to be to qualify as vintage? And when is the dividing line between vintage and antique?

I always went with 25 years old to be vintage, and 100 years old to be antique. But that means 1986 is vintage now, and I am having trouble processing that. I want to draw the line at 1970s. And don't even talk to me about 1990s yet. So many people tell me about 'really old' dresses they found that turn out to be, well, younger than me, that I am feeling a bit creaky these days.  Although, I must admit, I acquired some very nice 1980s dresses last week, and the construction and fabric were really quite good.

 

And then I got these two items out to add them to the website and I felt so very, very  young. I can say without a doubt these are not Vintage, but Antique.Way Antique. I can even use that overworked descriptor, Rare.

It really isn't every day I get to handle 18th Century garments. There are those collectors and dealers who are lucky enough to do so, but in this area of the country, there really are not many pieces of fabric, much less garments, of this age available. 

 

c. 1740s - 60s Blue Brocade Bodice 

This is a sturdy brocade with scrolling pattern and flowers. The front ties with linen tapes which would have been hidden by a pinned on separate stomacher. Stomacher were treated as a interchangeable accessory and were worn with different dresses and bodices.This garment is small, but not tiny. Note that the sleeves are cut on the cross grain and the small pocket flaps mimicking the menswear of the time. It is lined in  linen.     

 

c. 1770s Yellow Striped Silk Skirt 

This lightweight skirt would have been worn over a quilted petticoat for volume and shape. It's a light silk , lined in a china silk. First, the obvious piecing at the waist. Either the fabric wasn't wide enough for the seamstress to make a full length skirt, or a later wearer need more length. Or the skirt was just made too short to start with! Since the top of the skirt would be covered by a jacket or bodice with peplum, the piecing wouldn't show, and rather than waste expensive silk matching the stripes, a choice was made to just add on. Another thing to note is that the waist band is open at both sides with two lined vents that closes with ties. This allowed the waist to be adjusted easily, and also the vents allowed access to the tied on pockets worn underneath the petticoat, which also had vents.   

Now available at Past Perfect Vintage

Designer du Jour: B.H. Wragge

Designer du Jour: B.H. Wragge

This was a NY ready to wear house, run by Sydney Wragge and active from 1931 to 1971. The clothes are referred to as ‘affordable’, usually the kiss of death when it comes to quality, but every piece I have handled with this label was beautifully made of fine fabric with a lot of hand sewn finishes. This would be a time when 'affordable' clothing did not bring up images of polyester or cheap T shirts. We will not even discuss sweat pants. Those are gym clothes one sweats in. This was the clothing a budget conscious gal could afford to invest in keep wearing for multiple seasons. 

A very popular label in the 1940s, Wragge was one of the first to focus on separates and sportswear for the younger woman. As the 1950s came along, and his college age customers were married and became young matrons, he added dresses and evening wear. For the collector, this is one label we love because, borrowing from the haute couture tradition, it actually carries dates in the 1960s.  After closing in 1971, Sydney Wragge died in 1978.

And in reverse order, a small gallery of B.H.Wragge dresses: 

 

1970 BH Wragge Op Art Wool Dress, and currently available at Past Perfect Vintage  

in a heavy weight woven wool with superb pattern matching, lining, covered snaps at the left shoulder, hidden zipper and small hem vent at the front. Nothing is allowed to interrupt or distract from the strong graphic pattern.  

1969 Aqua Linen BH Wragge Dress with self belt and printed silk scarf. Construction details used for visual  interest here, with a rouleau belt, self loops, covered buttons, blouson back and deep inverted skirt pleat. The focus is drawn to the face with a structural collar, V neck and the original printed silk scarf with white stars. 

from the Past Perfect Archives

1967 Sleeveless Brown Linen BH Wragge Dress with square patch pockets, square buttons, rouleau loops and square armholes. Here there is the added definition of the original black belt and black buttons to add to the  repeated motif of squares.

from the Past Perfect Archives

 

 1950s Silk Print BH Wragge Shirtwaist Dress in a lightweight white silk with a pattern of 19th Century inspired black pen and ink drawings, with red highlights and a hem border. The red belt brings that red horizontal line up into the body.

from the Past Perfect Archives 

New Dresses from the 1920s and 30s

 

Do you like the fashion of the 1920s and 30s? You aren't alone. These silhouettes get revived every few years or so in some variation. The drop waist come sback in , as does the boyish look, and the figure conscious bias cut has almost never left. The 1920s very kind to the thinner, straight figure and the 30s were good for the curvy gal, who was toned, but didn't have a tiny waisted, hourglass figure. Both could be very forgiving of the more mature woman if she chose carefully. I have come to really like the styles of these decades. And so do the collectors- I have trouble keeping 1930s in stock at all, and 20s isn't far behind.

This 1920s black satin dress with metallic trim and the apron styling is a favorite, but I am a bit of a magpie, and it does have shiny old gold, so that is no surprise.

 

All newly available at Past Perfect Vintage The 20s & 30s.

 

Charming 1920s Black Satin Dress with Red and Gold Embroidered Trim

1930s Cream Crocheted Blouse in a Larger Size   

1930s Raspberry Taffeta Dress and Jacket Set

Subtly Tinted 1930s Cotton Print Dress 

New at Past Perfect Vintage in August, the 1940s Edition

The new additions, all 19 of them, are live at the website, so here's a taste of the 1940s selection.We recently acquired a number of 1940s dresses in good sizes from an Ohio estate, and will be adding the rest of them next month. Up first is a New York Creation label dress in black crepe, nicely done with a beaded and studded bodice.  These New York dresses are always interesting, and almost always well made.This one is no exception. Then we have a 1940s Wartime cotton dress in red and blue paisley with white piping trim .This is a wonderful example of a  war time day dress that could be dressed up or down depending on the situation. It's also in great condition and a good size as well. And third, one of the best 1940s suits I have found since that beaded Eisenberg we had ever so briefly a few months ago, and like that one I imagine this one will go quite quickly.This is a brown Fortsman wool with beaded passementerie cape collar and pockets. It's a stunner in fine condition.  

We have additions in The 20s & 30s, The 18th Century, The Designers - almost all departments. We will feature more here tomorrow!

All of these can be found at The 40s & 50s

1940s NY Creation Beaded Black Crepe Dress

1940s WW II Era Red and Blue Paisley Cotton Day Dress 

 Grand 1940s Brown Wool Beaded Suit With Fabulous Collar 

And for more thoughts on 1940s Clothing Trends, please visit Sammy Davis Vintage 

Hair Tonic, Really?

 

An old, unused label from my stash. I wonder what the ingredients were? A little scary to ponder.  Mr. Wilson, Druggist, seemed to think his creation would keep hair from falling out. That alone should have made it an all time best seller and put Toulon, IL on the map in a really big way.  Removing and preventing dandruff would just have been a bonus.   

Orlon Cardis Can be Sophisticated

This just won't wait till Easter. My fellow dealers at As Time Goes By always save neat bits of advertising they find in their purchases. I can't tell which newspaper this was clipped from. But these decorated Orlon cardigans are mighty fine. The top one came in navy, pink or blue with chalk beads and white grosgrain trim. The bottom one came in navy with white trim or solid pink or powder blue. We think of cardigans as practical now, but with the right hair, big jewelry and attitude, plus a massive cocktail ring, a cardigan sweater can look very sophisticated.

 

from the Casual Shop

Wonderful Mystery Photos, Victorian Edition

 
Mystery family. That's who I think these are. Sorting through research files and photos this morning, I came across these two again. They first showed up when my aunt and uncle's house was emptied out. They had  a lot of family photos, which my cousin kindly put on discs and sent everyone. No one knows who these two are. We showed them to my 90+ aunties, and they both said: 'oh yes we've seen those before. We never did know who they were". I am afraid we will never know. 


But I keep them because they are both wonderful proof of what actual fashions looked like on the general public rather than illustrations or fashion layouts.

 

 

This gentleman, and I am sure he was one, appears to be 1850s into the early 1860s. His coat has the M notch collar, he has a fold down collar and very large bow on his cravat that is almost obscured by his beard. It looks like he has a ribbon across the shirt front, that tucks into the waistcoat. Possibly for a pince nez? 

This lady has a very sweet expression. I do wonder if she was my grandmother's eldest sister.There is something in the smile.  Her age and the approx. date of the photo 1901 - 1904ish, would be right. This quite the involved and fashionable dress. Almost a bit too much as her head seems small and the eye doesn't know where to look. That's a lot of shirring and quite a bit of sleeve. I adore that she is posed standing on a fur rug. 

Loevenhart's Of Louisville

As many of our blog readers know, I continue to research and gather labels and photos of local department stores in Louisville. The vintage clothing I find from these businesses is so often of really superior quality that while I do have memories of these stores and their buildings,I wish I had paid more attention as a teenager and young adult while they were still in business.

Evey once and a while, I hear from family members and former employees who want to share part of their history. Some with memories, some with questions, others with photos of buildings. Last evening, I updated Louisville Department Stores: A Short History with an extensive history of the fine menswear store, Loevenhart's. Founded in 1867 in Lexington,Ky. this family owned firm was a presence in Louisville from 1898 - 1995. That was quite an accomplishment. I was able to write such a detailed piece  because Lee Loevenhart Grossman and Ken L. Grossman contacted me and wanted to share an important part of their working lives and were willing to dig through the family archives and share personal photos. 

  

Here is just one sample: 

Loevenhart's promotional postcard from 1908

for more history on Loevenhart's and many other Louisville Stores, please visit:

Louisville Department Stores: a Short History

Wednesday Eye Candy

 

It's Wednesday. We've been preparing some great items for the website, spanning from the 1740s to the 1980s. Quite the time range. Plus we have a lot of new information to add to our History of  Louisville Department Stores. So it's been a productive week, with more to come. We have a buying call tomorrow plus a promising auction this weekend.

So today, a simple post with some eye candy, the 1930s Salvatore Ferragamo brand. These aren't by any means his most innovative or outlandish shoes, but they certainly are beautiful.

   

1930s Two Tone Leather Oxford with Gold Piping, 

labeled Ferragamo Hand Made in Florence and Halle Bros. courtesy Past Perfect Vintage Collection