That was 1996, This is Now: Gianni Versace Edition

I love finding pieces that we have for sale at RARE vintage in a magazine and in the September issue of Vogue Italia - which is celebrating 50 years of Vogue Italia - they revisit past issues, stories and fashion.  I was thrilled to see this photograph of Alek Wek in our baby blue metal mesh and lace dress.

This was 1996:

Alek Wek in Gianni Versace metal mesh dress in Vogue Italia

and this is now at RARE vintage:

Gianni Versace couture metal mesh Oroton dress at RARE vintage.

Dress is available for purchase here.

xo, Juliana

Gianni Versace: For Richer, for Poorer

Gianni Versace's safety pinned pieces of the early 1990s were taken from the tattered t-shirts and pants of the punk movement - from kids, who, if their clothes were torn, they just pinned them back together - and translated into something super luxe and super glamorous.

The safety pins were adorned with the Versace logo: the head of Medusa.  The slashes were not raw edged but neatly sewn.  But nevertheless there was still a feeling of rebellion in them.   When Elizabeth Hurley wore Versace's slashed and safety pinned gown to her beau Hugh Grant's movie premiere, she shocked and sensationalized the typical red carpet dress - and launched her career.

I was so thrilled to find this Gianni Versace Couture ensemble for RARE vintage - the jacket is fully 'slashed' and large gold safety pins replace the usual button closures.  The ensemble is sold with its original skirt.

Versace slashed 'Le Smoking' jacket: 

detail:

Gianni Versace in a slashed sweater back in the day with Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington in safety pin dresses:

For more information or to purchase, please email info@rarevintage.com 

or phone 212.581.7273

Gianni Versace and the Plump Mermaids

Summer is here!  Finally!  in New York.  And just in time for Memorial Day and summer holidays in the Hamptons, the South of France, Sardinia, Tuscany, Greece...  so my mindset immediately shifts to the hunt for chic resort wear.  

One of my favorite new finds for RARE vintage is this amazing Gianni Versace couture silk top.  I am very selective when buying Gianni's silk shirts because some of them can be, well, a tad too Miami back in the day, for me personally.  

But this one - which has no buttons - it just ties in the front - has an incredible print of plump mermaids floating on the front with their tails wrapping around the side of the shirt was too incredible to pass resist.  There are golden Medusa heads too and then a more restrained (for Gianni who could go a little wild with these silk tops) colorful stripes on the back.  There are also gumdrop yellow buttons with Medusa's on the cuffs - and these are almost one of my favorite things about this blouse.

Gianni Versace's plump mermaids:

the golden Medusa's:

Who I Spys a mermaid tail?

Very fabulous with jeans, shorts, a white pant don't you think?!

Gianni Versace's Velvet Wonderland

One of my favorite recent new finds for RARE vintage is this outrageous Gianni Versace Couture velvet bodysuit and leggings - feetie leggings that is.

Versace loved a baroque legging:

Photo by Irving Penn

Detail:

Back:

How crazy chic would this be with high, high heels?!  Not for wallflowers but a brave girl who wants to stand out...

Gianni Versace Couture velvet bodysuit and leggings.  Size 4.

Only available at RARE vintage.  

For more information or to purchase, please email info@rarevintage.com 

or phone 212.581.7273

The Harlequin: Commedia dell'Arte by Gianni Versace

Gianni Versace loved the theatrical, the operatic and the cinematic.  He was inspired by prostitutes, Medusa, the Italian baroque, Grecian motifs, Andy Warhol, bondage and spent hours visiting museums.

This early Versace lurex bodysuit with an asymmetric hem wrap skirt was certainly inspired by Commedia dell'arte and the harlequin.  But of course the Versace harlequin is a sexed up version and glamorous in a shimmering lavender lurex.  

Just how amazing is this?!

Gianni Versace harlequin ensemble.  Size 42.  

For more information or to purchase please email info@rarevintage.com or phone 212.581.7273

RARE vintage for Resort: Gianni Versace Couture

Classic with a twist and a pleat.  A Gianni Versace Couture top and skirt in turquoise and terra cotta.

The Antidote: Gianni Versace Couture

What is the antidote for a bad case of the closet blahs?  You know, that infectious sea of black in your closet which is highly contagious and will make its dark appearance at every party this holiday season.  

The antidote to a world of noir and oblivion in your closet is this pink to green ombre Gianni Versace Couture gown.

MTV House of Style: The Cindy Crawford Years

MTV has recently released a sort of greatest hits of House of Style hosted by Cindy Crawford.  They are a treasure trove of vintage 1990s fashion and culture.

Here are a few of my favorites:

MTV's House of Style Season 1.  Episode 10: Helmut Newton and Cindy Crawford in Monte Carlo.

Some great quotes in this one.  "This is an old classical image of blindfolded orchestra which use to play in a room separee and elegant people use to have private elegant orgies." Helmut Newton

Get More: 'House Of Style' Collection at MTV Style

Great Jean Paul Gaultier video with some iconic pieces like the cone dress.  Episode 2.

Get More: 'House Of Style' Collection at MTV Style

Some really AMAZING Gianni Versace fashion in Episode.  "Versace has his feet firmly planted in traditionalism but every now and then he brings about an air of theatricality so if you feel like being a bit bold, his clothes bridge that gap."  Sylvester Stallone.  (I know!  Too, too funny!)

Get More: 'House Of Style' Collection at MTV Style

The fabulous Linda Evangelista being, well, fabulous...  Episode 12.

Get More: 'House Of Style' Collection at MTV Style

Veronica Webb on some of the biggest bad asses in French fashion.  Karl looking very different.  And Naomi on how hard it is being a Supermodel, "You work until 2AM, then you have to get up at 7AM to go to work again.  And you have to look good." Episode 12.

Get More: 'House Of Style' Collection at MTV Style

Girl talk with Naomi, Linda and Kristen McMenamy.  Look at how high those thongs and jeans are!  And, who knew, Naomi loves flea market shopping!  And has "zits"!  Episode 18.

Get More: 'House Of Style' Collection at MTV Style

To see lots more, visit MTV The House of Style Collection here

Why You Should Wake Up at 3AM on November 19th

To get in line for the Versace for H & M collection of course!  I kind of love these capsule collections designers do for H & M or the recent Target for Missoni and have a nice collection packed away (Karl Lagerfeld's collection for H & M, Kate Moss' first collection for Topshop and so on)  in archival boxes in acid free tissue paper for my daughter for when she is older.  Think she is going to love it.  I also love Gianni Versace and have been incredibly fortunate to have had and have some of the original iconic pieces that Donatella did a version of for the capsule collection.  Now, I personally would pass on the metal mesh dress which looks like a sad version of the real thing which RARE vintage has had and you can see here and here.

This is what I think it is worth getting up for (and diving into the insane madness that it will surely be):

We had this at RARE vintage too!  The original:

And what you should buy for the man in your life:

Versace for H & M.  Available November 19th

Tonight's the Night

Rod Stewart is crooning, 

"Kick off your shoes and sit right down
Loosen up that pretty French gown
Let me pour you a good long drink
Ooh baby don't you hesitate cause

Tonights the night
It's gonna be alright
Cause I love you girl
Ain't nobody gonna stop us now"

and all the girls look like Jerry Hall, Patti Hansen and Britt Ekland.

Sorry that photo was just too good to pass up :)  I almost like his bikini better then hers...  very Prada this season don't you think?

Anyway, as I was writing - all the girls look like Jerry Hall: long hair, glossy lips and a sun kissed glow.  The photographer is Guy Bourdin.  The vinyl is Rod Stewart's 'Tonight's the Night'.  The dress is a slinky jersey Gianni Versace for Callaghan.

The slinky dress has a fringed detail at the top of the slightly blouson bodice and braided spaghetti straps.

So have fun dancing the night away and don't be surprised if by the end of the night, you have your long dressed hitched and tied up at the waist.  It's what Jerry would have done with those long legs...

1970s Gianni Versace for Callaghan black jersey dress with fringed detail.

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When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big-a Pizza Pie

When the moon hits your eye
Like a big-a pizza pie
That's amore
When the world seems to shine
Like you've had too much wine
That's amore
-Dean Martin

Last night the 'super moon' lit up the Long Island Sound like a, well, a big-a pizza pie:

The view from our sun room which last night was really more of a moon room.  Make that, a super moon room. 

A super moon makes me dream of all things celestial.  And, of course, I love a good star or moon in my wardrobe.  Yves Saint Laurent dreamt of stars and moons in silk.

Margaret Wise Brown dreamt of a bunny who said Goodnight Moon

And Mother Goose dreamt of a cow who jumped over the moon

My daughter dreams of the New Moon (don't ask - and she is only 8 - should I be worried?!)

Creedence Clearwater Revival dreamt of a bad moon arising in An American Werewolf in London

Elvis dreamt of someone who whispered, "please adore me" in Blue Moon

Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golighlty dreamt of a Moon River, as a dream maker, a heart breaker, wherever you are going, I am going on your way...

Gianni Versace reached for the moon and the stars in silk chiffon and beaded embroidery

and in leather, beautifully embroidered, with a buttercup yellow silk lining with Japanese characters, Gianni Versace dreamt of the 'land of the rising sun'

1997 Gianni Versace couture leather embroidered dress with silk lining.

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Dress Me Up! Dress Me Down!

This is for the girl who loves to dress up in a gown but who also loves to wear a pair of comfy Citizens of Humanity skinny jeans with a The Row tank top (it is what I want to wear every day- woe to all of the other clothes hanging in my closets - who said that, I mean, closet, one, teeny, tiny, closet - just in case my husband is reading this).  

Scene One.  Take One: So there you are in your skinny jeans and your tank top when your girl friends call and want to meet you for a cocktail downtown.  You just need something a little more glam to throw on...

Scene One.  Take Two:  So there you are in your skinny jeans and your boyfriend, who you are pretty certain, is going to become your husband calls and wants to meet you for dinner uptown.  You just need something a little more glam to throw on...

Scene One.  Take Three:  So there you are in a glamorous silk evening dress, going to a very glamorous wedding and you just need a little something glamourous but not boring to throw on...

Enter, Our Hero:  Gianni Versace.  He is a little bit rock and roll, a little bit sexy and a whole lotta glamorous.

 And our heroine in the skinny jeans and the evening gown lived happily ever after.

The End.

1989 Gianni Versace couture silk embroidered shawl.  Embroidered with multicolored stones, diamanté and glass stones.  Inspired by the work of Sonia Delaunay, there are cosmological images, numbers, swirling letters and hearts.

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That's Amore: Fashion and Glamour

Women adored Gianni Versace's clothes. They were not somber or deconstructed or elusively intellectual.  They were sexy and joyful and they were also the designs of one of the great creators and personalities of Italian fashion.

This gown in a lavender knit is all lush elegance.

The fit is perfect as there is a built in nude bodysuit.  There are some designers who are creative directors but there are a select few who actually know how to drape a dress and when a designer knows how to cut and sew there is a remarkable difference in the fit.

There is a smattering of deep plum beading on the dress and appliqued flowers have been applied to a tulle neckline.  There also strips of metal mesh around the flowers.

Gianni Versace, where fashion fantasies come to life!

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Get Him to the Greek!

In the summer of 1997, Gianni Versace was shot to death outside his home in Miami Beach after having had his morning coffee and the world lost a unique talent.

Ingrid Sischy the editor of Interview magazine said his legacy would be " a rare, particularly in our age, synthesis of craft, classicism and pop culture."

It has been a great honor for me to have had this exceptional and unrivaled, museum quality collection of Gianni Versace metal mesh dresses at RARE.  

'Get Him to the Greek' was the name of Katy Perry's hubby Russel Brand's recent movie but it is also a perfect title for a post on Gianni Versace for the RARE blog.  Versace was enamored of Greek motifs whether it was the head of Medusa incorporated into the Versace logo or the use of the Greek-key as a decorative element in his designs or his toga inspired dresses like our incredible gold toga style dress done in Oroton.  His world was a mixture of sex, rock and roll and classicism.  And his world rocked our world forever.

1991 Gianni Versace Atelier two pieces ensemble is elaborately covered in micro gold studs with a classic Greek-key design at the hem of the pleated skirt.  

This is a two piece ensemble so you can either wear the pieces together and it looks like a dress or you can wear the skirt on its own with a simple black top or the top with a pair of great pants.  Would look amazing with bare legs and gold sandals or with a black tight and a little bootie.  More, more ways to wear it is how we like it!

More detailed photos coming tomorrow...

1991 Gianni Versace Atelier studded two piece ensemble.  Size 4/6.

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Happy New Year! Out with the New, In with the Vintage!

Wishing  a very Happy New Year to all of our RARE vintage blog readers and clients!!

As I lie here in bed...

and look at my plumed finials...

and ponder my carved and gilded cornucopia...

I think, more really is more!  Enough with Phoebe Philo for Celine minimalism!  Let them eat cake from Sweet Lady Jane!  (which is a New Year's resolution:  I will NOT eat the Triple Berry Shortcake every time I come to Los Angeles!  I swear I will not!  Okay, I swear to try... at least every other visit...)

So for the antithesis of minimalism we have the Emperor of Opulence, Gianni Versace!  

How did Gianni take a lacquer colored metal mesh oroton tunic and make it more?  He added an ornate, sparkling vision of the name VERSACE across the front.  Because more really is more.  Excuse me while I go have just one more bite of cake...  

Now if you have legs like Tina Turner or Beyoncé you can wear it just like this:

Otherwise a skinny jean is the way to go.

1980s Gianni Versace metal mesh 'VERSACE" tunic.  Will fit a size 4/6/8

FYI: I am sad to say the Lit a la Polonaise is not mine but is in the Getty museum.  How many more days until next Christmas??  Is it too early to start my list right now... what do you think...

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