September 7, 2017
by Winters Past
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Wear a Vintage Beaded Necklace

When I was a kid, there was a candy store next to my elementary school. Let that sink in: a candy store. Next to my elementary school. As you can imagine, this was incredibly thrilling stuff.

It was a fabulous old timey shop with wooden floors and a vast selection of sugar delivery devices: wax lips, pixie stix, atomic fireballs, sugar daddies, and those pastel sugar buttons that were inexplicably stuck onto rolls of paper and could only be removed with your teeth. It was enticing and exciting, and it made my breath catch every single time I walked in.

I want my shop to feel just like that, only instead of candy I want it filled with fabulous sparkly vintage costume jewelry.

There are some pieces in the shop that have a similar visual and tactile appeal as the treasures in that old candy store. They are multi strand necklaces made of wonderfully detailed faceted beads. These confections were made in the 1950’s in Hong Kong or in what was then called West Germany. Made of either glass or plastic, they are bold, chunky, colorful and very fun.

Faceted, frosted, graduated multi strand bead necklaces in a range of colors

So, how to wear them in a modern way?

To my eye, they look great mixed with simple solid color tops or dresses. I especially like them with a chambray button down. You can wear the necklace outside or inside the collar. Try one with a crew or vee neck top, too.

Here’s how to wear vintage multi strand beaded necklaces

A few more thoughts:

Mixing vintage beaded necklaces into your modern outfit is like decorating your living room. You might want a sleek modern couch but adding a vintage lamp on the end table elevates the whole look.
Vintage multi strand necklaces can add that “wow” factor to an otherwise basic outfit.
The key to these is the mix of textures and lengths. No other accessories are really needed.
The phrase “pop of color” seems to fit these baubles perfectly. Do not be afraid! Go outside, look at nature and see how gorgeous the redbud blossoms are against the blue sky, then wear the boldest piece with your most washed out sky blue denim.
My prediction: fifties multi strand beaded necklaces are going to be the next hot collectible vintage jewelry. You heard it here first.

September 1, 2017
by Winters Past
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Ladies, Wear a Vintage Men’s Fedora

Today, I give you the next installment in our series on how to wear a vintage hat without feeling like a total dork, and not a moment too soon.

Get ready, because we’re taking back the fedora.

You know that faux hipster thing where both men and women take a (new) fedora and wear it on the back of their heads, tilted up? Don’t do that, ever, unless you are in a boy band, and even then think twice. It’s a one way ticket to dorkville, a town no adult wants to live in.

Instead, let’s treat this hat like the classic it is.

The fedora has a gender bending history, which is why it looks so great on both men and women. In Victorian times, actress Sarah Bernhardt wore one while playing a character named Fedora. Bernhard was considered sexy and she liked to wear men’s clothing at times. The fedora gradually shifted to become a men’s hat, associated with hyper masculine actors like Bogart and Sinatra, and with gangsters like Capone and Sinatra. It went from being a symbol of co-opted masculinity to one simply considered masculine.

In the 1940’s, when women’s fashion had a bit of a menswear edge, fedoras again became popular for women. Ingrid Bergman wore one particularly well in Casablanca.

Marlene Detrich, Ingrid Bergman, Paulette Goddard, Jeanette MacDonald, Ava Gardner, Katherine Hepburn

How to wear one in a modern way? My preference, of course, is a vintage fedora. First, the quality is great and the style is free of gimmicks. The colors, classic neutral black, grey, brown or tan, give just the right degree of effortless panache. Their history makes them nicely worn in with the perfect patina of age and wear.

Many of the vintage men’s fedoras I find tend to be too small for modern men, meaning they are perfect for women. The fit should be fairly snug but able to sit halfway down on the forehead. Now give it an angle and tilt it off center and a bit to the front. This will really emphasize your eyes-take a look at Ingrid Bergman (center top above). Remember, a fedora isn’t worn pulled straight down low.

When you find the perfect vintage fedora, wear it around the house for a while, catching glimpses of yourself. This way you’ll get used to seeing and being seen in it.

One of the best fedora wearers today is Sarah Jessica Parker, and she wears them really often. She combines a classic small brim creased hat with jeans, sweatshirts and leather as well as with dressier pieces. Have a look:

August 22, 2017
by Winters Past
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Vintage Black Glamor

Everyone recognizes Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe as vintage style icons. I can point to a dozen more that most people are aware of: Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, maybe Jean Harlow. Missing from this list are glamorous women of color.

Recently, I’ve become interested in learning more about African American vintage style icons. Of course, this is tied in with the complicated history of race in America. But when we lift back the veil of history, we find a wonderfully rich cultural diversity that’s been hidden from view.

I am currently exploring Black cinema, or what were known as “Race Films”. This was a parallel Hollywood featuring all Black casts, aimed at Black audiences that existed from 1915 through the early 1950’s. Some of these movies were also written, directed and produced by African Americans.

Of course, there were Black performers in mainstream movies of Hollywood’s golden age. They were usually relegated to stereotypical roles, but even within those constraints, there are glimpses of a fabulous and unique style.

Here are just a few avatars of vintage glamor that I’m just now seeing and appreciating. In addition to films, these women found success on Broadway, the Opera, and the bandstand.

What vintage style cues can we learn from them? What elements of fashion and beauty are unique to Black entertainers from the first half of the 20th century?

From L to R: Francine Everett, Sallie Blair, Sybill Lewis,

The Dolly Sisters, Dorothy Dandridge, Gloria Davy

Nina Mae McKinny, Joyce Bryant, Dorothy Van Engle

Marpessa Dawn, Ja Net DuBois, Josephine Premice

Janet White, Muriel Smith, Princess Kouka of the Sudan

Jeni Le Gon, Hilda Simms, Theresa Harris

August 17, 2017
by Winters Past
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Style Inspiration with a Dash of Vintage

The internet. It’s either the great democratic equalizer, giving everyone a voice, or its the death of civilization as we know it.

From a personal style perspective (and from the standpoint of this blog, the entire world comes down to vintage fashion), I’m going for the first option.

I’m inspired by the looks I see in blogs and in independent media. When it come to wearing vintage, there are a few camps. One is the all-vintage head to toe approach. That’s a subject for another day.

Today I’m focusing on women who mix in vintage with modern and have a well defined, recognizable (and very fun) sense of style. Here are a few ladies who are inspiring my style choices these days. Also, I like style that involves comfortable shoes.

First up, Amy Karol, who blogs at angrychicken.typepad.com.

As an artist, craft book writer and home-schooling mother of three, Amy’s got a love of fabric, color and retro 50’s-early 60’s style that’s casual and pretty.

Vintage style #1: Lets call it Seattle-based home schooling crafty indie mom style

Next we have Aussie blogger Lilli over at www.frocksandfroufrou.com

She’s a book editor working in publishing and she has a cool modern librarian vibe. She sews and crafts some of her own pieces that she mixes with 1950s vintage. Lilli has a good sense of her body proportions and of how she wants to be seen.

Vintage style #2: Crafty cute bookish style nerd with womanly curves

Moving on, here’s the fabulous Latonya Yvette, who blogs at blog.latonyayvette.com

Full disclosure: my daughter interviewed her for Bust magazine. She’s got a fabulous mix of eras worn with modern accessories and a spot-on sense of color. Those yellows! Swoon.

vintage style #3: Brooklyn based creative with a bold use of color & a killer indie style

For some West Coast wonderfulness, here is Erin Perez Hagstrom at www.calivintage.com.

Erin gravitates toward natural fibers, mostly solid colors and hats. She goes for clean lines and crisp silhouettes and seeks out high waists and trapeze cuts, all worn with her signature bangs.

vintage style #4: So Cal natural minimalism with a 90’s vibe

Next up, Catherine Summers, who blogs at www.notdressedaslamb.com

She’s a red haired Brit who’s preferred vintage era is the seventies. Her blog has the the tag line, Who wants to be “age appropriate” anyway? Certainly not me! Catherine does break the comfortable shoe rule, but she gets a pass on that one.

vintage style #5: Fearless mix-and-matcher with a grown up playful feel

Here’s one more, this time not a blogger. This is the lovely singer and pianist Regina Spektor, a Russian-born New Yorker. She wears true vintage in a light hearted, dreamy way.

vintage style #6: Fashion perestroika mixes Cony Island kitsch with classic forties frocks

August 12, 2017
by Winters Past
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Fall Fashion, Inspired By Vintage Styles

If you were to closely watch the pendulum of fashion, you’d get very dizzy. Modern designers continually draw from the well of the past, dipping into styles of previous decades and combining them with a modern twist. It’s enough to give you deja vu all over again.

With that in mind, I’m looking at the new fall styles. What I’m seeing echoes the vintage clothes I have around me in the shop right now. I’ve got to ask: why not just wear vintage?

The Seven Top Trends for 2017 (that could easily be done with vintage):

70’s plaids: oversized boxy wool tartans and houndstooth checks
Luxe velvet: just like a young Stevie Nicks would have worn
Silver lame’: metallic shimmery disco fabrics (gold lame’, too)
Power suits: classic 1980’s lady boss jackets with bold shoulder pads
Retro winter hats: 60’s high-crown fur toppers
Vintage floral prints: Yves San Laurent’s 70’s folkloric styles with a touch of old school Ralph Lauren Americana
High waist jeans: non-stretch, light wash straight leg denim

These modern plaids are straight out of a 1977 Seventeen magazine back to school issue

Modern fashion plays with another side of the 70’s: sensual, drape-y evening velvet

Of the moment, over the top glam rock silver lame, not for the faint of heart

Vintage Armani redux, like Melanie Griffith wore in Working Girl

2017 military revisits early 60’s style bold fur hats

Modern romantic vintage-style botanical prints nod to both the 70’s and the 90’s

High waist vintage jeans, AKA “Mom Jeans”

August 6, 2017
by Winters Past
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Wear a Scarf like Grace Kelly

Want a touch of retro glamor in about 10 seconds flat? Emulate Grace Kelly in a headscarf and you, too, can look like movie star in the south of France even when you’re heading to Publix to pick up a two-for-one deal on the canned tuna.

First, some images of the movie star princess in Hermes:

The Impeccable Grace Kelly

And here are some other chic famous ladies flaunting their European sensibilities with scarves in the early 60’s:

Marilyn, Sofia, Jackie, Liz, Bridgette, Audrey

All you need for this style is a big square vintage scarf. The yacht and the Alfa Romeo convertible are optional but they really do amplify the look. Also a Prince, an Oscar and your very own tiny country. But I digress.

Get yourself a great vintage silk scarf in a gorgeous print. Fold your big scarf into a triangle and place the folded side up a little on the top of your head, not down low over your forehead, so some of your hair shows. Pass the long ends under your chin, secure with one throw of a knot, then bring the ends around to the back. You want it to look retro-chic, not Queen Mumsy, right? Do this: place your knot asymmetrically, towards one ear. This leaves a short and a long end. For some reason I can’t quite explain, it’s so much better this way. You know what else looks great with this? Big sunglasses and lipstick.

Here are some modern ladies wearing the heck out of some vintage scarves:

Modern ladies in retro chic head scarves

While I’m sure this doesn’t apply to you, dear reader, headscarves have become the go-to accessory of rehab chic. Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Nicole Richie, Kate Moss and Paris Hilton are all rehab and headscarf regulars.

On the surface, the Kelly-style scarf alludes to modesty and a new-found purity in an impure world. It’s prim, repressed Joan Allen in Pleasantville. But look a little deeper and the style has a sense of mystery and an intriguing backstory. It’s one wears after a long night to cover the morning-after weariness, especially when paired with dark glasses.

July 29, 2017
by Winters Past
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Alternative Fashion: 200 Years of Tribal Ethnic Style

Fringe, turbans, caftans, long dangly ear rings: it’s “hippie” style and it started in the 60’s, right?

Not exactly. It’s bohemian style and its been around for a while. Here are some archival photos from the late 1800’s:

1800’s bohemian style

Before we called them hippies, there was a creative class of of writers, dancers, musicians and visual artists known as bohemians and their style has been an exotic alternative to mainstream fashion for over 200 years. While hippies were completely of the moment in the late 60’s and early 70’s, they were part of a long lineage of free thinking, non-conforming, alternative people.

Part of the bohemian aesthetic involves wearing non Western “ethnic” clothes in order to transcend conventions and to express the idea of more authentic, sensual and spiritual qualities believed be more present in tribal cultures. We’re talking about Indian print skirts, Indonesian batik sarongs, Moroccan djellabas, Chinese jackets, Japanese kimonos, Mexican embroidered dresses, and African dashikis, worn with moccasins, boots or sandals, fringe, feathers, Indian turquoise jewelry, natural bead jewelry, capes, scarves and turbans.

Let’s let Janis Joplin show us how it was done in the 1960’s:

Jimi broke a few sartorial as well as musical conventions:

Over the last two centuries, the hallmarks of bohemian style have been:

Loose, flowing clothing made of natural fabrics, worn without restrictive underwear
Loose, natural hair
Colorful scarves worn at the neck, on the head, or at the waist
Peasant styles: tunics, loose trousers, boots, and sandals
Antique or vintage clothing
Asian elements: robes, kimonos, and the designs of Persia, India, Turkey, and China
Mixing historical elements with ethnic styles
Layering
Mismatching, mixing prints and color combinations
Multi strands of beads, bangle bracelets, and unusual, hand crafted, or unmatched jewelry
Large dangle or large hoop earrings
Broad brimmed hats
Patched clothing
Paisley, flowered fabrics, ruffles, lace edged sleeves
A casual approach to tidiness and uniformity; contrived dishevelment

And here’s what it looked like in 1968:

The 60’s-70’s boho style ended when the alternative became mainstream.

Sorry, Liz, you were fabulous but the caftan lost a bit of it’s edge when you adopted it as your uniform:

La Liz the Queen of Caftans

Now that we have a little time and distance, bohemian “ethnic” pieces look fresh again. Right now, they look best worn with more minimal adornment and simple, modern hair:

July 22, 2017
by Winters Past
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1930’s Bias Cut Dresses: Sexy Screen Siren Style

Remember that really bad Rod Stewart song from the 80’s, Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? I’m assuming you’ll agree it was terrible because I think it is. In truth, what’s a catchy tune or an ear worm, what’s bland or delicious, what is sexy or not is entirely subjective.

Except for 1930’s ladies in their fabulous bias cut gowns-I think we can all agree that these are pretty sexy:

Thirties Hollywood Bombshells in Bias Cut Gowns

Fashion of the 1930s was, surprisingly, very sensual. They featured sinuous shapes and fabrics that draped daringly over the body, allowing women the freedom to move with ease while being caressed by fine silk cloth.

Before stretchy fabrics were available, the “bias cut” was used for body-hugging silhouettes. In 1927, Parisian designer Madeleine Vionette developed this technique by changing the direction that pattern pieces were laid out in relation to the grain of fabric.

What is the advantage of a bias cut gown? It drapes over and highlights the body. Gowns cut on the true bias hug and cling to the hips and midriff then fall beautifully. Many times they seem like a second skin. Colors newly available in silk at that time included soft flesh tones like champagne, fawn and blush, which added to their sensual appeal.

Worn with very little underneath, this style was scandalously close to naked, replacing the layers of chemises, knickers, corsets, corset covers and petticoats that had encompassed the Western female form for generations.

Hollywood of the thirties greatly influenced what women thought about what was fashionable, what was acceptable, and what was sexy. In contrast to the realities of the depression, costume design was quite lavish. Exemplified by Jean Harlow’s iconic white satin bias cut dresses, the Hollywood look featured dramatic lines that played best to camera. The minimally embellished slip-like gown was emblematic of Hollywood of that decade.

Jean Harlow in her signature look

Thirties films were “Pre-Code”, meaning they were made after the introduction of sound and before the enforcement of strict censorship rules (the “Hays Code”). Pre-Code films were bawdy, risque and irreverent, exploring lesbian relationships, drug use, divorce, sex work and extramarital affairs. Women -married or not-were frankly sexual, and their outfit of choice was the bias cut gown.

Bias cut gowns draw attention to the curve of the hip

I have quite a few bias cut gowns in the shop and I am amazed by the quality of the fabric, still draping and flowing 80 years later.

July 8, 2017
by Winters Past
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How About a Vintage Clutch Bag for Daytime?

The world is an anxiety provoking place. People (and by that I mean me) seem a bit on edge lately. It’s calming to focus on enjoying some small, pleasing things that are within our control. This thought process led me to pull over on the side of the road yesterday, lay on my stomach in a glorious yellow riot of buttercups in the median, and snap an I-phone photo of a single perfect flower.

It also helps me that my work involves finding lovely objects from the past and figuring out how to enjoy them in the present.

Which leads me to think about using a vintage clutch bag with casual daytime clothes.

Here’s why daytime clutch bags make so much sense :

They look modern
They look minimal
They look different
They are unfussy
They are kind to your neck and shoulders
They force you to carry fewer items
You need a style change

The clutch can add a surprising element of color or texture or shape to a simple outfit.

Here are some ladies doing the daytime clutch with casual flair:

And here are just a few of the vintage daytime clutch bags I have in the shop right now:

June 30, 2017
by Winters Past
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Some Thoughts on Vintage Costume Jewelry

So what’s the story on costume jewelry anyway?

First, a few pieces from the Winters Past collection:

Some stellar examples of vintage costume jewelry

A little history: back before the style revolution that was the 1920’s, women of means had fine jewelry that they wore with pretty much everything. Then came Coco Chanel. She turned this idea upside down by proclaiming that wearing precious jewelry in public was vulgar. Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli and others created bold, fabulous jewelry designed to go with your “costume” (meaning outfit). Jewelry became something to wear for fun and as art and self-expression but not to signify wealth.

Coco and Elsa wearing costume jewelry of their own creation

From the 1920’s Art Deco period until about 1965, there was so much wonderfully well designed vintage costume jewelry made in the US. Along with the artistry, there was an innovative use of materials and a good dose of whimsey.

Mass production wasn’t very mass in the American costume jewelry industry from the 20’s to the mid 60’s. These pieces were made by skilled artisans with a high degree of craftsmanship and attention to detail. They used a mixed base metal, and then triple-plated it with either gold or silver. The result? Even pieces that are decades old won’t easily tarnish.

A word about rhinestones: They aren’t fake anything. They’re real Czech hand blown leaded glass that’s been precision faceted and polished, then given a reflective backing. These stones were set with prongs in the same manner as gemstones are in fine jewelry.

high quality prong set vintage costume jewelry rhinestones

In addition to metals and rhinestones, costume jewelry designers played with materials like shell, wood, enamel, faux pearls and stones. As new things like celluloid,Bakelite,and Lucite were developed, jewelry designers incorporated them into their creations.

Some vintage costume pieces are signed with a logo, like these:

Some signed vintage costume jewelry

However, signed pieces do not necessarily indicate higher quality than unsigned pieces — vintage jewelry is often high quality, regardless of who made it. Some of the most exclusive vintage designers, including Juliana, did not sign their pieces.

I carry vintage jewelry that features the original design, consistent with vintage style and age. There is a current fad towards “repurposeing” jewelry, meaning mixing and matching different elements from multiple pieces into new, franken-jewelry. I prefer to let the individual charm and beauty of a piece speak for itself.