Givenchy Fall 2015 and Jack the Ripper

The barouche was waiting by the door, the gas lanterns were lit and Jack the Ripper was stalking the streets for Riccardo Tisci's Givenchy Fall 2015 collection.  I loved all of the Victorian influences, the mourning colors with jet beading and the slashes of crimson red.  I personally did not love the septum rings and the facial jewelry - I thought they distracted from the melancholic beauty of the clothes...

A few of my favorites:

These boots are beautiful and will definitely be in my closet for the fall:

Some great leather pieces:

This is so pretty and romantic:

Love how chunky the heel is and then the contrast with the tight leather of the boot:

Lovely black silk velvet bag with beading:

xo, Juliana

Happy Monday! Porthault Sale is On!

I love Porthault sheets and towels.  In my last post on Givenchy's guest bedroom for Mrs. Mellon, Givenchy had Mrs. Mellon's bed ready and waiting with white Porthualt sheets sprigged with blue flowers.  The Duchess of Windsor loved Porthault sheets adorned with a generous amount of embroidery and a copious amount of coronets : )  The artist Jacqueline Duheme painted Jackie Kennedy resting up in London ensconced comfortably in a lovely set of pink and white Porthault sheets.  And lest you think Porthault is just for grande dames, those arbiters of cool, Inez van Lamswerde and Vinoodh Matadin love Porthault sheets for their home and even for their ad campaigns.

And I especially love Porthault sheets and towels on sale!

Jacqueline Duheme 'Resting Up, London'

Duchess of Windsor's Porthault sheets

Photo from Inez's Instagram

Inez and Vinoodh ad campaign for their jean collaboration with Frame Denim.

xo, Juliana

Bunny Mellon Style

I am sure you know, Cristóbal Balenciaga did the complete wardrobe of Madame Bunny Mellon until he retired and Hubert de Givenchy took over - Mrs. Mellon even had her own atelier in Maison Givenchy.

"She was very shy, very timid.  I never thought she would order any clothes from me.  But the next collection, we sent off sketches and samples and she ordered a lot of clothes."

Givenchy

Givenchy even made her gardening hats - which is really the ne plus extra in chic don't you think...

"I made hats in denim, and jean, and cotton.  Because Bunny bought in quantity.  And sometimes I would say to her, 'Bunny why do you need so many?'  And she'd say, 'Because I might lose it.'"

Givenchy

So, as I was reading and looking through the catalogs last night, I saw a photo of Mrs. Mellon that I had not seen before and fell in love with how chic and classic she looked in this particular photo:

I was very fortunate to have bought a couple of Mrs. Mellon's Balenciaga's a few years ago for RARE vintage and you can see them here and here.

xo, Juliana

Bunny Mellon and I

Tomorrow the preview starts at Sotheby's for the Bunny Mellon sale and I am soooo excited to see Mrs. Mellon's collection!  Sadly, none of Mrs. Mellon's famed Balenciaga and Givenchy wardrobe is included in the sale but I did see a bag in the catalog that I am sure was custom made for Bunny Mellon by her great friend and couturier, Hubert de Givenchy.  

The bag has the name of the Mellon's Virgina home, Oak Spring Farm, and the reason why I strongly suspect it is Givenchy, because Givenchy made all of her wardrobe and...

This is my Givenchy bag which had belonged to my husband's grandmother.  It has always been my favorite summer bag and now I love it even more that I know the very discreet and very chic Bunny Mellon was carrying a similar bag.

xo, Juliana

What's New: Florals

Because woman can not live by vintage alone... What's new... What I would love...

So, it all started here...

and there I thought it would end.

But then...

at Bergdorf Goodman, I saw this

and kind of really wanted it.

Even though I knew my husband would only see this when I wore it:

and then I saw this

and my heart started beating harder...

and then even harder when I saw these

I knew my 90s flashback to slipdresses and grunge fate was sealed.

I will probably buy the Dr Martens and the Givenchy floral print double buckle sandal (i.e. very expensive floral Birkenstocks) and wear them with a vintage Helmut Lang dress or skirt from my closet and an Alexander Wang slip dress.

That is what's new!

love, kisses and vintage,  Juliana

That Was Then, This Is Now #3: 1996 John Galliano for Givenchy Couture

That was then: John Galliano for Givenchy Couture:

And this is now at RARE vintage:

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

Givenchy In Van Gogh's Garden

In Van Gogh's garden there are sunflowers

and also in Van Gogh's garden is Hubert de Givenchy creating an enchanting party frock from those sunflowers

Van Gogh's sunflowers flutter in the wind on ruffled silk.

For a summer garden party, a 1980s Hubert de Givenchy haute couture silk ruffled 'sunflower' print wrap dress.  There is a shorter column dress underneath the tea length layers of ruffled organza.

The dress beckons like the Mulleavy sisters dreamy sunflower dress for Rodarte...

Will you sow seeds of sunflowers in your wardrobe this summer?  

PURCHASE

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"Finally at Twenty-Four, I Opened My Own House"

“Finally at the age of twenty-four I opened my own house.” Hubert de Givenchy 

 Un petit histoire de Monsieur Givenchy...

Jackie Kennedy leaving Givenchy's couture salon after a fitting.

Givenchy apprenticed with Jacques Fath, who amazingly showed up to work in a full length wolf coat, and Robert Piguet, who spent most of the day in his office with a light outside his office that either said “Wait!” or “Enter!”. From Piguet, Givenchy went to work for Lucien Lelong whose atelier numbered  1,500 employees.  At Lelong Givenchy had to go before a sort of tribunal where Lelong, his daughter and the directrice of the salon would pick and choose the designs they liked.

A model in Givenchy couture in the salon of Givenchy's Paris home.

Givenchy became Elsa Schiaparelli’s assistant in 1947. And it was here he said that he discovered “true elegance”.  Schiaparelli had just returned from the United States and reopened her salon in the Place Vendome.  In the storeroom were metres and metres of fabrics printed with surrealist motifs: silks with mouths, lips, stars and newsprint.  He asked what he was to do with these leftovers?  “Use it up.” was the reply and he was given free reign to do what he wanted.  Givenchy created for Schiaparelli his first separates: little blouses and skirts in Schiaparelli’s whimsical prints. It was also at Schiaparelli that Givenchy met some of the uber chic ladies who would later become his clients: Daisy Fellowes and Babe  Paley.

From Givenchy's first collection in 1952: a dress of smoke grey organza and a cape of cotton shirting.

“Fabric is where it all begins”

For Givenchy fabric was the be all and end all.  A collection began with the “feel of a velvet, the crackle of a duchesse satin, the sheen of a faille, the iridescence of a shot taffeta, the strength of a brocade.”  In his quest for the best, Givenchy worked with the  houses that produced the most exquisite fabrics in the world: Suzy Gandini, Madame Broissen de Méré, and Gustave Zumsteg.

 Minidress in Taroni's black tulle printed with white dots.  Worn with a lily of the valley boater.


"The Hepburn style had been born and it lives on today." Hubert de Givenchy

In 1954 Givenchy created the clothes for the Billy Wilder film Sabrina.  Sabrina was played by Audrey Hepburn.  Givenchy said "Her chic, her youth, her bearing and her silhouette grew ever more celebrated, enveloping me in a kind of of aura or radiance that I could never have hoped for."  

 

Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy at an awards ceremony.

Givenchy haute couture at RARE vintage 

I recently acquired a wonderful Givenchy couture gown for RARE vintage from the 1980s.  It is opulently representative of the luxe and dramatic 80s.  And it is ideally representative of Givenchy seeking the most beautiful fabrics, the most gorgeous embroidery. 

Silk taffeta striped Hubert de Givenchy haute couture gown.  Labeled, signed and numbered.  Gown is slightly bustled and gathered with a raised hemline in the front.

                                                                        PURCHASE

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L'histoire de Hubert de Givenchy

In 1944 Hubert de Givenchy went to work for Jacques Fath.  In the mornings he worked with Fath and in the afternoons he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts.  Eventually Givenchy left Fath to work with Robert Piguet and then at Lucien Lelong (where both Dior and Balmain launched their careers) before working with the great Elsa Sciaparelli.   In 1952 Givenchy opened his own house under his own name.

His PR was handled by the former model for Jacques Fath, Bettina Graziani.  

Bettina Graziani in a 1957 Givenchy hat. Photo by Frank Horvat.

Givenchy named one of his earliest and most popular designs after her, The Bettina Blouse.  Crisp white cotton and with Bishop sleeves ruffled in black and white broderie anglaise.

Photo from Life magazine

In 1955 Givenchy met his idol, Cristobal Balenciaga.  Givenchy said that Balenciaga taught him "it isn't necessary to add a button where it does not belong, or to add a flower to make a dress beautiful.  It is beautiful of itself."

I really adore this admiration Givenchy had and devotion to singular designers like Balenciaga.  Mr. Givenchy has been responsible in large part for the opening of the Balenciaga museum in Guetaria Spain - personally donating over 100 pieces to the museum.  I also noticed that the beautiful and heartbreaking last dress that Madame Gres designed and gave to Givenchy shortly after she retired in the incredible exhibit, Madame Gres, at the Musée Galliera this past summer.

Mr Givenchy said of the dress that an old and fragile woman was waiting to see him in his atelier.  It was Madame Gres.  She gave him the last dress she designed as a thank you for supporting her work.  Stunning.  Beautiful.  Sad.

Photo by Andrea Cairone for RARE vintage.

Givenchy designs became increasingly simple and striking and were often worn by his muse Audrey Hepburn.  He dressed her for Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany's, How to Steal a Million and live Happily Ever After and Charade.

I am so thrilled whenever I come across a beautiful piece by Givenchy (a personal favorite of mine) and this Givenchy couture sample with its beautifully embroidered bodice is so elegant.  I thought it was the perfect piece to end our week of 'pretty' on.  Striking.  Simple.  Glorious and glamorous.  Late 1960s Givenchy Couture.

1960s Givenchy Couture Gown.  Size 2/4

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Friday Favorites!

So you know when you are checking out the shows on Style.com and whoa! you see something and you have a total coup de foudre.   You become obsessed with getting it?  

Well, when I saw the panther glasses from Givenchy's Fall 2011 collection.  I knew I-had-to-have-them!  

I rushed out of RARE vintage and went across the street to Bergdorfs.  Hooray!  They had ordered them.  The glasses would be in early October.  Early October came and went.  Then late October.  Early November.  Late November... early December...  It was ridiculous.  Everytime I went into Bergdorfs I would check on the Givenchy sunglasses.

I got to know the Givenchy vendor and the lovely manager of the sunglasses department.  I am sure they got tired of the obsessed girl who kept stalking them about the sunglasses.   And then one grey day when I was lying about dejecteldly on my chaise lounge, consoling myself with a huge box of chocolates** from Jacques Torres, I got the call.  The Givenchy panther glasses were in!

They came in as sunglasses but I prefer them as they were shown on the runway as glasses so the panther really pops.  Now they are off to the opticians.  A pretty good future vintage purchase don't you think?!  Now if I can just get my hands on the Jil Sander hat with the veil form Spring 2012... Stay tuned!

**I wasn't really lying about on a chaise lounge eating an enormous box of chocolates.  I mean really!  What a silly thought!