How to Wear a Hat

When I was at Fenwicks in London (which is such a great store!) recently, trying on whimsical hat after whimsical hat, I wished we wore hats more often.  They are like candy for the head and whose head could not use a little candy : )

One of my favorite lines in one of the The Thin Man movies is when someone shouts out to Mrs. Nora Charles, "look at the screwy hat on that dame!"

To all dames with screwy hats... Happy Easter!

Madonna at the premiere of Evita in John Galliano:

Marlene Dietrich in a hat looking fabulous:

Audrey Hepburn in a hat - could not choose just one:

Not technically a hat but a head scarf on Jackie Kennedy Onassis:

Hats at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton:

Sarah Jessica Parker has worn some fun hats:

and who can forget the late, great Isabella Blow...

xo, Juliana

Audrey Hepburn, The Basket Bag and Saint Laurent

I was just looking through the small book on Audrey Hepburn, Audrey in Rome, which is full of casual photos of well, Audrey in Rome.  There is a small section devoted to Audrey Hepburn's basket bag - which she even carried in the winter and paired with a fur coat.  It would never occur to me wear a basket bag in the winter let alone with a fur coat but AH manages to pull it off.  

Photos from Audrey in Rome.

And then on harpersbazaar.com I saw a studded version of the basket bag by Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent.  Brilliant!  Cool! Must have!  Thank you Audrey!

Now the question is: to wear or not to wear with a winter coat...

Saint Laurent studded bag available for purchase here.

xo, Juliana

RARE vintage Weekend Style Inspiration: Snow Style!

It was not quite the blizzard they said we were going to have but there was still enough snow for my daughter and dog to have fun in Central Park.  You can see why he is named Dash

typically, I had nothing to wear : ) all of my snow clothes were in Long Island.

So I was thinking what does one wear in the snow?

Maybe a great hat like Audrey Hepburn:

and one of my favorites.  So glamorous

or snow style a la Liz and Sir Richard Burton

and speaking of Richard and Elizabeth, a cocktail might be nice...

and then a little snooze in the sun.  Clothes optional.  Fur blanket a must.  St Moritz style:

I love Brigitte Bardot and Gunter Sachs snow style:

and Jacqueline Kennedy 

and playing with John and Caroline

and after all that play, how about a St Bernard drawn sleigh?

Vintage to Wear and Collect Now: 1960s Pierre Cardin

I adore Pierre Cardin. I am very excited to have a few new pieces of 1960s Pierre Cardin just in at RARE vintage and I especially adore 1960s Pierre Cardin.  Well, truth be told, I do also adore the super  structural, geometric 1980s/1990s Pierre Cardin pieces.

If the saying, "the Devil is in the details" was applied to fashion, it would read: Pierre Cardin is in the details.  The precise stitching

Detail of a Cardin dress from RARE vintage

The leather details

Detail of a leather and crepe ensemble from RARE vintage

The circles

Collection Met Museum

Collection Met Museum

Collection Met Museum

The metal

Collection Met Museum

Cardin studied architecture before becoming an apprentice to Christian Dior and then opening his own fashion house and in the 1960s introduced the famous and iconic "Space Age" look.  There are many photos of 1960s Cardin, where you almost feel you are a very well dressed Fembot on the set of Star Trek

Photo from Tumblr

but if you take away the helmets, the goggles, the futurist team-hands-on-our-hips-about-to-face-Klingons-but-don't-we-look-fabulous you are left with  beautifully tailored dresses and tiny little suits that even the Duchess of Windsor adored.

And Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn on the beach in Pierre Cardin.  Photo from Tumblr.

Or the perfect little dress

 L'Officiel 1970.  Photographed by Guegan.

Pierre Cardin at RARE vintage.  Available now.  A sweet lavender hued and tartan print dress from the mid 1960s:

A cream dress also from the mid 1960s

It's all about the seam, the seam, the seam

I love the architectural detail on the armhole

PURCHASE

INQUIRY