Black and White and Seen All Over

One of the biggest trends right now is the classic combo of black and white.

It looks cool and modern as you can see by the uber chic sisters, Victoria and Vanessa Traina.

So how is it that a 20+ year old dress can look so on trend?  Because, my vintage sisters and brothers, there ain't nuthin' new under the sun.  Fashion is basically one big flashback tweaked.

One of my favorite new finds for RARE vintage is a 1980s Geoffrey Beene gown in black and white with an open back.  I love the silhouette which is very 1930s movie glamour goddess.  The dress hugs the body, is covered in the front and plunges seductively to the waist in the back.  Timeless, modern, classic and on trend...

1980s Geoffrey Beene black and white gown only available at RARE vintage.  Size 4/6.

Images from Harper's Bazaar and RARE vintage

Geoffrey Beene Has A Moment Via Ralph Rucci

Mr. Beene had a major fashion revival moment  recently via Stella McCartney and when I saw this beautiful Ralph Rucci dress, I thought to myself, well, Mr. Beene is having another fashion moment via Ralph Rucci.

Ralph Rucci dress available at , RARE vintage

The original.   Geoffrey Beene.

Photo by Jack Deutsch 1989

Photo by Andrew Eccles, 1986

Photo by William Laxton, 1995

Photo by Jack Deutsch, 1992

And our Ralph Rucci (which, by the way, I love).  I will admit, I do not always love Rucci.  I find some of it a bit aging.  But this dress is unbelievably beautiful, very couture, in a thick heavy silk with fine black mesh inserts.  I am sure you know that Ralph Rucci is the only other Amercian designer besides Mainbocher to be invited to show at the haute couture shows in Paris by the members of the Syndicale de la Haute Couture.

It is architectural, structural, feminine and very striking.  

Contemporary Ralph Rucci black silk dress with cutouts.  Size 2/4.

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Real Girl, Real Vintage

I loved opening up the May issue of Town and Country and seeing this photo of Emilie Jean in a Geoffrey Beene gown.

Photo from Town and Country

Of course, I loved the vintage Beene (if you follow the blog, you know that we have had some amazing pieces of Geoffrey Beene at RARE vintage) but what I really loved is how she chose to wear it.  Emilie Jean is a dealer of vintage and antique ethnic jewelry and textiles and she wore a tribal necklace from her own collection with the Beene.  Very haute bohemian don't you think?!

Emilie Jean Tribal Jewelry and Textiles available at emiliejean.com

Is That A Museum In Your Closet?

Or is that a dress at RARE vintage?  Or is that a dress in an exhibit at FIT, the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology?  Or maybe all three!

at FIT in the exhibit: IMPACT, 50 Years of the CFDA

Geoffrey Beene, rayon and silk gown with metallic trim, Spring 1990, USA.

Lent by the Geoffrey Beene Foundation

at RARE vintage

1990 Geoffrey Beene dress.  Size 6.

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Mr. Beene Has a Moment Via Stella McCartney

So let me just show you how influential Mr. Beene still is:

Stella McCartney Fall/Winter 2011.  Unless you have been hiding out in the wilderness without any access to the Internet you will certainly have seen Stella McCartneys illusion dress on:

Kate Winslet, Liv Tyler and even Jane Fonda.  Then there was Doutzen Kroes (inexplicably with her ginormous Granny panties underneath)

Whoa!  How old is Jane Fonda??!!

Almost forgot Doutzen with her super Spanx on (WTF?!  I am certain she needs nothing on underneath this):

And if you are in that cabin without internet then you also missed Kate Winslet (again), La La Vasquez Anthony,  Gloria Estefan (okay let me just say if you missed Goria Estefan in the dress be grateful.  Very, very grateful.  Hello?!  Wooden mirrors in house of Estefan?!), Liv Tyler and Penelope Cruz in Stella McCartney's hourglass sheath:

Kate Winslet is rocking the sheath and looking gorgeous!!  And good Lord, Gloria Estefan - if you don't have a strong stomach, avert your eyes:

I don't want to be mean but, what was she thinking??

But if you don't live in a cabin in the woods and you follow fashion and fashion's history, you will know, you will remember the fabulous Mr. Beene.  Mr. Beene who could cut a dress like no one else.  Mr. Beene who dressed a woman who was talented, creative, smart and sexy.  His lines were sculptural and even made one fashion journalist compare them to Brancusi's Bird in Space.

The Original:

In 1991, Geoffrey Beene showed a languidly beautiful evening coat in oxblood red and black stripe, kimono sleeves and a spectacular carved out sheer guipere lace back reembroidered with red and gold thread.  The dress he showed underneath was very short.

If you need something grand and regal and something that will have everyone's eyes on you, then this is the piece you were looking for.

1991 Geoffrey Beene evening coat with sheer guipere lace back.

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An Art Deco Geoffrey Beene

With its delicate jeweled belt, this Geoffrey Beene gown has an art deco feel.

There is always that feeling of lightness in Geoffrey Beene's designs and in this dress too with its deeply plunging back.

The waist is defined by a pale lavender quilted waist, a contrasting square of sheen to the matte jersey gown and the black patent belt with jeweled detail.

1990s Geoffrey Beene art deco gown.  Size 4/6.

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The Incredible Lightness of Beene

Geoffrey Beene was training to become a doctor in Hainsville La, when he was caught sketching a dress in an anatomy book.  He went on to study fashion in New York and Paris and became the designer for Teal Traina before opening his own house in 1963.  

Mr Beene recalled that one of his earliest memories was seeing a piece of fabric and wanting to turn it into a pair of beach pajamas.  "To see something totally flat and without form, suddenly transformed into something else - well that's what it's all about."

In 1994 the Fashion Institute of Technology exhibited 30 years of Mr Beene's fashion design in the exhibition, Beene Unbound.  The fashion writer for the New York Times Bernadine Morris said that the majority of the pieces in the show were from the 1980s and 1990s "when the designer's work gathered a certain force".  I too believe that Geoffrey Beene worked from season to season building on ideas and his craft and that the 1980s and 1990s were the prime of his work.

The idea of weightlessness was an important part of the Beene vocabulary.  He wanted women to feel a sense of freedom in his clothes.  He wanted the clothes to be to the body but never to be vulgar.

This strapless dress from circa 1990 is in deep shade of midnight blue.  It is in avery light jersey with a modern and slightly contrasting black fabric with a subtle sheen at the waist and a fluttering chiffon skirt.  Would be beautiful with a small tailored jacket over it or just as it is delicate and suggestive.

Circa 1990 strapless Geoffrey Beene gown.  Size 4/6.

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Beene in Black and Blue

I am normally not a fan of mixing black and blue but Geoffrey Beene, of course, being brilliant mixed an azure blue silk with a slight sheen with a pleated and fluttering black silk chiffon.  

Mr. Beene was also brilliant at knowing just where to add a little slash like at the top of the bodice in this dress to make the whole look light, beautiful and modern.

  There is more to come in our collection of Geoffrey Beene...
Geoffrey Beene in black and blue silk dress. Size 6.
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The Icon: The Beene Bolero

Valentino had red, Schiaparelli had her quirky buttons, Saint Laurent had the Russian peasant dress and Geoffrey Beene had the bolero.  It was a divine little addition to his design oeuvre and it could be severely elegant like our red double faced silk bolero, whimsical like our black and white striped double faced silk bolero or enchanting like our black and white organza rose-embroidered bolero.  Either way, the bolero to the jacket seems to me to be the what the Fascinator is to the hat: slightly frivolous, designed to make you look good and feel good.

Red double faced silk Geoffrey Beene bolero. Circa 1993

Black and white double faced silk Geoffrey Beene bolero.  Circa 1993.

 2004 rose embroidered Geoffrey Beene bolero.

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A Berry Stained Lace Geoffrey Dress

Rihanna is on the cover of April Vogue looking like a flame haired Siren rising from the Sea in a lace Chanel dress.  

Lace has its moments when it moves in and out of fashion and I am glad that it is having its moment again.  But can any girl really resist a beautiful bit of couture lace?  I personally am helpless and defenseless whenever I see a beautiful lace dress...  It whispers in my ear, you know you want to buy me...

So I am weak in the knees as I post photos of this beautiful berry stained triple layer lace dress from Geoffrey Beene.  Like all of Mr. Beene's clothing it is sinuous and soft and follows the line of the body.

Berry Stained Geoffrey Beene Gown.  Size 6.


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Alber Elbaz and Geoffrey Beene

...working also for all these years with Geoffrey Beene and working with Yves Saint Laurent, I had two of the best designers of the twentieth century that were my teachers, my mentors. And what I learned from both of them is that it’s not just about being cool, it’s about coming to work day after day. You come in the morning and you stay late at night and you come weekends and you work. You just come to work. It’s a job. It’s a major job to help men and women look beautiful. - Alber Elbaz

Geoffrey Beene hired Alber Elbaz as an assistant designer and he worked for him for seven years.  I was told by the owner of this dress that it was a collaboration between Mr. Beene and Alber Elbaz.  There are layers of silver lace and tulle sleeves.  The back is light and open.  

Silver lace Geoffrey Beene

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The Lightness of Being: Geoffrey Beene

Geoffrey Beene created spiraling seams in chiffon and weightless jerseys that moved around a woman's body with a lightness of being that was unique to one of America's most celebrated and innovative designers.  

This is the beginning of an exceptional collection of Geoffrey Beene.  Here is a study in black, white and gleaming silver from the Spring of 1990.  Check the RARE vintage blog often over the next few days - wonderful things are coming!

A black matte jersey gown with quilted silver lamé bodice on dalmatian printed silk faille.

1990 Geoffrey Beene black jersey and silver lamé gown.  Size 6.

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A Man of Leisure: Geoffrey Beene

Geoffrey Beene was a man of leisure in that he did not rush trend to trend, season to season.  There are a few designers who build on each collection.  They explore concepts and are true artists and innovators.  Azzedine Alaia is such a man as was Geoffrey Beene.

Mr Beene was one of the great American designers.  He explored the shape of the body by using seams and geometry.

Uniquely Geoffrey Beene is this tropical print gown in black and white with menswear detailing.

Geoffrey Beene Tropical Print Gown.  Size 4

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