Fall Inspiration (Yay! September's Here!)

I love September...it's always been my favorite month,and not just because I have a September birthday. I love the (theoretically) cooler weather, the start of a new school year, the new clothes for fall, and especially the giant, humongous fashion magazines! This month's Vogue is a whopper...it's so big that I feel bad for the mail carriers.

The designers always seem to put out their best work in the fall, and the first few pages of advertisements are always a delight to the eye.

 

Now this is actually a Ralph Lauren ad, but I waved my little photo-editing wand over it and made it look old & "vintagey". I just love the overlapping, contrasting textures and the rich color palette. The setting, the makeup, the old car...love, love,love! the only thing that would make it better would be if the fur was faux. Sadly, I think it's real...*sigh*...someday, people will evolve.

Now if it would just cool off a teensy bit so we could bust out the sweaters and boots :-)
I can't wait for that first day when there's a crisp snap in the air and the leaves look a bit yellow & orange...I love the fall!
What is your favorite season?

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Vintage Fashion Book Reviews

 For your enjoyment may I present three quickie book reviews:

I got all three of these books from my local library. I'm the biggest library nerd! Seriously, where can you find a better deal than the public library? Any book you want (generally) and you can (again, generally) keep it for weeks & weeks, for free! Anyway, these were fun to look over for a while. First up:

The Fashion File:  Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men
by Janie Bryant

A fun little book that's a little bit about the TV show Mad Men, and more about vintage fashion & style in general. Something I really enjoyed about this book were the lovely & whimsical watercolor illustrations by
Robert Best. This one shows a 50's circle skirt and how it might be incorporated into a modern look.

 Another nice bit was the section about "Icons & Inspirations"

Beautiful Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot

You'd think a book from the Mad Men lady would be about Mad Men style, lots of late 50's & early 60's, right? Not so much. Instead there's a lot of generic "10 Pieces Every Woman Should Have" and "Which Body Shape Are You?" kind of stuff that we've all seen a million times.
 In total, it's a lightweight, entry-level, but fun little book. I'm glad I didn't buy a copy at full pop. I really love those watercolor illustrations, though, so if I ever see this at a thrift store (which I may, once the Mad Men craze dies down) I will definitely add it to my personal library!

Next is a book I've actually checked out twice over the years:
Dressing Up Vintage by Tracy Tolkien

 This book covers vintage fashion by the decade, from the 50's through the 80's. Each decade is broken into key designers and styles.
One thing that's really weird about this book is that there are about two pages covering the 40's. As compared to the bajillion pages about the 70's & 80's, it's kind of a snub to my beloved 40's. I wonder why? I guess it's the author's prerogative. Maybe she thought it had already been done enough.
 The coverage of the 70's and 80's is pretty major, and as it comes from an English perspective, it's pretty fun and informative for me as an American reader.

Last but not least we have:
The Art of Vogue, Photographic Covers, Fifty Years of Fashion and Design.

I <3 Jean Patchett

Gorgeous 40's covers

I want this issue!

Twiggy lookin' fab

This book is pure eye-candy! I had a lot of fun going through my stash of vintage Vogues and seeing which ones were featured in the book. I especially love the pic on the cover...the iconic Jean Patchett!
The cover art of Vogue has been held to a beautifully high standard for decades and decades, and it's great fun to see how the cover styles have changed over the years!

Have lovely readers seen or read any good books about vintage fashion lately? I'd love to hear about them!

Vintage Ray-Bans

I came across this ad in a vintage Vogue Magazine, June 1954. I just love these printed plaid sunglasses!

Here's a close-up:

Aren't they the cutest? I love the little plaid case, too.
I'm dying to find a pair somewhere...the search begins!

My Book Wish-list

I spend waaaay too much money on books...well, I used to anyway. Then I moved, like 5 times in 4 years and packing and schlepping all those books cured me a little bit!
My brother-in-law (who was helping us move) said to my husband "When I get married, my wife is going to collect something nice & light...like paper fans" :-)

I still love to look at Amazon and dream a little, though...

Here are a few of the books at the top of my wish-list right now.

This would look great on my coffee table. If I had a coffee table. Instead I have one of those useless ottomans-with-a-tray-on-top which looks so nice in theory, and in reality is so lame. sigh. But anyway, gorgeous book!!

I love her prints and I want to learn more about this designer...I have a dress I'll put up on Etsy soon that might be hers, but the tag's been cut out. I need to see if I can find the print in this book.

Vera! What a talented and inspirational lady! I found my first Vera scarf at a thrift store for 50 cents. Some people don't know gold when they see it!

This book is brand-new on Amazon. Has anyone read it or seen it? Looks interesting...

A Mountain of Vintage Magazines

Sometimes opportunity knocks when you're least expecting it! This past week I stumbled onto an opportunity to buy a huge lot of vintage fashion magazines from the 40's, 50's and 60's, mostly Harper's Bazaar and Vogue.

I had to spend an enormous chunk of money (for me) so it's got my stomach all done up in knots right now, but the magazines are so incredible! They were stored, lovingly preserved, in an attic for all these years and they're almost all in pristine condition. I'm sure they'll provide lots of great blog material in the months to come, but right now here's just a little taste.
This one's available in my Etsy store right now!
Click here!