My Vintage Inspirations, What Are Yours? And A Grand Giveaway

Don't forget to enter in the giveaway.  Details here.    I always wanted to answer what my ten vintage journey inspirations are.

In no particular order, as this would be near impossible to do.

1.  Princess Coats - Ahh, where to begin?   I'm not quite sure what it is but vintage princess coats are a Fascination (note I capitalized this word) with me.  There is just a timeless elegance about them and the 50s certainly had their share of grand designs.   There is something majestic about the nipped waist and the attention to detail.

Princess coat from 1939:

Now tell me is there a vintage lady out there would wouldn't love this coat below?

2.  Puffy Sleeves -  a late 30's vintage outfit would not be complete without this required tailoring trick.  There is also just something special about an extra puff to a blouse or a beautiful bias cut dress to create this effect.

3.  Vintage Pattern Envelope Illustrations -  As I delve more into vintage sewing, I find the pattern envelopes to be so very captivating.    The color illustrations reflect a moment in time and represent an ideal of the period.  I often try to see if I might find the fabric that is illustrated on the pattern. These illustrations certainly set a mood and it's also an experience.  These are dresses that one hopes to create that are just as lovely as the illustration.

I've also been recently trying to find some of the patterns related to Vogue's New Book of Better Sewing. 

Yes, this is my dream acquisition pattern, I could stare at this pattern illustration all day long.  I know that when it goes up for sale it commands multiple hundreds of dollars so it is doubtful I shall own it as I do think at some point these are just slices of paper but just revel in the beauty of this dress!!!  <sigh>:

Update:  One actually sold for $610 in March! 

4.  Fashion Magazines - Bazaar and Vogue are right up there on my understanding of vintage fashion.  I love the period of the late 30s to the late 50s in fashion so I tend to look for decently priced fashion magazines of this period.  I do also like other magazines like McCalls, Glamour, and Mademoiselle.  I also love to look for the obscure fashion magazines too, anything to gain enterance into the styles of the 30's to the 50's. I look at these magazines as works of art and ideals of the times.  It is interesting how so much change in fashion occurred from the 30s to the 50s but the art of fashion still remained.  Today, everything is so mass produced and made only to last a season, if that.  In addition, the quality of materials is lacking.  I think if there is some truth to the idea that we are reincarnated, I'm sure I was once heavily implanted somewhere in the late 30s with my puffy sleeves or in the early 50s with Lilli Ann.

5.  Lilli Ann -  I honestly cannot remember the exact first Lilli Ann image I came in contact with but I do know that Lilli Ann has left a lasting impression on me (like you didn't all know right?).  I also thank all of you for encouraging my suit adventures.  I'm sure I will forever keep some of these key suits and coats in my wardrobe.  I do have two Pinterest boards on Lilli Ann, if you'd like to follow them.  Also for those of you recently tuning in, here is a link onto the history of Lilli Ann.

I know I'm not the only one who loves Lilli Ann as certain of these gems are highly sought after.  I hope one day I'll be able to explain to my grandchildren how once tailoring meant something and how clothing can really be an art form.  I think also through fashion, it helps me to understand these time periods.

I also wanted to say that I found an "everyday" vintage lady wearing a Lilli Ann suit!   The photograph is a random 1950s snapshot.   I was quite excited to find this as it is a needle in a haystack.  I'll share the image of this lovely 50s lady in a future post and boy does she have on a "dream" Lilli Ann suit.  You think about all these Lilli Ann suits and coats out there and you really don't see images of lovely ladies wearing them from the 1950s so this is quite nice to see.

I don't think I have ever seen this princess coat up for sale.  I'm sure it would sell near $1,000.

6. Vintage In Color - There is just something crazy fabulous about seeing the right fashion print and outfit fully viewed in color.    These ladies really did wear some beautiful prints but it sometimes gets lost in the black and white history we see so when a really great color image crosses my path, I immediatly want to take in all the details.  I invite you all to take a good look at John Rawlings.  There are a lot of wonderful color images of his work out there.  On Pinterest, I've started a board called "Vintage In Color".  Check it out.  I also have a Pinterest board on John Rawlings.

John Rawlings 1944 (my favorite fashion photographer)

Fashion Magazine Image

1930s fashion illustration

Amazing images in color.

7. 40's shoes -  If I find a decently priced pair of 40's shoes in my size, odds are I want to buy them, which lucky for me isn't too often as 40s shoes normally are in a smaller size.  There is just something special about those strappy ankle shoes and blocked heal that I love.  One of the first vintage items I bought when getting into vintage fashion, was a beautiful pair of 40's swing shoes and I happened to be the first one to break them in.  Amazing in itself.


My first pair of 40's vintage shoes:

These shoes below I took to a cobbler and was able to save the straps.  Very lucky for me!

These shoes are on the market right now, wish they were my size!

Link

I once put together a list of vintage shoe vendors, some of you may find this helpful if you decide to search out a pair.  I've actually found a couple of pairs of vintage shoes through having this list.  

Vintage Shoe Designers (Ads seen in fashion magazines)  I put a date next to each brand to reference the year I'd seen it in a magazine so of course, you may also see these shoe brands in other years too.

Sorry list is not in any particular order.  Do any of you ladies have these brands?

Enna Jettick Vogue 30s ad

Queen Quality early 30s

Red Cross Shoe 1921(seen in 40s too)

Naturalizer 1935

Vitality Shoe 1930s

De Liso (Debs) 1939

Rice O’Neill (1939)

Lotus (1950)

Dorothy Dodd (1940s?)

Selby (1940’s start?)

Bally shoes

I. Miller shoes (1930s +)

Kays-Newport (Californian USA shoes 1940s)

Johansen 1947

H Liebes 1947

Selby shoes 1947

Paradise shoes 1947

Laird shoes 1947

Peacock shoe 1947

John Marino 1947

Rhapsody shoe 1941

Lastex 1941

Marquiese Shoes 1940

TreadEasy shoes 1948

Natural Bridge Shoe 1949

Newton Elkin 1949

Valentines Shoe 1949

Jacquelines Wohl shoe 1949

Tweedies 1949
Twenty-Ones (as seen above)

8.  A Sparkly Brooch (preferably Eisenberg) -  You can actually find a very lovely sparkly brooch on ebay for even less than what you may pay retail and these have stood the test of time.  There is just something extra charming that the right brooch adds to an outfit.  It truly is like adding a bow to that nicely wrapped present.

You know even a placement on the belt line is fabulous!

9.  Tilt Hats - There is just something glamourous about the right tilt hat. It adds a certain artistic charm to a vintage outfit.

Source

Source

10.  Umbrella's - Vintage umbrella's from the 40's and 50's are quite a scarce item to find in good working order and when I find the right novelty umbrella, I'll certainly add it to my collection.  The handles are works of art in themselves.  I'm still on the look out for the right bamboo handled umbrella.
 I have a Pinterest board "Umbrella Style".

Lastly and as a big mention, a giant inspiration to me is all of you fellow vintage bloggers out there who  view my blog and  provide perspectives into your own vintage journey.  Your words of encouragement mean a lot:)  Thank you!

A Day In The City And A Lilli Ann Addition

I don't get into the city too often because it can be quite a hike.  I used to work in the city and loved strolling the streets but that was many years ago, time flys.  So, it was with enthusiasm that I ventured into NYC to see The Rockettes.  I highly recommend this show.  We had a great time and it also gave me the opportunity to wear my latest Lilli Ann acquisition, a charming 1950s plaid-princess coat.  This is certainly a timeless piece and the print is just splendid.  I think it might be missing one button but you know for the price I paid for it, who cares?:)    I thought about making or having made another button and taking it off the inside hem but then I wouldn't want the inside hem to start unravelling because of the missing button area.  I'll have to think more about what to do.  I haven't seen this particular style around too often.

I've seen one with a belt but I'm not sure the one I have was even supposed to have the belt as there are no loops on this coat.  Regardless, it is a wonderful coat and I enjoy wearing it.

My hair started the day off rather nice and curly.  I used hot sticks and quite like them but I don't think I put in enough hair spray because by a couple hours later my curls started to dissipate:)

Outfit Details:

50's Lilli Ann Plaid Princess Coat -recent acquisition

50's blouse (even with the higher waisted skirt this blouse didn't have much length to tuck in. I was a bit surprised by this but still a nice blouse.)

50's high waist black skirt (from a suit) with a lovely side metal zipper.  I highly recommend buying vintage suits on the cheap (especially black) as you also can find great use for the skirts.

Rhinestone screw-back earrings (I'm thinking I much prefer screw-back to clip-on, at least you can control the strength, they should bring these back:)  I have some clip-on earrings that I can't wear for very long because they just press too hard on my ears.

Shoes: Pas De Rouge on sale,  awesome walking shoes.  I don't think they have my style anymore.

Waiting on the tracks for the train:

In the city, how fun to be able to skate in Rockefeller Plaza, the tree wasn't quite ready yet:

I know I've shared the restroom decor in Radio City before but I had to share it again as it's so remarkable.  The ladies restroom in Radio City screams old school glamour with the little tables that you can quite imagine charming ladies applied their makeup at and chatting about how lovely each other's outfits are with a cocktail in one hand and a lipstick tube in another.  I didn't get the seat count but it was quite impressive the number of little chairs and seats in this lounge area seats on both sides of the room.  Very art deco and so glad they have kept this piece of history.

A picture of the lovely ladies in their wonderful outfits, a very festive show: