The Givenchy of Rome

This dress comes with a money back guarantee: if you wear this dress to an event and someone else shows up wearing the same dress we will refund your money and eat our suede Sonia Rykiel hat!

Roberto Capucci is a master of skillful conceptual design and this 1960s dress is no exception. The top of the dress is quite simple and fitted, the waist is belted with an adorable bakelite flower and then comes the full bottom. The fullness comes from an ingenious collection of tubes. Now, what does that mean? It is a bit hard to describe but there is a silk underskirt and over this in slightly different lengths are tubes that start out narrow near the waist and gradually become slight wider towards the bottom. It all sounds very complicated and maybe even a little scary but the actual effect when it is on is very pretty. Size 4/6.

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Love Italian Style

Really, who would not want to feel like an Italian movie actress from the sixties? Think of Claudia Cardinale as Princess Dala in The Pink Panther (an amazing wardrobe by Yves Saint Laurent!) or Sophia Loren in anything: even in a house dress she is just all sex and beauty.

Here is a beautifully done early 1960s narrow cocktail dress from Gigliola Curiel. The color is a deep emerald. The top is chiffon with bead embroidery done as tiny tassles so that there is a nice jiggle when you walk. The bottom is silk velvet. This dress would look gorgeous with the new Manolo Blahniks in magenta leather.
Size 4

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RARE vintage Debuts in Bazaar October Issue

Translating a piece of fashion history into something modern and fresh is what wearing vintage is all about. This is illuminated in the October issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine with RARE vintage's 1988 Moschino safety pins dress worn in a completely new way as styled by Melanie Ward. Titled 'Cutting-Edge Cool' the Moschino dress has been tucked into leather jodpurs by Riccardo Tischi of Givenchy and is worn with a fur shrug by Malo pulled over it. It looks completely new and totally unique. Size 6.

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London Calling!

We are not just interested in fashion at RARE. We are interested in the history of our unique pieces and the environment that inspired them. And when you wear a vintage piece you wear a little bit of those inspirations and reinterpret them in a fresh and modern way.


London in the 1960s was a city of intense creative energy and freedom in art, music, interior design and fashion. David Hockney was a leading artist of the British art scene in the 1960s. In his 1970 portrait of Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy he absorbed traditionally representational art and merged it with Modern Abstraction, Pop Art and popular culture.





We can not help it: when we think of English interiors chintz immediately comes to mind. But then we remember David Hicks and how his styling and color schemes changed the chintz infused English home. He did not create spaces that were cold and dehumanized but rather he took classical elements and juxtaposed them with modern pieces. His work was very striking and his projects included Vidal Sasoon's home and beauty salon, Helena Rubenstein's homes, a yacht for King Fahd and people of the high society.





Everyone knows about English music of 1960s and 1970s. We think that music and fashion are perfectly portrayed by this photograph of Mick and Bianca Jagger on their honeymoon in Venice. Just look at those pants on Mick. Did he do to briefs what Clark Gable did to undershirts? Hmmmm.... or is it Mmmmm?

All of the free spirit energy of the period is captured in this coat from 1971: it is a little rock and roll, decorative and creative. Bill Gibb's clothing in the 1970s was exotic, decorative and inspired by ethnic costumes of Europe. He was known for his pieces embellished with lace, beads, chiffon and appliqués. We have a very unusual and rare leather coat from the 1970s that has appliqués of stylized silver bumble bees on it and screenprinted silver chrysanthemums. The bumble bee became a signature in Bill Gibb's collections. The coat has romantic gigot sleeves. Please note that although the coat is in very good condition and the leather is still soft and supple
the button loops are delicate and probably should not be closed. Size 4.

For more information about this item please email info@rarevintageinc.com or call (212) 581 7273

Calling All Mousey Girls

Did everyone see the much talked about Marc Jacobs spring/summer 2008 collection? It was beautiful and new! Clothes so extraordinary that you would have thought that you had died and gone to heaven! And we always are happy to see clothes with quirky details like the small purses with the gold frogs and the pavé-encrusted mouse pins and belt. RARE's collection of designer vintage couture is complimented by a collection of frivolités. What are frivolités? An indulgence. A little something that you do not need but desperately want and have to have. Do you need a green belt with two gold mice on it? No, probably not, but will you want it when the magazines start showing the spring collections and the waiting lists start? Absolutely! And who would not want to throw on a belt with two gold mice?!
LIME BELT SOLD
PINK BELT SOLD

PS they are not expensive! Shhh!

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American Fashion: the Lady, the Tramp and the Vamp.

Next week is the book release party at Bergdorf Goodman for American Fashion, the new CFDA and Assouline tome. We have three dresses from three iconic American designers: Bill Blass, Norma Kamali and Adrian. Each piece is very different, but there is a distinct cool glamour and spare elegance that is iconic of American design to each one.

The Lady, the Tramp and the Vamp:

The lady is, of course, a navy 1980s silk cocktail dress from Bill Blass. Cigarettes and ice clinking in a cocktail glass would not have been nearly so glamorous if women had not been wearing Bill Blass. No one smokes anymore and no one drinks as much anymore, but if you want to capture that spirit and glamour this is the dress. On first appearance it seems a little conservative although that pleated high collar stands in a very flattering way around the face, but then you turn around and see that it is backless with that pleated collar falling to frame the back in a most inviting and sexy way! Please note that the belt shown is not the original. We see this dress with high cherry red Laboutins! Size 6.



The tramp is another one of our pieces from Norma Kamali. This one is a very early OMO Kamali from 1978. OMO stands for On My Own after Norma divorced. We think that she must have been feeling the freedom because it is not a dress designed for someone who wants to stay at home eating a pint of ice cream in front of the television. It is a black, tight-fitting, sexy one shoulder dress definitely for a disco diva ready to gloss her lips and not stay home. Size 4.









The Vamp is a late 1940s Adrian. Before the war Adrian designed costumes for Hollywood stars like Joan Crawford and Jean Harlow. He opened his own fashion house in 1942 and became known for elegantly draped evening gowns. This is a dress made for Hollywood. It is so glamorous and it is unfortunate that our readers can not see this dress in motion because it is spectacular! Because of the way it is cut there is much fluttering and movement when you walk. The color is a midnight navy and the workmanship is beautiful. The lucky girl who wears this will either be a movie star or will feel and look like one! Size 6.

For more information about this item please email info@rarevintageinc.com or call (212) 581 7273

Crazy for Kamali

We have gone crazy for 1970's Norma Kamali! We have some amazing and unique pieces that we will continue to post. This gown was worn in 1976 to the Costume Institutes's Party of the Year by a girl about town and would be just as incredible at next years Super Hero themed party at the Met.

The label is Kamali from when she had her second floor space on Madison Avenue. It is very unusual and versatile as you can wear it as a dress and as a cape. We think that this dress with a pair of high strappy silver heels are all you need to be the best dressed at any party!
Size 4/6




For more information about this item please email info@rarevintageinc.com or call (212) 581 7273

The Glam and the Glamorous from New York

New York Spring 2008 Fashion Week has begun. We started last night at Tom Ford's very elegant and refined men's store on Madison Avenue for a book party honoring Marilyn Minter's new monograph. We love how thorough Tom Ford is: the traffic cones outside the store were painted white (but, of course, no vulgar orange neon cones here!) and all of the waiters had slicked side parted hair - very 1930's slightly sinister movie actor.

Today we were at FIT's Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion honoring Alber Elbaz. We have long admired Mr. Elbaz's talents from the time he started at Guy Laroche, went on to YSL and now at Lanvin. He gave a very beautiful, thoughtful, funny and extremely kind speech. What he said about women, aging and the pursuit of perfection should be published in every magazine. I think everyone there wanted to give him a hug!

And can we just say how beautiful Demi Moore is in person?

Now down to what Fashion week is really all about: the fashion!


RARE vintage has two beautiful gowns from two New York designers.

The glam is a 1975 Norma Kamali jersey dress in dusty rose. The label is Kamali New York and predates her OMO Norma Kamali line. This is when she had a store on Madison Avenue. It is a very sexy one shoulder body revealing gown. The train can be worn down or there is a loop for your finger in case you want to dance like you were at Studio 54! Size 4. SOLD




The glamorous is a Scaasi Boutique from the 1980s. It is a strapless silk gown with voided velvet flowers that drapes very seductively around the body ending in a stiff tulle underskirt. But best of all are the enormous black silk bows running down the back. Size 4/6.


For more information about this item please email info@rarevintageinc.com or call (212) 581 7273