Monday, November 10, 2008

What Does a Maven of Vintage Clothes, Accessories, Style, Designers and Fashion Wear?

I love clothes. Quality material, detailed construction and good design can make me quiver. There are large plastic bins stored here full of cocktail dresses, gowns, lingerie, dresses, blouses, coats, etc., - some designer, some just superbly made, very stylish clothing. Vintage silk hand rolled scarves with descreet designer names in the corners, vintage purses from chainmail to wood and plastic to petit point needlework, and vintage hats from the truly absurb little caps with 12" or more bobbing things to the wide brim with hat band accented by a small gemmed pin. Clothes and accessories enough to carry you thru any occasion, taken from the decades between 1910 and 1970.

So you would figure I'm a walking fashion plate right? wrong! What do I build my daily wardrobe around? Long, large denim jumpers with lots of pockets - and by the way, the pockets are deal breakers. These perfect fashion finds are the ultimate necessity to me. In the summer they are worn over tank tops and when the weather gets cooler, short to long sleeve tops or dresses (also long and cotton only).

Why are pockets deal breakers? Cause I can fill those pockets and keep myself hands free. When working at home I've got discs for my camera, gel ink pen, pencil with eraser and fine point marker, metal pull out measuring tape, small magnifying glass, reading glasses, index cards, iphone and possible munchies all tucked about my person, easy to find and get to. When shopping, replace the discs with cash, the index cards with a small notebook, and I'm ready to go junking.

These denim life savers are almost totally impervious to staining, so all the different goos and glops I use to clean little treasures with can dripped, spilled or wiped on myself with impunity. I can grab a bit of my jumper, do a quick rub and polish on something and not worry about ruining my apparel. Best of all, while eating, I can read, surf the internet one handed or carry on a convesation with lots of hand gestures without worrying about the salsa or whatever drips - it will wash out!

So, though I have sold Ceil Chapman cocktail dresses, vintage Pucci prints, Hermes scarves, Chanel clutches and have more to offer up to the fashion conscious online buyers, I myself usually look like the Queen Mary decked out in denim, floating by. Add old lady comfort shoes and you're got a pretty good idea - I'm the Queen Mother hippy style. The purse and jewelry are the only real hints to the fact that I might actually have some taste and you'ld probably have to be detail oriented to notice them.

Of course none of the above excludes me from being harshly critical, cuttingly derisive and horribly snobbish about how everyone else dresses! Major pet peeve regarding the younger generation's style - those low riding jeans, no matter how young you are or how nice your figure over all, only look good on about 1 out of a 1000.