We'll Always Have Paris: Lanvin Edition

When it comes to all of the fashion weeks, my soul sister is Paris.  It is where romance, drama, fantasy, imagination, beauty and artistry live on in fashion.  Just a couple of days into PFW and I have already seen so much to love - and to wear!

Lanvin - The House of Jeanne Lanvin turns 125

The house that Jeanne Lanvin founded in 1889, has remained remarkably relevant, in large part due to Alber Elbaz, who has been the designer for Lanvin since 2001.  And Spring 2015 does not disappoint with its Lanvin blue, pearl accessories, and inspiration taken from a screen by Armand-Albert Rateau for Mme Lanvin's dining room...

From Jeanne Lanvin's dining room, a screen by Armand-Albert Rateau

Lanvin Spring 2015.  Photos from Style.com

xo, Juliana

Lanvin Fall 2014 Ad Campaign

I love the kooky, fun film from the Lanvin fall ad campaign.  It features the model Edie Hicks and her entire family.  Mom Sophie Hicks, sister Olympia Campbell, brother Arthur, father Roddy, grandma Joan, grandpa Jeremy, as well as Edie and Olympia's boyfriends, Otis Ferry and Mateo.  I almost forgot, there is also Edie's horse Dolly and an adorable Alber Elbaz...

And the clothes and accessories look great!  You know the Hilfiger family Christmas ad?  Well, if I had a choice between families and clothes, I would go with the Campbell family and the Lanvin clothes!

Mom, Sophie Hicks, is a former fashion editor for Tatler and British Vogue - and was also a stylist for Azzedine Alaia.  She is now a renowned architect, designing the Chloe boutiques and Yohji Yamamoto's Paris flagship store.  Grandmother, Joan Hicks, was a model in the fifties and worked with the photographer Norman Parkinson.  So, in other words, they must have some amazing vintage in those closets at home!  When I am a grandmother, this is how I want to look... but I want to wear a feather hat too ; )

love, kisses and love the new Lanvin campaign, Juliana

Maison Lanvin at 125 Years!

Maison Lanvin at 125 years old is still

Lanvin Cool Necklace.  Winter 2013

Well, I don't think Jeanne Lanvin would have ever been described as 'cool' but you know what I mean - the House of Lanvin founded in 1889 is still, not only viable, but thriving.  To celebrate its 125th anniversary, Maison Lanvin is going all modern and I am very 

Lanvin Happy Necklace Winter 2013

about it.  Every Thursday Lanvin will release rare archive images on its Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest pages.  And starting on February 1st, Lanvin's website will launch a new section 'Lanvin History' which will feature videos (which I assume are actually films), photos and art work by Jeanne Lanvin.

#LANVIN125 Instagram

This past Thursday, Lanvin released on Instagram this photo taken inside Jeanne Lanvin's office on rue du Faubourg in 1936.  I love the bolts of fabric, the organza dress hanging on the mirror... can not wait to see what image Lanvin releases next Thursday!

love, kisses and vintage, Juliana

Dear Alber Elbaz,

Dear sweet Alber Elbaz,

I will meet you in Paris at midnight.  I will be in a Peugot Type 176 car and I will be wearing this:

We will meet up with Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald and, of course, have a few drinks before Fitzgerald takes us to meet Hemingway - and we will, of course, have more drinks... and I will wear this:

We will return home, giddy with excitement and disbelief.  Alber, the next evening we will meet again at midnight.  And I will wear this:

and we will meet for a late dinner with Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein.  Gertrude, will ask me about my dress and I will tell her you made it for me and she will immediately insist, you make her a dress but not to mention this to Pierre Balmain.

And when we leave Alice and Gertrude, a horse drawn carriage will be waiting outside their door to take us to Maxim Paris where we will meet with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gaugin and Edgar Degas.  They will argue who gets to paint my portrait (well, you know, this is my fantasy after all : ) and I will be wearing this:

And in the morning when we return to work, I will wear this:

and will remember our incredible nights together.  Thank you for the memories Alber!

love, kisses and vintage,  Juliana

*Letter to Alber Elbaz inspired by Woody Allen's film 'Midnight in Paris' and the too lovely for mere words Lanvin Pre-Fall 2014 collection.

Favorite Resort 2014 Shows: Lanvin's Lady Love

Alber Elbaz for Lanvin can sometimes get a little too obsessed with the draped dress but for Resort 2014 he presented a wonderful collection of clothes for the working woman.  Chic and cool...

This was definitely one of my favorite looks:

the modern suit for the modern woman - soft and sexy:

Obviously she passed out when she realized just how much she spent on this amazing multicolored python coat:

so chic and fabulous don't you think with the tasseled loafer:

Oh boy!  I love this look too and the handbag.  The collection just looks like the kind of easy pieces, you really want to wear.

See what I mean?  Easy.  Effortless.  And some great Lanvin jewelry to accessorize with your Lanvin jumpsuit:

Big bling:

and because sometimes you just want to be a little Lanvin girl:

and play dress up:

All images from Style.com

RARE vintage's Saturday Total Utter Ridiculous Fabulousness #2! Salvador Dali

I recently saw a woman wearing what I initially thought was a Lanvin lip brooch

BUT on a closer look it turned out to be way better then a Lanvin costume jewelry brooch.  It turned out to be a Salvador Dali lip brooch - rumored to be based on Mae West's - or was it Marilyn Monroe's - pouty mouth.  It was a gift from her husband and I am not dropping any hints here but if my husband is reading this...

RARE vintage's totally utterly ridiculously fabulous Saurday #2 is a Salvador Dali ruby and pearl lip brooch (sooo much better then the Lanvin version don't you think?!):

Fashion Will You Still Love Me, Will You Still need Me When I'm 82? Part 6.

Fashion models just keep getting younger older.  For Lanvin's fall 2012 ad campaign, the brilliant Alber Elbaz chose 'real people'.  Real people like Jacquie "Tajah" Murdock a former Apollo dancer and soon to be 82 fabulous years old.  Yes, that is right, 82 years old! 

Jacquie and the Lanvin peplum.  

On the site Fashionista, Jacquie recounts how she came to wear the green Lanvin dress.   

"Well at first they brought a short dress with a great big white bow.  I looked at it and thought it would have been more appropriate for a younger woman.  The two ladies who were helping me said, "this is too small.  We can't pull up the zipper."  It must have been a size zero and I was so happy.

Then they brought me (the green dress) and it was just me.  It had a neck.  The green long sleeves, skirt below the knee, with a peplum in front.  (Fashion Lesson Number 1: Know yourself.  Fashion Lesson Number 2: Be true to yourself.  Fashion Lesson Number 3: Wear what works for you.)

My mother sent me a Singer sewing machine when I was 9 or 10 and I made my first dress at 10.  But then when I was 13, she had material from Haiti, a white eyelet, and my mother had a dressmaker make a two piece.  The top part had a sweetheart neckline with lace and in the back was a peplum!  My mother use to starch and iron it and it would shoot out.  I thought I was the cat's meow."

Jacquie in the Lanvin peplum dress in the Fall 2012 ad campaign:

And what do we say to fashion when we sometimes wonder if it will still love us, will it still need us when we're 82?  

We will still be the cat's meow.  (sound of purring...)

Lanvin's Poor Little Rich Girl

What is a poor little rich girl to do?  

She can't have Marie Antoinette's single strand of forty four pearls with an opal cabochon surrounded by diamonds like Barbara Hutton once owned.

She can't have Catherine the Great's Romanov emerald necklace that Barbara Hutton bought from Cartier, occasionally wore as a tiara and gifted to her seventh husband, Prince Pierre Raymond Doan.

And why not you might ask?  Why can't you have Catherine the Great's emeralds or Marie Antoinette's pearls?  Because honey you really is poor and while you might be rich in imagination, no amount of imagination is going to get you any of those lovelies.

But Alber Elbaz to the rescue!  So if you imagine yourself bedecked in beautiful baubles, if you have champagne tastes on a Budweiser budget (okay not really quite Budweiser, and not really Heineken either...) you can buy yourself a piece from the Barbara collection by Lanvin.

Green rhinestone (emeralds dearie) and metal "Barbara" choker and blue rhinestone and metal "Barbara" bracelet:

and to fool all your friends a red rhinestone (that's right, rubies) and metal Barbara necklace and red rhinestone "Barbara" earrings:

Coming for Fall 2012!

Vintage Trends: Big Bling is The Thing!

The Spring 2012 runways were covered in dangling chandeliers.  Mind you these are not the kind of chandeliers that hang from the ceiling but the ears.  Big shoulder dusting chandeliers.  And not only were ears accessorized with jumbo sized jewels but necks and wrists were also bejeweled with Flintstone sized rocks.

Claude Montana designed the haute couture for the house of Lanvin from 1990 to 1992.  The hat designer, Stephen Jones, said that the passion for Claude Montana and Thierry Mugler in those days was such a frenzy that crazed fashion people wielding knives would actually slash the tents to get in to see the shows.

Here at RARE vintage, although we are mad for fashion, we do not carry knives, clubs or any other assorted criminal paraphernalia.  It is an oasis of calm and vintage couture.  An oasis where that gorgeous bit of arm candy you see is not a mirage but a big, bold and delicate Claude Montana bracelet for the haute couture for Lanvin.  What I really love about this piece are the little flowers scatted amongst the rhinestones and that the bracelet is slightly deconstructed.  We like our lady like jewelry a little less precious, a little more precocious here at Rv.

Just in time for the holidays and only available at RARE vintage New York...

PURCHASE

INQUIRY

When Less is More

Angelina Jolie could have been naked the night of the Academy Awards and do you think anyone would have noticed? No, absolutely not. Of course we all know why. Those emerald earrings. Just a simple girl with some simple earrings.

This early 1990s Lanvin dress in a deep marine blue is ready to be complimented by your amazing Physique 57 body (which, by the way ladies, is conveniently in the same building as RARE vintage here on 57th street) or a great big something sparkly real or faux. And if you can get your hands on those emeralds...

The details of the dress are subtle but extraordinary. The cutting is sculptural and the dress drapes beautifully on the body. We love the deeply cut back and the wide straps that cross over bare skin. When everyone else is bedecked, bejewled and bedazzed, sometimes the dress that can be most dramatic and sensuous, is the simplest one in the room.

Early 1990s Lanvin deep marine blue crepe dress. Size 6.

For more information about this item please email info@rarevintageinc.com or call (212) 581 7273

One-shoulder from Lanvin

This is an early 1980s Lanvin one-shoulder dress which is minimal but extremely feminine. Oh, and did we mention utterly gorgeous?! The drape of the one-shoulder is more erotic than usual with a deep asymmetric cut across the back. What makes this dress so special is the dramatic gathering at the lower back. Size 4/6.

For more information about this item please email info@rarevintageinc.com or call (212) 581 7273