70s Dress w/embroidered capelet by Janice Wainwright
90s Christian Lacroix Skirt Suit in Blue w/Gold Buttons
90s DKNY Ascot Scarf w/Equestrian Print
70s YSL Silk Print Skirt Suit + Escada Red Leather Belt
80s Long Circle Skirt with Colorful Ring Applique
40s Brown Ermine Fur Coat
70s Bill Blass Houndstooth Wool Blazer
80s Beaded Jacket in Purple Leather by French Collizioni
Missoni Knit Dress
80s Bob Mackie Jumpsuit + Tapestry Jacket Ensemble
August Fashion Morsels
Birkin Bag Breaks Records
Selling at Sotheby's last month to a Japanese man for $10.1 million. It's a Hermes 1985 prototype in black leather, but it's all about the original owner, of course. To put things in perspective for you, the previous record for a purse at auction was $450K in 2022 (also a Birkin bag!). More on the legacy here.
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Great Moments of British Aristocracy
Kate Middleton continues to be the most polished, understated, and chic Windsor as she proudly repeats outfits, and has the strongest coat game I've seen in a while. More here.
Best part? In February she announced that she would no longer share outfit details with the press, citing a need for more "substance"! I love fashion, AND I applaud this move.
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Shoes That Outlived Their Owners
I just learned about this poignant work of art in Budapest commemorating the Hungarian Jews who perished in the Holocaust.
Created by film director Can Togay and sculptor Gyula Pauer, and installed in 2005, it consists of 60 pairs of period-accurate iron shoes lined along the eastern bank of the Danube River.
Why shoes ?
In the particular case of Budapest Jews "Victims were ordered to take off their shoes (shoes were valuable and could be stolen and resold by the militia after the massacre), and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. The memorial represents their shoes left behind on the bank." (Wikipedia)
Until fairly recently, most people owned an average of two pairs of shoes - one for every day life and one for special occasions, so most literally "lived" in one pair - imprinting themselves upon the leather.
There's something about a person's shoes that hits us differently than looking at say their skirt, coat, or hat, no?
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(RIP) Ozzy Osbourne: Fusing Camp with Goth
After cutting his long, hippie hair in the late 70s, he helped pioneer the "horror" aesthetic in heavy metal. But one gets the sense that it was (almost) accidental. As in when one bites the head off a real bat thinking it was a toy.
Are the new Tariff's Good for the Vintage Fashion Business?
As imported fashion looks to become more expensive (and all of it is imported), vintage clothing is seemingly set to explode even further. From where I sit, the market already seems saturated. But now there is ThriftCon which makes sense as the industry has already changed dramatically towards the mainstream, teenage market. Younger buyers continue to drive vendors to present vintage that is ever more casual, and...barely...well, vintage.
I continue to resist. And relegate myself to niche markets.
