Hoedown Throwdown: Christian Dior

Okay.  Welcome to my world.  The tune in the air is Miley Cyrus (yes, you read that right, Miley Awesome Cyrus!)  singing Hoedown Throwdown.   There is a dance to Hoedown Throwdown that my seven year old daughter knows move for move.  

Pop it, lock it, polka dot it

Country fivin', hip hop hip

Put your arms in the air, move side to side

Jump to the left, stick it, glide 

So when I saw this Christian Dior gown with metallic polka dots,   I thought to myself, Pop it, lock it, polka dot it.  I know: SCARY!  

move side to side... whoa!  what was I saying?  Oh yes, Christian Dior.  Haute bohemia.  Vibes of Talitha Getty.  Now this is what I was talking about!  

The gown can be worn with or without its original Christian Dior black suede belt with gold hardware.  This dress is all about the life eclectic and is an explosion of long, flowy fun.  

 Christian Dior black chiffon gown with metallic polka dots. Size 6. $1400

PURCHASE

INQUIRY

Martha Stewart Tie-Dyes with the Proenza Schouler Boys! Meanwhile RARE vintage Tie Dyes with Christian Dior...

Martha Stewart is a woman who gets a lot done in a day.  She runs a magazine, has a daily television show, owns a compound in Bedford, a house in East Hampton, a cottage in Maine, apartments in the city, has a line of stuff for Walmart, can make a mean chicken with time left over to tie dye a shirt with the designers of Proenza Schouler.

This was a great shirt from Proenza Schouler this summer.  It was a big hit.  Comfy, classic and a good price.  No wonder it sold out so quickly.

I confess to not being crafty enough to tie dye my own shirt.  I would rather just go out and buy the one from Proenza Schouler.  So when having had a momentary delusion of DIY, I thankfully bought this Christian Dior floaty frock and thought, see I don't have to do a thing!  Leave the tie dying to my children (here I have a complete horror of the tie dye shirts they do in camp and bring home.  All of that color which looks like it is about to run onto everything!)  Much better to leave the tie dying to the petits mains of Christian Dior.  (Why do my children look at me blankly when I say this?!)

Isn't it beautiful, glorious and glamorous?!  Perfect with a pair of strappy heels or a jeweled flat.  Very boho and quite sexy with the deeply cut back.  

 Perfectly dreamy!

1970s Christian Dior tie dye dress. Size 6. $1600


PURCHASE

INQUIRY

Who Wore it Better? You or Katie Holmes?

Katie Holmes wore this cheery, bright red sequin Fall/Winter 1993 ensemble from Giorgio Armani to the Met Gala Party of the Year for the opening of Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy.  She famously wore it with bright blue shoes.  Very Super Heroine!

Now, one of the many things that I like about vintage is that the pieces are usually unique and although they may not be the only one that was ever produced, the chances of someone else wearing the same vintage dress is pretty unlikely.  I will never forget the first year I went to one of the Met's Party of the Year: the theme was Goddess and there were three women wearing exactly the same white Goddess gown from Valentino.  Awkward! 

But wouldn't you love to find Valentino's 1992 black gown with white piping that Julia Roberts wore to the Academy Awards in 2001?   Even if Julia already wore it?  Hell yes!  (Calm down, we don't have that dress!  But we're working on it!)  So, when I saw this red sequin bustier with a full ball gown skirt lined in net by Armani (which is incredibly light and airy by the way) I had little red hearts of love popping over my head.

The question is, will you wear it with bright blue shoes too?  (Two mentions of Katie Holmes in one week on the RARE blog - very mysterious!)

1993 Giorgio Armani red sequin bustier and full ball gown skirt ensemble.  Size 6.

 

Price available upon request

Bird is the Word or aka 'The Dude'

Well, don't you know about the bird?
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!

Surfin' Bird by the Trashmen

I don't know if our Judith Leiber Austrian crystal encrusted swan minaudiere is a surfin' bird but it is definitely cool enough to be one.  Cool is not usually the word I would choose to use to describe a Leiber bag but this little dude is cool and funky.  Take him to a beach shack for some steamed clams and a lobster roll in a flirty little summer flock or take him for a swan's night out at the opera in something grand like our incredible Gianfranco Ferre gown.

 Anatomy of a bird:

Okay,  I have to ask: what IS this little teeny tiny Judith Leiber comb for?  Someone's mustache?  

A-well-a everybody's heard about the bird

Bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

Judith Leiber swan minaudiere $2200

PURCHASE

INQUIRY

A Magnificent Gianfranco Ferre Gown

What is magnificent?  Tom Cruise said that Katie Holmes is a magnificent woman.  It's not every day a man calls a woman magnificent.  I am pretty certain that I have never been called magnificent - ahem!  When  I think of magnificence, I think of something epic, something extraordinary, something grand.   When I saw this Gianfranco Ferré gown, I thought, much like Tom Cruise thought of Katie Holmes, that  this was truly magnificent.  

I also understood immediately why Gianfranco Ferré has been called the architect of fashion.   Franca Sozzani the editor of Italian Vogue, said that "in his mind there was a certain ideal kind of woman".  

This a dress for a Helen of Troy.  It is the dress that could launch a thousand ships.  It is ideal beauty and it is magnificent.  

The gown is made from a pleated silk with a formfitting column that is beautifully and dramatically wrapped  in a grand swath of fabric that starts at the bust and continuing around the to the back of the gown ending in a lavish train. 

It is a dress not for a girl but for a woman and it is for the woman who celebrates being a woman. 

There is a fine layer of beaded embroidery around the top of the dress.

This is not the dress for the woman who wants to blend in but for the one who says, I am woman hear me roar! And who knows how to make an entrance!

Price available upon request

Green is Good For You!

Mamma knows best: greens are good for you!  And we are listening to our Mamma at RARE vintage.  Our strapless Italian couture dress we previously posted has already sold but we do have another great green summer frock that is crisp and fresh and beautifully made by the great American designer, James Galanos.

The waist is fitted and pin stitched with translucent buttons.   The dress is lined in a thin layer of silk organza - oh, Mr. Galanos you think of everything!  The length is on trend - actually might say beyond trend, because that breezy easy longer skirt length is the definite coming for the fall so you can get your seventies now and look like the early trend setter!

 1970s Galanos silk dress.  $895

PURCHASE

INQUIRY

Truly, Madly, Deeply: Mad Men, RARE vintage and The Boston Globe

Mad Men's wildly anticipated  fourth season premieres on July 25th and the question is not will Betty marry Henry Francis or will Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce succeed but what will you wear?

There is a decided decadence in watching the Academy Awards in a comfy pair of pajamas with an ice cold bottle of vodka, some wonderful American caviar (I highly recommend American farm raised white surgeon from the American Caviar Company 212.226.5252 or the big, juicy, orange-y red trout caviar which is heavenly and super delicious the morning after with scrambled eggs).  

But for the Mad Men premiere you want to be done.  You want to be stylish.  You want to make an effort.  You want to look like you asked Tom Ford for some sartorial advice.  You will probably still want the caviar but somehow a scotch on the rocks seems more appropriate then a cold glass of vodka or why not have a cup of percolated coffee (which is what everyone drank with dinner back then - ugh!)

Here are some tips I offered to today's Boston Globe  for channeling your own inner Mad Men style.

Here is the dress I would recommend from RARE vintage for a very modern homage to Mad Men.  It is elegant, feminine and in a slightly rebellious shade of lime.  It is for the perfect Hitchcock heroine: cool, sexy, effortlessly glamorous.

 The bodice is draped a la Jean Desses.

1960s unlabeled Italian couture draped silk chiffon dress.  Size 4/6. $

 

PURCHASE

INQUIRY

Va-va Valentino!

Last week Valentino had a fete at his chateau Wideville to launch the opening of the Valentino Garavani archives which will be opening to the public in September. 

Chateau Wideville at dusk photographed by Astrid Muũoz

The only itty bitty problem with going to the archive, is that you will leave filled with visions of the most beautiful flounces, laces and dresses but you will not be able to take one home and the Master is not in the House of Valentino anymore so what is a girl to do? 

Vintage Valentino haute couture.  Such a nice ring to it don't you think?! 

We are thrilled to have a parrot-tulip yellow chiffon gown covered in flounces with a silk draped bodice.  This gown is classic Valentino at his loveliest.  What is the quote from the wonderful Valentino documentary, "I love beauty, it's not my fault"

No, Mr. Valentino it certainly is not. 

 Valentino haute couture yellow gown.  Size 4.

Price available upon request

J'Adore Dior Couture! Part Two: Cocktails!

I like to think that at RARE vintage we've 'got your back'.  So if you are looking for a gown, we have it. If you need a Chanel bag, we have it.  If you need a great silk blouse, we have it.   

If you are looking for a cocktail dress, not only do we have your back but we will have your backside bedecked in the most ebullient bit of lovely, frothy draping complete with an over sized flower.  

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, we will 'have your back' in Christian Dior haute couture as well!  This dress is sweet and simple in the front - just a little strapless sheath.  

But this is the little strapless sheath with a dream!  It's dream is to look modern but also, in its own small way, make a big statement when you turn around and see a lushly opulent back.  Of course, everything is beautiful and refined.  The draping in the back is stiffened with horsehair so it holds its shape.  

Dream a little dream of me...

 

Price available upon request

J'Adore Dior Couture! Part One: The Red Carpet

I have SO much to post from my trip to Italy that I was not even sure where to begin.  But as the Paris couture shows started this week with Christian Dior, I thought, voilá!

Timeless and investment piece are the trendy buzzwords to use when describing fashion right now.  Sometimes they are used accurately and sometimes wildly inaccurate.  A truly timeless piece looks as good now as it did, well, in this case, 1989.  It is a piece that your mother pulled out of your grandmother's closet and wore and now you are taking it from her closet to wear.  It is an investment because it may be expensive but it will look good forever.  

This turquoise blue silk chiffon Christian Dior haute couture gown is truly timeless and a true red carpet dress. 

It is light as air with a gently draped one shoulder that ends in a fluttering panel down the back.

What I love about this gown is that it can be worn different ways: big hair and big jewels for full out glamour or long loose hair with gold and coral jewelry  for a more luxe bohemian look.

circa 1989 Christian Dior haute couture gown

 

Price available upon request

What to Wear at Home

One of my absolute favorite fashion moments in film is Greta Garbo as the ethereal, sensitive and tad dramatic prima ballerina in 'Grand Hotel' wearing the frothiest, lightest negligee. 

Frothy, light negligees with lace made by nuns have gone the way of dressing for dinner and now people go shopping (ye gads!) in their not too attractive striped flannel pajama bottoms.  

I was very excited to find this seashell pink Zandra Rhodes peignoir (robe just sounds too chenille) with kimono sleeves in a quintessential Zandra Rhodes print with lace detail - probably not made by nuns but we can't have everything!  

 This will fit a variety of sizes because the waist cinches with a ribbon.  Be comfy and look fabulous!

 Zandra Rhodes peignoir.  Will fit a variety of sizes.

PURCHASE

INQUIRY

The Name Dropper

I am going to be a total name dropper.  These are the names that I will drop into your holiday weekend to tantalize you with.   And while you are eating your lobsters or burgers on the beach, you can be thinking about just what might be attached to those names...

Happy Fourth of July everyone!  RARE vintage will be back on Tuesday the 6th!

Christian Dior haute couture, Yves Saint Laurent, Gianni Versace couture, Atelier Gianni Versace,  (okay so here I will drop a word, Oroton - if you don't know what it means, look it up and then you will know what I mean and just how good that word means!!  What is the plural of Oroton?   Orotons?   Hmmm...) Gianfranco Ferre, Valentino haute couture and Chanel...