Vintage - All you should know about the Trend
- Paris
- 6 Νοε 2021
- διαβάστηκε 5 λεπτά
By the term “vintage”, when we refer to fashion but also to design in general, we mean clothes that were designed and produced 20 to 100 years before our time. We should not confuse the term “antique” with vintage, because antique is anything that was designed and produced in the last century, ie more than 100 years ago.
This is an iconic model from the "Space Era" collection, by Andres Courreges. We love the 60s!
I hereby,have chosen only a few of the most famous fashion designers who have set the foundation for the creation of fashion :
· Coco Chanel
· Christian Dior
· Yves Saint Laurent
· Paco Rabbane
· Andres Courreges
· Salvatore Ferragamo
· Pierre Balmain
· Emilio Pucci
· Cristobal Balenciaga
· Oscar de la Renta
· Barbara Hulanicki
· Pierre Cardin
· Huber de Givenchy
· Valentino Garavani
· Halston
There is not a dress more characteristic than the one above,for the period of 60s and the design belongs to Paco Rabbane. After the smash of "Space Era" collection, by Andres Courreges, this artifact features the golden decade or the "swinging sixtees" as known, where enerything and every single person was inspired by space. On the 20th of July 1969, the mankind was breathlessly attending the lunar landing of Apollo 11. This world historical event had drastically affected the fashion designers too.In my whereabouts, I have found dozens of imitations, but this dress is still the one and only. You cannot D.I.Y it. You cannot mimic it. You can only imagine! For sure, it is a "first choice" vintage dress for the collectors and the wild funs of the trend.
Definitely a dress by the famous designer Halston, who associated his name with the most famous appearances of the celebrities of the 70's and the legendary night club Studio 54 in New York. Liza Minelli, Bianca Jagger, Liz Taylor, Andy Warhol, Bette Midler, Eartha Kitt, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Diana Ross and many other celebrities were regular spectators at the club's glittering venues. Little did you know that Halston created the famous Jackie Kennedy hat, also known as the pillbox hat, for the presidency ceremony of her husband, John Kennedy in 1961. Halston was noted for his revolutionary "ready to wear" collection, which was distinguished for its simple lines and the fabrics he used, namely chiffon and silk. He did not like to use complicated materials such as bows, buttons, zippers and anything that limited the comfort of whoever wore his creations. His dresses seem to "float" with the silk waves following the woman's movements. He also loved the shirt-dress with his own "ultrasuede" fabric.
A wonderful creation by Balmain, from 1956. The designer was distinguished for introducing two fundamental trends in fashion: lines influenced by architecture and dazzling designs that mimic military uniforms. Both trends come from his own life. He had a family business with drapes (fabrics-types of curtains).He tried to study architecture, but ended up designing clothes, and after serving in the French Air Force during World War II, he returned back with images of military uniforms in mind, the ultimate militarist style. Extremely obsessed with detail, Balmain dressed some of the most iconic ladies, who also became his "muses". Marlene Dietrich, Ava Gardner, Brigitte Bardot and more recently Brigitte Macron, are some of the famous ladies who loved his clothes and showed their elegance and charm through Balmain.
A life like a fairytale…
Salvatore Ferragamo was born in 1898 and was the 11th of 14 children(!!!) of a poor family from a village near Avellino, Italy. From an early age, he made shoes for himself and his sisters. He studied shoemaking in Naples and soon, having left behind a small shop that opened on the premises of his home, he moved to Boston to work close to his brother in a cowbys' boots making factory. He ended up in California, where he opened a shoes repair shop and made to order .His designs, however, did not fit so comfortably on the peoples' feet, so he studied anatomy at the University of Southern California. He was ready to take off. In 1927, after 13 years in America, he returned to Italy where he began producing handmade shoes with a handicraft in Via Mannelli, Florence. Evita Peron and Marylin Monroe trusted him and wore exclusively his creations. He introduced the platform in shoes for the first time,designing a pair of sandals for Judie Garland and named the collection "Rainbow". The sandals were made from slices of cork, lined with suede and finished with gold stripes (in the photo you can see the virtual sandal). After his death, the business was continued by his family and has expanded to this day to the production of luxury shoes, bags, scarves, watches, perfumes and ready-to-wear clothes. In Florence there is a museum dedicated to his life and creations.
Christian Dior, like Salvatore Ferragamo, loved architecture but never studied it. In Dior's case, however, the background is different and his wealthy family took care to make him a diplomat. But his love for the arts won him over and while he was studying diplomacy, he took a different path, ending up designing for large haute couture houses. In this dress you can see the folds and how accurately Dior turns a dress into a work of art. After the war, on February 12, 1947, Dior launched the "New Look" and the wide skirts with a narrow waist, freeing women from the strict aesthetics of the war period. Each of his dresses is an ode to feminine elegance. The lines - LAWS of haute couture, such as Tulip, A, H and Y belong exclusively to Dior.
When you buy vintage.....
There are many brands involved in buying and selling vintage items. In fashion, in particular, vintage clothes can be easily found, depending on the following criteria: season-decade, designer and last and most important PRICE. Do not confuse remade clothes, which mimic the vintage look with the original. With a little research, you will see that you have to spend enough money to get an authentic dress, or bag or a pair of shoes or accessories from Halston, Dior, or even Gucci of the 80s for example. The term preloved, popular on British sites, means second hand clothes. Never forget that vintage = second hand, which is not often mentioned when it comes to creations of big fashion houses.However, I also found unused pieces, which probably belonged to a stock of a luxury store . In our case now, the Hermes silk scarves seem a must and they are very popular, but for some wallets are not the most appropriate.....Imagine, we are talking about scarves, not the Birkin bag !!!!! See, for example, how much Hermes Birkin is sold - always used - on the famous Vestiaire Collective site. I f you own a Birkin bag, you are for sure one from the lucky ones.
My adresses please:
If you choose to buy a vintage item through an e-shop, make sure you know well your size and what exactly you are looking for, when it comes to clothes. Very often, we are excited by the image and especially, by the name, but we forget that "whatever shines, is not gold". There are two solutions: either we do not trust online shopping, or we hire a seamstress to correct the imperfections, at some extra cost entailed. There is no intermediate solution, unfortunately.
Hope I helped you. See you!